Recently, I received a copy of Daniel Darling’s new book, The Original Jesus: Trading the Myths We Create for the Savior Who Is. (Available on Amazon.com) Published by Baker Books, Darling takes on an interesting subject–the Christian’s concept of Jesus. If your shopping for a children’s Bible, be sure to see the our new articles reviewing the top choices for your kids. … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Some time ago, a friend of mine–we’ll call her Mary, was summoned to the pastor’s office for a meeting. From the pastor’s tone, Mary sensed that she’d made some sort of mistake but the pastor refused to give her any information over the phone. Prior to the impromptu meeting, Mary had never been called into the office before so she … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Children’s ministry is so rewarding but like all ministries, it can also be very demanding. Ministering to more than a handful of children each week can be wearing, physically and spiritually, no matter how much you love Jesus. Add in personal struggles, personal relationships and other stressors and you have plenty of reasons to walk away from ministry. I know … More Children’s Ministry Resources
The concept of worship is often assumed but rarely taught to children. This lesson plan will help kids understand how to worship God in their daily lives. Don’t miss the other lessons in this series, “Tough Questions Kids Ask.” TARGET AGES: 10-14 OBJECTIVE: To understand the definition of worship and learn how to worship in our daily lives. MAIN IDEA: The … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Serving in children’s ministry has been the best thing I’ve ever done! Aside from having two wonderful children of my own, I feel blessed to have ministered to thousands of kids around the US. That being said, you have to have tough skin and Duracell battery faith to work in kids min. I may be willing to take a pie … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Praying aloud is a challenge for many adults as well as children. This Bible lesson will help kids overcome their reluctance and voice their requests to God. Don’t miss the other lessons in this series, “Tough Questions Kids Ask.” TARGET AGES: 10-14 OBJECTIVE: For students to learn how to pray out loud through given methods and scriptural examples. MAIN IDEA: We … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Children are not only the church of tomorrow, they are a vital part of the church today. It’s so important to minister to children, but sometimes we forget that kids can also serve others. This lesson plan will help children understand how they are gifted by God and placed in a church for their role–just like grown up believers. Don’t miss … More Children’s Ministry Resources
This Bible lesson deals with the so-called “problem of evil” in our world. More importantly, why does God allow so many terrible and sad things to happen in this life. Children will be pointed to Jesus Christ as the only hope in times of trouble. Even our Savior suffered, the most innocent person to ever live, but God was at … More Children’s Ministry Resources
This free Bible lesson is based on Mark 4:26-34 when Jesus speaks about the faith of a mustard seed. It is designed for children’s church or Sunday School. Please modify as best fits your ministry. If your church follows the Revised Common Lectionary, this teaching plan would correspond to Year B – 3rd Sunday after Pentecost, Gospel Reading – Mark 4:26-34. … More Children’s Ministry Resources
If it weren’t for Boys VS Girls contests, we wouldn’t have any fundraisers in our church. Well we would have a few but these are the most fun. Our kids love the competition and it’s easy to get grown ups and teens involved in the contests too. They love it the only thing is, the prizes can get pretty boring. … More Children’s Ministry Resources
“What Next? Christ’s Post-Resurrection Appearances and Ascension” Sunday School Lesson from Luke 24, John 20, Acts 1 It is critical, of course, to study the work and death of Jesus. But all of that is rather meaningless if Christ did not also rise again as He promised. Then what? Following the events of Easter, Jesus appeared to the disciples and … More Children’s Ministry Resources
At Easter time, children’s ministries have to walk the line between the secular and the biblical and sometimes it’s a tough line to walk. If you’ve been in children’s church leadership long you know that parents, grandparents and sometimes the entire community expect you to host some sort of Easter egg hunt or a pageant for this holiday. That’s part … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Have time to kill at the end of class or looking for an active game to break up a teaching block? Keep it simple and call out this fun, classic game. Of course, you could play the traditional Duck, Duck, Goose game but why not make it more biblical? Try these variations on this fast-paced game. Duck Duck Goose Call-Out … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Main Point: God is our strength and guiding light; our power comes through faith and we can share this power with others. Materials: Flashlight(s), lantern, glow-in-the-dark stars, Bibles Anyone who has encountered a power outage can understand and appreciate our modern dependence on electricity. When a falling tree limb or storm cuts power lines and homes plunge into darkness, we … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Popular culture can’t seem to get enough of monsters. From television shows about finding Bigfoot to creature features, our world is permeated with images of monsters. Kids sure don’t need these visual aids to believe in the “boogeyman,” their imaginations make it easy to believe something is under the bed or in the closet. (Incidentally, as a child I believed … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Think a good greeting program isn’t necessary for children’s church? Think again! When we don’t greet kids as they come in, we miss making a valuable connection for two reasons. First, the greeting is where you establish discipline. That’s so important to do right at the beginning of each session. Kids need to know someone is in charge. Second, we … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Lesson Title: Knowing Jesus Through the Five Senses: The Sense of Smell Bible Reference: Ephesians 5:2; Genesis 1:28-31; Genesis 2:15-17; Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 5:12 Target Age Group: Elementary Learning Context: Sunday School Target Time Frame: 45 minutes Focus Verse: “And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Establishing a new children’s ministry? This is such an exciting time but it can also be overwhelming because there is so much to teach! Kids won’t learn all they need to strictly from osmosis—you’ve got to teach, reteach and teach again. But where to start? I asked myself this question recently and it got me to thinking. What would I … More Children’s Ministry Resources
In our culture, winning is highly prized and success is measured by performance. Again and again, though, the Bible gives quite different definitions of victory and achievement. Remind students in this lesson that our triumph is in Christ alone. Lesson focus: Though we can become competitive and weigh our success on what others do, the Bible emphasizes that the grace … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Have you noticed this trend? Parents or grandparents drop off kids (sometimes way before service time) and then take off until church is over. They aren’t actually attending church themselves–just the children. Understand me, I’m not talking about the parent who has to go to work. I am referring to the disturbing new kids’ ministry challenge–the drop off kids. If … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Praise and worship has ended now comes the burning question. “Okay kids! Who can tell me what last week’s memory verse was?” You hear the sound of crickets. Don’t feel bad–it happens to us all but there are some creative ways to present scripture verses–some are so much fun that kids won’t even know they are memorizing them. Ready to … More Children’s Ministry Resources
If you ask kids what their favorite holiday is, New Year’s isn’t likely to make the top three but that’s no reason to skip over the world’s most popular “do over.” In the secular world, the “new year” is a time stamp that initiates a life change but like every day with Jesus, it is time to do better, to … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Is your church holding a New Year’s eve event? If you answered yes, you have been challenged to provide some of the activities for the kiddos while parents wait for the clock to move. Been there–done that! Even if you aren’t facing the challenge of entertaining kids for a long period of time, you might find this kids’ church idea … More Children’s Ministry Resources
This free Bible lesson is based on Matthew 25:14-30 where Jesus tells ‘The Parable of the Talents”. It is designed for children’s church or Sunday School. Please modify as best fits your ministry. If your church follows the Revised Common Lectionary, this teaching plan would correspond to Year A – 23rd Sunday After Pentecost, Gospel Reading – Matthew 25:14-30. Opening Activity – Well … More Children’s Ministry Resources