Category: Quotes

Nuggets of wisdom related to Children’s Ministry based on famous quotations.

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Happiness

Happiness

“Happiness comes not from having much to live on but having much to live for.”
(E. C. McKenzie from 1800 Quotable Quotes)

I thank God constantly that he has given me so much WORK to do.  I thank him constantly for all the projects that he puts into my heart.  I encourage you as children’s ministers to take that attitude because sometimes doing children’s ministry week after week can seem like a burden but it is truly a joy.  The preparation is of course is what is so hard.

The other side of being too busy for the Lord is, not having a vision, not having a purpose, not having a sense of urgency that you must be about your Father’s business.

I have a reason to wake up everyday.  Yay!

Click here for CHILDREN’S MINISTRY RESOURCES

 

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Laziness

Laziness

“If the responsibility for all poverty is placed on the wealthy, why not blame all sickness on the healthy.”
(E. C. McKenzie from 1800 Quotable Quotes)

Obviously  not all poverty is caused by laziness, but some is.  It is my observation with kids that their natural default is NOT to work and be productive.  Most want to relax, play games and watch television for hours if allowed to.

As children’s ministers we can kind of delve into some topics that are considered meddling, but Jesus and the book of proverbs confronts such topics such as laziness and various causes of troubles in the world.

As children’s ministers we should not hold back on those parts of the Word that talk about moderation, laziness and social ills.   Encourage the kids to be moderate, to not over-eat the wrong foods and not over watch television and computer games.   Encourage them constantly to be contributing members of society and salt and light in their world.

Click here for CHILDREN’S MINISTRY RESOURCES

 

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The Importance of Children Having Responsibility

The Importance of Children Having Responsibility

“If you want to keep your feet on the ground, carry some responsibility on your shoulders.”
(E. C. McKenzie from 1800 Quotable Quotes.)

Lamentations 3:27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. (New International Version)

I recently read an article written by the president of Stanford University.  He obviously wrote the article because he was finding people coming to university unprepared for the responsibilities that await them.  Here are the 8 responsibilities that he says every child should have.  I have only written the paragraph titles.  I encourage you to go to the article and read each paragraph.

http://www.businessinsider.com/former-stanford-dean-shares-the-8-skills-everyone-should-have-by-age-18-2016-4

1. An 18-year-old must be able to talk to strangers.
2. An 18-year-old must be able to find his way around.
3. An 18-year-old must be able to manage his assignments, workload, and deadlines.
4. An 18-year-old must be able to contribute to the running of a household.
5. An 18-year-old must be able to handle interpersonal problems.
6. An 18-year-old must be able to cope with ups and downs.
7. An 18-year-old must be able to earn and manage money.
8. An 18-year-old must be able to take risks.

As a children’s minister I highly encourage you to use the children in responsible positions.  Use them as puppeteers.  Use them as greeters, in craft time and in clean-up time.  We need to do this so that the next generation will be ready to carry the torch for the Lord.

Click here for CHILDREN’S MINISTRY RESOURCES

 

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The Power of Habits

The Power of Habits

“We first make our habits and then our habits make us.”
(E. C. McKenzie from 1800 Quotable Quotes)

My son once asked me about somebody  being born bad.  I told him people are not born bad it is the habits that we make that make us become who we are.

That is why we are to make good spiritual habits.  As Children’s ministers we are one of the first in line to help kids make good spiritual habits.  We can remind them to pray each day and to read their bible.  Remind them to be like Jesus was when he was growing up.

I always love when you read scripture and it gives a window into the everyday lifestyle of the people, especially Jesus.  We see he had the habit to pray early in the morning and we often see him praying late at night too.  We see him choosing a place to pray and then going there on a regular basis.   He must have had the habit of giving, because when he instructed Judas to go and do what he had to do quickly, the other disciples thought he was going to give to the poor.

He must also have had the habit of meditating on scripture as well, for he was able to quickly respond in every situation with, “It is written …”

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Contentment

Contentment

Ads designed to create dissatisfaction don’t faze those with the peace of contentment.

— Charles R. Swindoll

 

Here is a link to an article about contentment.

http://www.insight.org/resources/daily-devotional/individual/the-shores-of-lake-contentment-part-one

The gist is that ads are designed to make people discontent.  Boy, those with children know those ads work!  Now more than ever we are bombarded with ads.  How can we help kids become more content?

As children’s ministers we can remind the kids of where true joy comes from – a deep relationship with the Lord.

Talk to them about the commercials that bombard them at Christmas time.  Ask them if when they get their desired toy, is it as fun as the commercial makes it look to be?

Most of all tell them that commercials are made to make them DISCONTENT and they can RESIST!  They can refuse to fall for it.

Click here for CHILDREN’S MINISTRY RESOURCES

 

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Education

EDUCATION

 

“Education is not a head full of facts, but knowing how and where to find the facts.” (E.C. McKenzie, 1800 Quotable Quotes)

 

It is important as children’s ministers to teach kids how to find things in God’s word and also how to listen to God.  There are some things that can’t be taught.  You have to actually spend time in God’s presence.  Encourage the children to keep their inner ear tuned into the Spirit of God.  Remind the kids constantly to keep an inner conversation going with the Lord and listen to his nudging.

 

Recently my daughter was looking for a graduation dress and I watched how the Lord led her to the most perfect dress for her.  We did not want to spend a fortune and we had looked in several stores.  There was a store where we least expected to find anything nice and she said, ”I just feel it inside, that I should look in this store.”  Sure enough, there it was!

 

There is nothing more exciting that seeing the children we minister to be led by the Lord.  Have times when the kids can share how they were led by God.

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BEING A DOER OF GOD’S WORD

BEING A DOER OF GOD’S WORD

 

“Knowledge comes by taking things apart but Wisdom comes by putting things together.”  (E. C. McKenzie, 1800 Quotable Quotes)

So often when it comes to God’s word, people can read it and feel that they know all about God and they know all about the Christian way but really  we only truly understand and gain an appreciation for God’s wisdom when we become a doer of the Word, not just a hearer.

Encourage the kids that we are not here just to get knowledge but to actually do the things that they learn, then they will grow in wisdom.  Then they will see that God’s way is the best way.

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources.

 

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Cost of Children’s Ministry

COST OF CHILDREN’S MINISTRY

“The bird with the largest bill isn’t the pelican – it’s the stork.”  (E.C. McKenzie, 1800 Quotable Quotes)

 

Of course, this is a play on words, the bill being the cost of something.  In this blog I want to talk about the cost of children’s ministry.

Churches who want to thrive in years to come should put a lot of their budget towards children’s ministry.  Many years ago I heard statistics that said that 80% of the people in the church said they had received the Lord Jesus as savior when they were under the age of 20 years old.

 

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Foolish Things

FOOLISH THINGS

“If 50 million people say a foolish thing over and over is it still a foolish thing?” (E.C. McKenzie, 1800 Quotable Quotes)

We can say YES.  Only God’s word is settled forever.  Anything contrary to his word is a foolish thing.  The most important thing we can teach our kids is that God’s word is true and we are not to be conformed to the world.  We are not always going to agree and we need to accept that.  There is going to be many things that the world thinks is truth and they are going to live their lives by and we are going to go against the flow and say it is wrong, it is foolish thing.

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources.

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OPEN MINDS

OPEN MINDS 

“The trouble with most open minds is that they are open at both ends.”  (E.C. McKenzie, 1800 Quotatable Quotes)

It is impossible to believe everything because of the contractions that lie in all the different teachings.  People often try to pick and chose what they want to believe.  After reading the book titled “The 100” (The 100 most influential people in history), I realized that for thousands of years people have been trying to figure out the best way to govern people.

From these thoughts have come communism, democracy, and other forms of governance.  I believe it is important to teach the children the word of God so that they always have something to measure every thought against.  For everything they learn they will be able to say, “What does God’s word say about this?”

 

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Setting High Expectations

Setting High Expectations

Here is an article from Focus on the Family encouraging moms to be firm (mean) in a good way.

http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/parenting-roles/why-kids-need-mean-moms

The same principles apply in Children’s Ministry.  I have seen many teachers let the kids “run all over them” in an effort to be seen as “nice”.

The best teachers have class rules and expectations that the rules be followed or there will be some sort of consequence.   Generally you don’t have to dish out the consequences very often before the kids know you mean business.

We all learn best when we have peace and structure.

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources.

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FEED YOUR SPIRIT

The message I want to remind you of as a children’s minister is the importance of remembering to feed your spirit.  You need personal time with the Lord that is NOT about ministry.  I know, having been a children’s minister, that you can spend enormous amounts of time doing the work of the ministry doing bible related activity.  But, you can end up neglecting time with the Lord that is not focused on anything but him, so that he can talk to you.  Don’t forget to spend time reading the bible with an open mind and no agenda for ministry.

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources.