We had server issues last week, which is just so 2020. We are back online now. Don’t forget you can search on our site for past posts on ministry topics that interest you. You can also ask your children’s or teen ministry questions on our Facebook page. Here are this week’s social media challenges.
Monday: Great news! In spite of a server issue, we’ve been adding new content to our website. We’ve recently added new Living the Christian Life teen curriculum lessons. There are now three full free fifteen unit Christian life skills lessons you can use with teens and some older children. We’ve also uploaded about 175 new free activity ideas for children’s Bible lessons and two free new ministry ebooks during COVID. So go take a look around…there’s lots for you to see and use! www.teachonereachone.org
Tuesday: Remember the story of the fig tree that wasn’t producing fruit and what Jesus did to it? Just because the Bible class you normally teach may not be meeting, doesn’t mean you can’t still bare fruit. In fact, staying connected emotionally to your students may be key to the willingness of many families to return to Bible classes when they resume. Sending cards, notes, Bible activities or other small tokens can keep them connected to you. Try setting up a special Zoom Bible class on your own if your church isn’t sponsoring classes. You may only have a couple of kids attend, but it could change everything for them.
Wednesday: When was the last time you learned something new? When was the last time you read something that could help you make your Bible classes and ministry more effective? The best teachers are great learners, too. We have lots of free resources – including ebooks – designed to help you learn and grow. We’ve weeded our a lot of the fluff and boiled it down to the information we believe will help you the most. Take some time to learn something new. www.teachonereachone.org
Thursday: Are you afraid to teach your Bible students God’s truths fully, because Satan’s lies are more popular in our world? We all have a bit of that teen wanting to be popular inside of us. This piece of us wants to blend in and be seen as chic and the popular “kid”. Believing, following and teaching God’s often unpopular truths as truth puts that popularity at risk. That fear causes some Bible teachers to avoid discussing parts of God’s truths. Your Bible students need to learn and understand all of God’s truths…not just the ones about love and kindness. Otherwise, you could be putting their spiritual health at risk.
Friday: The debate in the musical My Fair Lady is whether or not a lady can be created by focusing on outward things like speech and clothing. We know from scripture, a Christian is made from the heart. Older kids and teens may have already figured out that showing the outward appearance of being a Christian can give them protection from criticism of a perhaps not so godly heart. As a Bible class teacher, you want to find ways to encourage them to share their hearts, but also focus their efforts on making their hearts right with God. If they can do that, those outward Christian things will come more naturally and organically as an outflow of their hearts, not as cover behaviors.