Children's Ministry Vision

Tyler Porter

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What is our Mission?

Pray

Our mission is to see all people glorifying God. That is all people. Kids, parents, volunteers. The Mission of our Children’s Ministry is to see all people glorifying God.

Now the question is what steps do we take to accomplish our mission.

5 objectives we center our ministry around.

1. Share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with kids and give them opportunities to respond in faith and trust.

2. Develop Bible Skills in kids so that they may continue to grow in their obedience to God.

3. Teach kids how to participate in missions through serving and sharing the Gospel with other people.

4. Equip parents as they model and teach daily Christ Centered living to their kids. (

5. Create an environment where families can build lasting relationships with each other and the church.

That is our mission and steps we are taking to accomplish it. So what is the responsibility of kids, parents, and the church as we all seek to partner together in order to achieve our mission?

and the church.

Parents

What is your role in helping us accomplish our mission for the Children’s Ministry?

Turn to . Our context here is that in Chapter 5 Moses read off the 10 Commandments that God had given Israel. At the start of chapter 6 Moses again tells Israel that these commandments were given to him by God so that he could teach them and so that they as God’s people could be obey them and glorify God. Then we come to verse 4.

Read

In verse four Moses gives them a reminder about who God is. God is one. He is the one true and sovereign God and He alone is who we should devote our lives to. Then in verse 5 Moses begins to give Israel three more commands.

The first one he gives is that they “shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” We need parents who love God. Parents what we need from you is to first is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” We need parents who love God. Not just love God by saying I love God and I’m a Christian, but truly show your love of God through your actions. How do you do we do that as parents? By obeying God’s commandments.

John is writing this letter so that his audience may not sin. He reminds them that Jesus is their sacrifice, the offering for their sin. Then he tells them how they can know if they love Jesus. In verse three he tells them if they are seeking to keep Jesus’ commandments then they know Jesus. Then he ends this section by saying “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” If we say we are a follower of Christ then John tells us we ought to walk in the way in which Jesus walked. If we as parents are going to claim the name Christ Follower we better seek to keep his commandments otherwise the Bible says we are liars. That means we are reading our Bibles and praying daily so that we may communicate with God, we are seeking to prioritize our life and our children’s lives so that God is first and all things come after that, it means that you are showing love to all people, it means that you are serving, and we could on and on.

We need parents who love God and show that love by obeying His commandments.

The second command Moses gives is that “these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.” We need parents’ whose lives are centered around God’s Word. God desired that Israel have these commandments and words from God within their heart. The heart during this time was considered the center or the core of the person. So to have God’s word within your heart means that your life, the core of who you are is centered around God’s Word.

We need parents whose lives are centered around the Word of God. There is temptation for everybody to center their life around other things. It could be work or your personal goals in life. It could even be our kids. Parents who center their life around their kids can happen even without the parents knowing it. We want to see our kids happy. I want Easton and Reed to be happy and sometimes they can break your heart when they are sad. But what can happen is we as parents can center our life and their families life around what our kids like to do. I loved to play baseball. So most of my childhood years was centered around me playing baseball. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Was playing baseball bad for me? Not necessarily. But what happened was there was no church attendance, we didn’t talk about Jesus, nothing spiritual at all happened. I was a good baseball player, had good morals, had straight A’s in school, got an academic scholarship, but I was still a lost soul. Now I love my parents, and they were doing what they thought was best because they didn’t know better. Parents who are here tonight listen to what God is saying. The danger for us as parents is that if we are not centering ourselves and our family around the word of God then we could just end up raising morally sound kids who are still lost. Sports isn’t bad, academic achievement is bad, fun with family isn’t bad. But to have your life and your kids life ran by anything but the Word of God is dangerous. We need parents who are centered around God’s Word.

What does it mean to be centered around God’s Word? It means seeking to know and follow what God commands in the Bible. Being centered around God’s Word means we as parents make our quiet time where we study our Bibles and pray to God a priority. It means we seek to apply what we study to our lives in how we interact with people. And it means we make church a priority. This can be a challenge, and it may mean that we have to prepare Saturday so that we can be in Sunday School or it may mean we have to organize and plan to be a part of a parent discipleship class, or maybe it means we sit down with a calendar and see where our time is committed. God commands us to read our Bible’s and pray to Him, God commands us to love our neighbors, God commands us to rest, and God commands us to worship Him both in Church and outside of Church. Those commands given by God and we as parents are responsible for leading our family to follow God’s commands. There are things that are good which for me was baseball, but God doesn’t command us to play baseball. God has given us sports and activities to enjoy and learn from and participate in. But God never approves of anybody forsaking his commands to pursue what they or their children desire. We must be parents who are centered around God’s Word.

be in a parent discipleship class. We all have commitments and things we are involved in, but if we are going to center our lives around God’s Word then we as parents need to be sure we aren’t filling our lives and our children’s lives with good things while sacrificing the best things.

The third command Moses gives is for parents to pass along their faith to their kids. “You shall teach them diligently to your children.” We need parents who will intentionally and diligently teach the Bible to their kids. God’s desire was and is for parents to teach God’s commandments to their children so that there would never be a generation who did not love God and honor him. That is the danger of us not diligently teaching our children about our faith. How do you go about this? Well Moses tells us. “talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

So how do we teach our kids and hopefully by God’s grace pass along our faith to faith to our children? We talk about it! When do we talk about it? All the time!

God specifically commands parents to disciple their children. What does it mean to disciple your child? It means to teach the Bible to them. It means you memorize the Bible with them. It means you use daily events, activities, things you see to teach Biblical Truth and help your children see how the Bible relates to everything in our life. But it also means you have to model what the Bible says. And if you mess up, you ask for forgiveness, and teach use that opportunity to teach your kids what grace is and how God forgives us. This doesn’t just happen. We as parents have to be intentional about teaching the Bible, and as Moses commanded Israel we have to be diligent.

Parents we need you to Love God by obeying His Word, Center your life around His Word, and diligently and intentionally teach His Word to your children.

Kids

Now on to our kids! Hopefully you were listening to what we need from parents and you can make sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing. And if they aren’t then feel to them in a nice way! Now kids if weren’t listening then I need you to listen to me now because this is specifically for you. We need two things from you. Just two. Obey and read the Bible. That is it. Let me hear you. Obey and read the Bible.

Everybody and especially our kids turn to . We started with parents because if we as parents are going to expect obedience from our kids then we should be obeying Christ and fulfilling our duties as parents. We shouldn’t expect our kids to do something we aren’t doing.

Read

In order for us to achieve our mission together of seeing all people glorify God we need kids who obey their parents. Not just sometimes, but in everything. Why? Because it please God. So kids an easy way for you to glorify God is to obey your parents! It’s that simple. Your parents are going to be working hard at doing what they are supposed do: Loving God by obeying the Bible, Centering their life and your family’s life around the Bible, and teaching you the Bible, and we need you to do your job which is to obey.

I know this isn’t the easiest thing to because sometimes we just want to do what we want to do. Trust me, I was a kid once and I know have kids who want to do their own thing. But just in case once wasn’t enough there is another place in our Bible that gives the same command to you as kids.

Again God says for you as kids to obey your parents, because it is the right thing to do.

As kids you need things you cannot provide for yourself. You need a place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear. All of those things you cannot provide for yourself. You also need to be taught things. You need to be taught how to talk, how to brush your teeth, how read, how to do almost everything, and God has given you parents to help you with that. And even more important God has given you parents that are to teach you about God, about Jesus, and about how all people including you have sinned and need to have faith and trust in Jesus in order to be forgiven of sin so that we can honor God. Your job is to listen and obey your parents. But not just parents, you should listen and obey all people who God has placed in your life that are trying to teach and help you.

Listen to

God wants you to obey. God wants you to obey Him, your parents, your teachers, your coach, and our adults here at church.

God has placed people here at church to teach you about Jesus, the Bible, and how to be forgiven of your sin. That is what God has called them to do so when you don’t obey we cannot do what God has called us to. If you are disobeying that means that you plus everybody else in your class is losing an opportunity to learn the Bible and learn how to glorify God. We cannot and will not accomplish our mission of seeing all people glorify God without you! We need you guys to be obedient and encourage other to obey. Now that doesn’t mean to yell, like what happens a lot, but it does mean quietly telling the person next your, “hey can you be quiet because it is important that we all listen when the Bible is being taught.

One more thing we need from you. Be reading your Bible. If you need help, ask for help. If you don’t understand ask for help. But just like your parents need to be reading their Bible, you need to be reading yours because the Bible is the main way God teaches us what we should do to honor and glorify Him.

Kids your job: Obey your parents, obey adults who are in charge, and read you Bible.

Now what do we need from the church?

Church

Now this is for our church so parents, kids, youth, adults without kids, adults whose kids are not longer in their house, everybody that is a part of this church this is what we need from you in order to accomplish our mission: serving and not or but and praying. Serving and praying

Turn to

We are going to look at serving first. Peter was writing to Christians, and in this passage he is talking about Christians interacting with each other. Read We need our church members to serve.

Every believer has received a gift from God. These gifts vary but all are necessary in order for a church to function properly. At the end of Paul says that “When each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” We need our church members to be using their gift that God has given them so that our church body would grow in our faith and in numbers. Some examples or using the gifts God has given you:

If you enjoy holding a baby and/or playing with toddlers then volunteer in our nursery!

If God has equipped you to teach kids, hint, hint, our school teachers, then come join us as we seek to teach kids the Gospel which will benefit them far more than anything else we can teach them.

Maybe you just enjoy being around kids, let’s talk and we can get you plugged in.

Or maybe you like to cook or decorate, hey we need you in the Children’s Ministry!

And if you want to serve but aren’t confident working with kids, we have trainings and meeting where we are always equipping people. Come help out, be trained, and join us as we see kids learning and responding to the Gospel in obedience.

Now why is this commanded, what is the goal of people using their gift to serve the church? It is exactly what our mission as a church and as the Children’s Ministry is: So that God may be glorified. We need church members to serve.

Now turn with me to .

This portion of James is all about prayer. He uses the example of Elijah who prayed that it wouldn’t rain and for 3.5 years it didn’t rain. Then he prayed for rain, and it rained. So look toward the end of verse 16, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” We need our church member to pray, and pray specifically for our Children’s Ministry.

Prayer has great power. So church members pray for kids to respond to Gospel in obedience. Pray for those who are teaching our kids, pray for our parents as they disciple their kids at home, pray that we may build relationships with lost families so that we may share the Gospel with them, pray that kids may learn their Bible Skills so that can have a personal devotion life, pray for leaders and volunteers, pray, pray, pray. We can dream, and work, and program, and plan but without prayer, without seeking God’s leadership and seeking for His presence to overcome and fill our classes and our events and take captive our children’s hearts will it be effective? The answer is no. No it won’t. We need our church to pray. And kids that includes you, we need you to pray too. Pray for your friends that don’t go to church. Pray that they would say yes when you invite them. Pray that when they come they may place their faith and trust in Jesus. We all, as a church, all members need to pray.

Church member, what our Children’s Ministry needs from you is to serve and pray.

Children’s Ministry Info

We have covered our objectives and what our Children’s Ministry needs from you, now I want to share with you some of the things we are doing to help accomplish our mission and some areas where we need help.

First I want to share with you all what it takes for our Children’s Ministry to run during the week. This doesn’t include camp/events sponsors or cooks just our weekly programs. First I will give you where I believe we can get to and then where we are now.

Where I believe we can get to with our Children’s Ministry here at Trinity is where there would be 268 roles for people fill. Now this is ideal where we have boys and girls Sunday School classes, 5 nursery classes, serval Wednesday Night small group leaders, etc.

This is where I believe our Children’s Ministry can get to.

Now in the right now of our Children’s Ministry which includes current classes, children’s church, nursery, and classes or groups that need to be started now there are 193 roles for people to serve. As of December we had 70 filled which means there are 123 opportunities left for you as a church member to serve.

This is where we are at now. Our Children’s Ministry will only be as effective as our volunteers. We are praying for God to call more volunteers. If God is pressing on your heart to serve, if you feel he is calling you to join in Children’s Ministry then don’t resist, come join us so that we can better accomplish our mission of glorifying God.

What do we do each week. Not all of our church members know what we do each week in our Children’s Ministry. So here it is for you to know and use as you invite families to come participate with us.

Sunday School — Gospel Project where our kids learn how the entire Bible points to Jesus Christ.

Children’s Church — Currently we will start back in February and seek to use the same passage as Dwayne preaches from but with points geared toward Pre-K through 2nd graders

Discipleship Time Kids — Bible Skills and Levels of Biblical Learning. We learn how to use our Bible and what are foundational teachings of God, Jesus, the Bible, People, etc.

Discipleship Time Parents — NEW this year starting Feb. 4th. First one is Building Lifelong Faith in Your Kids. We will look at the top 10 factors in a kids life that establish lifelong faith. That will be Feb. 4th through March 25th. Then April 8th through May 20th we will do “Christ Centered Parents: How to Hav Gospel Conversations on Complex Cultural Issues.” We will look at topics of Who am I, Sexuality, Relationships, Technology, etc. Starting June 3 we will go through Parenting in the Pew. How to effective parent you child during church. That will go through August 12. Then our last one for the year will be “The Gospel Centered Parent.” Some our sessions will include Disciple by Faith, Not Frustration, Parenting through Prayer, When your Child Disappoints you, Spiritual Warfare and Your Family, and other great topics. Parents please come and be apart of these classes. These four classes are designed to equip you as you fulfill your role of obeying God’s Word, Centering your life around His Word, and Teaching His Word.

Wednesday Nights — This is the one I’m probably most nervous about. We are adventuring off through the Bible starting in am preparing and writing our Wednesday Night Curriculum. We are going to go through each book and look at what is our main point, what is the connection to Jesus, and how can I apply this to my life. We have our Bible Study together then break out into Bible Skills, Bible Memory, and we close with our small groups where we review our lesson. Very excited and nervous so prayers for that for sure.

That is what we do each week so come join us, invite families, and pray as we meet each week.

As I finish up I want to share where I feel God is leading our Children’s Ministry.

First is this year within our Children’s Ministry our goal is to build lasting relationships. Parent to Parent, teacher to kid, Parent to Church, etc. All of our events this year are meant to create an environment where relationships can be built and strengthen because we need each other and as Christians and as members of Trinity Baptist Church we need to connected with each other.

Second the equipping of parents. We as a church need to equip our parents so that together we may reach our children. Parents this means you will have to want to be equipped and unite with us as we partner together.

Third, the adding and training of volunteers. As I mentioned earlier we need more volunteers, and not just add more but equip and train volunteers. We’ve already had one meeting and we will have three more this year and these meeting are for everyone who volunteers. Nursery, Wednesday Night, Sunday School, etc. Just like with equipping parents you all need to unite with us and be a part of those meetings. In adding we need to specifically add teachers to our kids Sunday School. Right now we have need for a new class in our nursery area, and at least two possible three in our elementary Sunday School Classes. Where we will put them we will figure that out, but we need teachers, specifically male teachers. It is my desire to for us to have Sunday School classes with boys only taught be two men and girls only taught by two woman. This allows us to better teach because boys and girls learn differently, mature differently, interact differently, and need different role models.

And fourth is constructing a Children’s Ministry Leadership Team. Our Children’s Committee talked about this today. This is what we have tasked ourselves with this year. This team is people who will take the lead of different aspects of our Children’s Ministry. Building this team will allow us to multiply our efforts as we seek to reach families. For example a extracurricular connect who will gather sport schedules and dance competition dates, etc. so that we can support our families outside of this building. Parent Outreach person who has a desire to connect with parents that their kid may attend but not them. I would met and partner with them so that we can reach even more parents. There are several roles on here that I feel if we can unite together and have people step up and lead and be faithful to God then I believe He is going to do mighty things through Trinity Baptist Church this year.

Rememember our Mission: See all people glorifying God. Never forget that is what we are working for: God’s glory.

Remember our jobs:

Parents — Love God through obeying His Word, Center your life and your family’s life around His Word, and Teach His Word to your kids

Kids — Obey, obey your parents, and obey the adults God has placed in authority

Church — Serve and pray

When we have our invitation time, I want you to see this as a time of conversation with God. Take this time and pray to God about what needs to be done in your life whether that is Centering your Life around His Word, obeying your parents, asking where God is leading you to serve. And also use this time to pray for our Children’s Ministry. It is my desire that as our praise team leads we would see all heads bowed responding to God in prayer.