Tips for Children’s Ministry | Part 5 | Give Them The Opportunity To Be Saved
We HAVE to have a move of God in our classrooms frequently. They need to feel the power of God. As much as I enjoy being silly and having lots of fun, if you do not provide the kids with an opportunity to feel God, you are missing the whole point of Sunday school. All of the fun, excitement and creativity is just window dressing or gift wrapping paper for the real thing which is them getting the Holy Ghost and living for God. Try to make a time every single Sunday to really welcome the spirit of God into your class. Encourage the kids to pray.
Make Sunday School more than just a Sunday morning thing. We have started an “adopt a bus kid” program that has worked out VERY well. We encouraged each bus worker to “connect” with one of the bus kids and to bring them to other services besides Sunday morning. They were completely responsible for getting them to the church in their own or their parents’ vehicle and for taking care of them the entire service including praying with them in the altars. This connection and exposure to our church in a different setting than Sunday School had unbelievable results and we have seen MANY kids get the Holy Ghost because of this.
God can do anything during class time BUT it can be tough to cultivate a Holy Ghost climate in a typical classroom atmosphere. This is why special services such as children’s church, Holy Ghost rallies and bringing them to regular church services is so important.
We teach them in Sunday School ABOUT the Holy Ghost, what it is and how you know you have received it. We explain everything about it including repentance and baptism in Jesus name so when they get the opportunity to receive it, they are COMPLETELY ready for it. We also use class time to teach them about prayer and worship and the other things that they will be exposed to in our services so there are no surprises.
Don’t frighten the child into salvation by dwelling on hell or with other similar tactics. It is not a good idea to pressure them into making a decision to live for God. Let God do His perfect work in their lives.
If you have a minister in your church or even a visiting evangelist that connects well with your Sunday school kids set up a Holy Ghost service. The whole focus of this service can be to create an atmosphere for the kids to feel the presence of God and to receive the Holy Ghost. There is another section on this website about children’s church so I will not go into too much detail here but you need to engage the kids right off the bat or something fun and then gradually narrow the focus of the service until at the end it is just between them and God. Do your best to separate those that are sincere from those that want to goof around by sending out the spectators. Have as many good altar workers available as possible to help pray the kids through to the Holy Ghost.
Visiting in the home after a student has received the Holy Ghost is very important!
- Always have someone go home with them after they have received the Holy Ghost. Do not let them go home alone.
- If you do not know anyone in the home, introduce yourself. “Hello, I’m Bobby’s Sunday school teacher.”
- Set them at ease at once.They may think your visit is because something terrible has happened today because of their son/daughter!“
Mr. Jones, a great thing has happened today in our Sunday school class, and I knew that you would want to be the first to know and Bobby sure wanted you to know. You see, Mr. Jones, Bobby received the gift of the Holy Ghost today just like the Bible explains we can receive it.” (You are setting the stage for Home Bible Studies, future visits, Bobby continuing to go to Sunday school and church, and a friendship with the family.)
- A great thing has happened today. You are removing any doubt about the Holy Ghost not being great and important. Just like the Bible explains.
- You are including the family in this experience.You are not separating them from their son. This is a big key—the church is here to bring families together, not to separate them.
- You did not wait for another day or time to visit the family.You were not too busy for them. Even though they do not come to church, you included them in a church activity.
- Here again is the opportunity to speak about a Home Bible Study in their home.
“I’m sure you would like to know more about what has happened and this wonderful gift that Bobby just received. I felt you also would want to be a part of this,to encourage him in this new step he has just taken today. We have a wonderful Home Bible Study that we give right in the privacy of your own home. The family together can learn about this wonderful gift that Bobby has received, and also how the Bible fits into our lives today. I know that it would be a real help to Bobby to have this extra time each week to continue to study the Bible.”
(Use the words “extra time” to let them know that we expect Bobby back next Sunday.)
Once several kids have received the Holy Ghost you can have a baptism Sunday where all the kids get a chance to be baptized if they have received the Holy Ghost and to SEE it if they have not. We had a situation where many of our Sunday school kids received the Holy Ghost but had not been baptized. Due to requiring the permission of their parent or guardian it was very difficult to get this taken care of especially for those that only came on Sunday mornings. To help with this we scheduled a baptism Sunday and for several weeks beforehand we talked to the families of the kids that had receive the Holy Ghost and explained the importance of Jesus name baptism. We invited them to come and join us for this exciting occasion.
When the day arrived we took all of the classes into the main sanctuary and had all of the kids that had received the Holy Ghost and had signed permission slips from their parents or guardians be baptized. The rest of their class and the relatives of the kids were able to see it happen. It really was a great time.
Periodically ask the parents of your students if they would like to find out more about what your kids are learning in Sunday School? This is a great segue into setting up a home Bible study.
A teacher must understand that teaching is more than 1 hour a week. It will take many hours of preparation, prayer, and visitation to make the class what God would have it to be.
PRAY FOR YOUR KIDS! Have a list of the kids that attend your class and pray over each one of them at least once per week.
Part 1 – Have a Burden For Your Students
Part 2 – Get More Kids To Come To Sunday School
Part 3 – Make Them Want To Come Back
Part 4 – Teach Them How To Be Saved
Part 5 – Give Them the Opportunity to be Saved
Part 6 – Disciple Them Until They Get it For Themselves