RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

How can you know when a child is ready to enter a relationship with Jesus?

Is there a specific age of accountability?

How can you help kids understand what it means to follow Jesus so that "they get it?" 

I remember one weekend when I was teaching the elementary group in my church.

I asked one of the girls, who was 9 years old at the time, if she had accepted Jesus as her Savior.

Her response was, "Not yet. My mother doesn't think I am old enough to understand."

I have also seen the opposite happen.  A parent is pushing for his or her child to "pray the prayer" and then get baptized. But the child is only 4-5 years old. 

So how do you know when a child is old enough to step across the line of faith?  

As a children's ministry leader, it is crucial that you know what to look for and how you can help families navigate the most important decision their child will ever make.

Here are the key things a child needs to know if they are going to enter a relationship with Jesus.

I have sinned.  Before you can be saved, you have to understand that you are lost.  If you ask a child if they have ever sinned and they say "no," then they are not ready to be saved.  Romans 3:23 makes this very clear.  

There is a price for sin that must be paid.  A child must understand that they cannot enter a relationship with Jesus until their sin bill is paid. (Romans 6:23)

Jesus died for our sins.  He has paid our sin bill.  We must ask Him to forgive our sins and trust Him and Him alone, for our salvation. (John 3:16, Romans 10:9-10)

Another way you can know is this - the child keeps bringing up the subject on their own. If they keep coming back to you about this, then it is a sign that God is drawing them to Himself.

Here's something else to look for - you sense the child understands they need to make this decision. It is not because their friends have done this and it seems like a cool thing to do.  Or they saw their friends get baptized and it looked fun to them.  There's a big difference between "wanting" to make a decision vs. "needing" to make a decision.

What age should a child be?  This is different for each child.  However, around age 7-8, children begin to understand abstract thoughts.  Here's an example.

You tell a child that Jesus is the bridge back to God.  A 5-year-old child is thinking there is a literal bridge back to God that you have to cross.  But an older child understands that this is just an example of what it means to follow Jesus. 

Here's what I often tell parents and church leaders.  It is not our role to hold a child back from making a decision.  It is also not our role to push children into making a premature decision. Our role is to walk beside the child and have conversations about following Jesus. As you do this, God will draw them to Himself.  

It is so important to be thorough when sharing the Gospel with children.  Children are the greatest mission field in the world. We know that most people come to Christ before the age of 18.  We must reach them while their hearts are open to the Gospel.  

I am also a big proponent of involving parents in their child's decision for Christ.  I recently wrote an article about this that you can read here - Why I Won't Lead Kids in a Salvation Prayer at VBS.

If you are looking for a resource to help you lead children and parents to Christ, then Starting Point  is a great resource. It's a salvation class that parents and their children attend together. It has been used to lead thousands of kids to Christ.  You can get more information at this link. 

What a privilege we have to share the Gospel with children and their parents.  May God continue to pour down His blessings upon you while you are sharing the Gospel.  There is nothing that is more important than this. 

This Sunday, you will have the opportunity to teach children about Jesus.

Don't take the opportunity lightly. You will be standing in front of a group of people who need the Gospel.  

Unless something changes, there will be a large percentage who are growing up to be "nones." This means when they are asked what religion they are involved in...their answer will be "none."  

We know this - we only have a short window of time before the next generation is lost in a culture that has little or no time for God.  The window of opportunity to reach them is closing earlier and earlier. 

You've probably seen the stats that show the vast majority of kids who come to Christ do so before the age of 16.  

We must share the Gospel with them on a weekly basis.  

We must be urgent in reaching them with the Gospel.  

This mission deserves your very best.  

Its' time we stop looking at the lesson for the first time during the red lights on the way to church. 

We must come prepared.

We must come prayed up.

We must come passionate about the mission field God has placed us in.

We must come anointed with the power of God that makes Scripture come alive for kids and families.

Here is a resource that can help you.

Starting Point is a one-time class that shares with kids and parents what it means to follow Jesus.  These are the materials I used to see over 430 kids and parents come to Christ and get baptized in one year. Here is a link where you can get more information about this class.

Hundreds of churches across the country are using this resource. Join them and begin to see kids and families come to Jesus before the window of opportunity closes.

Effective children's ministries have processes in place for their key areas of ministry.  They don't just "wing it."  They know ahead of time what the steps will be for ministry situations. 

Let's look at 3 of the key areas you need to have a process for.

Volunteers 

How you bring volunteers onto your team is extremely important.  A volunteer's on-boarding experience sets the tone for their volunteering in the ministry. 

A haphazard attitude when bringing volunteers on board says your ministry is not carefully planned out and volunteering in your ministry is no big deal.    

Here is the process I have used for bringing volunteers on the team.  

Step one - Get the contact information for anyone who is interested in volunteering. 

Step two - Set up a personal interview with the person. (you can get my volunteer interview questions at this link).  In this interview, address any hard questions that need to be asked.

Step three - Run a background check if you think the person will be a good fit coming out of the personal interview.

Step four - Call the references the potential volunteer gave you.

Step five - Invite the potential volunteer to an orientation meeting - at the end of this meeting they are an official volunteer. 

Step six - Help the volunteer get connected with their area of service. Provide them with hands on training. 

Guest Follow-Up.  

If you want to see guests return for a second visit, it's important to have a follow-up process.  Here is a process I have used that works well.  

As our guest services team is checking in a new family, they ask some key questions to get some information about the guests.  Did you just move to the area?  Where from?  How did you hear about our church?  Have you made any friends yet?  

(for the kids) What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?  What do you do for fun?  What's your favorite kind of candy?  Who's your favorite super hero?  

Once the volunteers take the guests to the appropriate room - they then go back to the guest services area.  When they have a few minutes, they write out a handwritten note to the guest family they just helped check in.  In the note, they include something personal they just learned about the family.  This makes the note go to a new level as they realize you remembered something specific about their family. 

They can then turn in the note card to you so you can mail it to the guest family on Monday. 

Here are some other steps you can take as you follow-up with new families.

Include on the card a note that says they can bring it back for a free gift on their next visit.  I gave away t-shirts with the ministry logo on it when they came back.  

Other steps you can use to follow up with volunteers is text message them, call them on the phone or maybe dropping off a plate of brownies.

A child inviting Jesus into their life.   The most important thing we do as children's ministries is sharing the Gospel with children and families.  That being said, it is crucial that you have a clear pathway that children can see and understand.  Maybe that's why we call it God's PLAN of salvation. 

If you have read very many of my articles, you will know I am a big proponent of making sure we are giving children a clear presentation of the Gospel.  I also believe parents should play the biggest role in leading children to Jesus.  

I have found that the most thorough way of leading children to Jesus is to have a class they go through with their parents.  In the class, the Gospel is clearly shared.  And the cool thing,  if you do this, you will also see parents make a decision to follow Jesus by accepting His way of salvation.  If you are looking for a clear process for leading children and parents to Jesus, then I recommend a class called Starting Point.  Starting Point has been used to lead thousands of children and parents to Christ across the country.  You can get more information at this link. 

What a huge responsibility we have to reach and disciple the next generation.  I can't tell you how important it is to have clear steps in place. 

 Clear processes help children and parents take clear steps in their journey with Jesus.