In teaching and researching kids church curricula, I think that the main purpose of many of them boils down to three basic steps:
• To teach kids the need for salvation
• To teach kids the truth of God s Word
• To teach kids how Christians should behave by application of the Bible s stories
The question I find myself asking when looking through the curriculum is: What is the central focus in each purpose? I believe the Bible gives a very specific focus to which everything else ties: Who God is. Once children learn from God s Word who He is, they will see the helplessness of their sinful condition, the love and justice of God through the giving of a perfect Substitute Jesus Christ and the salvation they can have by simple faith in Him.
The one thing I look for in all the curriculum I consider is the focus on God. When one person gets to know another and begins to love him or her, the desire is to do the things that make him happy and avoid the things that hurt or cause problems in the relationship. This isn t done out of necessity, but out of love for what is known about that person. In the end, we want kids to respond to God in the way the Bible teaches love, obedience, service but the pattern must be to know Him, then out of that knowledge the Holy Spirit gives a love for Him, and then service flows out of that love.
I have found one approach that works very well in teaching kids (whether they already know some of the Bible or are completely untaught) is that of chronological teaching beginning in Genesis and working through the life of Christ to show how that God has had a plan for people and He has been at the center of that plan from the beginning. One learns that:
• God is the center of all things, created all things, loves, yet is just.
• One angel was the first to rebel against who God is, wanting to take His place of authority, so he and other bad angels were sent out of God s presence in heaven because God is perfect and can t have anything imperfect with Him.
• Because of their hatred toward God, the bad angels decided to convince God s most special creation, mankind, that God didn t really know what was best for them.
• We now have sin and death in the world because mankind decided that they knew better than God what was best for their lives. The reason why there are so many bad things today is because of the sin that came when people turned their backs on God.
• Because of the sin of all people, no one can be with God, since He is perfect and can t endure sin in His presence.
• But God didn t want people to be separated from Him like the bad angels, so he provided a way for people to be perfect through His own perfect Son, Jesus, dying in the place of mankind.
• Salvation has nothing to do with being a good person or doing more good things than bad. Only through trusting in Jesus can anyone be saved from the terrible punishment of sin and death.
• Obedience and service to God are the result of knowing and believing who God is and what He s done out of love for people who didn t love Him.
Whether you want to teach chronologically or not, I d like to encourage you to look for curriculum that keeps God at the center. Kids can get bogged down quickly if they re continually given rules on how they should and shouldn t live according to the Bible. It will become more burdensome than helpful as they grow older. On the other hand, kids want to love and be loved, and they long to please. If they can understand who God is, they can love and be loved, and then be taught how to please the One they love.
Will you consider this?
Author Resource:
Aleena Denison has a heart for seeing the message of the Bible presented in a clear way,and is dedicated to sharing Jesus with the lost and helping believers see their responsibilities in evangelism,discipleship,and Bible study. For more information and free downloads, see http://www.goodseed.com
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