Field Notes of an Ordinary Pastor
In place of our parent and toddler group at Banstead Community Church, we’ve been putting online Bible story videos. We’ve just done 4 videos using Christmas books from The Good Book Company and 10ofthose.com.
The Characters of Christmas
There’s a Lion in My Nativity!
A Very Noisy Christmas
When Santa Learned The Gospel
In place of our parent and toddler group at Banstead Community Church, we’ve been putting online Bible story videos. In the first season we used the Very Best Bible Stories series of books from The Good Book Company. We’ve just done another 8 videos using the Tales that Tell the Truth series of books.
Jesus in the Lions Den
The Storm that Stopped
Jesus and the Very Big Surprise
The One O’Clock Miracle
The Friend who Forgives
Wherever You Go, I Want You To Know…
Goodbye to Goodbyes
The Prisoners, The Earthquake, and the Midnight Song
“We urge the duty of allowing no day, in ordinary circumstances, to pass by without, as a family, spending ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes, in the solemn worship of our Maker.”
There are lots of great resources to help parents disciple their children.
Here is a list of resources of some I’ve used or may use with my kids when we read, pray, and sing the Bible together.
If you have younger children…
Bibles & Devotionals
Doctrine & Christian Living
If you have older children…
Bibles & Devotionals
Doctrine & Christian Living
There is plenty of good music aimed at children. Check out Sovereign Grace Music, Colin Buchanan, Awesome Cutlery, DumbRocks, Randall Goodgame, Michael Tinker and Seeds Family Worship. Our personal favourites are the Getty Kids Hymnals (and their Family Hymn Sing) because the majority of the songs on them are songs we sing in church including plenty of hymns which we want our boys to grow up loving.
In addition to what we do as a family at home, a key part of discipling our children is gathering each Sunday with our local church. Our kids sit with us (okay, my wife, because I’m often leading) and observe/participate in the service right up to the preaching of God’s Word where the youngest goes off to Sunday School. The Sunday School is using The Gospel Project for Kids curriculum which I think is outstanding and one I’d recommend!
(Photo: Ben Wicks)
Notes from FIEC Leadership in Lockdown webinar on Youth and Children’s Work during Lockdown with John Stevens, Michael Tinker and Michael Williams.
1. Timothy is an example of the importance of youth and children’s ministry (2 Timothy 1:5, 3:15). He knew the Scriptures from infancy – the promises and commands of God. He was converted in his youth, most likely as a result of Paul’s missionary journey, As a teenager he was discipled, making significant progress and had a good reputation in the church. He also served in mission from his youth being sent out by Paul as an apostolic delegate.
2. Summary of government guidance for Youth and Children’s work in England. Check out John Stevens blog for full summary.
– Complex because it requires consultation of a number of sources of guidance.
– Children under 5 must be supervised by parents/guardians at church services (i.e. sit with them).
– No creche or Sunday school group for under 5s. Even private baby room is problematic unless only one household using it.
– No parent and toddler groups possible at present because of restrictions to do with mixing households if parents/carers are present.
– Groups for children over 5 years old are possible. Maximum group size including leaders is 15; social distancing of 2m if possible is required; if more than one group of 15, each group must remain separate and consistent (problematic for churches with rota system of volunteers). Social distancing, hygiene and cleaning important.
– Lots of restrictions in terms of activities – no contact games, no live performances (drama, comedy, music), no singing, shouting or blowing of instruments; no sharing of food, ideally no sharing of craft resource; no residentials or camps.
– Key is the risk assessment which will need to be shared with staff/volunteers and published on website. An explanation will be given to parents about steps taken to reduce risk and other protective measures put in place, and consent should be gained with register of children attending kept.
– Youth group Bible studies with quiet voice speaking is permissible.
– Don’t expect consistency from government guidance. It has all been developed piecemeal. Though there is a recognition in guidance that risk of transmission and danger to children is less than adults.
3. Video is here to stay (at least for a while) so we need to think proactively about it.
4. What are some of the benefits of video?
– It helps use to share the gospel far wider than before.
– It provides something accessible for those who can’t get out to church (including SEN children, those who find bigger setting intimidating, who need to watch things a number of times, or who need to stop and start).
– It is a great way to resource the family especially those who are new to or struggle to read the Bible in the home.
– It can be a way of addressing parents to help them engage their children – “Children, ask your parents about that…”
– It is an opportunity for parents to teach children how to listen outside pressure of main service.
– It is a way of demonstrating resources to parents.
5. Doing video is different to doing things in person: a) Your surroundings are different (can’t move around, get children to help, respond to looks of children); b) Their surroundings are different – more distractions; c) Sound is different – TV/Computer, hard to vary levels of volume.
6. When making videos: keep it interesting; try to find a format that works; kids like repetition and knowing what to expect; have similar sections each time but with subtle twists or occasional surprises; try different camera angles – sudden change can build excitement; go on location; draw children in with a look; know script well so you can keep looking at the camera; give it a pace; keep it godly; get a good mic.
7. For young people lockdown has been a period of loss. Loss of moments – weekly youth group, summer camps or conventions, those big moments that act as pillars for the year, having stuff to look forward to. Loss of mates – seeing Christian friends, feeling isolated. Loss of structure – no different between weekdays and weekends, term time and holiday.
8. Young people feel lethargic: a) Physically (got used to being stuck inside sitting in front of Xbox or Netflix they don’t fancy doing anything); b) Academic (without discipline of teachers and school structure); c) Emotional (what’s the point, bored of everything); d) Spiritual.
9. Great opportunity to re-evaluate our youth ministry. Is our focus outreach or discipleship? Focus on one primarily. If our focus is outreach we need to concentrate on broadcast and producing a product to beam into homes of teenagers in the area. If our focus is discipleship we need to concentrate on interaction, investing in the teenagers in the church and growing their faith.
10. Two great aims for youth group focusing on discipleship: i) Keep facilitating Christian friendships; ii) Keep teaching the Bible. These are great aims for youth ministries not in lockdown or journeying out of lockdown too.
11. Don’t lose heart. Think about the potential. Remember it is God’s work.
12. Keswick Convention has got good high quality online resources this year for children and youth.
13. Be realistic about expectations when it comes to the online involvement. If engagement is limited, broadcast focus might be preferred to interaction focus.
14. FIEC has produced a COVID-19 risk assessment template.
In place of our parent and toddler group at Banstead Community Church, we’ve been putting online Bible story videos using the Very Best Bible Stories series of books from The Good Book Company.
Daniel and the Very Hungry Lions
Noah and the Very Big Boat
David and the Very Big Giant
Jonah and the Very Big Fish
They need to be taught the whole counsel of God.
What does that mean?
David & Sally Michael:
See HERE.
“While children’s ministry can drift toward teaching for behaviours people want to see in children, student ministries tend to drift toward teaching against behaviours people don’t want to see in teenagers.”
A church that is centred on the gospel will have youth and children’s ministries that do two things:
“No matter what your practice regarding children’s ministry (Sunday school, kid’s worship, family worship, large group/small group, etc), ensure that your philosophy of ministry impresses children with the gospel through living examples of grace, while also instructing their hearts with the grand story of Scripture.”
See HERE.
When I was in Sunday School I learnt a great song that helped me to learn all the books of the Old Testament. I managed to finally track it down a couple of years ago. I’ve since discovered that there was a version for the New Testament as well.
You can read about my search in these 3 posts (#1, #2 and #3).
As I continue to get emails and comments about these songs, I thought I’d repost the lyrics, and a link to the website where you can purchase the songs.
The Books of the Bible Part I (Old Testament Song)
Come on everybody let’s have some fun
The Old Testament is for everyone
Just sing with me and soon you’ll know
The Old Testament books all in a row
There’s Genesis, Exodus,
and Leviticus,
Numbers and Deuteronomy
Joshua, Judges follow along
And then we get to the book of Ruth
The following books are divided in Two
Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles too
Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and Job
We’re halfway thru half way to go
Just sing with me and soon you’ll know
The Old Testament books all in a row
There’s Psalms and Proverbs
Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations
Ezekiel, Daniel and Hosea
Joel and Amos, Obadiah, and then,
the story of Jonah and the fish God sent
Micah, Nahum, and Habakkuk,
Zephaniah and Haggai,
Two more books
Zechariah and Malachi
And know you know
The Old Testament books all in a row
The Books of the Bible Part II (New Testament Song)
The first four books that come along
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
Then come Acts and Romans too
The first six books are easy to do
First and second Corinthians
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians
Remember Colossians next in line
With the two Thessalonians right behind
First and Second Timothy
We’re over halfway it’s easy to see
Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, and James
Now only seven books still remain
We’ve got 1st and 2nd Peter and then 1st John
John has 3 books before we go on
Now we’re almost done
There’s only Jude and Revelation
And now our song is through!
Both ‘The Books of the Part I (Old Testament Song)’ and ‘The Books of the Bible Part II (New Testament Song)’ are on an album called Family Circle by The McLean Family Singer which is available to download HERE.
(Photo: Tory Byrne)
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Here are some pictures of football supporters. Can you tell me what football team they support?
You can tell what team the fans support by the shirts and the colours they are wearing. They give a clue as to what team they follow.
But what about those who support or follow Jesus? Without a recognisable shirt, how can we spot who they are?
In Acts 2:41 which gives us a summary of what happened on the Day of Pentecost, we see two ways we can tell which people follow Jesus.
“Those who accepted his message [Peter’s message about Jesus] were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
The first clue to help us recognise who follows Jesus is baptism. As people who have put their trust in Jesus go down under the water and come up out of the water, it is like they are putting on the team shirt for those who follow Jesus. They identify themselves with Jesus because they are following His example as He was baptised. They also identify themselves with other followers of Jesus who have also been baptised.
The second clue is what also happened. They were added to their number – that is, the other followers of Jesus or the church. In other words they became members of a local church. Becoming a member of a local church is like wearing the team shirt for those who follow Jesus all the time. By becoming a member of a local church, you say to those in the local church and those in the world around, that you are a follower of Jesus.
On 15th April 2009 I began a search. A search for a catchy song that taught the books of the Bible in order when I was in Sunday School.
On 18th November 2009 progress was made. A lady called Paula left a comment with the words for the song (both Old and New Testament’s).
Advent began on Sunday with a comment from Holly telling me that my search is over!
Both ‘The Books of the Part I (Old Testament Song)’ and ‘The Books of the Bible Part II (New Testament Song)’ are on an album called Family Circle by The McLean Family Singer which is available to download HERE.
If you’ve never heard these songs – you can listen to them online:
The Books of the Bible Part I (Old Testament Song)
The Books of the Bible Part II (New Testament Song)
(Photo: Tory Byrne)
A great post from Tony Kummer on overchurched kids.
He notes 5 dangers facing overchurched kids:
1. Familiar Stories Lose Their Power: When kids hear the same Bible stories year-after-year they can become a little boring. Even worse – these stories are often told without imagination or any listener interaction. Most over-churched kids have heard the same 100+ Bible stories since they were in the Toddler Sunday School. They no longer connect with the characters or feel moved by the plot resolution. Once I was told by a seminary professor, “ It is a sin to make the Bible boring.” I’m starting to think he was right.
2. Knowledge Can Promote Pride: Something happens inside of us when we become the expert. Children feel that same sense of superiority when they have more religious knowledge than their peers. Too often over-churched kids build their identity around that achievement, even when it doesn’t involve a growing relationship with Christ.
3. They Have Learned to Pretend Pray: A real struggle for grown-ups is connecting with God through prayer. Too often it becomes routine and dry. Most younger children learn prayer as an act of imitation. Many don’t even realize that something cosmic is happening when we address our words to God. They don’t feel the presence of God or even expect that they should.
4. They Don’t Feel Their Lostness: Many over-churched kids don’t know what life is like without the comforts of faith. Their brain say ‘forgiveness’ before their heart feels ‘I’m sorry.’ Because they know about grace, they have never really struggled much with guilt.
5. The Ugly Side of Church: Kids who hang around Christians know the yucky side of the church. They hear the complaining. They know Jesus didn’t fix daddy’s temper yet. They know that church is not always the safest place in their lives. Beyond all this they notice when adults are being fake or doing religious role play.
Telling the Gospel Story – Part 2 (11th July 2010, Banstead Community Church)
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Baptism is commanded by Jesus (Matthew 28:19)
Baptism is a sign and a seal
a) Of forgiveness (Acts 2:38, 22:16)
b) Of new life (Romans 6:3-4)
c) Of a new identity (1 Corinthians 12:13)
d) Of obedience (John 14:15)
How baptism tells the gospel story?
1. By WHO we baptise
2. By HOW we baptise
3. By WHAT we say when we baptise
4. By WHEN we baptise