Sunday mornings are for both large and small groups, congregational worship as the Body of Christ, and family worship. Wednesday nights include Youth small groups, prayer groups, class meetings, worship ministry preparations, and more. For kids, we have Bible Study on Wednesday nights.

Check-in is at 6 pm, snack dinner is at 6:15 pm, Bible Study for K5-2nd graders while 3rd-5th graders play gross motor games outdoors at 6:40 pm. They switch activities at 7:05 pm. Dismissal is at 7:30 pm.

We use a homeschool Bible study curriculum suitable for K5-2nd graders, 3rd-5th graders, and Youth (13+). This fall, we’re adding Financial Peace for Teens, another homeschool resource. Homeschool materials can be great for churches if you know what to look for.

Not Consumed Ministries offers Bible studies for ages 4 to 18, designed to help families study God’s Word together. Each study is theme-based with daily lessons, beautiful artwork, age-appropriate vocabulary, and interactive elements like stickers and bookmarks. Our kids love the stickers.

Each booklet has 20-28 lessons, perfect for our ten-week fall sessions and ten-week winter/spring sessions. Lessons include a key truth, key scripture from both the Old and New Testaments, and a central theme.

Last season, we used the WORK Unto The Lord theme, which was fantastic for teaching life application and understanding God’s view on work. Lessons explained that work is a gift from God, and introduced concepts like diligence and initiative.

We loved the WORK study so much that we are reviewing each ‘bundle’ to plan a five-year schedule of themes for midweek programming. This helps us cultivate the habit of studying God’s Word regularly. Our Kid’s Bible study leaders are of many generations who sit as ‘guides from the sides’ rather than ‘sages from stages’, helping navigate God’s Big Book, offering words of encouragement all along the way. It’s a way to set ourselves apart as God’s holy people, teaching children to love the Lord with all their hearts for their whole lives through the study and power of the word of God.

How do you lead young children in Bible study at your church?

Ambassadors are the 4th & 5th grade leadership team of students who agree to represent their families, their local church, and their Savior in areas of witness, service, teaching, and worship. They attend a faith milestone offered each fall then put into practice what they learn throughout the next year. I’ve been honored to collaborate with other kidmin leaders to design a two-year rotation Ambassador retreat to take Ambassadorship to the next level and share the program with other local churches’ 4th & 5th graders.

As the lead for Family Ministry we’ve designed faith milestones specific to students 6th-12th grade. Developmentally appropriate leadership training for high school students will be rolled out as AGENTs.

Ambassador = a representative of someone or an organization

Agent = one who acts on behalf of someone or an organization

A – Ambassador refresher; as new material/opportunities for youth for first-time ambassadors
G – Gospel; learning and practicing sharing the good news of our faith in real-life, as they go about their everyday
E – Explore opportunities to learn skills and grow in relationships with other generations within the local church; recruiting and leading a team to accomplish a goal to the glory of God; practice humbly receiving direction and graciously offering instruction
N – Neighbors; serving our neighbors and defining who ARE our neighbors; designing and implementing a purposeful plan to engage our neighbors in a project
T – Trusting the truth of God’s Word from an apologetic (defending the truth) biblical worldview

The first AGENT project this fall will be Operation Christmas Child led by a rising high school junior who had been an ambassador with me in 4th & 5th grades. We’ve set her goals, scheduled her interest meeting, her fundraiser (to be led by another AGENT + wingman), and discussed all the steps to implement a successful campaign with a clear beginning and a clear end for evaluation.

The AGENT will be the face of the project, I will be her coach throughout the project. Over the next two weeks, she will have recruited her wingman to share the journey (Jesus never sent out His disciples one at a time, but rather two or three or seventy) and confirmed her calendar with her family, her school activities, for the church to begin promoting the AGENT project.

AGENTs and Ambassadors are part of the Nehemiah Project which is the discipleship pathway of our local church for children through youth/young adults to make disciples who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly. An AGENT will define goals, set schedules, calendar with the local church, manage a budget, recruit and recognize a team, and evaluate and celebrate with a team.

What does youth and student leadership look like in your context?

“It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.” Deuteronomy 13:4

Each summer, mission trips and opportunities abound. Last Sunday, we commissioned a team for Nicaragua and a youth missions team for Smoky Mountain Outreach will be leaving this week. Other teams will leave for a teaching mission in the Czech Republic in July and a medical mission in Nigeria in August. The team members range in age from 14 to much older (I’m not asking specifics). The teams include both youth and adults.

What about the kids and families? We previously organized an overnight family mission trip to Camp Collinswood, which you can read about here. But what if you have just a Sunday afternoon?

SAM Sundays are Sunday Afternoon Missions Sundays offering mission opportunities for children and their families to serve on local mission together. Children, along with their parents and grandparents, can sign up online for various on-campus and off-campus missions that take place on a particular Sunday afternoon.

Last Sunday, we packed our own lunches and gathered for instructions from the SAM Sunday Leader, who had made all the necessary preparations to support the SAM teams. The start time was firm. The end time varied and ran no later than 5pm.

This month’s SAM Sunday included a visit to a local senior saints’ living center to chat and play games.  Senior saints who have poured themselves into the lives of the disciples of our church were visited with joy, news, and prayers.

Additionally, we stayed on campus and decorated lunch bags and placemats for The Table on Delk. Table on Delk provides a safe place for those who are currently, or at risk of, being sexually exploited to have a meal and get connected to resources that they might not know about. Table on Delk is one of our church’s mission partners. Two Sunday school classes packed 40 lunches, which were prepared and delivered on Monday.

SAM Sundays involve participants of all ages, from couples and singles to families with children, teens, and seniors. These multi-generational opportunities allow everyone to serve our neighbors together.

Summer SAMs are scheduled for June and July to encourage disciples of all ages and abilities to engage in hands-on missions in our community. Based on what we learn from these two SAMs, we’ll schedule more to follow.

I’ve taken older elementary students on SAMs to pull up carpet at a local church receiving new flooring, clean out an unused nursery at another church, and teach sign language to children at a special event at a church re-starting their ministry with children.

Think of SAM Sundays as a Great Day of Service, but on a Sunday afternoon. One or multiple projects invite people of all ages to serve together, using their hands and hearts to love extravagantly and witness boldly.

How are your family members serving together on mission this summer?

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” Galatians 5:13

From the moment he arrived in Jerusalem, everyone knew who was in charge. He organized, managed, supervised, encouraged, met opposition, confronted injustice, and kept going until the walls were built. Nehemiah was a man of action.

It is the desire of every Christian parent I know that their children would be devoted, resilient followers of Jesus. Since equipping disciple-makers is the central goal of the local church, these family leaders are my people and I want to help them build a family with faith in Jesus that is robust and a clear witness.

“I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down.” Nehemiah 6:3

One of the five core values of our church is Community-Based Discipleship and these classes, events, milestones, markers, and moments can be offered in developmentally appropriate ways. All of the resources we use come from a Biblical Worldview and with an apologetic lens. We are committed to watching over one another in love; we are transformed through accountable small group discipleship (class meetings) and offer groups for all ages and stages of life; churchwide spiritual formation events are offered to provide communal Christian growth experiences.

Studying the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, we discovered and put in place the following milestones, markers, and faith formation moments alongside the resources we’re using:
Preschoolers & Kindergarten – Bread & Juice Class, Dinosaur Party, Family Truck Party
Chapter 1 – Nehemiah is cupbearer to King Artaxerxes (1st grade: I Can Know Jesus)
Chapter 2 – Nehemiah purposed and intentional plan which ‘began this good work.’ 2:18 (2nd grade: I Can Trust & Obey Jesus)
Chapter 3 – Nehemiah organized the people. (3rd grade: I Can Pray and I Can Pray)
Chapter 4 – Nehemiah employed a strategy of defense to frustrate his enemies – prayer, encouragement, guard duty, consolidation. (4th grade: I Can Understand the Bible) “They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.” 4:8-9
“Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.” 4:13
Chapter 5 – Nehemiah confronted oppressors from within with a strategy of offense. He called them out for doing wrong and for doing good. (4th & 5th grade: I Can Serve – Ambassadors and I Can Be A Witness, Moving on Up to Middle School) Ambassador = a representative.
Chapter 6 – Nehemiah stood firm while facing constant distractions and God was faithful. (6th grade: Who Am I?)
Chapter 7 – Nehemiah appointed gatekeepers and guards. (7th/8th grades: Understanding Hard Questions: I Need Answers)
Chapters 8-9 – Ezra led the city in worship and Bible instruction in community. (8th/9th grades: Confirmation; A Financial Teaching for Teens through Ramsey Solutions or Crown Financial Resources)
Chapters 10-11 – Nehemiah staged for a reaffirmation of faith and religious revival as the people promised to serve God faithfully. (10th/11th grades: AGENTS for Christ – Ambassador; Gospel; Explore skills; Neighbor; Trust in the local church) Agent = a person who acts on behalf of another person or group.
Chapters 12-13 – Nehemiah dedicated the new wall of Jerusalem with a listing of the clans/families and their leaders. (12th grade: AGENT project such as Operation Christmas Child, a team member of a seasonal multigenerational event, he/she champions a special project & bridge to youth adults for high school seniors to join the young adult small groups/outings/activities)

End result: Nehemiah in action determined/purposed to be a person on whom God could depend on to act for Him in the world.

This is the basis for the Faith Milestones and Discipleship Pathway (resources in parentheses above) we’re staging for children and youth so that a disciple in action can determine and purpose in their actions and disciplines to be a person on whom God can depend to act for Him in the world. It complements and uses the same language as the discipleship pathway system for adults.

What are some of the resources you have found to provide a blueprint and intentional pathway for littles who will become bigs who disciple littles for a robust and resilient faith in Christ?

“Remember me, O my God, for good.” Nehemiah 13:31b