RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

A recent study from George Barna reveals that nearly half of all people who come to Christ do so before reaching the age of 13.
 
The report also says people who accept Christ before their teen years are for more likely to remain committed to Christianity. 

If you work with pre-teens in your church or ministry, I can't emphasize enough the importance of what you are doing. 

Look what Barna says about this.

Families, churches and parachurch ministries must recognize that primary window of opportunity for effectively reaching people with the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection is during the pre-teen years. It is during those years that people develop their frames of reference for the remainder of their life – especially theologically and morally. Consistently explaining and modeling truth principles for young people is the most critical factor in their spiritual development.

I believe people who work with pre-teens are serving in one of the most important times in a person's life.  The battlefield for the next generation is in the pre-teen years and earlier. 

We must help pre-teens see that they must own their faith as they head into their teen years.  We must help them develop a solid faith foundation.  Without it, they will struggle in their teen years.

PRAY daily for the pre-teens in your ministry. 

Pray that they will walk closely with Jesus. 

Pray that they will rely upon Jesus as they face temptations and pitfalls.

Pray that their parents will have wisdom, understanding and patience as they seek to influence their pre-teen children spiritually. 

Pray for the volunteers and leaders who work with pre-teens.  Pray that God will use them in the kids' lives and that the kids will receive what they have to say.

POINT pre-teens toward Jesus.  He is the answer to every struggle and trial they will face in their teen years.  Remind them that people will let them down.  People will be hypocritical at times.  People's talk will not always match their walk. 

But Jesus is faithful, trustworthy, loving and caring.  He will never let them down.  He will never leave them nor forsake them.  Show them the commands and promises found in passages of Scripture like Hebrews 12:2.

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.  Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 

PREPARE them for their teen years.   Teach them apologetics.  Trust me, they will need it in the culture they are growing up in.  Help them see Jesus is the one and only way to God.  Show them the proof that the Bible is the Word of God and you can trust it.  Help them grasp a spiritual foundation that they can build their lives on. 

PLACE pre-teens in serving roles.  We know that pre-teens who serve are more likely to also serve in their teen and adult years.  Create opportunities for them to serve in roles such as greeting, running AV, helping teach the lesson, helping in preschool, cleaning up after class, leading worship, etc.  

Actively go after pre-teens to serve.  If they can develop the heart of a servant during those formative years, it will be a part of their DNA for the rest of their lives. 

PARTNER with parents of pre-teens.  The pre-teen years can be challenging for parents.  Pre-teens go through a lot of changes as they are moving out of their adolescence years.  Pre-teens begin to go through physical and emotional changes.  Their moods can be unpredictable.  They are very self-conscious.  They will sometimes act without thinking as they are developing their decision-making skills. 

It's not easy parenting a pre-teen.  Parents are looking for help and resources.  Be there for them and help them navigate the pre-teen years.

Consider offering parenting classes for parents of pre-teens.  Especially as they prepare to enter their teen years.  Share helpful articles and insight with them.  Be their biggest fan and supporter.

p.s. If you are looking for an apologetics series for pre-teens, check out this series.

If you are looking for a high impact resource for parents of pre-teens as they move into their teen years, check out this resource.

There used to be a day when the battle for the next generation was in the high school years.  And that meant we had to focus on discipling older teens.

Then it appeared to drop down to middle school students.

Today, the battle has shifted even lower...down into the elementary years.

Today's pre-teens (tweens) are being targeted.   They are facing things that used to be approached in the older teen years.

An example is the upcoming movie "Good Boys."  Want to see what direction the movie is pushing pre-teens toward?  You can see a preview below.  It is especially heart breaking to see how the movie pushes sex toward pre-teens.

The movie follows three 12-year-olds through a journey involving a peeping Tom drone, club drugs trapped in a childproof bottle and nunchucks that are actually anal beads.  The children also curse throughout the film and engage in talk about sex.

Please join me in prayer and active ministry with today's pre-teens.  The next generation needs us to boldly proclaim God's truth and principles for living a life set apart to God. Now is not the time to be complacent.  We must reach and disciple those who follow behind us.  While the world may make sin appealing, we know the way to true peace, happiness and fulfillment is found in a relationship with Jesus.

Will you join me in praying for the next generation?  They are facing temptations and falsities that kids used to face in middle school and high school.

Join me in praying for parents as they seek to teach and train their children from an early age in the ways of God.  We must provide teaching and resources that will help and empower parents to have crucial conversations with their children.

We must serve in children's ministries so we can reach children for Jesus before they are entrapped by the snares of the one whose goal is to kill, steal and destroy the next generation. 

Watch this preview of the upcoming movie "Good Boys"and you will see an eye-opening example of the battle we are in for the next generation.

Warning: the preview contains cursing and sexual references.

I was visiting a church not long ago and something was glaringly obvious.

There were no sounds of a baby crying coming from the nursery.

There were no elementary boys being asked to calm down by their parents.

There were no preschoolers to be seen.

Not even one teenager.

The majority of the congregation was senior adults.  I am thankful for senior adults.  They are usually faithful to attend.  Faithful to contribute.  Faithful to study the Word.

But the truth is, if you don't hear any crying coming from the nursery hallway, your church is dying.  If something doesn't change, the church I mentioned above, will have to close their doors.  Because they haven't been reaching the next generation, the church will die off. 

For a church to thrive long term, it must be willing to make necessary changes.  The shift has to move from "we've always done it that way" to "let's be a part of creating environments that are relevant for our kids and grand-kids."

Simply put, there are many churches that are dying because they are unwilling to embrace the next generation.  And one day they look up and their children and grandchildren are not in church because it wasn't impacting their life or giving them the opportunity to be part of something bigger than themselves.

Many older churches are acknowledging this, but in most situations, it's too late.  Their children and grandchildren have either dropped out of church or started attending more contemporary churches.

In many cases, an older, dying church, that is down to just a handful of people, will contact a thriving church in their area.  They merge with the thriving church and turn over their buildings, assets and bank account to them.

Through this process, the thriving church will make the dying church one of it's multi-site campuses.  The thriving church will bring energy, volunteers, pastors and a great children and youth ministry.

I have personally gone through this process.  A church, about 45 minutes from our home campus, asked if we wanted to bring them on as a campus.  They were down to 5-10 people attending.

We agreed and did a total makeover with fresh paint, remodeling and revamping the facilities.  We brought in solid children's and student ministry programming.  Within months, the church began to grow.  A year later,  there were over 600 people attending each week.

This weekend, I am speaking at a church in Kansas.  7 years ago, a dying church in the area asked if this church would take over.  The dying church turned over their buildings, finances and property to the thriving church.  With the changes that were made and a new emphasize on reaching the next generation, the church has been growing by 20% each year and many families are being reached.

If you are reading this and you are part of a dying church, where you never hear babies crying, then it's time for a wake up call.  Turn your attention to the next generation.  Honor the senior adults, but help them see if they want to reach their kids and grand-kids, they've got to let go of some things that are generational.

Every church that has few, if any, babies is just one generation from extinction.  This is year there will be 8,000 to 10,000 churches that will close their doors.  I guarantee you a large percentage of them had no babies in the nursery.

The good news and hope for our country is that many new churches are being planted.  Churches that make reaching the next generation a high priority.  Churches that can merge and breathe life into the churches that are dying.

Can you hear any noisy kids on Sunday?  If not, it's time to take a close look at what you're doing and change what is contributing to the decline. 

Gen Z is growing up immersed in technology.  It's an integral part of their lives.  How integral?  Consider these stats.

• 96% own a smartphone.

• 68% own a tablet.

• 85% use social media to learn about new products.

• 50% will be connected online for 10 hours a day.

• They interact with up to 5 screens a day. 

• 1/3 watch at least one hour of online video a day.

You could go as far as to say Gen Z is addicted to technology because it impacts them emotionally.  80% feel distressed when kept away from their personal electronic devices.  Try asking Gen Z to pull away from their smartphone for an extended time and they will become anxious and upset.

Paradigm Malibu is a treatment facility on the Pacific Coast.  It started out treating people with classic drug and alcohol addictions.  Now it has developed a program specifically for Gen Z kids who have device-use disorders.  Kids are brought to the center because extreme use of technology has led to serious behavioral disorders.  In some cases, kids have even threatened to kill themselves when told their internet may be cut off.

Several of these type rehabs have been opened across the country to treat Gen Z kids whose lives have become unmanageable because of technology.

If you are a parent whose child has a smartphone, you understand the pull that technology has.  Gen Z feels the pressure to constantly be connected, fearing they will miss out on the latest post, like, comment, picture or video.  They check their smartphones hundreds of times a day.  This can lead to little time for anything else.

Technology has definitely changed the way kids grow up.  For many of Gen Z, they communicate more digitally than they do in person.  Their smartphone is an extension of their hand and their social media life is more important than their real life.

Dr. Michael Rich, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School said,  "You can go by any playground at recess and the kids are all staring at their smartphones."

Dr. Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, says it’s very clear that overuse of digital media is linked to mental health issues and unhappiness.  Her research has found that Gen Z kids who spend three hours a day or more using electronic devices are 35% more likely to have a risk factor for suicide than those who spend less than an hour with them — while those who spend five or more hours are 71% more likely to have a suicide risk factor.

Gen Z's bent toward technology addiction is not something to take lightly.  

As children's and family ministry leaders, it's important that we provide parents with tools they can use to guide their Gen Z children in the digital world they are growing up in.

One tool that has just been released is a documentary produced by Kirk Cameron, entitled "Connect."  Kirk has 6 Gen Z kids of his own, so he fully understands the challenges of parenting in a digital world.  He created the film to help parents find hope, wisdom and strength in this area.

Kirk says, “God-fearing parents can find confidence and guidance when it comes to the challenges of parenting in our technology-driven world, knowing that God has fully equipped us for the sacred calling as a parent.  We have resources to prepare our children as they learn their purpose and identity, and responsibly use technology to understand family, friends, God and the world around them.”  

The film was recently in theaters and should be available for home viewing very soon.  Here is the trailer.



While technology, smartphones and social media can be great tools to share the Gospel, invite people to church, advance the Kingdom of God and connect with families, like anything else, when it begins to overtake and dominate our lives, it can be detrimental.  Especially in the lives of children and students who don't have the maturity yet to navigate this on their own. 

It is vital that we keep the conversation going and look for ways to help Gen Z find balance in their use of technology.  

Your turn.  The floor is yours.  What trends are you seeing with Gen Z and their use of technology?  What other tools can we make available for the parents of Gen Z kids to help them navigate this challenge?  I'd love to hear your thoughts, insights and comments below.