God has instructed us to go into all the world to preach the gospel and make disciples. We have the message of salvation, and we know the one who is able to save men’s souls. And this “Great Commission” is for our children as much as it is for any other individual, or any other age group.

The Bible teaches us that children need a Savior just as much as adults do. And even as Jesus warmly welcomed the children, taking them in his arms and blessing them, we are commanded to permit the children to come to Jesus, and to not hinder them. (Mark 10:13-16)

Children, like every one of us have a sinful nature. We all come into the world with a corrupt nature inherited from Adam (Rom: 5:12-19), but we believe in the power of God to save and change the heart of each one of us, even while children. Peter, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, proclaimed to the crowd our desperate need of God’s salvation, “Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” (Acts 2:38-39) It is the Holy Spirit who bears witness of Christ and it is the Holy Spirit that convicts our hearts “concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). We must rely on the Spirit if we are going to accomplish the work Christ wants us to do. The Spirit works as we pray, witness, make disciples, and preach the word of God.

Ministry to children must be God centered, Christ exalting, biblical and consistent with what we teach adults. We seek to show children the centrality of God through Christ in all things, and because we believe children can handle deep truths at a young age, we seek to faithfully teach the whole counsel of God to our children; teaching that is faithful to the scriptures, presenting the Bible as one continuous interconnected story. Romans 10:17 tells us that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ”. This is the revelation of God and His plan for redemption of mankind through the saving work of Jesus Christ, who died to save all who would believe on His name.

Because we believe in the sufficiency of God’s Word, our ministry to children is centered on the scriptures, the written word of God. Peter tells us that God “has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him.” What a glorious truth! God desires to make Himself known to us and to our children, and He does so through His Word and the power of His Holy Spirit! Therefore we strive in all of our teaching to present God’s truths clearly and understandably to the children we minister to, maintaining His written word as the core curriculum and foundation for all learning. And because interaction with God’s truth is critical, children are encouraged to look up scripture passages and discover and respond to God’s truth.

Our desire is that the children entrusted to our care would come to a saving knowledge of Christ, and that Sunday mornings would be a time that they are encouraged and strengthened in their relationship with the Savior. We must intercede for our children praying that God would do a mighty work in their hearts to repent of sin and embrace Christ.

“and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” – 2 Timothy 3:15