Jerry Vogel

January 25, 2016

New Year’s Plan for Affirming Your Bible Study Leaders

We all know that January is a time for “New Year’s Resolutions!” However, many of us have a history of just making a list, but, never developing a plan for implementation. So, my challenge to KidMin leaders this year is to consider adopting this plan (you may need to adjust it a little to meet your own needs) for affirming your leaders throughout 2016:

JANUARY – Consider writing a “handwritten” note to each of your leaders. Include in each note one observation about that leader’s greatest strength.
FEBRUARY – Invite parents to help you prepare a “we love you and appreciate you” table in your kids ministry area on the Sunday closest to Valentine’s Day. This could be a quick-bite breakfast for your leaders. Encourage your parents to write notes of appreciation to their kids’ leaders.
MARCH – Plan a “We love our teachers “MARCH” on a given Sunday morning. Gather children on a Sunday morning…one classroom at a time or several classes combined…and give them “We love our teachers!” signs. Lead them on a fun march through the hallways of the kids area. Be sure to enlist adults to march with you for security reasons.
APRIL – Give each teacher a copy of the “Gospel: God’s Plan for Me.” These are available at www.lifeway.com. Include a note challenging your leaders to “always be ready” to share the gospel with parents and kids as appropriate.
MAY – Prepare for your leaders a note sharing “Mr. Jerry (obviously insert your name instead) gives you permission to give yourself a hug of appreciation. Because the work you do with kids is so valuable, you MAY do a “happy dance” celebrating that God has chosen you to let Him love on kids through you!”
JUNE – Give each of your leaders an individual bag of un-popped pop corn. Attach a note saying “As you pop this popcorn, with each sound of a pop thank God for one of the kids in your class who has blessed you!”
JULY – Send an email to each of your leaders including words of affirmation. Communicate with each that you have prayed for them by name, thanking God for their service.
AUGUST – In celebration of the new teaching year, give each of your leaders a gift card to a local coffee shop or fast food restaurant. Attach a note saying, “You deserve a break today for all the work you’ve done in preparing for the new teaching year!”
SEPTEMBER – Try to telephone each leader with just a quick, “I was thinking about you and just wanted to say on behalf of the kids you teach ‘You’re amazing!’”
OCTOBER – Purchase the mini-size rolls of multi-flavored candy rings. Give one pack to each of your leaders with a note saying “God made rainbows in order to make a promise. With this gift I make a “promise” to you that I will be praying for you regularly!”
NOVEMBER – In line with the season of Thanksgiving, plan a progressive dinner for your leaders. At each “eating location” give each leader a card with one of these words: at the first home – “I”; at the second home “give”; at the third home – “thanks”; at the fourth home – “for”; and at the last home – “YOU!” The five course dinner could be: appetizers, salad, soup, main dish, dessert.
DECEMBER – Make a Christmas “goodie” for each of your leaders. These “goodies” could be something as simple as cookies or cupcakes. Attach a note thanking your leaders for helping kids remember that “Jesus is the Reason for the Season!”

If you don’t feel like you can do all of these acts of affirmation…simply do one per quarter. Words and acts of affirmation go a long way!

Jerry Vogel serves as a Childhood Ministry Specialist in LifeWay Church Resources. He is married to Janie and has four children and thirteen grand kids. Jerry is a member of Brentwood Baptist Church and teaches preschoolers there. He is committed to enriching the lives of those who teach kids as well as making eternal investments in the lives of children.

Bible Study, Preschool, Preschoolers

July 15, 2015

Preschool Bible Learning Activity: Discover Secret Pictures

By Jerry Vogel

Use the following activity with any Bible story and any Bible verse. Your preschoolers will love it!

Supplies needed:

Bible
White paper
White crayons
Watercolor paint, water, brushes

Directions:

Tell or review any Bible story.
Talk about a Bible verse that undergirds the truth taught in the story.
Distribute white paper and white crayons to the kids participating.
Instruct kids to draw a picture illustrating the Bible story being told (white crayon on white paper).
Depending on the older preschoolers writing skills, the teacher may want to write the Bible verse in white crayon along the top or bottom of the page on which the child has drawn the picture.
Ask: Do you want to see your picture and verse?
Encourage kids to paint with watercolors over the entire page. The picture/verse in white crayon will appear.
Give each child an opportunity to talk about her picture.
Pray together, thanking God for this story from the Bible.

Jerry Vogel serves as a Childhood Ministry Specialist in LifeWay Church Resources. He is married to Janie and has four children and thirteen grand kids. Jerry is a member of Brentwood Baptist Church, where he teaches preschoolers. He is committed to enriching the lives of those who teach kids as well as making eternal investments in the lives of children.

Encouragement, Kids Ministry, kids101, Parenting, Small Groups

June 3, 2015

Connecting with Today’s Parents

By Jerry Vogel

Today’s generation of parents is quite unique. Most of them are very, very busy and often find themselves in a culture of being over committed. They love their children very much and often show that love by trying to make sure that their kids are mega-involved in church, school, and community activities. The risk of being so “busy” is that sometimes families can get caught up in providing for their kids things that they never got to experience. As a result, spiritual growth and development can take a backseat to other demands and pressures.

As church leaders, we must zero in on partnering with these parents and gently love them and remind them about their God-given task of being their kids’ spiritual leaders. In doing this, we may want to review God’s desires for today’s families as well as strategize how we can best help them stay on track spiritually:

God’s desires for today’s parents:

Enjoy and treasure the gift of children.
Protect children’s well-being.
Work as a supportive team in parenting.
Remember that children are made in God’s image…not the image of their parents.
Make a commitment to doing whatever honors God.
Discipline your kids.
Provide a positive, nurturing home environment.
Show your kids what Christianity looks like by the way you live.
Help shape your kids, don’t break them.
Help them learn the importance of the Bible.
Don’t forget that “love” is spelled T-I-M-E.
Remember that each child requires a custom-tailored game plan.

Possible elements of a strategy for the church to partner with today’s parents:

Choose a curriculum that provides multiple “touch points” with the parents (take home activities, emails about what the child is studying, devotional opportunities).
Include parents in discipleship opportunities for their kids (new Christian classes, daily quiet-time activities at home).
Provide a “respite” time for parents (Parents Night Out).
Plan activities that are family focused (events that families can do together).
Provide opportunities for parents to celebrate milestone events in their kids’ lives (birth, baptism, camps).
Model for parents good teaching.
Pray for parents and their kids by name.
Utilize digital communications with parents.

Kids Ministry, Parenting, Preschool, Preschoolers, Uncategorized

May 27, 2015

Building Foundations of Faith in Preschoolers

By Jerry Vogel

Faith development for preschoolers begins at birth. During the early years of kids’ lives they are beginning to develop a sense of trust. This sense of trust will play an important role in kids’ ability to trust in a God whom they cannot see, because they can trust the significant adults in their life whom they can see. Trust develops somewhat like this:

If you feed me when I’m hungry … then, the God you talk about must be real.
If you change my diaper when it’s soiled … then, the Book you talk about called the Bible must really be God’s messages to me.
If you pick me up when I’m hurting and sing, “Yes, Jesus loves me” … then, I begin to develop warm, loving feelings toward Jesus.

As the preschooler grows and develops, effective teachers and parents share Bible content in such a way that the child can understand best:

Because preschoolers are literal minded … teachers/parents should avoid symbolic language as they share Bible stories.
Because preschoolers are curious … teachers/parents provide opportunities for them to discover exciting Bible truths.
Because preschoolers have limited attention spans … teachers/parents limit the length of both active and passive learning times while learning from the Bible.
Because preschoolers value relationships … teachers/parents get involved in the learning experiences of children … down where the child is.
Because preschoolers have God-given needs … teachers/parents love them unconditionally so that the children can learn about God’s unconditional love.

There is so much truth to this statement: With preschoolers, you can’t begin too soon to lay foundations in their lives upon which God can build and draw them into a personal relationship with Him!

Crafts, Fun, Preschool, Preschoolers, Small Groups, Sunday School

May 18, 2015

Preschool Bible Learning Activity: Painting with Toes

By Jerry Vogel

Here’s another activity to use with your preschoolers!

Supplies needed:

Brown tempera paint, water, shallow pan or cookie sheet in which to place paint, markers, paper towels, wet wipes, paper, plastic cloth

Procedures:

Emphasize the Bible focus during this activity: Joshua obeyed God and led the people across the Jordan River (Joshua 3:1-4:17.)
Ask your preschoolers who has walked barefoot in or near water. Comment that the water stopped flowing in this story and the people crossed the river bed. Say that the river bed may have been muddy. State that preschoolers will paint their toes.
Allow a few children at a time to do this activity. Instruct children to remove their shoes and socks and place them in a designated area.
Explain that the preschoolers will dip their toes in the paint and then paint pictures with their toes. Add that the kids can use markers to draw other shapes, designs and letters on their picture. Remind boys and girls to stay on the plastic cloth. You may also need to help them with balance.
Comment that Joshua did what God told him to do — take the people across the river. Help children clean their feet with wet wipes and put socks and shoes back on.

Note: This activity could be used with any Bible story about “walking” and using “feet.” If you would be interested in more activities like this, check out Bible Studies For Life: Kids.

Bible Study, Kids Ministry, kids101, Leadership, Preschool, Small Groups, Sunday School, Training

April 10, 2015

Use Your Curriculum to Make Disciples

By Jerry Vogel

Use your

C–carefully make use of the leader Bible study each week.

U–utilize the extras for teachers available online each week.

R–review and prepare the Bible story and group time in leader guide.

R–read over the learning activities and choose the best learning approaches for your kids.

I–investigate the leader pack items that can be used to teach the Bible.

C–check out the leader pack items for outreach/ministry.

U–understand that teaching begins at the door with unit poster and Bible story conversation.

L–let the take home page serve as a disciple-maker for kids and don’t forget CD-rom printables.

U–use the digital communications to keep parents up to date on what kids learn each week.

M–make parents aware of the free family app that is available for download.

to be a disciple-maker!

Preschool, Preschoolers, Small Groups

February 5, 2015

Preschool Bible Learning Activity: Decorate a Crown

By Jerry Vogel

Need another activity for preschoolers? Consider decorating a crown together! Here’s the instructions:

Tools:

Bible
Long strips of paper/cardboard cut with points like a crown
Metallic gift wrap cut into 1-inch squares
Jewel stickers

Step One: Read Esther 4. Be ready to talk about the Bible story while children make crowns.

Step Two: Cut a crown for each child. Encourage the children to decorate the crowns with the art supplies. Tape a crown to fit each child’s head snugly.

Step Three: Remark that Esther and the king probably wore crowns. They were important people in the kingdom.

Step Four: While children decorate their crowns, show them a teaching picture of Mordecai and/or Esther. Say, “Mordecai asked Queen Esther to help her people.”

If you like this activity, click here for free teaching sessions from Explore the Bible: Kids.

Preschool, Preschoolers, Small Groups

January 23, 2015

Preschool Bible Learning Activity: What’s Missing?

By Jerry Vogel

Just about any story in the Bible can be reviewed using this “What’s Missing?” activity:

Locate a plastic lunch tray.
On the tray place 5 or 6 items that relate to parts of a given Bible story.
Secure a towel or large napkin to lay on top of the items in order to cover them.
Share with the kids: “Mr. Jerry has some things that help us remember parts of our Bible story today.” Show the items to the kids and talk about each. Next, cover all of the items with the towel/napkin. Encourage kids to cover their eyes. Remove just one of the items and hide it. Then, invite kids to open their eyes, remove the towel/napkin and try to guess which item is missing. When the item is named, remind the preschoolers what that item represents as part of the Bible story.

Preschool, Preschoolers, Small Groups

January 9, 2015

Preschool Bible Learning Activity: Play Dough Loaves and Fish

By Jerry Vogel

Helping preschoolers understand the Bible can be a difficult job. I always try to provide some sort of activity to go along with the lesson. If you like to do the same, hopefully you’ll enjoy this play dough activity.

Start out by providing kids with different colors of play dough. I’ve attached a recipe in case you’d like to make your own. Ask kids to form dough into loaves of bread or fish. If available, provide cookie cutters in the shape of fish for the children to use.

Invite the children to place their loaves of bread and fish in the center until you have a group of five loaves and two fish. As they work, tell the Bible story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. Say: “Great job! How amazing that Jesus was able to feed over 5,000 people with the same amount of food that is on your table! Jesus is powerful. We never have to worry because He can take care of us! Who will always take care of us? God will give us what we need.”

(This play dough activity could be used with many Bible stories simply shaping and forming items that are told about in that story.)

Playdough Recipe:

3 cups flour
1 cut salt
1 tablespoon alum
2 tablespoons oil
food coloring
3 cups boiling water

1. Mix together all ingredients except water and coloring.

2. Put food coloring in measuring cup and add water to it.

3. Pour water in with other ingredients.

4. Mix and knead well.

5. Store in covered container until ready to use.

If you like this preschool Bible-learning activity, check out others from The Gospel Project.

Encouragement

December 29, 2014

Have a New You by January 1!

By Jerry Vogel

How many New Year’s resolutions have you made in the past? How many have you seen come to pass? If you are like me, I do look forward to a new year with all of its opportunities and challenges. However, most years I struggle in my own strength to follow through with a commitment to change/improve an area of my life…lose weight, be more faithful in exercise, be less selfish, be more of an encourager!

Let’s agree to do it differently this year! Are you in?

Let’s begin by reviewing 2 Corinthians 5:7, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” Hang with me and let’s look at this verse phrase by phrase:

If anyone is in Christ – I guess the first question should be “What does it mean to be “in Christ?’ This should be the hook upon which we can hang our desire to “make changes.” Most of the improvements we desire to make for a new year will only happen if we resolve to “ask the Lord” to be the One who helps us and motivates us. Read John 15:5. Meditate on the importance of being attached to the Vine.
He is a new creation – We as humans can only create new things with materials and resources that already exist. God has the ability to create from nothing. Part of our daily discipleship should be to ask for God’s help in fulfilling the plan that he has for our lives. Live with excitement and anticipation as to what God is up to in our lives. Read Galatians 2:20.
Old things have passed away – Does this mean that we will no longer be tempted by things in our past? Of course not! We are human. But, with the Lord’s help, we can resist temptation in His strength. We can put our mistakes behind us…as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12.)
New things have come – What new things have come into our lives once we yield to God and His plan for us specifically? Daily trust in Him and His strength. Begin each day talking with the Lord about what He is doing in our lives to bring about His plan for us. Read Jeremiah 29:11.

So…my point? Being a new you is all about “HIM” and not about “you.” Take Him at His WORD!

New Year’s Plan for Affirming Your Bible Study Leaders

Preschool Bible Learning Activity: Discover Secret Pictures

Connecting with Today’s Parents

Building Foundations of Faith in Preschoolers

Preschool Bible Learning Activity: Painting with Toes

Use Your Curriculum to Make Disciples

Preschool Bible Learning Activity: Decorate a Crown

Preschool Bible Learning Activity: What’s Missing?

Preschool Bible Learning Activity: Play Dough Loaves and Fish

Have a New You by January 1!

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