Blog
Four Biblical Keys to a Successful Children's Ministry
Our passion is to reach every child with the Good News of Christ and disciple them so that they might become fully devoted followers of Christ and embrace their calling to serve and minister
in the body of Christ today. We are committed…
- To the family by coming alongside them to help them fulfill their biblical calling
- To discipling children so that they may become disciple-makers themselves
- To moving children from just sitting and listening in the church to being fully engaged in ministry in the body of Christ
- To raising young missionaries who proclaim the Gospel of Christ to a lost and dying world
There are four biblical keys to effectively disciple a child at home and in church. The steps have proven to bring maximum spiritual impact when all are in place in your ministry.
The number one influence on a child's spiritual life is mom and dad. We must help parents lay out a scriptural model for discipling their child. This model should be simple and become a way of life at home. Deut. 6:6-7 gives us straightforward steps to success:
- Teach God’s commands diligently to your children.
- Talk about them when you sit at home.
- Talk about them when you are moving around.
- Talk about them when you lie down and rise up.
Active faith is faith in action. In their everyday lives, parents teach, live, and model for their child so that they may develop their own faith. Parents model their faith so that their child will embrace the same Christian beliefs and values that they hold. The transfer of one's faith comes about when the child makes it their own through the application of spiritual disciplines:
- Praying
- Daily Bible reading
- Making Christ Lord
- Sharing their faith
- Ministering in the church using their spiritual gifts
Parents have a calling—and so does the Church—to make disciples (Matt. 28:19-20). What we do as a Church significantly impacts a child's life when it aligns with Christ's mandate to make disciples. The joy of discipleship is when the one being discipled becomes a disciple-maker themselves, and it is when the player becomes the coach.[1]
- The teacher-discipler is a role model.
- The discipler comes alongside the child like Paul with Timothy.
- The discipler helps the child discover their spiritual gifts and encourages them to using their gifts in ministry.
- The discipler shows the child how to minister and then releases them to do so.
The spiritual disciplines the child is learning at home will be reinforced at church during Disciple Group time.
3. Ministry (Ephesians 4:11-13)
Children find their identity and purpose in the body of Christ through using their spiritual gifts as they serve in the Church. The Holy Spirit gifts every believing child for ministry. Paul tells us that the Church's role is to equip the saints for works of ministry.
The Church provides…
- Training for children and preteens to facilitate learning ministry skills
- Places of ministry within the body of Christ
- Ministry opportunities in the community
- Training and equipping of young ministers in the body of Christ
The Church focuses on developing and training young missionaries to fulfill the Great Commission. The Church…
- Becomes a training ground in preparation for sending out young missionaries into their community
- Sees children as the most effective agents to reach their peers with the Gospel
- Finds opportunities in the community for children to minister and share the Gospel
- Commits to taking children beyond the church's walls so they can carry the Gospel to a lost and dying world.
For more than 20 years, we have witnessed substantial growth in the lives of children. Through the faithful application of these biblical principles, we have seen a transformation in the lives of countless children.
L.I.T. embraces all aspects of these principles in our resources. Click here to look at samples that promote the spiritual discipleship of a child at home and then reinforce what they are learning through disciple groups at church.
[1] Robby Gallaty
