Children's Ministry or Entertainment?
Over the years we
have seen new ideas incorporated into children’s ministry such as;
games, multi media, and technology at the expense of watering down the
gospel message.
We use most of these methods during our Jubilee
Gang events. However, the purpose of our events are not to just
entertain and wow the children, but to lay a firm foundation from the
word of God that they can build upon to strengthen their faith in
Jesus.
Our Goal as the Jubilee Gang is to see as many men, woman,
boys, and girls make a legitimate decision to be born again. To many
time we have seen people herded to the altar to be saved without fully
understanding what is happening to them.
True faith comes from
the word of God, The Bible. Without teaching the bible in a way that
people can understand they will not have faith to receive what is being
offered to them.
If we play games for an hour, wow our audiences
with multiple special effects and shout a few scriptures, then how do
we expect them to be able to make a legitimate decision to follow
Jesus?
We encourage people to use all these methods to teach, but
the message cannot get lost in the methods. The word of God needs to
always come first in everything we do and all these methods are used to
reinforce the message.
By all means use all the new methods the
world has to offer to make your lessons the more exciting. Make your
Children’s Church the most exciting, spectacular, experience possible
for children but, don’t replace sound biblical teaching and anointing
with all fun and games. Ask yourself, do I want to have a service or a
circus?
Children
can get entertained by the world, play video games and hang out with
their friends 166 hours per week. Why do we feel we need to duplicate
that at church for the 2 hours per week we have them. We as the church
have something different to give them. We have the thing they are
lacking all week. lets give them more of God, help them grow in the word
of God, help them to encounter God, and become more like God.
We must stay relevant to reach this generation.
The message never changes, but the method must change. Games, multi
media, lighting effects, and video are all very effective ways to get
the message across. But if they replace sound biblical teaching and
anointing we will produce a generation of fluffy Christians with no
spiritual backbone.
By
Jerry Moyer
The Jubilee Gang
www.jubileegang.com
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