CentriKid

2014

Christmas Games for your Ministry

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Amidst all the Christmas parties you are attending, planning, and skipping, you are inevitably charged with creating Christmas fun in your kids ministry. These Christmas games are fun, but they are built in a way to create a spiritual application. Your Christmas party will be a success with lots of fun and lessons will be taught through these games.

  • Candy Wrap Relay: open kisses using oven mitts in a relay fashion.
    • Prepare: Set of oven mitts and bowl of Hersey Kiss© for teams of 4-5 kids .
    • Share: Although opening a Hersey Kiss© with oven mitts on is difficult it can be done. In the same way before Christmas and before Jesus came to the Earth it was still possible but difficult for people to have a relationship with God. Unfortunately, it was very difficult. Jews had to practice the law, sacrifice animals for their sins, and worship God in very specific ways. However, Jesus coming to Earth, living a perfect life, dying for our sins, and resurrecting from the grave made having a relationship with God more accessible like taking off your mitts. Jesus did the work, Jesus made a clear way for us to have a relationship, and his life on earth began at Christmas in a manager.
  • Santa’s Beard: this is a stage game option. One kid gets petroleum jelly put on their face and another kid tries to throw cotton balls on their partner’s face to make a beard.
    • Prepare: Petroleum jelly and bag of cotton balls for each pair. Create lines of stage of where they have to stand. A good distance could be 5 feet away.
    • Share: Putting Santa’s beard on someone can make them look like a man. Jesus himself would have had a beard as a Jewish man. In fact it was key to our salvation that Jesus would come to the earth as a man. We needed him to be able to die as sacrifice for our sins. His birth on earth, which is celebrate at Christmas, is a huge part of our salvation plan.
  • Frozen: melt an ice cube fastest without throwing it on the ground.
    • Prepare: Ice trays with enough ice cubes for every kid to get a cube of ice. Consider freezing a item for kids to have to retrieve.
    • Share: When Christ came to earth most people, especially His people, had very hard cold hearts just like our ice cube. But God had already promised to those who would believe, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will remove your heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). Although some people would continue to have hard hearts, Jesus would melt away the heart of others and warm them to himself through a relationship.

We love the celebration of Christmas, and even more we love to use it as a teachable moment in our kids ministry. Take the next step whenever planning your Christmas fun and make a connection to biblical truths your kids need to hear.

Remember the simple things

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Emerson said, “good manners are made up of petty sacrifices”. This quote was found in my recent read of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. Copyright 1936, this book has been in circulation for a long time. The examples are dated, but it brought the simple ways to be influential to life. Here are some of my favorite techniques Carnegie outlines in his book.

  • If you want honey don’t kick over the beehive.
    • It may be a kid in your ministry, a volunteer, or your supervisor and you have some expectation of them they are not delivering. Be cautious in your approach to elicit your desired action. The big warning is to never criticize someone. In fact Carnegie says, “realize that criticism are like homing pigeons they always return home.”
  • Give honest and sincere appreciation
    • There is a difference in appreciation and flattery, which is, “flattery is telling the other person precisely what he thinks of himself.” Appreciation on the other hand is sincere and honest. You are not saying what you know the other person wants to hear, unless it is true. This does not take a lot of effort, and it is fun to celebrate what makes people great.
  • Become genuinely interested in people
    • “You can make more friends in two months by becoming genuinely interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” This one struck a chord in me. Especially when I first meet people.
  • Smile
    • Carnegie tells a story of a wealthy woman, who spent lost of money on her clothes trying to impress people at a dinner party, but “she didn’t realize what everyone knows: namely, that the expression one wears on one’s face is far more important than the clothes one wears on one’s back.” A smile warms everything. It is disarming, natural, and inclusive. Without words you can make a person’s walls come down.

This is a short list of many great tips Carnegie produces in his classic. I suggest you pick it up for a quick read. Ultimately, what I took from this book was to honor and remember the simple things. We have all sorts of models and theories on how to maximize a business or improve your ministry, but at a fundamental level you will fail if you fall short here.

CentriKid 2014 Ministry Results

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In 2014, we spent the summer at CentriKid Camps studying about a God who redeems. We learned that God has had a plan to redeem His people since the beginning of time. He reaches down to redeem us, even when we are helpless. In the same way that God rescued the Israelites from captivity in Egypt, God rescues us from the captivity of our sin. God’s redeeming work was completed through the birth, perfect life, substitutionary death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and because Jesus is still alive today, we can trust Him to reconcile us to the Father. God restores His children for a purpose, and He reaches out through us as we seek to share with others about the redeeming work of Christ.

Israel, put your hope in the Lord. For there is faithful love with the Lord, and with Him is redemption in abundance. Psalm 130:7

As campers and adults encountered the truth about God’s redeeming love, hundreds of participants made salvation decisions, and many more made milestone decisions to follow Jesus more closely. We are so humbled by the way that God continues to work through the ministry of camp, and we invite you to celebrate with us as we reflect on all the things God did during the summer of 2014. For a full report, check out our ministry results page.

14 Ministry Results blog post

We are already well underway for CentriKid 2015, and we hope that you’ll join us as we explore our theme — FIT: Faith in Training! Be sure to check our blog regularly for more exciting updates.

 

Thank You for Joining Us at CentriKid Camps

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Thank you for joining us at CentriKid this summer and giving us the chance to serve your groups through the ministry of camp. We had a ton of fun, and we hope all the kids and adults did, too! More than simply hanging out and having fun, though, my hope is that you were impacted by God’s plan of redemption for your life.

We hope to see you back next summer for another great experience at camp! I believe that summer camp is a milestone in the life of a child that can help with spiritual growth long after the experience at camp ends. My life has been changed by camp ministry, and I know that God continues to work through church leaders and staffers in a unique way to impact kids for eternity.

7 Ways to Show Kids in Your Ministry Love on Valentine’s Day

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I got assigned the Valentines Day post this year, because out of all our office team I am the Myers Briggs “feeler”. I am known as the one who at times leads with the heart instead of the head. So with great joy and love this feeler is putting forth 7 ways to show your kids in your ministry love on Valentine’s Day.

1. Parents Date Night
Friday is coming quick, you need a few last minute volunteers. This could be super popular to your parents, who are looking for a sitter. In return for your night of service you get a night to build relationships with your group.
2. Visit your Kids at their Elementary School
This is not always possible or if possible not always easy, but eating lunch could go a long way with your kids.
3. Write Individualized Valentines Grams
This is tough for big groups. However, everyone loves to hear the things people love about them. This can serve as your opportunity to let them know you listen to them.
4. Play Their Favorite Game
Are you ever bugged to play one particular game? Treat your kids to this game. They will be so excited they will forget it was Valentines Day, but you can remind them afterwards that is why they got to play it.
5. Do something out of the ordinary JUST FOR THEM
Pie in the face. It is just a suggestion, but the idea is to break up routine and do something that you kids will think is so fun and so hilarious. Maybe they can make the pies out of whipped cream and Sweethearts.
6. Buy Flowers to give to each of your kids
Make sure you can give one to every kid. You don’t have to make a big deal of it, but they can take it with them after the service. Now they have a present and kids love presents.
7. Show Love by Demonstrating Selfless Love
Figure out a way you can incorporate your kids in a service project. Maybe you can plant flower bulbs outside the church for the spring or go visit an assisted living community. Show your kids love very practically by showing them how to love others selflessly.

How do you show your children’s ministry the ultimate act of love? This takes creativity, intentionality, and customization. I cannot provide a perfect formula describing how to love your kids in the way they need. As a feeling expert I know that you need to be authentic and show your kids love in the way you speak love and in the way they need love.