RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

I believe kids are key to a church's success. Here's why...

Jesus made children's ministry a priority.  

In the midst of busy ministry, the disciples tried to divert children away from Jesus. 

But Jesus quickly made known His priority in the situation. He told the disciples to let the children come to Him. 

When a church makes children's ministry a top priority, it is inviting Jesus' presence and blessings upon it. 

Jesus reminds us of this in Matthew 9. 

“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes not only me but the One who sent me.” 

Welcoming children is about valuing them. If you want to see Jesus' blessings fall upon your church, make children's ministry a priority.

Many people come to Christ because of their children.

Think about this with me. Think about the many instances in Scripture where people came to Jesus for one reason. They needed something for their children. Healing. Deliverance. Raised back to life from death. 

Their introduction...their compelling need...their draw was because of their children. 

I have personally seen this happen thousands of times.  Parents bring their children to church because their child is starting to ask questions about what it means to follow Jesus or about baptism. 

Parents also bring their children to church because they want their children to get a good life foundation to build upon. 

In the process, the parents end up coming to Christ as well. One of the primary ways I have seen this happen is through parents bringing their child to a salvation class / milestone.  The parents get in the class with their child, hear the Gospel clearly, and realize they need to come to Christ as well. 

I have a class / milestone I use for this. It's called Starting Point.  You can get it at this link.  Use this class and I promise you that you will see kids and parents come to Christ. 

Children's ministry is a big reason why families pick a church. 

Here are the top 2 reasons why families pick a church.

How friendly are you?  

What do you have to offer my kids?

Tonight there will be a family who decides to go out to eat. They will drive past steak houses, nice Italian restaurants, and other high-end places to eat. 

They will end up going to McDonalds. Why? Because that's where the kids want to go. The kids want to get a kid's meal and they want to play on the playground. 

A church that is really serious about reaching families will make note of this phenomenon and will tailor their ministry after this. They will spend money on building an indoor playground. They will create spaces designed with kids in mind. They will make children's ministry a significant amount of their budget. They will hire quality staff for children's ministry. 

How many children's ministry staff members should you have?  I created a chart that can help you with this. It tells you what positions you should hire and when you should hire them.  Send me an email and I will send it to you free of charge.

Children are the greatest mission field in the world.

There are nearly 2 billion Gen Alpha kids in the world...most of them don't know Jesus. We know that about 80% of people who come to Christ do so before the age of 18. 

Children are the greatest mission field and we must reach them while we can. We must share Jesus with them while their hearts are young and tender to the things of God. 

Churches that focus on reaching children with the Gospel will be blessed.

Churches that consistently share the Gospel with children will have the anointing of God on their ministry.  

Churches that reflect the heart of God for children's salvation will be aligned with His heart.  

The next generation is the future of every church. 

I often drive by an empty, decaying church building. There is a for sale sign on the property. When I see this I am reminded that at one time they were babies crying in the nursery. At one time there were kids laughing in the hallways. At one time there were teenagers giggling in a classroom. 

But the church wasn't able to pass along the faith to them.  The baton got dropped.  Perhaps it was dropped because of tradition. Perhaps it was dropped because the older generation wasn't willing to change to reach the next generation. Perhaps it was dropped because of a lack of strategy to reach young families. Perhaps it was dropped because the church put rules before relationships. Perhaps it was dropped because children's ministry wasn't a priority. Perhaps it was dropped because of a lack of vision to pass along the faith to the generation that was coming behind them. 

Remember...without succession there is no success. 

Here's what I know.  If you look at the largest, fastest growing churches in the country, you will see children's ministry is a top priority for them.  Without exception. 

Bottom line...if you want your church to succeed you must make children's ministry a top priority. Kids are a key part of a church's success.

The greatest thing you can do for kids this Christmas is to share the Gospel with them. This is the heartbeat of Christmas. 

Here are 3 ways you can effectively share the Gospel with kids this Christmas.

Christmas Lesson

How will you share the Gospel through your lesson?  

I created a special Christmas lesson that shares the Gospel with kids. It's called the The Christmas Gift. It follows the story of a boy named Andrew who discovers the true meaning of Christmas and is given the greatest Christmas gift ever...Jesus. You can get more info. and order the lesson as an instant download at this link.

The Candy Cane Illustration 

Give each child a candy cane and use it to share the Gospel. 

The candy cane was created by a Christian candy maker many years ago.  He made it to help share the Gospel with kids.

White Candy – A symbol of our sinless Savior (2 Corinthians 5:31, 1 John 1:7). His sacrifice for our sins washes them away and makes us clean.

Red Stripes – A reminder that by the shedding of Christ’s blood and His death on the cross we are rescued from our sins and given eternal life. (Ephesians 1:7 & 2:8)

Shepherd’s Staff – The candy cane is in the shape of a shepherd's staff. Jesus is the Good Shepherd and His sheep will hear His voice and follow Him (Psalm 23:1, John 10:11).

Letter J – When the candy cane is turned upside down, it looks like a “J” representing Jesus our Savior (Matthew 1:21, John 3:17).

Happy Birthday Jesus Party

Invite the kids to a "Happy Birthday Jesus Party."  Make the party all about Him as the kids celebrate the birth of Jesus. 

Have a happy birthday cake for the kids to eat and take up a special offering for Jesus. Use the money the kids give to help people who are in need or for a special missions project. 

You can get the lesson for this at this link. 

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?