An aspect of ministry I really enjoy is working with children.
I was asked to take a Sunday School Class when I was only about twenty. I wasn’t sure back then if I even liked kids, but discovered I did and have had a ball ever since!
Not just in church on Sunday or in youth organisations but I’m privileged to visit our local Primary School once a month to take Assembly.
I take along the guitar and we do a few choruses. Lively ones where we get to shout and do actions are always popular, though it’s hard to beat classics like ‘Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so’.
I’ll usually read a Bible story from the Beginner’s Bible, trying to make it simple enough for the P1s but also relevant for the savvy 11 yr-olds. David beating the giant bully Goliath is one we can really dramatize and relate to!
I sometimes pretend to forget the names to see who’s listening. ‘Now what’s this his name was – Danny?....Donald?...’ ‘DAVID!!!’ the children will roar.
Before I finish I’ll say a prayer, thanking God for all the good things we’re given to enjoy and asking Him to guide and bless the boys and girls and their Teachers and Classroom Assistants, not forgetting our homes and families. It’s lovely how the children join in the singing with enthusiasm, listen eagerly and help me finish the prayer with a loud ‘A-men’!
Matthew records how on one occasion some children were being a bit noisy in the Temple area in Jerusalem and some officials wanted to put them out but Jesus defended them. On a previous occasion He had said little children were ‘greatest in the kingdom of heaven’ and that grownups need to change and become more open and trusting like young children. On another He used a fascinating expression suggesting the children’s prayers get special, angelic priority with their heavenly Father.
This time Jesus answered the critics by quoting from the Old Testament, Ps8:
‘From the lips of little children (God) has ordained praise’.
Something God has ‘ordained’ means something He has established, something that pleases Him. And when God is pleased He generously pours out His blessings.
What a wonderful thought, that as these children praise God, listen to His Word and seek His help in prayer it invites blessing into their classrooms and into our wider community as well!
I was asked to take a Sunday School Class when I was only about twenty. I wasn’t sure back then if I even liked kids, but discovered I did and have had a ball ever since!
Not just in church on Sunday or in youth organisations but I’m privileged to visit our local Primary School once a month to take Assembly.
I take along the guitar and we do a few choruses. Lively ones where we get to shout and do actions are always popular, though it’s hard to beat classics like ‘Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so’.
I’ll usually read a Bible story from the Beginner’s Bible, trying to make it simple enough for the P1s but also relevant for the savvy 11 yr-olds. David beating the giant bully Goliath is one we can really dramatize and relate to!
I sometimes pretend to forget the names to see who’s listening. ‘Now what’s this his name was – Danny?....Donald?...’ ‘DAVID!!!’ the children will roar.
Before I finish I’ll say a prayer, thanking God for all the good things we’re given to enjoy and asking Him to guide and bless the boys and girls and their Teachers and Classroom Assistants, not forgetting our homes and families. It’s lovely how the children join in the singing with enthusiasm, listen eagerly and help me finish the prayer with a loud ‘A-men’!
Matthew records how on one occasion some children were being a bit noisy in the Temple area in Jerusalem and some officials wanted to put them out but Jesus defended them. On a previous occasion He had said little children were ‘greatest in the kingdom of heaven’ and that grownups need to change and become more open and trusting like young children. On another He used a fascinating expression suggesting the children’s prayers get special, angelic priority with their heavenly Father.
This time Jesus answered the critics by quoting from the Old Testament, Ps8:
‘From the lips of little children (God) has ordained praise’.
Something God has ‘ordained’ means something He has established, something that pleases Him. And when God is pleased He generously pours out His blessings.
What a wonderful thought, that as these children praise God, listen to His Word and seek His help in prayer it invites blessing into their classrooms and into our wider community as well!
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