Children have a high place of importance here at the Journey.  We believe children are a gift from God and we have been given the great responsibility of shepherding them in the ways of the Lord.  One of the means by which we do this is our children’s ministry.  The mission of Journey Kids is to make disciples of children by the age of 12 through gospel-centered teaching and gospel-centered parenting.  The urgency of this mission cannot be overstated: approximately 85% of Christians trust Christ between the ages of 4-13.  The probability that someone will trust Christ after the age of 13 drops significantly.  The Barna Research Group surveys demonstrate that American children ages 5 to 13 have a 32% probability of accepting Christ, but teens ages 14 to 18 have only a 4% probability of doing so.  Therefore, our task is urgent and important.  We who know the gospel must be faithful to pass it on to the next generation.  If we commit to gospel-centered teaching and gospel-centered parenting we will see incredible fruit produced in the lives of children at the Journey as well as in our community.

On Sunday mornings in Journey Kids we will continually point children to the gospel.  Gospel-centered teaching involves understanding what Jesus taught about the Old Testament.  In John 5:39 Jesus told the Jews, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.”  The Scriptures that Jesus was referring to are what we now refer to as the Old Testament.  In other words Jesus was saying that all of the Old Testament points to him.  In order to truly understand the Old Testament we must see how they lead us to Jesus.  While walking on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection, Jesus caught up with two of his disciples who did not recognize him.  They were grieving the death of Jesus as they did not yet understand he would rise again.  Luke records what happened next on that road in 24:7, “And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”  Jesus explained to them that his death and resurrection happened according to God’s plan; as a matter of fact he fulfilled the Old Testament.  If we fail to read the Old Testament in light of the work in Christ then we only understand in part.  Therefore when we teach the children we must always point them to Christ regardless of what passage of Scripture we are using.  We will not simply teach kids a fun story about Noah and his ark.  We will not teach moralizing lessons based on the Ten Commandments.  Rather, we will show them how these passages and all of Scripture point to and find their fulfillment in Jesus.  We will continually lead them to the cross.  The gospel transforms lives, not Bible stories taught in isolation of the greater redemptive story.  We will be gospel-centered in our teaching and pray that God will change the hearts of the children that they may be free to know and worship him.

As important as it is, gospel-centered teaching on Sunday mornings is not enough.  We must be a church that practices gospel-centered parenting.  This begins with God’s word.  The Bible does not provide us with a list of parenting tips or how to’s.  There is no simple formula.  But the Bible does provide us with all we need to raise our children in the way they should go.  Therefore, approaching scripture with the right motivation is necessary.  If we simply come to scripture to find answers for specific situations we will miss the big picture. God’s word is about God (crazy, I know).  Thus, we should approach scripture to know him.  As we know him we will become like him through the work of the Holy Spirit.  Only as we know him and become like him we will be faithful to raise our children in the gospel.  In other words gospel-centered parenting begins with us.  We need to know the gospel, be transformed by the gospel, and treasure the gospel in order to raise our kids in the gospel.  Let’s continually bring ourselves to the cross of Christ to remind ourselves of who he is and what he has done for us.  As we set our hearts on the gospel, God will shape us as parents and use us to disciple children.

The mission of making disciples of children is exciting and challenging.  As a church let’s support and encourage each other in this endeavor and rejoice together as we see him reap a harvest in our midst.  In the coming weeks we will post a series of articles concerning gospel-centered parenting.  We hope and pray that these articles will serve to equip and encourage you to be the parents that God has called you to be.