The role of our Friday night ministry in the spiritual lives of the family.
What the Bible says about ministering to children:
Judges 2:7-10
7 The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. 8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.
Joshua led the nation and did amazing things with the Lord. The nation was close to God during Joshua’s reign and he really did lead the Israelites spiritually. The problem came in when the generation that followed Joshua was not taught properly or ministered to effectively. The generation who would have been children during Joshua’s reign were not taught about God and what He had done for them. This lead to this young generation not knowing God at all and they served other false Gods. We cannot afford to allow this to happen to the generation that follows ours and so we need to be teaching them about God.
Psalm 78:1-8
1 My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old— 3 things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. 5 He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, 6 so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. 7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. 8 They would not be like their ancestors— a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.
This was a Psalm of salvation history warning the Israelites not to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors. They were being instructed to teach the younger generation about who God is and what He stands for. This is our mission today just as much as it was theirs back then. We need to be intentional about ministering to the children we see. It was an instruction to prevent the children from turning away from God. We love the children and you all love your children and it is because of that love that we need to do everything we possibly can for them.
What is the parent’s role?
Parents are the primary source of spiritual nourishment
The parents are the ones who the children learn from and encounter more often than anyone else.
Children learn basic spiritual principles from you such as:
- Compassion – How you treat people
- Spiritual authenticity – observing parents pray and read their Bible
- Morality – turning off inappropriate TV programs
- Integrity – repaying shop clerk when they give you too much change.
Children learn that from you and then replicate that in their own lives. You need to be reaching into their lives everyday
Some ways to do this is:
- “Ask them where they saw Jesus in their day” (In other words ask them if there was something in their day where they saw Gods goodness or a characteristic of God in someone else’s actions.)
- Do family devotions
- Ask them what they learnt at Children’s Ministry
What is our role?
If the parents are like the daily meals in their children’s spiritual growth we are like a multivitamin that they receive once a week.
- We provide a safe environment:
- where children can connect in fellowship
- they can learn a set curriculum customised to what they going through
- a place where they are free to ask questions
- a place where they can pray with others and have others pray for them
We need to work together:
Research done by the International Bible Society indicated that 83% of all Christians who participated in the survey gave their lives to the Lord at the age of 4-14.
Their stats show that the probability of an individual giving their life to Christ is:
- 5-13 = 32%
- 14-18 = 4%
- 19 and older = 6%
We need to work together and help each other out. We are here to help the family in any way we can. That requires you giving us feedback on ways we can improve or even the needs of your families that you feel we can help with. I just want to highlight that the responsibility of reaching the next generation is both the parents and the church, but it is primarily the parent’s responsibility. Let’s do what we can for the children. By us working together we can ensure the next generation has the best chance possible at remaining in relationship with Christ and experiencing His love in their lives.