As Kids Ministers we have the privilege of partnering with parents to lead kids to become growing disciples of Jesus. Basic disciplines help to accomplish this goal. This post is the introduction to a series on six spiritual disciplines that can be taught and practiced with boys and girls.
There are a lot of things about my childhood for which I’m thankful. Some stand out more than others and some were so subtle that I really didn’t realize they were blessings. One of those subtle blessings was the old “envelope system” we used at my church. Each member of our family received an annual box of envelopes that were used each week to record our attendance and at some basic level, held us accountable for basic spiritual disciplines.
As a child I remember wanting to be able to check all the boxes listed and share with my church that indeed I had: Read my Bible, Prayed Daily, Given an Offering, Worshiped with my Church, and Served and Invited Others. It was our way of keeping up with each other, encouraging each other and what I didn’t realize at the time… developing habits of basic spiritual disciplines.
A few weeks ago I wrote a post titled, Spiritual Hygiene. In that post I talked about the importance of helping kids learn habits that will help keep them spiritually clean. I talked about how parents are very intentional about teaching personal hygiene to their young kids and should be so intentional (in partnership with the church) about teaching spiritual habits.
That post has sparked a lot of conversation here at Lifeway Kids and we’ve decided to share a series with you on spiritual disciplines that we believe can be taught and practiced with boys and girls. Look for these posts in the coming days. They will include these disciplines:
- Bible Reading
- Prayer
- Worship
- Stewardship
- Fasting
- Service
As Kids Ministry leaders we have the privilege of partnering with parents to lead kids to become growing disciples of Jesus. These basic disciplines help to accomplish this goal. Consider your role and how you are helping to equip kids (at church and through the home) to be disciples.
Read posts from the Spiritual Disciplines series.
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Since 2003 Bill Emeott has served as a Kids Ministry Specialist for Lifeway. His passions include childhood ministry leadership training and development, leading children’s Bible Study, and being an Uncle! Bill has been teaching children at First Baptist Nashville for ten years.
I had completely forgotten about those envelopes! As a child, I too wanted to check every one of those boxes. I would cheerfully check them all except for “Served” because I thought kids couldn’t serve. No one had ever explained the many things I could have done like singing hymns to the residents at a convalescent hospital, reading my Bible to a shut-in or doing yard work for an elderly member. I always wondered when someone would tell me how I could serve. I remained at that church through my teens with no explanation. In my 20’s, I began attending a new church where my son went to school. A friend invited him to Awana. To make this short, that 1st night I was “blindsided” to be an Awana leader and now 22 years later, I’m joyfully serve as a leader/director and as an Awana Ministry Conference workshop speaker. I look forward to your series. I can’t imagine how many kids will be taught to understand and be encouraged to follow those spiritual disciplines! You made my day helping me to remember those envelopes. But mostly about those disciplines!