The Bible has been a major theme in my life, study and through the things that influence me lately. To me, that says that this is an area that God deems highly important, and something He wants to be embedded into the DNA of the Children's Ministry here at Bethel. No brainer, you say? Not exactly. How many kids are reading the Bible? My 2nd grader can read, and with some help, does really well reading the Bible. But it's not just reading. It's digesting what they are reading, living it out, and then turning back to it time and time again for answers when they need them. A commitment to the Word of God that goes WAY beyond reciting all of the Bible stories that we learned in Sunday School.
Last Sunday morning I poked my head in as we had several kids practicing for JBQ (Junior Bible Quiz). I've had the privilege of being both a Pastor and a Parent in this endeavor as my two girls are participating. I was SO excited to hear all of the kids eagerly buzzing in to answer questions taken directly from God's Word. Now, if only Nickelodeon would turn JBQ into a game show...I'm sure they could fit some green slime in somewhere!
My challenge to you parents - get your kids in the Word. If they can't read it, read it to them. Encourage them to take their Bible to church so they have it when we dig through it during service. Make it your goal as a parent for your child to know more than the stories - take it a step farther so that the Word of God is weaved into the fabric of their lives.
That is so awesome and such a confirmation with what I have been doing with my little girl, Mary. This is the link to the post that I just did concerning that!'
ReplyDeletehttp://elenasgarden.blogspot.com/2009/10/this-little-light-of-mine.html#links
As a family, we make a point of having every member of the family in the Bible. But my proudest moments as a parent are when the kids look up from a devotional or story we're reading and say "Hey! That's not what the Bible said!" They know. And I'm so glad that pastors like you are also intentional about getting the Word into the kids by getting the kids into the Word.
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