Take a look at this great site called Mad About Jesus. There are definitely some creative scientific object lessons here. I would especially like to try out walking on water with the “Leap of Faith” demonstration.

These demonstrations were developed by a biologist named Daniel Briere and are unreal, but legit. I’d love to see the owner of this site fill it with even more lessons and tricks.

How have you used science to teach God’s Word? Do you know of any more sites with resources like these?

You really need to take a look at 3D Bible Scenes. They have some really cool pictures that you can either use in your teaching, as a backdrop on your screen for a skit, or to set a specific environment for a portion of a worship service.

You can’t just save the pictures from the site, you’ll have to download a .zip file of a set based on specific themes. But then, that gives you 6-8 pictures from which to choose.

How else could you use the pictures from this great site.

Ministry Matters™ is a community of resources for church leaders. Whether your church has ten pews or a thousand seats, a praise band or a pipe organ, one-room-Sunday school or a network of small groups, a huge staff or just you, Ministry Matters can be a resource for you.

This is a place for you to brainstorm, research, and plan. A place to collaborate with colleagues across the office or across the country. A place to connect with others with the same responsibilities and concerns, hopes and dreams as you.

Do sermon research with their Bible commentaries, find the perfect video to discuss with your class, select prayers and music for a transformative worship experience. But take a minute for yourself, too. Listen to an inspiring sermon, read an invigorating leadership article, or chat with other leaders about what’s keeping you up at night. (Chances are, they’ve been there too.)

There is an entire section devoted to Children’s Sermons in the Library. I’ll definitely be adding Ministry Matters to my list of object lesson resources.

A lot of stuff there is free, and there’s no charge to register! Set up your profile and you can comment on articles and blogs, join in discussions, and collect resources in bins to share or save for later! Become a subscriber and get access to hundreds of other resources to help you in your ministry.

Ministry Matters™ was launched in 2011 by The United Methodist Publishing House, based in Nashville, Tennessee. As with most other resources developed by UMPH, Ministry Matters™ aims to serve Christians of many denominations—or no denomination at all!

Focus on the Family Canada has a great site called Kids of Integrity that provides tools for growing godly character in kids. Kids of Integrity is a set of free resources that will help you coach your kids with confidence and a clear sense of direction. Better still, Kids of Integrity will excite your children about living “God’s way.”

You can utilize this resource either as a tool for parents or for supplemental materials for a lesson you may be teaching. It is filled with lessons, memory verse activities, object lessons, Bible stories, and practical suggestions for implementing that character trait into a child’s life. You will find materials on acceptance, generosity, honesty, kindness, and more.

What other free materials do you know about for building godly character in kids?

I have been using this software for a few weeks now and have found it quite a nice tool to have. It comes with the NET Bible, but has plenty of add-ons. The major versions of the Bible have a cost associated with them, but I did notice that the Holman Christian Standard Bible was free.

I think this program offers a unique search function that surpasses that of Bible Gateway or YouVersion (both tools that I adore). It allows you to see how many references of your specific search are in each book and then choose to expand that book to show the verse references. When you hover over the reference, you can see the verse. It helps you to see a bigger picture of your search than simply looking at a long list of verses.

Have you used this? What ways have you seen this as beneficial as a kids minister?

Check out Tyndale’s site for a great list of mostly free Bible reference resources. Hope these can help you enhance your study time!

I posted on this very helpful Bible study website before, when it was called The Greek Study Bible. However, it has changed names and is full of many improved features. I thought it definitely deserved a repost.

Great Treasures is a colossal effort by a guy named John Simon who has developed a healthy appetite for the Greek Language. Great Treasures, however is so much more than just a Greek tool. It features:

• Side by side translation comparisons
• Ability to place your own notes in connection with a particular text
• Word studies
• Concordance of user-selected words
• Accurate definitions of Greek biblical vocabulary (in English, of course!)

Is this a tool for kids? No. Is it a tool for those who teach kids? YES!

I firmly believe that in order to communicate God’s Word to kids we must go even deeper on our own than the general message we want kids to hear. This resource helps you do that. Let this be a tool to help change you spiritually so that your teachings and messages to kids will be an overflow of what God is doing in your life. Do not neglect this tool! It is incredible!!!!!

Scripture

Psalm 78:1-8 (English Standard Version)

Tell the Coming Generation

¹ Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
² I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
³things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
⁴We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.

⁵He established a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
⁶that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
⁷so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
⁸and that they should not be like their fathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Devotion

For this to start off right, you will need to secure for yourself a track and field “baton” or make a flashy looking one out of a paper towel tube and metallic spray paint. Choose eight people to read and assign them one verse of the passage. As they are done, have them pass the baton on to the next person.

The legacy of the church is a little bit like a relay race in track. One runner is responsible for certain periods of the race and when his distance is up, he passes the baton on to the next runner. Relay teammates encourage one another, strengthen each other and help set the pace for future runners. Each generation in the church is responsible for passing the baton of faith on to the next generation. Edith Shaeffer in her book, What is a Family calls this the “perpetual relay of truth.” This involves two main institutions:

1. The Church: the church must work toward unity and be devoted to healthy biblical teaching so the next generation can come to place their faith in Christ and do even bigger things that the generation before.
2. The Family: according to passages like Deuteronomy 6 and Psalm 78, parents are the primary spiritual guide of their children. As those who work with children, this mentality must flow through all of our decisions, planning, and interaction.

Psalm 78 details what can happen when Church and Family work together to successfully pass on the baton of faith. Here’s what happens:

• Kids will grow up knowing God’s statutes (vv. 5-6)
• Children will see the importance of passing the faith along (v. 6)
• The coming generation will put their trust and hope in God (v. 7)
• The coming generation will obey God (v. 7)
• All generations will remember the works of God (v. 7)
• Successive generations will not repeat the sins of the past (v.8)

End with this question and allow for discussion: Based on this passage, what can we now do to foster an atmosphere in our ministry where the baton of faith is passed along to the coming generation?

Scripture

1 Thessalonians 2:2-9 (English Standard Version)

²But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. ³For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, ⁴but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. ⁵For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. ⁶Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. ⁷But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. ⁸So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

⁹For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

Devotion

Start out by giving your volunteers each half of this paper. Provide them with 2-3 minutes to fill it out. You do not necessarily have to get them to call out the answers, but ask them what criteria they used to select certain people. Ask them how they would want those people to make decisions in some of the areas.

The point is that God entrusts us to be a part of His ministry, not because we have some inherent goodness (unlike the way they may have selected people for tasks above), but because He is good, loving, and gracious. It is a joy to be a part of His Kingdom building work with kids. Just like you would expect your caretakers above to elicit decision making with a certain type of wisdom, God desires for us to carry out His work with characteristics which honor him. Let’s take a look at some of those characteristics that Paul and his associates exemplified toward the Thessalonian church.

1. Perseverance (v. 2)–Paul ministered in spite of strong opposition. He did not let the dark spiritual acts of Satan get in his way of what God called him to do. Satan can use all kinds of instruments in the church to distract us and his impact on volunteer attrition rates is insane. We need to push ahead and minister to these sweet children no matter what comes in our way.
2. Be on mission (vv. 3-4)–Do you see your work with children as a mission from God. Every second of your life, God has a purpose for you to impact His Kingdom in some way. God has entrusted you, like Paul, with a sacred task–the task of placing the gospel into people’s lives. In that, your duty is not to please your co-teacher, your pastor, or the children, but to please God with the way you fulfill His mission.
3. Have a humble character (vv 5-7)–Humble people do not seek their own glory, but seek to be praised by God for their faithfulness. Humble volunteers have children and their spiritual nurture as their number one priority.
4. Dedicated (vv. 8-9)–Paul understood that the Christian life was not lived in a vacuum and the act of evangelism was not isolated from relationship. Are Sunday mornings all you commit to or are you actively seeking to pour your life into these kids and families as part of your calling for ministry?

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (English Standard Version)

¹⁸All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Devotion

This opening illustration can be used with odd or even numbers of people. Have pieces of construction paper ripped in half prior to the meeting. If you have an odd number of people, give everyone a half piece and another person a roll of tape. If you have an even number, give two people rolls of tape and the rest a ripped half of paper. Don’t give them any instructions, just tell them they need to figure out what to do next. Hopefully they will figure out that the tape people are supposed to help the torn pieces of paper be rejoined. The point is that the people with the tape had the tools of repair in their possession. II Corinthians 5 really harks on the fact that we are God’s agents of reconciliation between sinful man and God.

Our main task in children’s ministry is to be agents of reconciliation. Children who have not yet been saved are at odds with God. They need to be reconciled to Him. God made a way for that reconciliation to be accomplished through Jesus Christ. We also serve unsaved parents and siblings. They all need to be reconciled to God. II Corinthians 5:18-20 provides two insights about this reconciliation with which God calls us to help.

1. Every believer is given the ministry of reconciliation. The evangelist is a special called office (Ephesians 4:11-13), but the call to evangelize is a calling on all believers. Our teaching in children’s ministry, our relational development, our curriculum design, should be structured around this calling.
2. God equips us for this ministry by giving us the “word” of reconciliation. The word of reconciliation is very simple. It is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sin. Kids are reconciled when they place faith in Jesus’ ability to forgive them.

God does not need us, but God chooses to use us out of His grace. It is a privilege and honor to serve as His ambassadors. You are not in children’s ministry because you have some inherent gift that God was grateful to have you serve in His kingdom. You are in it because you are an ambassador, a servant of God that He uses to spread the word of reconciliation to many children and families. Take the role seriously and utilize the emotion of “pleading” that Paul encourages in verse 20 to lead kids and families to Christ.