Oh, my! It’s never good when the first thing you think logging onto a site is, “I hope I remember the password…” and this was my thought exactly this afternoon as I was coming to chat with you. A month has passed by already. Crazy. I am definitely still learning how to juggle “life” and all that it entails. Between cooking meals, prepping snacks, doing way more laundry than three people should ever produce, saving a toddler from death-defying jumps down slides, playing full-time entertainer, jumping full-swing back into ministry at our church plant, and all of the other lovely chaos that defines current life, some days I celebrate when I take a shower before 11 am. Or at all, for that matter. Thankfully, I have a pretty gracious husband. I am hoping you are gracious too.

The adorable culprit to all my chaos. I love this boy! Excuse me while I go kiss his cheeks some more…
I promise to be more faithful in the (near) future. I don’t like to commit to anything more than three weeks out; otherwise I may have to eat my words, gravel, and start all over again. It’s my own awful cycle.
I have so much to share! Everything in good time, of course… But a lot has been stirring in my mind, which I am excited to discuss with you. Lots of good, wonderful stuff.
First of all, I want to share something I have been working on for a bit now for our Sunday school program at Journey! It’s my own “curriculum!” I have been working on this every Thursday (as my oh-so-fabulous mother watches Noah during the days for me. Thank you, Momma! Well, more like she watches him in the afternoons. I typically spend the mornings socializing with her until I have only four or so hours to finish all I had planned.) I’m not certain that I will always write our curriculum, but it seemed fitting for the young season we are in right now. Besides, I wanted something deeper and more involved than a box curriculum.
At Journey, we have young families participating, leaving their home churches to help us plant. And as we all have experienced in life, change is not easy. Particularly for kids. Especially when they may not understand what the implications are of what we are doing. So I am writing a church planting series for children so that we can all be on the same page as a church family.
Because I have everything from kindergarten through 6th grade (or whoever else wants to join us) participating, much of what I am writing is geared to fit kids of all ages. We’re covering great stuff, like how the church started, what the body of Christ is, how prayer affects what we accomplish, what kids can do to serve in the church, and telling people about Jesus! My utmost desire is to establish a solid foundation for our young ministry and get the kids excited about what we’re doing together.
While working on this I began thinking about how essential it really is for all kids to be aware of this information. Not simply during a church plant. This truly is the calling of the universal body of Christ. You and are I instructed to serve. To fish. As Ephesians 2:10 puts it, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” It’s not an option, it’s an expectation. As such – as mothers, fathers, teachers, or simply disciples of Christ – it is our responsibility to represent this for all of the young eyes that are watching us. Trust me, they are watching. Closely. It is also imperative that we teach this to them and involve them in our service.
Chris always talks about “doing life” together. Really, that is what it’s all about. It’s about following Christ, getting dirty, and letting others come alongside to learn and participate. It’s about putting together props for VBS with a joyful attitude, allowing our children to observe and help (even if it’s not perfect). It’s not shipping them off to a babysitter because they may get in the way, it’s allowing them to get in the way and get excited about what is at work and what God may (or rather, will) do. It’s a testimony of life well-lived to our families. Or sometimes it’s the same testimony to a young person who has no one else in their life who will stand in the gap and show what a God-glorifying life looks like.
All of this to say, I think it is absolutely important that all kids understand these concepts. If they can grasp it at a young age, understanding all that God did in the Bible to allow us to accomplish what we do now, they will be leaps ahead of most adults. We are a body. Rather, we are the body of Christ. We were established by God, called by the Spirit, and are equipped to do absolutely fabulous,astounding things. Together. As a family. This is exciting stuff!
So with all of that laid out, I would like to offer my curriculum to you. I’m sure it needs some tweaking, however I want to give it to you as a general outline (it’s linked below). Of course, it’s intended for a Sunday school group, but there’s no reason it can’t be used with your own children at home as a small Bible lesson. Or possibly an after-school children’s group for latch-key kids needing something to do with their time. There are lots of opportunities when it comes to kids.
I’ll post a lesson every week or so (I’m still working on it, so I don’t want this to get ahead of me). The lessons begin with Pentecost (perfect for this time of year – we’re almost there) and work forward from there. I hope you and your family, Sunday school, or kids group enjoy studying this together! I’m excited as we work together to sow seeds in our kids and help build heroes of the faith for our generation! (Or the next one).
Church Planting Series – 1. Pentecost