If you are like me, you might just not have the time or the patience to figure out the Scripture Typer thing. I tried several times and well… I must move on or my heart is not going to be in the right “spirit” for memorizing the Word of God. Memorizing Scripture kind of loses its oompf when it is accompanied by growls and huffs of frustration…
Today is January 30th. If you are with me on the pursuit of memorizing the first chapter of Romans by the end of February then we should be on Romans 1:3 today. Now I must admit that I have not been as pro-active as I want to be in memorizing these first three verses… I just have them memorized because I have read them so many times in teaching through this book.
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,
concerning His Son, who was born of adescendant of David according to the flesh
Romans 1:1-3
One recommendation of memorizing Scripture is to begin with making a list of the first letter of every word…
P, a b o C J, c a a a, s a f t g, w H p b t H p i t h S, c H S, w w b o a d o D a t t f
Another recommendation is to hand write the verse or passage down on a card and read it out loud at least three times a day… I would think you could also take it and type it out three times in a day… maybe get three or four friends to join you in this memorization challenge and text the verses to each other… then you are not only texting them three times a day, but receiving them as well.
The next step is to take it past memorizing the words and discovering what these words mean… this will imbed these words in your heart and mind and soul. I am working on the study for kids… Here are some of the things I shared with the kids as we looked at these verses last Sunday:
I began the lesson with a reminder of our who, what, when, where, why, and how strategy. Then we started with the who, who wrote the book of Romans and then we looked a little at the why it was written to help set the context with a small background lesson into what was going on in the church in Rome. Since we had just finished studying the book of Revelation I took the kids back to Revelation 22…
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.
Revelation 22:18-19
I explained to them that Paul was writing this letter to the church in Rome because of two groups that were causing problems in the church. One group was called the Judaizers. This group taught that yes, Jesus saved you, but you were kept saved by keeping all the laws of Judaism. The other group was the Antinomians. This group taught that since salvation was all about grace and Jesus had died and paid for our sins, then we could just sin all we wanted to and that just made His grace look even greater.
I drew a line chart on a dry erase board to illustrate how the Judaizers added to the Word and well the Antinomians took away. Once I shared what the two groups stood for the kids answered correctly when I asked who added to and who took away. (The kids thought it was quite funny that God used math). I then shared with them that the whole book of Romans is to teach us that the righteous shall live by faith…
_____________________________________________
Judaizers Faith Antinomians
After this little background we began to look at Romans 1:1-7, but we really only got through verse 1 🙂
Here’s a copy and pasted version of the handouts I am working on as I teach through this book, maybe you can use them with your own children.
Read Romans 1:1, what do we learn about Paul?
He’s a __ __ __ __-__ __ __ __ __ __ __ of Jesus Christ
He’s an __ __ __ __ __ __ __
He’s been __ __ __ apart for the __ __ __ __ __ __ of God
The word bond-servant is “doulos” in the Greek. Read Deuteronomy 15:12-17 to find out what it means to be a bond-servant.
It shall come about if he says to you, “__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __” because he __ __ __ __ __ you and your household.
Read Galatians 1:1, 11-12 what is an apostle?
not sent from __ __ __ nor through the agency of __ __ __
but through J __ __ __ __ C __ __ __ __ __ and G __ __ the Father, who raised him from the dead.
Read Acts 9:1-17 and then look closely at Acts 9:15, what did God say about Paul, how was he set apart?
he is a __ __ __ __ __ __ instrument of M __ __ __, to bear My __ __ __ __ among the
G __ __ __ __ __ __ __ and k __ __ __ __ and the __ __ __ __ of Israel.
Read Ephesians 2:10:
what have you been set apart for?
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
who prepared them for you?
__ __ __
when did He prepare them for you?
__ __ __ __ __ __ hand
THINK ABOUT IT…
If Paul was a bond-servant he was completely dependent upon his master. His Master gives him his orders and his Master gives him everything he needs to fulfill those orders. If we are a bond-servant of Jesus we must must do what our Master commands and we can do it because we know that our Master will give us what we need to do what He commands. Do your parents tell you to do something that they know you are unable to do? No, they give you chores and instructions that they know that you can do because they have given you the knowledge and tools to complete the task. If your parents do this, do you think that God will too?
The Lord willing, I will begin teaching the children of Shiloh Baptist through the book of Romans. I have googled and web browsed and haven’t found a study on the entire book of Romans for children. So as I teach I will also be working on writing a study to share with others who would like to teach this book verse by verse to their kids.
I am not an artist nor am I a computer wiz… so get ready for some silly pictures, uneven graphs, and unconventional visual aids… but hopefully by the end of the study the kids will have a solid foundation on the book of Romans as a whole. Hopefully one that God can continue to build upon for years to come.
This coming Sunday we will be digging into Romans 1:1-17. We will also begin with an overview of the whole book. I call this building the filing cabinet (or I guess the file folder these days) and designating the files. This way as the kids learn they know where to the store the information that they learn… they know which file to put what they are learning in.
The name of our Children’s Church Room is the OIA room. It’s the place where we Observe the text by asking who, what, when, where, why, and how. It’s the place where we Interpret the text according to what we have observed and by keeping our observations within the context of the whole counsel of God. It’s the place where we see the Application of what we have learned to our everyday lives. How does what we have learned from our study change how we live and think?
I put together this chart…
I call it my Romans foundation chart.
I believe that Romans 1, 15, and 16 are the cornerstone of the book of Romans because in these chapters we find out who wrote it, who it was written to, the circumstances in which it was written, and the purpose for which it was written. These three chapters set the context in which the entire book must be interpreted if we won’t a true understanding of this beautiful doctrinal treatise.
The kids will begin here.
Now the goal is to let them see how exciting it is to discover truth as we study the Bible… it certainly is not a stuffy old book full of out of date rules… it’s living and active and absolutely EXCITING!
You see I don’t want them just to think coming to church is fun… I want them to see that studying the Word of God is fun!
And as we study and as we learn I will also be working on memorizing the entire 1st chapter of Romans… 🙂
Today we continue our study in our Names of God series. Last week we looked into the title of our Christ that illustrates to us that He is our Friend. The name we will be studying today relates to this title as well. I say this because a true friend is also a petra in our lives. Petra is the Greek word for Rock.
We are told that Christ is our Petra, our Rock.
For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren,
that our fathers were all under the cloud
and all passed through the sea;
and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
and all ate the same spiritual food;
and all drank the same spiritual drink,
for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them;
and the rock was Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:1-4
As Paul shares these words to the church at Corinth he is reminding them of the words in Exodus…
Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; andthey grumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do to this people? Alittle more and they will stone me.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Exodus 17:1-6
Notice that the children of Israel were in this waterless place according to the command of the Lord. It was God that led them to place with no water. However it is not God they cry out to for water. They instead complain and grumble to Moses. So God has brought them to this place. They are here at His command. He purposely has brought them to this place where they were completely and utterly unable to sustain their own life. They were thirsty and they had no water and so they blamed Moses.
Then Moses turns to God and seeks help from the Lord. This is where the Lord has Moses strike the rock and when the rock is struck out flows water. Life is supplied to all those who came to the rock. Their thirst is quenched…
We know that Christ is the rock…
We also know that Moses represents the Law of God.
It was the Law that struck the rock… but when the rock was struck out flowed living water!
Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death; and they bound Him, and led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate the governor.
Matthew 27:1-2
Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people any one prisoner whom they wanted. At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over. While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.” But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death. But the governor said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Crucify Him!” And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!”
Matthew 27:15-23
It was at the command of the Lord that the children of Israel where brought to this point of great thirst.
It was at the command of the Lord that the Law struck the Rock.
It was at the command of the Lord that life flowed out from this Rock.
Why?
Why did it need to be the Jews, the carriers and teachers of the Law of God, who cried “Crucify!”
Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by theagency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have beenbased on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith inChrist Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Galatians 3:19-27
I see it like this…
In 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 Paul tells us that our fathers were all under the cloud. Have you every been in a fog? Have you ever driven in a fog? The only thing you can see is what is right in front of you. You can’t tell what is up ahead. You can’t see what is to the left or to the right. You can’t see the dangers ahead or around you or coming up behind you. You are only concerned about where you are at that very moment.
We all begin life in this cloud. We also, like the Israelites, find ourselves doing a lot of complaining and grumbling while in this cloud.
So God brought the children of Israel under the cloud and He brought them to the Law.
SLAM!
Now they could see. When we come to the Law we begin to see the consequences of our choices and actions. We begin to see ourselves through the eyes of God, the fog is lifted from our eyes. We start to see past ourselves and then we realize we don’t like what we see. We see our sin. We then see we can’t stop our sin. We see ourselves coming out of the cloud and about to plunge to our death because we now see that the road we are traveling ends at a cliff that we are about to go off.
So we cry out…
Wretched man that I am!
Who will set me free from the body of this death?
Romans 7:24
and our God says…
“Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”
Numbers 20:8
Oh precious one, the Rock has already been struck… He doesn’t need to be struck again or over and over. Once was sufficient. Have you come to the Rock? Have you spoke to the Rock that you might have the Living Water?
And if you say yes… yes you have… do you understand what all this Rock provides?
The definition of rock, petra, in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 is: a rock, cliff or ledge, a projecting rock, crag, rocky ground, a rock, a large stone, metaphorically: a man like a rock, by reason of his firmness and strength of soul
A rock is something solid, firm, and lasting. I struggle with keeping plants alive in my flowerbeds. However if I put a beautiful decorative rock in that flowerbed I can count on it to look beautiful and not die on me. This rock will weather the storms. It doesn’t matter if it’s 100 degrees out outside or 10 degrees. The rock doesn’t change. Rain, sleet, or snow the rock remains the same. We call a true friend a “rock”. My husband is my “rock”. I can count on him. I can trust him to hold me up. When we look around the world we can see the reality of the firmness of things that are made from rock.
These buildings have been around for thousands of years and we marvel at them. We marvel at them because when so many things around our world have changed… these building of rock remain.
So a rock is solid, firm, unchanging, lasting… a rock is also a place of protection.
The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.” Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
Exodus 33:17-23
God put Moses in the cleft of the rock… and from the safety of the rock he could see the glory of God. How beautiful it is that just as Moses was hidden in the cleft of this rock… we are hidden in the cleft of THE ROCK.
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed,
then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Colossians 3:2-4
And in Christ, in the cleft of our Petra, we too can say, “Oh God show me your glory!“
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:5-7
When in Christ we are in the cleft of the Rock. We are in a place of protection. We are safe. We have a solid foundation. He is firm and their is strength in His soul. And just like the story of the Three Little Pigs if we will build our house out and from the rock and live in the safety of our rock… we will have confidence and boldness to stand against any storm. No matter how many times that big bad wolf comes after us, we will recognize his deception, and no matter how hard he blows… he will never be able to get to us. We are safe in the Rock.
I guess you could say the difference in the male vs female classes is the difference between men and women. Duh! Women are way more talkative and men use fewer words to say the same thing. Really prefer the straight-forwardness of the men and there is less drama. Women get into everybody’s business, the men don’t. That’s my 1st impression…
~ MaryAlice
The above quote is from a bond-servant of Christ who was reporting her prayer request and observations after her first time teaching a precept Bible study class to male inmates in a high security prison… her ministry has always been in the female prisons, but God has led her kicking and screaming and now trusting here to these men who need freedom within these prison walls. The above quote was her final observation on her first experience.
I have a preteen daughter (Lol, how did I go from prison to preteen girls? Just go with me ;-)) so at the moment we are in the midst of her experience with her introduction into the drama of the female.
Sadly one of the first goals of every woman should be to search out female relationships that will have your back without throwing a knife into… Let me first off assure you that those women are out there.
You just have to be one to find one.
I met my first drama free friend in 7th grade, but it wasn’t until around 10th grade that we realized what we had in each other… and once it clicked we clung to each other. I knew she would always speak truth to me and I knew she always had my back… and I never worried about drama with her. Not that she and I were perfect in our friendship, but we respected each other, and stood by each other regardless. The funny thing is we were completely opposites… and still are. I was country and cowboy boots, she was city and high heels. I was conservative republican she was liberal democrat. I live in the southeast she headed west to California. I started a family early she focused on career and just started her family a few months ago. I could go on… with what made us different, but the point is differences don’t matter when respect is present.
After she left for California over 13 years ago it took me a while to find that type of friendship with another female… but God led me and one trust step at a time I don’t just have one of those female friends, God has blessed me with several. So ladies, they are indeed out there!
I had the great joy of hanging with my BFF from high school yesterday as she was visiting with her newborn son and showing him off to all her family here in the South… as she shared with me her birth experience she told me how she fell in love with her husband all over again as she watched him with their newborn son… she shared how that surprised her… she hadn’t expected that at all. I just smiled because I know exactly what she means. I wanted to tell her then how many times that will happen in the days and years to come… but I don’t want to ruin the joy of her discovery!
There are many times that I fall in love with my husband all over again… and as we walk through yet another preteen parenthood experience I had another one of those moments as I listened to him share with me the breakdown of his most recent one-on-one convo with our preteen.
The moment I melted was when he shared with me these words:
I told her that I know she is going through an identity crisis at this point in her life, trying to decide where she fits and who she is, and I told her how I know that she is going to “pick up” actions and words and habits from the friends she hangs around and will imitate them in things, that’s just human nature, but let’s say that you like a boy when you are ready for that, and for all these years you have been “acting” like this friend, so you and this boy start dating… who is he really liking? You or the friend you have been acting like? Our preteen said, my friend. So what is going to happen when he finds out who you really are and that you don’t always act like that friend? Our preteen said, he’s going to leave. Right! Because it wasn’t you he liked to begin with… Honey, just be your freakin’ self! Be yourself all the time!
When I heard “Honey, just be your freakin’ self! Be yourself all the time!“ I fell in love with my husband all over again.
I am thankful to be facing these preteen parenthood days with this man by my side. We make a pretty good team… and our girls know that we are indeed on the same team… and they also know that this team is on their side and is here to help them reach victory in this life.
These days of preteen parenthood is rough… I have not looked forward to them. It is here that my paranoia begins… Fear can grip me quickly over their choices.
Are they making the right friends?
Are they thinking the right thoughts?
Are they still seeking God?
Are they going through the motions or are they sincere?
Do they respect themselves?
Are they buying the lie that tells them that I only care about what others think of me when I lay restrictions and deliver discipline?
(I think this is the biggest lie that effects our “church kids” I hear it often, and although I know it can be true in some situations, I assure you the majority of the time that is not the case, as shocking as it may be, some parents truly do care about their child’s holiness and sanctification and their own personal relationship with Christ, and are not out to impress “Deacon Dan” or “Sister Susan” we just want you to live an abundant life in and with and through Christ)
My prayer is so often “Oh God please don’t let me lose them to this world! Please don’t let them get sucked into the false pleasures of this world. God hold them close to you, keep a tight grip on their hearts!”
Part of me just wants to lock them down and “protect” them from this world, so that they never get hurt, never suffer the consequences of wrong choices. But I know that simply is not a possibility… besides I want my daughters to be life changers not life hiders. And how easy it is to forget that my girls are not mine to lose… they belong to God.
So today with our preteen, we are at this point of catch and release in a small pond.
We have given our preteen small pond privileges. The pond is big enough for her to swim out in, but small enough for us to quickly catch her and reel her back in when it’s needed.
At this point in her life she is getting her first real experiences with female drama… As much as I would like to just completely control the relationships… my husband and I are trying to instead use this as an opportunity to instill life lessons. The truth of the matter is, that for the rest of her life as a female she will face these situations, these relationships. Prayerfully she will learn in these preteen years how to discern the drama starter… and most importantly how not to be the drama starter.
What life as believer in a Sovereign God has taught me is that life is meant to be lived intentional.
Every situation matters.
Every opportunity is a life lesson.
Nothing is random.
Preteen drama is not petty. It is practice for becoming a true woman of God whose value is in her character and integrity not her outer appearance or social status.
So as my husband and I step out once again in raising a preteen girl… I pray we remember the lessons we learned the last time around with our now 21 year old. I pray that we walk with wisdom. I pray that we don’t let fear lead us to react instead of respond. I pray that we learn to guide instead of dictate. I pray that we stand united and let not the child divide. I pray that we never forget that God loves our girls even more than we do.
So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Sleep is never just sleep with me. I always experience an entire other day… or many days while I sleep. It’s crazy sometimes how dreams work. They are a jumbled mess… well mine are anyway.
Somehow last night in my dreams… at one point it was my birthday (I think) and a young lady from church brought me a gift that was tied to balloons… and she offered an apology because they were actually yellow baby shower balloons, but she said that was all they had. This is funny in its self because several nights ago I dreamed I was pregnant and delivered and my husband and I didn’t know what we were going to have until the baby was born, and the baby was a boy. I was so excited! I was trying to send out “It’s A Boy!” text messages and FB updates but none of our gadgets would work. That stupid little spinning circle just kept spinning… and I was one fired up female because I couldn’t get our great announcement out to the world. Then yesterday my husband fell asleep on the couch and woke up with a shock… he had dreamed I was pregnant… and he had not responded well to the news. Somehow babies keep invading our sleep… but that has been the case for over ten years now in some form or fashion!
Okay back to last night.
So after the balloons I find myself with my sisters and my nieces and nephews and I am handing out invitations and gifts to something… I can’t remember what it was, but I know it was important that they each got one.
Then the next thing I know I am waking up after being asleep in my dream. (Yes, dreaming I am asleep while I am asleep.) When I wake up my husband and I are now living in the house I grew up in from toddler to teen. I have walked out of the master bedroom of that house and into the living room and I can still see it clear as when I was living there. It’s even the same couch, the same front door, the same front porch, the same view into the front yard.
I am in my pj’s and housecoat and it’s early and the rest of the house is still asleep and then the doorbell rings. I go to the door and its a woman I never met asking me about homeschool information… and then I see a man carrying a child, and both the man and the woman are quite distraught but this morning I can’t remember why.
I recall closing the door behind me after telling them goodbye and hoping that I was able to help them and then I remember stretching out on the couch… because just as in reality I was still sleepy when I awoke…
I stretch out and pick up my ipad, open it up and then the next thing I know my sins of the past are on video before me. There I was in drunken stuppors… there I was in all my shame… recorded and on Facebook! I was trying with all my might to press delete… I couldn’t even get the stupid thing to turn off… my heart was pounding… my stomach was churning… my hands were sweating… I was terrified.
Then I woke up.
I woke up and my first thoughts were “oh God thank you! thanks you that this was only a dream! thank you that my days of stupid were not in this day! thank you God the only time my past will be seen again is through your eyes of grace! thank you God for loving me and calling me and forgiving me and making me new. thank you that I am not who I was!”
I woke up praising God that the only technology that was out and about in my high school/college days was a camera with film that had to be developed and a video camera that was the size of a small car so no one could have it on you without your knowledge.
It’s amazing how your past follows you even haunts you at times… but the beauty of the rebirth, is that you don’t have to follow your past. Your before doesn’t have to be your after…
If I try now in my waking moments to analyze this dream… and please know that I am no Daniel or Joseph…
I would say that the birth of a baby boy is exciting news and being able to share that news as someone who has experienced that birth is very important! That baby boy is Jesus and I have experienced His birth and in Him I have been born again and I want to send out His birth announcement to the world. When I experienced His birth in me I first sent out invitations and gifts to my family and then I taught in my church and now share even with those I may never meet this side of eternity.
As for the next part, why was I in my childhood home? Who was the woman at the door and the man and the child?
Possibly the interpretation here is the ministry that God has called me into now. I minister to children who are toddler to teens. We are living in a day where you can see the faces of distraught parents everywhere… I think we have to remember how important these years are in our children’s lives and memory. I remember everything about the house I grew up in. I remember the furniture, the carpet, the doors, the kitchen rail, the laundry room, the fireplace, but most importantly I remember I was loved. I remember it was home. I remember I always felt safe. My foundation for the rest of my life was laid in the years I lived in that house.
Why was it now mine and my husbands home?
Possibly because it was there that I learned what a marriage was supposed to look like. It was there that I learned this is the kind of marriage I want to have one day… and well God has granted my heart’s desire. I have that marriage. I have that marriage because my husband and I held on to truth, and to love, and to hope. We choose to live in forgiveness and grace. So now today, my husband and I are trying to lay a similar foundation in our own daughters lives…
A home is a school whether you homeschool or not.
The past sins video? Well that was self interpreted and obvious. Get the behind me Satan. You have no power over me and my past failures will never keep me from my present joy and future victories because my Redeemer lives!
There are moments when my heart is so full of God and His grace that I feel like I am going to pop with Jesus awesomeness. Tonight is one of those moments… and well I am just full… full of Him… and so very thankful for all He is.
When I felt the call to Children’s Ministry and told God yes, I would go…
I first went with one foot in… I suppose…
I kept my ties in the youth and held fast to my precept ministry. As a matter of fact, I just taught all three. College on Sunday mornings, Children during worship, and adult Precept on Sunday nights…
However God would continue to grow in my heart a desire for children’s ministry that I could not deny…
It’s funny.
Most see the children’s ministry as the starting point for a new believer to get their feet wet in and then progress to teaching the “harder stuff” to the adults… but God did the opposite in me.
He trained me up in precept and in teaching college and adults so that I could come back and be a better teacher of Biblical truth to these children.
In the children’s ministry is where we lay the foundation of all Biblical truth… therefore it is very important that this is a foundation of Rock and not slippery silly sand. It may seem strange to some, but I study just as hard to teach the two year olds as I did the 22 year olds. I have even had people comment on how I must be enjoying the lighter study load… ummm nope. I dig just as deep… and I don’t teach less depth just because they are two or ten.
Tomorrow I will be taking close to 40 precious souls into the day that Abraham walked with Isaac up the Mount to offer him as a sacrifice unto God. Yes, Father Abraham had many sons… but he also was asked to sacrifice one of those. He was asked, Abraham how much do you trust Me?
Then their small group leaders will be taking them even deeper. Last week the kids left the large group class saying, “Mrs Nicole I got my shovel! We’re going to go dig a little deeper!” And they walked out the room making shovel motions and chanting “dig a little deeper, dig a little deeper”
LOVE IT!
Then in Children’s Church I will take almost 30 kids 4yrs old to 12 yrs old into the depths of Revelation as we look at the great harlot riding on a beast drinking a cup full of immorality and abominations…
This is serious study. I take it seriously. I want to send these kids up and out into the world fully equipped with sword bearing truth. These kids today are facing hard things. Lies are every where they look. They need truth. They need people who will speak truth over them and to them.
When I became Children’s Ministry Director, my heart was very pulled toward a bold recommended decision that I would make concerning this ministry. It would be something that would be different… but I felt very strongly about it… even though it was scary.
The decision would be a No Volunteer Policy for the new children’s ministry department.
There would be no announcements begging for help. No sign up sheets begging for teachers or helpers. I had seen this too many times… Too many times I had seen kids walk by an empty sign up sheet and heard them say… “no one wants us”
Nope, not under me. Because I wanted them. I wanted every last one of them. And I would trust God to provide me with teachers and leaders that wanted them too. If God could use Moses to lead over 2 million Israelites then surely He could use me to lead 1 children’s ministry.
So I took this leap of faith.
Sign up sheets would be for one time activities only.
Then I personally invited those that God had put on my heart to join me in this mission… I didn’t want anyone serving out of guilt or out of a martyrs complex… I wanted full hearted service. Service out of obedience to the call of God and the desire to plant seeds of truth and water them and cultivate them and love them.
And then a need would arise and time would be running out and my heart would catch in my throat as I thought I am going to have to stand and ask… and then God would remind me that He was in control
In one of these moments I was reading a book by Francis Chan and he asked something like “what are you doing in your life that if God doesn’t pull through for you, you’re in trouble” and so I said, Okay God, I got it… I will wait. Guess what, He never failed to bring someone to my mind… or to someone else’s mind who would come and share that name with me. And every time when that person was asked they would say that God had already began the process of moving them into this ministry
Every time He has provided the worker.
Yes the fields are white for harvest, and yes the workers are few, but when we beseech the Lord of the harvest… He provides.
He has been faithful to provide people who love these kids and see this ministry as a priority. I walk down the halls and have conversations with my workers and I hear their passion for the kids… as a whole and as individuals. I hear their desire to teach the kids the Truth of the Word of God. I see the excitement in their eyes when they share something that happened in class or they share an idea they had to help illustrate the lesson. I don’t know if they know that I am listening or catching these moments, but I am, and I thank God for them.
Every act of obedience is a step of faith.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed
from faith to faith;
as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
Romans 1:16-18
Faith to faith, step of faith to step of faith, Jesus awesomeness just pops out all over us when we choose to just believe.
My girls love co-op. And well so do I. With the beginning of co-op also comes chapel. This year in chapel I have chosen to continue the Names of God series.
Let them praise the name of the Lord, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven.
Psalm 148:13
It is the names of God that represent His identity. He has given us His names that we might know Him. This year in chapel our focus will be on the names of Christ.
And there is salvation in no one else;
for there is no other name under heaven
that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12
Knowing who Jesus is and who we profess Him to be His crucial…
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi,
He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others,Elijah;
but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona,
because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you,
but My Father who is in heaven.
I also say to you that you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build My church;
and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Matthew 16:13-18
So our focus this season will be to get to know our Savior a little more and a little deeper.
The name of Christ that we will look at first is Huios… this name is Greek for Son.
Knowing and believing that Jesus is indeed the Huios of God is huge. As we read in Matthew 16 we see that knowing this and believing this and confessing this only comes through the revelation of God Himself. You just don’t “come up” with this truth. Not only that, it is upon this truth that the Church of God stands and not even the gates of hell will prevail against this very confession.
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Here’s the kicker.
Jesus did not become the Son when He was conceived in Mary’s womb.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name Him Jesus
Luke 1:31
The word conceive in Luke 1:31 is sullambano and it comes from the word lambano and it means to take up a thing to be carried, to take upon one’s self, to take possession of, to receive what is offered, to receive a person, to give him access to one’s self.
In Galatians 4:4 we read
But when the fullness of the time came,
God sent forth His Son,
born of a woman, born under the Law,
You see the Son was sent…
Jesus did not become the Son of God in Mary’s womb, He always was the Son of God and Mary simply received Him and carried Him. He left the glory of heaven and became the prisoner of Mary’s womb in order to become the prisoner of this flesh of ours in order to set not just Himself free but all who would believe and receive Him unto themselves… this Christ, this Huios of the Living God.
By this the love of God was manifested in us,
that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world
so that we might live through Him.
In this is love, not that we loved God,
but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:9-10
I shared in Chapel about how when I read in the Old Testament all the focus on the firstborn son I always wondered what the big deal was. Why such focus on this firstborn son? I mean over and over it again the scriptures would talk about how the life and strength and dignity and power of a man was in His firstborn son… and then it hit me… it should have done so long ago… but I think God gets parental joy by giving us gifts of His revealed truth in spurts just so He can see us smile at His greatness and the simple fact that in His awesomeness He still has such amazing love for us…
You see everything has always pointed to Christ, to the Son.
God wants us to see that His power, His life, His strength, His dignity, His might, His authority is in His Son. It always was and it always will be…
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Colossians 1:16-20
So precious one… the question is who do you say that He is?
Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
Last night was the Awana registration at my church. This past Saturday several on my Awana team attended the Awana leaders conference. Which I highly recommend by the way. It is so very easy for us to forget how important it is to receive training, to see things in a new way, to get new ideas from each other, or simply to be encouraged because you discover you are actually doing somethings right.
Anyway, at the conference one of the speakers went over the verse above. As I listened to the speaker I knew that God wanted me to share this at our Awana parent meeting. It was something that I needed reminded of as well…
If you follow my blog, you possibly read my post from yesterday. If you didn’t just look to the right and click on the Proven Path Ministries link and read “Stop Pointing The Finger At Them” (or click this link).
As the Awana speaker shared he broke Deuteronomy 6:4-9 down and I am going to do that as well, but with a little more detail.
Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
Okay: Hear, O Nicole(put your name here, God’s word is personal, remember its a relationship not a religion, go face to face with God, I always replace my name with whoever God is addressing when I am seeking Him for guidance)! The Lord is your God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
Okay God, what words? What words shall be on my heart? If I need to know what words then I look back… As I begin to scan Deuteronomy 5 I see that it is filled with the Ten Commandments. So I go back to Deuteronomy 5:1 and begin reading… then I get to the very last verse in chp 5 and read…
You shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.
Deuteronomy 5:33
Now I think, okay God “all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you” now when Moses delivered this to the people they had the Law only the Law… I have Christ. So what this says to me is that I have the awesome privileged of not only having the Law on my heart but in my heart. And so I need to go and see what my Lord Jesus has commanded me also.
Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoeverkeeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:17-19
Well okay God… I need the whole counsel of God on and in my heart. the Law, the Prophets, and the New Covenant. So I am going to start with Commandment #1 and learn how to obey it… but wait there is more. What were my instructions after you told me to “Hear“?
You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them… Deuteronomy 5:7
Okay God, I am to hear and then I am to teach. Well who am I to teach? And how am I to teach? I am to teach them to my sons… well I don’t have sons, but I have daughters, so I am to teach my children, I am to teach the generation under me and I am to teach them diligently. What exactly does it mean to teach them diligently God? Diligently in the old testament Hebrew means to sharpen, whet, to be pierced, to teach incisively(penetrating clear and sharp).
For the word of God isliving and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Hebrews 4:12-13
(it’s nice to be on this side of the cross)
Well okay God, I take my child to church faithfully every Wednesday and twice on Sunday and I make sure they attend every special event… is that not teaching them diligently?
You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house
Oh okay God, I am to hear and to have your Word on my heart and then I am to diligently teach my kids when I sit in my house. Okay got it.
and when you walk by the way
Okay… and also when we walk by the way… so as we do life I am to teach them. As we drive to soccer practice, on our way to school, when we are standing in line at Wal-mart, while sitting in the Playplace at McDonalds… I am to look for opportunities to teach them how your commands apply to their every day life. Like when they get cranky and stubborn in the playplace because I said it was time to leave… that’s a perfect opportunity to remind them that they are to honor me and thier father and obey us. Or when they are playing at school and they want a new game that so-and-so has… a perfect time to teach them that we are not to covet our neighbors things but be content with what we have… okay God keep my eyes open to these opportunities.
and when you lie down
Okay God… bedtime goodnight prayers would be a great time for this… or even at the dinner table. We could just read a Psalm or a Proverb to them and talk about it a bit… Winnie the Pooh and Wiggles are nice and all that but good manners will not help my child stand against the attacks on their soul and mind…
and when you rise up.
alright that’s morning. So we can leave our Sunday school books or awana books or at least one Bible at the breakfast table and read and talk about God that morning and pray for You to help us honor you this day. And on those crazy mornings when we oversleep we can listen to a christian music station on the way to school and we can pick a song we are listening to and discuss how the lyrics line up with what God’s commands and how singing them throughout the day could keep us connected to God…
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
Okay, this one is a little confusing… but I think You are wanting me to remember something like
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father (Colossians 3:17)
and
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)
So before we do it with our hands or let it enter our mind as truth we need to see if it lines up with what You would want us to do or what You say is truth… because Your Word is truth (John 17:17)
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Okay God. It’s my responsibility to guard my home. Before anyone or anything enters in my home I need to see if it lines up with Your will for me and my family. That means the books we read, the magazines we buy, the internet sites we visit, the tv shows we watch, the friends we have in our home and around our children, the things we allow in our home… they have to be cleared by You first. If I wouldn’t have it in the church I shouldn’t have it in my home…
And what I see God is that no one in my church can fulfill this command but me. My Pastor, my Sunday School teacher, my kids awana leader or Sunday school teacher, they are not there to teach in my home, or along the way, or when I lie down, or when I rise up… (unless of course you are married to the pastor 🙂)
So there is only one person who can fulfill this command of Yours in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and that is me.
Now precious ones, if you did go back and read my post from yesterday you saw how I believe that our nation is where it is because the church, those who profess to know Christ, have not obeyed God’s commands, or walked in His ways, or kept His statutes…
So this is my new challenge to you.
I challenge you right now to stop.
Stop trying to fix whatever you are trying to fix about you.
Stop and focus on just fulfilling this one command of God.
Beginning today Hear the word and put it on your heart. Read Deuteronomy 5&6 at least three times today.
Then go home… don’t make a big announcement… just tonight at the dinner table or at bedtime sit down with those in your home and open the Word. After your reading Deuteronomy 5&6 today is there something you need to talk about or teach your kids about… are their things that need to be removed from your home… a little at a time (don’t go for the book burning, trash all the video games and mags all at once, just purge a little at a time as you teach… that’s how God usually does it in our hearts isn’t it…)
Stop looking at your list of self-improvements you think you need to be a better parent, spouse, christian that you never seem to reach, and just focus on this one command to… Hear and teach and let the Word of God do what you could never do no matter how hard you tried.
Children’s Ministry is more than just babysitting. It is more than just keeping the kids occupied and alive long enough for their parents to get “fed”. It is not something that should just be thrown together, taken lightly, or done half-? (well if your southern you know what goes there).
There are a few things that will get this red-head fired up… one big one is short-changing our children. Let me tell you, many of these kids are carrying the weight of the world upon their shoulders. Many of these kids are surrounded by so much artificiality they have no clue what real looks like. They live in a world of hypocrisy and lies like many of us have never known. They live in a world where “reality” tv is scripted and cut and edited and more fake than any sitcom because it is played off as “real”. They live in the land of saying what you need to say to get what you want and never meaning a word of it… and the truth is they know it. They are learning not to trust anyone because so many treat them like they are stupid and unaware of the hypocrisy that is fed them.
I could share story after story… but let me share just one.
A young girl’s parents divorce when she is still pre-school/kindergarten age. Mom remarries and so does Dad. Mom’s new man sexually abuses her. She tells Dad. Dad takes her away from Mom and puts Mom’s new man in jail. Now Mom and new man have young kids. Now little girl who was sexually abused and told what happened is upset because her half-brothers and sisters don’t get to see their dad and she thinks its her fault. Now Dad is supposed to be getting child support from Mom and Mom’s not paying so Dad has Mom put in jail. Now the young girl is upset and believes it’s her fault that Mom’s in jail and she defends Mom to me about how she has has to take care of her little brothers and sisters and just doesn’t have the money to pay for her too. Now Dad’s new woman physically abuses young girl, breaking her bones and clawing her up and Dad tells young girl that he’ll knock her teeth out if she tells what is really happening.
This is just a piece of one child’s story. Just one of many that I have heard. Just one of many that I know about…
And yes this young girl was a church member at a church. So just because a child is “in church” every Sunday doesn’t mean that they do not live in hell Monday through Saturday. We make many mistakes and cause much damage by presuming that all our “church kids” have happy homes.
This girl is just a child.
Just a child and this is the burden she carries.
And we think that sugar coating the wrath and vengeance of our God by convincing her that Noah’s Ark is about rainbows and cute little animals floating in a boat is going to give her the strength to live with this burden.
Just a child?
I sat and listened to this child’s story and then how she said she had no friends at school because she didn’t like to talk because she stuttered and she didn’t want people to know what her life was like…
Just a child.
Let’s get real church.
This child needs to know that God hates the way she has been treated. This child needs to know that God is angry about this. This child needs to know that God loves her with a real love and that His wrath will fall on those who hurt His children. This child needs to know that it is okay to still love this Dad and Mom who have hurt her so and she needs to know how to forgive them and how not to carry the weight of this conflicting emotional turmoil that is tossing within her.
This child needs the whole counsel of the Word of God. This child needs the real Jesus. The One who says “Woe to those…”! The One who has the double edged sword in His mouth. The One who loves hard and stands strong and lives to fight for her.
So children’s ministry stop sugar coating the truth. These kids don’t need a spoon full of sugar to help the medicine go down. Just give them a straight shot. They need healing to get into their veins now. They need hooked up to the iv of truth. Trust me they are getting enough sugar with the lies.
Stop worrying about having to step out of your “comfort zone” when we have a world of kids out there who have no clue that a zone of comfort even exists.
