Main session 2: The child through the eyes of the church
Sunday, February 04, 2007
This session was by Alan Charter and was fantastic. He started off by asking what does it mean to be an older generation sharing with a younger generation? Thoughts included that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, and ‘the life of a child is like a piece of paper on which every passer-by leaves a mark.’ It is the role of the whole community of God’s people: parents, children’s leaders, volunteers, ministers and pastors, and the church family.
We should be raising them up to know God and to live for him. To support this he used the famous verses of Deuteronomy 6; Psalm 78; and Micah 6. As children’s leaders we need to encourage the church in this.
His main points could then be summarised as:
- Be an advocate
- Be people of vision
- Be informed
- Be strategic
He concluded with 4 things to get good at:
1. Your own relationship with Jesus
2. Equipping your own children
3. Making disciples in your church
4. Reaching the children in your community
Concluding thought was this: “The church of God doesn’t have a mission, the mission of God has a church.” A very powerful thought.
