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For the rest of 2018, I will be sharing books I recommend because they are some of my favorites.  New Book Friday will resume in January. Enjoy!

Tonight is our first night of Hide N Seek.  We are excited for the year ahead to point children to Jesus each Wednesday night.  Hide N Seek is open to all children 4 years old through 4th grade. Here is the schedule for each Wednesday night: 6:30-Kid's Choir for those who are interested 7:00-Hide N Seek Begins-each class will have classroom time, Bible Memory and Recreation. 8:00-Hide N Seek Ends-Please pick your child up inside the building. If you have questions about Hide N Seek, please contact Pastor J.L. Martin at 620-327-2847

Looking for a mid-week ministry for your 4 year old through 4th grader?  At Hesston MB, we offer Hide N Seek which includes games, Bible Memory, and a lesson.  This Wednesday, August 29th is our meal/registration/parent meeting.  If you are considering sending your child, please plan on attending as it helps us prepare supplies and classroom for our first week together on September 5th.  If your child attends Hesston public schools, a flyer went home in backpacks last week.  It is below for your convenience. I hope to see you Wednesday at the meal for the whole family beginning at 6:30 p.m. and parent meeting starting at 7 p.m.  

Tonight, I meet with all of our Hide N Seek leaders to prepare them for the year ahead.  These leaders are so important as they "make disciples who make disciples" with our children 4 years old through 4th grade.  It is a blessing to see these leaders use their gifts to glorify God and further His kingdom.  Please remember to pray for leaders who invest in the next generation.  Thank you to everyone who said yes to Hide N Seek, fuzion, LIFE, and Hesston Youth for this year!  We appreciate you and I will definitely pray for you.

Do you have kids 4 years old through 4th grade?  Are you looking for a children's midweek program that includes snack, games, Bible lesson, Bible memory, and more?  Then Hide N Seek might be for you! Join us tonight at 610 W. Randall in Hesston for our Hide N Seek Registration and Parent Meeting.  Schedule is as follows: 6:30--Free meal provided by the church 7:00--Introduction of staff, kids visit classes, and parent's meeting 7:30--Evening ends

Looking for a mid-week ministry for your 4 year old through 4th grader?  At Hesston MB, we offer Hide N Seek which includes games, Bible Memory, and a lesson.  Tonight is our meal/registration/parent meeting.  If you are considering sending your child, please plan on attending tonight as it helps us prepare supplies and classroom for our first week together on September 7th.  If your child attends Hesston public schools, a flyer went home in backpacks last week.  It is below for your convenience. I hope to see you tonight with meal for the whole family beginning at 6:30 p.m. and parent meeting starting at 7 p.m.   

Today's Favorite Book Friday is one that has shaped how I view children's ministry.  It is a great reminder that the hero of the Bible is Jesus.  Klumpenhower gives practical ways to do this in the church as well as the home.  Check it out!

It is hard to believe that we have come to the end of our mid-week program called Hide N Seek. We have had a great year together learning, singing, memorizing Scripture, and having fun.  This year, we are trying something new.  Our end of the year program has usually been on Sunday evening but we have decided to have the kids share songs and verses during our morning worship service this year.  So, join us at Hesston MB tomorrow at 10:10 a.m. to hear the songs and verses our Hide N Seek kids want to share with you. Tomorrow afternoon, I will post notes from my Sunday meditation titled, "Hide and Seek".

It's that time again!  It is one of my favorite Sundays of the year as we kick off our year of Go Deeper classes.  For our kids, we use The Gospel Project for Curriculum.  Watch the video to learn more about this great curriculum that always points to Jesus. I love this Sunday because there is excitement as kids promote into new classes.  In addition, teachers are ready as they have had a little break.  We also give out a few gifts on this Sunday. Since 1st graders are moving out of Children's Church, we give them a Hesston MB bag with some things to help them make the transition to being in the worship service the entire time.  For our 3rd graders, we give them a new Bible. Looking forward to a great year of discipleship together!

One of my stops during Sabbatical Trip 2 was to The Village Church in Dallas, TX.  I attended their worship service two weeks in a row. I also had the opportunity to observe their children's ministry for 5th grade and younger.  Here are a few thoughts from this visit: Matt Chandler and the Village Church have been taking some heat recently via social media. I was encouraged by Chandler's confession and repentance during the worship service. He was humble and gave permission for the congregation to contact any of the elders if they had been hurt by their actions.  His words and posture showed sorrow for his and others' actions Children's Ministry curriculum that is gospel centered and Jesus focused--I know this seems like a no brainer, but so much of the curriculum for kids is about morals and being good.  I appreciated Kid's Village (1st-5th) focus on the attributes of God. These are prominently placed in all of their rooms. See picture below. Repetitio...

On Monday, June 1st, I had the opportunity to talk with Josh Allen, Executive Pastor and Brian Haynes, Lead Pastor of Bay Area First Baptist Church in Houston, Texas.  Many of you might be familiar with Brian Haynes as he is the author of The Legacy Path. We give out this book to parents during our parent/child dedication at Hesston MB Church. I was interested in how the milestones are being implemented in Haynes' new church. In addition, I had questions about curriculum and how milestones strategy affects children's ministry. Here are thoughts from my two conversations: Vision drives specific ministries.  I know this, but it was repeated by both Josh and Brian. Everything they do in children, youth or adult ministry is determined by their vision which is "Bay Area exists to glorify God by making disciples , equipping families , and serving the world  with the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Brian shared that is important to recognize "how" w...

If you have been reading the blog lately, you have seen several posts including great quotes from Jack Klumpenhower's book, Show Them Jesus . If you are new to the blog, go back and check out posts over the last few weeks. I decided I would write a review of the book.  Let me start with this: go and buy the book!  Whether you are a parent or grandparent, Sunday School teacher, youth leader or pastor, this will change the way you minister to children and teens. Klumpenhower was unknown to me prior to this book.  Since starting the book, I have become acquainted with his curriculum for pre-teens and teens as well as his website which includes great tools and resources that he talks about in the book. The book is broken into two parts: why teach the good news and how to teach the good news.  Both parts are extremely rich in theology as well as practical ways to share the good news with kids/teens. In the first part, he shares his journey as a teacher from teachin...

One of the thoughts I am considering for next school year is to get rid of "Bible Bucks" on Wednesday nights.  I asked my Wednesday night workers about it and half were against the idea.  It is so rooted in most children's ministry that we cannot imagine the absence of it.  I was encouraged when I read an entire chapter in Show Them Jesus by Jack Klumpenhower.  He shares many of the reasons why I would like to stop.  Here are some thoughts from Klumpenhower on rewards in ministry: It wouldn't do to teach that God's rewards in salvation come freely, by grace, but that rewards in the church come by being good and memorizing verses. God's greatest rewards are based on his generosity, not what we've earned. Our class would work the same way...In my class the bucks were a gift, not a reward. Creating a Good-News Environment A good-news environment is sin-aware A good-news environment is grace-aware A good-news environment focuses on the heart A ...

I picked up Jack Klumpenhower's book, Show Them Jesus last Wednesday.  Here are some great quotes from the chapters I read: That is the way everyone's hearts naturally works. Our kids (and us) are programmed to try to earn points with God. At such a moment the issue is not what those kids should do--it's how to reach their hearts. They need to rest in Jesus until they have such joy over his beauty and what he's done for them that it spills out into the way they live.   The good-news teacher skillfully steers a kid's heart by showing the breathtaking beauty of Jesus. We often imagine the Christian life is like a game of king-of-the-hill played between our heart and our head...Only a stronger love for Jesus can overpower and displace our love of sin. If we cut individual stories off from the Bible's central story arc about Jesus, we miss the main thing the Bible wants to say... The good news is the Bible's drumbeat. To ignore it at any point is to ...

Tonight was our end of year program for Hide N Seek. This is our Wednesday night ministry for children. 

Check back later tonight for pictures from our end of the year program for Hide N Seek.  It will include songs and Bible verses by each of the classes & more.  This is our ministry on Wednesday night for 4 years olds through 4th grade. It has been a great year!

I love this time of year.  It is when we remember Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.  We in the church celebrate his entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday (this year, March 29) and Easter (day Christ raised from the dead) the following Sunday. Our tradition at Hesston MB for our kids is to bring in a live donkey during Children's Church and to process into the worship service with palm branches on Palm Sunday. On Easter, we have an Easter Egg hunt for the kids during Children's Church and then share what Easter is all about.  Below are a few pictures. If you live in the Hesston area, join us on March 29 & April 5th at 10:10 a.m. for these special activities for children.

  Today at Hesston MB, we celebrate what Jesus did for us through his life, death and resurrection as we present butterfly or Transformer balloons to children who have made the decision to follow Jesus.  I am excited for these 6 kids as this is the most important decision they will ever make.    Why butterflies & Transformers?  Because of 2 Corinthians 5:17 which says, " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." We discuss the change that happened when they decided to follow Christ.  At the end of the presentation, we celebrate as a congregation what Jesus has done on our behalf.  

Tonight was our year end program for our Wednesday night children's ministry. Here are pictures from the program: