Monday, May 12, 2008

Build Community

The foundational components of our Sunday morning program for kids are (1) relevant, engaging Biblical content and (2) loving community. Kids face all kids of challenges in life – broken homes, financial uncertainty, and social pressure, to name of few. Security is a foreign concept to many kids.

Our dream is to create an environment where every child is treasured and valued, where every child is known and has the opportunity to know others, where every child is loved and has the opportunity to love others. That's where you come in.

As small group leaders, you are the glue that holds your small group together. Community doesn't just happen. You can facilitate community for your group by implementing a few ideas. I have already mentioned some of these in previous tips, but they warrant repeating because they are so important. (This list isn't exhaustive, but it's a great start.)

Ways to build community:
  1. Know your kids. Make it your goal to find out something new about each kid each week in your group. Start taking notes if you have trouble remembering what kids tell you.

  2. Ask follow-up questions about kids' lives. Once you find out what their hobbies are, ask about them from time to time. Once you find out if they are in any performances or games (music, drama, sports), ask how they did. Take a personal interest in each kid.

  3. Take advantage of free time. Be in The Reef or The Galaxy by 9:30 to spend unstructured time with your kids. This is a great time to get to know them.

  4. Establish rules of respect in the group so that when one person is talking, everyone else is listening.

  5. Encourage kids to pray for one another. One way to do this is to have every one write something they want prayer for on a slip of paper and then trade papers or put them in the center of the circl and everyone draws one out. Have them pray aloud for the person whose paper they go.

  6. Send your kids a postcard or note each month or whenever they miss or whenever they do something really great in small group. Getting a sincere note from a small group leader means more than you can imagine to a kid! A more communal idea is to write cards as a group to kids who have been gone for a couple weeks.

  7. Address the kids by name each week. Using someone’s name speaks volumes!

  8. Pray for your kids each week.
These are just a few ways you can facilitate community in your group. There are a ton of other ways. I encourage you to click the comment button below and share your ideas with other small group leaders.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Why "Eyes Wide Open"?

Since I started this blog, I’ve thought of posting things other than tips for small group leaders but haven’t ventured out. I’ve had ideas for postings, but have never sat down to write them. So, tonight I decided to break the ice and write my first non-tip post.

The biggest blog challenge for me was to come up with a name for the blog. I didn’t want to use my name – that would have been too boring. I didn’t want to give it a name that limited it to children’s ministry – that would have been too narrow. I wanted a name that was compelling and had significance, so I decided to look through my recent quiet time notes to see if anything piqued my interest. It didn’t take long for me to come across this quote from Isaiah 55, “Come to me with your eyes wide open. Listen, and you will find life.” (NLT)

That’s it! “Eyes Wide Open.” God is asking us to keep our eyes open to what He’s doing in our world, in our life, in the lives of those around us. When our eyes are open, we are attuned to Him. When our heart is far from Him, we can’t see what He’s up to. Isaiah 43:19 says, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”

The LAST thing I want is to have God doing a new thing in my life and the lives of those around me and miss it. I never want to be so myopic that I can’t see what God’s up to. I want to keep my eyes wide open in anticipation of seeing God at work.

After I decided on the title “Eyes Wide Open,” I wanted to include the verse in the explanation of the blog, but hadn’t written the number down. When I looked it up again, I realized that the phrase wasn’t “eyes wide open” at all. The verse is Isaiah 55:3 and it says, “Come to my with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life.” It was ears, not eyes! I had written it down wrong in my notes!

For a few seconds, I contemplated changing the name of the blog to “Ears Wide Open” but couldn’t bring myself to do it. It didn’t have the same ring. “Wide eyes” are more appealing than “wide ears.” Wide eyes communicate inquisitiveness; wide ears – well they just make me think of Dumbo. Cute as he may be, Dumbo doesn’t motivate me to live in anticipation of God showing up in my life.

Keep your eyes (and ears) wide open. Watch and listen, and you'll find life!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Pray

Praying for your small group may not sound like a very insightful tip, but it is actually the best advice I can give.

Four reasons it’s so important to pray for your small group:
  1. Prayer reminds you that you are utterly dependent on God.
    None of us, in our own strength, can change kids’ lives. Only God can do that. By constantly asking God for help, you remind yourself each week that this is God’s ministry and you are His tool.

  2. Prayer puts you in the right frame of mind each time you meet kids.
    Sundays can be hectic so we need to start the morning by focusing on God. Ask God to use you to show His love to kids. We often miss great opportunities to help kids see how amazing God is because we haven’t prayed and asked God to love kids through us.

  3. Prayer endears the kids to you.
    When you pray for a child in your group by name and ask God to deepen your love for that child, God will give you a desire to know that child better and love him or her more.

  4. Prayer increases your passion for ministry.
    Ministry has its ups and downs. It’s not always easy; it’s not always fun. However, as you pray for the kids in your group and pray for God’s help to lead well, God will strengthen your heart in the challenging times and increase your desire to make a difference in the lives of kids.
A few things to include in your prayers:
  1. Thank God for…
    • each kid in your group
    • the opportunity to lead your group
    • His help and strength

  2. Pray for each child in your group
    • that they will understand God’s love more and more
    • that they will make wise choices, treat others the way they want to be treated and trust God no matter what
    • any particular concerns you are aware of

  3. Pray for yourself
    • that God will give you love, patience and wisdom as you lead your group
    • that God will help you become an even better small group leader for the kids in your group
    • that God will use you to impact kids for eternity
Each Sunday dedicate the morning to God and ask Him to use it to draw kids to Himself. If you forget to pray for the kids in your group and your time with them, you are missing out on the best help you’ll ever get.