What is the Purpose of Kids Connect?
Helping Kids to Know, Love and Follow Jesus
In the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) we hear the command to make disciples by teaching them as they go. The vehicle of disciple-making is teaching. As a Kid’s Ministry leaders we want to teach them to know Jesus…a knowing that uses the mind to understand the stories of the Bible AND a knowing that opens the heart to see what our mind cannot see. A heart knowing requires relationship with Jesus, each week we strive to combine the facts (mind) with our passions (heart) in order to integrate knowing into every aspect of living.
As we plan programs and Bible lessons, we ask ourselves, “Does this lesson, activity, or event help kids to know Jesus? Do the activities ultimately point to an opportunity to know Jesus better?” The goal as kids move on to student ministry is for them to have transitioned from the basics of just knowing the name of Jesus to an understanding that:
Jesus forgives
Jesus is the son of God and the son of man
Jesus is the living word
Jesus is the Lamb and the Savior
Jesus loves unconditionally
Jesus answers prayer and speaks to us
Jesus is God’s chosen redeemer
Jesus is at the center of our teaching. Keeping Christ central informs the songs we choose to sing, how we pray, who we choose to lead, what point we draw from the Bible lesson, what we celebrate. All of these components lead us to understand that we were created to worship Jesus, not ourselves.
Jeremiah 24:7 (ESV) states, “I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God…” Please pray with us as we move into a new ministry year that children at CCC will know Jesus.
