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Giving Children’s Sermons: Crush It with These 6 Astoundingly Simple Tips

Alissa Ellett 2 Comments

I have a confession. I never loved giving children’s sermons. If you’re like me, you’ve seen (and probably even given) too many boring, fluffy or confusing ones. When I was still working in church ministry I advocated for doing away with them. But, I knew there had to be a better way to give children’s sermons. And there is! If you’re already using our super easy, low-prep Illustrated Children’s Moments you know the power of simply inviting children into the narrative of scripture. And maybe now you’re looking for a way to step up your game, feel more confident and have more fun while giving children’s sermons. So, we’ve put together a list of six tips that will help you do just that!

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Would you like a free Illustrated Children’s Moment from us CLICK HERE to download a FREE PDF that includes one of our Illustrated Children’s Moments. If you’d like to use it and try it out in worship, the children’s moment illustration is based on the RCL Hebrew Scripture passage for January 21, 2018.

Easy Prep for Amazing Children’s Sermons

One of my professors in seminary used to advise us against using steering wheel curricula. You know, the kind you can just open for the first time and read on your steering wheel while driving to church? So, let’s be clear. Low-prep doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter if you prepare. We’re all busy. But putting time and intention into your children’s sermons will make you feel more confident and deliver more to the children. So, how might you do this?

  • Read the lesson three days ahead. This is the only way to let your mind work on the lesson. First, it allows you time to become connected to the topic. Second, you give space for the Spirit to bring experiences into focus that may relate to the lesson. Third, if you’ll be printing your materials to use in your children’s sermon, do it now. Alternatively, if you’ll be using a device, be sure materials are downloaded and can be brought up without any glitch.

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  • Read the scripture before Sunday morning. It isn’t required that you read the scripture if you use our Illustrated Children’s Moments materials. However, your delivery of the lesson will only be improved if you have read and understood the scripture you’re teaching about. First, a few days before, read the scripture. Next, learn what was happening at the time when the community of faith would have been hearing this text.
  • Meditate and make associations of your own. So, you’ve read the scripture and understand some of its context. Now, ask yourself what stands out to you and what questions you have. This allows you to connect authentically to the text as well as to the process of discovery into which you’re inviting the children.
  • Invite other adults to get involved. A great way to engage the children’s attention is to rotate adults who give children’s sermons in worship. Additionally, this fosters intergenerational relationships within a faith community. And it offers you time for other demands and/or a break so you can remain excited about doing this part of your job.

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Considering the Children During Children’s Sermons

Giving children’s sermons can feel like an obligation to fulfill every Sunday morning. But, they don’t have to. They can provide a great opportunity to connect with children and teach them about God. In order to do that, we need to know them and their needs. And we must see them as an integral part of our faith community.

  • Target an age group. The fact is you aren’t going to be able to reach every child at their developmental level every week. This is partially because there simply isn’t much time. So, as you prepare, decide what age you’ll aim to connect to that Sunday. Incorporate specific examples and use language that will be relevant to that age group. In effect, you’ll meet each age group more effectively during your children’s sermons this way than trying to reach them all.
  • Avoid putting the children on display. Placing children on display up in front of the church is one more way we make them an accessory to the community. However, they are the community of faith just as we all are. How might we rethink this? For the children’s sermons, try inviting the kids to sit in the first couple of pews facing forward rather than on the floor or stage facing the congregation. Additionally, invite adult participation. Ask the congregation questions, for example. Get creative. Lastly, not only does this show respect to the children, it’s often helpful in quelling some of the performance impulse children may have being up in front of the congregation.

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You’re in a unique role that allows you the distinct opportunity to dig your fingers into the soil of children’s lives and plant seeds of God’s love. These seeds grow almost imperceptively, adding over the course of a lifetime beauty, meaning, rootedness and depth to the lives of the young ones whom you serve. Blessings of joy and vision as you do this invaluable work.

We hope these tips help you prepare for amazing children’s sermons. And if you’ve got tips of your own, don’t forget to share them with the ICM community in the comments section!

Reading the Psalms with Kids and Why You’re Going to Want to Start

Alissa Ellett Leave a Comment

Reading Psalms with Kids

Reading the Psalms with kids offers a treasure trove of wonderful reflection and teaching. Maybe this is already something you’re already doing. And maybe you’ve never even considered it. Either way, we’re here to tell you why it’s awesome.

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Why Reading the Psalms with Kids Is Awesome

Reading the Psalms with kids exposes them to a wide range of human emotion. Those who penned the Psalms wrote from their hearts in all seasons of life. As a result, we read a wide range of emotional experience. Consequently, children learn to name their emotions, realize their emotions are normal and valuable and are encouraged to share them with God.

Reading the Psalms with kids teaches about prayer. Much of the book is what we might call a prayer journal to The Divine. This teaches children that praying to God is giving voice to our experiences and sharing them with God.  It doesn’t have to be perfect or sound right, just honest.

Reading the Psalms with kids encourages theological creativity. The Psalms name and describe The Divine in several ways. For example, the authors offer names such as Maker, Shepherd, Strength, Savior, shield, mother, hiding place, exceeding joy, guide, and many more. Consequently, children can learn to think beyond the language often codified in faith education. For even more, check out this feminine reading of the Psalms.

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Reading the Psalms with kids teaches about trust. The Psalms tell of the authors’ deep struggles and joys. In effect, we read of the way in which our spiritual ancestors trusted God in the midst of uncertainty and hardship. So, children have the opportunity to see how they can trust God during all the seasons of their lives.

Reading the Psalms with kids describes God’s faithfulness. Some of us go back and read our journals to see how God has been with us. In the same way, the Psalms show us how God was present at all times of the authors’ lives. As a result, it’s possible for children to begin looking for God’s faithfulness in their own lives.

Reading the Psalms with kids relates concretely to life. As children study the Psalms, reading of the authors’ experiences, they may be reminded of experiences they’ve had. Consequently, conversations about their own lives are possible. This gives us an opportunity to speak into their lives.

Reading the Psalms with Kids

Experiencing the Psalms in Color

Reading the Psalms with kids contains a journey into the heart and has the potential to open and deepen conversations about their lives. Are you hoping to invite your children to an even deeper experience of the Psalms? We’ve got you covered! Check out our brand new Psalms Coloring Posters here. We’re pretty excited about them, and we think you will be, too!

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PSALMS COLORING POSTERS? Download an informational PDF to read later or share with friends and colleagues by clicking here.

We hope this has inspired you in reading the Psalms with your children. Don’t forget to share what you love about the Psalms and how you’re reading them with your kids in the comments below.

An Illustrated Earth for Summer Sunday School & VBS

Adam Walker Cleaveland 2 Comments

As we discussed last week, many churches haven’t figured out the solution to the problem of summer Sunday School. Well, actually, there are many problems tied up in this one program:

  • Who will teach? Many churches want to give their teachers a well-deserved break from teaching, since many will do it throughout the school year. Many churches have their Christian Education hour during worship (which we are not fans of – but we know it’s a reality for so many churches), and so teachers enjoy having the chance to actually be in worship during the summer. And some churches believe they have a very small pool of potential teachers; if the regular teachers don’t teach in the summer, who will?
  • Who will come? Will anyone come? Everyone knows we’re not in the Field of Dreams-era of church and program life anymore. In the past, you could build a program, and the people would come. That’s simply not our reality anymore. Will young families come to worship in the summer? Some will. Some won’t. And it’s quite possible that even fewer will come if there are no options for their kids. Regardless of the theological implications, many parents covet those 45 minutes when their kids are in Sunday School and they get to feel like adults again, sitting in worship, singing, praying, and hearing a sermon.
  • What will we teach? So what do we teach in the summer if we’re going to go ahead and try it? Do we invest in expensive church curriculum, some that are over $300 just for the summer months, when we don’t have a guarantee of how many children will show up? How do I order pamphlets/lesson sheets for the children when we have no idea what our numbers are going to be?

It’s not an easy decision.

But…

Illustrated Ministry is trying to make that decision a little bit easier for you this summer with our new product, An Illustrated Earth: Celebrating God’s Creation.

An Illustrated Earth: Celebrating God’s Creation

Summer Sunday SchoolWe wanted to create a resource that could work for you in a variety of settings, with any number of children participating. We wanted it to be flexible, adaptable and fun. But more importantly – we wanted it to involve little to no prep time. With An Illustrated Earth, if you have children that show up for Sunday School, you will have a quality resource you can use to have a fun and engaging Sunday School class with them, and you won’t have had to put any time into the preparation of it. Likewise, if no one shows up next Sunday, you don’t feel frustrated or bitter, because you didn’t have to spend any prep time on the class, and so you can just save that lesson for next time.

An Illustrated Earth can be used throughout the entire summer as a summer Sunday School program. However, because of the way it is structured, it could also be used if you’re creating your own Vacation Bible School and are looking for content and activities. It could also be used as an intergenerational activity throughout the summer as well. There are many possibilities.

Below are a few details about An Illustrated Earth, but for all of the information, including a list of the stories that will be used, be sure to check out the product page for An Illustrated Earth: Celebrating God’s Creation.

Summer Sunday School Solution: An Illustrated Earth

An Illustrated Earth includes three modules of four lessons each. The theme is celebrating God’s Creation, and so you will find stories about creation, food, plants, water, and animals. Each lesson includes the following:

  • Opening Gathering Activity
  • Bible Story
  • Questions for reflection
  • Coloring (either small sheets or large posters)
  • Short prayer

Coloring Options: There will be a coloring component for each week (12 different designs), and you will have the option of just having kids color a small version, or order large coloring posters. The digital downloads of An Illustrated Earth‘s modules will come with 8.5×11 versions of the coloring designs. But you will also have the opportunity to purchase large 36″x24″ coloring posters as well. If you know you will have multiple classrooms, you may want to purchase more than one set of the posters, or make sure you also purchase the digital files so you can print more of them.

To learn all of the details about An Illustrated Earth, please be sure to check out the product page, which will include a listing of the Bible stories the curriculum focuses on, as well as to learn about the different ordering options for the resource. We are really excited to share this product with you, and we are confident this will be a very strong curriculum option for both churches that regularly have a summer Sunday School program, and for those who have been thinking about it, but haven’t yet figured out how to pull it off in their context.

Please Share!

We would love your help getting the word out about An Illustrated Earth. Please just take a few seconds and share about this on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks!

An Illustrated Earth is your summer Sunday School solution. This 3-module, 12-week curriculum celebrating God’s creation…

Posted by Illustrated Ministry on Tuesday, April 12, 2016

An Illustrated Earth is a new resource for summer Sunday School or VBS programs. 3 modules, 12 weeks and coloring! https://t.co/Ub66gtSv7u

— Children’s Ministry (@IllustratedCM) April 13, 2016

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