Archive for the ‘Children’s Ministry’ Category
The Gift From Jesus – The Holy Spirit!
Filed under: Bible, By Richard Andrews, Children's Ministry, Christian Living, Church, Gospel, Love, Ministry, Prayer, Relationships, Sermons, Trinity, Uncategorized | Tags: Christian Living, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Love, Pentecost, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity
Comments (1) 
Rehearse, Remember and Receive with New Life Fellowship of Baltimore, Maryland that “When God Sends forth the Spirit amazing things happen!”
Of merit badges and fruit
Filed under: By John Stonecypher, Children's Ministry, Christian Living, Love, Relationships |
Comments (10) 
In my ongoing process of learning to raise my kids in the light of the Triune God of grace, I am starting to rethink the Boy-Scouts model of character formation. You know what I’m talking about:
- I want my child to embrace values like Service, Honesty, Citizenship.
- He won’t embrace these values on his own, so I provide an external motivator (like a merit badge).
- He performs the necessary tasks in order to earn the merit badge, but in the process also (presumably) builds the character traits I wish to see.
- As he matures, he will (presumably) grow to value character more than merit badges.
I’m not bad-mouthing Scouts here. There are probably several contexts where that model of training works great. But I am beginning to doubt its usefulness in the area of spiritual formation, and for parenting in general. Then again, my doubts could be wrong; Christian lists have been around a long time:
- Saint Paul (love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, etc.)
- The medieval church (prudence, temperance, fortitude, etc.)
- The monastic tradition (poverty, chastity, obedience)
- The Puritans (submission, fidelity, industry)
- Purpose-Driven Church (worship, fellowship, discipleship, service, evangelism)
Because of this long history of Christian list-o-philia, I have toyed with ideas of defining a list of Stonecypher Family Virtues, and then being intentional about promoting and pursuing these virtues as a family. I even looked into non-Scout merit badges that you can buy, for anything from Bible-Reading to Dishwashing.
Here’s the rub: These are all ways to manipulate people’s insides so that they will match an external standard. But what if it’s true that Christ is already inside them? What if it’s true that the Incarnation has already put the Triune Life into the basic human equipment my children were born with?
I’m still figuring all this out, but here’s how I try to parent these days: I live among my children and I keep my eyes and ears open. I look for what’s going on in their lives. I listen for whispers of the Divine Triune passions getting expressed in their feelings and thoughts and actions. I try to fan the flames when and where they arise.
Yes, we still read the Bible together and pray together and all that. We still talk about why patience and honesty and self-sacrifice are good. But I would say these activities are secondary rather than primary.
Trees don’t produce fruit because it gets them merit badges. Tree produce fruit by simply being trees.
Sermon: Don’t Say “I am Just a Child”
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Children's Ministry, Christian Living, Gospel, Ministry, Perichoresis, Relationships, Sermons, Trinity |
Leave a comment Don’t Say “I Am Just A Child” by Tim Brassell
What does the Good News of the Father, Son and Spirit say to, and about, Youth and Children? Here are four things all Youth (and parents!) should (and will!) know!
Drowning in pictures
My 7-year-old, Ian, gets theologically frustrated with me. He asks me why Jesus died and how it saves us, and I reply with the various metaphors for how atonement works. My 5-year-old, Brendan, enjoys the metaphors, because he thinks in pictures like I do. Because of our conversations, he paints some odd pictures, which we sometimes discover strewn about the house. There is one I especially like, a finger-painted picture of “Death Jail” next to a picture of the key that unlocks our jail cell. There is also a helicopter in that picture, but Brendan says it has nothing to do with the atonement; it just seemed a good space to put a helicopter.
Anyway, these talks are not entirely satisfying to Ian, who is very left-brained and can spot illogic 10 miles away. When I float off into word-pictures about the atonement, he says “DAD, I don’t want to know what it’s LIKE; I want to know what it IS.”
Can I give him what he wants here? I honestly don’t know.
Back in the day, Anselm had a similar issue. He dealt with it by taking one of the metaphors (the legal courtroom drama) and saying “This is not a metaphor. This is what’s actually going on in the atonement.” The thing is, I don’t think that turned out very well, because that metaphor breaks down in several important places. Just like how my “Death-Jail” (Christus Victor) metaphor breaks down. Just like any metaphor would.
In my reading of Torrance and others, I sense they are trying to talk about the atonement beyond mere pictures. Torrance is a scientist, after all. Whatever metaphors and images he uses, he uses them so that we will stop looking at the picture and come face-to-face with the Reality.
When we talk about Jesus adopting us by assuming our humanity and healing it from the inside-out, is THIS the Reality that the various word-pictures are trying to describe? Or is this just another metaphor?
I’m trying to stretch my my mind today, but I may be getting a cramp. Help!
On Step-Fathering
Filed under: By John Stonecypher, Children's Ministry, Christian Living, Love, Relationships | Tags: Children's Minstry, Christianity, Christmas, Church, Holy Family, Jesus, Parenting, Perichoresis, Trinity, Youth Ministry
Comments (3) Traditionally, the second week of the Christmas season focuses on ‘the holy family’—Jesus with Mary and Joseph. If there is a patron saint of step-dads, it should certainly be Joseph. He did the holy work of fathering another guy’s kid. Joseph was not the father who gave little Jesus his origin or his destiny. I like to think he understood that it was important that he not impose his own agenda on this boy he was tasked with raising.
That makes me think of how I raise my sons. I am their biological father, so it’s not the same, but it’s not entirely different, either. I am not their ultimate Father. My boys do not belong to me in the way they belong to Father. I have begotten them, but I have not in any sense created them. My status as ‘Dad’ to them is about stewardship rather than ownership. Father has granted me the opportunity to ‘play dad’ to two of HIS beloved sons.
Step-fathering requires a certain restraint that comes from knowing ‘This kid is not MINE, and I must not treat him as such.’ As I grow to identify more with Joseph, I am learning to adopt that mantra as my own.
As spiritual stepfather to my biological sons, it is not my place to have an agenda for them. Whatever my unfulfilled dreams are, woe to me if I foist them onto my spiritual stepsons. Their destiny does not belong to me, not even a little. Their True Father has his own agenda for them, an agenda for their glorious freedom and joy, an agenda He has sworn to accomplish.
Thank you, Father, for giving me to share in your work of parenting your sons. Help my lingering foolishness not to get in the way too much.
~ John Stonecypher
Encouraging Words You Could (and Should) Share With Others!
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Children's Ministry, Christian Living, Evangelism, Gospel, Trinity | Tags: Child Rearing, Children's Ministry, Christian Living, Evangelism, Family, Gospel, Jesus, Marriage, Perichoresis, Relationships, Trinity, Youth Ministry
Comments (4) You may come from the school of thought that it is better to feed the hungry than to say “Be well fed!” and then leave the scene without feeding them.
Though I don’t completely disagree with this principle from scripture, I don’t believe it is really an either/or situation. I believe you should not only feed them but relate with them in the feeding by speaking words of encouragement, too! Maybe something really encouraging like “Be well fed!” Ha-Ha!
Do you see my point?! God the Father, Son and Spirit do not just do for each other and never speak to each other!
“Proof” of this is that Jesus is the WORD of God made flesh! Within the Triune Godhead there is a Word and communication going on! Is that communication different than the Being and Doing of the Trinity, or is it Congruent with it?
The main point I want to make in this post is that it is not enough simply to do good to others, we must speak good things too! Most wives do not simply want a home, money and a few flowers. They also want to HEAR that you love them! Your kids do not just want to be fed, sheltered and clothed. They want to hear you say that you love them, and even that you like them, while looking them in the eye!!!
I have lived long enough and had enough experiences to know that if you take this seriously and begin to try it with your family, friends and neighbors, you should be ready for a few tears along with the awkwardness, even if you are a man!
We are so meant to HEAR the love, and it is neglected in so many of our relationships, people literally cannot help but cry for the joy of a deep desire finally being met when hearing the love! It will also choke your throat and threaten to nail your eyes to the floor in shame and embarrassment, so hang in there, choke the words out and force your eyes to look into theirs when you say it! I promise, it will get easier and you’ll all start to appreciate it! We’re made for it!
Ever wonder what you could, or should, say to others? Here are some things I have said to others along with participating with Jesus in His doing for them:
“God the Father loves you so much, and has embraced you so tightly and in such a unique way in Jesus Christ, that he will NEVER let you go!”
“You are good with the Goodness of the Father, Son and Spirit, and I sure appreciate it!”
“Did you know you are the son (or daughter) God the Father always wanted? He has always wanted a son/daughter just like you!” (Thanks for that one Dr. Kruger!)
Every morning my youngest daughter and I are in a contest to be the first one to blurt out “God the Father, Son and Spirit Love and Like You Very, Very MUCH!” This is one of the positive family contests I recommend! Ha-Ha!
This evening after family prayer I grabbed the faces of each of my family members and told them distinctly, “God the Father, Son and Spirit does not know how not to love you, and neither do I in His grace!”
What creative things could you (should you) SAY to others in the magnificent truth of all of humanity’s inclusion into the life of the Trinity in Jesus, as you also participate in His doing?
Remember my post “Fake it till you make it”? You don’t have to feel it or even mean it at first, in order for you to practice being who you really are in Jesus, or to baptize others in the assurance they were meant to hear! Just saying it will facilitate your “doing it” and “being it” in the grace of Jesus! After all, speaking is doing something too!
Because you belong to God the Trinity, you are not going to be able to get away forever without also SAYING Gospel to others!!!
~ by Timothy Brassell
P.S. I almost forgot! Not only will the tears start flowing, but the pearly whites will start beaming so brightly and WIDELY that the entire bunch of you who are speaking and hearing such things will be able to start eating bananas sideways! Ha-Ha!
The Real First Three Laws of Human Relationships, Part 2
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Children's Ministry, Christian Living, Evangelism, Trinity | Tags: Christianity, Creation, Genesis, Jesus, Perichoresis, Trinity
Comments (2) This post is about the second of the first 3 commandments given to mankind by the Father, Son, and Spirit.
You can read about the first of the three commands in part 1 of this series. In these posts I am briefly discussing the commandments we have tended to overlook in our enthusiasm to try to fulfill the Ten Commandments as handed down from God through Moses! In knowing Who Jesus is we are actually being instructed to take these first few commands seriously, again, as we understand the Relationship of the Father, Son, and Spirit better, and as we understand Who Jesus is and who we are in Him!!
Let’s review the first three commandments that come from Genesis 1:
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” ~ Genesis 1:26-28, NRSV
The second command Triune God gives humankind in the same sentence is to REPRODUCE, or “Multiply, Fill the earth and Subdue it”
Did you notice that this second command is NOT, “Make sure you always use birth control!”, “You MUST be celibate to walk “right” before me” or “Be self-centered and keep all this property to yourselves!”?
Let’s be real! Our violation of this commandment has pushed far too many of us into the self-centered and cold icebox of empty high-rise condominiums, where we peer at life behind frozen gated communities through plastic and frigid personalities! Yikes! This doesn’t sound like the outward, self-giving nature of the Triune God with Whom we are united!
Aren’t we learning that self-centeredness, fear and hiding is NOT the experience of Jesus the Divine/Man in His relationship with the Father as a human being (Mark 10:45, Acts 20:35)? Self evidently, many have gotten so “burned” in relationships that were dead and fake that we all know that to be so phony and unreal HAS to be a participation in a lie about the Father, Son, and Spirit and who we are in Him (Eccl 2:1-11, Matt 4:1-10)!!!
We have experienced and written from our guts this saying:
Money is like manure; it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around encouraging young things to grow. ~ The Matchmaker
The joy we hear in the Father’s voice as He gazes at His children “in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6) is what we REALLY want to experience as parents and grandparents in the reproduction process! We want to leave a legacy and an experience with our children and grandchildren that says, “with you I am well pleased!”(Mark 1:11) Hey, I even want my potential great-grandchildren to experience that, too, don’t you?!
And here is the BIG DEAL about honoring these commandments and taking them seriously NOW:
Jesus says that in His Body of Resurrection shared with us in the future that we won’t be able to marry and reproduce as now (Matthew 22:30), but will be like the angels in heaven! You’ve got to get this first good stuff going NOW while the going is good NOW!!!
Well, tune in for the next post on this subject where I will discuss the third of the first three commandments given to mankind. I also see a fourth command that I will mention as a further way of helping you to think in a more Trinitarian way about this all!
Because the character of the Father, Son and Spirit changes not (Hebrews 13:8), He still Loves and Likes you Very, Very Much, TODAY, and indeed, He still Loves You, and Loves all of US, MORE than He Loves Himself!
~ Timothy Brassell
Camp Ministry – the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Filed under: By Jonathan Stepp, Children's Ministry, Evangelism, Trinity | Tags: Children's Ministry, Christianity, Church, Evangelism, Jesus, Ministry, Perichoresis, Summer Camp, Trinity, Youth Ministry
Comments (3) I just got back from a week of Christian summer camp. Here are some thoughts in the light of who Jesus is as the union of humanity and the Trinity:
The Good: Camp Higher Ground, where I took eight kids from my church and served on staff, is definitely a camp that is focused on telling kids the good news of who they are in Jesus: children of the Father baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Camp is also a lot of fun – especially for those who love camp ministry. I often find when I talk to people who love camp ministry – the ones who come back to serve year after year – that they talk about the impact it has on kids’ lives. But when I watch them doing camp ministry I can see that they are having a blast. Camp ministry folks enjoy chapel, swimming, and crafts as much (or more!) than the campers do.
Sometimes I wish we could be more honest with ourselves about the fun of ministry. Yes, we serve others in the gospel because it helps them but we also do it because that it is what we want to do. Our Daddy in heaven is okay with that. He has given us the freedom in Jesus to choose the ministries we like and to do them because we enjoy them. Take this blog for instance. I hope what I write here helps others, but even if it doesn’t I would still do it because I enjoy it! I think camp ministry people would have camp even if no kids showed up – and that’s good.
The Bad: Camp is only a few days in the lives of the kids who participate.
As much as we focus on telling them the truth of who they are in Jesus, and as much fun as it is, it still takes incarnational ministry to really change lives and help people grow up in Jesus. By incarnational ministry I mean living in relationship with people day in and day out, week in and week out, for years – the way the Son of God lives forever with humanity through his incarnation as the human being Jesus Christ.
This is why the Church is infinitely more valuable and important than camp ministry – or any other event ministry. Camp ministry is the icing on the cake, but if there’s no cake then all you have is icing – which isn’t very substantive. If I really care about helping kids grow up to trust Jesus then I have to live in relationship with them, in the name and power of the Trinity, day in and day out for years.
The Church is also far more efficient than camp ministry. My congregation of 50 people spent $3,000 in tuition and transportation costs to get me and eight kids to camp. I personally drove 1100 miles and spent a week away from family, church, and my community. In contrast, the Monday night kids’ group that we do with these same eight kids costs us about $700 a year. I drive 1 mile from my house to the church building every Monday night.
And which of these two has the greater impact on the kids’ lives? It’s the time they spend together every Monday night, praying, reading the Bible, and playing with each other and the adults who are committed to them for the long term.
Sometimes I wish that more of the creativity, money, time, and energy of Christians was spent trying to strengthen Churches and not so much on trying to create intense spiritual experiences at once-a-year events like camp.
The Ugly: Anyway you slice it, camp ministry is never a neat, simple experience (but then again, no ministry is ever neat and simple.)
Maybe “ugly” is too strong a word, but I don’t think “messy” is too strong a word. People are complicated and life is not lived in black and white, it’s lived in color, with all the shades and colors of human experience overlapping, clashing, and (sometimes) harmonizing.
That’s another thing I like about Higher Ground. Most of the people who minister there aren’t trying to force people into boxes and categories and they’re not trying to wrap the week up in a package at the end with a nice little bow on top. Camp ministry helps us see that Jesus has included humanity in the life he shares with the Father and the Spirit and that is never going to change. As messy and difficult as life can get we know that we have all eternity – not just a week, a year, or a lifespan – to keep being baptized in the assurance of who we are in Jesus and to keep healing from the broken results of our fallenness.
~ Jonathan Stepp
First Things
Filed under: By Jonathan Stepp, Children's Ministry, Gospel | Tags: Children's Ministry, Evangelism, Gospel, Jesus, Perichoresis, Salvation, Trinity
Comments (2) My 5 year-old said “Maybe I’ll draw a picture of the Trinity” and I was reminded again how important it is that we get First Things first when teaching others about the gospel.
Just a few years ago I would have considered the Trinity to be a difficult and remote doctrine, the subject of study for “mature” Christians and theology students – not something to teach children about.
How wrong I was!
How can my kids ever understand their existence, the purpose for their lives, or the nature of reality itself unless they have a healthy image in their hearts and minds of the God who made them?
God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The essence of God’s nature is loving, inclusive relationship. If this isn’t the First Thing you know about God then you don’t know God as he really is! If this isn’t the First Thing we teach others about the gospel then we haven’t really taught them the gospel fully enough!
Only when we know God as the Father who has adopted us in the incarnation of his Son Jesus Christ and poured out the Holy Spirit on our humanity (Eph. 1:5, Acts 2:17) can we begin to know who we are and whose we are.
But aren’t kids too immature to understand the Trinity?
I guess it depends on what you mean by “understand”. If you mean “explain why and how God is Triune” then I would say that no one understands the Trinity! How can I, a mere mortal, explain the how and why of my creator? The best that any of us can do is to know and believe the testimony of Jesus. He tells us that he is God, that his Father is God, and that their Holy Spirit is God, and that together the three of them are the one God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
As it turns out, kids can actually understand that quite well.
My son Lewis is only 5 years old but when he thinks of God he thinks of the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. And when he sits down to create a picture of something he knows the Trinity is on his list of things that he can draw.
Looking at the picture he drew I thanked Jesus for helping me begin to learn to get First Things first.
~ by Jonathan Stepp