What Makes a Difference for Children at Church?
When Paul the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 3:3 NKJV), he described each one of them as “an epistle of Christ … written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God.” This means that every Christian life has a story to tell and the story is written by God. But just as Shakespeare (the author) is much greater and more important than any of the many different characters in the plays that he wrote (such as “Hamlet” or “King Lear”), so God is much more important than the story of Moses or David or Paul.
It follows, then, that when we study the Bible—and the lives of some of the great men that we read about in the Bible—the most important thing we need is to understand the great work of God as it is seen in the lives of these people. We don’t really understand their significance until we see them as books, or epistles, written by the Spirit. And they were written so that we might know more and more about their Author, who is God.
It is this God-centered focus that we constantly endeavor to keep in all the Sunday school materials published by Great Commission Publications. After all, as the Apostle John says, the central thing necessary to have eternal life is to know the true God and Jesus Christ whom he sent (John 17:3). We should ask “What is David doing in this story?” But we should also ask “What is God doing here with David in this story?” Yes, we need to know that David had the courage to face and conquer Goliath. But we need even more to see the great work of God in David that enabled him to do so. It is not enough to tell our children to be like David—not unless we first help them to see the greatness of the true God in whom David trusted. For of him, and through him, and for him are all things: to whom be the glory for ever. That is what the Bible is all about and our aim is to help you see that it is so!
Learn more about the Show Me Jesus curriculum today!
Vacation Bible school (VBS) is a great blessing because it gives the church an opportunity to do what the Lord has called her to do—proclaim the excellences of our life-giving Lord, fellowship with one another, edify God’s people for growth and service, nurture our covenant children, and worship the Lord.
For the pastor, it provides an opportunity to do the work of an evangelist and be personally involved in teaching and equipping disciples. What a joy it is to go door-to-door with the children of the church and eyeball them during a lesson! For all the teachers and helpers, VBS opens a door for witness to the gospel, which is the power of God for salvation. It gives covenant young people an opportunity to invite friends and neighborhood children who are without Christ and have no church affiliation to hear the gospel, with the prayer that they might trust in Christ alone for salvation.
VBS is a blessing because, though we are weak, our hope and strength are in our strong God, who is able to save young people and cause them to mature in him. Read the rest of this entry »
You have the kids. You have the Kids’ Quest Catechism Club materials. You even have the rooms and times set up. But you’re short on volunteers. What now?
We’ve put together some helpful tips and ideas for recruiting and training staff for Kids’ Quest Catechism Club.
Click here to download this PDF.
You may distribute it to your team for planning purposes.
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Most Bible curriculum on the market today would claim to be true to the Scripture. However, one’s view of Scripture has major implications in how a curriculum writer interprets the Word and makes application of the truth to life.
All of GCP’s materials grow out of our understanding that God has progressively revealed himself and his plan for the redemption of his people. He is accomplishing his great purposes in history and has interpreted them for us in his inspired Word. He did this over centuries and millennia, covering many generations in differing historical contexts.
God’s eternal, historical, redemptive purpose is implemented in his promises given to Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, and David – all fulfilled in Christ. Every portion of Scripture taught, we believe, must be approached from this overarching perspective.
For each Sunday school lesson, our writers must ask the foundational question: what does this passage have to do with the eternal redemptive purpose of God in Jesus Christ? How can our children, our young people, our adults see Jesus? We believe this makes us unique.
Click here to learn more about Show Me Jesus today!
Kids’ Quest Catechism Club is a curriculum that teaches children Bible truths through simple questions and answers. This curriculum is flexible and promotes memorization using components of Bible teaching, music, skits, activities, service projects and more.
Kids’ Quest was designed to meet the request of Children’s Ministry leaders and teachers for a school-year catechism program that taught First Catechism. However, many churches have customized the program to fit their own scheduling needs. Hopefully, you can use some of the following ideas from current users: Read the rest of this entry »