I’ve been at Grace Redeemer for nine years and I’ve always known there was something special about our kids. I love the New Living Translation when it says, “Children are a gift from the Lord.” This verse rang so true as we returned to in-person Children’s Ministry this past Sunday for the first time in 18 months.
As I popped my head into classrooms and talked with teachers and parents after Sunday, it was so easy to see how God has gifted us through our children. It’s not only our kids who are a gift, their families and their Sunday school teachers who so faithfully share the Gospel with them are definitely a gift too!
Our two- and three-year-old class learned that “God made everything” and now my two-year-old has been repeating that truth multiple times a day at home and has requested that I sing the “God Made Everything,” song to her several times. What a gift it is to see our youngest ones back at church learning foundational truths about God and growing to know and love Him.
Parents were enthusiastically registering and dropping their kids off for their classes and asking great questions about curriculum and programming as they did. The evidence of how so many of our parents are discipling their kids at home and loving them well was clear through our kids’ comments this past Sunday. In Kids’ Club one preschooler piped up, “I just really love my mom and my dad.” That sentiment was echoed by several other preschoolers in the room as well. What a huge blessing it is to see first-hand, how our parents recognize what a gift their kids are and show them Jesus and build into their lives.
Our oldest kids, our fifth graders, demonstrated what a gift they are this past Sunday, and their Sunday school teachers did too! Last Sunday was the first time in 18 months that our fifth graders and their teachers gathered, in-person, for fellowship, discipleship, and the opportunity to get to know one another. Our teachers did such a great job modeling Christ’s love and care that one girl who was new to Grace Kids felt comfortable enough to close in prayer and another new parent shared her conviction that she’s confident that her child will be nurtured and loved in this class.
Being back in person, even for just one week, was an enormous blessing! Seeing our kids face-to-face, watching our teachers share the Gospel with them in-person, and observing our parents as they love their kids well is a blessing that we couldn’t fully realize online. Our children truly are a gift, and we are humbled that God has entrusted these gifts to us. Would you join us in praying that we, their parents, teachers, and ministry leaders, would faithfully show them Christ and teach them the Gospel?
P.S. – We’d love to welcome your gifts (your kids) to Grace Kids this coming Sunday. There’s room for more! Please email me if you’d like more information about our classes. Also, if you’d like to learn first-hand what gifts our kids really are, will you drop me a line about volunteering with Grace Kids? I’d love to share more with you about becoming a part of our team!
Karen Jacobsen is our Director of Children’s Ministry.