Making Memorable Moments...

Every time we put together a service, we want to make what we are doing memorable for those in our congregation.  Whether it is a child, a teen, or an adult, the goal is the same.  We want the lesson we are teaching to stick with those who are hearing it.  And more than likely it won't be the whole lesson they remember, but it's very possible that one moment will stick.  So we have to make as many memorable moments in our lessons as we can.  Now, there is no sure fire way of doing that.  After all, we have all prepared lessons that we thought were going to be awesome only to see them fall flat, or taken a lesson that we were not sure would work and see people really respond to it.  So, there isn't a foolproof way to make memorable moments, but there are a few things that when incorporated generally help.  And though, we usually deal primarily with children, they can be helpful for any age group.

1) Don't just read...make the lesson fun.
I know, this seems like a no brainer, but how many times have you seen someone stand up in front of a group and then just simply read a lesson.  Or perhaps the teacher doesn't have much inflection in their voice.  These are things we have to work hard not to do.  Now, I'm not saying you can never read something.  Sometimes there might be a brief passage that you want to quote properly and so reading it is appropriate, but just standing and reading for an entire lesson simply isn't memorable.  Move, smile, change your voice, change your inflection.  The lesson should feel like you are chatting with a friend, not performing and essay. If what your teaching is fun, there is a great chance that it is also memorable.

2) Incorporate more than one of the senses. 
The more senses involved in a lesson, the better someone will remember what is being taught.  Is your Scripture focused on the woman with a jar of oil?  Perhaps you can bring in some oil and let the kids touch it.  Will you be learning about John the Baptist?  Bringing in some wild honey for the kids to taste will bring the lesson to life.  Will you be talking about faith the size of mustard seed?  You can buy small containers of mustard seeds at nearly any grocery store.  The kids will love seeing how small they really are.  Don't be afraid to use multiple senses in your lesson.  The more you use, the better they will remember what they are being taught.

3) Teach the point through many avenues
Let's say that your lesson focuses on caring for each other as Christ cares for us.  Your game could be a cooperation game where the team has to work together in order to win.  There could be an activity where the kids all have to complete a task (such as throwing a ball into a basket), but give each group a problem they have to overcome in order to complete the task (like making one of them pretend to have two broken arms, or blindfolding one).  They will have to figure out a way to help the person who has the challenge so that they all can finish the task.  You could even choose songs for the day that focus on how God cares for us such as Jonathan Shelton's "Counting on God" or Group Music's "His Great Love."  All these things together add to and build up the teaching time where you will bring out the Scripture of the day and help continually focus the listeners attention on what the lesson is...which will lead to more opportunities for memorable moments.

It takes a lot of planning an preparation to bring about memorable moments, but it's worth it.  Why?  Because God often brings those memorable moments back to our minds just when we need them most and they help us draw ever closer to Him. 

Until next week... 

Making Missions Memorable

My parents were Missionaries for a time and while they were stationed in Nairobi, Kenya, I found out what it meant to have family literally on the other side of the world.  Not just across the country, but across the planet.  At the time, I was living in Sacramento, CA and if you pulled out a globe and put one finger on my city and one finger where my parents were, they were almost exactly opposite sides of the world.   Until then, though I had always liked learning about missions and was proud of our mission programs, I didn't really understand what it might be like for those on the mission field who were so far away from their loved ones.  I decided that we would make Mission Education a much bigger part of the Children's Department than it had been up to that point.  Here are a few of the things I have done to help our Mission Lessons have a more memorable impact.

1) Adopt a Missionary Family
In our denomination, each church is given the name of one or two Missionaries that they can connect with on a regular basis.  Because I went to college with a few people who became Missionaries and also through my parents, I have the honor of knowing some of our Missionaries personally.  Because I do, it makes news about the things happening in their areas of the world stand out and makes me more connected with what they are doing.  I want our kids to have that connection too.  So, every once in a while, we will adopt a missionary family and the kids send them letters or packages, we Skype during a service (when the time difference allows) and they love getting to know the people who are living in another country.  You can even connect via your Children's Ministry Facebook or Twitter feeds too.  We try to stay in regular contact for at least a year.   It's a great way to make missions come alive in a very real way.  

2) Mission Stations  
I am a huge fan of using hand-on activities to connect the kids with a particular lesson.  Several years ago, I created some stations for my department that specifically taught about different sorts of missionaries.  Each station had an activity that taught the basics of what that type of missionary would be doing.  For example, at the medical missions station the kids played "Operation."  At the station for translators the kids had to decipher coded messages. (I realize that is not exactly translating, but it got the point across.)  The Work and Witness station (These are short term mission trips where those on the trip tend to build or do repairs on buildings), the kids built a picture frame in the shape of a house using popsicle sticks or they painted a sun catcher. There were about 9 stations total, but you could do as many or as few as you like.  

3) Mission Lessons and Prayer Stations  
Several years ago I wrote a series called "Mission Possible" where each week we would look at a specific country and learn about the mission work and Missionaries in that country as well as what it would be like to live in that country.  I included a game popular with the children from that part of the world as well.  At the end of each lesson, the kids rotated through simply prayer stations meant to remind them of the things we had talked about and help them pray for each area we mentioned.  It was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed learning about each country and how God was moving in those places.  

I hope you find these ideas helpful.  If you've done a mission's lesson or program that your kids loved, I'd enjoy hearing about it, so please feel free to leave me a comment telling me all about it.

Until next week!

Picking Bible Stories...

First, let me apologize for not posting a blog last week.  I was at a Family Camp and the internet was pretty difficult to use.  Hopefully it won't be an issue again any time soon.  Now, on to this week's topic.

One of the things that I most often see in curriculum is that it uses the same few stories over and over.  Whether it is a Vacation Bible School, Sunday School Lessons, or Sunday Morning Curriculum, we often see the same stories.  Daniel and the Lion's Den, Moses and the burning bush or crossing the Red Sea, Abraham and Isaac, Noah and the Ark, Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, etc.  Now, there is nothing wrong with using these stories.  After all, they are popular for a reason.  But, if we are trying to reach our kids in new ways, then perhaps we need to expand our stories as well. After all, if those stories are super familiar to us, there are at least a few kids in your department who feel the same way. 

I love looking for the stories that are rarely told in Children's Church.  We did an entire series on the Judges and the kids loved it.  We turned our Children's Church into a court room and put the Biblical Judges of Othniel, Deborah, Ehud, Gideon, Jephthah, Abimelech, and Samson on trial.  We had a "defense attorney" and a "prosecutor" each week and the kids were the jury who, after hearing all the information, had to decide if the Judge of the Week was a good judge who followed God, or a bad judge who did what they wanted...or perhaps a bit of both.  It was a great way to get other people in the church involved and the kids had to think critically about the Scripture...not just take what they were hearing at face value. By, the way, I'd be glad to send this program to anyone who'd like it.  Just drop me a note.  I wrote it, so I can give it away.  :-)

As you read through the Scripture, look for stories that you find interesting and then bring those stories to your Children's Services.  Have you ever done a lesson from the perspective of Rebekah as she leaves to marry Isaac?  What about Lot?  We hear lots about Abraham, but Lot has an important lesson to teach us as well.  I recently used the story of Lot to convey how the people we surround ourselves with will affect our lives...even if we are not the ones making the poor choices.  There are some amazing stories in Scripture that are often not taught to kids, but easily could be.  Look for those stories because the kids enjoy hearing them and they have lots to teach us.  Don't be afraid to branch out from the "normal" kids' Bible stories.  It can really add a lot to your ministry.   I'd love to hear your ideas too so please let me know what you use as well.

Until next week...