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8 Lifelines for KidMin Leaders

Sustainable Recommendations to LIVE by for those generationally minded folk…

“CHILDREN’S MINISTERS”!!!

kid-nation-multiplied-brick

  • Who am I writing for? (Children’s Pastors!)
  • Why should they care? (STAYING ALIVE IN KIDS MINISTRY!)
  • What do I want them to do here? (Know they are NOT alone)

8 LifeLines in Children’s Ministry
we wish we had know 12 years ago!!!

 

#1 – Whose idea is it?

Don’t make the kids ministry what the parents say that they want or what other ministries make “look good”. Listen to the Holy Spirit and make it in what He says!

 

 

#2 – Ministry is NOT a Competition!

Where are you located? Get to know the other kids pastors in your area! Be bold, make the first move! Ask to see what they do!!! Be interested in them and what God is doing there and see what happens!

 

 #3 – Procedures & Structure are
        NOT bad words!!

Structure, expectations and lots of love create safe growing environments for teachers and kids. Love people enough to hold them accountable and love them enough to encourage and build them up!
 

 

#4 – Your Worth

Your “worth” is not whether the kids “had fun” or if parents “approve of what you do” or if your pastor compliments you regularly . Work to please God and not man, or the threat of burn out is too strong. Also, encourage your team to adopt the same mindset!!!

 

#5 – More is not “Better” 

More is not “excellence”. Often times, it can be the enemy of it. Don’t fall in the trap of more = growth of ministry. Bigger, Better, Faster, Newer is NOT the answer to “more fruit” in ministry! This is a lie of the enemy and the perfect recipe for trying to please men… then burning out… yuck! 

 

#6 See your kids ministry team as your small group / family

This is your tribe. When you build off of that it is empowering. This alone will help you overcome the lie of “missing adult service” or “missing connection” . That feeling can be overcome right away.
What we have in our kids ministry family they can’t have in adult church!

 

#7 – Build Yourself Up!

Be intent on feeding off at least two teachings a week in your home! Worship with it, take notes; be a self-feeder!!! Here’s a link to a Pastor that we just discovered this past week, and we are absolutely loving his sermons! Call-to-action Link

 

#8 – Love Where God has You

Last but not least, be content if this is where God has you in ministry, even if it is for the rest of the time you are on this planet. Build your kid’s ministry for longevity not a sprint!!!
 
 
 
 
Oh and shhhhh…. we always say, let’s build these kids up to be the “next” church,
NOT a copy of yesterday’s (or even today’s) church!!!
God moves from glory to glory in each generation!!!!
 

See something else that should be on this list?
Comment below!!!

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God’s Focus on Easter

A time focused on Salvation during the Easter service may not be exciting for some of the kids, but is the most exciting thing for Heaven!

 
This weekend, you will most likely have more visitors than normal, and we all plan on that happening every year. We have our “ChrEaster” itinerary, that we pour tons of time, energy and finances into attracting those who feel they need to do their duty and show up at church during these times of the year. But are we doing what glorifies God and grows His Kingdom? 
 
As a parent, I know I seem to have this inner conviction that I need to restate my hopes for my kids every time I leave them with the babysitter. “Okay, boys, mom and I are leaving, so play nice with each other and choose to obey the first time the Babysitter tells you to do anything!”

 

Jesus did the same thing, before He went to heaven: 

“Therefore 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, NIV).

 
There were a lot of other things that we may have filled our services with, or are very important to us, but Jesus’ last words before leaving were “go and make disciples”.
 
Now don’t get me wrong – we have our elementary kids hiding eggs for the preschoolers this Sunday, but if those who only come to our church on Christmas and Easter only have fun at our church and never hear the gospel or have an focused, purposeful aspect of the service to introduce them to the REAL Lord and Savior, then are we really influencing them for His Kingdom, or are we just another fun place to go, that’s competing with places like Dave and Busters, Nickelodeon, and Disney World? 
 
(It’s a horrible thought, but I wonder how many unsaved people think of Easter as “Church Halloween – the kids get loads of candy, we all dress up in clothes that we almost never wear, special baskets filled with goodies… but I won’t go there. 🙂 )
 
I know this is the week before Easter, with lots of prep, but let’s not forget to carve out some targeted time for asking the Lord of the Harvest to send out His harvesters into the harvest field, make space in our services to walk kids into Salvation, and equip the kids with some tools to walk out their salvation, even if you don’t see them again until Christmas.
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Top Ten Reasons to have a Membership at Root Church!

Our Top Ten List of reasons to have a membership with Root Church:

  1. You get the ENTIRE service – countdowns to service, worship, scripture races and skits are prepared for you!
  2. Control and view your entire service slideshow from your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
  3. Get High Quality Memory Verse Cards for each month’s themed series shipped to you at a big discount.
  4. Enjoy fully customizable animated slides for services with training videos and online training to empower you and your team to make it what your kids need.
  5. The service schedules are fully editable Word documents, including time break down, assignments, skits and the full layout of your service.
  6. Get major discounts on professional materials, t-shirts, flyers, website and more on the Root Church site, giving you identity with the kids and your community as a Root Church!
  7. The other members live and act as family – always sharing for you to learn from, get ideas from, share information with and share resources – all online with the website, YouTube, Facebook and message boards.
  8. Choose custom edited products like invites, business cards and stationary to maintain the same HIGH QUALITY materials with your church information on it!
  9. Be part of a growing, powerful and trusted Kids Church that parents and kids recognize and seek out.
  10. Have time to seek God and minister in new ways because ALLOT of the hard work of creating an interesting, relevant and graphically enticing service is done!!! All graphics, music, worship, videos and more THAT MAKE YOUR KIDS LOVE CHURCH IS INCLUDED!!!

 

If you need a little more information than a top ten list, check out our Who is Root Church page, contact us  or watch this video below:

(Root Church was formally Kid Nation Ministries)

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Top Ten Parenting Standards to Never Deviate From

My wife and I had dinner a couple of nights ago with a two couples that we really respect. One family has four kids, the other has five, so they definitely have had more practice in the parenting world than us. Both sets have been able to raise kids with drastically different personalities to have the same standard and be people of great character. That’s probably every parents dream for their kids, and why we asked them out to dinner. Here are some nuggets that we gleaned about teaching character and developing a household standard:

[mls_h4]Top 10 Parenting Standards to Never Deviate From[/mls_h4]

10. Don’t count; get off the couch and discipline.
       - No matter what your rear end and weariness attempt to convince you.
9. Always apologize when you are wrong.
       - Even when it hurts or is embarrassing.
8. Give the expectation before arriving.
       - You want your kids to act a certain way at an event, restaurant, or a friends’ house? Then let them know how you want them to act before entering.
7. Praise the positive.
       - On your way out of an event, let them know when they met or exceeded your expectations; praise is one of the best ways of  teaching.
6. There are no bad kids.
       - It’s usually behavior that is allowed at home, and the child just needs to be taught what’s expected at your house or church.
5. Filter the friends.
       - Your child doesn’t need to have 30 best friends, so don’t settle for friends who have different standards than you. You want iron to sharpen iron, not open the door to corrupting the morals of your kids.
4. Always be a blessing to others.
       - Take on the self-centeredness head on! Be looking for opportunities for each of your kids to be a blessing, even when it’s not convenient.
3. Don’t let a lack of time steal opportunities to teach life lessons.
       - We usually aren’t just sitting around waiting for life lessons to present themselves. We need to be looking for them when busy, and slow down enough to teach them.
2. Consistency is key.
       - There are no weekends or days off. If you are a parent, you need to be enforcing the standards all the time.
1. Don’t allow yourself to deviate from the standards.
       - Your kids secretly want to be like you, and  usually learn what really is important or not by how you live.

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Reasons To Be a Kid Nation

Our Top Ten List of reasons to be come a Kid Nation:

1. You get the ENTIRE service from countdown & Worship, to scriptures and skits are prepared for you!

2. Control your entire service from your iPhone or iPad or iPod touch

3. Get High Quality Memory Verse Cards for each month’s Thematic Message shipped to you each month.

4. Enjoy fully customizable animated slides for services with training videos and Skype training to empower you and your team to make it what your kids need

5. Fully editable Word documents of orders of service including time break down, assignments, skits and the full layout of your service.

6. Get professional materials, t-shirts, flyers, website and more, all branded with the Kid Nation Logo giving you identity with the kids and your community as a Kid Nation!

7. Have a family of Kid Nation locations to learn from, get ideas from, share information with and share resources – all online with the website, youtube, facebook  and message boards.

8. Choose custom edited Kid Nation products like invites, business cards and stationary to maintain the same HIGH QUALITY materials with your church information on it!

9. Be part of a growing, powerful and trusted Kids Church parents and kids recognize and seek out.

10. Have time to seek God and minister in new ways because ALLOT of the hard work of creating an interesting, relevant and graphically enticing service is done!!! All graphics, music, worship, videos and more THAT MAKE YOUR KIDS LOVE CHURCH IS INCLUDED!!!

11. Ok, so there is NO eleven, but #11 is –  EVERYONE is doing it!!!

[mls_h2]If you need a little more information than a top ten list, or to sign up for a demo, go to kidnationministries.com or watch this video below![/mls_h2]

 

[mls_yt yt_url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TUtVBUtaeM” yt_height=”320″ yt_width=”480″]