RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Themed t-shirts are standard clothing when you serve in children's ministry.

What you put on the t-shrt is very important because it sends a message to all who read it.

Recently, I came across a ministry t-shirt that is one of the best ideas I have seen.

Take a look at the t-shirt and then I'll tell you what the names represent.

If you look closely, you will see the t-shirt is full of names.  In fact, if you want to count them, there are 373 names that together make up the word "Lives."

The 373 names are the names of each child they reached last year with the Gospel.  373 kids who invited Jesus to come into their life.

Each year, they create a new t-shirt that has the names of the children they reached with the Gospel.

What a powerful way to show volunteers that they are making a difference in the lives of children.  It says behind every name there is a person.  A person whose life was impacted by the investment they made in the lives of children.

This is what it's all about my friend.  Reaching children and their parents with the Gospel. That is why we do what we do.  We know that most people come to Christ before the age of 18.  You are serving in the greatest mission field in the world...the hearts of children.

And the cool thing about this t-shirt is this - it's a great reminder of your mission and the fruit that is coming from your mission.  It reminds volunteers that they are making a big difference.

But the starting point is having a passion to reach kids for Christ.  If you need some tools to help you reach more kids and parents, then check out Starting Point.

Starting Point is a class that kids and their parents attend when they express an interest in beginning a relationship with Jesus.  It is a powerful class that will enable you to see many kids and parents come to Christ.  Using this strategy, in one year I saw over 460 kids and dozens of parents accept Christ as their Savior and then follow Him in baptism.  Every single one of them had been through the classes.

There is a 2nd class about baptism that kids and parents go through once they have made the decision to follow Jesus.  The baptism class clearly explains what baptism means and when you should follow Jesus in baptism.

Over 100 churches are currently using these classes to reach kids and parents.  You can see samples and get more info. at this link.

My prayer is that each of you who are reading this, will be motivated and empowered to fill up your own t-shirt with lots of names of kids and parents you reach.

Gen Z.  They are today's children...the youngest of six generations that are currently alive.

• GI Generation (born 1901-1926)
• Silent Generation (born 1927-1945)
• Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964)
• Generation X (born 1965-1980)
• Millennial / Gen Y Generation (born 1981-2000)
• Gen Z (born 2001+)

Each of these generations as a whole have been moving farther away from the truth.  You can see this in the following percentage of people in the generations who are not affiliated with any religion.

• Silent Generation - 11% unaffiliated
• Baby Boomers - 17% unaffiliated
• Gen X - 23% unaffiliated
• Older Millennials - 34% unaffiliated
• Younger Millennials - 36% unaffiliated

We also know that even among those attending church, they are attending less frequently.  "Regular attenders" used to mean 3 to 4 times a month.  Now it means 1-2 times a month.  Gen Z kids are attending church less frequently than any previous generation because their parents are taking them much less frequently.

This slide has been fueled for the most part by Post-Modernism.  Over the generations, Post-Modernism has penetrated our society/culture and now owns it.  Post-Modernism says...

• There are no moral absolutes.
• There are many paths to God (pluralism).
• Trust is relative.
• Each person must decide for themselves what is right and wrong. 

Being born into a culture that is saturated by Post-Modernism is distorting Gen Z's view of God.  They aren't being taught Who God is and how we can have a relationship with Him.  A recent video that was very popular on YouTube shows an example of this.  I must warn you, there are parts of the video that I believe are highly inappropriate for a child to be discussing, but it again shows where our society is.  Watch the video and then I'll pick back up with our discussion.



You can see Post-Modernism oozing out of their statements about God...

• I am an atheist.
• God is a guy up in the clouds, like on the Simpsons.
• God is a frog. 
• Jesus is the mommy.  He is a Hexagon.
• We're all part of the same family.
• I imagined all different religions having their own god portrayed and I didn't want to just do one, so I did all of them.

It is easy to become disheartened when seeing this.  But don't.  The good news is we have an unprecedented opportunity to reach kids and families with the Gospel.  The Gospel is just as powerful as it ever was.  When we share the truth about God and His Son, Jesus, with kids and families, many of them will respond.  The church, like never before, must be about spreading the Gospel.

The church must also be intentional about teaching kids solid, Bible doctrine.  "What" we teach is more important than ever before.  I'm not saying we should make church a boring experience.  "How" we teach must be engaging, fun and learner-based.  But just teaching kids cute values and surface level lessons will not prepare them to spiritually survive the Post-Modern culture in which they are entrenched from birth.

Children's ministry leader, you are on the front lines in this.  You matter.  What you do matters.  Walk in God's power and let's reach Gen Z.

The Millennials (adults ages 18 to 35) are having children. There are 22 million Millennial parents in the U.S. and they are giving birth to about 9,000 babies each day.  Research shows there are nearly 21 million children ages 4 and under in the U.S.  World-wide there are 2.5 million babies born to Millennial parents each week.

The children of Millennials are known as Gen Z.  They are the kids in your ministry and the kids you are trying to reach in your community.  Like every generation, they have unique characteristics that you need to understand.  Here are a few of the key findings about the children of the Millennials. 

They influence the spending of their Millennial parents.  It has been reported that children under 12 and teens influence parental purchases totaling between $130 to 670 billion a year.  

They don't have as many brothers and sisters.  Today, 18% of mothers at the end of their childbearing years have an only child, up from 10% in 1976. 

They can lean toward selfishness and instant gratification.  This is in part due to many being the only child and the "instant download, instant streaming" world they are growing up in. 

They prefer communicating with images and voice control over typing and texting.  An example is the popular children's app, Snapkidz, which is like Snapchat minus the ability to add friends or share messages.

They captivate the attention of their parents.  In the lives of their stressed out, busy, multi-tasking parents, they are the one constant that their parents focus on.  Millennial parents and their children are more relationally connected than any previous generation.

They are the most technologically literate generation ever.  Here are some examples.  Four days before Christmas, Amazon reported that the "most wished for" tablet accessory was the Buddibox Ipad case.  It is a kid-safe product marketed to Gen Z. 

Over 1 million families subscribe to the educational platform called ABCmouse, which is exclusively targeted to Gen Z kids.  81% of Gen Z kids watch videos or play games on electronic devices on a daily basis.

They are social influencers.  YouTube baking experts, Charli (age 7) and Ashlee (age 10) have an average of 29 million views and generate an average of over $127,000 in ad revenue each month.  Their audience is primarily comprised of children. 

 Bottom line for the church:

• We have an opportunity like never before, to reach children with the Gospel.  There are more kids than ever who need to hear the Gospel.  Yes, children's hearts are like wet cement.  But wet cement soon turns to concrete.  We must write God's love on the hearts of children while they are open and receptive to the Gospel.  If they reach adulthood without accepting Jesus, the likelihood of them coming to Christ drops significantly.

• If we are going to reach parents and families, it will be done through their children.  The key to reaching a parent with the Gospel is first reaching their child with the Gospel.   When you take a child by the hand, you take a parent by the heart.  Like never before, parents are tuned into what their children are interested in.  Interest a child with the Gospel and the interest of their parents comes with it.  

• We must invest heavily in children's ministry.  Churches and ministries that reach families will be those who make children's ministry a high priority.  Churches that invest in children's ministry will grow and reap the benefits many times over.  

•  We must communicate with today's kids in their language.  Images.  Apps.  Technology.  Online.  

The children of the Millennials are here.  Will you reach them and their parents in your community?

For the youngest members of Gen Z, technology is as natural as breathing.  They've never known anything else.  The latest findings show just how true this is.  

1 in 3 preschoolers who are ages 5 and under have their own tablet.

1 in 2 preschoolers ages 3- to-4 years old have their own tablet.