How we do what we do.

I know that I have been more than a little slack about keeping up with this thing, and I apologize to all my loyal readers. But, one thing that I want to start doing is using this as a means to connect with parents, as well as posting personal tidbits. From now on, I will start posting what we do on Sunday morning with the children. I hope this gives parents an opportunity to talk with their children throughout the week about what they learned at church, and take it a step further in their homes.

As we all know, parents have more influence than anyone when it comes to their children. The church has one hour a week, however the parent has an estimated 25-30 hours a week with their children, including driving and meal time (which are great places to have meaningful conversations). The George Barna Research Group has found that a person’s spiritual identity is largely set in place by the age of 13, so I want the church to partner with the parents in becoming the spiritual leaders in the children’s lives during these critical years. Leading children spiritually is not something that can be put off until tomorrow, we have to make the most of it today!

My goal is for this site to have links, articles, topics, and stories to help parents and leaders in any way possible. I would love to hear your feedback of what you like and don’t like at tiffany@lifepointnow.com. Before I get started on the specific weeks, let me give you an overview of what we do in the children’s ministry:

For our preschool areas we “teach less for more.” We repeat one key truth, what we call the Bottom Line, all month long. We do this through creative activities teaching the bible story. All of these truths deal with three main concepts we want the children to believe by the age of five. They will hear these foundations in some way every single week, and these three things are:

1. God Made Me
2. Jesus Loves Me
3. Jesus wants to be My Friend Forever

In our elementary areas the curriculum is based around three basic truths. These truths are based on a Core Virtue for every month, in which we take key bible stories as the framework for each week. Each Basic Truth is amplified by a weekly main point. In elementary we also work in a large group setting, telling the bible story, then each child connects in their small group. By the time the children are entering middle school, we want them to know that:

1. I need to make the wise choice.
2. I can trust God no matter what.
3. I should treat others the way I want to be treated.

I know that we only have one hour a week to reach these children, that is why I want it to be the best hour of their week! We have fun, dance, do crafts, sing, and shout to help show children that God is relevant to them. We teach key bible stories and truths that will lay the foundation for the rest of their lives. We have some exciting things coming for parents in the near future, so stay tuned! Now that you know the outline of every week, I will post a weekly review of what we do in each age service.