Chad Hovind, Pastor of Horizon Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio and author of Fast Track provided the following about Fast Track:

I learn best when I’m having fun. In the church today, there seem to be two equally bad alternatives: light and fluffy or dry and dusty. One is too shallow and one is too boring. The most important message in the universe should be communicated in a way that is deep, but compelling.

Many children and adults know several Bible stories, but don’t know the larger Bible’s STORY. They have lots of puzzle pieces, but no larger box top to fit the stories together in a fun, memorable, and an easy-to-remember way. For twenty years I looked for a way to give people a fun hook for the whole message of the Bible. I wanted people to understand the larger outline and framework for God’s story in a way where all the Bible times people connect together. The options I found where too long, too boring, or too complicated.

Imagine …

• a tool that is so easy that a young child can use it.
• a tool so fun, the child is engaged in class and loves it.
• a teaching style that incorporates sight, sound, and action.
• children being able to draw simple pictures or use flash cards to explain the major events and people of the Bible.
• a children’s ministry where leaders and children know the quickest way to understand the greatest story ever told.
• new believers, and mature Christ followers feeling competent in knowing and applying the entire Bible.
• Now throw in laughter, action, and some “ah-ha” moments as children understand how the whole Bible points to Jesus … This is Fast Track!

I don’t have to imagine it, I’ve seen it up close and personal. My church took thousands of people of all ages through Fast Track and were overwhelmed with reports from leaders, children, and yes … even preteens who loved the biblical content and fast-paced activities. More importantly, every child and leader will see Jesus revealed—from Genesis to Revelation.

Session 1: Trust Me! (Genesis—Exodus)
Session 2: Don’t Give Up! (Leviticus—1 Samuel)
Session 3: Stop Running and Return to Me (1 Samuel—1 Kings)
Session 4: Keep God First (2 Kings—Malachi)
Session 5: Believe Me! (Job, Ruth, Lamentations, Psalms)
Session 6: God’s Greatest Gift (Matthew—John)
Session 7: Tell What You Believe (Acts—Jude)
Session 8: You Can Have Hope (Revelation)
Session 9: All About Jesus (optional session)

The Fast Track: Kids Leader Guide includes step-by-step instructions for leading each session. The enhanced CD includes printable items (traceable pictures, Bible story name tags, session banners, and much more) designed to make leading each Fast Track session quick and easy.

The Fast Track: Kids Learner Guide includes games, puzzles, activities, and flash cards designed to reinforce the learning experience as well as help kids understand additional information about people and events in the Bible.

Are you ready? Hold on tight for a Fast Track through the Bible!

Fast Track is also available for students and adults.

And we understand how much praying and planning goes into executing VBS at your church.  Oftentimes, you plan for months and months before the summer even arrives.  The same is true for each year’s theme that we release.  So much prayer and planning, designing, researching, writing, and production goes into creating material that will draw kids closer to Christ.

We’ll announce the 2014 VBS theme on Monday, June 3rd at 1 PM CST.  You’re not going to want to miss it!

But you definitely don’t want to miss all the fun leading up to the theme release, either!  We’ll be releasing video clues each day at 8 AM starting on Tuesday, May 28th to help YOU be the one to figure out the 2014 theme.   We’ll also release an additional photo clue each day in the afternoon.

And be sure to subscribe to our blog to get email notifications when a new clue is posted, AND stay tuned to Facebook and Twitter to make sure you don’t miss a thing.

Make sure you mark your calendars because beginning on the 28th, you’ll be able to enter to win $3000 worth of VBS materials for your church!

When?  12 AM CST May 28 – 12:30 PM CST June 3

How?  May 28th through June 2nd, we’ll release a new Impossible Clue right here on the blog.  Try to solve the clues and place your guess before 12:30 PM on Monday, June 3rd.  Winner will be chosen at random.

Then what?  Be sure to catch the 2014 theme reveal* Monday, June 3rd at 1 PM CST. Make sure you bookmark this link– you can join us live to be one of the first to hear what next year’s theme is! lifeway.com/vbsthemerelease

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*Winner need not be present to win and will be notified via email.  See terms & conditions for more info. 

HOT! HOT! HOT! is not always a bad thing, though. For example, in kids ministry there are two very HOT! HOT! HOT! topics for training that should be on every church’s radar screen:  (1) Children and Conversion and (2) Guiding Kids Behavior. Why do you think these are the two most requested training topics in the local church? Well, to begin with, conversion references one of the most important decisions that kids will ever make in their lives. Furthermore, behavior is perhaps the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back (well, actually the teacher’s back!) And, in today’s culture, most teachers are struggling with knowing how to guide kids behavior in the church setting. Both of these topics would especially meet the needs of your leaders as we are all on the verge of a new Bible teaching year!

Let LifeWay Kids help you!

– Check out the Leading a Child to Christ training module. This easy to use teaching model includes a DVD-ROM with videos of an adult leading a child to Christ and one of that child then attempting to share the gospel with a friend. The DVD also has a teaching plan, a PowerPoint presentation for leading parents and teachers through tips of sharing Christ with kids, and a listening page that can be used during the training.

 – Also check out Kids Discipline 101: Guiding Kids Behavior in the Church Setting. This training kit also features a DVD-ROM that has a 57 minute video presentation on guiding behavior. In addition, there is a PowerPoint presentation and teaching plan if your church would rather one of your own leaders guide attendees through the teaching material. A listening page rounds out this set of teaching resources.

However, just ordering these resources on LifeWay.com will not insure that these resources will jump off of the shelf and “auto-teach” your folks. Your church must be committed to seeking a time on the church calendar for these to be shared each year. Plus, an appropriate training room must be secured, leader(s) must be enlisted and promotion needs to be planned so that parents and teachers know about the training and understand how either of these learning sessions would help them!

Just remember that it is not COOL! COOL! COOL! to just read about these HOT! HOT! HOT! topics and just assume that somebody else will take care of training kids leaders! Get charged and get going!

Last week I shared part 4 of this series, “Organization is Your Best Friend.”  Take a minute to flip back and read that post.  It really does set up today’s thought:  Give Away Your Ministry!

Ephesians 4:12 says that God gifted us for the “equipping” of the saints for the work of ministry. I don’t read that we’re to do it all ourselves! For way too long some of us (and some of our supervisors) have thought our job as Kids Ministers was to do it all, everything.  After all, isn’t that what they pay us to do? The longer I’m in this great work, the clearer it has become that I CAN’T DO IT ALL ALONE and more importantly, GOD DOESN’T WANT ME TO DO EVERYTHING!

I think one of the best compliments I’ve ever received wasn’t given to me while I was actually on staff at one of my former churches but was shared after I left.  The pastor shared publically (I wasn’t there but I was told of this and later and it was confirmed) how much he appreciated what I had done while on staff at that church. He shared that my vision casting and equipping those who served in Kids Ministry with me had actually set the church up for the growth it experienced after I left.

Ask yourself this question, “If something happened and I was no longer in the picture, how well would the Kids Ministry in my church function?” That’s a hard question but one that we should ask regularly. We need to be investing, training, and equipping folks to “carry on” way after we’ve “moved on” (whatever that might mean).

Don’t be lazy! You are the leader and you need to be in there “getting after it” with your leadership team, but you need to be equipping folks, mentoring your leadership, and working yourself out of a job! (Don’t get too worried with that last sentence… there will ALWAYS be something for you to do! I promise!!!) Multiply your ministry by leading, equipping, training, and giving your ministry away!

Why didn’t somebody tell me that?

It’s summer time and that means lots of summer activities with your children’s ministry. Water games, VBS, and much more can make for an exhausting couple of months. In the midst of all of your planning and executing, remember to take some time to refuel so that you don’t end up like my washing machine.  Before you add something to your already busy schedule, ask yourself questions like ‘what or who is suffering if I add this to my plate?’

In order to get my washing machine back to working order, I had to first ask a friend to come and look at it, then order a part and take a break from washing clothes until the part came in the mail. Before you start going strong throughout your busy summer, take time out to plan for some rest. If you know you will have a few crazy weeks, add some time for rest into your schedule either the week before or the week after (maybe even both if you are lucky!).

The important thing to remember is that when you are overloaded, you just can’t work effectively. Avoid burnout by making time for rest!

And when you preview, did you know that you get access to material for ALL ages?  Yep.  Babies through senior adults.  AND did you know that all those age groups are studying the same biblical concepts each week?  Pretty awesome.

But that’s not all!  We also want to announce that Bible Studies for Life: Kids will feature a Large Group Worship package that is available separately.  Think that sounds awesome?  We’re giving away 5 right here on the blog and there are lots of ways to enter!
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#4 Organization is Your Best Friend

Do you have piles of resources in the corners of your office?  Are you stepping over glue sticks, markers, and scissors to get to your computer? Are you no longer sure what the top of your desk looks like? Do those who vacuum the floors in your church stand at your door and shake their head?  If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions… you might need to take heed to this piece of advice, “Organization is Your Best Friend!”

“Stuff” is part of our work.  It takes more “stuff” to pull off Kids Ministry than any other ministry in the church.  You don’t go to a preschool Bible study class and sit in folding chairs and listen to a lecturing teacher… children need resources to create art projects that help to reinforce biblical content.  It’s just who we are.  But, there’s nothing less inviting or less respected than a Kids Ministry that seems to be disorganized and chaotic. And… the truth is… perception can be reality.

I know it’s difficult and I know it’s often a product of our work but it looks bad, it gives off the wrong impression, and at the end of the day… folks will be quick to make snap judgments about your ministry when they see a disorganized “hot mess.”

I’m a big proponent of organization. I can spend a month’s salary in The Container Store if I’m not careful. I love putting everything away, making sure it’s all in the proper place; ready for quick retrieval (alphabetized, shelved by color or size).  Organized file cabinets (physical and electronic) are things I day-dream about (weird… I know).  And, I realize that if I’m not careful I can violate Principle #3 by being too organized… but I also know that an organized ministry is an inviting ministry.

People don’t want to be a part of something that’s chaotic. People don’t want to join a disorganized team. People can be reluctant (especially visitors) to leave their children in the care of a disorganized, haphazard, maybe even potentially dangerous Kids Ministry.

So…… GET ORGANIZED!  Take some time this spring to clean up, put away, and spruce up your ministry area. If that’s just not your thing… enlist someone who enjoys that type work (if they’re already serving in Kids Ministry chances are they’ve anxiously  been waiting for the opportunity) and let ‘em go at it.

Truth:  Organization Is Your Best Friend!  (Why didn’t somebody tell me that earlier?)

PS: While I’ve spent a good bit of this post talking about the physical organization of your ministry… most all these thoughts can be easily equate to the “organizational chart” of your ministry. Join me next time and I’ll share my thoughts on “Giving away your Ministry!”

King encourages that just as children approached Jesus in Mark 10:13-16, the same is true for leaders and volunteers in your church’s children’s ministry. Children naturally gravitate toward those people who are investing in their lives.

“You are being like Jesus to those children,” King states. “Because to a lot of the children you are serving and ministering to, you’re the only Jesus they’re ever going to see.”

King explored lessons about children from Mark 10 at this leadership training event. He encourages that the children’s reactions to Jesus in this passage reveals three specific things about their character to keep in mind in your children’s ministry.

First, children are into people not power. They instinctively understand that life is about people, not attaining power in this world. This truth further reveals how we should all live as Christ-followers: recognizing that the kingdom of God is all about people.

Second, children are about innocence and not influence. King emphasizes that children are naturally honest, often telling the truth with brutal honesty that many adults would shy away from or tiptoe around.

Lastly, children are empty and not yet established. King describes children as canvasses that have yet to be painted. By serving in children’s ministry, we’re helping fill their minds and hearts. King encourages filling them with such things as the Gospel, mercy, compassion, and patience.

As King summarizes, “They’re going to be filled with something. Let’s fill them with the Word of God.”

Preview this video and other free leadership training sessions at ministrygrid.com.

Ministry Grid is a subscription-based, online leadership development platform for pastors, staff, and volunteers that is unmatched in scope of content, customization, and simplicity. You’ll find more than 1,000 video sessions on topics, ranging from parking ministry to polity, with more added continually. You can even upload your own content, turn off unwanted content, and put your church’s own logo and skin on the site. An intuitive Learning Management System makes assigning courses and tracking your people’s progress a snap. It’s training made simple. Coming Summer 2013. 

Finally, a Bible study curriculum preteens can call their own – available as a digital download! Now that all 8 volumes of FLYTE have released in print, we are making these same great volumes available as digital downloads this summer (Volume 1 is releasing June 1. Volumes 2-8 will be available by August 1.) Each volume will be released as a digital leader kit, containing all the great FLYTE videos plus the leader guide, learner magazine, and teacher helps all in PDF format. You won’t miss a thing, all for the same great price as the print edition, $89.95 per volume!

You will be able to manage your digital curriculum and leaders with ease. Once you purchase the digital FLYTE products, you’ll have access to My Curriculum Manager, where you’ll be able to:

• Access your digital curriculum files.
• Share digital materials with leaders. Anytime. Anywhere.
• Spread out work: assign multiple administrators.
• Schedule lessons with built-in calendar to keep leaders on track.

We are also releasing an eReader version of the FLYTE Leader Guides for the convenience of your leaders request an ePub format. Each leader guide will be released on the same schedule as the leader kit. Available separately for the same great price as the leader guide, $4.95 per issue.

Each volume of FLYTE has:

• 13 simple to execute sessions
• Fresh video content
• Sound Bible study
• Life application
• Parent letters

Each FLYTE leader kit includes a leader guide, learner magazine, DVD, and CD-ROM. There are video segments for every session. The segments include Bible study backgrounds, music videos, real life scenarios, and more. There are visually appealing teacher helps for every session, fellowship ideas, and kickoff event suggestions to make preparation fast and easy. The result is a “real-life” curriculum that today’s preteens identify with, in language that respects and protects this very unique age group. So if you’re teaching preteens this year, take FLYTE!

If you ask preteens, they would tell you they’re not “in between” anything. They are facing puberty, drugs, sex, acceptance, and self-esteem issues every day. FLYTE is a curriculum that’s all theirs, one that speaks to what they’re dealing with right now – not what’s past or in their future.

Preteen experts — namely, preteens themselves — weighed in on the energy, movement, and excitement of FLYTE during its development so that key biblical concepts are not only grasped, but applied, to issues like eating disorders, puberty, sex, bullying, emotions, family relationships, and more. FLYTE is undated so if you see a topic your preteens aren’t ready to tackle, simply skip that session and come back to it later.

Today’s preteens stay on the move; if we’re not reaching them, someone or something else will.  So if you’re teaching preteens this year, take FLYTE!

I prefer that title because this service can be so much more than an opportunity to announce the birth of a child! I worry sometimes that parents participate in a dedication service because they get caught up in the excitement of showing off their new little one. What my hope for that young family is that this will be a celebration of life but also a time of solemn commitment where the parents pledge to be and do all they can to raise that child and help her to be all God wants her to be.

This day can also be a great reminder to your church congregation of their responsibility of surrounding that new family. A time, where we as church members realize that we’re to come alongside and mentor, support, and advise when we can and assist in teaching and guiding their children.

There are so many great ways to celebrate this commitment.  I’ve seen:

• Services where all families with babies born during the past year were committed on one day;
• Services where each child is celebrated and dedicated on his own unique Sunday;
• Services on Saturday night;
• Parent Brunches;
• Older siblings dedicated, who for various reasons had not participated in a service before;
• and so much more!

Here are four resources from pastors who have unique ways that their churches have performed this service.

If you have a special way you celebrate this service in your ministry, please share a comment with us! Although it may be too late for this year’s Mother’s Day, you might give someone a great idea for a future date!

Blessings, friends!

http://www.lifeway.com/Article/pastors-baby-dedication-resources