More of the Bible

God placed something heavy upon my heart on Sunday. It was a busier day than normal for me; I was doing an announcement in both of our morning Adult Services, had extra things to set up Sunday morning for Kid's Church, and had to do some games for the families at our afternoon church picnic. I was also going to teach Sunday School to the 5th graders too, until Jason took that off my plate. But in the midst of all that running around, God spoke something very specific to me during Worship in our 2nd service. Our kids need to be in the Word. Now, that's obvious I know, but guess what? Our kids are not reading their Bibles. They are not bringing them to church. So I quickly jotted down 5 things:

• I need to hold my Bible every time I speak to the kids in Kid's Church so they know that the Words I am saying come straight out of God's Word.
• I am going to give kids incentives for bringing their Bibles to church with them. Yes, for awhile they will bring it to get candy, but soon they will bring it because it's habit, and they want to.
• I need to get some Bibles for kids who don't have any.
• We are going to do "Sword Drills" (old school, I know) in Kid's Church to help kids learn how to find Scripture references in the Bible.
• I am going to put together a School Year Bible Reading Plan so that kids will establish a daily habit of reading. Yes, I will give prizes, but again - it will develop a good, lifelong habit.

The Word of God needs to be central in everything we do in Children's Ministry, and I'm committed to that, and encouraging kids to make it a lifelong habit - something that becomes second nature to them; something they cannot live without.