CentriKid

Resources

Sharing the gospel – Training Session

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Many adult leaders have asked about how we train CentriKid staffers to share the gospel with kids at camp.  The training session below is designed to help a kids ministry leader train parents, volunteers, and other workers to be ready for intentional gospel-centered conversations with kids.

Download the free Training Plan and prepare for your next training session:

With this training session, we are opening up the playbook and equipping kids ministry leaders to train their volunteers with the same materials and plan that we use to train CentriKid staffers. Thousands of adult leaders experienced this training session at camp in 2018 and we hope this resource is valuable for many more to be trained for sharing the gospel with kids.

Free Gospel Poster Download!

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Sharing the Gospel with kids is something we are very intentional about at CentriKid Camps. We’ve used this poster in Bible Study as a visual aid to help communicate the Gospel with kids clearly.

1. God Rules. The Bible tells us God created everything, including you and me, and He is in charge of everything.
Scripture – Genesis 1:1, Revelation 4:11, Colossians 1:16-17

2. We Sinned. We all choose to disobey God. The Bible calls this sin. Sin separates us from God and deserves God’s punishment of death.
Scripture – Romans 3:23, 6:23

3. God Provided. God sent Jesus, the perfect solution to our sin problem, to rescue us from the punishment we deserve. It’s something we, as sinners, could never earn on our own. Jesus alone saves us.
Scripture – John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9

4. Jesus Gives. He lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again. Because Jesus gave up His life for us, we can be welcomed into God’s family for eternity.
Scripture – Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 3:18, Ephesians 2:8-9

5. We Respond. Believe in your heart that Jesus alone saves you through what He’s already done on the cross. Repent, turning from self and sin to Jesus. Tell God and others that your faith is in Jesus.
Scripture – John 14:6, Romans 10:9-10, 13

There can be much more to the conversation as a child asks questions about salvation, so LifeWay Kids has made available “The Gospel – God’s Plan for Me” booklets online, and we’ve got this poster you can download for free and use as a visual aid for your kids ministry classrooms or large group setting. We hope this can serve as a reference point for when you are sharing the Gospel with kids.

Click the thumbnail below to download a PDF of the poster!

Evaluating Your Kid Ministry

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It is always a great feeling when we know that our ministries are successful. Often times, we start to look at other ministries that we consider successful and want to model ours after theirs when we feel like ours aren’t up to par. What makes a ministry successful though?
It can be hard to think of ministry as a business; however, it is okay for ministries to work and operate by a business model. Incorporate a mission, values, and goals. It is a way to measure or evaluate the progress of a ministry. Are you working toward your goals? Are you holding true to your values? Are you planning around your mission?
When we step back and look at it this way, there will always be areas of concern and improvement. However, the best thing about working in a ministry is that God is sovereign and works in the lives of the kids – prevailing no matter what challenges we face. That is why we should never lose hope even if we feel like we aren’t making progress!

One of LifeWay’s Kid Ministry leaders, Brian Dembowczyk, gives six tips to keep in mind while evaluating your ministry in LifeWay Kids’ Kids Ministry 101 blog:

  •  Start with the end goal in mind. Sometimes a kids ministry is considered healthy if kids are attending and if they and their parents seem to be satisfied. Now, there is nothing at all wrong with those two measures, but they don’t give you the full picture of your ultimate goal of anchoring the gospel in your kids’ hearts. That end goal needs to drive how you evaluate every part of your kids ministry.
  • Focus on lead measures. A lead measure is something you can control that produces a result, also called a lag measure. So a lead measure would be inviting kids to an event and a corresponding lag measure would be attendance at the event. You can’t control people showing up, but you can control inviting people.
  • Evaluate objectively and subjectively. Analyze as many objective numbers as you can—they tell a story, but they don’t tell the full story. There is no way to quantify gospel transformation; a big part of it is qualitative, or subjective. Do you see the gospel sinking in? Do you see evidence of gospel transformation? Those are important evaluative considerations.
  • Strengthen what is going well. You probably know the strengths of your kids ministry before you even start evaluating it, but your evaluations should confirm them.
  • Fix what can go better. While you want to focus on your strengths, you don’t want to neglect the areas where you do need to improve. Figure out where you should be in these areas and why you aren’t there, and then come up with a plan to start moving that direction.
  • Scrap what isn’t working at all. As you evaluate your kids ministry, you may find that there are things that just aren’t working at all. Bathe these in prayer and once you confirm that they need to stop, stop them as quickly and gently as possible. Yes, this will be painful, but in the end your kids ministry will be better for it.

For more on this topic, check out Brian’s blog on Kid Ministry 101.

Unpack This Verse with Your Kids

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This past summer at CentriKid, we taught kids how the armor of God is real and powerful, although it is “Unseen!” On Day 4 of camp, we taught kids how God gives us unseen truth, strength, and peace, and equips us to live those out with “Visible Faith.” During worship that night, we unpacked Ephesians 6:16.

In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

You can unpack this verse with the kids in your ministry just like we did at camp using this kids ministry illustration!Luggage

Supplies needed:

  • a Bible
  • a large suitcase
  • several clean pairs of wacky socks
  • a toy shield
  • a Nerf gun with foam darts

Illustration:

Say: I want us to look at this verse in God’s word like we were examining a piece of luggage at the airport. I want us to think about each word and phrase to try and squeeze out of it everything the verse can teach us about our faith in Jesus. We will unpack this verse, while I unpack this suitcase! (pull items out of the suitcase one-by-one)

  1. Several pairs of socks. “In every situation…” Have your ever been told to take extra socks with you when you spent the night at your friends’ house or with you grandparents. No matter where you go, you need to take your visible faith with you. You need your faith in every situation. In every situation at home. In every situation at school. In every situation at your church, with your friends, and especially with those that might be your enemies. You need your faith in Jesus in every situation.
  2. A toy shield. “..take the shield of faith…”  We are encouraged to take hold of our visible shield of faith in every situation. A shield that we are able to feel secure behind. A shield used for protection. Our faith in Christ is our shield. Our faith in God is our shield. He is our protection. (Psalm 18:2; Psalm 18:30) It was also a symbol who you belonged to. The colors and images on the front of the shield explained which family you were part of and what commitments or loyalties you held. When you become a follower of Jesus, the Bible says you’ve been born again, made new, given a fresh start. And with that comes a new identity, a new family, a new allegiance to God. Our faith in Christ is a new allegiance, a new family, a place of protection and belonging. (Colossians 3:3)
  3. A Nerf gun and foam darts. “… with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Why do we need the shield of faith? These darts are things that tempt you to disobey God, to sin against Him. (Ex. To lie. To steal. To cheat on a test. To hurt other people with your words or actions.) Temptation, like these darts, can come out of nowhere. They fly at you when you are least expecting it. And before you know it, you’ve done something you really regret. We’ve all sinned and all have fallen short. We’ve all messed up and all made mistakes, big ones and little ones. We’ve all done things that we really regret and wished we’d never done. This is why we need the gospel of Jesus!

We hope that you’ll use this easy illustration with the kids in your ministry to clearly illustration Ephesians 6:13! Let us know how it goes by emailing centrikid@lifeway.com!

TBT: Unseen Theme Series

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This past summer, we LOVED teaching kids about how the armor of God is real and powerful, although it us unseen. Hundreds of kids made life-changing decisions because of what God did at camp. One of our favorite parts of camp was the Unseen Theme Series: an awesome video series that illustrated the main points of each day!

In the Unseen Theme Series, we followed the story of Chris as she prepared to meet her cousin, Avery, who she knows is not a Christian. Through the help of a new friend Jan, she learns that the armor of God is powerful and can give her the strength, peace, and truth she needs to boldly share her faith with her cousin.

Check out the 2016 CentriKid Unseen Theme Series below! Let us know what you think!

We hope you plan to join us next summer! You can find our dates and locations here and register online, or register at 1-877-CAMP-123.