Evangel Art: FREE Reproducible Art
July 6, 2008
I’ve created, compiled, and am making available as a FREE download! That’s right…this resource that includes years worth of my cartoon-style drawings is available for FREE!
Dick Gruber’s Evangel Art: Reproducible Art for Children’s Ministries is offered for FREE and includes:
- over 40 evangel pages
- 385 picture words
- 124 scripture pictures
All artwork is provided in .jpg format and can be easily incorporated into any word processing, desktop publishing, or presentation software. To request a free download of Evangel Art, simply complete the download request form at www.cmuo.com/resources/evangelart. You will then receive an email with more details for downloading your free copy.
I Came to Camp with a Whole Lot of Nothing
July 6, 2008
Kids Camp, A Whole Lot Of Something
by Dick Gruber
“I came to camp with a whole lot of nothing. I am going home with a whole lot of something.” – Maria, 10 years old, three-time child of divorce
Camping ministry is summed up in the words of this ten-year-old. Boys and girls across this country are going home with a “whole lot of something” this summer. Kids camp ministry is a five-day glimpse of heaven for many children. Boys and girls walk and talk and play and pray in an environment saturated with Christian principles, behavior expectations, and Bible verses. They are immersed in this godly four or five day ministry which William Coleman in his book entitled, “The Camp Counselor,”
equates to “fifty-two weeks of Sunday school in the eternal impact it has on a child.”
I sit and type this in a cabin near Spencer Lake, Wisconsin. It’s early morning. Last night I preached and nearly a hundred boys and girls responded spending over an hour praying at the altars. A good number of these were baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke with other tongues as the Spirit helped them. This scenario has been played out all summer in different kids camps with different evangelists across our fellowship.
I have been counseling, preaching at, or assisting in directing kids camps in our movement since 1979. I have been witness to hundreds of children being saved, baptized in the Holy Spirit, and called in to full-time Christian service. I have prayed with enthusiastic boys and girls to whom Jesus was as close and real as I was. I have prayed with desperate children going home to uncertain circumstances and watched as Jesus gave them hope for the future.
I have watched children praying for children receiving all that God could give. Boys and girls laying hands on one another and encouraging each other to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues. Two girls at a recent camp approached me and said, “You are awesome, PG. We just received the Holy Spirit and we spoke with tongues and everything!” At the same camp a group of boys announced to me, “We just prayed for him and he’s speaking in tongues!” Children learn to minister one to another at camp.
Camp is a ministry where children see Christianity in action 24 hours a day all week. They witness the good, the bad, and the ugly in their counselors and discover how real people weave Jesus into everyday life. There is an incredible force of volunteer workers that become Christ in the flesh for our kids each summer. One mother, after recently being healed of a debilitating disease that sapped her strength for ten years said to me, “I get to come to camp, sleep on an army cot, run all day with the kids, and help them pray through at the altars. All because God healed me.” What better reason is there to receive
divine healing than to give a drink of cool water to a child?
In my children’s pastorate in Minnesota, I had several counselors who took a week of their vacation time each summer to minister to boys and girls as counselors at camp. One of these dads said to me, “I thought I would come to camp and minister to the children. Instead, they have ministered to me.”
This summer, thousands of boys and girls attended kids camps in our districts here in America and around the world. Many declared a personal relationship with Christ for the first time. Many were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit helped them. Many received a life-long call to full-time Christian service.
Their lives will never be the same. The future of our movement is being shaped in the ministry settings of our Assemblies of God camps. As a pastor, you can influence your church in helping to build this vital ministry to children. Your church can give finances, resources, and personnel to your district camp.
Many districts allow churches to participate in a spring-cleaning day. In these districts, lay people and pastors join together to clean and spruce up the camp ground prior to the summer camping season.
Taking time to promote camp to your congregation early in the year gives people opportunity to set camping dates on their calendar so that they can participate in this important ministry. Above all, pray with your people for upcoming camps. Obtain a district camping schedule and encourage congregation members to pray before during and after camps. Become personally involved. Pastor Dick Vanman
serves as camp athletic director here in Wisconsin. The people of his church, and I might add, his own children know that kids camp is an important ministry.
The next time you see a brochure advertising upcoming camps, stop and pray. Ask God what He would have you to do in giving kids a whole lot of something this summer.
Download printable version [PDF]
When God Says Get Outta Town
July 6, 2008
A workshop on what to do when making a ministerial move.
Download printable version [PDF]
Discipline Policy
July 6, 2008
Discipline Policy for Children’s Ministries
Bloomington Assembly of God
Revised 4-12-99
- The use of corporal punishment is expressly forbidden for all children’s workers, including parents
who serve in a classroom with their own children. - We have an established three-person policy. This rule insists that there be three or more present in
every worker – child encounter. Disruptive behavior is to be handled in the classroom, not in isolation
with worker and child alone. The Children’s Pastor and Ministry Coordinators will provide two or more
workers in every room. - When it is evident that you have an extreme case, which cannot be handled by classroom workers,
contact your Ministry Coordinator for assistance. - Establish simple rules for your classroom. State these positively. General rules for every class are:
Respect those in authority.
Use words to solve problems.
Speak and walk softly indoors.
Leave room and equipment better than you found it
Put materials away before beginning a new project. - Be consistent in enforcing your classroom rules.
- NEVER threaten a child!
- Always maintain self-control in your classroom and with your students. You must never shout or
exhibit angry behavior towards the children. If you feel you are losing control, contact your Ministry
Coordinator for assistance. - Never embarrass a child with words or actions.
- Here are some things to do when a child becomes disruptive:
-
- Restate the rules to the entire class.
- Walk in the child’s direction, standing near/over him.
- Gain eye contact with the student.
- Lightly touch the child on the shoulder letting him know that you care and are aware of his
behavior. - Redirect the child’s actions.
- Change your activity. Perhaps the child is bored.
- Move the child to a different seat or location in the classroom.
- (Preschool) When a preschooler continues to disrupt class, follow these steps:
- Move the child to a time-out chair. The time-out chair should be placed where the child can
readily observe the rest of the class. This is not a tool of humiliation. - Tell the child how long he will be in the chair and briefly remind him why he is being disciplined.
- A good rule of thumb is one minute per year of the child’s age.
- At the end of the time-out, the worker will approach the child in a spirit of forgiveness and invite
him to reenter the classroom activity. - (Elementary) Here are a few ideas to remember when ministering in a positive way to the
individual who continues with disruptive behavior: - Encounter him on an individual level. Take him to the side or back of the room for discipline.
- Explain the broken rule. Help the child to understand which simple classroom rule was broken
and the importance of following all rules. - Encourage repentance. Repent means to turn around. With God’s help, any child can choose
repentance and experience a dramatic change in behavior. - Engage in prayer. Pray with the child.
- Expect God to work in the child’s life. As you place the child in a different geographic location in
the classroom, trust that God will help him with self-control.
Download printable version [PDF]
Let the Children Come
July 6, 2008
Let The Children Come
A sermon outline by Dick Gruber
Proverbs 20:11, Matthew 19:14
INTRODUCTION:
Can children go to hell? I think they can. Sounds a bit strong, doesn’t it? Evangelism is still considered an important part of the three-fold mission of the church. Neither Scripture nor Assemblies of God by-laws, give a beginning age for the evangelism of people. Young or old, our mission is to reach the lost. Every teacher, pastor, and leader must begin to approach ministry to children from the premise that little ones can die and spend an eternity without the Lord.
I believe that without Christ, a child may die and spend an eternity in hell. Having once adopted that premise, I then must act to help every boy and girl escape the flame of the lake of fire. I must save children from a Godless eternity. I must let the children come to Jesus.
Many congregation members do not believe that children could go to hell. (Refer to chapter 5, The Age Of Accountability, in the Richard Dresselhaus book, Teaching For Decision, GPH 1973).
Parents, pastors, and even Sunday school teachers do not really believe that a child can be counted among the lost. They do not believe a child can go to hell. Proverbs 20:11, Romans 3:22, Romans 3:23 , Romans 3:10, 1 John 5:17, James 4:17
MESSAGE:
A teacher or church that believes children can go to hell, will:
- Pray
- Pray for the souls of children
- Pray for laborers for the harvest of children
- In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy — Philippians 1:4, Matthew 9:37-38
- Practice
- Set an example for the children
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. — James 1:22 (NIV)
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. — Matthew 7:24 (NIV)
- Prepare
- Prepare for your ministry
- Prepare others for ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12)
For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel. — Ezra 7:10 (NIV)
The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. –
Ecclesiastes 12:10 (NIV) - Provide
- Provide financially for ministry to children
- Provide varied ministries to children
- Provide an atmosphere of unconditional love for children
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must [love one]
another. — John 13:34 (NIV) - Prevail
- Do not be weary in well doing
- Do not give up on the undesirable child.
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. — 1 Corinthians
15:57 (NIV)I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ
Jesus. — Philippians 3:14 (NIV) - Proclaim
- The Gospel of Jesus to children young and old
- The need for quality ministry to every boy and girl
- The need for total church involvement in this ministry
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. — Romans 1:16 (NIV)
After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. — Judges 2:10 (NIV)
CONCLUSION:
Let me speak up for the children! Children can spend an eternity without Christ! I won’t argue the age of accountability. Some understand salvation at an earlier age than others. Kids grow in their understanding. As long as there is a possibility that a child may die and enter an eternity without Christ, our church will present the Gospel to him/her. Let us, as a congregation, commit ourselves to praying, practicing, preparing, providing, prevailing and proclaiming. Let us endeavor to do as Jesus commanded when He said, “Let the little children come to me.”
Download printable version [PDF]
Scriptures Dealing with Children
July 6, 2008
The following listing of verses in the Bible mention children.
Ps 8:2
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
Ps 37:25
I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
Ps 72:4
He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor.
Ps 78:5-7
He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers
to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
Ps 127:3-5
Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
Matt 11:25
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
Matt 18:3-6
And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter
the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Matt 19:13-15
Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the
disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
Matt 21:15-16
But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?”
Matt 27:25
All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”
Mark 9:35-37
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not
hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
Luke 10:21
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little
children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
Luke 11:13
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 18:15-17
People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
John 1:12-13
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of
God–children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Acts 2:39
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off– for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Acts 21:5-6
But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way. All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.
2 Cor 6:13
As a fair exchange– I speak as to my children– open wide your hearts also.
Eph 5:1-2
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Eph 6:1-4
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”– which is the first commandment with a promise–”that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Col 3:20-21
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Heb 2:13
And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given
me.”
Heb 2:13
And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given
me.”
II Jn 1:4
It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.
3 Jn 1:4
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Recruiting Announcements
July 6, 2008
The recruiting announcements below were written and used by Dick Gruber, Children’s Pastor in Bloomington, Minnesota. Each was placed, one at a time, in the Sunday bulletin. The purpose of these advertisements was not only to recruit workers, but to give visibility to the need for workers and to pass on the philosophy of ministry to children at the Bloomington church.
Do you like eating the middle of the Oreo first? Do you ever wish you could just play with blocks? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then I’m looking for you. Let me help you find a place of ministry in our children’s department. You will have definite duties with precise expectations and a limited time of service. Call me this week. I care for kids and I care for you. Pastor Dick Gruber
Summer is almost here. Many of our people take vacations. Each Sunday this summer, we will need quality helpers and teachers to serve our children who have not gone camping or joined a world Holy Land Tour. If you can serve any Sunday this summer in a one time, substitute role, call me at (phone #). Thanks! Pastor Dick Gruber.
My birthday is in May. Each year I reflect on the wonderful teachers I had when I was a little boy. You can influence a boy or girl through your faithfulness in helping or teaching in our children’s departments. If you would like to be trained to impact the life of a child, call me. Your call will make my birthday happy! Pastor Dick Gruber.
Minnesota in August! There’s nothing like sitting in a fishing boat listening to the buzzing of a hungry flock of north woods mosquitoes moving in for a fresh evening meal. The only thing I can compare that feeding frenzy to is the snack time in our four year olds classroom. It’s not really that bad. Is it? I invite you to take a look for yourself. Sign up this week to assist in one of our preschool classrooms. It’s more fun than being the main course at a mosquito feed.
Give us a hand! Now stop that clapping. You know what I mean. We need helpers each week in our children’s department. Call me and experience the joy of serving Jesus Himself by serving His children.
Has God been waking you in the middle of the night to pray? He has done that to me too. I have been praying for our preschoolers. They need faithful servants. Reliable adult believers who will help them to grow in grace and truth. Next time you wake up to pray, intercede for the children. If you desire to put feet to those prayers call me. I’ll be glad to help you find a place of service.
Is God interested in small children? Yes! Jesus said, “Let the little children come unto me.” I believe that everyone in the Body of Christ has been given abilities that can be used to raise up an army of children who love God. You can become involved in “letting” the children come to Jesus this Sunday. Give me a call. I’ll help you discover your place in this great design.
Do you find your foot tapping during song service? Do you ever wish you could jump up and down in an environment of total acceptance? Look no further. Our two’s, three’s, and four’s need jumpers and shakers. You say you can’t teach? That’s OK! You can help children grow in their excitement towards God as an assistant in one of our classes. Contact Pastor Dick, today.
For children, play is work. It is through play that boys and girls learn to socialize, resolve conflict, and overcome obstacles. It is through play that our children learn about Jesus, the Bible, and obeying their parents. Come play in the preschool school of the Bible this week. Our teachers are looking for helpers who have not forgotten the importance of playing. Contact Pastor Dick, today.
I know! You and your Christian friends are looking for some ministry in which you can all serve together. Wayne Tesch once said, “True Christian growth comes as friends serve faithfully in the harvest field of life.” Look no further. The harvest field is here. Contact Pastor Dick today and he will help you and your friends find a place of meaningful service and growth in our church.
It is rumored that helping in our preschool department actually improves your golf score! True or not, all of the praying and playing, and serving our small ones does have a positive affect on your spiritual living. You are the kind of person who spends a couple of hours on the golf course each week. This improves your physical and mental condition. I challenge you to spend the same amount of time serving children this week. Serving Jesus through serving children will improve your spiritual condition. Who knows, perhaps your golf score will improve as well.
Do like to cut and paste? When you walk by the crayola counter at Target, do you secretly wish you could buy a box of 64? If this is you, I need your help. I am looking for men and women who like arts and crafts. This is the year that I wish to establish craft coordinators for our preschool department. Give my office a call. As a craft coordinator, you’ll never have to teach a lesson. Call me today and become a blessing to our wonderful preschool children.
“Get out the crayolas and the glue sticks, we are going to have church!” Do you ever wish Pastor would open his sermon this way? If so, you are the person I’m praying for. I need you to become a craft coordinator in a preschool classroom. All you will ever get to do is prepare and assist children in an artsy-craftsy Bible learning activity. Give me a call and bless the next generation.
Our Early childhood department is looking for teams of excited, born-again, Spirit-filled Christians. Gather three or four of your friends and help me one Sunday each month. Think of it! You and your best friends can serve children together. This is not only fun, but it will reap eternal benefits as you minister to these young saints. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity! Call me when you’ve gathered your team.
You say you can’t teach? That’s all right! I have plenty of teachers. I need helpers! What does a helper do? A helper talks to children, making each boy and girl feel loved and special. A helper plays with blocks and play dough and as he/she talks to children about Jesus’ love. A helper prays for boys and girls. Call me today and help some wonderful children learn to love Jesus!
The children of Bloomington Assembly Of God need you! Don’t look around. Quit pretending you are not reading this. Our kids need you. You have special gifts and abilities that can be used for God’s glory in the children’s department. Contact Pastor Gruber today and he will help you discover your place in the wonderful world of ministry to children.
Be part of a growing team! Every Sunday morning over one hundred volunteers serve Jesus by serving our children at Bloomington Assembly Of God. These people are trained cared for and placed in ministries which utilize individual and corporate talents. We are currently praying for and seeking teachers and helpers for the Toddler 1 & 2 during School of the Bible hour, the Four Year Olds during SOTB, the Two Year Olds during 10:30 service and enrollment secretaries before SOTB and the 10:30 service. If you have questions or interest, give me a call. Pastor Dick Gruber (phone #).
Somebody loves you! That’s the overwhelming theme of our children’s ministries here at BAG. Children need someone to love them and frankly, we adults need to be loved. The perfect meshing of this human need is happening every Sunday in our nursery, toddler, and preschool classes. Give me a call and come and help in our children’s classes. Somebody does love you and needs to be loved by you.
NO EXCUSES! hurt my foot in August. My head ached and I was tired. Amazingly these excuses, although true, did not keep me from ministry in your child’s class. Children need faithful, loving believers to share with them the Gospel of Christ. NO EXCUSES! Jesus, in the life of a small child, is waiting for you to put aside excuses and begin helping in a Sunday school or church time class. Give me a call when you decide to get in the ministry. Remember, NO EXCUSES! Pastor Dick Gruber, (phone #).
Download a printable version [PDF]
Putting Together a Powerful Puppet Program
July 5, 2008
A workshop on how to develop a puppet program for a puppet team.
Download a printable version [PDF]
Music in Your Class
July 5, 2008
By Dick Gruber
“Lord, be glorified, in the life of your servant.” I could hear sweet voices singing praise to our God. It was Sunday morning. I was on my way to one of our children’s church services. The song was drifting down the hall from our Sonshine Service. The Sonshine Service ministers to children Kindergarten through second grades. Before I arrived they were already worshipping Jesus.
Children are learning to worship Jesus in our children’s churches. Worship time in the children’s church is a time of preparation for fifty or sixty years of meaningful corporate worship, should Jesus tarry. Children are encouraged to take an active role in the body of Christ.
Have you ever wondered why so many adults simply sit and do nothing in church? I believe a big reason for this is that as children they were trained to sit and be quiet while the lesson was taught. The children’s worship service of today is a vibrant, living service where each child can find a place of ministry. Children are allowed, encouraged, and trained to minister one to another.
Worship in the children’s church or Sunday school class must stretch beyond hand raising and song singing. These are an important part of the formula. In our children’s church we play slow worship choruses creating a mood of respect and awe as children enter. Music is woven throughout the service as we praise Him in song, learn from Scripture, and respond at the altars.
Music plays a great role in leading the children into praise and a lifestyle of worship. Children love to enter the presence of God and music is a grand tool enabling this to happen. Let us look together at five great reasons to practice worship in the children’s church.
Inspiration is the most obvious reason to incorporate music in children’s worship. I get inspired hearing musak at the grocery store. I find myself singing along with those easy listening tunes. Music in church is all the more inspiring as it has a base in sound theology and Christian inspiration. Music has a profound affect on our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. A song can lift your spirit when you are depressed. It can change your heart towards one who has offended.
Music can inspire you to turn your life over to Jesus. Children seem to wear their emotions so close to the surface. Music can calm and soothe their spirits or hype them into a frenzy. Selecting the correct music to open a children’s church service can do much to inspire and direct the course of the entire time you have with those children.
I have found specific songs which the children of our church look forward to singing. Most of these are slow worship choruses. When we begin such a song, kids immediately raise their hands and begin praising God. I have watched as five through twelve year olds stood weeping in God’s presence, inspired by a worship chorus.
Music in a children’s worship service will do much to usher boys and girls into God’s presence. I find that if a song inspires me, there is a good chance it will also inspire the children. For this reason, most of the music we use in children’s church would more likely be associated with an adult or youth service.
Declaration is another important aspect of music in the children’s worship service. We choose music that will encourage children and adults together to declare the greatness of the Lord. We tell God who and what he s in our songs. We declare the mighty wonders of our God. Children need to learn to declare Gods goodness. They can proclaim the greatness of His power and grace. with no shame or embarrassment children of my church declare through song and testimony, the glory of God.
Repetition in choruses serves to burn an image of God into the hearts of boys and girls. I don’t mind singing about God’s holiness, power, or love over and over again with the children. By repetitive declaration of who God is and what He has done for us, we are establishing life long patterns of worship in our children.
My son, Timothy began singing a song from church at the shopping mall one day. At first I felt like quieting him, but then joined in singing. This boy had learned to declare god’s goodness in song at church. Boys and girls who pick this up in children’s worship, are more likely to declare God’s goodness when leaving church property.
Cooperation is a great reason to include songs, both fast and slow, in children’s worship. One children’s church leader told me that she would lead the kids in a few rousing action choruses to get the bugs out of them. ( I assume that meant she had the impression two or three rounds of Father Abraham would wear her kids out.) I think you know that no amount of action singing will wear the kids before you drop over with exhaustion. The reserve of energy boys and girls have will outlast even the most fit children’s church leader.
Action and fast choruses can be used to drawn the kids together. Encouraging children to sing and do the actions to a song will bring unity to the body. The typical children’s worship service hosts thirty or more children ages five through twelve years old. There are variations on this, but generally speaking you serve a diverse audience on Sunday morning.
Getting them to cooperate can be a chore unless you do it with music. I have found that once cooperation in singing has been achieved, it is readily maintained during the rest of the service.
Presentation of the Gospel is of primary concern in our Pentecostal churches. Music is one of the best ways, that I have found to present the Gospel to boys and girls. Children love to learn scriptures and stories when presented in a musical format. When Scripture is presented musically, children seem better able to retain and restate key points of the story of verse.
It is not unusual for me to tailor my children’s service around a specific song by the Donut
Man, Mary Rice Hopkins, Alan Root, or other Christian children’s musicianaries. At one time each of our oldest hymns was nothing more than a new song presenting God’s Word to the people. The theology of songs like A Mighty Fortress, or Blessed Assurance, in inescapable. These two and so many others have presented the Gospel for so many years.
When choosing music for children’s worship, read through the lyrics carefully. What is the purpose for this song? Do the lyrics convey a message that is both understandable theologically accurate? It is not enough to choose music according to the fun level. Music must be chosen with the message of the day in mind. It must be picked knowing that the possibility exists that children will repeat the song over and over again. I am very careful that the songs we sing are those that include lyrics that we want kids to repeat.
Dedication or consecration is the final of the big five.
I don’t’ think that I’ve ever heard Billy Graham end a crusade without the chords of “Just As I Am” playing in the background. Music seems to draw a response from the toughest street kids. I would never think of having a response time without some soft music playing. Many times, I find a song which reemphasis the message that we have been preaching. We taught Sunday on Seeking God. During our altar time we sang, Seek Ye first. Will you ever use a song as a bridge, or filler between service segments? It’s possible.
When you do, make certain, the song has something to do with the theme of the day. We have
no time to waste in our time with Gods kids.
Let me bring a finish to this. In the church, we are always teaching children something. A rushed, disjointed, meaningless song time teaches children that music is not important. A well planned, meaningful, song service, where each song builds on the message of last shows thought and spirituality. Songs introducing the theme of your service, show children that music is a living, vital part of the church experience.
Pray as you choose music today. Let the music in your church or classroom bring inspiration, declaration, cooperation, presentation, and dedication.
Download printable version [PDF]
Field Trip Guidelines
July 5, 2008
Here are sample field trip guidelines for any children’s ministry.
