While the Sunday morning experience isn’t the only aspect of your kids’ ministry, it certainly is an important part of it. In most churches, you have an hour with kids every Sunday to instill lessons and truths that will help them know God, love Jesus, and grow as Spirit-filled disciples. This week we’ll unpack some of the different ways you can plan an effective kids’ ministry lesson.

Reducing biblical teaching down to moralistic principles is an easy trap to fall into in kids’ ministry. We want to put the gospel into terms kids can easily understand while also teaching them good behavior. But reducing the gospel to simply good behavior is a dangerous and slippery slope that can cause kids to miss the message of salvation altogether.

Ministry leaders need to grasp God’s big-picture story in order to teach kids who God really is. We are speaking to one of the first generations to be raised by biblically illiterate parents. Ideas about sin, justice, and love are no longer taught as precepts of Scripture, if they are ever taught at all. Kids don’t know Jonah from James in a time when a biblical worldview is more important than ever.

The truth of the gospel is that God loves us and pursues us in spite of ourselves, not because of ourselves. However, when it comes to the way we walk kids through the stories in Scripture, it can be easy to make it about practicing virtues or obeying the rules.

Searching for great children’s ministry curriculum is tough. But we’ve got something that will help you out! It’s called the “CAT” (Curriculum Assessment Tool). It’s a rubric to help you ask all the right questions when trying to find quality, Spirit-empowered curriculum for your kids.

The task of choosing the right curriculum can be rather daunting, causing teachers to lean towards convenience. Choosing the right curriculum is not only essential to effective discipleship, but it also determines the direction of our ministry.