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What Can We Learn from Adam’s Example?
As parents and leaders of kids, we have been given the same mandate as Adam. Will we be better at passing on the truth God has entrusted to us? Our kids' lives hang in the balance…
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A Different Definition of Sharing Your Faith
We often hear the phrase “share you faith” in the context of evangelism, using a gospel presentation such as CWT or Romans Road. But consider how the disciples shared their faith in Acts 3. Peter and John headed to the temple to pray. On their way, they passed a man who had never been able to walk. He could only beg for his basic needs because someone placed him next to the temple. Day in, day out, he knew the drill. As he sat on the ground, his line of sight, if you can imagine, was fixed on all the healthy legs walking past him. He had no hope of…
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Does Your Face Light Up?
“What a child really wants to know is: does your face light up when they walk in the room?” – Toni Morrison Our volunteers often joke that everything seems to go wrong on Wednesdays. Files get mysteriously deleted at work, cars run out of gas, and kids accidentally leave a much-needed textbook at school. Stress can run high as we rush to church. But if you have the honor of working with kids, do your best to leave your stress at the door. Prayer is the very best way to do this. Seriously. If you’ve had a rough day, take a quick time out. Sit in your car for a…
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Jesus, What Were You Thinking?
Have you ever dreaded something? I mean really dreaded. Not like, I dread going to the grocery store, or I dread bathing the dog. I mean the real, out-and-out “I don’t know if I can put one foot in front of the other” kind of dread. I can say that I have experienced this on several occasions: saying goodbye to my dad as he lie in a hospice bed, packing up each child to send them off to college, speaking a eulogy for my best friend. In every instance, the thoughts racing through my head were the same. I’m not ready. It’s too soon. How can this be happening? Absolute…
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What’s More Important Than Raising Good Kids?
Our entire walk with the Lord comes down to one key principle: Belief. And when He took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. – Revelation 5:8 While this passage is deep with symbolism and meaning, consider this one simple thought:God keeps our prayers. In gold bowls, He keeps our prayers. Why do our meager thoughts and utterances mean so much to the Creator of the Cosmos? It may be because our prayers are ultimately proof of our faith. When we pray we are…
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What to Do When Your Kid Min Volunteers Cancel
Ping… Ping… It’s Saturday night. You hear the familiar sound coming from your phone, signaling an incoming text. But, since you are a Children’s Director, you don’t even want to look! One of the most difficult (if not exasperating) parts of leading a children’s ministry is the last minute cancellations of volunteers. There’s no magic pill to avoid this, but let me suggest some best practices regarding volunteer absences. Communicate with Volunteers During the Week Certainly we all have Sundays where people call out, but a lot of the “last minute” calls can be avoided by having regular communication with volunteers throughout the week. This doesn't mean bombarding them with emails,…
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When to Address Behavior Issues During Worship
We've all been in the situation. It's time for corporate worship with our kids. Most of our kids are singing, perhaps doing motions, lifting praise to God. But there are a few kids who are distracted (or distracting). When is the right time to intervene? Worship is responding rightly to the revelation of God, and it should be an integral component of kids' ministry. The best thing you can do to encourage kids to worship is to teach them the amazing goodness of God. Then, during worship time, be engaged yourself. Kids will follow your example. If leaders are hanging back and talking to each other, kids will…
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The First Thing to Get Right When Teaching Kids
After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Teminite, “I am angry with you…” For what? What was the offense that angered God? Robbing the Temple? Causing an unjust war? Stealing from widows? What was God angry about? “…for you have not spoken accurately about Me, as my servant Job has.” – Job 42:7* Scripture lists several actions and attitudes that anger God, but inaccuracy is not one that usually comes to mind. We should take heed. When we teach kids about God, if we add anything at all or take anything away, we aren’t showing Him to be as good–as perfect–as He actually is. God is…
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A Powerful Way to Help Build a Child’s Faith
When a child asks you to pray for them, don’t wait. Whenever possible, pray right then and there. And if the child doesn’t mind, include some of their peers. One of our small group leaders reported something pretty wonderful that occurred over the past few weeks… “A few of my 4th and 5th grade girls have been sharing during prayer time about some specific bullying they have been experiencing. Some had experienced it themselves and one girl shared how she saw it happening on the playground to one particular child. We have prayed about these situations each week. When the next week comes, I always ask them if they have…
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What Does it Take to Be Used by God?
Mary was the first – the very first to hear His name. For decades, God’s people waited for the Messiah. We can almost hear the debates that took place at the synagogues as well as in the fishing boats. They speculated about when He would come and where He would come. And His name? Certainly people made their guesses. But Mary was the first to actually hear it. You must name Him Jesus. – Luke 1:31 Jesus. Of course. “The one true God saves.” What other name could it be? With wide eyes, Mary soaked in the plan, and in the quiet of her meager home, she knew the secret…