Category Archives: Children’s Ministry

Be Persistent

Posted on by

Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing

I recently bought the devotional book, Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd-Jones to give to my children to encourage them as they establish a rhythm of family devotions with their kids. This is a remarkable devotional book with profound spiritual truths from the Bible told in a conversational tone. I greatly appreciate how theologically rich it is and yet so easy to understand. I think the grown ups reading the book to their children may love it just as much or even more than their kids.

I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite out of the 101 devotions, but what prompted me to write this post was when I read the title of Devotion #65 (Page 146) that simply says, “Nagging God.”  It’s about praying…constantly talking to God…never stopping. The author poses a question and then gives us the answer…

“Is it okay to nag God? And pester him? God says we MUST!”

I have a friend going through a very difficult and challenging time. Whenever she asks me for advice, I encourage her to be persistent with praying to God.  I can’t solve the problem or purchase a quick cure-all solution, but I can be persistent with my encouragement, mercy and care for her while gently reminding her that God is never tired of listening to her. Our problems are not bigger than God. And while we are being persistent with finding a right and just solution, God is even more persistent with rescuing us and pouring out more grace in our lives for his glory. I’m reminded about The Parable of the Persistent Widow:

 1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Luke 18:1–8 (ESV)

The widow persisted beyond what is comfortable yet she did not lose heart. If an unjust judge finally grants the window’s “prayer,” how much more will God, who is all and completely just, hear our prayers? God will not and cannot grow tired of us constantly talking with him. He is a big God, a good God and He is a King–
“–and Kings love to do marvelous, powerful things.”

So yes, my friend, it is okay to nag and pester God. Please do so! Be persistent. God is always there and he loves it when you ask him for great things!

I think I shall give my friend a copy of this book. It will encourage her heart to sing.

There is an affiliate link on this page. If you purchase the book using that link, I will receive a small stipend.

Five Minute Friday: Wonder

Posted on by

Here I am writing for five minutes about the topic of Wonder…

I wonder why God loves me so when I continually choose not to love Him so. Sin gets in the way.

I wonder why this huge God would humble himself to the point of becoming our [my] Savior. It is shocking to understand the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The ultimate sacrifice and humility to be all man and all God…just for me.  (Just for you) I wonder, why me. (Do you wonder, why you?)  I wonder…why not me.  (Do you wonder that?)

Am I worth it? Hmmm.

(God must think so!)

And I wonder at the majesty of God to love insignificant me so much.

I also want to have an Elf on a Shelf.  Does this sound silly? I wonder if it is silly. My husband and I are empty nesters and I have two sweet and precious granddaughters ages two years and three months. My wonder about Christmas coming and the excitement of the celebration coupled with imagination is to have an elf on a shelf for them and when they discover the elf, the prize is reading a chapter from The Jesus Story Book Bible  (a great book!) …plus give them a little treat or bake cookies together or go on an outing, or…endless options!

The wonder of Christmas should be about Jesus. The amazing gift of love and grace from our Heavenly Father. Christmas is knowing what love means…It  means that His love is neither conditional, nor changeable, God’s love is constant and faithful. I want to impart that wonder to my granddaughters!

This is my wonder…to ponder the love of Jesus for us.

STOP

Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Friday is a challenge where you write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, over thinking or backtracking on a given topic.  If you would like to read what others are sharing about this topic jump over to Lisa-Jo Baker :: tales from a Gypsy Mama

“Supper’s Ready!” family dinner devotions

Posted on by

“Supper’s Ready!”  I loved hearing my Mom or Dad shout those words to us. Besides being hungry, dinner became a great highlight of our day because we were all together, enjoying a meal, listening to each other talk about school and friends. We laughed a lot and we bickered too, but inevitably after dinner, my father would direct our attention to listen to scripture being read…either by him or Mom and sometimes one of us kids would take a turn reading. We would talk about the verses or passage of scripture and my parents would help us to see an application that was relevant to our situation. They would explain the meaning of words, doctrine, theology and the bible stories were always full of adventure, intrigue and alive with God’s power and love for us. We would pray for each other and pray about anything and everything. Our family devotional time became a tradition. However, it wasn’t always easy to keep up with, due to schedule conflicts or the tyranny of urgent mingled with different attention spans. Nevertheless, my parents continued to persist. Even though we were very involved in our church programs and ministry, my parents took full responsibility to disciple us. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:18-21; Psalm 78:5; Proverbs 1:8-9; Ephesians 6:4) This spiritual legacy has been passed down from my parents to us and to our generations that follow.

Family worship and devotions became a rhythm with my husband and I when raising our children. It’s a beautiful thing to see God’s promises fulfilled in our next generation as we watch our grown children teach their very young children about Jesus.

The following are suggestions and simple steps for beginning to incorporate a tradition of family worship and devotions.

Step 1. Eat dinner with your entire family regularly.

Step 2. Mom and Dad sit next to one another to lead the family discussion.

Step 3. Open the meal by asking if there is anyone or anything to pray for.

Step 4. Someone opens in prayer and covers any requests. This task should be rotated among family members so that different people take turns learning to
pray aloud.

Step 5. Start eating and discuss how everyone’s day went.

Step 6. Have a Bible in front of the parents in a translation that is age-appropriate for the kids’ reading level. Have someone (parent or child) open the
Bible, and assign a portion to read aloud while everyone is eating and listening.

Step 7. Parents should note key words and themes in the passage and explain them to the kids on an age-appropriate level.

Step 8. Ask questions about the passage.  You may want to begin with having your children summarize what was read—retelling the story or passage outline.  Then, ask the following questions:  What does this passage teach us about God?  What does it say about us or about how God sees us?  What does it teach us about our relationships with others?

Step 9. Let the conversation happen naturally, listen carefully to the kids, let them answer the questions, and fill in whatever they miss or lovingly and gently correct whatever they get wrong so as to help them.

Step 10. If the Scriptures convict you of sin, repent as you need to your family, and share appropriately honest parts of your life story so the kids can see Jesus’ work in your life and your need for him too.  This demonstrates gospel humility to them.

Step 11. At the end of dinner, ask the kids if they have any questions for you.

Step 12. If you miss a night, or if conversation gets off track, or if your family occasionally just wants to talk about something else, don’t stress—it’s inevitable.

For your children, the point is to learn what they are thinking about God, to help them know and love Jesus as God and Savior, and to teach them how to articulate and explain their Christian faith. For parents, the point is to lovingly instruct children and each other—thereby creating a family culture in which every member freely and naturally talks about God and prays to him together. In short, the goal is simply that your family would open the Bible and grow in love for Jesus, one another, your church, and the world.

Finally, remember that family Bible study requires a sense of humor, so make sure to have some fun, enjoy some laughs, and build some memories. Discussing the Scriptures is a wonderful way to see into the heart of your children, and to reveal your heart for them and Jesus’ heart for you all.

What you do for God beyond your home

will typically never be greater than what you practice with God within your home   

 ~Timothy Paul Jones

A portable church environment — #3

Posted on by

This is post #3 under category, “Portable Church–Church in a Box.” 

I’ve noticed that many of you have discovered the wonderful portable rocking chair to use in a portable church environment.  If you happened to miss reading that post, please go here (A portable church environment–#2) and definitely investigate the options of folding rocking chairs for a “Church in a Box” nursery environment.  Look at this picture of a sweet environment created for little ones. It’s amazing how a classroom for high school students can be transformed into a warm and cozy space for infants and little ones just learning to crawl or toddle about. Don’t forget to have a few pack-in-plays for the babies that just want to sleep. But you know what…those pack-n-plays are seldom used because our volunteers love to rock and snuggle a sleeping baby for the entire hour! (However, you should have that portable bed ready. Because on that one Sunday you decided not to set up the pack-n-play…it will be needed!) This nursery belongs to Church of the Redeemer, located in the Charlotte, NC area. 

Several weeks ago while vacationing with my husband, we visited Eternal Church, located in Fort Mill, South Carolina. We loved it! We were welcomed with friendly smiles, warm hand shakes and a hot cup of coffee! They were prepared to welcome us…their guests! Eternal Church is a portable church that meets regularly at the  YMCA in Baxter Village. The gymnasium floor was protected with floor tarps and hundreds of chairs were set up for worship.

iPhone Photo

I really enjoyed taking a tour of the set up for elementary age kids. It was terrific to see kids meeting in small groups and listening to adults telling them about Jesus. It didn’t matter that they were sitting close to work-out machines. In fact, none of that was a distraction.

iPhone Photo

Portable Church or Church in Box works. I am a fan of church planting and multi church sites. It’s all about Jesus! Why else would a group of people give so much effort to set up church every week? Yes, it’s all about Jesus…plus relationships and don’t forget the coffee!

A portable church environment — #2

Posted on by

This is post #2 under category, “Portable Church–Church in a Box.” 

Don’t you love it when you discover a solution that will meet a need? Our church has been meeting in a high school for many years. We set up and break down every week. Move desks out-of-the-way, clean up the floor space by sweeping away the debris left behind from students and disinfecting the bathrooms for the many children that will need to use the facilities. Then we place carpets on the floor and proceed to vacuum the carpets, which had been stored in the trailer for the week. We do the same things that everyone else does that owns their church building. We just happen to focus on cleaning our space and environments on the day that we meet. We are an example of team work at its best!

Our nursery ministry has doubled and then tripled. Fairly soon, we will welcome seven new babies! And volunteers like to rock babies and mothers also would like a comfy chair to sit in while they feed their little ones. The portable camp chairs we have  can be difficult to use…especially attempting  to stand up out of the chair while holding an infant. Besides, everyone wants to rock a baby. Babies like to be rocked. We needed rocking chairs. Portable [and comfortable] rocking chairs. I found the perfect chair!

Tip #2: Purchase portable rocking chairs for your nursery.  Our volunteers are happy and especially our Moms!  Here is a photo of the chair I purchased from Camping World. (Item/wide-bronze-rocker/69700) The price is just right for a tight children’s ministry budget!

Praying for the Next Generation

Posted on by

What kind of legacy do you want to leave for your children? I know I want to leave a legacy like my parents will leave me…and my children and my children’s children.

My Dad recently celebrated his 87th birthday with us. We bought him an airline ticket from North Carolina to Indiana.  My Dad is in amazing physical condition and his strong heart is sold out for Jesus. I think he has memorized most of the bible and is passionate about telling everyone he meets about the love of Jesus and God’s grace. When I picked Dad up from the airport, the  first thing he said was, “Hey there!” and the second thing was, “Would you believe the person I sat by on the plane was already a Christian?”  I said, “Dad, you sound disappointed that he knows Jesus.”  We laughed together because we both know that my father’s greatest joy is sharing the love of Christ to others.

Not everyone my Dad speaks to or sits by on a crowded airplane wants to hear what he has to share. He is a gentleman and will not press people to listen to him but whenever that happens, my Dad will begin to pray for the person near him or sitting next to him on an airplane. Quietly praying to himself…talking to God…praying many of those bible verses he has memorized…fuel for praying for the next generation.  My father uses scripture as a springboard for prayer.

When my children were born, my father held them in his arms and prayed that they would know Jesus at a very young age and blessed them with words from the pages of God’s book. When my grandchildren were born, my father held them in his arms and blessed them with everlasting words of truth, hope and grace. Words from God’s book…memorized years and years ago.

I found this small booklet on my bookcase. I had purchased it several years ago to use as a guide to pray for my children. I remembered ordering numerous copies to give to families in our church. Time has passed and I had forgotten about it…until I put my Dad on a plane back to North Carolina. Unknowingly, my father challenged me to pray  the word of God, especially for the next generation.

This is a helpful booklet for praying specific scripture verses for a specific need.  It was written with the hope that we will not only faithfully pray for our children but also for the generations to come. It is a wonderful tool to help focus your prayers for your children. For example: “Pray that they would desire inner beauty and godly character, and that they would grow more Christlike daily…Psalm 119:9, Ephesians 5:1-11” (excerpt from Praying for the Next Generation, page 34.)

My Dad probably doesn’t need this booklet, but I do. And you may find it helpful, too.

Check it out here: Children Desiring God  Praying for the Next Generation by Sally Michael

A portable church environment — #1

Posted on by

Church in a box can be tricky. We don’t meet in a traditional church environment…such as a building that we have purchased. But we do have a building to meet in…it just happens to be a high school in the heart of a growing community. We are thankful for this place to set up church every week. We have established a good relationship with the school staff and leadership. We understand that it can be a frustrating thought for the teachers to know that their classrooms are rearranged every week for busy little people to move about and to explore. The computers and smart boards and science books and social studies pyramid sculptures usually cry out to be touched by little hands. We know this and so we work very hard to maintain the integrity of the teacher’s space. And we do this quite well…

Because we enjoy setting up this portable church.  Because we love to worship Creator God. We love families. We love kids.

We have been meeting in the high school for more than ten years. We continue to expand into more classrooms, lobby space, media center, outdoor green space, cafeteria…it’s amazing how fast we are able to set up our church in just a few hours. It’s amazing how fast we are growing. We are ready. Ready for everyone. Ready to worship and celebrate Jesus with children.

Here is a tip: Chart the design of the classroom layout before moving the desks against the wall. This will help with setting the classroom back in its original design. Also, purchase industrial style brooms and several dust pans to clean the floors before carpets and toys are placed in the room.

This is a photo of a nursery environment. I’ll post more photos and suggestions for setting up a portable church environment in future posts.

Gifts from Sunday–Thank You Redeemer Kids

Posted on by
These many gifts were given to me, on a harried and busy Sunday morning.

I always wake up Sunday morning before the sun brightens the sky. Waking up to a fresh brewed pot of coffee that Don set to brew the night before.

This is a gift. 

I enjoy a cup of coffee on the deck while I listen to the bird’s wake up calls and I talk to God about my expectations regarding the next few hours. I tell Him that I am addicted to stress and anxiety and perfectionism and fear that something will go wrong and that I am expecting to be totally exhausted by 1:00 PM. I slurp down the last drops of coffee while the sun begins to brighten the morning sky and gently flushes my face with its radiance and I am reminded by the continuity of the sun, by Creator God, that all things are YES in Christ! I am free from these addictions because of Jesus death on the cross.   

This is a gift. 

My husband makes breakfast for me. He helps me load the car with all of the other stuff needed for children’s ministry. He opens the car door for me. He hands me a mug of coffee for the ride to church.

This is a gift. 

We arrive at 7:50 A.M. Servant leaders, men in our church, sweating in the early morning hours of heat and humidity have begun unloading a trailer filled with supplies for children’s ministry.  The trailer is empty. They are preparing for children to arrive. We are working together…to do this task week after week so that children will hear awesome truth from God’s book, to learn about Jesus, to play, laugh, explore, sing, dance and worship the Lord.

This is a gift. 

The men are unloading the large wooden carts packed with lots of bins filled with toys, blocks, bibles, and resources and portable pack-n-play cribs, carpets for every room…everything needed for Sunday morning ministry to children. While we are setting up the children’s rooms, there are men and women patiently setting up the school auditorium for worship.

This is a gift.

Families begin arriving. Children are laughing. Volunteers man their stations with smiles and eyes sparkling. They arrive on time! Everyone is eager to help. Several fathers step out of their comfort zone to dress up like wild and wacky pirates…to tell kids about an awesome treasure that God has for them. Parents have gathered around to watch and listen, children are laughing and engaged, volunteers are loving this time with children. And I am observing all of this. I am laughing.

This is a gift.

I linger by the classrooms and listen to the language of the gospel being shared in a variety of ways. Children and Shepherd Leaders in small groups, huddled close, exploring details of this treasure God has for us. I peek to watch babies being snuggled and cared for, toddlers playing and 5th graders reading verses from God’s book. I am amazed to experience God work. I am humbled by the reality that I am included in all of this.

This is a gift.

The halls are filled with parents coming to pick up their children. It is now time to go home. Hungry children and ravenous teens are ready to bolt for the dinner table. The fellowship lingers, however, as families greet each other outside the classrooms while volunteers are sharing about the fun things they did that morning with children. While this is going on, the Servant Leaders are pulling out the large wooden carts and helping to pack up bins and fold up the camp chairs and carpets and pack-n-play cribs and empty trash cans…we are packing up for next Sunday. Two women, two servant leaders , pack these large carts. Every week they pack the carts.

This is a gift. 

The time on my watch reads, 1:00 P.M. And my task is done. I am ready to go home to the dinner table. But the Servant Leaders have not finished packing the trailer with those large wooden bins and all of the rest of the stuff that is piled outside waiting to be loaded in that trailer. They will continue to serve this church for another hour.

This is a gift. 

Don and I drive home. We talk about the morning and things we learned. I realize that I’m not exhausted. I feel refreshed and content. I begin to silently pray to Creator God…thanking Him for these gifts.

This is a gift. To see a little bug doing what Creator God created it to do.