We’re living in an exciting times. Some people are even calling it the Communication Revolution. To be sure, technology is adding new ways for all of us to exchange ideas.

This has been a big win for people like us in kids ministry. For the first time we have immediate access to the companies that produce our curriculum. We can give instant feedback and they can quickly make adjustments. Churches can easily share ideas with other churches using the same products. Publishers can even invite end users into the development loop.

Extra Credit: I offered this for the first marketing/social media person for any of these publishers, to leave me a comment below. This is because monitoring brand reputation is another angle on social media. Congrats to RBP. Just say how you found this post and I’ll give you extra credit for keeping up with your brand reputation. I’ll only let my automated syndication happen until I get the first response.

With all these new communication channels, some companies are adapting faster than others. In this post I will evaluate a few of the companies and show you how they are getting it right. For this post I’m only looking at the traditional big name curriculum publishers. My grades are mainly based on their support for children’s ministry products.

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This was more challenging that I first though. None of these companies had a central place linking to all their social media channels. So if I’ve missed something, leave a comment to let me know.

Here is how I’m thinking about grades. FYI, I’m not a fan of grade inflation.

• F means no presence (that I could find)
• D means an account but long dormant
• C means at least one active account with average activity
• B means active, helpful, and more than just marketing
• A means industry leader actually bringing users into the product development loop

Related posts:

1. 2007 Vacation Bible School Report
2. Children Media Safety and Kids Ministry
3. Interview With Phil Vischer – Creator Of “VeggieTales” and Christian Media Pioneer
4. Kidmin 1124: Help for Non-Paid Ministry Leaders
5. 2010 Kidmin Blog Madness (Round 2)
6. Why I Don’t Want to Be Too Good at Kidmin

This lesson is based on Jonah’s response to God’s mercy to the Ninevites from Jonah 4.  Jonah had experienced God’s mercy and was given a second chance in his life.  Jonah was unmerciful in his response to God’s compassion and mercy to the repentant Ninevites.  The lesson uses Matthew 18:21-35 to bring in a New Testament Scripture as a parallel passage to teach the truth that God has shown sinners great mercy and believers should respond to those who have offended them with the same kind of mercy.  The lesson can be used for Children’s Church and can be simplified for younger students.

Bible Story: Jonah Gets Angry at God’s Mercy
Scripture: Jonah 4; Matthew 18:21-35
Target Age Group: Age 9 – 11 (U.S. 3rd – 5th Grade)
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 60 minutes
Printer Friendly Bible Lesson: Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. this lesson plan
You Can Help: Please share your feedback and suggestions to improve this children’s Bible lesson. Click here to respond

Supply List: Bibles, cards with difficult situations, natural responses, and Scripture references to respond to the difficulty, Paper for students to draw scenes from a difficult scenario, book marks or slips of paper

Learning Goal: Students will learn that as believers we can never forget God’s great mercy to us so our hearts can be compassionate and merciful to others.  Unbelievers will learn that God is merciful and compassionate and desires all to be saved.

Learning Indicator: Students will demonstrate their understanding to the concept taught in the lesson by answering review questions.  If Conflict resolution activity is used, students will be able to utilize God’s word when faced with difficult situations.

Learning Activity #1: Conflict resolution:  Create possible difficult situations that your students may likely experience in their life. After each scenario ask the question:  “What is our natural response to this difficulty?  As a believer and having the Holy Spirit living inside our hearts how should we respond to this difficulty?” (Obey what Scripture teaches us) To make a variation of this for the students to work on as they wait for the other students to arrive.  Create cards with the difficult situation.  Create cards with the natural responses (examples:  angry, sad, don’t want to be friends anymore, quit, etc.).  Create cards with Scriptures that would help them know how to respond to that situation.  The students would look over the different cards with Scriptures and choose the one that would most likely help in the difficulty (examples:  forgive as you have been forgiven, in your anger do not sin, do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good, etc.)

Learning Activity #2: Give students a paper that is divided into 4-6 parts.  Have students think of a difficult scenario with another person and draw pictures depicting the scenes and have the final scenes showing the conflict resolved in a way that honors God and is in obedience to His Word.

Learning Activity #3: Have students perform skits of different scenarios where forgiveness needs to be shown.

Test: Review Questions

Memory Verse: Luke 6:36 “Be merciful, just as Your Father is merciful.”

Teaching Memory Verse: Putting the verse to a familiar tune is a helpful tool for some students to remember the verse.  A suggestion would be to sing this Scripture to “God is so good”.

Bible Lesson:  Jonah is mad because God is merciful

Nineveh was a wicked city.  God saw every evil thing that the Ninevites had done.  He saw the times they were cruel to His own children the Israelites.  God is holy.  Because He is holy God can not allow sin.  God is also loving, patient and kind.  Sin must be punished.  God is merciful and desires for sinners to turn from their sin and turn to Him.  He gives them opportunities to repent.

God sent Jonah to Nineveh with a message that He was going to punish them because of their wickedness.  When the Ninevites heard God’s message they believed God and turned from their wickedness.  God showed them mercy and did not destroy them as He said He would.

How do you think the Ninevites felt to experience God’s kindness?  If you were a Ninevite how would your feel?  Most people are filled with joy and thankfulness when they have been rescued from death.  We don’t know if the Ninevites tried to worship and follow the One True God or not.  We can assume they were thankful to Him for letting them live.

God has called His followers to look and act like Him.  Let’s look at our Memory verse for today.  Luke 6:36:  Be merciful, just as Your Father is merciful.  Mercy is undeserved kindness.  As sinners each of us deserve to be punished for our sins and separated from God forever.  “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)  God has shown His mercy to every man, woman, boy and girl by providing a Savior who left heaven and came to earth as a man.  He was sinless and willingly died on the cross taking on the punishment for the sins of all people. He was put to death in a very cruel, painful way by being nailed to a cross.  This Savior, Jesus died on the cross so our sins could be forgiven.  God has shown us mercy and as followers of Jesus we must show mercy to others even if we don’t like them.

(Pass out Bibles to any student who needs one.  Hand out slips of papers/bookmarks for them to place in Jonah 4.)

Let’s open our Bibles to Jonah 4.  What can you remember from our study from the Book of Jonah?  (Allow students to respond).  If anyone had received undeserved kindness it was Jonah.  Jonah deliberately disobeyed God and went in the opposite direction he was supposed to go.  God could have allowed Jonah to go to Tarshish and live the rest of his life there.  That would not have been a good thing for Jonah because no one who is a child of God can live in rebellion against God and have peace and joy in his heart.  Jonah would have been miserable all the days he lived his life away from God.  God could have allowed Jonah to drown when the sailors threw him overboard.  But God showed Jonah mercy.  Jonah did nothing to deserve God’s kindness.  Jonah was loved by God and God was patient and kind with him.  When Jonah repented God continued to show mercy by allowing him to have a second chance to the serve as His prophet.

Let’s read Jonah 4:1-4.  Jonah had been forgiven and given a second chance in life and he is furious that God would forgive the Ninevites and turn away from punishing them.  If you were here when we studied chapter one of Jonah, why did Jonah dislike the Ninevites?  They were enemies of God’s people the Israelites.  When the Ninevites attacked their enemies they were cruel and violent with them.

From a human perspective it would be hard to forgive the Ninevites for the wicked, violent things they had done to their enemies.  As believers we are not asked to look at others from a human point of view.  We are to follow our Heavenly Father’s example.  We have to know Him well enough to see others as He does.

(Provide a slip of paper for each student so they can keep their place in Jonah 4 while they turn to the next passage you are going to discuss.)

Jonah sounds like a person in one of Jesus’ parables.  A parable is a story that Jesus told His audience to help them understand the ways of God’s Kingdom.  Let’s turn in our Bibles to Matthew 18:21.

Peter asked Jesus how many times he was to forgive someone who sins against him.  He thought 7 times would be plenty of times.  Jesus told him that he was to forgive a person who sins against him 70 times 7.  How many times does that equal?  (490)  Jesus didn’t want Peter keeping track of how many times he was to forgive a person so He tells the disciples the following parable:

Once there was a King who was looking at his books that recorded bills that his servants had not paid him back.  As he looked at his book he saw that one of his servants owed him millions of dollars.  The King decided it was time for this servant to pay back all that money.  He sent his servants to bring this man before him.  “You must pay back all that you owe me today.”  The man looked at the king and knew he had no way of ever paying that bill in one day.  The King commanded that his servants take this man, his wife and his children and sell them as slaves to receive money to pay off the bill that this man owed.

The news of his whole family being sold into slavery broke this man’s heart.  He fell to his knees before the King and begged him to be patient with him and he promised he would pay back all that he owed.  As the King watched this man beg for mercy, he showed compassion for him.  He decided to erase the bill from his record book that the man owed.  This man was free from having to pay back anything.  He no longer owed a large amount of money to the king.  He owed nothing  to the King because he had shown him mercy and took away the large bill he owed.

The man left the King’s palace.  He had been shown mercy that he did not deserve.  As he walked down the street he saw a man who borrowed a couple hundred dollars.  He grabbed the man and put his hands around his neck and began to choke him.  “Pay me back every dollar you owe me!”

The man is startled and falls to his knees and says, “Please be patient with me and I will pay you back every dollar I owe you.”

The man who had just been shown mercy by the King refused to show mercy to this man and had him thrown in jail until he paid back every cent. This man who owed the king millions of dollars and had his bill erased by the king, showed no mercy to the man who owed him a  few hundred dollars.

When the King heard about this man who showed no mercy, he had him put in jail and allowed him to be tortured until he paid back all that he owed.

Let’s read how Jesus ends this parable by reading Matthew 18:35.  Like the King in Jesus’ parable God forgives sins and wipes a person’s record clear when they put their faith in His Son Jesus.  The price for our sins is not something any of us could ever pay back to God.  He mercifully forgives us for our sins when we believe in Jesus.  Being forgiven a great debt should cause believers to be merciful and forgiving to others who offend them.

Now let’s flip back to Jonah 4. How are Jonah and the unmerciful servant alike?  (Allow students to respond) Jonah had been shown mercy but was furious that God would show mercy to the Ninevites.

Let’s read Jonah 4:5.  Jonah did not fully understand God’s mercy and kindness to him.  He was selfish and did not want the same for his enemies.  He went out and made a shelter.  He hoped that he would get to have a front row seat to watch the Ninevites destroyed by God.  As he sat in his shelter the heat from the sun made him very uncomfortable but he was not going to miss out on this event of watching his enemies be destroyed from the earth.

Read Jonah 4:6-9. God loves Jonah.  He sees this selfish man with unforgiveness and no mercy in his heart towards the Ninevites.  He shows love and compassion for Jonah as he creates a vine that grows large leaves to shade Jonah from the hot sun.  Does Jonah deserve God’s loving kindness? God sent a worm to eat through the vine causing this plant that made Jonah very happy to die.  After the vine dies God sent a scorching east wind to cause the sun to be so hot on Jonah’s head that he feels like he is going to pass out.  He began to whine and say “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

God asks Jonah if he has any right to be angry about a vine and he believes he has every right to be angry over the loss of a plant that does not have a soul and will not spend eternity separated from God.

Jonah is blinded by his unforgiving heart.  His behavior seems silly as we read about it but we are all capable of behaving this way if we choose to be unforgiving to others and not be merciful as God has been towards us.

Let’s read Jonah 4:10-11.  God explains to Jonah that he was concerned over a plant that he had nothing to do with its existence.  God created men and women as His most special creation.  Sin came into the world and caused them to be separated from Him.  God desires all people to be rescued from the destruction that sin brings into a person’s life.  He saw the Ninevites and had compassion on them and showed them mercy when they repented.

As we close in prayer allow God to examine your heart.  If you are like Jonah and the unmerciful servant ask God to forgive you.  If you are a believer He has forgiven all of your sins by allowing His Son Jesus to die on the cross.  You are forgiven because Jesus paid your sin debt in full.  God commands us to forgive others as we have been forgiven.  No matter how badly someone has hurt us we are to continue to forgive. (Note to teacher:  Students may be facing bullying, physical or sexual abuse etc.  It’s important to let  students know that if they are in physical danger they need to talk to a trusted adult for help.)  The Holy Spirit living inside your heart will enable you to have the power and the strength to obey God’s command.  If you are not a believer your sins are you keeping you from a right relationship with God and you are separated from Him.  Without faith in Jesus’ death on the cross, His burial and resurrection you cannot spend eternity in heaven with God.  The price of our sins is death and the only way you can have that debt paid in full is by putting your faith in Jesus Christ.  Today you can have your sins forgiven.  You can speak to us if you need to know from the Bible how you can be saved.

Close in prayer.

Review Questions:

1. Why was Jonah angry? (Because God had forgiven the Ninevites)
2. From Jesus’ parable why was the King going to sell the man and his family as slaves? (To get back money that the man could not pay)
3. How much did this man owe the King? (Millions of dollars)
4. What did the King do when the man begged for him to be patient? (He showed mercy and cancelled the debt)
5. How did the man who had his debt forgiven treat the man who owed him hundreds of dollars? (He did not show mercy and had him thrown in prison until he paid back every cent)
6. Why did the King put the unmerciful servant in prison and have him tortured?  (Because he didn’t show mercy to the servant who owed him money)
7. When Jonah was angry about God’s kindness to the Ninevites what did he do?  (He made a shelter hoping to see the Ninevites destroyed)
8. How did God show Jonah kindness when he sat in anger in the hot sun? (He created a vine that provided shade for him)
9. Who was Jonah more concerned about?  (Himself, the vine)
10. Who is God concerned about?  (People because He wants everyone to turn from their sin and be saved)
11. Have you ever felt like Jonah? Has someone hurt you so many times that you want them to suffer?  How has this lesson changed how you feel?  If it hasn’t changed how you feel about your enemy will you pray for God to change your heart so you can be merciful as He is?

Need More Ideas? Browse our list of Sunday School coloring pages or find a Sunday School craft to accompany this lesson plan.

Related posts:

1. Lesson: Jonah Obeys and Nineveh Repents
2. Sunday School Lesson: Jonah Returns to God
3. Sunday School Lesson: Jonah Runs From God
4. Kids Bible Lesson: Parable of the Laborers
5. Kids Bible Lesson about Work (Labor Day)
6. Kids Bible Lesson: Building the Tabernacle
7. Help Wanted: Kids Bible Lesson Writers

This is an object lesson to demonstrate how our hearts cannot be fully trusting the Lord and be full of worry at the same time.  At the close of this article you will find a list of Bible passages which could be the focus of the lesson to be taught alongside this object lesson.

Materials needed:

• Cooking Oil
• Water
• 3 clear containers (2 smaller and 1 larger)
• Food Coloring
• Tape
• Sharpie marker
  

Tip: The size of the containers and the amount of liquids is up to you.  If presenting in front of a large group of children, it would be best to use large containers and a large amount of liquid to make the containers easier to see.  It would also be best for the third container to be larger than the first two.

Object Lesson:

1. “Today I brought with me some supplies which each of you could find in your own home.  First, I brought some cooking oil.”
2. Hold up the oil and pour some into one of the smaller clear containers.  “This oil is going to represent worry.”  Write the word worry on a piece of tape as a label for the container.  Stick the tape to the container, so the children can see it.
3. “What does it mean to worry?”  Take some responses from the kids.
4. “Worry is when we are afraid or concerned because we do not know what is going to happen.”
5. “I also brought with me some water.”  Pour some water into a second clear container.
6. “I am going to add some food coloring to the water to make it easier for you to see.”  Add a few drops of food coloring to the water depending on the amount of water used and stir until evenly mixed.
7. “This water represents trusting God.”  Write the word trust on a piece of tape as a label for the container.  Stick the tape to the container, so the children can see it.
8. “What does it mean to trust God?”  Take responses from the children.
9. “Trusting God means that we remember He is in control and knows everything.  We don’t need to be afraid because God is taking care of us.”
10. “Does God want us to worry or to trust in Him?  Can we trust God and worry at the same time?”
11. “Let’s let our ‘worry’ and ‘trust’ show us the answer.  Can trust and worry mix?  Can they blend and be happening at the same time?”
12. Pour some of the oil and water into the third container at the same time.  The oil and water will appear to mix at first.  But, as the children watch they will slowly see the two separate with the oil resting on top of the water.
13. Hold up the third container for the children to see.  “From looking at our demonstration of worry and trust, can the two be mixed together and happen at the same time?”
14. “No, our hearts cannot be fully trusting God and worrying at the same time.  The two do not mix.”
15. “God wants us to trust in Him whenever we are tempted to worry because He cares for us.  He is in control and knows about everything that has happened in the past, is happening now in the present, and ever will happen in the future.  God is more than worthy of our full trust.”

Scripture Passages to use alongside this object lesson:

• Psalm 37:1-7
• Psalm 62:6-8
• Proverbs 3:5-6
• Isaiah 12:2
• Matthew 6:25-34
• Philippians 4:6-7
• 1 Peter 5:7

These passages could be used to supplement the object lesson.  Or you may be teaching a lesson on one of these passages and desire to use the object lesson as a supplement.

Need More Ideas? Then browse our growing collection of free ideas for children’s sermons or kids Bible lessons.

Related posts:

1. Salvation Object Lesson
2. Giving Object Lesson for Children
3. “That’s Impossible” Game and Object Lesson
4. Measuring Noah’s Ark Object Lesson
5. God the Holy Spirit Is Everywhere (Object Lesson for Children)
6. Learning To Trust Your Children’s Ministry Volunteers
7. Kids Ministry Game Idea: Object Freeze Tag

What follows is a bulletin insert I created for my church. I wanted to write out some benefits of Sunday School attendance as an encouragement for families. I kept the list simple so it would print on a half sheet of paper.

Directions: Simply click on the preview image to download this file as a printer friendly PDF. I’ve also upload it as a Word document if you would like to tweak it for your own church. Here is are alternate Black & White versions (PDF – Word).

Here is the full text of the flyer. I’ve love to hear your feedback, just leave a comment below.

While sleeping late can be nice, have you considered the benefits of Sunday School attendance for your child. Here are 10 reasons to make it a priority in your family.

1. Age Targeted Teaching: Where else can your kids get Biblical instruction that’s focused toward their developmental abilities?

2. Friends: In Sunday School, your child will build positive friendships with their peers by discovering God’s Word together.

3. It’s Fun: Sunday School is not Disney Land, but our teachers do work hard to teach the Bible in ways that are relevant and fun for kids.

4. Spiritual Mentors: A dedicated teacher can be a Christian role model who supports you and helps inspire the faith of your child.

5. Systematic Bible Learning: Our curriculum is designed to give a broad foundation, so children will understand how all the parts of Scripture point to Christ.

6. Praying Teachers: Our teachers consistently pray for your child’s faith to grow. Coming to Sunday School gives another occasion for God to answer those requests.

7. Big Reward For a Small Investment: If you’re already coming to church, just come a little earlier. That one change will equal over 800 hours of additional Christian teaching before your child graduates.

8. Send the Right Message: Making Sunday School a priority shows your kids that God’s Word really does matter more than pillow-time.

9. Adult Bible Fellowship: While the children enjoy their class, you can fellowship with other adults in your own Bible study group.

10. You’ll Be On Time: Families who come to Sunday School always get to worship on time. It’s the easiest way to avoid being late.

Related posts:

1. Church Bulletin Insert: The Faith Focused Family
2. Fresh Ideas For Sunday School Bulletin Boards
3. He Came To Bring Us Peace (Children’s Sunday School Lesson for Christmas)
4. 10 Reasons To Still Do Vacation Bible School
5. 110 Reasons to Love Children’s Ministry
6. 6 Reasons Why You Should Serve In Children’s Ministry
7. 10 Reasons Why I Love Upward Soccer

A few weeks ago, I added a monthly digest option for newsletter readers. It was a way to give people a little more choice in how they receive our free content.

This post is the collection of articles I’ll be sending them. I’ve tried to pick the very best articles from the last month.  I’m looking at Facebook links, comment counts, and a few other statistics.

Top Lesson Plans

Kids Bible Lesson about Work (Labor Day) – A special lesson plan I wrote for labor day at my church. Of course, the value of work is a biblical truth you can teach anytime.

Preschool Bible Lesson: God’s Strength is Everlasting – Kara continues her preschool lessons based on Isaiah 40. Theres are great quality and many churches are using them.

Lesson: Jonah Returns to God – This lesson is the climax in our new lesson series for Sunday School. It’s a powerful lesson about repentance and faith from the Old Testament.

Family Devotions for the Big City – Just because you’re traveling doesn’t mean you have to skip worship time with your kids. Try these simple ideas for relating Bible truth when you travel.

God Knows Me Lesson for Preschoolers – Print off this free lesson to teach this foundational truth to toddlers and younger children.  Based on Psalm 139.

Free Sunday School Materials – This page is a jumping off point to the growing collection of lessons, activities, crafts, games, and more that we have free on this website.

Top Articles

Dear Pastor: We Really Need To Talk! – This post got people talking on Facebook. About 2/3 of the comments were from others in kids ministry who struggled with the same issues.

Will Your Church Care for the Special Needs Child? – Read this powerful reminder that Jesus calls us to love & care for every child, even those who have extra needs.

Salvation Object Lesson – Try this simple way to teach kids about the work of Jesus to remove our sins and soften our hearts toward God.

10 Reasons To Still Do Vacation Bible School – Next year’s VBS may seem like a long way off, but you can start planing now by printing off this helpful list. It’s a great encouragement.

VBS Evaluation Forums – Here is a printable resource to help you and your volunteers reflect on Vacation Bible School. Get a jump on making next year even better.

3 Active Games for Children’s Church or Sunday School – This post became very popular. Read it for yourself and try these game ideas in your ministry.

VBS or Children’s Ministry Game: Object Freeze Tag – This little modification to tag can make a fun alternative game for your ministry time. I’ve uploaded a video demonstration too.

Special Features

Armor of God Coloring Pages – Mandy continues to create helpful coloring sheets for our readers. This one actually doubles as a craft template based on Ephesians 6.

Connecting Church & Home Conference – I spent two days at a family ministry conference and typed up detailed notes. This is an easy way to pick up some new ideas about equipping parents to be spiritual leaders at home.

Gospel Coloring Book: Jesus is King – We started a new coloring page series this month. Each will fit together to teach kids why they need to follow Jesus.

10 Commandment Song for Kids Worship – This was one of my favorite videos from the Go Fish Guys VBS program.  It’s on YouTube so check it out.

Encouragement for Children’s Ministry – Here is my roundup of the 5 most encouraging posts we’ve had on the website. They can all be printed and shared around your church.

HT: Kenny “Font Man” Conley

Related posts:

1. This Week in Children’s Ministry for 5/12/2010
2. This Week in Children’s Ministry for 5/5/2010
3. This Week in Children’s Ministry for 4/21/2010
4. This Week in Children’s Ministry for 3/3/2010
5. This Week in Children’s Ministry for 2/24/2010
6. This Week in Children’s Ministry for 1/6/2010
7. 2010 Cokesbury VBS: Going Green VBS Theme

This post is a playful way to make a point. I wrote it as an open letter to all pastors on behalf of all kids ministry leaders. It is inspired by true events and stories I’ve heard from the world of kids ministry.

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Dear Pastor,

We need to talk.

I’ve noticed a breakdown in the way our staff operates and I think we need to deal with it. And soon.

You know I’ve been working at this church for several years now. But it didn’t take long for me to find out we have a problem. My first day started off simple enough. I spent a few hours setting up my office and asking God for direction. I read over my job description and made a few check lists. Then I asked you what I should be doing next.

I’ll always remember the look on your face. You said, “You’re the Children’s Minister, that’s why we pay you. Figure things out and let me know if you have any problems.” Then you turned around, went back into your office, and closed the door.

From that moment until now I have had almost zero supervision.

I know this is somewhat normal, especially in smaller churches. I’ve even heard of volunteer ministry leaders who never talk to their pastors at all. Many people are leading children’s ministry with little or no pastoral supervision. As long as they don’t make trouble, they are invisible.

I know you are busy. I know you have enough worries and don’t want to micromanage what we’re doing in kids church. I really do appreciate the trust and freedom I’ve been given. At the same time, I think this supervision issue can hurt the church.

There are many smart people in kids ministry who make stupid mistakes. If nobody is there to offer correction, things can get really far off track. Sometimes I need to bounce things off you. I need to answer hard questions. I want to see the big picture. I need you to pray with me about this ministry.

Honestly, I’m feeling a little discouraged. When this ministry is ignored it often feels like it doesn’t matter. I feel like I don’t matter. I guess I would even call it neglect. I’m not sure it would be spiritually healthy for me to continue feeling this way. I don’t want to become bitter, but I’ve been having moments.

Besides, too much independence of any one ministry is not good for the church. Sometimes I’m not sure if my vision matches yours. I don’t want to be the cause of friction within the congregation. I would love to share in a coordinated ministry plan that avoids competing interests or missed opportunities.

Here are two simple ideas that could help us address this situation. I’d love to hear what you think too.

What if we meet together at least once a month. I can give you an update on our ministry and we can write down some ministry objectives for the next few months. Then we can pray together for the families in our church. If the schedule works out, we could include several of the key ministry leaders.

I would love for you to experience our programs at least once. I know this is hard with all your leadership duties, but maybe you could pick a special Sunday once per year just to come back for kids church. This would show the congregation that kids really do matter to you. In the short term, you could stop into a few Sunday School rooms and pray with the children.

I hope this does not come across as criticism. I really want to do what’s best for the church. I’m praying that we can have an open dialog about these issues. Thanks again for your all your support.

Your Partner in the Gospel,
The Children’s Ministery

Related posts:

1. 5 Ways To Show Pastor Appreciation Every Day
2. Interview With Jeff Goodyear, Children’s Pastor at Highview Baptist Church
3. Book Review: Pastor Daddy by Lindsey Blair and Bobby Gilles

Our church is wrapping up it’s fifth season of Upward Soccer. It’s become a fixture on our calendar and I can’t imagine not doing it. But like any outreach program, it needs annual evaluation.

We broke all the rules when we first launched our first season. I was still in my first year at the church and we were without a pastor. The congregation was reeling from rapid shifts in leadership and division generations. At that point we only had about 30 kids attending during our main worship service.

I pitched the program to the church on a Sunday night, then paused for questions. One timid older lady raised her hand, “So, we’re going to play soccer against other churches?”

I had a lot of explaining to do.

That first year we registered nearly 80 players. The second year it rose to 120. Then a year at 150 and another at 180. This year down to 130 because we moved the program from Fall to Summer.

All this raises the obvious question of fruit. Has this ministry met it’s goals? Does it reflect excellence? Have we added new families to the church? Have members been empowered to serve? Have we introduced children to Jesus?

The answers are not as clear as I wish.

Overall using Upward has made our soccer league a model of excellence in our community. Every year kids come to our program for a family and kid friendly approach to sports. They love the positive experience we provide. The training, materials, and support from Upward has made this possible – especially since I knew nothing about the sport five years ago.

Each year we’ve added at least one new family to our church, sometimes more. These are usually estranged church members from other congregations. Our sports outreach has helped us connect with them and move them back toward active discipleship.

I credit the program will bringing our church together in difficult times. Our younger parents coach the teams while the older group work concessions or maintain the fields. We followed the Upward prayer guide and had hundreds of people lifting up the program to God.

The kids who came to Jesus are a different story. The short devotions during practice just didn’t lead to many spiritual breakthroughs. Yes, there have been kids who built on what they knew and took steps of faith. But overall I can not point to any specific conversions on the Soccer field. That’s not to discount the real impact on some kids who first connected with our church through sports later came to Christ in other programs.

Moving forwards, Upward Soccer has been a positive and healthy activity for our church. While I wouldn’t recommend it strictly for evangelism, it was very helpful for outreach and making new connections with un-churched families.

What Do You Think?

How about you? Does your church run a sports outreach? I’d love to hear about your experience. Simply leave a comment below to respond.

The top and middle photo from this post are use with permission from Tim Brister’s photo stream on Flickr.

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5. The Early Church Team: A Children’s Church Lesson
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Have you ever taught children what the Bible says about the value of work? Then you might enjoy this simple lesson plan that explains why our jobs matter to God. Children need to understand that working hard  glorifies God. Work is one way we love our neighbors and fulfill our purpose in life. These truths are relevant in all of life. I first wrote this for my children’s church, but it would work well as a children’s Sunday School lesson.

Bible Passage: The follower are referenced at least once in this lesson. Genesis 1:28, Genesis 2:19-20, Colossians 3:23, Genesis 2:2, Matthew 22:39, Luke 19:10, Proverbs 14:23
Bible Lesson Topic: Working Hard, Vocation
Target Age Group: K-5^th graders
Target Time Frame: 30 minutes
Original Teaching Context: Children’s Church or Sunday School
Printer Friendly Bible Lesson: Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. this lesson plan
You Can Help: Please leave your feedback and suggestions for this lesson plan. Others will benefit from your ideas. Click here to respond

Learning Goal #1: After this lesson, the children will demonstrate understanding of the Bible’s teaching about work… (indicator #1) by discerning between true and false statements related to this topic.

Learning Goal #2: After this lesson, the children will demonstrate new positive attitudes about work… (indicator #2) by asking their parents for extra responsibilities at home (then reporting back next week).

Explanation: The Bible say much about the topic of work. Some pastors summarize this teaching as the doctrine of vocation. In this lesson, children will be introduced to these concepts and challenged to have positive attitudes about work.

Memory Verse: Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

Supplies Needed:

• Write the following job titles on large index cards (or small sheets of paper): garbage collector, animal doctor, police person, house builder, mother
• A small item to indicate who is allowed to talk, I suggest a small ball.
• A way to display the verses such as PowerPoint, marker board, or poster board.
• Large index cards, or half sheets of paper, for children to write down their take home challenge. You might prepare these in advance if your time is limited.
• (Optional) Enough Bibles for children to lookup the passage in a sword drill.

Teaching Plan: Work Matters to God

Introduce Memory Verse: (Say) Kids please listen closely while I say today’s Bible verse. Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Now copy after me as we say it together.

Point to yourself as you talk and to the kids for their turn to repeat. Here are the suggested breaks for their repetition.

Colossians 3:23 (pause)Whatever you do, (pause) work at it with all your heart, (pause) as working for the Lord, not for men. (pause). Colossians 3:23 (pause)

Transition: (Say) Today we’re learning about work and how God cares about our jobs. Let’s play a game to think about different kinds of work.

What’s This Job Charades: Call on volunteers to come and act out the job titles you’ve written on large index cards. Offer help for younger children and hints as they act out the job. After the children have guessed correctly have a short debrief by asking:

• How does this person help others?
• What would happen if nobody did this work?

Proceed through all the job titles until complete, or stop after about 5 minutes.

Transition: (Say) God gives people many different types of work, but they all are important and help other people. Now we’re going to see what God says about work in the Bible.

Bible Teaching (or Sword Drill): Display these verses for the children to see and have one volunteer read each. If you’re class has many confident readers you can use these verses as a sword drill. Briefly explain each verse and it’s relation to the topic of work. I’ve included some suggested debrief comments in italics. If time is short focus on the first three verses listed below.

• Genesis 2:19-20 NIV “Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.”
  (Say) So God gave people work from the very beginning, even before sin broke the world– God wanted people to work.
• Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.(Say) Did you realize that Jesus had a job to do while on Earth and he’s still doing that job now.
• Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. (Say) So God wants us to do our best and work for him in all our jobs.
• Matthew 22:39 Love your neighbors as yourself. (Say) God also wants us to help others by our work. We can show love for our neighbors in working hard at our jobs.
• Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. (Say) Did you realize that Jesus had a job to do while on Earth and he’s still doing that job now?
• Proverbs 14:23 All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. (Say) This is the way our world works, working hard will make your life easier and allow you to help others even more.
• Genesis 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Say) This idea of working is part of the way God made us to be. He designed our bodies and minds to make other things better. This is part of what it means to ‘rule over the earth.’

Transition: (Say) Work must be important to God because he says so much about it in the Bible. Lets get in small groups now to talk about the work you do even now as kids.

Discussion Groups: Have the children sit in circles (legs crossed and knee to knee) in groups of about five. Use a small item such as a ball to indicate who has the turn to talk.

(Say) The person with the ball gets to tell the group what jobs they have at home. Then pass the ball around the the next person. Only the person with the ball should be talking, everyone else needs to listen to their friend.

After all the groups have completed this first task, (Say) Now let’s pass the ball around again and talk about what work you would like to do when you are a grown up.

Transition: After they finish the second round of discussion, (Say) Let’s all go back to our regular seats. We are going to play a game to see how much you’ve learned today.

Review Questions: (Learning Indicator #1) Read the following list of statements. Explain to the children that some are true and some are false. Ask the children to respond to each statement by standing up if they are true, or sitting with arms crossed if false. After each statement, reveal the answer and very briefly reinforce the correct answer. If some children initially respond wrongly, give hints to help them get it right before you reveal the answer.

• Yucky jobs are not important to God. (False: all work matters to God)
• Building houses can glorify God. (True)
• Only the preacher’s work really matters to God. (False: all work matters to God)
• God wants everyone to work hard. (True)
• Jobs that make less money are less important. (False: all work matters to God)
• Jesus did the hardest job ever. (True: He died to bring us back to God)
• People are most happy when they work hard and help others. (True: God made us to work hard and love other people)

Take Home Challenge: (Learning Indicator #2) (Say) I want to help you have a better attitude about work, so here is what I want you to do. After church, ask you parents for extra things you can do around the house. Tell them you want to glorify God by working hard.

Pass out index cards with the following statement: I will do the following work to serve God and help others _____________________. For extra review, have the children write the Colossians 3:23 memory verse on the back side.

Ask the children to bring these cards back in one week and let them share what they did with the class. If you pastor is supportive, he can even read one of these cards to the congregation on Sunday morning.

Extra Activities: If time allows, review the memory verse as a group. You can also try these Sunday School Activities using post-it notes. Another related idea is this game that teaches encouragement. It talks about what jobs kids would do when they grow up.

Related posts:

1. Sports Evangelism at Church: Does It Work?
2. Kids Bible Lesson: Building the Tabernacle
3. Children’s Bible Lesson: Kids’ Mission The Environment
4. Kids Bible Lesson: Jonah Gets Mad at God’s Mercy
5. Kids Bible Lesson: Parable of the Laborers
6. Help Wanted: Kids Bible Lesson Writers
7. Adam & Eve Disobey God (Fall of Man Bible Lesson For Kids)

How does a legendary pastor hand over his ministry to someone else? What are the secrets that saved his church from self destruction during the transition? How can this story help your kids ministry now and in the future?

Keep reading to find out.

Transition Plan, by Bob Russell and Bryan Bucher, is a very short, very succinct story of how to gracefully pass the baton of leadership. It is broken into  5 easy-to-read chapters, and 1 bonus chapter of articles on leadership. Beginning with Bob telling the story of how the “transition” took place for him at Southeast Christian Church after 40 years as senior pastor, the book is an enjoyable read right from the beginning.  Topics such as “setting a plan” and “letting go of pride” are approached in a  truly humble and truthful format.  He leads us through, why we need a transition plan, and backs it up with a full chapter of research. Then he choreographs us through the “goodbye” and, the “what’s next?” phase of retirement.

Bob  Russell explains humbly and humorously how to practice the transition. Every chapter is very personal and wonderfully motivational!  He tells the story of returning to visit his church after a couple of years of retirement.  One man saw him in the restroom and declared, “Hey Bill! Good to see you back!”  In two years, he had forgotten Bob’s name. Bob Russell’s humility is apparent in every chapter and antidote.  His style truly makes you feel that we are all apart of the same team trying to get to the same finish line. His advice is easy to swallow as it is so graciously shared.

My first impression was, that this would never apply to me — I’m not the pastor — I do the kids stuff. But as  I read, the clarity of Bob’s idea came to me.  The idea of having a a transition plan is invaluable.  What if this concept was used not just for the senior pastor but for the leaders in kids programming as well?.  As the mission statement is created for a ministry, a basic transition plan could be too!  As I pondered how this would reflect in our kids ministry, I realized the impact this concept could have on our leadership. The “my ministry” concept would never happen.  Right away leaders would realize they are a part of an ongoing vision that has been there before them and will still be there after them.  Everyone would be visualizing the future of the ministry immediately, where it will go and what it will become under their lead. Finally, it puts a leader in the position of mentoring and training up new mature leaders.  Wow!

I especially loved the bonus chapter with articles published by Bob Russell on Leadership. Titles include “Combat Procrastination Today!” and “Mentoring Future Ministers”.  These quick two page articles read like a devotional and inspire like a good pep talk before the big game.  All have great value, and are supported by scripture reference.

I only hope the word about this book gets out to leaders on all levels, not just senior pastors, so everyone can benefit from this book.  I believe that secular organizations could benefit from Bob’s experience as well.

Bob’s humble teaching style is contagious and energizing.  It has motivated me to share this book with my senior staff above me and to the incredible servants I mentor in kids ministry!  I encourage you to order copies for your entire leadership team so you can take this wonderful journey together.  Although I received a complimentary copy of the book for this review, I will be ordering a copy for all of my leaders this year.  Thank you, Bob, for sharing your gifts with us: the teammates in this race.  May we all give our best run and pass the baton to the next runner!

If you’d like more information on Bob Russell, you can find it at www.bobrussellministries.com. You can also follow the Twiter account and Facebook Page for this book.

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As someone who has four kids and works in children’s ministry, there is one thing I have found to be true of (most) all kids – they ask questions!  Many times they ask lots and lots and lots of questions.  Sometimes they ask questions that we don’t know the answer to.  In a children’s ministry setting, or as a parent, the worse thing you can do is try to “fake it” when your kids ask you a question about God or the Bible and you really don’t know the answer.

That is why I am excited to tell you about a great new resource on the internet that can help you find the answers when your kids pose a question you just don’t know the answer to.  The name of the site is Jesus.org. It’s a project of the Salem Web Network. Here’s their own description:

Jesus.org offers biblical answers to common questions about Jesus Christ. Many people have questions about Jesus and on this site you will find biblical answers to the most common questions asked about the birth and life of Jesus, his ministry and disciples, and of course the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

In addition, you will find resources to help you in your daily walk with Jesus Christ, including information about repentance, faith, salvation, evangelism, missions, discipleship, and Christian newsletters.

In one easy-to-use site, Jesus.org offers questions to many of the most common questions about God from authorities in Theology and the Bible throughout the ages.  Questions are answered by the likes of:

• John Piper
• John MacArthur
• Chuck Swindoll
• Charles Stanely
• R.C. Sproul
• James MacDonald
• A.W. Pink
• Greg Laurie
• Tim Keller
• James Boice
• Alistair Begg
• J. Vernon McGee
• Alfred Edersheim
• J.C. Ryle
• Matthew Henry
• Bruce Ware
• Hank Hanegraaff

The site classifies questions into six general categories.  Those are:

1. Birth of Jesus
2. Life of Jesus
3. Death & Resurrection
4. Early Church History
5. Is Jesus God?
6. Following Jesus

This site is not designed specifically for answering questions posed by kids.  In reviewing the answers, it is clear that you will not simply be able to print these answers and recite them to kids in answers to their questions (I would love to see something like that, but that is not the purpose of this site).  That said, I think all of us who work with kids know that they are capable of asking deep theological questions.  Faced with a question you just can’t answer, this site will allow you to look it up and then answer the questions posed by the kids you teach.

Last summer, I started a series on Dad in the Middle called Questions Kids Ask in an attempt to answer (in more kids friendly language) some of the deeper questions I have had kids ask me.  I got through Who Made God? and Why Did God Make Us? but haven’t added to that series in a while.  This site has inspired me to get back to that series and tackle some of the questions posed there about Jesus.  I will definitely be using Jesus.org as a resource in fashioning those answers for kids.

As those who teach kids, we must be constantly expanding our own knowledge base.  Jesus.org will be a valuable tool in that process.

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