Here we are… The 5th and final faith skill to build into our kids… (cue drumroll)
Skill #5: Give to God
It’s important for children and teens to know how to give back to God and serve Him in the way they live their everyday lives
Again, I don’t think we’re hearing anything new here. It’s the simplicity of living a life focused on God and not ourselves. Whether it’s worshiping through song, the tithe, serving others… the key is focusing on God and following His desires for us, not our own.
Now, here’s the kicker question that applies to every faith skill.
Navigate the Bible
Personalize Scripture
Dialogue with God
Articulate Faith
Give to God
Do these faith skills only apply to kids? Or are these skills each of us need to develop/sharpen in our own lives?
We tend to plan out the things kids are taught to ensure the objectives are clear. Consider this ‘continuing education’ for adults. Which faith skill needs sharpening in your life?
Talking about the 5 skills to establish faith in our kids. Catch the first 4 here.
Faith Skill #4: Articulate Faith
Create a safe place to discuss and wrestle with what kids believe. This is key for our kids to make their faith their own.
Not just as parents, but as individuals, we can fear doubt. We are scared of questions. Sometimes it freaks us out when people question their faith. We think we might lose them forever. They might go off the deep end.
“Just have more faith. Have more faith!”
I’m not discounting faith. It’s a vital component to your relationship with Jesus. But in order to make something your own, sometimes you’ve got to wrestle it down yourself. I appreciate a good sermon, but I value scripture more when I labor through, question and digest it myself.
Give people in your home the space and the safety to question. Have less faith in your explanations of God… and have more faith in the work God is doing in the midst of the wrestle.
Some of the best parenting advise I’d ever heard came from a 23 year old single man. He said…
Talk less. Pray more.
Do questions make you uncomfortable? Do you allow people to question and wrestle with their faith?
Check me out doing this all in sequence. What’s up with that?!? Usually I toss in a few random posts just to keep you guessing. Not so, this time. Let’s keep rolling. If you missed the first two, you can catch up here.
Skill #3: Dialogue with God
The environments created at home and at church will be one of the first places children and teenagers learn to pray
Talking with God is not a difficult thing to demonstrate. Actually doing it is the secret. Though mealtime prayers are a ritual in many homes; breakfast, lunch and dinner are not the only times to dialogue with God. We don’t stop talking to our kids at breakfast, do we?
Here’s a fun idea to establish a habit of prayer with your kids:
Every time the bell rings at school, just say hello to God.
It draws them back to a focus on Him and encourages an opportunity to talk with Him.
As a Christ-follower, what could serve as a constant reminder to just say hello to God?
As a parent, ministry leader/volunteer, what ideas do you have that would teach a Christ-follower the habit of dialogue with God?
I’ll leave you with this little nugget. Who could resist.
Encourage children to memorize scripture so they can remember it and apply it in everyday situations
Knowing how critical the demonstration of parents and volunteers can be, it only makes sense that we lead the way in scripture memorization. And yet I slack significantly here.
I’m inspired to 2 action steps:
Lead my kids in memorization by doing it also rather than just expecting them to do it
Lead my volunteers to memorization to increase their effectiveness/encouragement
As a parent/volunteer/mentor to kids… how would you rate yourself on personalizing scripture?
At the Orange Conference I attended a breakout session talking about 5 basic Faith Skills to build into kids to help them take ownership of their faith and make it theirs. If you are a parent and/or serve in kids ministry, you don’t want to miss the next 5 posts.
Skill #1: Navigate the Bible
Children should know how the smaller stories within the Bible work together to tell God’s Big Story. Many ministries are guilty of teaching the bible as a series of one-liners that support the main teaching point. Yet kids fail to see the bigger picture in scripture.
The Bible is a place they can go to find verses that will help them with specific questions.
God’s word is a source of Life to a believer. Read in context, it reminds us that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. Kids that learn a biblical worldview have a more solid foundation to build their life upon. We can’t expect our kids to have a biblical worldview unless the Bible plays a prominent role in our lives.
Parents, how can we better equip you to teach your kids how to navigate the Bible?
Ministry leaders, how well does your curriculum teach kids to view the Bible as a continuous story of His Glory?
We recently celebrated Baptisms at LifeChurch.tv. My passion centers around equipping parents for the long haul, so I lean toward providing ‘tools’ for them rather than just doing it myself. I love the idea of mom/dad having a rich God-conversation on the playground… like baptism. If I can give them the right questions to ask along with the right responses to look for, they can make a determination regarding their child’s readiness for these milestones.
The last baptism weekend was touching when a dad approached me right before his daughter’s baptism. He said,
Three weeks ago my 8 year old asked about salvation. I was able to go to LifeKIDS.tv, find information about salvation, have a great conversation with my little girl then lead her through a prayer to ask Jesus into her life. Last week she wanted to know about baptism. Again, I went to LifeKIDS.tv and found information about baptism. Today I’m baptizing my daughter because she wants everyone to know what God has done. I want you to know what you have done. You empowered me to have conversations with my daughter I never thought I could have. Thank you
That was amazing. And he has no idea how much that meant to hear.
I need to learn more…
As a parent, what additional tools can your kids ministry leaders put in your hands?
As a ministry leader, what tools do you offer your parents?
Deuteronomy 6:6 says, “Write these commandments… on your hearts. Get them inside of you…” The old phrase, “things are better caught than taught” applies here.
What happens in my home is far more important than what happens at church. My kids will do what I demonstrate.
How much my son cherishes Bible Study and learning.
How much my daughter values loving relationships.
The extent to which my kids serve others.
All of these are influenced by my daily activities more than the activities of the kids ministry they attend a few hours a week.
My child will learn how to love God with his whole heart from my demonstration of loving God with my whole heart.
As a parent, it’s imperative that I Keep It Personal.
Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “…Love God, your God, with your whole heart; love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got! “
Society teaches us the goal of parenting is to produce a well-rounded child. But scripture teaches us our goal is to raise a child that loves Jesus with everything they have. In kids ministry, it’s important we help parents to imagine their child at 18, 19, 20 years old then ask the question… “What is your goal?”
Moses told the Israelites then later Jesus repeats it to the teachers of the law…
Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, mind and strength.
Of all the things we want for our kids, teaching them to love God with all they should be our single-minded focus. All else will fall into place.
I attended a leaders forum hosted by the ReThink group last October. I tagged along with a few friends because I heard Sue Miller was leading it. To be in a room with less than 100 people hearing from Sue Miller was a no-brainer in my book.
I learned a lot that one afternoon. But she spent a few minutes sharing 5 points that have influenced every conversation I’ve had with parents since that day.
5 Parenting Skills to teach parents that will shape their relationship with the kids.
5 Skills that provide a framework to the scripture Deuteronomy 4:6-7.
5 simply skills that… if used… if they become habits… a way of life… will give a parent the kind of relationship with their kids they truly desire.
I’ll start by providing the skills, then unpack them in the next few posts.
#1 Imagine the End
#2 Keep it Personal
#3 Create a Rhythm
#4 Fight for the Heart
#5 Multiply your Influence
I think we’ll hear more about this at the Orange Conference 2009! I’m bringing a big notebook.
)
We recently celebrated Baptisms at LifeChurch.tv. My passion centers around equipping parents for the long haul, so I lean toward providing ‘tools’ for them rather than just doing it myself. I love the idea of mom/dad having a rich God-conversation on the playground… like baptism. If I can give them the right questions to ask along with the right responses to look for, they can make a determination regarding their child’s readiness for these milestones.
