RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Do you need more volunteers?

Do you want to reach more kids and families in your community?

Do you want to see more kids discipled and grounded in their faith?

I'm going to share a simple truth with you that can help you in all of these endeavors.

Here's how you do it...

ONE at a time. 

"One at a time" takes an ongoing commitment to building a team and reaching kids and families.  

At one of the churches where I served as a children's pastor we saw the volunteer team grow from 300 to over 2,000 in nine years. 

How did we do it?  One ask a time.  One person at a time.  One week at a time.  After doing this for nine years, we looked up one day and had over 2,000 volunteers.

If you are going to build a great volunteer team,  you can't just rely on a general church-wide ask for volunteers.  You might get a few volunteers from this, but it won't be the catalyst that helps you build a great team.  Rather, the key is the personal, one-on-one ask. 

Think about it. That is the way Jesus built His team.  One personal ask at a time. One new disciple at a time. 

Here's what I would challenge you to do.  Make your dream list of volunteers. If you could have all of the volunteers you needed, what would that look like?  Get this down in writing.  Then start asking God to help you fill the empty spots.  One at a time. 

87-93% of people who are serving were asked to serve through a personal invite.  

The Bible tells us that "we have not because we ask not."  Make a commitment to asking people to join your team...one person at a time.

If you'd like more tips and strategies for building a volunteer team, you can get it from my book "The Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams."  It is available at this link.  It has been called the best book ever written on the subject.

If you are going to reach the kids and families in your community with the Gospel it is primarily going to happen the same way...one child at a time...one parent at a time...one family at a time.

If you look the ministry of Jesus, He spent a lot of time reaching people one a time.

The woman at the well.

Nicodemus.

Zacchaeus.

The man possessed with a legion of demons.

Person after person...one at a time. 

At one of the churches where I served as a children's pastor we saw over 430 kids and dozens of parents come to Christ and get baptized in one year.

How did that happen?  One child and one parent at a time. We consistently shared the Gospel with kids and parents.

Hundreds of churches are using this to see many kids and parents come to Christ. 

Make a commitment that you are going to reach your community one child and one parent at a time. Keep sharing the Gospel and watch what God does. 

One volunteer at a time.

One child and parent at a time.

Will you make a commitment to put in the work it takes?  

Are you willing to ask and invite a person every single week?

You can do this. God is with you.

The most important thing you do is sharing the Gospel with kids and their parents.  The Gospel is the power of God for salvation.   

Think about these questions with me.

Am I sharing the Gospel with kids and parents on a regular basis?

When was the last time I saw a child come to Christ?

When was the last time I saw a parent come to Christ?

When was the last time I saw someone baptized?

We know that stats show that most people who come to Christ do so when they are children.  I believe children and their parents are the greatest mission field in the world.  Our opportunity to share the Gospel and reach children quickly fades away as they move into their older teen and adult years. 

Here's the good news.  I have a strategy that can help you see kids and parents come to Christ on a regular basis. Here it is. 

Share the Gospel on a regular basis.  You can't share the Gospel enough.  Every week is great.  At the very least, you should share the Gospel twice a month. 

Ask kids who want to step across the line of faith to raise their hands during prayer time. 

When their parents come to pick them up, let their parents know that you have a class they can attend with their child. In that class, you will share what it means to enter a relationship with Jesus.

The class should be a family class for kids and their parents. No drop offs.  This is key if you want to reach kids and their parents with the Gospel.

In the class, clearly share the Gospel with the kids and their parents. You want to make sure they understand what it means to follow Jesus.  

At the end of the class, give parents the opportunity to lead their child to Jesus.  Or if the child is not ready to accept Christ, encourage them to continue having the conversation with their child at home.  Provide parents with a tool they can use to share the Gospel with their child. 

And here's the cool thing.  When parents get in the class and hear the Gospel presented clearly, you will see many of them step across the line of faith as well.  

Invite those who step across the line of faith to attend another class about baptism.  In this second class, clearly explain why you should be baptized. 

I have developed two classes for this strategy.  Starting Point is a class where you share the Gospel using scripture, videos, object lessons and dialogue.  Baptism for Kids explains what it means to follow Jesus in baptism.

This strategy has been proven to work.  In one year, I saw over 430 children and dozens of parents step across the line of faith, become followers of Jesus and follow Him in baptism.  Every single one had attended the classes.

Here is a testimony from a church that has started using this strategy. 

"I just wanted to share a quick praise report about implementing your Starting Point Class material this past year. 

We had 50 kids respond for salvation on Easter and sent home in their salvation packet to parents a follow-up QR code promo for kids and parents to attend our follow-up “Starting Point” classes on a Wednesday night. 

We had eleven children register. Two were guest families! They complimented the content and the creative ways of connecting with kids and teaching them about salvation and baptism. It was also the first time half the men including a grandpa attended with the family. 

This coming Sunday, I have the honor of baptizing half the group, and the rest will get baptized during the Summer. 

Thank you for providing us with excellent discipleship tools." 

If you'd like more information about these tools, click on the classes below. 

Starting Point

Baptism for Kids

If you have more questions, feel free to contact me in the comment section below.  

God wants to use you to reach kids and families with the Gospel.

When I am not traveling out of town, I am part of my brother's church.

Yesterday, we had baptisms after the service. 6 precious people followed Jesus in baptism.  They varied in age from 10 all the way to age 77.

It was a joyous occasion and we made sure as a church body that we are with them on their spiritual journey.

After each person was baptized, the clapper you see in the picture was used by everyone in the church to celebrate the person's step of obedience.

Why?  Because when a person comes to faith the Bible says there is a big party in heaven. 

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.  Luke 15:7

When someone steps across the line of faith they throw a big party in heaven.  I'm sure it's a party worth remembering.  

Many years ago, when I was around 30 years old, the church where I was serving decided to do a remodel of the children's ministry area.  We made it very, very kid-friendly.  We even decided to put a baptistry in this new kid's area so kids could be baptized if they choose to and their parents were present.

When a child was baptized, there were 2 confetti cannons that would shoot confetti over all the kids in the audience.  Everyone would stand and celebrate with the person that had just been baptized.  Shouts of joy!  Cheering.  Lots of high-fives.

I took a lot of criticism for this.  Critics were quick to say that we were coercing kids into being baptized.  That we were making it too much "fun" to be baptized.  That it wasn't serious enough.

If you want to see an example. Here's a prominent website that criticized us.

The truth was that every child who was baptized had went through an interview to make sure they understood why they were being baptized.  Parents were also part of the meeting.  

If the child had made a clear salvation decision, understood what baptism meant and the parents agreed, then we allowed them to be baptized.   

Each baptism was preceded by a time of prayer and a hush filled the room as the child was baptized.  But a as soon as the child came up out of the water, a celebration started.  Confetti cannons were released, cheering could be heard, clapping was thunderous.  

Why?  Because if people can cheer and shout for their sport's team for hours upon hours, why shouldn't we cheer and shout for someone who has embraced Jesus as their Savior.  

We are simply mirroring the party that is going on in Heaven.  

If you need to criticize this or don't agree with this, then go ahead.  Don't get excited about kids taking the step to be baptized.  But as for me, I will celebrate with kids and families when they become part of the kingdom of God and then show everyone the decision they made by being baptized.

I have some great tools that you can use to prepare kids for baptism.  You can check them out at these links.

Starting Point (salvation class to help kids and parents understand what it means to follow Jesus)

Baptism Celebration (explains to kids and parents what it means to be baptized.  It also includes everything you need to have a time of celebration.

And if you want to get some clappers to help the celebration get started, you can get them here.

People celebrate things that are important to them.  Nothing is more important than pointing kids to Jesus and teaching them how to follow Him.  

Grab a clapper and join the celebration. 

Are you preparing for 2021?  Although there will be many things that will be different, there is also the need to have the right resources to accomplish the key, core things we are called to do in children's ministry.  

Here are 10 key areas of ministry that you want to have in place as you enter 2021.

Leading children and families to Jesus.  This hits the top of the list.  Nothing we do is as important as carrying out the Great Commission and seeing kids and families enter a relationship with Jesus.

Starting Point is a proven resource that can help you see many kids and parents come to Jesus.  Using this resource, I have seen thousands of kids and parents come to faith in Jesus.  This class has everything you need to lead kids and parents to Jesus.  And through Dec. 15, you can get it for only $39 - normally sells for $69.  Click here to see more about this incredible resource. 

The first step of obedience after a child or parent comes to Jesus is to follow Him in baptism.  Baptism for Kids is a great resource to help kids and families understand what baptism means and see them take that step.  Using this tool, I saw over 430 kids and many parents follow Jesus in baptism in one year. And through Dec. 15, you can get it for only $39 - normally sells for $69.  Click here to see more about this resource.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of every ministry.  It has been  a challenge during this season of Covid-19 to keep volunteers engaged.  This book will help you to continue building your volunteer team.  I used the principles in this book to grow a volunteer team from 300 to 2,600 in 8 years.  This book has been called the best book ever written on the subject. And you can get it now for only $10.  Click here to see more info. about this book.

Kids' Worship Album.  Been singing the same songs for awhile now?  Is it time to introduce 12 brand new songs that were written for kids?  Much of the kids' worship music that is being released is really adult songs that people have tried to bring down to a kids' level.  Problem is...many times kids don't engage with these songs.  What kids need are songs that are not adapted down, but rather were written first and foremost for kids to begin with.  These 12 songs were written and produced by the amazing Travis August.  You get the songs, worship videos and motions examples for only $29.  Click here to get more information. 

Apologetics Series for Kids.  In a time when we are seeing many kids walk away from the faith, it is crucial that we teach kids why we believe what we believe and give them the tools they need to have a faith that will last for a lifetime.  The teaching series "Pranksters" was written to help kids develop a strong faith.  The hard questions are asked and answered in this series.  You can get more information at this link.

That's why it's important to have a clear strategy and plan to equip parents during this time. This resource is just what you need for this. It was developed in a local church setting and has been used to help ground thousands of parents in the faith and set them on the path to successful parenting.  

It includes everything you need for a parent and child dedication class.  Also includes everything you need to facilitate the parent & child dedication event.  You can get more information at this link.  The sale price right now is reduced from $49 to only $29.

Curriculum series called "Amazing Animals."  This 4-week series was filmed live with world renowned animal expert Jack Hanna at the Columbus, Ohio Zoo.  Jack introduces us to some amazing animals that God created and helps us see that we were also created special by God. Kids learn who they are in Christ and that He loves them.  You can get more information at this link.  Sale price is reduced from $79 to only $49.  

Blab Lab Curriculum Series.  The Blab Lab gets kids excited about blabbing about (sharing) their faith with others. Each week kids create an invention they can use to tell other people about Jesus. The Blab Lab is directed by Professor Blabalot and his sidekick, Crum. There's plenty of mishaps and fun along the way, as the Professor and Crum, test out their "blab about your faith" inventions with the kids.  You can get more information at this link.

10 Kidmin Trends You Need to Know If You Want to Grow (webinar - on demand)

Now and Later Video

There are many more resources on sale now through Dec.15.  These resources will help you have your best year ever in ministry.  Look out 2021...here we come!