Kids Church = Noise Issue in Room 100

In children’s ministry you have to maintain a sense of humor. Otherwise, you’ll get your feelings hurt. I have a notebook where I save “keepers” – complaint letters and other ‘friendly’ notes and memos I’ve gotten over the years that remind me I work for Jesus, not men. One such church memo I thought I’d post now that nearly ten years has gone by. It wasn’t directed at me, but I got a kick out of it, as you’ll see by the hand-written note on it and the highlights I did at the time (not intended for anyone else then, just my “keepers” folder.) We were remodeling the Kids Church room, which was technically “Room 100” and the good folks on the property committee had some concerns about the “problem” with the “noise” in there and how “those in Room 100” might need to be “kept under control.” The issue was that fixing this would not be “quick, easy or cheap.” Those darn kids, they just love to sing, and that kids pastor! He just loves to rile them up so much and get them laughing so hard, it can be heard outside the room in adult classes! Yes, acoustics…

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That Which Shall Not Be Named, Obama and Feet

What do “That Which Shall Not Be Mentioned in the House of the Lord,” Obama and Feet all have in common? They all were in my Kids Church lesson a few weeks ago. It was a fun lesson on being a servant using the story of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. Imagine the President of the Unites States coming over to your house and taking out the kitchen garbage? It included a fun shoe game, Gus complaining out chores, including having to clean up “that which shall not be mentioned in the House of the Lord” and some fun props that led to a bunch of fun feet puns when I posted the following picture on Facebook: (Read the Puns Here) It was a fun lesson, and you are welcome to use anything from it to teach on this topic. You can watch the entire lesson here. (The opening game is edited down so you can see the rules and a bit of the game play without having to watch the entire thing.)  

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Everything is Proceeding as God Has Foreseen

I love collaborating with other creative children’s pastors! And that’s just what I did to put together this FREE Easter lesson called Foretold. The idea was Stanley Mearse’s. “Why don’t we do a lesson that explores all the Old Testament scriptures that were fulfilled in the New Testament in Jesus?” I loved it! He compiled the verses, I pulled together some past lesson components – we sent the document back and forth adding ideas and tweaking, and now it’s available! It’s got some amazing (but easy!) illusions where you demonstrate your “power” to predict, but then explain the difference between a prediction and a prophesy. It’s also got one of the messiest yet most memorable egg object lessons you’ll ever do that I did my Rookie Year, and grown kids still talk about it! So download FORETOLD today!  

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The Gospel Rubix Cube!

I have a new Gospel Tool that kids will enjoy! It all started because the stickers on my Rubix Revenge (4×4) were getting worn and peeling off: So peeled them all off! Well, all but one… 95 stickers later, I was ready to prep the cube for some renewed life: Now it was ready for NEW stickers, courtesy of CubeSmith.com: Since the Wordless Book only has 5 colors, I added orange…“Orange you glad Jesus came?” Putting the new stickers on wasn’t that hard, and it’s great that Cube Smith gives you two sets for the few that you’ll put on crooked and once peeled off, won’t be smooth, so you can just add another. Once it was done, I made a YouTube video to demonstrate: What creative means have you come up with lately for sharing the Good News with others?

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Time to UNPLUG and Reconnect

Have you ever wanted to UNPLUG from the hectic busy pace of ministry life? That is the entire point of Yosemite Summit. It is a week where you are unplugged in every sense of the word. No computer, no e-mail, no phone calls, no work, no deadlines, no ’emergencies’, no pressure. Better than a day off spent catching up on personal things – it is a complete break for the sake of complete rest and renewal. I was once told by a very wise mentor, “Karl, you need to stop being a human doing, and learn to become a human being.” That is what Yosemite Summit is all about. It is an annual cessation of activity. Too often we confuse busyness with what God is truly seeking from us. Not that we aren’t busy doing good things! But we get so busy doing these good things, that our relationship with God can grow distant, and soon God is wondering, why or who we are truly busy for? Stopping, completely, once a year is an opportunity to recalibrate. It is a time for reflection and renewal. It is not a time of evaluating ministry goals and seeking a new “ministry vision”…

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