Elementary Parent,
One of the five things that every kid needs is noisy parents who know where they are spiritually. It is easy to measure how much our children have grown physically. You could have a doorpost in your home where you mark your child’s height over the years. At the doctor’s office they step on a scale to see their weight. In school we measure their mental development. If we know their grade point average, we ought to know where they are spiritually. The problem is that spiritual growth is harder to measure. Where do you get a tape measure to see how long their relationship with God is? Where can we find a scale to weigh their love for others?
We can’t measure spiritual things with physical measuring devices but we can with spiritual ones. We started a brand new 13 week series this week called “Grow Up”. We are teaching the children that God wants us to grow up spiritually. God wants us to be intentional about our spiritual maturation. This week’s lesson was “Don’t Be a Baby”. Our bottom line is “God wants us to grow up spiritually”. Our verse is “I Peter 2:2, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow….”
We learned that we can grow spiritually by doing several things. This are also the things that you as a parent can use to measure their spiritual growth.
We can:
1. Read the Bible (and do what it says)
2. Go to church
3. Pray: talk to God and listen to God
4. Pray for other people
5. Witness to others
6. Teach other people about the Bible
At this stage of development kids need to move from our faith to their own faith. They can’t do that unless they start doing some of the above things. Our goal over the next weeks will be to encourage them to take up all of these spiritual disciplines to begin to develop their own faith.
Here are some things you can do for this week….
Monday or Tuesday BIBLE TIME
Read: I Peter 2:2
MAIN POINT: Two types of growth, spiritual & physical.
DISCUSS:
• How you grow physically (eat right, sleep right and exercise).
• How you grow spiritually (read the Bible, go to church, pray, minister to others).
Questions To Ask:
1. How does our body grow up? (eat right, sleep right, and exercise)
2. What makes our spirit grow? (read the Bible, go to church, pray, minister to others)
3. Why does spiritual growth matter? (God does not want us to stay babies)
Thursday or Friday FAMILY TIME
Read: Matthew 5:12
Main point: Growth is a process.
what you NEED:
• Family Album and/or baby book (your children’s pictures as babies, your baby pictures, or your parents’ pictures now)
DISCUSS:
• Your child/children’s birth experience and/or infancy.
• You as a child growing up.
• Your parents and what they do.
QUESTIONS TO ASK:
1. Was it possible for you, as a baby, to drive a car like grandpa? (no) Why not? (too little)
2. Why does God not want us to stay as babies? (babies can’t do anything but eat and sleep)
3. God has a plan for everyone. What types of things do you see yourself doing for God? (allow for response)
4. What will you have to do before you are able to do what you see yourself doing? (maybe go to college, etc.)
5. What can you do now? (read the Bible, go to church, pray, minister to others)
Thank you for allowing us to partner with you in ministering to your children. I also wanted to let you know about one of the great projects that we are working on for your children. We are developing a Consistent Time With God journal specifically targeted for elementary aged children. Also we have started collecting offering again during our Sunday morning worship experience. Starting in June we will have a specific monthly mission that we will be supporting with our children’s giving. We believe that giving is an integral part of our worship experience, as a result we provide pennies to give to any child who does not bring an offering.
-Jason Martin
Children’s Pastor Life Christian Church Troy
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Some of the material in this post copyright of Mark Harper Ministries.