Children & Salvation

Do you remember the first time you heard the truth of the gospel? For many of us who grew up in Christian homes, the answer is no. Most of us can’t remember the first time we heard someone say that Jesus died for our sins. We might remember when we really understood the significance or really believed it, but not when we heard it. Sadly for many of us the best news we’ve ever heard has become

Leading a child to Christ is the single most wonderful thing about children’s ministry, and there are many wonderful things about teaching kids. There’s nothing quite like leading kids in prayer and introducing them to the Lord. I remember when I first began in children’s ministry about sixteen years ago how nervous I was to lead the altar service. What a privilege! Today, I don’t worry about anything except that the child before me understands what he’s

God wants every child filled with His presence; many times this occurs during the altar service.  Many children’s pastors believe that these God-encounters should only occur during the altar service in the “big church,” not in children’s church. Yet, Jesus said, “Let the little children come unto me,” and “God is spirit and his worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” If you’ve been hesitant about offering an altar service, I want to empower you!

When the scope of your ministry needs enlarging you have to do more than pray kids into the pews. Put shoes on those prayers and get out into the community to reach more kids. Expand your Christian ministry by moving into these five areas of ministry. They don’t require expensive equipment or a committee of public relations people. Get back to the basics and reach the kids just on the edge of the ministry. I’ve implemented these

Jesus said, “Let the little children come unto me,” — and he meant it! God is not impressed by our ages and doesn’t require His followers to reach a certain height before they enter His kingdom. As children’s ministry leaders, we need to be comfortable and skillful at leading a child to Jesus. We aren’t to manipulate or put words in our kids’ mouths. Instead, we need to be sensitive to the Spirit and recognize a child

Some people think it’s old-fashioned, but I still believe in crusades! The main reason why I love them is, by their very nature, they focus on salvation through Jesus. Crusades are like illustrated sermons, only with more games, object lessons and props. A crusade is a suitable ministry format for both children and adults. Vacation Bible School is a fun summer activity but at some churches I’ve taught, a long expensive program couldn’t be managed. A one

Just the other day my friend shared about her husband’s one and only church experience when he was younger.  The pastor pulled him aside and shared that the boy was probably going to hell because he was wearing baggy pants.  For many years later, that is what the boy remembered and associated with church. Wow. Suppose a kid comes to any of your ministries and has zero religious background. What are the most urgent things your ministry

Based on his findings from a 2004 survey of the age at which most people accept Christ, George Barna wrote: “Families, churches and parachurch ministries must recognize that primary window of opportunity for effectively reaching people with the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection is during the pre-teen years. It is during those years that people develop their frames of reference for the remainder of their life – especially theologically and morally. Consistently explaining and modeling

This is a question answered differently in many churches. It’s definitely a question we should be asking. Leave a comment to let me know what your church does. My friend Trevin wrote a helpful post asking should we baptize small children? He offered four principles for handling this topic. Here was his conclusion: To be clear, I do not consider childhood baptisms invalid. I myself was baptized when I was eight. But I do believe that we should be very