Each new year gives us the opportunity to start afresh. For kids’ ministry leaders who are goal-oriented and intentional, it is a time we look forward to with anticipation. It’s an opportunity to set new goals, aspire to greater ministry achievements, and dwell on the possibility of what the new year may bring. But before we move forward into 2016, I encourage you to look back on what happened in your own personal life and ministry over the last year.

Effective leaders constantly evaluate their own progress and consider how they can improve. Balancing looking back and looking forward can be challenging, but a healthy leader recognizes the importance of learning from the past without dwelling on it. We can celebrate past milestones while recognizing the need to continually grow and improve.

The Christmas story is a powerful opportunity to remind kids how much God loves them. The whole idea that Emmanuel, God with us, came to earth to live among us and die so that we might be right with God is an incredible truth. However, one of the most important (and challenging) things about kids’ ministry is finding a way to teach the truths of Scripture in new and creative ways. It can be difficult to help kids grasp the magnitude of what took place during the Christmas story if they’ve heard it year after year.

Trust goes hand in hand with hope. It is hard to have hope when you do not have trust. However we can trust in God in the same way a child trusts its parents when learning how to walk or learning about the world surrounding them. That Christmas morning so many years ago God held true to his word and sent Jesus: the Hope the world was waiting for.

What does the first Christmas gift mean to you? I mean deep down, underneath all the trapping. Who is this God-Man to you? Did His love feel unfailing when you lost your job? Does His love feel faithful when someone you love is dying? How easy it is to measure our blessings with dollar signs or good health. Jesus, God’s Gift came offering a relationship...

The Christmas story is an incredible reminder of exactly how much God loves us. However, like many Bible stories, it’s easy for the power of the story to become watered down the more we hear it. Every year, I try to take some time to read through the Christmas stories with fresh eyes. After all these years, I’m amazed at the truths the Holy Spirit continues to show me through scripture.