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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!
