Grace Student Ministry

Three recent posts from our Pastor's Blog give an overview of what our Student Ministry (5th - 12th grades) is all about.  I only have 1.5 years until my own daughter is a part of Grace Student Ministry.  Yikes!

Part 1 explains that a core issue for the young generation of Grace Church is spiritual apathy.  Part 2 give three categories of what it looks like to be a follower of Christ, namely:

1. Pursuit of God
2. Connection with the Church
3. Engagement with the World

Part 3 gives some direction on what you can do.

-- Joey Espinosa

How Do I Help My Child Live a Spirit Directed Life?

One of the most common questions from parents who are Christ-followers is about helping their child learn to know and follow Christ.  This question fits in well with our discussion on the Holy Spirit, but first let us go back to the basic problem we all have – sin. 

A basic definition of sin is “rebellion against God and disobedience to His laws and ways.”  The Bible is clear that sin brings about the punishment and result of death (Romans 6:23; James 1:14-15). And since we are all sinners, then at some point we all are dead.  We deserve the punishment of everlasting death, and we are incapable by ourselves to love God and obey Him.  This is the state that we are all born into, including your child.

But the Holy Spirit gives new life to those who have faith in Christ (Isaiah 44:3-4; John 3:5).  “Just as water brings life to plants and trees that are made to drink of that water, so the Spirit brings spiritual life to those who are made to drink of that Spirit.” (“Big Truths for Young Hearts,” p. 159-160). 

But hear is the kicker: the Spirit gives life, but we are powerless to love God if we don’t have the Spirit.  Therefore, how do we get the Spirit to work in our lives in the first place?  The answer: we can’t control Him. 

“The only thing we can rightly do, and the one thing we should do, is this: we should bow our heads and admit before God that we are helpless to save ourselves.  We are unable to make ourselves come alive. . . .  We should put our hope in the kindness of God, his mercy towards sinners, and his power to save those who admit they cannot save themselves. . . .  His Spirit must give us life. He alone is our hope!”

So with regards to our children, the best we can do is lead them to know God’s laws and ways (by what we teach them and what we model for them), and to earnestly cry out to God to have mercy on them, so that He would work in their hearts to help them know Him. 

Questions or comments?

Regret

"[S]omewhere in your life, there’s been a moment you wish happened differently. You lost your job. You lost your marriage. You were too slow to act in a car crash. Your son, the one who used to laugh so hard when you’d build towers of wooden blocks for him to knock over is running away from you and you’re left wondering what you could have done differently."

 I tend to live with so much guilt and regret.  I fail to trust God and truly believe in His love for me, and His full payment for all my sins.  What do I need to do on those days where I know I messed up?  Jon Acuff reminds us:

 “God didn’t ask you to be God that day.”

That's just it.  When I dwell on guilt, when I worry, I don't need to just 'get over it.'  I don't need to try harder.  I don't need to ignore it.  I first and foremost need to repent.  Whenever I fail to trust in God's love and gospel message, I am living in proud unbelief.  

--  Joey Espinosa

Coats for Kids

In our Preschool programming, we just began a 3-week series on "God Owns Everything."  We are teaching that as a response to God's ownership, we should be free to be generous, and that we should honor the Lord with our wealth (Proverbs 3:9).  We will teach through the accounts of Zacchaeus, the Rich Young Ruler, and the Poor Widow, from the New Testament.

As a application of this Biblical principle, we will be collecting money to buy coats, hats, and gloves for children in Greenville who do not have any.  More specifically, we will donate these to Pendleton Place, a local emergency shelter for children. 

If you have a child in our Preschool programming, please have him or her bring $1 to their class, and we will collect the money during our Big Group time.  As you talk about this with your child(ren), remind him that since God owns everything, we should be generous.  Since He has given us so much, then we should be generous towards others. 

If you have questions about this or anything else regarding our Preschool programming, please let us know.

Downtown Campus

Grace Church will have a new location for its Downtown campus, starting March 7.  You can watch the video below for more information. We will offer Children's Ministry programming for Nursery through Kindergarten (5k).  If you are interested in worshiping and serving at our Downtown campus beginning March 7, and you have children in this age group, please register using this form.  Questions?  Email us at children@gracechurchsc.org.

What I've Just Read, Currently Reading, About to Read

Just Finished (in the last few months):

1. Shepherding a Child’s Heart (Tedd Tripp). My 3rd or 4th time through it. I believe it's the best parenting book with regard to Gospel-oriented principles. (When I went to Kenya, I took 2 dozen copies of this to give to church leaders.) To see a summary of each chapter, use the label "Shepherding" on this blog.
2. Big Truths for Young Hearts (Bruce Ware). Book intended to help parents of elementary and middle school children communicate theology to their family. I'm not lying at all when I say that it helped me personally understand Biblical truths better. The sections are each about 3-4 pages, with a couple of discussion-provoking questions at the end. Again, use the label "Big Truths" - and more posts are coming over the next few months.
3. The New Eve (Robert Lewis). Pastor Bill White gave this to all the pastors on staff for them and their wives to read. It's basically a counterpart to Men's Fraternity (where we originally got our Men's Roundtable material from), aimed to help define Biblical womanhood.
4. Strengths Finder 2.0 (Tom Rath). Highly recommend for everyone. I think it helps each of us understand how God has uniquely gifted us, and how we can use those gifts for maximum impact. The main part of the book is taking a 30-minute online assessment.  It's my second time taking such an assessment, and the results didn't come out exactly alike both times, but the common theme Analytical did, and is definitely a God-given strength for me.
5. Why the Mighty Fall (Jim Collins). Being analytical, this business-oriented book speaks my language of trying to understand why things happen. Specifically, the book studies major companies that completely tanked, so that we can learn to see the warning signs and avoid the same fate. At Grace Church, we are growing so fast, and going into so many unknowns, that we must remember to continually evaluate what we are doing, why we are doing it, and how things might need to change.
   

Currently Reading

1. Walking the Small Group Tightrope (Bill Donahue & Russ Robinson). I haven’t read in about 3 years, so I'm anxious to go through this again. It helps us understand the tensions that are inherent in Small Groups (for example: more bible study or more fellowship time?).
2. A couple of resources about Passover.  I'm trying to figure out to what level God would have me be involved in leading or participating in a Passover Seder.  Definitely for my family.  Definitely in Camp Grace. Probably in Community Group, and maybe for a mid-size group in our church.
3. A Gospel Primer for Christians (Milton Vincent). Another book that I've read before, but it's more meaningful this time around. This book is designed to help us apply the Gospel to our lives after the point of conversion. Everything in our live needs to be about the Gospel.
   

About to Read (I have a continually-growing stack of "must reads")

1. Age of Opportunity (PaulTripp). Counterpart to "Shepherding a Child's Heart." I'm only a few years away from having a middle-schooler.  Yikes!
2. Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell), Hug Your People (Jack Mitchell), or another business-type book.  Leading a staff of 8 (mix of full-time and part-time), and 600+ volunteers, I know that I have a lot to learn about vision and leading people.

By the way, try ordering these or any other books through Osborn Mission. Philly and Elizabeth are friends and faithful servants that are about to serve overseas to bring the Gospel to an unreached people. Check out their website.  Ordering through this link (it goes through Amazon.com) helps provide them with support.



What are you reading?

--  Joey Espinosa

Theophilus and the Widow

Since we're in the midst of a teaching series on being Courageously-Generous, and since we're teaching a 3-week series in about "God is Generous" in our Preschool programming, we thought we'd share some thoughts from Jamie Munson, pastor at Mars Hill Church.

"Like the widow, are you willing to joyfully trust Jesus with your life, and, out of love for him, sacrifice more than just your abundance?"

Read the full article here.

The Spirit on Jesus and Jesus' Followers

As discussed in the previous post on the Holy Spirit, Jesus did His work by the power of the Spirit. Just before He was crucified, He gathered with His disciples and told them, “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”  The disciples must have been confused; how could it be good that the Lord Jesus would leave them?  Bruce Ware explains (“Big Truths for Young Hearts,” p. 156):

“What could possibly be better than having Jesus living with you, walking alongside you day by day? Answer: having Jesus, by his Spirit, living his own life within you.”

It’s so easy for us to surround ourselves with things that keep us "safe" – money in savings, Bible study, private school or homeschooling, a stable job, attending church services, activities for kids, and so on.  And these can be good things, but for followers of Christ, there must be more.

What’s most important for Christ-followers is having the Holy Spirit in us, changing us, guiding us, and making us more like Christ.  Those other “good” things in life are empty and ineffective without the power of the Spirit.  Are you relying on the good things around you, or are you submitting to and trusting in the One who is in you?  We need to remember that the primary role of the Holy Spirit in our lives is not to accomplish tasks, but to cause transformational, inside-out change.

Teaching Money Basics to Kids

“Financial decisions are spiritual decisions.”  What a crucial principle that was taught in this past weekend’s sermon (Fear & Freedom, January 17, 2010).  We should be intentional and purposeful in how we handle our resources, since we are stewards, not owners (Matthew 25).  Furthermore, we need to teach our children these same principles.  There are lots of great resources out there, including tools from Crown Financial Ministries, Junior’s Clubhouse (a website from Dave Ramsey), and Moonjar.  

The Moonjar is a triplet of boxes that encourages kids to divide their money into portions for sharing, saving, and spending.  Might be worth looking into for your young ones.  If there is enough interest, we can probably order in bulk for additional savings.  Let us know if you are interested by posting here.

How Do I Help Develop My Young Son's Leadership Potential?

This question was submitted as part of our Future Men event.  Here is a video of Bill White's answer.  The question is in reference to the parent's 5-year old son.

Leave any comments or questions here.

Future Men - Stages of Manhood

In case you missed our Future Men event on October 30, 2009, we have a video of Bill White giving a summary of the key concepts, on our Grace YouTube channel.  "We want our parents to be thinking . . . that our little boys are future men."

From our Men's Roundtable teaching ("borrowed" from Robert Lewis), here is a Biblical definition of manhood: 

"A real man is one who . . . 

1. Rejects Passivity,
2. Accepts Responsibility, 
3. Leads Courageously, and
4. Expects God's Reward."
   

If this is what a real man looks like, how do we get there?  Bill walks us through the 3 main stages of going from boys to men.

1. Authority.  God's authority needs to be established, as well as the authority He's delegated to parents, teachers, and other leaders.  When an authority tells a child to "do this," he needs to be taught to obey quickly, completely, and happily. 
2. Responsibility.  During this stage, your son needs to to learn to "handle his deal."  They need to be challenged and respected.  
3. Partnership.  By this stage, you are no longer standing over your son, but you are standing alongside him.

You can download the full teaching on our website, either on our Children's Ministry site, or on the Grace Church teaching page (look under Equipping Events). 

What's next?

1. We have some video answers of questions that were asked about raising "future men" that we'll post over the next few weeks.
2. Mark your calendars for April 16-17, for our Transitions Parenting Conference.  It will be a Friday evening, Saturday morning event.  More details to come shortly!
   

Why Should Parents Require Unsaved Children to Have Good Behavior?

Here is a summary of an article from John Piper. 

To start, we must be clear that there are no set, defined boundaries for where "child" ends and "adult" begins.  Some things that can be required from younger children should not be required from older ones, but it is the responsibility of the parent to prayerfully discern (usually with godly counsel from those who are in a life stage ahead of you) where on the spectrum their child falls. 

That being said, here are 3 solid reasons to require good behavior from children who have not repented of their sins and are following Christ:

1. It is better for the world (family, friends, church, community, etc) for a child to be kind, respectful, etc.
2. It is good for child to be confronted with the "law" and to have to struggle to obey it.  Why?  It helps him be aware of his powerlessness against sin, and points him to a need for the cross and Gospel.  The child should be frustrated, but all the while being pointed to a Gospel hope, not hopeless exasperation (Colossians 3:21). 
3. If the child does later become a Spirit-led follower of Christ, then all these good character traits become ways of blessing others.  "No parents have the luxury of teaching their child nothing while they wait for his regeneration."

Kairos Internship

If you know of a college student who might be interested in an internship, Grace Church has a great opportunity called Kairos.  You can find more information and watch a video on our website.  Our Children's Ministry had one intern last year, and we would like to have up to 3 this coming summer. (If he or she mentions this blog on their application, they get bonus points during the interview.)

How are Children Assigned to Their Small Groups?

We often get questions at the Welcome Desks about how children are placed in their Small Groups.  Our goal is for all children to be in age-appropriate classes.  We want to get them in their proper grade level, well before they begin our Student Ministry programming, since it is harder on children the longer we wait before correcting it.

• For children who are in public or private school, they will be placed in the same grade for our programming.  
• For young children who are not yet in school, or for home-schooled children, we will assign them based on their birthday (with the cutoff being September).
• With the exception of nursery, we promote to the next grade level with each school year (during our mid-August Promotion Weekend).

Please take your children to the classroom that is indicated on his or her check-in slip.  If you come to a different service time than the one you normally attend, your child may not have been promoted to the next grade level for that service (the class assignments are service-specific with Parent Pager, our check-in system).  Please see a Welcome Desk if you have questions about your child’s class assignment.

If you have questions about these or any policies in Children’s Ministry, please email Joey Espinosa.

Budgeting for Kids

"Most kids have no concept of how much things really cost."  (Did I hear an "amen" from all you parents?)  That's from an article that came out before Christmas, courtesy of CNNMoney.com.  There are some good principles for helping children understand the value of money.  Even if you don't agree with all the principles and applications presented, it is clear that it is our job as parents to teach our children about finances. 

One of the most important concepts to understand about money is that it is really a function of time.  Money is earned, and in order to get it, we must sacrifice a certain amount of time.  For example, if your student earns $6 per hour, then they must trade in 5 hours of their work day to buy that $30 sweater.  Likewise, if they want you to buy the new video game console, with extra controllers and games, that could total $300 or more.  If you take home $15 per hour, then to buy that toy requires you to work 20 hours (not counting taxes)!  This definitely puts a different perspective on what things really "cost."

Jesus Lived in the Power of the Spirit

In “Big Truths for Young Hearts” (pp. 113-116), Bruce Ware makes the biblical case that Jesus did His work by the Spirit’s power, not His own power.  This is attested by Jesus Himself (Matthew 12:22-19), as well as the apostle Peter (Acts 10:38).  That Jesus worked by the Spirit’s power should be a great encouragement for us:

"Even though Jesus was fully God, he did not live his life through his divine power as God. . . . He can to live as one of us, to experience the limitations and struggles of our life. . . . But to do this he could not live truly as a man while also using power that he alone would have as God. To live by his power as God, he would not and could not live as one of us. So instead, as a man, he relied on the Spirit of God to grant him all that he needed to live life faithfully and to carry out everything that the Father sent him to do."

This is the great part for us: as believers, we "would have the same Spirit empowerment that Jesus has used."  That is, if Jesus did works on His own divine power, then there would be a huge loss to the kingdom work when He left.  But the same Spirit continues to work through those who belong to God!  The same Spirit that worked through Jesus to do miracles is also working to change our lives, and He wants to bless others through us.

What do you think about this?  Have you ever thought of why it’s good that Jesus left to return to His rightful spot in heaven?

Volunteer Opportunities

As usual in January, we have had families be able to attend more regularly and also have a lot of new visitors.  In just the first two weekends, we've had more than 40 children who experienced their first time in our Children's Ministry programming!  And this past weekend, we had nearly 900 children attend their Small Groups!

Unfortunately, you may have noticed the number of classes that we've had to close recently.  Due to the higher attendance, and due to life events (new babies, families moving, etc), we have a number of serving opportunities that have become available.  We strive to avoid having to turn away children, but we also make it a policy to not overload classes with children.  We have seen that having too high of a child-to-volunteer ratio creates unsafe and ineffective ministry environments.  Furthermore, this puts an even bigger burden on the volunteers that we already have, and we want to protect them, since we value them so much. 

Specifically, we are especially in need of Small Group Leaders for Nursery and Preschool age groups. If you would like to get connected through serving and to partner with us to equip the next generation, email Joey Espinosa. You can learn more about serving in Grace Children's Ministry at Volunteer Central.

We would love the opportunity to equip you for service in the body of Christ, allowing you to connect with God, other volunteers, and children.

The End Times and Now

Here’s an excerpt from “Big Truths for Young Hearts,” from the section entitled Knowing the Future Helps in the Present. 

“[God] hasn’t told us everything about what is coming. . . .  But he has told us a lot. And he’s told us enough so that if we are trusting in Christ, we can put away our fears and worries.”

In other words, God promises that He and those who trust in Him will be victorious.  If that’s true, does it make sense to worry over day-to-day troubles?  If you or your child is struggling with worry, spend some time studying Matthew 6:25-33 and Romans 8:29-32. 

Your Child Has A Conscience

Here's a parenting tip from biblicalparenting.org. 

The Bible uses the word conscience 30 times in the New Testament. Twenty of those times by the Apostle Paul, five were written to Timothy to help him understand the importance of the conscience as a young pastor.

The biblical concept of the conscience is important for parents to understand. After all, if it’s standard operating equipment inside of your child, placed there by God, you’ll want to work with it and help strengthen it.

The conscience helps a child become internally motivated. Unfortunately, many children rely on external prompters, including their parents, to get things done. And unfortunately, many parents encourage their kids in that direction by over-emphasizing bribes and threats.

We’re not suggesting that you have to get rid of the rewards and punishments. . . . 

When your child takes initiative to help, apologizes for a wrong, tells the truth, or does the right thing even when it’s tough, use the opportunity to affirm the God-given initiative coming from the heart.

In other words, while biblically-oriented techniques must be used in parenting, we must never forget that the root of the issue lies at the heart of the child, and with the child's view of God.  Make everything about the good news of Jesus Christ, whether it's your child's sinful state and need for a savior, or praise that Spirit is at work in his heart to make him more like Christ.

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

The Holy Spirit is probably the most mysterious Person in the Trinity.  (As we talked about the Spirit recently, my son Elijah, age 6, was completely perplexed on how He is a Person.  I guess God the Father and God the Son gives him a mental image to fall back on, but He doesn’t have a picture of what God the Spirit is like.)  It seems that the Spirit is always just thought of as “the other” part of the Trinity, and even Scripture indicates that He is under the authority and direction of the Father and the Son (and has no role of authority over Them).  But there is no doubt that He is real, and His work is amazing.  That’s why over the next few weeks I’m excited to give a review of what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit.

First of all, let’s look at what the Old Testament says about the Holy Spirit.  It’s only in the context of the OT that we can fully appreciate how He appears in the New Testament and in our lives today.  These thoughts come from “Big Truths for Young Hearts” (pp. 149-154).  In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit’s work was:

1. Selective.  He came only on a few people.
2. Task-oriented.  He granted supernatural power in order to fulfill a specific calling or task from God.
3. For a limited duration.  When the task was done, the Spirit would leave.

However, the OT promises that one day the Spirit would:

1. Be for all, not for a few.
2. Work for transformational (life-change) purposes, not merely to accomplish tasks.
3. Fill a follower of God forever, not for a limited time.

Check back next week for the introduction of how the Spirit worked in the New Testament times. 

--  Joey Espinosa

Elementary Camp 2010

Cold weather. Kids are back in school. We believe it's time to start thinking about summer camp.

Our elementary camp is for all current 3rd and 4th graders. Campers will have time for fun, fellowship, and Biblical teaching, as an extension of our regular weekend programming. If you have a child in this age group, please reserve the dates of June 18th - 20th. (That's Father's Day weekend, so we'll bring the kids back by early afternoon, all tired and dirty for you.) We'll communicate more over the next few months, but if you have any questions now, email Nicky Darling, our Elementary Coordinator (ndarling@gracechurchsc.org).

You can see pictures from last year's camp here. Also, watch the video below.

Can I Bring My Kids to the Adult Worship Service?

We have many parents who ask or even just wonder about this question.  The simple answer is yes, you have the right to make this decision for your family.  Parents may choose to do this for a number of reasons -- a desire to worship as a family, a child who is fearful of going to class, a parent who is fearful of entrusting their child to others, a child who is not feeling well, and so on.

But we want to be clear that our adult worship service is intended to equip and teach adults, not entire families.  Some of the content and teaching may not be appropriate for young ones.  Conversely, our Children's Ministry programming is completely focused on children, from infants through 4th grade.  In fact, part of our core vision in Children's Ministry is to "encourage children to grow in Christ by teaching them Biblical truths in meaningful ways."  For most children, learning Biblical truths in meaningful ways includes:

• fun and simple music, sometimes with hand-motions and lots of wiggling
  
• skits and/or puppet shows
• Bible lessons for an age-appropriate length of time
• crafts and other activities
  
• play
  
• small group time to develop peer relationships 

You can find all of these things and more in our Children's Ministry programming (and not so much in our adult worship!). 

Additionally, we need to consider the importance of others (see Philippians 2:3) in the worship service.  Therefore, if a child's voice or behavior will be a regular distraction, we ask that you allow us to minister to him or her through our Children's Ministry programming.  (For a humorous perspective on this, see the #3 item on this list of things pastors secretly pray for.)

What do you think about this issue?  Have you ever brought your children (besides as infants) to adult worship?

Baptism

Baptism is a picture of "being united with Christ in his death and united with Christ in his resurrection from the dead" ("Big Truths for Young Hearts" p. 203).  This was illustrated this weekend at Grace Church, as we had baptisms at 3 of our services.  You can watch all of the video testimonies on our Pastor's Blog. 

Do you have questions or thoughts about what baptism looks like for your child?  Contact Joey Espinosa, Pastor of Children & Families by email or phone (864-284-0122, ext. 172).  We would love to partner with you and assist you in leading your child.

What's in store for 2010?

Happy New Year! 

You've read the highlights of 2009.  Now, we want to let you know some things we have planned for this blog over the next few months.

• We will give an overview and our vision for our curriculum, for both the Camp Grace and the Preschool programming.
• Questions about some aspects of our policies (safety, general procedures, etc) for our weekend programming? You'll get answers.
• One of our goals is to Equip Volunteers.  What does an equipped volunteer look like?
  
• We will give some nuggets of theology from "Big Truths for Young Hearts." As an example of some of the theology presented in the book, we'll give a summary of the section on the Holy Spirit, along with some other topics.  If you have kids who are kindergarteners through pre-teens, I encourage you to get this book. (And if you order it through the Osborn Mission webpage (via Amazon), Philly and Elizabeth get a portion of any purchases you make.)

Any other topics you'd like us to touch on? Or any specific parenting questions?

Barna: Year-in-Review Perspective

From The Barna Group's research in 2009, here are 4 predominate themes that emerged regarding religion (read the full article here):

1. Increasingly, Americans are more interested in faith and spirituality than in Christianity.  "Being a Christian or associating with the Christian faith is not as attractive to Americans as it used to be." 
   
2. Faith in the American context is now individual and customized. "Only one-third (34%) [of adults] believe in absolute moral truth."
3. Biblical literacy is neither a current reality nor a goal in the U.S. "By the time most Americans reach the age of 13 or 14, they think they pretty much know everything of value the Bible has to teach."
4. Effective and periodic measurement of spirituality is not common at this time and it is not likely to become common in the near future. "It may well be that spiritual evaluation is so uncommon because people fear that the results might suggest the need for different growth strategies or for more aggressive engagement in the growth process."

We don't share this to decry the state of our culture.  Rather, we exhort you to consider what YOU must do to lead your children towards a life of discipleship in Christ.  Prayerfully consider these questions that could help you counter the above themes:

1. How do your children see you model a life of discipleship?  Do you tell them what the Holy Spirit is teaching you, and do they see life change in you? 
2. Do you make decisions regarding church, giving, service, etc, based on your personal preferences, or do you first examine God's word and submit to His authority?
3. Do you regularly study the Bible and apply it to your life? Are you teaching your children how to apply the Bible to their lives?
4. Are you in Biblical community, where you are loved, encouraged, and held accountable?  Who in your life can and will tell you who you are NOT?

We would love to come alongside you to help you figure out how these questions might apply to your family.  Leave a comment here, or email us at children@gracechurchsc.org.