Story Time

I had my children's worker hat on over the weekend - I had my first meeting with the team that I'm leading. Thirty of us gathered after church this Sunday to talk over pizza and give me the chance to share my vision and thoughts on the way forward with the Mega-Mix age range. That is basically ninety children aged between 5 and 11. On average each Sunday we get about sixty or so, and we've got the task of teaching them the things of God.

My initial thoughts are that so much of what has been done is excellent, and there is no need to fix something that isn't broken. The existing vision is "Making Church Fun & Making God Real" and that for me encompasses exactly what I want to do and where I want to go.

Interestingly, we have had our lead elder preach the last two weeks on the vision for our church and he said many stirring, challenging things. One phrase that lingered with me is the importance to be, spiritually speaking, both radical and relevant. If we only have one, we run the risk of being obsolete and irrelevant no matter tight our doctrine is. On the other hand, having only the other means we will be just the same as the world, and will cease to be salt & light. But rather than reading what I think about what was said, listen to them yourself. You can download both weeks from here. We have an exciting journey ahead!

This gave me thoughts for the children's work. I want the kids to have fun and to enjoy coming out with us. But I also want the children to encounter God through His word and through His Spirit. So with the existing team present - who are a cracking bunch of people - aged between 15 and 65 - I laid out some of my thoughts. I also took the chance to hear their views and idea, and to get to know their strengths - this is a big work, and so team is a huge value that I have every intention of relying heavily on. We are all working together, and I want to demonstrate the biblical value of interdependency with how we work together.

I've been reflecting on how Jesus teaches, and it seems his main way of communicating was the use of parables. He took an everyday illustration from life, or a character people could identify with, and told a simple tale that had one big point. As that point impacted, other depths in the parable would come out as the force of the teaching sunk in to the listener. So as best as I can, I want us as a team to learn from Jesus and teach through stories and illustrations with One Big Point. Rather than saying so much we don't say anything at all, I want our kids to leave with one thing in their mind. Reinforced through slapstick pantomime drama type sketches, colouring pictures and puzzle worksheets that they can do at home with their parents, I'm in faith that the word of God - that is living and active - will begin to shape them.

Isn't it funny that so much of the Bible is stories? We all have our favourite Bible heroes. Even nonbelievers know of certain biblical tales like Noah's Ark or David & Goliath. So I have the privilege, responsibility and daunting task of having to read these stories (and some children's bible's!) to refamiliarise myself with this ancient tales. Romans 15:4 tells us that 'whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.'

So we're going to start with my favourite hero - David. A guy of passion, of war, of sin, of stupidity and of mistakes. But a man that God said was a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). A man who through warfare expanded the Kingdom of Israel, and who designed the Temple but couldn't build it because he was a man who had shed blood (1 Chronicles 28:3). A man who with his last words described himself as 'the sweet psalmist of Israel' (2 Samuel 23:1). This is the man we are going to look at for about six weeks. After that... who knows!? But I consider it a privilege to be able to get down and seek God for Him to write His 'One Big Point' on my heart.

During this season of children's work, I suspect that the children aren't going to be the only ones who learn new things.