John Murchison is the Director of Children's Ministry at The Austin Stone. He is husband to Sarah and father to Waverly and Lucy. He is passionate about making disciples of children rather than "mini-Pharisees," and about teaching children the gospel over morality. He desires to help parents see themselves as missionaries on mission to and through their children. He's also a fan of Pixar movies, all things Disney, comic books, and video games, and uses his job as an excuse to do "research" in these areas.
The command to love your neighbors can be easier to obey with your kids than without. Here are a few ways that children can help us know and love our neighbors.
Walking our children through the Old Testament and showing how it all points to Jesus helps them understand why the birth of a baby boy in Bethlehem is such a big deal.
While a child's desire to get baptized is always an occasion to rejoice, it's important for parents to discern when is the right time to celebrate this important step in every Christian's life.
However you decide to lead your family this Halloween, chances are your kids will be jealous of what some of their friends get to do that they can't participate in. How can you respond with truth and love?
There's a script that all Christians tend to adhere to, where everything is "fine." Kids don't stick to the script... and that is one of the best reasons to include them in your community.
"What about Bible studies?" is one of the questions I hear most often when talking with others about how kids can be included in the life of a Missional Community.
The Family Meal is less like a Sunday School class that happens to meet in a home and more like a gathering of extended family over food. And kids are welcome!
To be sure, mothers do make sacrifices for their children in a thousand little ways each day. But we have to define and evaluate these things with an eternal perspective.
What most families need is not to do more things, but do live out their calling as a missionary in the things they are already doing. To be on mission, families don't need a shift in activity, but a shift in identity.
When talking with parents of young children about the idea of being in a Missional Community, of joining a small group of believers who work together to declare and demonstrate the gospel, I usually get one of two responses.
