I have been reading Luke 15 every day now for a while and over the past couple of days. I really feel that God has been speaking to me.
Let me back up a bit. Up until this week I have always connected Luke 15 with kids, or people who walk away from their faith. Which I think was part of the message Jesus was trying to convey.
What God has been speaking to me
The Lost Sheep:
Our focus has to always be focused on those who are far from God. That I always stay focused on reaching the one instead of keep the 99 happy. We all default to the latter.
The Lost Coin:
Speaks to me that there are kids in our church that are lost. I know that lately I have been rethinking how I view the experience of salvation for kids. As a kids pastor and father I am all to eager to help kids with their spiritual checklist. In my mind salvation is a journey more than a check on a todo list somewhere. I have been thinking about some of the kids that have grown up in church who checked the box of salvation without making Jesus the final authority in their life. How do we change that mentality so entrenched within us?
I have been doing kids church long enough to see some of the kids I taught have kids of their own. One of the things that stands out to me over time is that we as parents and kids pastors need to change how we view salvation from an attitude of relief when our kids raise their hands to urgency that they experience and understand the power of a transformed life.
I agree with you whole heartedly. We have started really focusing on how to deepen the faith of the children that we have. I have personally been passionate about doing more than just getting them across the line of faith. I feel that I am being irresponsible if I don't help get them to the next level. I have had to look at our budget and ask myself where we can better invest our monies – for me that has been with hands on tools and resources. We have started to offering combined training classes for child and parents. We are trying to enable the parents to be the spiritual leaders in their homes, so that when a child makes that decision to follow Christ their parents can walk and assist them in the journey. As a Children's Ministry we want to come along aside of the family and be partners in the work.
Keep preaching the transformed life – we can be more than babes in Christ – Let's do some growing!
Bravo, Tracy couldn't agree more. What resources have you used to help accomplish this?
I agree with you whole heartedly. We have started really focusing on how to deepen the faith of the children that we have. I have personally been passionate about doing more than just getting them across the line of faith. I feel that I am being irresponsible if I don’t help get them to the next level. I have had to look at our budget and ask myself where we can better invest our monies – for me that has been with hands on tools and resources. We have started to offering combined training classes for child and parents. We are trying to enable the parents to be the spiritual leaders in their homes, so that when a child makes that decision to follow Christ their parents can walk and assist them in the journey. As a Children’s Ministry we want to come along aside of the family and be partners in the work.
Keep preaching the transformed life – we can be more than babes in Christ – Let’s do some growing!
Bravo, Tracy couldn’t agree more. What resources have you used to help accomplish this?
I am also a children's minister and when I offer baptism 101 (for kids) a parent or guardian is required to attend with their child. I am trying to do exactly what Tracy is trying to accomplish. Bring the responsibility back to the parents – but be there to give the parents tools and encouragement.
I am also a children’s minister and when I offer baptism 101 (for kids) a parent or guardian is required to attend with their child. I am trying to do exactly what Tracy is trying to accomplish. Bring the responsibility back to the parents – but be there to give the parents tools and encouragement.
I agree! We need to do some more focusing on transformation and how to facilitate that happening in the lives of families and children. This goes beyond an informational approach to what we do in CM. We do need the info, but we need to progress beyond that. It's scary and risky to do it, but I think it's worth the wrestling to get there.
I've been doing some wrestling with what we do and how we do it. I will be sharing more on my blog about that in the next few weeks!
I agree! We need to do some more focusing on transformation and how to facilitate that happening in the lives of families and children. This goes beyond an informational approach to what we do in CM. We do need the info, but we need to progress beyond that. It’s scary and risky to do it, but I think it’s worth the wrestling to get there.
I’ve been doing some wrestling with what we do and how we do it. I will be sharing more on my blog about that in the next few weeks!