Children’s Ministry

Summer Pt.3 – Vacation Bible School

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Another summer comes to an end.  For most of my life summer has meant three things – Youth Camp, Family Camp, and Vacation Bible School.  Three things that have brought so much to my life.  Three ministries that many would say their ‘time’ or ‘value’ is fading.  As I finish another ‘summer’, I amazed at the impact and life-change these events have brought and I want to share a few thoughts as to the value I see.

Who really likes hosting Vacation Bible School?  I mean seriously – the noises, the whining, the germs, and the smells (don’t forget the smells – they can be potent).  Vacation Bible School (VBS) is a ton of work and at times it feels like glorified baby sitting.  What parent doesn’t want to have a week of having their children entertained most likely for free – that’s the best, but not if you’re the ones running it!  And then, as a leader you realize that your dreams of reaching to community kids is for the most part not happening – you’re just entertaining kids from your church and other churches in the community – for real!  So really – who likes hosting VBS?

Me!  I love Vacation Bible School and while some may refer to it as a ministry of the past, I say they’re just not doing it right! I work at a church that I believe is moving forward. We’re growing and trying to be as relevant to our community and time as possible. Even so, as the years have passed I have found VBS to be only getting more meaningful to us. Here are three awesome reasons why it works for us:

1. We make a statement! VBS is a great opportunity for your church and kid’s ministry to make a statement. First – that children and families are important to you.  Second – a statement about what your children’s ministry will focus on and prioritize.  Through this event we clearly communicate we are about being a fun and safe place where children will feel welcomed to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.  We don’t focus on what VBS has been historically – we focus on what we want to be for children and family.

We are creative in the way we communicate the gospel, but we are steadfast in communicating the love of God and His Word.  It costs money because big, ridiculously cool things do, and we want this to be big and ridiculously cool.  Children have a lot of fun opportunities over the summer, but if they’d rather come to our VBS than something else, we’re doing something very right.

2. We recruit new leaders!  Children’s ministries need dedicated volunteers and often this is something that is hard to find.  Vacation Bible School gives you a great opportunity to get new people involved in children’s ministry.  Think about the pros:

  1. They only have to commit for one week.
  2. There are lots of opportunities to serve in low pressure roles (snacks, games, hayrides, inflatables, check-in, etc.).
  3. They get to be a part of the big cool thing happening that week.

VBS can be very attractive to volunteers and it is a great way to find new leaders who will often decide they like it and want to give even more time.  Don’t be afraid to ask people to volunteer, this is an easy commitment.  Always get background checks on everyone (ALWAYS).  Allow people to see the joy in volunteering, they may catch the bug!

3. We build relationships!  The biggest impact in ministry comes through relationships.  But when you only see a child one to three times a week for just a few hours (if that), then building those relationships can be tough.  VBS presents a huge opportunity to grow closer in just a short span of time.

Believe it or not, I have found that people like to check something out a few times, maybe even quite a few times, before they really commit to it – go figure!  (Did you catch the sarcasm?)  I have noticed that for many families that have connected to our church, it took multiple special events for them to “check us out” before they really committed.  VBS is a great opportunity to build that connection and even speed up the process as it gives you a lot of time with a family.  Build relationships with these new children and make sure to connect with their parents every time they pick-up/drop-off their kids.

We’ve created a Vacation Bible School that works for us.  For us that means no crafts, but fantastic snacks (think cotton candy, nachos, Italian ice).  We retired flannel-graphs and instead our Bible stories are shared through the use of costumes, videos, and mega-illustrations.  We like hayrides, making a mess, and renting large inflatables.  It’s not perfect but it’s pretty awesome.  Yes it still smells, it is tiring, and it does cost money.  But the statement, the new faces, and the relationships are well worth it.

Value (3 Powerful Things to Communicate to Your Children)

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I find it funny to realize that for a chunk of my life the most valuable thing my wife and I owned was her wedding ring. Early in our marriage it was easily worth more than both our cars combined (although my Mazda Protege was really something special in a “how are you shaking so much but still running” sort of way). Like everyone else, I have things that I feel hold value (just look at my shoe collection), but I never understood being responsible for something of true value until I had kids.

I take parenthood very seriously. I am responsible for health, growth, laughter, and learning. There are so many integral parts to being a parent and they’re all important – but the development that I take most seriously is that of character. I desire for my children to not just be Christians, but to live a life that exudes the character of Jesus Christ. I want them to be shining lights for God through action, attitude, and word.

Making that happen is a lot easier said then done. Somehow my parents did it with five kids. I don’t totally know how they did it, but I know a few keys that I have tried to emulate. One of those keys is the communication of values. There are three specific things that they valued that I believed was passed to each of us five. Three values that if I can pass on to my kids I know I’ll have taken a huge step in the right direction.

1.  To value God.

Did you ever have to leave soccer practice early to go to church?  Oh man, I did – every, single, fantastic, friends watching, Wednesday.  Could it have hurt to miss a few Wednesday night church activities?  Probably not.  Did I learn anything incredibly fantastic on those nights?  Nothing life changing (although I did win the all prestigious CYC John Wesley Award – which currently resides in my office…with a mustache sticker on it).  Would I be any different today if I had missed those nights and been able to stay at soccer practice?  I doubt it.

Yet every Wednesday night I had to stand up in front of my friends, the ‘cool’ kids, my coaches, and others and leave practice to go to church.  I probably didn’t learn anything huge or have a life changing moment on any of those nights, but I learned one super valuable lesson – God comes first.  I feel like we make so many excuses to put God in the back seat.  There is no excuse not to pray, no reason not to invest time into God’s word, and no schedule full enough to stop you from steadily worshiping God with others.  God comes first.

How have you taught your children that God comes first?  How have they seen you put God before other things?  Following God isn’t an “if or when” – it is very clearly a “before all else.”  If I can get my children to grasp this, think about the base their life already has.  Boom!  I mean seriously – boom!

2.  To value others.

Growing up I can remember multiple quiet family nights that were ruined by the ring of the doorbell.  It could have been a lot of things – the couple down the street having marriage problems, a person from the community in need of physical or financial help, or maybe just someone who decided to “visit.”  For my parents it meant that even though they had already had a busy day – their evening was gone.  Don’t misunderstand, they made lots of time for family and when needed they set boundaries with people, but so often when others needed help they were there.

As a kid on the inside I saw the “bother” this created (I know, I know – ‘bother’ what am I, British?).  These nights were a hassle, a pain, an interruption.  But this is the kind of thing you do when you care about people.  I can remember my mom in the midst of a battle with breast cancer taking time for others expecting nothing in return.  People have value.

To me this is what being like Jesus is.  This is what it means to be a ‘Christian.’  To love others doesn’t mean we give up what we believe, nor does it mean we have to ‘be fine’ with everything someone else wants to be.  It means we think they’re important enough to give them our time, our care, our attention, and our love.  If my children weakly value others they’ll be fine allowing people to walk life where they are. If they truly value others they’ll have a burning desire to bring people to Jesus Christ.

Have your children seen you put others first?  Have they seen you make selfish decisions or sacrificial decisions?  Are you someone they and others can bother or do they know not to take your time and space?  Again, think about a child who grows to value God and then others.  That might just be scriptural (wink – Matthew 22:36-40).  That might just be super powerful.

3.  To value themselves.

In the Leininger household we rarely went halfway with something. If you were involved with something it was expected that you gave it your all and succeeded. In school there were really just two grades: the expected ‘A’ and the sometimes with a good excuse “B”. I don’t remember getting anything else and I am not sure what would have happened if I did. Sports brought the same expectations. I can remember after one soccer game my father telling me to not worry about the coach and about passing but to just get the ball and go. Don’t get me started on his lamentations about me dropping baseball to play soccer. He knew I was good at baseball (I was pretty much shut down at second base and I did score the winning run in my 6th grade championship game) and success was the goal.

I didn’t always enjoy some of those pressures at the time, but looking back I am thankful for them now. I was taught to expect to succeed and to work, to be aggressive, and to strive to make that reality. And this wasn’t just with grades this was with everything, this was with life. I am valuable.

My heart, my mind, my purity, my knowledge, my potential, my future, my love, my work – it all has value. Our children are so valuable. Our culture teaches them to give it all away to join the crowd. Be different – help them see the value they possess.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Remind your children they are of value. Set some expectations, demand that they work hard. Allow them to fail, make sure they know it is okay to come in 2nd, 3rd, and even 15th. But don’t stop raising the bar and pushing them to try harder, reach farther, and be more than society’s norm. They are worth it.

I absolutely believe that when anyone grows to value these three things in the right balances great things happen. God first, others second, and never forgetting that God paid a lot for us and we have value too.

Whether you impact the next generations as a parent, a teacher, through church, or as a service to your community – take time to communicate value. Model it in your life and share it with your time and God given opportunities.

Food Coloring – Sharing the Gospel in a Fun, Simple Way

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If you are regularly speaking to children, youth, or adults you know it is always nice to have an ‘ace’ up your sleeve.  That go to message you can pull out when needed and hit a home-run.  I’d like to share a children’s message that has been this to me.  Now don’t stress!  For those who know me, you know I like to be ridiculous (you also know I love using that word).  A normal children’s message for me means explosions, costumes, characters, game shows, large give-a-ways, candy, and more (the best is a servicepocalapse that includes all of those).  While I love those things – this is not that.  I wanted to share something that anyone can pull off with just a little preparation.

First, a few thoughts about speaking with children.  If you are going to share the message of Jesus Christ with children, you need to figure out your goals.  What are they going to take away?  What kind of impact do you plan to make?   Here is the point of this message:

  1. To clearly communicate the steps of salvation from our sins through the one way – Jesus Christ.
  2. To make that message easy to remember.  Let’s give children a foundation to begin to build upon in their relationship with Jesus Christ.  They will probably have many more ‘decision’ moments in their lives, so let’s keep the specifics easy to remember for the future.
  3. To give an opportunity for children to make a step in their walk with Jesus Christ.  Maybe this is the first time they’ve been given the chance to accept Jesus Christ into their life.  Maybe it’s the 43rd time.  Who knows what this moment will mean to them.  Always remember to encourage them to share any big decisions they have made with their parents and with leaders in your ministry.  Help to stimulate conversation and the lasting impact of a decision.

You may laugh when you learn the method I have used to share Jesus Christ.  Yes, it is based upon the ‘Wordless Book’ (or the colors that represent the steps of salvation).  You’re thinking, “Wasn’t this popular in the 80s (or the 60s and 70s – I don’t go back that far)?”  True!   True!  But I have used this message 10+ times and it never fails to draw kids in and even those that have witnessed it multiple times still find themselves enjoying and listening.

Here is the set-up. You’ll need five glass containers, food coloring, clear pitchers of water, and possibly a towel. For the five glass containers, tall serving glasses can work but I prefer something larger like a tall, 3-5 inch thick in diameter vase. You will set those containers up before time (in a line parallel to the audience) and put food coloring in the appropriate vases. From your right to left (left to right for the audience), place black coloring in the first container, red in the second, nothing in the third, yellow/gold in the fourth, and green in the last. Test the amounts of coloring needed ahead of time, you’ll want the colors to be vibrant. To keep the mystery of what is to come, you may want to place the glass containers on a colorful tablecloth or place a towel in front of them. Also feel free to cover the entire setup with a towel or tablecloth so kids can’t sneak a peek ahead of time.

Remember, you can use this as a stand alone message or (as I often do) as the conclusion of a message or service. Either way, when you are ready to begin, pick up your first pitcher and begin to fill the first container. Get ready to hear ‘ohhs’ and ‘ahhs’ as the water changes from clear to black. Then share the following:

  • The Black Glass – Each and everyone of us have made mistakes.  We have hurt others and have been disobedient to God.  These mistakes or wrongs we call sin, and it separates us from God.  We think of the color black because we think of sin making a dark mark on our hearts.  This stops us from having connection with God – here on earth and with Him in heaven.  People have tried for so long to try to remove this mark on their lives, with no success. Thankfully, God loves us so much that He sent Jesus, His only Son, into this world.  (Romans 3:23)
  • The Red Glass – Jesus lived a perfect life and then He made the ultimate sacrifice for us by dying on the cross for our sins.  We think of the color red because of the blood that Jesus shed for our sins.  (Romans 5:8, Romans 6:23)
  • The White/Clear Glass – Because of Jesus’ sacrifice we have an incredible opportunity.  To confess our sins and believe in our hearts that through God’s power we can be saved and forgiven of our sins.  Our lives are washed clean and clear and the marks of sin in our lives disappear.  (Romans 10:9-10)
  • The Yellow/Gold Glass – The first thing this does is allow us to spend forever with God in heaven!  We can live life secure in knowing that we have heaven to look forward to!  And we can celebrate knowing that God has conquered death!  (John 3:16, John 14:3)
  • The Green Glass – The second thing (and just as important) is that we get to live life here on earth with God influencing and guiding our lives.  He has an incredible plan for you!  You are special and unique and He wants you to dream big and accomplish great things with your life!  (John 10:10)

You can switch around the Yellow Glass and the Green Glass in order depending on how you are shaping your message.  End by giving everyone an opportunity to accept Jesus Christ into their lives by joining you in prayer.  I have delivered this message to combined child, teenager, and adult crowds – don’t seclude any group, they may very well respond to the clarity of this message.  Remember the importance of asking anyone who made a decision to share that decision with family, friends, and leaders.

The wordless book is definitely not a new approach and I don’t know where I got the idea to use food coloring to display it.  But it always amazes me that the children who approach me afterwards are not just flabbergasted at how the water changed colors but are filled with a clear understanding of what the message was about.  Get creative for your crowd!