RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Kids love games.  And games can bring fun, energy and excitement to your children's ministry.

But...don't play games just for the sake of playing games.  Everything we do in children's ministry should be done with a purpose...including games.

When done with a purpose, games can be a highly effective way to communicate God's truth.  Games can provide hands on activities, engage kinesthetic learners and lead to critical thinking and engaging discussions.

Every game you play should lead to a debriefing and discussion about a Biblical truth.  Here's a simple pathway we use to make this happen when planning a game.

Start with the Biblical truth.  Everything we do should first and foremost be about communicating Biblical truth.  So it's not about having a cool game and thinking, "The kids will love this game.  Let's find a truth we can tie it to."  Instead, our process should be, "This is a great Biblical truth that we want the kids to understand and apply to their lives...how can we use a game to help them get it?"

Find a game that will help the kids understand the Biblical truth.  The game is simply a tool to help the kids grasp the truth. 

Before the game starts, tell the kids you're going to play a game that will help them better understand the truth you're teaching.  This is very important because it gets them thinking about how the game is going to relate to what you're teaching and plants an early seed for the coming discussion.

Play the game.  Variety is good when it comes to games.  Mix it up with large group games, team games, high-energy games, messy games, fast games, slower games, etc.  One important tip - the more kids you can get involved in the game, the more effective it will be.  Up front games that involve everyone watching 2-3 kids play are okay occasionally, but shouldn't be the majority of games you play.

Debrief and Discuss.  After the game is over, sit down with the kids and talk about how it relates to and illustrates the key truth.  Have key questions planned out that will spark discussion.  Make the questions open-ended to engage critical thinking.

In our children's ministry, we believe games are highly effective in helping kids grasp Biblical truth.  So much so that we recently created a teaching series called, "The Enormously, Gigantically Big Game Show.  The series used games to teach kids how big God is and helped them learn about some of His key attributes.  One week, we even used the games to explain the deep subject of the Trinity.  

Here's an example of one of the games we used to teach kids about the Trinity.

Game 3 - Meltmania - we used a water game to show that water is an example of the Trinity.  It can take 3 forms - liquid, solid, vapor.  We then talked about how God has manifest Himself to us in 3 ways - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  But He is one God.  We tied the conversation to key scripture that talks about the Trinity.

Below is a video sample we made for the game.



Your turn.  The floor is yours.  How do you use games in your children's ministry?  Do you use games to teach Biblical truth?  What are some of your favorite games?  Share with us in the comment section below.

A recent study says that children who attend church have a harder time distinguishing between what is fact and fiction in life.

The study by Cognitive Science was based on research with 5 & 6 year olds who do and do not attend church.  An example - kids who attend church would be more likely to believe a talking animal they see on television is real.

As Children's Ministry leaders, I believe at times, we have blurred the lines between fact and fiction.  How?

Not clarifying that the stories in the Bible are not fictional stories, but actual events that happened.  It's important to teach kids that the pages of the Bible contain real events that were experienced by real people.

Don't assume they know this.  Tell them as you teach.

Not teaching age-appropriate apologetics.
It's important to teach kids why we believe what we believe.  If we do not, when they are faced with the onslaught of humanism, they will have a difficult time.

People won't continue believing what they discover is fiction...but they will die for what they know is fact.  Just ask the disciples.

Relying too heavily on secular media for illustrations.
I have used clips from secular movies to illustrate Biblical truth for most of my ministry.  Looking back, I may have relied on it too heavily at times.

If we're showing a clip from a Disney movie followed by a clip from an illustrated Bible video...could the lines get blurred?

Taking too much creative liberty.
I recently watched the movie Noah.  I knew ahead of time from the reviews that lots of creative liberty had been taken.  I was able to discern the difference because I had a base to do so.

But with kids, who are very impressionable and may not have enough maturity and understanding, it's important that we distinguish the truth from creative liberty.  If we don't, the line between fact and fiction can become blurred.

Using common descriptions.
This is a hot topic.  Many children's ministry leaders do not believe you should use words like "story" when referencing Bible events.  The thinking is the word is also used to describe fiction and thus blurs the line.

While I have not taken this position, I do think it is a valid point.  We do have to be careful to use language that distinguishes between the two.

What do you think?  Are we blurring the lines?  What should change?  Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

 You call everyone "brother" or "sister" at church instead of just using their first name.

When you receive recognition for an act of service, you get a pious look on your face and say, "It wasn't me...it was God.  I did it for His glory.  All the praise belongs to Him, not me."  (we know that, just say "thank you")

If a song at church doesn't match your taste in music, you think it's "worldly."

You don't think kids should laugh and have fun at church.

You think any church that is larger than yours must be "shallow."

You turn your personal preferences into commandments for others.

You pick a church based on whether or not they have kids memorize 20 verses of scripture each week.

You rant and rave against Harry Potter while watching The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Lord of the Rings.

You don't think kids should be allowed to play video games at church.

You think spending money on theming a children's environment is a waste of money.

You think the only way for kids to worship is with their parents in the "main" service.

You don't have a Christmas tree.

You think it's terrible to go trick or treating.

You think you are more spiritual than parents who have their kids in public or private schools.

You believe offering contests for kids are of the devil.

You are against using movie clips to illustrate Biblical truth.

You don't have any unsaved friends.

You think Easter egg hunts at church are evil.

You think Santa Clause is Satan Claus.

Reading this has irritated you.

The floor is yours. What do you think?  Agree?  Disagree?  What are some of other signs of being "oversaved?"

The Adventure Bible (NIV) is a great Bible to get kids excited about God's Word.  And now it is complimented with online resources at www.adventurebible.com.

The site provides over 700 free resources for educators of kids ages 9-12.  Resources include, crosswords, word searches, children sermons / activity sheets, illustrations which can be also used as coloring pages, printable Scripture memory flash cards, timelines, maps, fill-in-the blanks, and much more.

The site also features online games that will help kids learn Biblical truth and memorize key scripture. 

I am very impressed with the content and layout of the site.  The quality is excellent and will help you connect today's high-tech, digital kids with God's Word in a fresh, new way.  What a great tool to put in the hands of the parents in your ministry.  There is even an iPad and iPhone app parents can use to help their kids memorize scripture.

Check out the site and let me know what you think in the comment section below.

We are also giving away an Adventure Bible.
You can enter by emailing me at dalehudsoncm2@gmail.com.  The winner will be announced next Monday, May 20.