Our Family Ministry is starting to have an orange glow. Last week I wrote about Thinking with the end in mind, and outlined some end goals for Crossbridge’s Family Ministry. As we look toward where we would like to see our kids when they graduate high school, we outlined what we saw as both the role of the parents and the role of the church in moving our kids to that end goal.
A significant part of this plan is the message we are communicating. As a church, we have a limited chunk of time with our kids. The message we communicate and how well we communicate that message is important in this limited chunk of time is important. We believe our message matters.
With this in mind, we’ve narrowed our focus. We’ve developed a list of principles that we teach kids at different age levels. Our hope is that by narrowing the focus
- Kids at every age level will hear the message
- The message will be presented clearly.
- Our kids will remember the message
- Parents will know the message
- Our kids will live the message
Check them out—our teaching principles:
Preschool (Birth — Kindergarten)
- God made me
- God loves me
- Jesus wants to be my friend forever
Children (Kindergarten — 5th grade)
- I need to make wise choices
- I was made by God and for God
- I can trust God no matter what
- I am learning to love others the way Jesus loves me
Students (6th grade — 12th grade)
- I am created to pursue an authentic relationship with my creator
- I belong to Jesus Christ and define who I am by what he says
- I exist every day to demonstrate God’s love to a broken world
As a parent I am excited to have some focus and be on the same page as my church. I look forward to reinforcing these messages that we are hearing on the weekend to Zimri, Cason, and Fuller.