Why I'm pro having kids in the service...

On reading that title you’re probably either thinking: “Yes, obvs” or “What?! Are you crazy?!” I’m super interested in knowing which category you fall into – leave a comment and let me know!

It’s good for everybody.
I took part in a webinar last week on Youth and Children’s Ministry After Covid; in this transition many churches are not able to run their kis work in parallel because there isn’t the space. But having kids in the service has made churches think about making services accessible for everybody. Adding more visual elements can also help second language speakers and the hard of hearing. Breaking up the sermon helps anybody who has a shorter attention span, and asking questions helps everybody to spend think about applying what they’ve heard. You can find loads of ideas for getting kids involved in church life here.

It’s a family affair.
Families are among those who come to church and the church itself is a family. One marked by a deep Jesus-like love from each member to each other person, regardless of race, background, language, relationship status, gender or any other category we’re put into. Yet we’re often happy to divide based on age. Having that wide variety of people together in one place, with a shared purpose, is a part of being a family.

Young people learn what it means to be in church.
Stand up to sing; sit for everything else; listen to the sermon. They’re pretty basic things but they need take time for people to become comfortable with it. But unity doesn’t mean uniformity and there needs to be place for those who fidget (me), take notes (also me), and those who can’t stand up or who will stand on the chair to see. It’ll mean patience from everyone while normal is learnt, and maybe doing things a bit differently but it helps to make the service accessible for all.

It encourages teaching and communication between parents and child.
During a service this might look like a brief explanation of what something means, who is talking, why we do this; as well as reminders not to distract others, or help to find the right page in their Bible. After the service it’s asking the questions like: what surprised you in the Bible passage today? What was your favourite song? Why do you think Jesus said that? Is there anything we talked about you’d like to pray for? What do we need to change about our lives? Asking questions like this teaches a child that God is not simply for an hour on Sunday but for the whole time – it widens our perspective too, particularly if we encourage them to ask us their questions too. If parent and child are hearing the same thing it can be talked about the rest of the week.

It challenges church leadership.
It is too much to expect most children to sit quietly through a 30 minute sermon aimed at adults. I’m not actually advocating that: I’m in favour of changing up how sermons work. Here are some ideas I’ve seen that work: Use powerpoints as a visual focus for those who find it tricky just to listen; divide the sermon into 3 ten minute sections or two of 15; have sermon sheets for kids who can read and refer to them; ask questions kids can answer; have a signer (totally fascinating ); and apply it to all ages not just kids. Other tricky things, get kids involved in them (check out these ideas). Explain what you’re doing and why; if you have to give a reason – especially one a 3 year old can follow – it also stops you doing things just because you’ve always done them.

It eliminates the need for Sunday Schools.
I’m a Sunday School teacher and I have been for 16 years – I love it – I blog about it and yet… It would be so nice to hear the entirety of a sermon series; it would be great not to spend a small fortune on snacks; not to half-watch tv because I’m simultaneously cutting up crafts; not to spend my days googling colouring sheets and then editing them or drawing them when I can’t find what I want; to read the Bible without automatically planning how I’d teach it. It’d be a major save on resources and people with the skills and desire to teach children would have opportunities do that during the week.

We can learn from them.
Just going to leave this here:
”Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Then having little children around and seeing how they receive the kingdom of God is a good idea.

Let me know what you think in the comments: What have I missed? Do you agree or disagree? and come back next Friday find out why I’m pro kids in Sunday School.

How to engage children and young people in serving

How to engage chidren and young people with the sermon

Time-travelling Moses?

I love science-fiction, I love the possibilities and the questions it raises. I love that God used rules and patterns to make the universe and that he gave us science and maths to understand it. And I love that he breaks his own rules to do strange and wonderful miracles - to do the real things that fiction only dreams of.

I don’t believe this to be true, I don’t think it needs to be true, and I certainly wouldn’t teach this - but indulge a bible-loving science-fiction fan and imagine this:

In Exodus 34 we see that when “Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.”

In Mark 9 we see Jesus transfigured, his goodness and holiness shine out of him, also on a mountaintop, and Moses and Elijah come and talk to him. So, what if when Moses’ face glows after he’s talked to God, it’s because he was brought to his future to talk to God the Son?

Demon possession in the Bible

I was preparing for the Digital Sunday School lesson on Mark 5:1-20 about how Jesus frees the man possessed by the legion of demons. And while the main points are clear and wonderful - Jesus is the Son of God, he is so good he can overcome evil, and no-one is beyond the reach of Jesus - it does raise some hard to answer questions about demon possession or evil spirits. I’ve done my best to summarise answers to questions kids might ask here - this isn’t comprehensive but some key points. I’m using the language of demon possession here but in the lesson I talked about evil spirits living in the man; I’m using them interchangeably.

What is demon possession?

Yikes - what a question! So, as best as I can understand it, everybody in the world is under the influence of Satan, but thankfully, with the Holy Spirit’s help we can resist him. This influence come in the form of temptations and I’m sure he contributes to the brokenness of the world. However, there are many examples (in the Gospels particularly) of people who had demons living inside them. The effects are different for each person - including deafness and speechlessness, seizures, a lack of self-control and a propensity for self-harm, it’s all harmful, isolating and dangerous. While some of the symptoms of demon possession are disabilities or mental health problems, the gospel writers make a distinction between healing those whose illnesses (including those with the same symptoms) are a natural result of a broken world and those who have evil spirits in them.

Why do some people get demon possessed?

This isn’t a question the gospels answer other than to say that spiritual forces are real. I do just want to mention here that it’s not only evil spirits or demons who can live in people but if you ask him to the Holy Spirit, God himself, will live in you - and he is your surest defence against all evil (including your own).

Does it still happen today?

It definitely seems to be true that when God walked this earth as a human, Satan sent his demons into this world in a higher number than we’ve seen before or since. But we do see the early church dealing with them too (Acts 16 and 19) and Paul attributes the power of other gods to demons as well (1 Cor 10:20), so it doesn’t seem unreasonable to assume that they still exist on earth although they’re not as prevalent and possession by one rarer still. With Jesus you have nothing to fear from them though.
Our expectations should be set in line with the Bible and not with horror movies or medieval art. A part of that means we need to be careful not to diagnose demon possession where illnesses and mental health problems are the cause, nor to claim demon possession where people’s sinful hearts lead to harmful behaviour. Instead remember that our prayers, our love and reminders of God’s greater love will help in every situation.

How can the possessed be set free?

Jesus sets many people free, he is God and has all his goodness and power that no evil can stand against. This is as true for demon possession as it is for the power of sin to rule our hearts. Ask him for help and love as he loves - remember and remind “that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Here’s a more in depth article I found helpful:
Miracles then and now - David Wenham for the Gospel Coalition

and here’s one specifically about the pig-incident in Mark 5:
Why did demons ask Jesus for Pigs? - John Piper on Desiring God

Why did Jesus get baptised?

This question is a big question! Whether you’re teaching about baptism as a practice in the church, or you’ve come to it in one of the gospels, it is clear that a lot of the reasons we would get baptised cannot be the reasons Jesus got baptised. There isn’t space to cover everything about baptism here, but we’ll answer the question by talking about some of the reasons Christians get baptised, why these reasons don’t apply to Jesus and how they relate to why Jesus did it.

What is baptism for?

• Death, burial and resurrection: Baptism is mostly something the church does to show that someone has become a Christian. Once someone has trusted in Jesus to forgive them and chosen to follow him, they get baptised. This is a way of showing everybody that they’re with Jesus now: just as Jesus died, was buried and rose again, someone being baptised goes under the water, stays for a moment and then comes up again. This shows everyone that we’re one with Jesus now; dead to our old lives and sins and having a new start in a new life with Jesus. (See Romans 6:3-4 for what Paul says about this)

• Washing away of sins: There’s another reason why water is used to baptise people and that’s because we also use it for washing. When John the Baptist baptised people in the river Jordan it was to show that they’d repented. Repenting means to turn away from our sin and turn back to God. It’s to show that you haven’t obeyed him in the past but will, with the Spirit’s help, obey him in the future. (You can see this in Matthew 3:1-12 where John the Baptist preaches. Verses 2, 5-6 and 11 make it the most clear.) Being ‘washed’ in the water during baptism shows that, because Jesus was punished for our sins on the cross, our sins have been washed off us and we can be clean and right before the perfectly clean and holy God.

(We’ve been talking mostly about the kind of baptism where you go into a lot of water and then come out again, sometimes because of technical difficulties or tradition people will simply have some water poured or sprinkled on their head. This still represents all the same things.)

What’s different about Jesus’ baptism?

• No death, burial and resurrection yet: Jesus can’t have been baptised to show that he was now one with Jesus; because he already is! Baptism didn’t start to show us being joined with Jesus in his death, burial and resurrection until after he’d already done those things. Jesus was baptised years before he would die and people would make the associations between how baptism works and his salvation.

• No sin to wash away: The Bible is very clear that Jesus was tempted, that there were bad choices he could make and that they looked good to him, but that he never gave into temptation, he always did as his Father wanted and made good choices. (Hebrews 4:15 tells us this and Peter who knew him very well for three years says this about him in 1 Peter 2:22). Because he is completely God as well as being completely human, he is the only human who has ever been sinless. So, Jesus didn’t need baptism to show that his sins were washed away because he didn’t have any sin to be washed away.

So why does Jesus get baptised?

John the Baptist recognises that Jesus has come from God and that he doesn’t need to repent so he says: ‘I need to be baptised by you why do you come to me?’ John is asking the same question which we’re asking now. Fortunately Matthew wrote done Jesus’ reply “Let it be so now, it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” When we look closer into Jesus’ answer we can see three reasons why he got baptised:

• A new start: Jesus was getting baptised just before the Spirit would lead him into the wilderness where he would be tempted by the devil and then after that he would start teaching about God’s kingdom. Jesus says about John baptising him “Let it be so now” because this is the right time for him to be baptised. Although he doesn’t need to die to a sinful life he is about to have a new start as a teacher and miracle worker. Like Christians being baptised today, Jesus’ baptism also showed others that it was a new start for him.

• In obedience: When Jesus is baptised it is out of obedience to God. Like the other people who heard John and got baptised, Jesus wants to demonstrate to others that he has turned to God and is following him whole heartedly. The difference being that Jesus was never turned away from God in the first place; he dudn’t have any sin to wash away. In being baptiised he fulfils all righteousness, by doing everything that is necessary to be right with God and obedient to him. (If you want a more in depth look at this Jonathan Pennington’s article explains this well)

• An example: Since Jesus was baptised to fulfil all righteousness then Christians should be too. And in this, as in everything else that Christians do, we’re not asked to do anything that Jesus hasn’t done himself. When we’re baptised we follow in his example, doing what he did, showing what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

(We’ve talked a lot about baptism being something that ‘shows’ others what we believe. There are some places however where being a Christian is really dangerous, in places like that a baptism might be done in secret in the middle of the night, in a river far away from others, or in a very cold weather when not many people are outside. Even though fewer people will see these baptisms, just other believers and maybe not many of them, these are still important in showing God, the church and the person being baptised what has changed inside them.)

I read my Bible every day for a year... here's what happened.

Why did I want to do this?
Reading the whole Bible is the best way to understand what it is I believe and to get to know Jesus better. It is hard however to read it and see it’s full glories when you’re always preparing a lesson or a study. Also I wanted to remind myself that even as a teacher I don’t know it all and still need it for myself.

How was it?
I used the Read Scripture app which was perfect for me in terms of reminding me every day to read, but it also allows you to choose to read at your own pace and includes videos from the Bible Project which highlight important themes and structures. It was super helpful and I only missed three days out of the year but I definitely still struggled with actually reading it well not just reading so that I could get it done (especially the genealogies!) it was tricky not to be legalistic about it and to enjoy reading it - it certainly wasn’t a daily struggle but often a joy.

Read Scripture

What’s the end result?
I’ve enjoyed it, and it has definitely benfited my relationship with God. I’m excited about reading the Bible again, not only to teach others but to learn from it myself. I’m desparate to spend more time in a passage than was on the reading plan this year, and to study the books that are less well known to me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been excited about reading although I’ve wanted to do it more regularly.

Is it recommended?
I will do it again, but not next year. It helps me to keep a perspective on the stories I know well, that they fit into a wider context and that I don’t know them perfectly and as deeply as they can be known. But I equally find that reading such big chunks in one go means that I don’t see the details or spend as much time in a passage at as I’d like. If it’s not something you do regularly I would definitely try a one or two year reading plan.

P.S. I’m not quite finished with my year yet, but yesterday was the last day of my Bible reading plan which means I have read the whole Bible in within a year and that I’ll be reading a psalm a day until the 31st.

P.P.S You can find the Read Scripture app in the Apple Store and on Google Play.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

The name Disorganised Sunday School is becaue I’m disorganised - I’m not naturally a planner or organiser, I work well (actually better) under pressure - so I usually plan at the last minute, I lose things, I change my mind and it is only by the grace of God that anything happens at all! Over the years though I have learnt to start Christmassing sooner, especially as I’m never working alone.

All that to say:
It is only the 9th November and Christmas scripts and Outdoor Activities are already up!

• There’s plenty of time to adapt the scripts to your situation. Are you filming on line? How many actors and how able are they? What is your setting is?

• You also have time to find props and costumes. Do you have a stash that you use every year? What ordinary household objects can you use?

• There’s also time to think about how you can reach your community with this? Do you have an outdoor space at home or in the church in which you could run a few activites? Could church families in your area each have one activity in each garden? Do you have an online platform where you could share a nativity story with people outside your church?

• It’s a good time to start praying. Is there a family or a friend you specifically want to reach out to this year? Ask God to show you the opportunities to share the gospel with your neighbours? Thank God for the church family and ask how you can get everyone involved in some Christmassy evangelism?

Action Songs aren't just for kids.

Yesterday a friend asked for some song actions that she could do in church with the kids. I made videos that she would be able to learn and copy the actions from - with so much enthusiasm (occasionally a little too much!)

AndI couldn’t help but think about how good actions songs are: for kids, for me and for all of us. Here’s why:

• They remind us that worship is not synonomous with singing. It’s a mistake we’ve all heard and, probably, all made. So often, in fact, that we don’t even notice it anymore. Our worship leaders are those who sing and/or play guitar; worship conferences focus on new songs and bands; a time of worship is a time of singing. And while all of those things can be worship they are far from all that worship is. To worship means to bow our whole selves to someone. Music and singing help us with that - but action songs remind us that it is not only by what we sing but by what we do that worship God.

• They help us to think more deeply about what we’re singing. So this applies most strongly to the person who comes up with the actions but the little things about actions help us to think through what it is we’re singing. For example ‘You’ can be directed outwards to the congregation as in ‘May the Lord bless you and keep you’ or up to God ‘You are the one who saves’. How can you get across the meaning of our sin being taken away, or what it means to follow Jesus with a gesture: you can’t capture it but what can you do that shows a part of this? Having to think that through or simply doing it as you sing the words can improve your understanding more thanthe wordalone would.

• They are for everyone. There’s a reason we do action songs with kids, it’s because little ones can’t read, and while they might learn the song with enough repetition they can copy the actions straight away. For the hearing impaired actions can be a help connecting with a song (particularly if you’re church doesn’t have a sign language interpreter) and I rely heavily on sign language for action ideas. It can also help communicate ideas to foreign language speakers (as one myself, I would love to have some visual clarification on what I’m singing).

• It’s fun! Movement is good for your body, looking in front of others and not caring because they look silly too is great for your mental health. Besides when we all do it do we even look silly. For those of us who can’t carry a tune in a bucket it’slovely to be able to join in and contribute to communal sung worship. Our bodies do not merely contain or carry our sould they are one with them and can express what we’re feeling - so why would we hold back on our fullest expression during a song of praise?

Does everybody have to do actions? Does every song require actions? No, of course not. But we shouldn’t limit them just to children’s songs as though they didn’t benefit adults as well.If I’ve convinced you to try it - for yourself not just for kids - here are some ‘grown up’ songs that lend themselves well to actions:

My Lighthouse - Rend Collective
One Way, Jesus - Hillsong
Höher - ICF Worship - The German version is better than the English one If you can understand it.
Man of your Word - Maverick City Music
This I believe (The Creed) - Hillsong
Every Giant will Fall - Rend Colective

Enjoy yourself!
(and the evdence of too much enthusiasm for actions below)

Tips for Online Sunday School

It’s not an ideal situation to be in - where you can’t safely teach kids in Suday School face to face. You can’t see if they’re engaging with you, activities are tricky to organise and impossible to supervise and it’s hard to ask or answer questions - a staple for Sunday Schools!

I’ve written, prepared and filmed somewhere over thirty online Sunday School lessons now - including a few in German which I’m still not fluent in - and, through trial and error, I’ve worked out some important questions to ask myself as I prepare.

For the Story

• Where does this happen? Who is there? What has just happened? What is about to happen?

• What is the main point of the passage? (You can find more detail on this step in my ‘How to …’ guide)

• What apects of the Bble passage need to be focussed on to get this main point across? (And if it’s a long passage what can you leave out without altering the story while still supporting the point?)

• How can you best tell the story? Reading the text (from the Bible or a kids Bible), acting it out, with pictures, with playmobile or lego figures? Write with the best possible method in mind and then work out how to make it happen afterwards.

For the Talk

• Would the youngest child watching be able to hear and understand the main point?

• For older children how can you break the main point into smaller sections?

• Can you predict any problems or difficulties with this message? If so help them to deal with them now.

• What would you like them to change in their life as a result hearing this main point? Tell them and ask them about how it might look in their lives.

For Prayers, Songs and Activities.

• Do they relate to your text and support the main point?

• Can they be done without requiring special equipment?

• Do they need parents help? How can you support parents in this?

Many, many prayers for you in producing online teaching for kids - you can check out the Digital Sunday School lessons I’ve made here:
Series 1: Healing
Series 2: You Can Trust God because

Feel free to use them as they are, to watch them for inspiration before making your own, or to edit the sections you need into your own videos. Happy Teaching!

Important questions

Filming the first lesson in a new series of the Digital Sunday School this week had me rather distracted by the ‘how’ questions. How do I film my hands without a tripod? How do I make what I’m saying visually translate on to the screen? How can I make this homemade camera phone bipod stable and not casting an awkward shadow? How do I include a diverse representsion of who Christians are in this project? How will I be able to make more than one video a week? How have I lost [insert whatever I needed at that moment] again?!

To balance the self-centered and panic inducing ‘How’ questions I decided to write myself a list of important questions that I should focus on first when preparing a lesson. Yes, those how questions still need answering. But having a list like this puts them in their proper place; at the bottom of my to do list.

• Does what I’m preparing come from the Bible or from my own head?

• Is the gospel on display?

• What does God want to teach me in this?

• How can I say this in a way that a range of kids will understand?

• What are the challenges of this text?

• Am I glorifying God or myself?

• Will this build up the church, locally and worldwide?

These are probably not the only things I should be thinking about but it’s certainly a good place to start. I also have 10 steps to prepare a passage for teaching which I find helpful in prioritising these kinds of questions as well.

Preparation, Preparation, Preparation

I’m deep in the preparation phase for the next series of Digital Sunday School. It’s all colour-coded charts and notes about notes at the moment. It should coalesce into at least one video before next Sunday…

So I wrote up my 10 steps to preparing a passage. This is not, obviously, an inerrant guide, but it is one that helps me to centre what the Bible is saying and not my own agenda. I hope it helps you too, whether you’re preparing to tach a Sunday school class, make a video, do a Bible study with a friend, preach or lead a small group.