Children’s Church Curriculum: What are the kids learning?

Once upon a time, Christian parents asked their children after church, “What did you learn about God?” Today, the question is often, “Did you have fun?” Not too long ago, wanting to fully equip children to serve Christ, churches offered extensive Bible training for all ages. Today, wanting to keep kids happy and to make recruiting easy, many churches offer high-energy, entertainment-based programs. Children rarely use their Bibles. What’s needed is a comprehensive children’s discipleship system that helps equip kids to reach their peak potential as Jesus’ disciples, a children’s church curriculum that partners with teachers and parents to transform children into dynamic disciples of Jesus Christ. Kids need to learn to Know God intimately, love God passionately, and to serve God selflessly.

Waitress Changes Church Beliefs

A church is defined by what it teaches, believes and stands for. You might think, “Well our church is known for its love.” Perhaps, but if you really want to know how your church is perceived, ask a waitress. On any given Sunday, these hardworking servants serve the servants.  Get ready for a gut-check. They may tell you that your organization is only interested in political or social issues. They may tell you that the Sunday crowd is large, noisy, demand everything and leave nothing in return. Or they might say that your church is defined by the core objective and prime directive Jesus gave us: loving God – loving others and making disciples.

Want to really change things? I would suggest that you humbly ask your church leaders to focus on the same mission and commission that our Founder gave us. Is your church really known for its love and making disciples? Ask a waitress.

The least of these

Most Americans are blessed in ways we take for granted. Here are a few questions for the holiday season to remind us of the abundance we enjoy and the responsibility and privilege we have in joining our Lord in His mission:

1. Did you enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner? More than 1 billion people – nearly a sixth of the world’s population – are facing chronic hunger.

2. Did you spend more than $2.50 on the ingredients for your Thanksgiving meal? More than three billion people – almost half the world’s population – live on less than $2.50 a day, according to the World Bank.

3. Did you turn on the faucet to fill the water glasses for dinner, and were you confident that clean water would come out of the tap? According to the World Bank, 1.2 billion people lack access to a reliable water source that is reasonably protected from contamination.

4. Did the kids enjoy a little time off from school? More than 70 million children of primary school age in the developing world were not enrolled in school in 2005, according to a United Nations Report.

5. Did someone in your family read a holiday poem or blessing before you sliced the turkey? Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names, according to a UNICEF report.

6. If your kids were injured playing in the annual family football game, did they have access to basic medical care? More than 10 million children die each year in the developing world, the vast majority from causes that could be prevented by good care, nutrition, and medical treatment, according to the World Health Organization.

7. Were you able to enjoy the holiday in your home country, free from persecution? In 2009, roughly 400,000 people will apply for asylum in 44 developed countries to escape war or persecution related to race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group, according to the United Nations. There are more than 10.5 million refugees who have been displaced or sought haven in another country, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me … I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. –Jesus (Matthew 25:40)

Web Source: Laura Rowley

The Secret To Winning | CORE Discipleship

Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning is a habit and so is losing.”

God has a prosperous future for His children and each of us are to run the race set before us. The problem is that most of us don’t know or we forget that we’re in a race. The Apostle Paul tells us: “You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally. I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.” (1 Cor. 9:24-27, The Message)

CORE Discipleship: Until Christ Is Formed In You

Life is growth. When a child is not growing, we know immediately something is wrong. Growth is not optional, but essential (Gal. 4:19; Eph. 4:15).

We talk about discipleship, but how closely does our discipleship process model that which we discover in the Gospels and Epistles?

Discipleship is a lifelong process of growing in Christ-likeness. It begins when we are born again and continues until we die. Lots of ups and downs, starts and stops, detours and occasionally, pinpoint accuracy. We tend to think that growing in Christ primarily involves intellectual ascent. However, although learning is essential and knowledge is required that’s only a part of the process. Learning and knowledge must lead to new character and conduct reflective of Jesus. Moreover, it is only through the transforming power by the Holy Spirit and our obedience that disciples can truly enjoy abundant life (John 10:10).

So, if current research as reported by Barna is even remotely accurate, why are there so few New Testament-like disciples? I believe it is because we do not decide to be Jesus’ disciples.

What Jesus desires is that we be transformed into “the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).

How do we begin? Ask. We must ask Jesus to become more like Him, to see Him more clearly, to see as He sees, to feel as He feels, to have His heart in all matters of life.

There cannot be a disciple without a decision and there cannot be a disciple without discipline. We are born-again in an instant, but discipleship takes a lifetime. It begins with a decision. The disciple’s hymn becomes, “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.”

The cost of discipleship is great, but the opportunity is greater still.

Growing Authentic Disciples of Jesus

John Wesley was passionate about discipleship. Wesley steadfastly refused to allow the word of God to be confined to the church sanctuary. He took every opportunity and used every means available to proclaim the ministry of Jesus Christ. Founded on Jesus’ blueprint for discipleship, he developed a simple plan for maturing and equipping the saints. Wesley said, “The Church changes the world not by making converts but by making disciples.” Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19,20)

Seasons: Something to think about

From bondage to spiritual faith

From spiritual faith to great courage

From great courage to strength

From strength to liberty

From liberty to abundance

From abundance to leisure

From leisure to selfishness

From selfishness to complacency

From complacency to apathy

From apathy to dependence

From dependence to weakness

From weakness back to bondage

 

Charles R. Swindoll, Come Before Winter, 500.

Free Discipleship Resources For The Journey

Discipleship Tip
The Great Commission has three participles: “go,” “baptizing,” and “teaching” and one imperative verb, a command: “make disciples.” The main idea is to make disciples. The participles tell us how to do that: we make disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching. So the goal of discipleship is to make disciples, teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:18-19). Being a disciple and making disciples is a direct command from our Lord Jesus and the primary purpose and responsibility of the church and every born-again believer. Everything we do in church or ministry should have discipleship as the ultimate core goal. Our going, baptizing, and teaching needs to be discipleship-centered. What we do each time we gather, whether church services, Sunday School, children’s ministry, women’s ministry, men’s ministry, VBS, outreach, etc., all need to focus on making disciples.

Go therefore and make disciples…

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations … -Matthew 28:19

Oswald Chambers wrote, “Jesus Christ did not say, “Go and save souls” (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but He said, “Go … make disciples of all the nations … ” Yet you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. The missionary’s great essential is remaining true to the call of God, and realizing that his one and only purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. If I follow any other method, I depart altogether from the methods prescribed by our Lord— “All authority has been given to Me … Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-19).

Faith Begins At Home

The role of the Church is not to make sure that others can just see the light shining bright from the church building. Rather, the role of the Church is to equip people so that their lights shine in their homes and in their communities.

The Bible says:
Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got! Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.” (Deut. 6:5-9, The Message).