What Is Worship?

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,  singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.  (Colossians 3:16-17)

In both our Preschool and Camp Grace programming, we have Small Group and Big Group times.  During Big Group, we sing, pray, have skits, and sometimes watch videos.  We want to provide a model of what it looks like to worship in community.  (Read more about our philosophy of learning.)

If you have some musical ability and want to be a part of our music team, we want to encourage you to sign up for the next church-wide worship audition, on September 29-30.  You can find out more information on our website.

Special Needs FAQ: How Can I Get Counselling?

For people who are experiencing the effects of a fallen world (Genesis 3), grief is not uncommon.  It is important to not withdraw, but to move towards God and towards others.  Scott Mozingo, the Pastor of Community at Grace Church, gives us his thoughts on the question of grief and counseling:

"At Grace, we take the role of shepherding and care for our members very seriously.  It is helpful to think in terms of shepherding in two categories -- crisis (immediate) and discipleship (ongoing).  Counseling is one form of immediate care that occurs when someone is dealing with grief.  This often takes the form of meeting with a pastor, and some specific instruction and care is given to help get through the immediate state of crisis.

However, as we know, grief does not go away just because an immediate state of crisis has passed.  In my opinion, this is where the real work of the church begins, as the main avenue for that type of member-care is through authentic, Christ-centered community.  The primary form for this at Grace Church is Community Groups.  Community Groups provide an ongoing discipleship context where one struggling with grief could receive encouragement and admonition, as well as give back to the community from their experience.  This two-way relationship is God's primary plan for our spiritual growth.

In addition, there may be seasons where specialized mentoring is needed.  Whenever we can, we are glad to connect folks together in a mentoring-type relationship for a short period.  However, mentoring and pastoral care cannot take the place of an active and ongoing community of believers that walk through life -- good and bad -- with one another."

If you would like to get more information on receiving counseling at Grace Church or to get connected in authentic, Christ-centered community, email Chris McGowan, our Connecting Pastor, at cmcgowan@gracechurchsc.org.

Image courtesy of mattox via sxc.hu

Facebook: Question of the Week

Starting today, we're launching a "Question of the Week" idea on our Children's Ministry Facebook page.  We'd love to here from you -- make sure you become a fan, so you can share your thoughts with the 260+ other "fans" of Grace Children's Ministry!

Favorites of 2010

With 125 blog posts in the first 6 months of 2010, we thought we'd give some of the favorite posts, as judged by individual hits and comments.  For newer readers, and if you just missed some, this also gives you the opportunity to find some older posts.  Feel free to let us know if you had other favorites that we don't list here.

By far the most popular post was our Free Book giveaway.  We gave away about 100 copies of John Piper's Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die.  It's a great book for exploring the purposes of Jesus' death on a cross.  We hope everyone who got their own copy found it to be a blessing.  If you missed the free book, you can order your own copy here. 

The most popular type of posts were related to common questions that we receive and answer.  Here are the most popular questions, judging by the activity on the blog when they were answered:

• Can My Child Take Communion?
• Can I Bring My Kids to Adult Worship?
• Why Don't We Do VBS?
• Why Parents of Young Children Should Serve in Children's Ministry

Another popular type of posts were along the lines of vision, whether for the church and our Children's Ministry programming, or for family.  These include articles regarding:

• Special Needs Ministry
• Why Does Grace Children's Ministry Exist?  The Tension, The Mission, The Call
• Posts from Pastor Joey Espinosa about shepherding his children Hannah, Elijah, and Sender
• An article about being a Preacher's Daughter triggered some responses from PK's and a former missionary.

What were your favorite posts on this blog?

Special Needs: Review

For those who missed it, here are a summary and links for the recent series on children with special needs.  We welcome any questions and feedback.

1. Overview to special needs ministry.  With more than 15 children in our church who have special needs, we knew that we need to ask God to help us discern what He wants from us.
2. Why are we focusing on special needs?  To give theology and direction to increasing number of families at Grace Church who have children with special needs.
3. What do we mean by "special needs?"  We consider a broad scope, from emotional and neurological disorders to physical disabilities.  
4. Important biblical principles.  Here, we highlight some things that God says about children, parents, and Himself. 
5. The role of the church.  Read about what we do to come alongside parents. 
6. The role of the parents.  Be intentional, have expectations, and preach the gospel.
7. Growing in the gospel.  Other things to consider, especially about marriage and personal growth.

Special Needs: The Role of the Church

As we have already mentioned in the previous post in this series, we believe that parents must have the primary role in training and discipling their children.  (This concept will be expanded on in the next post in this series.)  We also believe that God can work through the local church to encourage, support, and equip parents.  In light of this principle, Grace Church desires to be an instrument in God's hands to minister to families who have children with special needs.

The mission of Grace Children's Ministry is to assist parents in leading their children toward a Gospel-centered life, to equip volunteers to shepherd children, and to encourage children to grow in Christ by teaching them biblical truths in meaningful ways.  Here are some general thoughts on how this mission statement is fleshed out for children with special needs:

1. We can assist parents by helping them feel comfortable leaving their children with capable and loving volunteers, so that they can feel free to attend our corporate worship services.  Additionally, we can provide support and equipping during the week.  We know that parents who have children with special needs need to not just "manage the situation," but need to help their children move towards God, as best they can.  We have a number of families who are striving to lead their children in the context of the Gospel.  We can help by connecting parents, so that they can talk about what it looks like to shepherd children with special needs.
2. Our goal with our weekend services is to allow children to participate in the appropriate programming, so that they can fellowship and build relationships with their peers.  Therefore, we need to equip the volunteers who will be serving them, so that they can feel confident in how to minister to each specific need.  We have parent-teacher liaisons who communicate with both parents and volunteers, to help ensure that children with special needs have meaningful and enjoyable experiences in our Children's Ministry programming.
3. We already have noted that we want children to participate in our weekend programming.  We all have an innate need for community and acceptance.  Of course, there may be situations that will hinder this goal for mainstreaming children into the classroom, but we hope that this will always be the extreme exception.  It is a blessing for the child with special needs to be with their peers, as it is equally a blessing for the other children in the class to learn that every person is uniquely created by God and is deserving of love.

We can give more specific information of how mainstream children in our weekend programming, such as related to initial communication, safety, and volunteers who serve as "shadows" or "buddies."  We will discuss that later, perhaps in a post about Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's); you can help us by letting us know what specific questions you want answered by leaving us a comment below.

There is a lot that we are already doing well, but we also have much to learn about how to minister to families who have children with special needs.  We are imperfect in both our understanding and execution of this ministry area, but if parents are willing to partner with us and help us learn, we would love the opportunity to come alongside them.

Children's Ministry on Three Campuses

Yesterday, we launched Children's Ministry programming (through 5K) at our new Downtown Campus in Greenville.  In the past three years at Grace Church, we have gone from 2 to 6 services, and from 1 to 3 campuses.  We are excited about the opportunities that God has given us, to be used by Him to spread the Gospel (you can see a video of the past 15 years on our Grace YouTube Channel). Because most people are familiar with only one campus, here is a brief summary about the current state of each of the three campuses, and our Children's Ministry programs:

• Pelham Road.  Our busiest campus, with three services -- 1 Saturday evening and 2 on Sunday morning.  We typically have 80-90 children on Saturday night, and each of our Sunday morning services has about 300 children on a weekend.  With so many children and adults on this campus, we have a number of opportunities for people to find a need that matches the talents and resources that God has given them.  Our biggest challenge on this campus is that with so many children and such a big building, it is easy for people to slip in and out, and not think that we need them to give back.  The truth is that we right now need over 50 volunteers to start serving in Children's Ministry.
• Powdersville.  This campus was began in February 2008, with 70 children (nursery through 4th grade).  One of the biggest joys when we launched it was that over 30 people started serving in Children's Ministry who had never before served in this area.  Our biggest upcoming challenge is with facilities needs, as our lease runs out at the end of the year.
• Downtown.  What a huge start in our new facility, and with the introduction of Children's Ministry programming to our Downtown Campus (which began in September 2008)!  In the adult worship service, it was standing room only.  There were nearly 80 children in our programming (nursery through kindergarten), but unfortunately we had to turn away about 15 children due to a lack of resources and volunteers.  We can solve the issue of resources, but we are in need of more volunteers in order to open a new preschool class. 

Though our goal is not to grow our attendance numbers, we are glad that we have been growing by about 15-20% per year, nearly doubling the number of children in our weekend programming over the past three years.  How many is that?  In January, we hit our peak with 895 (4th grade and under) children during one weekend (all services).  However, our average in April (about 820) was even higher than our average in January.

If you have questions about Grace Children's Ministry, or want to know what it takes to be a part of the team to help reach the hearts of the next generation, contact us at children@gracechurchsc.org.

Why Don't We Do VBS?

For many churches in the south, summer marks the time for vacation Bible school (VBS).  Since we are such a large church, people often ask why we choose to pass on this.  For some folks, VBS seems to be a great time to reach out to the community and get people to come to one of our campuses; in this viewpoint, VBS can serve as an evangelistic tool.  For others, VBS is a way to bring members and children together during the busy summer schedules; therefore, it can serve as a means to fellowship.  While these are good motivations, I believe that there are several reasons for Grace Church to not have VBS during the summer.

To host a week-long VBS would require a lot of resources (time, money, energy, etc).  Instead of using these resources for a single week, we would rather pour our efforts into an entire year.  Our model of discipleship is more based on having long-term relationships, not one-time events.  Furthermore, we are already preparing for Promotion Weekend (where all children and students are promoted to their next grade level in our weekend programming), that will occur on Aug 14-15.  We try to minimize the number of events we do in June, and by July we are completely focused on getting ready for the fall, with recruiting, training, and planning. 

Despite the resources that are required, we would be more likely to host VBS if there were a big need in the Greenville area.  But it is obvious that there are no shortage of churches that have VBS.  Over the past 6 years, my own children have participated in VBS events at four different churches, and we have never been turned away for a lack of space.  Additionally, we have seen that the VBS programs that most churches do are very similar to each other, and well-executed.  From our experience, I honestly do not think that we could do significantly better than what other churches are doing.

Probably the biggest reason that we do not do VBS on our campuses has to do with our value of being culturally-engaged.  I love that my children get to be a part of other churches’ VBS events.  I want them to learn that it is normal to fellowship and worship with other local churches.  Furthermore, I think that this is a great opportunity to go be in our own community.  Instead of focusing on getting people to come to our campus, we need to go where others are.  For example, one summer my wife had the idea for our children to go to VBS with a neighbor’s kids, at their church.  I drove all the kids to the church, Joanna picked them up afterward, and she kept them until the other mom came home from work.  It was a great way to connect with, support, and love our neighbor.

 

--  Joey Espinosa

Connect With Us on Facebook

Grace Children's Ministry has a new Facebook fan page.  Connect with us by clicking here, so we can keep you posted on what's going on in our ministry.

Jesus is Lord of the Church

Here is summary from a section on the church (pp. 192-194), from "Big Truths for Young Hearts" by Bruce Ware.  The Bible gives 3 illustrations of what the church is in relation to Christ:

1. We are sheep, He is the Shepherd. We should hear and follow Him (John 10:3-4).
2. We are the bride, He is the Bridegroom. We should be pure and submit to Him (2 Corinthians 11:2-3; Ephesians 5:24).
3. We are the body, He is the Head. We should show love and receive love from other believers (1 Corinthians 12:12-26).

Our Curriculum -- Summary

A couple of months ago, we asked some questions about how we got our curriculum, and what we hope to accomplish through it. In case you missed it, here is a summary of the questions we asked ourselves, and links to our answers.

1. Why does this ministry exist? What's our goal and mission?
1. The Tension between parents and programming
2. The Mission to pour into both
3. The Call: Grow, Learn, Serve, Preach
2. What do we value? What do we want to see happen?
1. Staff & Parents
2. Volunteers & Children
3. What's our philosophy of learning? What elements should be incorporated in our programming?
1. Big Group / Small Group format
2. Visual, audio, and hands-on elements
3. Take-homes materials to equip parents
4. What is the focus of the curriculum? What does the scope and sequence need to look like?
1. Camp Grace (1st - 4th grades): 2-year through the Bible, to teach biblical principles from some main characters
2. Preschool (2 year old - 5k): attributes of God
5. What is our ministry model?
1. Big Group / Small Group
2. modeled after Student and Adult Ministries at Grace Church
6. What does a "win" look like? How do we know that we're succeeding?
1. Parents & Volunteers are growing and engaged
2. Children coming and growing
3. Real-life stories

Thanks for reading!

Camp Grace Passover Seder

This past weekend, we had our 5^th annual Camp Grace Passover Seder (pronounced “say’ der”) presentation. This event has been a highlight for children, volunteers, and staff alike. For campers who have done this before, it becomes something to look forward to – when else do they get a chance to eat things like horseradish, parsley, or matzah? When else do they get their hands washed by their classmates, and in return wash another’s hands? A couple of years ago, we had a parent tell us that they were planning to miss service, because they were worn out with so many things going on, but that their 3^rd grader insisted they go so she wouldn’t miss the Seder. And every year, we have more and more children and leaders who are participating in this event for the first time. There are elements in the presentation that incorporate all five senses, so that we can learn to worship our Lord more fully. Truly, we can “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).

Not only is this a fun, hands-on presentation, but our leaders have the opportunity to clearly communicate the gospel message. Most of the time, we’ve done our Seder on the weekend of Palm Sunday, as a prelude to Easter. Did you know that what we call the Last Supper (the last meal that Jesus shared with His disciples before He was crucified) was a Passover Seder? Christ was very intentional in this, to point out that He is the fulfillment of the Jewish feast of Passover, which commemorated God’s redemption of Israel from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12). In our presentation, we specifically highlight how Jesus was the Lamb that was to be sacrificed. For example, compare the Old Testament description of the Passover lamb, with how Jesus met those qualifications:

• Passover lamb was chosen on the 10^th day of the month. It was on the 10^th day of the month that Jesus entered Jerusalem (Palm Sunday).
• Passover lamb had to be perfect. Jesus is the unblemished Lamb (I Peter 1:19), who never sinned.
• Passover lamb had to be killed and the blood applied to the doorframe of the house, in order to protect from the angel of death. We need to “apply” Jesus blood to our lives by faith in His life, death, and resurrection.
• At judgment time, God only looked for the blood of the Passover lamb; whoever obeyed in faith would not be judged. When I stand before God at judgment day, He will look for faith in me, and will only see Jesus’ blood, and not my sins.

Jesus is our Lamb who was slain (Revelation 5:12) so that we can have eternal life through faith in Him. If you or your child has any questions about the Passover presentation, please leave a comment or email us at children@gracechurchsc.org.

Have a great week and a worshipful Easter! We hope to see you at our Good Friday service (which will include Communion), on April 2, with services at 5 and 7 PM on our Pelham Road campus.  If you haven’t read it yet, you should read our previous post that helps answer the question, “Can my child take Communion?”  Also, we look forward to having over 30 people being baptized during our weekend services, including Saturday night and across all three campuses.

What is Our Model of Ministry in Grace Children's Ministry?

As mentioned previously, both the Preschool and Camp Grace programming are primarily set up in a Big Group / Small Group format. Though the specific schedule will be different based on age-groups and facilities, in general, the typical Saturday night or Sunday morning has this flow:

1. Small Group: welcome and introduction to the lesson, in a classroom
2. Big Group: multiple classes coming together for singing and a short drama
3. Small Group: back to the classroom for more Bible lesson, in depth discussion, and activities

We like the Big Group / Small Group format (as opposed to all-classroom time, children’s church, or “center” rotation), because we feel it more closely mimics what Grace Church does across all age-groups. For example, adults come together for “Big Group” time on Saturday night or Sunday morning on one of our three campuses. Then, during the week, deep relational connections are made through Community Groups, our adult “Small Group” time.

We interested in the idea of using “centers” for Children’s Ministry, and we have explored the use of them in the past and may revisit it in the future. However, we see the value of having the model of Big Group / Small Group times throughout all age groups, from children to students to adults.

Questions or thoughts?

Children's Ministry Values (Part 2 - Volunteers & Children)

We’ve already covered two of our core values, regarding Staff and Parents.  In this post, we’ll discuss three more.

1. Help volunteers grow. We feel that our Children’s Ministry is as much about volunteers as it is about children. That is, if our leaders are pursuing and growing in Christ, then they will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to pour into children. How do volunteers grow in Christ?
1. Personal spiritual growth, through worship, Bible study, prayer, community, baptism, etc.
2. Specific equipping through occasional training events, equipping resources on our website, and through our volunteer Coaches.
3. Feeling the burden of responsibility. We have volunteers doing service that many churches pay people to do, such as scheduling, curriculum writing, and preparing classroom materials. We want to put our leaders in positions where they feel ownership over our ministry. They need to be participating stewards of God's resources.

2. The curriculum challenges the children.  The Gospel message changes lives, but it has to be more than basic Biblical principles, like “love others” and “make good choices” and “love God.” We want to get down to the core issues, especially that we are all sinners and undeserving of God’s love, but that our perfect God has shown His love for us through crushing His own Son on the cross. We never want to water down the message, even for young preschoolers. We don’t claim to be curriculum experts, but if we are going to err, it will be on the side of making the curriculum a little too advanced and challenging, rather than aiming low. Is our programming easy on all children? Of course not, but even in their frustrations we want them to see their need to put their hope in a Savior.

3. Small group relationships are crucial for life change. We’ve seen that when people use the term “small groups” in the context of Children’s Ministry, it can mean a variety of things. Some churches consider that 15-20 children per room. Some churches have a big group teaching time, and direct the kids and leaders to just break off into groups and go over a couple of questions. However, we feel that our Small Group time needs to be meaningful (with a thorough curriculum), fun (with activities and crafts), and intentional (with consistent leaders and class assignments).  We are also insistent on setting maximum numbers for our small groups, which is helped by our check-in system. With large classes, the experience is less meaningful and less safe for the children. After all, children, like adults, desire to belong to real community. 

Thoughts or questions?

Children's Ministry Values (Part 1 - Staff & Parents)

Last week, we discussed our mission in a 3-part series (The Tension, The Mission, The Call). Now, we want to explain what we value as a Children’s Ministry staff. Over the past few months, as we’ve met with and exchanged ideas with other churches, we came up with a list of 5 core values for our ministry. As our church continues to grow (we have gone from 2 to 6 services, and from 1 to 3 campuses, in just 2 years), these are some core values that we think we need to always hold constant.

1. The Children’s Ministry staff is connected to the rest of the church staff. Children’s Ministry has been one of Grace Church’s “growth engines” over the years. And we receive a lot of support and resources to meet our needs. Among children's ministry leaders at some churches, there is a mindset that their ministry is a separate “kingdom” that needs to be protected. A couple of years ago, we were even at a children's conference where the facilitator explained (half-jokingly, at best) that children’s leaders need to manipulate the senior pastor in order to get what they want. We were astounded, and thankful that we don’t have this atmosphere at Grace.

Likewise, we are connected to the rest of the church staff in that we may deliberately choose to do or not do things, for the better of the church as a whole. We are not about our own “kingdom,” although we are passionate about what we’re doing. For example, it is better for our programming to have a two-service format, so that volunteers can attend adult worship while also having consistent small group relationships with children. However, we know that we cannot always have 2 services, so we are learning how to do our programming without back-to-back services.

2. We want to reach and equip parents. We have a limited amount of time with children each week. Therefore, we know that in order to have a long-term impact in the lives of children, we must do it primarily through parents. There are several ways that we want to equip parents:
1. Informing parents of our programming. You can see our upcoming curricula outlines for Preschool and Camp Grace on our website. We give take-home materials that explain what was taught in class.
2. Providing specific parental equipping events.  We have had 3 big events (averaging more than 250 adults in attendance at each) since April 2008.  And on April 16-17 of this year, we will have another one, called Transitions Parenting Conference.
3. Providing a safe and secure environment, so parents can feel free to worship. We use an electronic check-in system (Parent Pager) that helps us know where all 800+ children are each weekend, and helps ensure that only authorized adults can check-out children. We have a simple but thorough safety plan. We have dedicated volunteers who can help young children and their parents through anxieties, and a method to contact parents in adult worship should a need arise.
4. Helping children want to come back. Because of a combination of loving volunteers, small group relationships, and fun programming, we have heard from a number of families that their children love coming, even begging to come, on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings.
5. Giving parents the opportunity to serve. At least one church we know does not allow parents to serve in children’s classrooms. (They have a very low number of children, so this works OK.)  But we think it’s crucial and a great opportunity for parents to serve during our weekend services.  See this blog post for a more detailed explanation why.

We’ll cover the other three values later this week.  What do you think about what we value in Staff and Parents?

Why Does Grace Children's Ministry Exist? - Part 3 (The Call)

We have already discussed the tension between focusing on parents versus focusing on children. Then, we discussed how our mission seeks to work in both ends of this tension. In this post, we want to give some ways that you can be a part of equipping the next generation. Remember, the odds are that if someone does not begin to follow Christ during their childhood or teen years, then they will NOT do so as an adult. We have a limited window of a fruitful opportunity!

1. Grow.  You need to be equipped, to become a mature follower yourself. You cannot lead to a place that you are not at yourself.  This doesn’t mean that you have to be perfect, but that you need to be in the process of growing as a true follower of Christ. Here are key ways that you can grow as a disciple:
1. be in the adult worship service regularly
2. participate in Biblical community
3. pursue God through His word and through prayer
4. give sacrificially
2. Learn. You need to be teachable. Read parenting books and articles. Listen to teaching about parenting. Ask questions, not just of your peers, but also of people who are in a life stage ahead of you. Ask your Community Group leader or email us parenting questions. Go to parenting equipping events. We don’t do many events at Grace Church, so when we do offer them, make it a priority to be there. Be humble enough to let someone else come alongside you and equip you.
3. Serve. Be poured out (2 Timothy 4:6) for the sake of God’s Kingdom. Should parents of young children serve in the local church, since they are tired and busy? Absolutely!  See last week’s post for a more full explanation, but in general, know that Grace Church believes that all our members should be involved in sacrificial service within the church body. Nearly 1000 people are needed to serve just during our weekend programming, in Children’s Ministry, Student Ministry, Hospitality, and Worship. Don't go to church; be a part of it.
4. Preach the word. Make everything about the Gospel for your children. This is not just about Biblical principles, but about always remembering and reminding them that God is glorious (and deserving of our worship), we are sinners (and deserving of judgment and hell), and Christ died for our sins (proving that God loves us). Don’t be quick to always remove obstacles and hardships from your life and the lives of your children. At the least, use these hardships to lead your children away from self-idolatry or worldliness, and toward a life of repentant faith and dependence on the message of the cross.

 Questions or comments about our mission?

Why Does Grace Children's Ministry Exist? - Part 2 (The Mission)

Yesterday’s post explained the tension that we face regarding the purpose of our Children’s Ministry. We recognize the need to help parents grow and to equip them to lead their children. At the same time, we need to pour into children as well, with programming that is both fun and meaningful.

About 3 years ago, we re-wrote our mission statement.  Grace Children’s Ministry exists to . . .

• Assist parents in leading their children towards a Gospel-centered life,
• Equip volunteers to shepherd children, and
• Encourage children to grow in Christ by teaching them Biblical truths in meaningful ways.

We want to be clear on what we feel are our responsibilities, and what are not. Our roles are to assist parents (such as through take-home materials, equipping events, etc), equip volunteers (through training, our website, coaches, etc), and encourage children (through curriculum, programming, take-homes, etc). However, these three things are not the ultimate goals and “wins” for our ministry.

What are the “wins” for Grace Children’s Ministry?  Parents leading their children, volunteers shepherding children, and children growing in Christ. We cannot make these things happen. We can only help create opportunities for them to occur. We can have parenting and volunteer equipping events. We can give out take-homes. We can write curriculum and schedule hundreds of volunteers. But the rest is out of our hands. And if parents are leading, volunteers are shepherding, and children are growing outside of the tools we provide, that is even better! We are in no way claiming that we know all the answers, but we’re glad to be a part of the process.

Of course, the primary goal is to have children coming to know and grow in Christ. We want to equip the next generation for a life in Christ. Of course, we cannot control this; this is a work of the Holy Spirit. But we also know that God wants us to invest our resources into kingdom-building works. This is not a fruitless and joyless burden. Instead, we rejoice in the fact that He allows us to be a part of His work. 

What does it look like for you to be a part of building Christ’s Kingdom? Come back tomorrow.

Why Does Grace Children's Ministry Exist? - Part 1 (The Tension)

Studies show that most people who make a profession of faith and a decision to follow Christ will do so before the age of 18. Therefore, there is no doubt that there is a need to reach young hearts for the sake of the Gospel and God’s Kingdom. The question is how that is best accomplished.

On one end of the spectrum, we could say that it is responsibility of parents alone to disciple their children, and we could make a great Biblical case for this (Deuteronomy 6, Proverbs, etc). In this scenario, the role of children’s ministry is mainly to come alongside parents who themselves are being equipped and discipled. Our resources would be funneled primarily into equipping parents.

On the other end, we could say that the local church has a big part to play in equipping the next generation, alongside (not in lieu of) parents. We have an increasing number of families coming to Grace Church who are from a background where they have not been taught what it looks like to lead their children towards a Gospel-centered life. As a church, we strive to help them become mature followers of Christ. But what do we do with their children while the parents are in this growing process? Can we make our church a place where children want to come back and where they are taught Biblical truths? If this is true, our resources should be funneled into fun and interactive and meaningful programming.

So, we have this challenge/choice/tension: Do we put our limited resources (money, time, energy) into adults, to help them become better Christ-followers and leaders? Or, should we pour our resources out into having exciting and intense weekend programming, where kids love coming?  The answer, we believe, is “Yes” to both.

See tomorrow’s post for more about this.

Why Parents of Young Children Should Serve in Children's Ministry

Parents of young children regularly ask us if they are expected to serve during our weekend services. We understand the thinking behind it, since parents in this season of life are tired and busy. But we must understand that virtually everyone is busy and tired in their own stage of life! The question is, “What are we tired and busy with?”  Many people have the time and energy for other good activities (work, hobbies, extra-curricular activities, para-church organizations, etc), while neglecting or minimizing service within the local church.

We need to make the most of every hour of the week, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). If you’re not serving during one of our weekend services, what are you doing to redeem that time? Furthermore, we must remember that hundreds and hundreds of people made sacrifices to create room for people like us to be a part of Grace Church, and we all should do likewise.

Here are some other reasons why parents should serve:

1. Be a model for their own children. We all need to serve outside the church, but your children need to see you put a high value on giving to the local church. The church is one of the few God-ordained institutions.
2. They have experience and knowledge. We love that so many singles and young couples serve. But who understands children better than parents who are right in the midst of it?
3. There is a need. You have probably noticed that Grace Church has a very high ratio of children to adults. Furthermore, we have over 100 children’s small groups every single weekend. Somebody needs to serve. It’s as plain as that.
4. Opportunity to invest in other children. This goes from leaders of 2-year-olds who reinforce the principle that children need to obey and love others, to the leaders of 9-year-olds who foster an environment where children can learn and relate. Many children in our church body are not being spiritually-led at home. Who is going to teach them?
5. Receive a blessing from God. Do you trust that God will honor you and bless you for your service? You cannot outdo God in the area of faithfulness and giving. God commands sacrificial service, and He blesses those who obey Him in this area.

The Holy Spirit Unites Believers Together in Christ

Not only does the Holy Spirit work in the hearts of individuals, He “also works to unite all saved people together within a beautiful and joy-filled family, a body of Christ’s own people” (“Big Truths for Young Hearts,” pp. 161).  But this unity is not an end to itself; rather, there should be an outward manifestations that flow from this inward reality.  This can be seen in a simple cause-effect relationship, as seen on pages 162-164 of this book. 

• Cause #1:  Believers are brothers and sisters of one heavenly Father (Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 3:26)
• Cause #2:  Believers are parts of the same body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13)
• Therefore:  Believers should seek God’s grace to truly love one another (I Corinthians 12:4-26)

That is, the fact that we Christ-followers are Spirit-led should be obvious in how we are loving each other.  We are called to use the gifts He has given us to advance His kingdom and to bless others. 

How has the Spirit led you to be united with and bless other Christ-followers?