A few weeks ago during a lesson with children during a church meeting, I asked them what they thought the definition of church is. Of course, most of them had the same answer...."Bro. Brian, it is the building that we are in." We had to learn from the Scriptures that this is not true, that "we are the church". The Church is the People of God and can meet anywhere.
When planning for children's and youth ministry in the church, we plan on what we would like to teach and present so as any younger person ages, we pray this teaching will stick with them. The teaching about the church is one of the important foundations of Scripture. But as the preacher said last Sunday morning, "If the only Bible you get is on Sunday morning from the pastor, then you are biblically malnourished!" The same can be said with children's and youth ministries. Parents, we must disciple our children at home with the Word of God and begin with the basics.
How do I do that? I don't have the time? I don't do it right? - trust me, I have heard them all. It is taking a few minutes or more out of your day to "teach" major points of the Christian faith to your children. Start the conversation by asking questions to see what your children know. They may have already learned a truth and have it down. Have them share what they know with you. Gently, teach the right answer if they have it wrong. Make sure you have a Bible to show them where they can find it. Guess what that means? You better know where it is in God's Word, so you need to study up!
The other night with my 16 year old, we are doing a devotional (10 minutes) together with our Bibles and she is reading out of Experiencing God: Student Edition. We began a conversation about the Holy Spirit. We already know what Jesus taught in the Gospel of John (chapter 14-16), but there is more to know. We just talked about the work of the Holy Spirit and the other places in Scripture to find it (1 Corinthians, Romans, Acts, etc). We ended up talking for more than 30 minutes about the Holy Spirit and His great work in our lives. From all of this, it is comforting to know that my children will know the Bible and are growing in their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and walk in truth!
Get Started - "if you aren't teaching your kids about life, the world will,"
---Sleepy Disciple---
