Southern Michigan Conference of the Free Methodist Church

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY RESOURCES

The stakes in children's ministry, if you think of it, are high. We are responsible for the next generation of God's faithful. Based partly on our input, these young charges will follow Christ—or not. There are so many temptations vying for our children's attention and allegiance. This is serious business. Not only that, we need to show the "church" that children are a part of the church today!

Once, Jesus' disciples—who were beginning to realize that God's kingdom was not like earthly kingdoms—asked him to clarify: who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? In other words, how do you move ahead? By way of reply, Jesus "called a little child, whom he placed among them. And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes a humble place—becoming like this child—is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18: 2-4). In Jesus' day, Jewish children were not considered important, yet Jesus tells us we need to become like little children.

Do you ever feel as if the joy of ministry to children has been squeezed right out of you? Do you think that the kingdom of God will fall apart if you don't keep working hard? In many ways, church culture mirrors the world's culture: accomplishment-driven, workaholic, stressed. Such an environment gets a lot of tasks done, but destroys souls. What would happen to our ministry if we valued "being with God" as much as we did "doing for God"?

If you are a children's worker, put your relationship with Jesus first. I know first hand how "business" can destroy our very own soul. What a shock it was to me when I realized that God would accomplish his work with out me if he so chose. Take time for JESUS, the reason you are in ministry. Secondly, take time to relax and enjoy all that God has created just for you. You are in ministry because you love kids so it is easy to just keep working and working and working until you have spent all of God's time, your family time, etc. The best thing you can do for your kids is to keep your relationship fresh and vibrant with Christ.

HELPFUL MINISTRY LINKS:

Christianity Today Children's Ministry

Kids Blitz - Jim Wiedman

Excellent material on teaching children about the Holy Spirit Click on Children's Ministry