newsletter

One way we “help” you reach today’s kids is through our Kids In Focus newsletter. It’s free. It’s relevant. It’s packed with information, leadership principles and creative ideas. It will help you with your weekly ministry to kids and in leading others to do the same.

*

*

privacy statement
 

Greg's Blog

It Takes HEART - V

posted May 22, 2008 at 02:00 AM

 
Four components to teach to reach the HEART of our kids are: Heartfelt Relationships, Engaging Teaching, Authentic Worship and Real Service.  The fifth component is… TELLING THE GOOD NEWS My wife, Michele, loves Starbucks iced tea.  I’m not a huge Starbucks fan, but I do drink coffee, so occasionally I’ll grab a cup of regular old coffee when we get her an iced tea.  Not long ago we went through the drive through of a Starbucks, ordered the iced tea for Michele and then a coffee for me.  What the attendant said after I ordered the coffee shocked me.  She said, “Uhh, I’m sorry, but we don’t have any coffee.”  I thought they were joking at first…but they weren’t!  So what’s the point?  For whatever reason, that Starbucks that day had lost sight of their main thing.  They’re a coffee company without any coffee!   Sometimes we do the same thing in our ministries…lose sight of the main thing.  We are here, first and foremost, to share the Gospel with children.  Sometimes I wonder how many times I’ve had a visiting child who was only there for one week…did they hear of the life-changing message of the Gospel?   Here’s some tips on TELLING THE GOOD NEWS in order to teach to the HEART of kids: 1 – Make it a priority in your teaching – the Gospel needs to be intertwined in what you teach…it may not be part of the curriculum lesson, but find ways to weave it in. 2 – Learn and practice a method of sharing the Gospel that you feel comfortable with – there are countless ways to share the Gospel and each of us, as teachers of children, is responsible to know how to do it.   3 - Look for opportunities to share one on one, and know how to share your testimony in a kid-friendly manner to lead in to sharing the Gospel – sharing your testimony helps make the Gospel real and relevant in a child’s mind, and you’ll be surprised how many opportunities you will have to share the love of Jesus if you are actively looking for them (of course, that probably involves building Heartfelt Relationships!) So there you have it.  Of course, so much more could be said on any one of the five key components, but to review, those key components to teach to the HEART of children are:              Heartfelt Relationships            Engaging Teaching             Authentic Worship            Real Service            Telling the Good News Do these and you will be well on your way to reaching into the hearts of your kids!

Comments ( 0 )

It Takes HEART - IV

May 19, 2008 at 02:00 AM

Heartfelt Relationships, Engaging Teaching, and Authentic Worship are the first three components of teaching to reach the HEART of our kids.   The fourth component in teaching to reach the heart is… REAL SERVICE  George Barna links kids serving in ministry to kids remaining in the faith as adults.  What does that mean?  It means that by serving, kids are practicing their faith.  Teaching reaches the heart and becomes real and engaging when it is practical.  Kids are wonderful servants, and providing REAL SERVICE opportunities reap great rewards in our teaching.  In fact, Larry Fowler list seven key benefits to getting kids into service in his book, Rock Solid Kids, including: §    Relevance – they apply their faith§    Acceptance – they feel part of the church§    Influence – other children are greatly affected§    Motivation – they are spurred on to more learning§    Permanence – they are less likely to abandon their faith§    Strength – families are strengthened when they serve together§    Fruit – parents (& others) are reached when others are ineffectiveSo, with one component to go, we now have four key components to teaching to the HEART of our kids: Heartfelt Relationships, Engaging Teaching, Authentic Worship and REAL SERVICE.

Comments ( 0 )

It Takes HEART - III

May 15, 2008 at 02:00 AM

The first two components of teaching to touch the HEART are: Heartfelt Relationships and Engaging Teaching.  The third component of reaching the HEART of our kids is:  AUTHENTIC WORSHIP Take a moment before reading the rest of this post and write down your definition of worship.   OK, what is true, authentic worship?  Worship, simply put, is “the act of assigning God His true worth”.  Worship is one-way – us to God.  Worship is about God alone, not about what He’s done, or how thankful we are, but about who He is.   Do we teach kids and give them an opportunity to simply worship?  Not very often.  But doing this is critical to teaching to the HEART of our kids.  It is one of the most important aspects that will keep kids in the faith.  Kathleen Chapman, in her book Teaching Kids Authentic Worship, says that worship is the “glue” to a child’s faith.  It’s what makes it stick as they grow and mature in their faith.   So how do we do that?  Well, a whole conference could be taught about this, and it takes a lot of practice.  I’d recommend reading Kathleen Chapman’s book if you can, but here’s three ideas for starters: 1 - Practice & model a lifestyle of worship in your own life – it’s hard to teach what you don’t do yourself.   2 - Make true worship a focus in your teaching – do you really teach what worship really is?  Take a few minutes each week to teach what it’s all about 3 – Consistently provide kids the opportunity to “practice” worship.  Chapman speaks of having “worship moments” and offers 52 suggestions on how to do this.   Heartfelt Relationships, Engaging Teaching, and AUTHENTIC WORSHIP… the first three components of teaching to reach the HEART of our kids.   

 

Comments ( 0 )