Your December Resources Are Here!
As we attempt to lead the kids and teenagers in our midst into deeper relationships with God, we have to make sure we are pointing them to the best place they could go to grow in their faith. No, it’s not Church, a children’s ministry, or a youth group. It’s not us as children’s pastors or youth workers (ouch!). And as incredibly impactful as they are, it’s not even their teachers or small group leaders. Sure, the people who walk alongside them and the spiritual formation experiences they have at church are important pieces of their faith development. Still, there is one source that is essential to them growing into disciples. That source is the Bible—God’s living and active Word. If the kids and teenagers we minister to can become passionate readers and studiers of God’s Word, they will be much more likely to grow and mature into an authentic, vibrant faith that can sustain them through the ups and downs of life. If we can help the families in our churches move from simply relying on what they hear other people say about the Bible to learning to dive into the pages themselves (and teaching their kids and teenagers to do the same), they will be much less likely to have a distorted picture of God and how He operates in the world.
This month’s M2P resources have been created to help you elevate your focus on Bible reading/study in your ministry and encourage the kids, teens, and parents in your church to spend more time reading, studying, and engaging with it. Our social media posts will help you to drive home to parents this month the importance of putting the Bible at the center of spiritual growth and development. The Online Parenting Class Videos will provide parents with some practical suggestions for making the Bible more accessible to their kids and teens. This month’s Coaching Videos, Blog Articles, and the latest episode of the M2P Podcast will focus on you and those who serve alongside you in children’s or youth ministry, growing in your own spiritual growth and discipleship while helping parents embrace their role as the primary disciplers at home. Finally, for this month’s Toolbox Resource, our friend and author Joel Lusz is providing you and the families you minister to with a 7-day sample of his 12-Month Discipleship Journal. This year-long devotional journal is an incredible resource comprised of short, dedicated, daily readings of God’s Word along with some pointed reflection questions and interactive prompts that will help the reader engage the Scripture, learn about God and His Word, and discover more of what it means to be a follower of Christ. Parents of teenagers can use this resource to provide their teens with a catalyst for building the habits of daily Scripture reading, reflection, application, and prayer. Parents of younger children can also take full advantage of this resource as they read the daily Scripture to their child and talk through the discussion questions and prompts together. In fact, we think it’s such a tremendous and incredibly well-done resource that we want to provide you with a direct link so that you can pick up the full version of the 12-Month Discipleship Journal as an inexpensive resource that you can either gift or pass along to the parents in your church as a way to further encourage and equip their kids and teenagers to spend time in God’s Word every day.
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:12-17 ESV
The M2P Team
WHAT IS IT?
In this month’s Toolbox Resource, entitled Mentoring Assessment, we hope to help parents better assess and discern whether their child or teenager has Christian mentors who are supporting and encouraging them in their faith journey. There are specific and intentional decisions that parents can make in order to surround their children with the voices they need to help them process the doubts, questions, and issues they are facing. This month’s Toolbox Resource provides parents with a practical assessment they can use to determine the steps they can take to help their children and teenagers have the godly mentors they need.
- Parents of teenagers can use this resource to provide their teens with a catalyst for building the habits of daily Scripture reading, reflection, application, and prayer.
- Parents of younger children can also take full advantage of this resource as they read the daily Scripture to their child and talk through the discussion questions and prompts together.
HOW TO USE IT
- Download the 12-Month Discipleship Journal Sample and post it on your website.
- Email parents a copy of the resources and encourage them to give it to their teenagers or use it together with their kids for seven days.
- Print copies of the resources for parents to grab at church and let them know where they can pick them up.
As we attempt to lead the kids and teens in our churches into a deeper faith in Jesus, we often do a great job of sharing stories from the Bible. We want them to know all the key characters and how God worked in their lives. We want them to know how God has worked in the world and the fact that He has the power to do miracles, including overcoming death. We teach them in many creative ways, and we have them take home crafts or key takeaways that will hopefully help them remember what they heard.
All of this is good and important stuff, but what if we took it one more step? What if, instead of just pointing them to the stories OF the Bible, we pointed them TO the Bible?
In this month’s coaching video, we talk about how we can help parents encourage their kids and teens to grow in their discipleship by spending time reading and studying God’s Word. There is so much “content” coming at all of us, and we, as leaders and parents, must work hard to ensure the Bible is the primary source of information and inspiration for our families. Helping people become comfortable with navigating the Bible and getting them to a place where they read it on their own can be a valuable gift you give them as they continue along their spiritual journey.
To view, click HERE for youth and HERE for kids.
This month’s Online Parenting Class talks about a few things parents can do for their kids and teens as they attempt to help them embrace the Bible. If parents are honest, they often aren’t as comfortable with the Bible themselves, so they outsource the teaching of Scripture to the “professionals” at church. In reality, parents should be on a spiritual journey with their kids and teens, and the way they engage and talk about the Bible really matters when it comes to the spiritual development of the family. There are some easy things that parents can do to both grow in their own faith and lead their children into a solid relationship with God that is not simply based on what they have heard about God but on what they have discovered themselves through reading His Word. When it comes to discipleship, the Bible needs to be a central piece of the way families grow, and this month’s videos will help parents take a step toward making that a reality.
To view, click HERE for youth and HERE for kids.
New blog posts coming this month:
- Kids’ Ministry Leaders: “Encouraging Children to Connect to God’s Word” by Amy Diller
- For Kids’ Ministry Parents: “Teaching Our Kids to Treasure God’s Word” by Amy Diller
- For Youth Ministry Leaders: “Pointing People to The Bible” by Chris Sasser
- For Youth Ministry Parents: “Nurturing Faith Through God’s Word” by Chris Sasser
To view, click HERE