Dear Church Family,
I am excited about this summer and everything God is going to do! A couple of months back Jonathan preached on "The Way". This is our Discipleshop Process. I wanted to highlight several of the steps and mention how these impact our children. When we got together as a staff to follow God's Way and make this vision we included all in the church.
Shine/Awareness and Invite/Discover
I encourage children to be a light for Jesus wherever they are. Children have a big mission field as they go to school each day. They can be a light for Jesus in their classes and on the playground. Parents, we need to help and remind out children to shine for Jesus. We can do this by praying for them and reminding them to shine at school.
As a Children's Ministry we try to do outreach events to reach out to the community. This is a time where children and families can invite neighbors and friends to a church event and discover the love of Christ. Some of these events include: Easter Egg Hunt, Vacation Bible School, Kid's Day Out, Columbia Daze Parade float, Trunk or Treat, and a pre-teen lock-in.
Adapt/Commit
It has been exciting over the last 11/2 years that I have been here to watch children be adopted into God's family as they have committed their lives to Christ. Parents have played an important role in these children's lives. Many of the parents had the privilege of leading their child to Christ. Other ministries have also played a role in the child's lives such as Sunday School, Children's Worship, Vacation Bible School and the AWANA program. I would encourage any and all who can be involved in one of these areas to participate and help lead.
Disciple/Grow
When it comes to discipleship and children, parents are who make the biggest impact on a child's life. The bible says parents need to be passing on God's instruction and teaching children at all times. Deuteronomy 6:4-7 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Parents, I cannot stress enough how important it is that you have devotions with your children and talk with them. As a church we are here to help you. Through the summer months we have GRIP - which is a family worship service. In the family worship service we cover topics of faith that you as a family can do at home. In May we talked about the importance of prayer, teaching children how to pray and praying over your children. We also talked about God's Word and teching it to your children and helping them hide it in their hearts.
As a church we want to reinforce what is being taught at home and teach those children whose parents do not have a relationship with Christ. Our Sunday School classes are age appropriate classes and every week they teach God's Word to our children. The AWANA ministry teaches God's Word and encourages children to memorize His Word. Vacation Bible School is an outreach event but is also a time where children are growing in their faith and understanding of who God is. It is always exciting and fun for me to watch children understand the truths of God's Word. I encourage children to apply what they learn to their life. It is a blessing to help younger ones grow in their understanding of God and into a deeper relationship with him.
I pray that parents will take time to lead their children spiritually. I also pray that as a church we will take time to invest in out children and get involved in the ministries that are going to reach out to them.
I want to clase by reminding parents of activities for the summer. Baseball camp will be held this week on Thursday and Friday (June 4th and 5th), Soccer Camp is June 15th through the 19th, GRIP July 8th, Vacation Bible School July 12th-16th (we still need your help teaching and assisting in classrooms, out goal is 200 children in attendance), Kids Day Out - swimming and water activities July 20th, GRIP July 22nd. Children's Camp July 27th through July 31st (deadline June 28th - if you are thinking about going let me know ASAP) KDO August 10th - Grant's Farm and Suson Park.
Joyfully Serving Him,
Jenny Auld
