One hope of mine as a Children’s Discipleship Director is to help kids own their faith. I read a great article, Good Questions, by Ali Thompson in Children’s Ministry Magazine, that might be helpful for parents as they engage their children in “Faith Talks” at home. Over the next couple months I will share some of her insights.
As you may already know, questions help kids process what they’ve learned. But how do you know if you are asking the right questions? Questions can help kids own their faith … or they can waste time. Are you asking questions that prompt them to think more deeply about their faith?
A thinking question challenges kids and you to think about the Bible or faith in a new way. They are surprising, specific, and personal. They cause you to think about how you would react if you had been part of the story. The results are more conversational in contrast to fill in the blank type questions. Here is an example: In Judges 11, Jephthah makes a promise to sacrifice the first thing that comes out to greet him as praise to God for giving him victory in battle. Sadly, his daughter ends up coming out to greet him before any animals do. For older kids, this is a great opportunity to grapple with a question, such as, what do you think is the right thing for Jephthah to do at this point?
Next month we will look at real life questions.
Following is what your kids will be learning this month in Promiseland.
Our 3-5year kids are learning about Moses. God spoke to him through a burning bush and gave Moses and the Israelites the Ten Commandments. Kids will also hear how God told Moses to send twelve spies into the Promised Land after Moses led the Israelites there.
Being introduced to the Psalms is the theme for the K-1st grade. They will learn the book of Psalms is a collection of poems, songs, and prayers to God and that it is different than any other book in the Bible. Through these lessons, kids will grow in their understanding of how great God is and how much He loves us. They will discover God created us and knows us, He hears us when we pray, and He cares for us like a shepherd cares for his sheep. Last of all kids will celebrate how great and loving our God is. As they look at the Psalms, children will understand their feelings do not affect God’s love for them. Whether they feel happy, sad, angry, or scared, God knows how they feel, He listens to their prayers, He takes care of them, and He promises to love them.
CONTACT is the title of the 2-3rd grade kid’s unit this month. The kids will hear about the attributes of God. They will learn God is all knowing, God is everywhere, God is King and ruler over all, God is eternal, and God is holy and perfect. Kids will learn these attributes through the stories of David in the Old Testament. By learning about these attributes, they will come to understand, in a big universe, God wants to have CONTACT with them.
Our 4th-5th graders will be exploring the issues that challenge Christianity. Kids will begin to develop a defense for their faith as they learn to defend Christianity against evolution, witchcraft, the supernatural, and other religions. The goal is to show all truth is God’s truth, which comes from the Bible. Their last lesson will present the truth of the salvation message of Grace. They will be given an opportunity to accept God’s grace and believe in Jesus.
Partnering with you,
Dar Muehlhausen