How To Help Kids Listen

This is my first Video Blog (vlog) i hope you guys enjoy it

Curriculum… Good… or Bad…

So I’ve had a few questions lately about curriculum and Kids ministry. So I’ve decided to give my view on it.

If I may begin by telling you a story about Dr. Jeff Magruder. Dr. Magruder is a professor at Southwestern Assemblies of God University. One of his main focuses is proper exegetical preaching.  He passionately teaches students how to properly handle the word of God and bring forth THE biblical meaning in each passage presented. One bonus about him is that he’s not one of those professors who teaches techniques and theories that are out of date because he hasn’t been involved in ministry for 30 years, he is currently the Pastor of Abundant Life Church in Grand Prairie, TX. He is so good at what he does that he is frequently asked to speak at seminars and workshops on the topic of preaching. If you like you may follow this link to check up on his credentials. [link]

In the midst of one of these seminars he was teaching about crossing the bridge from the central idea of the text to the central idea of the sermon when a man stood up in the back of the room. The man straightened his jacket and stood very proudly. Respectfully he raised his hand to gain Dr. Magruder’s attention, and then asked,

“So tell me sir, at what point in the midst of all this preparation to actually expect God to show up in your sermon?”

You could tell that the seasoned minister thought he had Dr. Magruder in a corner. Without missing a beat Dr. Magruder smiled and responded,

“Sir, I don’t know about you, but I expect Him to be there from the beginning when I pray, up through the study of scripture and commentary, through the discovery of the CIT, through the discovery of the CIS, through my sermon on Sunday morning, and through the time when the people wrestled with His Holy word in their own hearts.”

Dr. Magruder has firmly grasped the fact of who God is. I’m proud to say that I am blessed to be surrounded by men of God who grasp the true nature of God for even my own pastor, Pastor Scott Ethridge of the Healing Place, has often been quoted saying,

“If we believe that God is omnipresent then tell me why God can’t tell me today what he wants to do in his people 3 months from now?”

In saying all this let me ask you this… why couldn’t God speak to you today about what you’re kids need to hear 3 months from now? For example, a few months ago God spoke to me about how our kids needed to learn about submission and authority.  As I began to pray and seek God about this I came across a set of curriculum sold by a well known church in Oklahoma on just that topic.  I believe that was a God thing. He directed me to a topic and then he directed me to a resource.

Perhaps that is people’s biggest hang ups on curriculum. They look at as ministry in a box. Don’t even need to prepare. Just open the book and say what they tell you to say.  But that’s not the case. Curriculum is a resource for you to minister to your kids. As I go through the lessons week by week I ask God,

“What is you want these kids to learn today? What is that needs to be highlighted in their lives?”

As I hear from God, which I’ve been listening since before I purchased the curriculum, I take the resources given me and I modify and shape and mold to make it for the kids of The Deep.  If the people from “Kids on the Move” came in they might see similar elements but the services would defiantly not be theirs.  What works in Tulsa doesn’t work in Shreveport. What works in the hood doesn’t work in the burbs.

So when you crack open that new HIllsong Kids Curriculum stop and think about your audience… who are you talking to? (by the way that’s one of the steps that Dr.  Magruder speaks about) Dig through the curriculum check their references. Not going to lie in the midst of my time here at THP as the Children’s Pastor, I’ve had to bring correction to different curriculums.

So in short, curriculum isn’t a bad thing. It’s only bad if you don’t take the time to really look at it and make it yours. You are not Church on the  Move (unless of course you are if so then… yeah thanks for visiting haha) you are you. Take the time to listen to God and what he has for your kids today, tomorrow and the day after.

Signs… Where do they point to?

So I’m sitting here in the church coffee shop going over John 4:43-54. At the moment I’m really just trying to bash out my own thoughts on the selection.

Jesus just spent two days in a town ministering to people who believed first because of the simple testimony of a singular woman. They then believed because of they themselves have gone and heard him. This is a great illustration of the power of our testimony. Your testimony can and will change things.

So now here’s Jesus in Galilee, the place that He had stated that a prophet is not honored in his own country. We see this story in Matthew 13, Mark 6, & Luke 4. It is here that something interesting happens. In verse 45 the people receive him quite well. Not because of the word of a testimony or because of what he’s said directly to them, rather because they had seen the miracles he had done in Jerusalem.

Skip down to verse 46-54 we find the story of a nobleman who came to seek healing for his son. Jesus’ reply….

“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe”

Being what I believe to be in distress the man again pleads with Jesus to come with him and heal his son. Jesus told the man to go home because his son was healed. Then something amazing happened. The bible says in verse 50.

“So the man BELIEVED the WORD that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.”

He was begging Christ to come with him in person but believed simply on the spoken word of God. The man ran home to find his son had indeed been healed. Then, in an attempt to get rid of thoughts of coincidence, asked when the boy recovered. The servant told him that the boy recovered at the very hour that Jesus had told him that his son was healed.

So what does this mean to us? What can we learn from this passage?

First off I want to point out the people who greeted Christ. They received him because of what they saw. In today’s culture we see spiritual superstars rise and fall. Todd Bentley for example, he rose up a very controversial superstar in the charismatic/Pentecostal circles. Were people touched and healed at his crusades? Sure I can accept that. But I believe the fall of his ministry was due to a misunderstanding of the purposes of those miracles. People began to follow the signs and wonders. They were going to his events to see miracles, to see signs, to see demonstrations… not to see Jesus.

Christ did miracles and signs not just for entertainment or just to be nice but to point back to himself and His Father. So was Bentley wrong for doing miracles? No, but towards the end of his ministry in Florida if you noticed things seemed to become more and more about him and less about Christ. More and more his events turned into what people could get for themselves.

I believe that’s why Christ scolded the man in verse 48. The people in the area were starting to follow him for miracles. For what they could get out of Him instead of what they could do to serve Him. Christ was looking for commitment to the Father.

Notice verse 53, when the man had definite proof of the healing performed by Christ, the man and his entire family believed. The signs and miracles are not meant to build man or ministries, they are meant to build the Kingdom. They are called signs because they are signs that direct to the King of Kings.

Promo Vid

This was the promo vid for our change from Firm Foundation Children’s Ministry to The Deep/THP Kidz.

Give Honor Get Honor

This week’s Verse

This week we started off with a topic that our parents will really appreciate.

1. God commands that children honor their parents.

Now while many know that this is one of the 10 commandments it is also the only New Testament commandments given expressly to Children.

Ephesians 6:1-3 says

6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”-which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

In this we discussed 4 things.

1. God Promises long life to children who honor their parents

2. God promises a good life to those who honor their parents

With this part i felt that we needed to explain that a good life doesn’t mean that you will never have problems.  A good life means that when problems occur God will take care of you. It may not be the way you want him to take care of you, but he will take care of you.

3.God Gives blessings to children who obey and honor their parents

When we got to this point i asked the kids what blessings were. You can imagine my smile when one of my kids said “Blessings are when God gives you things you need, It’s not always what you want.” It’s the truth. I explained to the kids that God is not Santa Clause and just gives you whatever you want. While he does do that from time to time, we tend to forget that the necessaries in your life such as food, clothing, shoes, friends, a home… those are all a form of God’s blessings too.

4. Good things come to those who learn how to honor God by honoring his commands.

It is here that i pushed the issue that we honor our parents not simply because they are adults but because we are honoring GOD when we honor our parents.

II. The honor principle is observed even after we’re grown

No matter how old a person maybe, we still must honor the Lord. Why? Because we are not the creator, we are the creator. We don’t have the right to make our own laws because we are created. But God, the one who created us, knows exactly who we are and how we think.  It is because of this that he’s given us laws. I explained to the kids that just as our parents give us rules out of love, God has given us his law (the bible) out of love too.  God’s laws are designed to make people Free from Sin, bring us Happiness, and Blessings.

I then explained to the kids that if we don’t honor God by obeying his laws we well be left with depression and unhappiness. Why? Because we will be constantly living at odds with God. If you aren’t honoring him then he won’t bless you and you’ll have to struggle.

III. People who do not honor God do not receive His help.

1. When God’s people refuse to Honor Him, He will not help them in their time of trouble.

In 1 Samuel 4:1-22 we find the story of Israel’s great defeat. Israel was about to go into battle and decided to bring the Ark of the Covenant with them. I explained to the kids that at that time God wasn’t with everyone like he is now. Now we can pray where ever we are and God is there with them. But in the Old Testament God’s prescience rested upon the Ark of the Covenant.

By bring the ark into battle with them they were literally bringing the Lord with them. However, during this time of Israel’s history God’s people were NOT honoring God. In fact two of the priest who were sons of  Eli (Samuel’s teacher) were doing a lot of things that they were not suppose to be doing. Because they were not honoring God God did NOT bless them. This battle ended with 30,000 Israelites falling.

God honors those who respect the Word, not those who simply own a Bible.

The next think i did was try to get the kids to think past themselves. If you asked my kids “What happens to you if you are not Honoring God”  98% of them will tell you that God will not bless them. Which…. is A correct answer. But it’s not the end.  I explained to the Kids that what they do affects not only them but people around them. Two groups specifically.

1.  Christians: many people leave the church because they have been “burned” by supposed “Christians.” If i stop honoring God and my kids see it they will react one of 2 ways. Either they will follow me in my disobedience or they will say to themselves “If Dallas is a Christian, and he acts like that why would i want to be a Christian” and they will walk away from the faith.

I told them the story of a “Shock-Rocker” who when he was a kid had gone to church several times. Problem with the church was that while in youth he was bullied constantly. What’s worse is it wasn’t just the kids. It was the Youth Pastor. After a while he said to himself. “why on earth would i want to be a Christian?’ It is because of this experience that this boy later became a priest in the Church of Satan.

2. Non-Christians: I explained 2 the kids that if the world sees them acting just like them then they will say to themselves “what’s the point in being a Christian if you act and do the same thing as me”

I explained 2 the kids that people are looking at us as an example of who God is and who His son is. If we do not honor God at all times we are turning people away from His Love.

God talks to a Boy

Before the service we played a few rounds of “Find the Queen of Hearts.” Take a deck of cards, pull out two kings and the queen of hearts. put a slight bend in them to make it easy for you  to grab. Place the three cards face down. Show the kid playing the queen of hearts then proceed to move the cards around. Go slow for the younger kids. If you like you can do like what i did and go quickly for the older kids. Point out that the Kids are the ones making the choice.  You are not forcing them to make bad or good choices.

our memory verse for the week

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1: God doesn’t FORCE us to do what he says.

Ill: God did not make us like puppets. While He does have the power to force us to do what He wants, he doesn’t. We are not like a puppet that has no control over it’s body.

a. God gave man the power to choose good and evil.

Just like in the game of “Find the Queen of Hearts” where the kids were the kids made either good or bad choices when trying to find the queen, we have the power to choose to do good or do evil.

b. God has given us the ability to not do wrong

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
NIV

According to scripture God provides a way out when we are tempted to do wrong. It’s your choice to take that way out.

C. Sometimes we have to ask God for help in making these choices

Revelation 3:19-20
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
NIV

Here in this scripture we find Christ saying that he’s here knocking at our door. He’s there for you so you can repent and do right. But you need to invite him in so he can do so.

2. If you stop and ask God to speak he will.

Believe it or not God is probably speaking to you right now.  He’s talking to the young and old.  In the Old Testament we find the Story of Samuel.  One night Samuel was sleeping.  when suddenly he heard a voice calling out to him. He ran out to see if it were Eli calling him. But Eli told him to simply go back to bed. This happened a couple of times before Eli finally said “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls ou, that you must say, ‘Speak Lord, for Your servant hears’”

So he did. he layed back down and sure enough God called out to him, Samuel then spoke out “Speak Lord, i’m listening.” It was then that God gave Samuel direction. It is when we silent our mind and allow God to speak to us that we truly hear him.

On a side note I did discuss with the children how to respectfully talk to God. I taught them to call him “Lord,” “Master,” and “Father.”

3. God can Guide us whether we are aware of it or not.

a. His guidance while we are aware.

According to James 1:5, if we ask God for wisdom he will be more than happy to give it to us. But the key to this is prayer.

ill. to illustrate this i brought one kid up for another round of find the queen. The difference is that while they weren’t looking during worship i replaced the queen with a random card and put it in the hood of one of the kid’s jacket. I then gave our lucky player a two way radio and told them to pray into radio to ask for help finding the queen. The person on the otherside (my helper in the back of the room) told them where to find the card. Of course the kids were all shocked but it made the point.

b. God can direct us when we are unaware by setting up certain situations.

I shared part of my testimony to illustration. In 1999 i was living in Missouri.  Through a series of sad and ungodly choices made by people outside of our control, my mother, sister, and I, were left stranded here in Louisiana homeless. However, through God’s grace, and sovereign love he guided us through every painful moment of this so that in the end He would be glorified and so that we would be protected.  God’s plan has always been for me to minister to the hurt and lost and he used the poor choices of others to help me make the proper choices that glorify him.

Ready to go DEEP

Ladies and Gents! I am excited to announce the launch

of ….

The days of Firm Foundation have passed and God is now moving our kids into a new realm. He is taking them into the Deep things of him.

With this new chapter we are now starting a new curriculum. The curriculum is from Church on the Move in Tulsa, OK. With much prayer i believe God has given me some direction for the start of the year. As i look around i see today’s generation’s lack of respect and honor for God.  As a result this disrespect seeps into ever aspect of their lives. No respect for parents, teachers, or themselves. With this in mind the set of curriculum from Church on the Move that i’ve chosen is called Submission and Authority.

Through this curriculum my staff and I aim to teach our children who God is, why He is the ultimate authority in our lives, and how that effects the world around them. Please join us in prayer as we take this journey into the Deep.

Go Deep,

Pastor Dallas

Giving

:Why should we give to missions?

It’s a form of worshiping God.

Honor the Lord with your wealth
and with the first fruits of all your produce;
Proverbs 3:9

• When you honor someone you are lifting them up. Saying “you are the best you are the greatest. You’re giving recognition of who someone is

But why should we help people?

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. ³⁶ I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

³⁷ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry
and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ Or a stranger and
show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? ³⁹ When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

⁴⁰ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least
of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Matthew 25

• When you give to others you are also giving to God.

How do we give?

• Don’t be all flashy with it.

³ But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. ⁴ Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Matthew 6:3-4

• Practical ways to give

If you have friends who are hungry and you have more than enough food for yourself give them some of your food.

If you see someone who’s worn out and exhausted give them a cup of water

Meet their needs where you can.

Be nice and caring to people you don’t know.

BGMC ( http://bgmc.ag.org/ )

The Ultimate Christmas Gift

Title:  The Ultimate Christmas Gift

Text: Romans 3

Central Idea of the Text: All men have sinned but Christ provided freedom from sins through his death.

Central Idea of the Sermon: We have all sinned but Christ’s sacrifice on the cross gives us freedom sin.

Introduction: Before we get started have a competition. Split the group up into two teams and give each team a puzzle. Have them try 2 solve the puzzle. What they don’t know is that the puzzles are missing one piece. Let them continue to try and solve for a while and then give them the missing piece.

[Worship]

Ask the kids what the meaning of Christmas is.

The meaning of Christmas for us is to celebrate the Birth of Jesus. But we are celebrating more than a birth; we are celebrating because God provided us with something very special.

TS: Before I can tell you what he provided I must first explain to you the problem we  had before he did it.

1. The Problem

Exp: According to scripture we are all by nature sinful creatures. We were born into sin. (Ephesians 2:3)  Scripture says that ALL of us have fallen short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23) and that it is impossible for us to Good (Romans 3:20).

Ill: Have one of the adult volunteers come forward and hand cuff them. (make sure to use trick handcuffs that can easily come off incase of panic)

App: Like our volunteer here we are trapped in sin. It holds us so we can’t escape. We’ll fight and fight and fight but we can’t free ourselves.

TS: So what did God do?

2. God gave Christ as the Key to become free from sin. (Romans 3:24-25)

Exp: We are guilty of sin and we deserved the punishment of our sins. Through Christ we were justified (called not guilty), freed from the bondage of sin, and took away the punishment of sins from us.

Ill: Have another adult leader come up and free the handcuffed volunteer.

App: You guys couldn’t solve the puzzles I gave you with the missing piece I provided. Our volunteer couldn’t get free from his handcuffs without the provision of the key. Jesus Christ is missing piece solving our problem. We can’t get to heaven with our Christ. We can’t be forgiven of our sins with out Jesus Christ.

Conclusion: This is why we celebrate Christmas. We celebrate the day that God sent Jesus Christ to Earth to provide us with freedom from sins so that we can enter into the kingdom of heaven again.

Unity – Humility! Don’t Let Your Pride Cause the Body to Divide

Title: Humility! Don’t let your Pride cause the Body to Divide!
Text: A Lot
Central Idea of the Sermon: To maintain unity we must live in humility but what is humility?
Specific Objective: Kids will be challenged to live life in humility.

Introduction: So last week we discussed that in order to live in Unity we must live in Humility. Today we are going to learn what humility is, but first let me ask this… what is the opposite of humility?

TS: Pride!

I. Pride causes the Body to Divide (James 4:1-3)

Exp: St. Augustine described Pride as “the love of one’s own excellence”

Dictionary.com describes Pride as Arrogant or to think more highly of one’s own self.

Jas 4:1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

Prideful people want what they want when they want it no matter what. They don’t stop to think about the effect on others

.

Jas 4:2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

In the end, Prideful people don’t really get what they want.

Jas 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
God will not give the prideful people what they ask for because they ask for selfish reasons.

TS: Now that we know what is NOT humble, what is?

II. Humility is the state of being humble duh!

Exp:

When you are humble you don’t think more of yourself then you should. You recognize that some are better than you. You recognize that you can learn from others.

Ill:  Now i’m pretty good with computers and programs. The other day one of my friends called me asking for some help with her Zune (mp3 player) The program wouldn’t install on her computer right. Now it was in my best intrest to say “oh yeah i can fix it” and make it look like i’m the number one guy to go to.  This would have made me look better in her eyes, however, i knew for a fact that Pastor Matt (Youth Pastor at The Healing Place) would know more than me. Matt actually has a couple of Zunes. It was in her best interest for her to call him.

So what did i do? I humbled myself and said “Look kid, i think this might help but the person you really want to talk to is Matt. He actually owns a Zune.” Why did i do that? Because i was putting her best interest in front of mine.

TS: But what’s the Point?

III. Top Three Reasons to be Humble

Exp: 1.You can’t be saved unless you Humble yourself

2Sa 22:28 You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down.

Here we find that God will save the humble but he will not save the proud.

2Ch 7:14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

See where it says THEN. That means that unless you humble urself you will NOT be saved.

2. God will Hear your Prayers

Psa 10:17 LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear,

3. When we humble ourselves God can teach us.

Psa 25:9 The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.

TS: Ok but what does this have to do with Unity?

IV. Humility Won’t split the Body

Exp. Have you ever seen the movie Nightmare Before Christmas?  In the movie there are two towns. Halloween Town and Christmas Town. In Halloween Town the people send all year getting ready for Halloween. That’s their function and purpose in life. In Christmas Town they spend all year getting ready for Christmas, that’s their function and purpose in life.

One day the leader of Halloween Town, Jack The Pumpkin King, gets tired of Halloween. While on a walk one day he stumbles upon Christmas town. He freaks out! He thinks it’s amazing! He sees what the elves and Santa are doing and thinks it’s really cool… Suddenly he starts thinking “you know… i bet i could do this Christmas thing, in fact… i could do it better.”

Jack goes back to Halloween Town and starts planning. They kidnap Santa, make their own toys, everything! In the end Jack messed EVERYTHING up! He had to come to the point where he humbled himself and went back to Santa and admit to the fact that he was wrong. He couldn’t do things better than Santa. Santa was in charge of Christmas because he knew best how to do it.

Conclusion:

If we don’t humble ourselves we can begin to be like Jack. We start thinking  “you know Pastor doesn’t really know what he’s doing, I know better than him.” or “I don’t like they way they are worshiping God, they should do it more like me because i know best” When that attitude starts to creep in, you start to tear the Body of Christ apart. The Pastor of your church is YOUR shepard. He was anointed and put there by God. You should trust his judgment and choices. When you start to think that you are better than your Pastor you start to sow a seed of discord in the body.  When you start to think you are better than the other congregant members then you start to sow a seed of discord in the body.

Unless you humble yoruself and allow God to teach you and grow you… your Pride will cause the Body to Divide.