Children’s Ministry Vision

LOVE GOD

Deuteronomy 6:5 & Matthew 22:34-40

This is the key to living in God’s kingdom. When Jesus was asked to name the greatest commandment, He quoted from all of the Old Testament, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matt. 22:37-38). We fail our children if we only give them an intellectual knowledge of God without calling them to cherish and treasure Him with every fiber of their being.

LOVE GOD’S WORD

Psalm 1, Psalm 119, John 1:1-18 & 2 Timothy 3:15

God has chosen to reveal Himself to us through the Bible, and most clearly in His Son Jesus Christ who is “the Word made flesh.” God’s Word teaches us who He is, and how to live faithfully as His children. A love for His word gives us the tools we need to fight temptation, to make us wise for salvation, and to go and make other disciples. For this reason, we teach our children from God’s Word, sing it with them, and seek to help them memorize it and apply it to their own lives.

LOVE GOD’S PEOPLE

Exodus 20:12-17 & 1 John 4:7-21

The Bible is full of encouragement to love one another. Selfish pride is the root of many sins, but God’s Spirit and His Word work in our hearts to help us love our brothers and sisters in Christ. John teaches us that the true test of our love for God is seen in how we love others. We want our children to build these kind of solid, long-lasting, God-glorifying relationships with their peers at church.

LOVE ALL PEOPLE

Leviticus 19:18 & Luke 10:25-37

The love of God does not set limits on who we are to love. The reality of our forgiveness in Christ and the gospel mission of the church compel us to love all people. This means that we show them the same kind of mercy that we have been shown in Christ. A child’s world is very small. We want to help our children see how BIG God’s kingdom is and that there are many people who need to see, hear, and feel His love for them in Christ.

DO NOT LOVE THEIR LIVES

Hebrews 11, Mark 8:34-36, & Philippians 3:8

Our children are constantly bombarded with the message that they should live for themselves and fulfill every fleeting desire. God’s call is radically different. He calls them to take up the cross and follow Him. Following Him means giving their lives for the gospel and finding Christ to be their all-satisfying treasure. We pray that this will be the desire of every member of Grace and that our children will grow to see the “surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8).