FREE eBook: It’s About Relationships

NOTE: This is not a book of fluff, it is practical and will help you grow relationships. There is no shortage of programs, resources, or ideas in children’s ministry today—but at the end of the day, what is most effective in reaching kids for the Gospel hasn’t changed in a hundred years—it’s building relationships and personally introducing children to the Savior. This ebook is loaded with practical ideas on how to have a more relational ministry. You’ll be surprised by the results! The most incredible aspect of Creation was that God walked in the garden with the crown of His creation. They had a relationship with God that sin severed, ending a fellowship we can only imagine. For centuries, that relationship became one of distance and of fearful respect until Jesus came to walk, talk and relate with man. He came to live in relationship with mankind. He didn’t just die on the cross to offer salvation. He invites His beloved creation back into an intimate relationship with Himself and to genuine fellowship with each other. That is why the secret to effective ministry that has long term results can be summed up in one word: relationships. All that has…

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FLIP IT to Gratitude

Introducing The Complaining Game! How do we help kids focus on the positive? This is what I did one Sunday. I put 10 common complaints of kids onto slips of paper and then put them on the top of 10 buckets. Kids then go 3 Popsicle sticks to use to vote. They put a Popsicle stick in the top three buckets they complain about the most. Then, we totaled them to discover the top complaints. Here was our results: BUT, then I flipped the papers over to reveal the postive aspect of that complaint. Don’t like to clean your room? Be thankful you have a room, and a house! Hate eating veggies? Be thankful you have food to eat! Internet too slow? Be thankful you have Internet! Download all the complaints and “flipped” gratitude statements here. Find out what your kids top complaints are, then help them “flip it” to see why they should be thankful instead. Included is a full size version of this graphic I sent to parents to help them see what their kids were complaining about.

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Expect Much, Get Much!

Children typically only rise as far as you expect them to. Rarely does a student exceed the expectations of the leaders in their life. I’ve learned, “Expect Little, Get Little; Expect Much, Get Much.” Many children have a low opinion of themselves, but if you think more of them than they think of themselves, you can have the power to help lift them to the next level on their Christian journey! As a young boy, one of my teachers, Helen Reed, gave me a passion for Scripture memory. I still remember hearing, “I think you can do it,” whispered in my ear as I worked to memorize the Bible verses she provided. Her consistent encouragement pushed me to accomplish much! I would have never memorized all of those verses, nor would I have the grasp of Scripture I have today, if it wasn’t for her faithful challenging. When it came to Scripture memory, I knew that was an area of strength, so did I no longer need challenging? Far from it! We moved and I got a new church teacher. Mr. Ralph could have just complimented me on my knowledge of Scripture, but instead he commented, “I’ll be impressed when…

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STOP, DROP and ROLL!

As teachers, we have an agenda. We have a lesson plan we are trying to teach, a game we are trying to lead, a craft we are trying to complete, or some other activity that we prayed about, planned, prepared and now are trying to pull off. But often our children have other ideas about how the time in the classroom is going to be spent. There is an old children’s ministry saying that goes, “If you don’t have a plan for the kids, they’ll have a plan for you!” What do you do when you are trying to lead young children in one direction and they are moving in an entirely different direction? We usually tell them to stop what they are doing and to do what we tell them to do. Does this work? Not usually. Someone once defined insanity as taking something that doesn’t work and working harder at it. When children don’t respond well to our request to stop and obey, we have a conflict. In the classroom we are dealing with other peoples’ children, so we lack the authority and leverage we’d normally have over our own children, so we feel rather powerless. We try…

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What is Your Philosophy?

Do you have a Philosophy of Children’s Ministry? Guess what? You do! Whether you have written it out or not, you have core principles that guide your thoughts, decisions, actions, re-actions, opinions and even what annoys you. I would challenge you as you head into a new year, to define the core values that drive you and your ministry forward. It will help you understand yourself, explain your decisions and actions to others, and challenge others to re-think their own approach to ministry to children, particularly your volunteers. It will help your parents understand the reasoning behind why you do things the way you do. HERE IS MINE: Our Children’s Ministry: Is Dedicated to supplementing the family in their attempt to lay a spiritual foundation that, in God’s timing, will lead a child into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and then to provide for them a place where they can grow in their knowledge and love for God. It is not our job to replace the family, but to support and re-enforce the family.He commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in…

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