RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Guess what?  Sunday always returns and you have to be ready. 

Some call it the "relentless return of the sabbath."

Here are 7 things you must do each week to be ready for Sunday. 

Pray.

Prayer makes the difference. Nothing of eternal value happens without prayer. 

Each week you must spend time praying for your volunteers, the ministry, and God's anointing.  This verse always convicts me. 

He appointed twelve that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach. Mark 3:14

Our first priority must be prayer. Then out of our time with Jesus comes the ministry.  Prayer can often be something we are tempted to skip or go light on.  But if we are going to see God move, then we must first spend time with Him.

Volunteer communication. 

Don't expect your volunteers to shine on Sunday if you keep them in the dark during the week.  Make sure you are touching base with them during the week.  Phone calls. Emails. Text.  Social media.  Set your volunteers up for success through good communication.

Details promised. 

Did you promise a volunteer or parent that you would take care of something?  If you don't follow through and take care of it, then it will hurt your leadership. Keeping details is not easy.  I have to write everything down when I hear it.  Then I transfer it to my do list for that week. 

Here is an example. This past Sunday, one of my volunteers let me know that the clock in their room is broken. She asked me if we could get her a new clock. I wrote it down and then on Monday I ordered the clock.  When this volunteer walks into her room on Sunday and sees the new clock hanging on the wall, she will feel valued and heard. 

Details promised and kept will help you earn trust with your volunteers. Even the smallest of details make a statement when acknowledged and completed.

Follow up with guests. 

A phone call? A text message? An email? Have a follow-up plan in place. 

I have found a follow-up plan that is very effective. I contact our first-time male guests and invite them to have lunch with me one day that week.  Believe it or not, most people say "yes."  If I can have lunch with them and share the heart and vision of our church, there is a good chance they are going to return and join us. I have a lot of success stories with this strategy.

Write some thank you notes. 

Send a personal, handwritten note to some of your volunteers and families. This is another simple thing that makes a big impact. In the days of technology, a handwritten note is gold.

Go into the weekend with the little details already taken care of. 

Don't wait until Sunday morning to complete your tasks. Do them ahead of time. You want Sunday to be a time when you can spend time with your volunteers and guests.  But you can't do this if you are having to run around trying to finish details on Sunday morning.  

The more tasks you can take care of early, the more freedom you will have to spend your time with people on Sunday morning.  It will also make your Sunday mornings a lot less stressful.

Rest. 

Find some time each week to rest. Take your day off. Take your day off. Take your day off.  

Get the point?  

If you are going into the weekend with little or no rest, it will catch up to you.

Don't try to be superman or superwoman.  You will burn out and the "S" will fall off your shirt.

Create a rhythm of rest. If you are going to go the distance, this is essential. 

So there you have it. Seven things you must do every week to be ready for Sunday.  

What are some other things you do to prepare for Sunday?  Share your thoughts and insights in the comment section below.  

Handwriting was a big deal when I was a kid. We spent hours upon hours trying to perfect our skills in this. 

But times have changed over the years. Today's kids aren't doing as much handwriting. 

The biggest reason is because of the shift to technology. 

Devices such as smart phones and laptops in schools has reduced the time children spend handwriting.

Today's kids spend a lot more time typing than they do handwriting.  

In today's culture, learning how to type on a key board is far more essential than learning to write out things by hand. Many schools have removed handwriting instruction since it is becoming less relevant than typing. While handwriting has not become completely obsolete yet, it is used less frequently due to digital communication. It appears that penmanship is going the way of a lost art.

Fast forward ahead and we will see talking overtaking typing. Voice assistants have led to a significant decrease in the amount of time people spend writing by hand.  Does this sound familiar?

"Hey Siri."

Hit the "mic" button and speak what you'd like to put in writing. 

Google and Android devices await your spoken command. 

These findings reveal changes that are gradually happening. Today's kids are growing up in a digital world which affects how we communicate with them.

In children's ministry, it is important that we keep tabs on these type of changes. This can affect how we successfully communicate God's Word with kids.  

Are we trying to do handwritten ministry in a digital, typing world?  Our message doesn't change...but how we share the message has to be adjusted at times to communicate effectively for today's kids and families.

There is always a debate about whether churches should use Halloween as outreach event. 

There are strong opinions on both sides of the fence.  Some take a hard stand and say that Halloween belongs to the evil one and Christians should not acknowledge it and stay far away. 

Others believe it is harmless and is a great opportunity to reach people for Christ. 

I personally fall on the side of the second category. While I do know that Halloween has some links to a dark past, I believe that it is now harmless and is a great opportunity to share the Gospel with neighbors, co-workers, teammates and other people outside the church. It gives us an opportunity that we wouldn't get otherwise. 

Here is how I use Halloween for outreach purposes. As people enter our building that night, they will be directed to our worship center. In the worship center, I will have a 5-10 minute "family-fun program." In this program, we will have a fun song that everyone knows, we will have a couple of large group family games on stage where guests will compete for prizes like a TV, movie tickets, family board games,etc. 

I will then share a short Gospel message and pray over the families.  Everyone needs prayer and this is a great opportunity to pray for the families and plant Gospel seeds.  

I will give everyone a glow-in-the-dark bracelet as well for coming.  

From there, families will go into the gym where we will have candy booths set up to pass out candy. 

We will repeat this same flow every 20 minutes until the last group has come in. 

I am praying we will see many families come to Christ that night and in the weeks afterwards. 

So...that is what I am doing for Halloween. 

What about you?  

Do you think Halloween is evil and we shouldn't do anything that night?

Do you think it's a great outreach opportunity and we should redeem it?  

Share your thoughts and ideas in the comment section below. 

The parents do not attend church. But they do bring their daughter to our mid-week program. 

I will be sharing the Gospel with the parents and their child together.  I am praying that the entire family will come to Christ.  

I believe God can use children to bring an entire family to Christ. 

Think about all the times in the Bible when people came to Jesus for one reason...they needed something for their child.  Their child was sick. Their child needed healing. Their child had died.  So their first contact with Jesus was because of their child. 

Fast forward. I believe the same thing happens today. People come to Jesus because of their children. God works in the heart of parents when they send their children to church. They want their child to have some kind of spiritual foundation. They may not even be able to put it into words, but they know something is missing in their family and they come seeking what that may be. 

In other instances, young adults drop out of church.  They walk away from their faith for the time being. But then they get married and have a child. They look at their child and God begins to work in their heart. They begin to think about their child getting some kind of spiritual foundation in their life and so they bring them to church. As God begins to work in the life of the child, He uses it to also work in the heart of the parents. 

Over the years, I have seen thousands of kids come to Jesus and follow Him in baptism.  That's good news, but there is more good news.  I have also seen hundreds of parents come to Christ as well because of their children's example.  

Here are a few tips on how to see parents come to Christ along with their children. 

Always be thinking about and praying for parents.  

Pray that God will work in the heart of parents. Pray that God will draw parents who don't know Jesus. Understand that parents are the greatest influence in the life of a child. 

When you reach a child, you change a life. When you reach parents, you change an entire family.

No matter how far a parent is from God, when you minister to their child, you have their attention. 

Share the Gospel with kids and parents together. 

I believe this is key. Rather than praying with a child for salvation, invite them to a class that they attend with their parents. In this class, share the Gospel clearly.  When you do this, you will see parents come to Christ along with their children. 

I created a class called Starting Point. The class is designed to share the Gospel with kids and parents together. It is a game-changer. You can get the class at this link.  

Invite parents to take a spiritual step with their child.

Invite parents and children to come to Christ. After they have stepped across the line of faith, invite them to attend a baptism class together. You can get the class at this link.  

I could tell you countless stories of seeing parents reached through their children. I once even saw 3 generations baptized together because we were intentional about sharing the Gospel with families.

I pray this article will encourage and inspire you to reach parents through their children. This is the greatest mission field in the world. The harvest is ripe. Will you labor in this field?