Children in the Kingdom

Yesterday, I had a wonderfully encouraging conversation with the leader of our Kid's Ministry, FLAME . 

As he spoke about his passion for prioritising children in ministry, he reminded me that it is not surprising that most people who come to faith in Jesus do so when they are children.  "After all", he said, "did not Jesus say that we should receive the kingdom like a child?"

 
It is children who welcome the King and enter His Kingdom with a natural simplicity of faith.  Adults need to move outside ourselves - outside our cynicism and "sophistication" - and first become like children again before we truly grasp the simplicity and miracle of transforming faith in Jesus.  And that's hard work.  But being childlike is natural for a child.

Today, I read Steve Addison's blog on Auskick growing champions and his challenge for the church to grow champions.

I spoke last Sunday about how God has given us a "dream team" in our children's ministry.  They really are a gifted and committed group.  In this regard, we are a "ten talent" church.  Maybe the timing suggests that God wants to do something fresh in our midst.  I'm beginning to pray and dream about how we can put our talents to even better use for children and the Kingdom.

Dream with me - and comment!!

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Comments

[Paul]

I agree with the comment concerning children coming to faith. I, and many of my friends, made our commitments at an early age. I'm thrilled that CBC is investing so much energy in reaching children for Jesus.

I am also cognizant of the need to help these children move beyond a simple child-like faith. 1Peter 2:2.

My concern is that we "deliver the baby", but we don't feed and nourish it. This results in a stunted spiritual life, one that when subjected to any whim or fancy that comes along, will not have the spiritual discernment to know truth from heresy.

So equally important, from my perspective, is the need to nourish new believers until they are able to feed themselves.

As for sharing your dream for CBC - bring it on!

[beth]

Paul I am right with you! And David, I agree that CBC has a ten talent team - in lots of areas including,I think it should be said, financially, something that I haven't heard often acknowledged.
Whenever anyone has ever asked me anything about ministry with children and families, there is only one big answer that I have: that modelling is the most powerful shaper. So what do we model for our kids? Sitting passively in church soaking up whatever is dished out? I hope not. That to open the bible is to open our hearts and minds, to question, to wrestle and to act? I hope so. That prayer is the breathing in and out of every moment? That God is more active outside the walls of the church than inside it? I hope so. That faith is fundamentally communal. I so hope so.

what does it mean to become like a child? Children are characteristically remarkably strong and resilient, they are recoverers and healers, adaptable, amazing learners, able to follow an example, creative and imaginative thinkers, natural questioners, and they regularly recognise that they had been thinking wrongly and revise their ideas.

I would love to see all of our gathered life encourage us all to be more child-like in these ways, and to allow our children to be child like in these ways as well.

Is anyone else dreaming of a families service church plant in a local primary school? Or a Sunday lunchtime/afternoon family interactive discipleship-as-mission community?

Or offering some of the talents of our dreamteam to our local primary schools to run a "Mania" day in the last weeks of term when teachers are report writing.

I had better just stop because I could write forever on this...

[beck]

It has been so exciting and refreshing to see the children's ministry grow and thrive in our church. The excitement on the eyes of the children today and the way that they lap it all up is so exciting.
I came to make a decision for God through my family's example but also through the work of faithful people in kid's ministry. Through sunday school in our church, through a locally church-run after school program (where I first met David!), through a camp at Mill Valley Ranch and CRE teachers at school. It takes a village to raise a child, and a network of villages to influence them for Christ. I think it is so exciting to see what God is doing with children in our church and I look forward to seeing where He leads us in this!