Jeremy Carroll, Author at Kids Ministry

Family Ministry, Kids Ministry, Leadership, Teaching Kids

September 26, 2018

One Big Story

Few would argue that storytelling is a highly useful tool when working with or teaching kids. The availability of hundreds of thousands of children’s books gives testimony to the commonly understood reality that kids connect with stories. In fact, it’s not just kids. Storytelling is a powerful means of communicating with just about everyone. Whether you are 9 months old, 9 years old, 39 years old, or 90 years old, nearly everyone loves a good story.

Of course, there are stories, and then there is The Story—that is, God’s one big story. While we should be very careful not to place the stories of the Bible next to fictional stories of many children’s books, we can redeem the craft of storytelling for helping children begin to see and understand the most important story of all. It is to the next generation’s advantage that we lead children to begin understanding the Bible as one story with Jesus as its central figure. We must see the Bible as God’s story with a beginning, middle, and end. There is one focus throughout the narrative. His name is Jesus.

In Gospel Centered Kids Ministry, Brian Dembowczyk notes, “Jesus interpreted Scripture, not as a collection of random stories but as one big story about Him.” (p. 34) And just as Jesus began “with Moses and all the Prophets … [interpreting] … the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures,” we should too. (Luke 24:27) Jesus was communicating to the disciples of Luke 24 that it is only by understanding the whole story that we can truly understand His work on our behalf. In his article “4 Reasons to teach the Bible’s Storyline,” Trevin Wax put it this way: “The story of the Bible gives context to the gospel message about Jesus.”(1) To begin to grasp the fullness of our salvation, we must understand—and help the kids and families we serve to understand—that every story points to the One, making the Bible one big story about Jesus.

When we see the Bible as Jesus’ story, we are freed from implying (or outright expressing) kids carry an unrealistic, unhealthy, and impossible burden of being more courageous or more faithful or even more obedient on their own. We will begin to see God’s immeasurable grace radiate off every page as we look to His Son who loves us, took the punishment we deserve, and now empowers us to live holy lives for His glory. We will see that God is faithful to carry on what He began in the garden to its completion in the new heavens and the new earth—creation’s final restoration.

Toward this goal, we want to help kids ministry leaders and parents have a framework by which to read the Bible this way, as one big story. We have included a section in our new resource Big Picture Questions and Answers for Kids called “Seeing Jesus in the Bible.” In this resource, we have included six “lenses” that can help us when studying individual stories of the Bible. Each lens gives readers a way to understand both Old Testament and New Testament stories in light of the gospel. We pray this resource will be another tool your ministry toolbox as you point your kids to Jesus.

Jeremy Carroll is the team leader for LifeWay Kids Discipleship Resources. Before coming to LifeWay, he has been active in local church ministry for nearly 20 years in TN, TX, and AL. Jeremy earned a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. A Middle Tennessee native, he and his family live in Murfreesboro, TN.

Impacting Visual Learners with the Gospel

By Jeremy Carroll

If you haven’t read William Summey’s part 1 of this post, you can find it HERE.

Having great visuals seems to be critical to effective teaching today. Some kids may be more prone to be engaged visually than others, but well-designed visuals, as William describes, can be an incredible way to engage kids of all ages as they consider the people, places, and events of the story each picture represents. In addition to using teaching picture visuals to help connect kids with Bible stories, many resources also include larger visuals. Sometimes these are large posters to place in a foyer or hallway, or maybe they are smaller posters that can be placed side-by-side almost like puzzle pieces. Whatever format these larger visuals take, they can be a major asset in helping kids connect to Bible stories.

Large visuals can provide a larger-scale wow factor. When space permits, using large versions of curriculum visuals can really make a space pop. Because of their size and bright colors, large-scale visuals will draw the attention of both kids and parents. They can be great discussion starters for parents to connect with their kids. If you don’t have space for the largest versions of available visuals, you can often use a piece of a poster set in your space to give extra cohesiveness between your space and what your kids are learning.

Large visuals often attempt to give a broader understanding of the content being studied. Like connecting pieces of a puzzle, large-scale visuals often try to tell a bigger story than what their classroom-size counterpart is able to do. Large visuals can tie together sessions into a bigger picture.

With the Fall 2018 release of The Gospel Project for Kids Volume 1, we are excited to include two brand new large visuals: (1) Giant Timeline and Genealogy of Christ and (2) our Small Group Timeline and Map Set. Each of these resources is beautifully colored, graphical poster sets to help remind kids (and adults) that the stories we are learning are about real people who lived in real places at a real time in history.

With The Gospel Project for Kids’ Giant Timeline, children can begin to see God’s one big story as it unfolds from session to session and volume to volume. Children can track the progress from Genesis to Exodus and all the way to Revelation. Each volume is on its own poster so if space does not permit displaying all 12 posters, a single volume’s poster can be used in a common space. Our new Genealogy of Christ four-poster set is included with the purchase of our Giant Timeline. This poster set graphically depicts Jesus’ family line from Adam and Eve down to Joseph and Mary. It’s a large four-poster set that shows both Matthew and Luke’s accounts of Jesus’ family line.

With The Gospel Project for Kids’ Small Group Timeline and Map Set churches can equip classrooms with 36 11-by-17-inch posters to display in classrooms. With each unit on a page, leaders could use one page at a time if space is limited or display all the posters side-by-side for large-scale impact. Our brand new oversized Map Set comes with four different maps: two for the Old Testament and two for the New Testament. In addition, a sheet of pin drop icons is provided to be able to place on a map and track the real places events occurred.

Most people, and it seems kids in particular, are drawn in by things they see, and there is so much information fighting for their attention. When we can make use of large-scale visuals to bring focus and cohesiveness to our teaching sessions and kids ministry space, we are able to help drown out the noise with a more singular focus, even if only for an hour or two.

Jeremy Carroll is the team leader for The Gospel Project for Kids. Before coming to LifeWay, he has been active in local church ministry for nearly 20 years in Tennessee, Texas, and Alabama. Jeremy earned a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. A Middle Tennessee native, he and his family live in Murfreesboro, TN.

Kids Ministry, Leadership, Missions

May 28, 2018

Missions Moments in Kids Ministry

By Jeremy Carroll

With Vacation Bible School, camps, and mission trips during the summer, many of our ministries naturally include some sort of missions emphasis. And this is good. But if the generation of kids we serve is going to see themselves as being “on mission,” the missions strategy within our ministries needs to be more intentional and year-round, when possible.

Many KidMin leaders see value in educating and training the kids in their ministries about mission work, both locally and globally, and desire to equip kids to live on mission in their homes and schools, on their sports teams, and in their neighborhoods.

But the problem is that this needed information is not readily available to most children, and most children do not find this subject matter itself engaging enough to seek out on their own. So the question stands before us: How do we raise awareness about and equip kids for the kingdom work happening around us? The answer, at least in part, is for us to be intentional about looking for ways to create regular missions moments in our kids ministry flow.

Here are a few suggestions listed from most involved to least involved.

Implement a full missions education program. With this approach, you would allot one of your program times each week to a full missions education curriculum. Every week kids in your ministry will get a concentrated dose of seeing God’s mission at work all around the world.
Integrate a missions component as a part of your ongoing curriculum/program. In this strategy, you build a mission moment into the regular flow of your existing curriculum during one of your program times.
Continue to use summer events to emphasize missions. Summer events are a natural time to talk about missions with kids. If you do not have the ability to employ one of the two methods above due to time or structure limitations, strategically make the most of your summer emphases to raise awareness of God’s mission work.

As you consider how missions education or missions awareness fits into your ministry, remember that we, as Christians and even more so as church leaders, are called to be faithful “managers of the mysteries of God” (1 Corinthians 4:1-2). In other words, we have been entrusted with the gospel and commanded to “make disciples of all nations,” and we should work diligently to help the generation of kids we serve to see their role in God’s mission work. A question I have had to ask myself: if I don’t tell them, who will? As KidMin leaders we will serve the next generation well by strategically and intentionally encouraging kids to live on mission.

One of the key distinctives of The Gospel Project for Kids is that we hope, as kids learn about God’s one big story as told through Scripture, they will be saved and energized to actively join in God’s story as they live out their lives. With our new 3-year study plan launching this Fall, we have completely revamped our included missions awareness strategy. During each unit, preschoolers and kids will learn about a missionary or people group where mission work is being done. Each session will contain a “missions moment” that may include videos or activities related to that work. We have built this strategy directly into the flow of each session to equip church leaders with a method of helping children see what God is doing all around the world.

God’s one big story is still being told throughout the world. God’s mission is happening now and He invites us, and the kids we serve, to be part of it.

Jeremy Carroll is the team leader for The Gospel Project for Kids. Before coming to LifeWay, he has been active in local church ministry for nearly 20 years in TN, TX, and AL. Jeremy earned a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. A Middle Tennessee native, he and his family live in Murfreesboro, TN.

Apologetics, Bible Skills, Discipleship, Kids Ministry, Leadership, Resources

April 25, 2018

3 Ways Q&A Format Encourages Learning

By Jeremy Carroll

Many KidMin leaders agree that it is critical for us (adults) to begin now helping lay a solid theological foundation in the kids we serve. We want kids to have a right understanding of who God is, what He has done, and what He is doing according to solid biblical truths. But how?

One approach to systematically teaching theology that has seen renewed interest over the last several years is a return to a question-answer format. In this approach, kids are taught to respond to a specific question with a formulated, concise answer. For example, when prompted with the question “Who is God?” Kids would respond with “God is our Creator and King of everything.”

Is a question-answer format the right approach for you? Here are three reasons a question-answer format encourages theological learning.

A Q&A format leans into a child’s inquisitive nature. Children are naturally inquisitive, curious, and are passionate pursuers of answers. Many children seem to ask questions incessantly and feel a great sense of accomplishment once they’ve run through their gambit of questions to get their answers. A question-answer format draws kids in by feeding this part of their nature.
Memorization and repetition are bridges to understanding. When we commit biblical truths to memory, they become a resource for the Holy Spirit to use in our lives for real-life transformation. Few ideas will truly change us if they are not deep in our hearts. A systematic Q&A approach is built on children memorizing answers. As children mature, these memorized statements can be fleshed out with deeper understanding and application. “I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)
A Q&A approach gives a systematic framework for processing both simple and hard-to-understand ideas. Our Bibles contain so much information that it can be overwhelming to figure out where to start and how teach it. Though a Q&A approach is not intended to teach the Bible comprehensively, using a simple question-answer format, like Big Picture Questions and Answers for Kids (see below), provides both a starting point and a structure that become manageable for adults and kids.

Bonus: Employing a Q&A approach can be fun for kids. With just a little bit of effort, a Q&A format can quickly:

Be made into various games.
Be made into a rhythmic beat.
Be used in creative call/response ways like using different voices, volumes, and so forth.

Bonus +

Adding hand motions for kids to do while saying the answers can add another layer of fun while further helping memorization by including physical activity.

To equip church leaders and parents who want to implement a question-answer format for teaching theological truths, the team behind The Gospel Project for Kids has developed Big Picture Questions and Answers for Kids. This resource contains over 70 big picture questions and answers organized into six categories: God, People, Jesus, The Bible, The Church, and The Christian Life. Click here to learn more about Big Picture Questions and Answers for Kids.

Discipleship, Kids Ministry, Leadership

December 1, 2017

3 “Whys” for Practicing Generational Discipleship

By Jeremy Carroll

You may have heard a sermon or read an article based on Deuteronomy 6:4-9. This familiar “go to” passage for family ministry is an important one for both church leaders and parents. It is a beautiful, albeit challenging, set of instructions for parents, and it is a great model for which parents to strive. Specifically referring to the family, this passage sets up an expectation that older generations are to train up younger generations. As we read through the Bible, we see that this generational disciple-making relationship is not limited to parents and children.

To help our conversation, let’s set out a working definition of generational discipleship. Generational discipleship is happening when a follower of Jesus who has reached certain spiritual, physical, and chronological mile markers in life intentionally helps others follow Jesus where they are to reach their next spiritual mile marker. In other words, someone who has “ been there, done that” helping others who haven’t.

Let’s take a look at a few reasons why Christians should be strategically involved in generational discipleship.

Discipling others reveals the object of our worship. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

From Deuteronomy 6, the first few verses are statements of worship. There is only one God and He alone is to be worshiped (Deut. 6:4), and we worship Him by loving Him with everything we are: heart, soul, and strength (Deut. 6:5). Of course this isn’t limited to the Old Testament. When Jesus was asked “Which command of the law is the greatest?” in Matthew 22:34-40, He quotes these verses from Deuteronomy reemphasizing that we need to be “all in” as we worship and follow Jesus.

Discipling others reveals obedience to our mission. (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 28:19, Acts 1:8)

You are probably familiar with Matthew 28:18-20 in which Jesus gives a commission to His disciples: Go and make … disciples. That’s right! To be obedient to our mission as followers of Jesus, we must be active in disciple-making. God requires us to be faithful managers of the gospel (1 Corinthians 4:2). To be found faithful, we must not leave the gospel sitting on a shelf. We must share it’s power for salvation.

God has chosen the people of God, empowered by the Spirit of God and equipped with the Word of God, to be about the mission of God. Those in younger generations are desperate for older generations to authentically show them the way. This is your mission, do you choose to accept it?

Discipling others reveals our ongoing hope for God’s church to outlive us. (Psalm 78:2-8, Judges 2:6-11)

All of us who are actively serving the church, particularly in Kids Ministry, are doing so with the hope that God is raising up a future generation to continue His work long into the future. For many of us, it is this hope that compels us to work tirelessly to serve kids, students, and their families. Discipling relationships are the key for our own personal contribution to this future.

The Old Testament gives us two pictures of the outcome when the people of God either did or did not take their mission seriously.

In Psalm 78:2-8, we see an example of when the people of God DID take their mission seriously. Take a moment to read those verses, taking special note of verses 6 and 7. The psalmist gives us two “so that” statements:

“so that a future generation—children yet to be born—might know”

“so that they might put their confidence in God”

Verse 6 challenges us that our investment in younger generations should not be limited to the children in our lives. Yes, we should invest in them, but as we invest in this group of kids and teenagers, let’s pray for their children and grandchildren … “children yet to be born.” And verse 7 reminds us that the goal is for younger generations to “put their confidence in God.”

We see the second picture back in Judges 2:6-11. Here we read some of the most devastating, heart-wrenching verses in the entire Bible: another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works He had done for Israel. The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.

So how can we be involved in generational discipleship? We’ll have to save that for another time …

Here is a prayer I pray often: God, grant me wisdom to learn from those who have gone before me and intentionally invest often in those that follow.

One Big Story

Impacting Visual Learners with the Gospel

Missions Moments in Kids Ministry

3 Ways Q&A Format Encourages Learning

3 “Whys” for Practicing Generational Discipleship

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