How Grandparents Can Leave a Legacy

LeCrae is an award-winning artist who is making an impact in the lives of young people around the world. Recently, I was watching him share his story and was reminded of the impact grandparents can have in the life of their grandchildren.  He starts by saying this.  

"I remember when I was 17 and a lady asked me, 'Are you saved?'  I didn't have any idea what she meant.  What is 'saved?'  The best thing I could think through was maybe she means, 'Am I like my grandmother?'"

Soon his grandmother's prayers would be answered as LeCrae found Christ and his life was transformed.  This is an example of the power of a grandparent’s legacy. The compound spiritual influence of a parent and grandparent in the life of a young person can be profound.

At the time of this writing, there are over 4.9 million children being raised by a grandparent in the United States.  Grandparents need our support and prayers as they invest in their grandchildren.

Here are five questions you can ask to help grandparents navigate raising and influencing their grandchildren.

1. How can you leverage the spiritual influence you have as a grandparent in the life of your grandchild?

2. How can you be more intentional about being involved in your grandchild's spiritual milestones?

3. How can you serve in your grandchild's environment at church?

4. How can we connect our Children's Ministry to our Senior Adult Ministry in our church?

5. What tools and resources can I use to help disciple my grandchildren?

For faith to continue through the generations of a family, there must be a passing down of that faith.  Parents' role is to pass down the faith to their children who will in turn pass it down to their children who will in turn pass it down to their children.  And so faith can thrive from generation to generation. There is a great example of this found in Scripture. 

"I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also."   2 Timothy 1:5

In this passage, we see faith was passed down through three generations.  Lois the grandmother, Eunice the mother and Timothy the son. We must remember that we teach what we know, but we produce what we are. I can guarantee you something.  Lois and Eunice lived their faith out.  As Timothy saw his grandmother and mother living out their faith, he was compelled to also possess this faith and live His life in accordance with it.

This doesn't mean grandparents and parents must be perfect to be a conduit of faith.  But it does mean that when we sin or our talk doesn't match our walk, then our kids and grandkids see us humbly admit our failure and ask God for forgiveness.

Be encouraged grandparents, even if you haven't been an example of sincere faith for your kids up to this point, you can start today.  Get with God. Ask Him to forgive you and help you be a faith example your grandchildren can follow.

No matter what your "faith passing down" situation has been up to this point, God offers you forgiveness and a fresh start.  He can use you to pass along a sincere faith starting today...right now.  Just admit to Him your failures and watch as He infuses you with a fresh faith that can change not only your life, but your grandchildren’s lives as well.

This is an excerpt from my latest book - Legacy...leave your mark on this world.  

You can get your copy of the book at this link. 

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How to Empower Kids to Share Their Faith

All believers are commanded by Jesus to share their faith. 

"Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation." Mark 16:15 

This includes kiddos as well.  They are to take the Gospel to their world. 

Our job as teachers, leaders, and parents is to equip and empower kids to share their faith. 

We are to help them see why they should actively be sharing their faith and then giving them the training and tools they need to share. 

Let's talk about how we can help kids share their faith.  

Teach them why they should be sharing their faith.

As stated above, we are called to share our faith with others. You can't spell Gospel without GO. 2/3rds of God's name is GO. Give kids a solid foundation to stand on so they are sharing from the overflow. Our lessons should teach kids why it is so important to share their faith. 

Model a life of praying for those who don't know Jesus. 

Lead kids in praying for their lost family members, friends, and others they come in contact with.

Help kids develop a list of people they are praying for.  Help them see the vital part that prayer plays in reaching others with the Gospel.  

Help kids see that sharing their faith will help their own faith grow. 

We often look for ways that we can use to measure children's spiritual growth.

One big indicator is seeing kids share their faith with others. When you are actively sharing your faith, it ignites your own spiritual growth.  

Give them tools they can use to share their faith.

It is crucial that you train kids how to share their faith and give them tools they can use for this. 

In my teaching series "The Blab Lab" I give kids four tools they can use to share their faith. These tools are highly effective and can instantly equip kids to share their faith. You can get more information at this link.

Provide them with opportunities to share their faith. 

Mission trips.  Local outreach.  Evangelistic opportunities. 

Here's an example. At one of the churches where I served, we had access to an ice cream truck.  I trained a group of kids to share their faith. We would go into neighborhoods and give out free ice cream. As the kids were eating their ice cream, the kids from our church would share the Gospel with them. We were able to reach several kids by doing this. 

Motivate them to share their faith. 

Get kids excited about the power of the Gospel and the privilege they have to share it with other kids. 

As I mentioned above, I created a teaching series that trained kids to share their faith and gives them tools to do this. One of the girls got so excited about sharing her faith that she took one of the tools with her to school. Her class was having show n' tell that day. When it came her turn to share, she boldly stood in front of the class and used the Gospel tool to share her faith with her entire class and her teacher.  Get kids excited about the Gospel and they will become bold in sharing it. 

Teach parents how to share their faith.

One of the best ways to empower kids to share their faith is by their parents modeling this.  Teach parents how to share their faith and they can then pass this along to their children by their example. 

Recently at the church where I serve as children's pastor, we took a Saturday morning and went into the neighborhoods near our church. We went door to door, leaving invites to church and praying for people.  It was awesome watching some kids and their parents doing this together.  

Empower parents so they can empower their children to share the Gospel. 

I believe God can use children in an amazing way to reach people for Christ.  

Tell them why we share the Gospel.

Equip them to share the Gospel. 

Empower them to share the Gospel.

Provide them opportunities to share the Gospel. 

Empower parents so they can empower their children to share the Gospel. 

Motivate children to share the Gospel. 

Watch what God does when you do this. 

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Help Families Make Church Attendance a Priority

I'm sure you've noticed. Families are attending church less frequently. In most churches, the average family attends once or twice a month or even less. 

You are not alone in this pattern. This is happening across the country. 

As a kid growing up in church, we had an attendance chart in our Sunday school room. Each Sunday we were there, we got a star put on the attendance chart. The goal was to have perfect attendance.  Most kids in the class would only miss perfect attendance by a star or two and many would have perfect attendance for the year.

If you had an attendance board today, there would probably be lots of missing stars. 

There are lots of contributing factors for this. But I believe it all boils down to one thing. 

Priorities. 

Some thoughts about this. 

If something is a priority for your family, you will make time for it. 

Your calendar reveals your priorities.

Where you are on Sunday morning reveals your priorities.

The solution for misdirected priorities?

Help families make church attendance a priority. 

How are you going to make this happen?

By making them feel guilty? 

By teaching against playing sports on Sunday mornings?

By calling them out? 

Not so sure this will work in a healthy manner.

Instead, how about encouraging them to take the long look. Where do they want their children to be spiritually in 5 years?

Instead, how about casting vision for the positive spiritual impact consistent church attendance can have?

Instead, how about calling them up instead of calling them out.  In other words, replace guilt with the opportunity they have to help their kids' faith grow and flourish. 

Another thought...if you are going to see this happen, then you have to influence parents. You must shift from seeing your ministry being all about kids to being all about kids and parents. 

How can you influence parents?  One key time you can influence parents is during milestone opportunities.

Here's an example. Parent and Child Dedication. What if you attached a class to the dedication that parents attended? In this class, you spent 15 minutes explaining the why and what of the dedication and then spent 30 minutes on helping them look down the road spiritually and setting their priorities based on that (you can get more information about this class and order it at this link). 

I have found from experience that if you can help young parents catch this vision, it will help them have the right priorities when their kids get older and sports and other extra curricula activities on Sunday morning come calling.

You can also help families be more consistent in their church attendance by making church an irresistible environment for kids.  Create experiences for kids that have them dragging their parents to church. Kids often have a lot of influence on their parents when it comes to church attendance. 

Encourage your pastor to preach about priorities and church attendance on a regular basis.  Help him see the impact it can have on families getting their priorities lined up with God's plan for families.  Matthew 6:33 is a great place to start when it comes to family priorities.

Get families involved in serving. The most consistent attendees in your church are people who are serving. Serving is essential in helping families line up their priorities in the right order.  Provide opportunities for families to serve together. Here's an example. Have parents and their children serve together as greeters. 

Help parents seize the short window of opportunity.  Help them see that they only have so many weeks to see their kids discipled before they are grown and on their own.  

They only have a newborn for 52 weeks.

They only have a toddler for 104 weeks.

They only have a preschooler for 104 weeks.

They only have a school age child for 364 weeks.

They only have a teenager for 312 weeks. 

Who knows...maybe we need to bring back the attendance board with stars on it. 

Whatever it takes and however you do it, help families make church attendance a priority.

p.s. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject. You can share in the comment section below. 

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Why Your Kids' Lessons Must Be Interactive

Let's face the reality. Today's kids are not going to sit and listen to someone drone on and on and on. If you teach kids, you know this.  

Kids are wired to move. They are wired to get involved. They are wired to play. They are wired to squirm.  They are wired to interact. 

But we often revert back to teaching methods that require kids to sit still and be quiet. 

Why? Because it's easier. Because it takes less prep time. Because it's what we grew up with and are familiar with. 

But can I let you in on a little secret? You may already know this because you've experienced it.  I am often amazed how the kids that talked during the lesson, moved around during the lesson, and got distracted during the lesson, know all of the review questions that I ask.  I'm thinking to myself, "I can't believe this kid actually got what I was teaching."

You see...you have two options...you can force kids to sit still and be quiet or you can align with how they are wired and use interactive lessons that will capture and retain the attention of today's kids.

A passive learning experience isn't going to get you the results you want. It's time to use content that requires active engagement. 

The children's entertainment industry understands this. A growing number of companies are starting to  create interactive TV.  This enables kids to pick their own adventures and engage with how they consume and learn best. Kids are able to tap their screen and choose what happens next in the story. 

Interactive TV is just starting to catch on but is expected to grow to a $39.8 billion dollar industry by 2032.  Producers are creating episodes that let children choose what they want to see next at key points in the episode.

In the game Disney Channel Besties, kids can choose which friends from various Disney Channel shows they want to see, and then watch clips featuring those characters. And in Paramount’s interactive trailer for Sonic The Hedgehog 2, kids can choose their favorite character and make decisions for them. 

Another example is the preschool series Mixmups that lets kids personalize how they watch the show, including lowering background noise, simplifying the visuals, and adding content to enhance comprehension.

DreamFlare is a San Francisco based streaming company that is using interactive content as well. Rob Bralver, creative director and co-founder said, "We're in a new frontier of entertainment where you're not just sitting and passively watching." 

Successfully communicating with kids is done through interactivity...now and in the future.  Today's kids are expecting to be able to interact with their content.  That includes the content you are sharing with them at church.

It has been proven that interactive classrooms perform better on measures of student learning. One meta-analysis found that in STEM classrooms with “active learning,” broadly defined, student exam scores improved by about six percent.  It has also been proven that the most effective teachers only lecture 20% of the teaching time. Take a look at the next lesson you are presenting.  How much of it is lecture-based?  You can immediately become more effective if you use more interaction in your lesson.

There are lots of ways you can make your lessons interactive. Here are a few ideas.

Pose a question, have students think individually, discuss with a partner, and share with the class. 

Use interactive games.

Have kids act out the Bible story you are telling.

Movement - use "Four Corners" to make students move to different areas of the room based on their opinion.

Have kids repeat Bible verses, key words, and key points after you. 

Break your lesson up - use short "chunking" methods, alternating brief instruction with quick 2-minute activities.

Use videos that interact with kids in real-time. The person in the video asks a question and then pauses to let the kids respond.  The kids' show Blue's Clues was build on this premise.  It is considered by experts to be one of the most effective shows ever produced to get kids involved and interacting.

Let kids read the verses you are teaching instead of you reading them. 

Provide chalk or a soft toy; whoever has it must answer your next question, and they pass it on to the person of their choice. 

Write questions or prompts onto all surfaces of a beach ball (or tape them on). When the next student catches the ball, he/she answers one of the questions where fingers are touching the ball. 

While you are teaching, have the kids draw pictures of what you are saying. 

Rock Paper Scissors break – kids pair off and play. Let the winners answer some review questions.

Balloon Bust - divide the kids into groups. Give each group a balloon with a discussion question inside the balloon. At your signal, have the groups pop their balloons and discuss the question inside.

Press Conference – Have a kid stand behind a table like a press conference. The other kids can ask him or her questions about the lesson that was taught.

The key to effective teaching is to see yourself as a facilitator rather than a lecturer. Check out this article I wrote about this.

If you're looking for curriculum that gets kids interacting throughout the lesson, then check out Connect12. It's one year's worth of curriculum. Curriculum that is grounded in teaching kids 12 Biblical truths in 12 months. You'll see a big element we've included in the curriculum is lots and lots of time for interaction. You can get more information at this link and see lesson samples, videos, etc. 

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