 Good morning everyone and welcome again to this spring semester, the last semester for all of you. Just so glad that all of you could, you know, enroll yourselves for this semester just praying that there will be a good learning experience for all of you. Before we continue with looking at the Biblical Basis and Mandate for Children's Ministry, can one of you please lead us in prayer please? Anyone of you can lead us in prayer? I want to pray. Heavenly Father, we are very grateful for this morning. We thank you for the many gracious things you continue to supply to us. We pray that Lord, as we begin this lesson, God be with us, let your presence be with us. Let the Holy Spirit come and guide us in all our lessons. We pray for understanding. We pray for wisdom and we pray for knowledge that you commit pastor Selena into your hands. Continue to supply him with grace to be able to teach for our understanding in Jesus' mighty name. We pray that you grant us good internet connectivity and we pray for all our class members who are not yet joined. We pray that grant them the grace to be able to join us in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen. Thank you. I posted the course content or the course material for the Biblical Basis and Mandate for Children's Ministry. It should be available for you. You can access it from the stream page. Last week, we began looking at why children's ministry is important. And we also began looking at the Biblical Basis and Mandate for Children's Ministry. We saw that God has a plan for children and his plan includes for family. So the concept of family was in God's mind from the very beginning. We also see how God blessed Adam and Eve and said be fruitful and multiply. We saw some references in Genesis chapter 17 where we see God chose and established Abraham's family as a family of promise and how he makes a covenant and the sign of the covenant is circumcision. It just does not involve the adults or the older people but even children who are eight days old must be circumcised. So from a very young age, they are part of that covenant that God made with Abraham and they're part of that covenantal community. So we see the importance God gave for children in the promises that he made to Abraham which is an everlasting covenant, an everlasting promise that he made with Abraham that is going to follow down through the generations. We also see in the Bible that children need to be trained in the Word of God. We looked at Genesis chapter 18, we looked at Genesis chapter 18, Exodus chapter 12 where God is giving instructions to Moses about the Passover to Moses and Aaron and they call the elders of the community and give them the instructions and the basic reason why God is telling them that you need to observe this every year is so that when your children participate in this whole celebration or this whole event they will ask you why are we doing this and then you can share with them tell them what God has done, how he delivered them from Egypt so they would know who God is, what he has done, the nature of God, the attributes of God, the character of God and his love for his people and also the covenant that he's made with them. And we ended the class last Monday by looking at Eutronomy chapter 31 where we see that Moses is 120 years old, he's no longer able to lead the people so God chose Joshua as the leader to succeed Moses after him and so Moses is giving instructions to the people what they need to do and he's telling them that when the God of Israel appears to them or when they appear before the Lord their God in the place that God chooses for them then they need to read and when they read the law or the commandments that God has given to them he says assemble the people, men, women and children. So children are not left out, it's not just the older men and women but it's also children and the aliens living in that town so that they can listen and learn the fear of the Lord their God and follow carefully in all the words of the Lord that he's given to them and in Eutronomy chapter 31 verse 13 which we read he says children who do not know this law must hear it and learn to fear the Lord their God as long as they live in the land that they are going to possess even as they cross over the Jordan to possess the land of King. Then we look at Psalms chapter 78 verses 1 to 8 so again one of you please read Psalms chapter 78 verses 1 to 8 please Anyone would like to read Psalms 78 verses 1 to 8? Yes, I think. Thank you Christopher. Yeah. Give your or my people to my Lord incline your ears to the words of my mouth I will open my mouth in a parable I will utter dark sayings of old which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us we will not hide them from their children telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he has done for he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel which he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children that the generations to come I know them the children who would be born that they may arise and declare them to their children that they may set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but keep his commandments and may not be like their fathers a stubborn and rebellious generation a generation that did not set its heart all right and whose spirit was not faithful to God. Thank you. So here in these verses we see you know the instruction that God is giving us that we shouldn't hide the truth or hide from the children but reveal to them, tell them the praiseworthy deeds of what God has done his power, his wonders that he has done and why is God giving the people of Israel these instructions is so that he's saying that the next generation the children who come up would know him would know his covenant, would know his commandments and he says that even as we teach the children these children when they grow up they will teach in turn they will teach their children so you know the promises of God the deeds of God, his power, his wonders his covenant, his commandments his laws that he has given to them will be passed on from generation to generation and why is God saying that this needs to be passed on from generation to generation he says so that you know that the generations would put their trust in God they would not forget his deeds but they would keep his commands and the main reason here is you know he says so that they will not be like their forefathers a stubborn and rebellious generation whose hearts are not loyal to God and whose spirits are not faithful to him so you know teaching children the laws the commandments the promises of God his word you know his power his wonders his great deeds is basically so that they don't grow up to be a stubborn and rebellious adults stubborn and rebellious generation who rebel against God who go away from his words or his statutes, his commands and you know whose hearts will always be loyal to the Lord their God and whose spirits you know even in their spirit man they would be faithful to him so we see that you know God knew the importance or stress the importance or establish the importance that we need to give to train or teach or impart to young children so that they could grow up not to be a stubborn and rebellious generation but a generation who loved their Lord their God who devoted their heart their soul their spirit man is devoted to the Lord their God they're loyal to him they're faithful to him and they do not depart from his ways we also see that children you know are integral part of the covenantal community the people of Israel were in covenant with God the Lord their God and we see that it's not only the adults we already saw that when God makes a covenant with Abraham we saw that in Genesis chapter 17 verses 9 to 14 we also see that you know we read in other places in scripture in Jeremiah chapter 32 verses 38 to 41 and Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 6 to 7 and Proverbs 22 verse 6 that you know children are part of the covenantal community that means they are in covenant with God from a very early days of their life as early as eight days old because the sign of the covenant the circumcision ritual you know was done to children who were eight days old so they are also integral part of the covenantal community so can one of you please read Jeremiah chapter 32 verses 38 to 41 someone else can read Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 6 to 7 that's Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 6 to 7 okay and Proverbs chapter 22 verse 6 yes go ahead Asha and they shall be my people and I will be their God I'll give them one heart on one way that they will fear me forever for their own good and the good of their children after you know I will make them with them I will make with them in everlasting covenant that I will not return away from good to them and I will put the fear of me in their hearts and that they may not jump from me I will reduce and bring them good I will plant them in the land in faithfulness with all my heart and all my soul thank you so here we see that you know God is establishing his everlasting covenant and he's saying that he shall be their God they shall be his people you know and he'll give them one heart so that they can fear him always for their own good and for the good of their children after them so the covenant he's making is here it's not you know qualifying that it's just you know adults but it says I shall be they shall be my people and I shall be their God so it's inclusive of people from every age group and God is saying that you know he would establish his everlasting covenant for their good and for the good of their children after them Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 6 to 7 can one of you please read that shall I read it ma'am? sure good morning good morning go ahead Rupa okay Deuteronomy 6 6 to 7 and these words that I command you today shall be on your heart you shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise thank you Eman so here we see you know I like the word it says impress them on your children you know these commandments that he God is giving he says you know write them upon your hearts and he says you know impress them upon your children or like Rupa read the version diligently, sincerely you know minute by minute day by day so here we see you know at every possible time of the day teach your children impart to them about the Lord their God it says when you're sitting at home you know just doing things at home chatting or whatever you know when you're sitting when you're walking along the road with your children when you're lying down when you get up so it's basically talking it's mentioning you know not just a specific time where we have you know family time or prayer time but it says throughout the day you know at any possible occasion throughout the day you know impart to your children impress them you know what it means to impress right when you impress something on a piece of stone or wood on the wall it kind of becomes a permanent mark something that you can't cannot be removed something that cannot be wiped out so he says impress them and do this very diligently and that's why we see that you know the Jews had to you know write the Torah the law on their forehead they had to bind it around their head or they had tassels you know and they had even these small things in their pockets where the word of God and just a reminder of you know it's equivalent to what we talk about today as meditating on God's word you know just chewing what we are bringing back and reiterating in our minds in our lives you know what we read in scripture during our quiet time that day or what God is speaking to us just meditating on scripture so he says throughout the day just talk about it to your children so that it's not forgotten you know it's not something that is is wiped away from their memory but it's just become so part and parcel of their life so God's law his commandments is just so part of their core of their being their structure their very fiber of their entire being that you know that they automatically are just living in the commandments in the laws of the Lord there God Proverbs chapter 22 verse 6 one of you read that please Proverbs chapter Proverbs chapter 22 thank you train up a child in the way he should go and we and when he is old he will not depart from it thank you thank you amen so you know it's a start off on the way and start children off on the way they should go that even in their old you know they will not turn from the laws to commandments so we already saw the statistics I mentioned you know last Monday at the age of nine and the age of 13 you know children's basic value structure their foundation their values what is right and wrong about who God is his nature his attributes their relationship with God is all kind of consolidated or has a strong foundation by the time they come to an age of 13 so you know here again God is stressing the importance of how to you know impart to children teach them at the very young age so that when they are old they will not turn away from it so that it just becomes so much part of their life their very being their lifestyle that when they grow up they will just automatically you know walk in the ways of the Lord so we see that God's plan for children is you know that the God has a plan for children his plan includes family his plan includes that they be trained in the word of God his plan also included that they be an integral part of the covenant real community or the covenant that he made with Abraham and with his generations also we see in scripture that you know children are part of the corporate worship in the Israelite community so I'll just put up that slide okay they're part of the corporate worship so the biblical pattern we see is for family young people youth teens adults older people and even children to come together in worship praise prayer repentance to hear the reading of scripture and even fasting and prayer so we look at some of these scriptures that reveal to us how children are part of that corporate worship in the Israelite community so praise can some of one of you please read a Psalm chapter 148 was 12 to 13 please children are part of the praise and worship time in part of the praise worship time that happens in the community of the people of Israel some 148 was 12 to 30 men and maidens together old men and children let them praise the name of the Lord but his name alone is exalted his majesty is above earth and heaven thank you we see that you know when God calls people his people to praise him and worship him it's not just for young men and women and older men and women but also children are included in that prayer can one of you please read second chronicles chapter 20 verses 12 to 13 please second chronicles chapter 20 verses 12 to 13 yes thank you Rupa O our God will you not execute judgment on them where we are powerless against the straight forward that is coming against us we do not know what to do but our eyes are on you meanwhile all Judas stood before the Lord with their little ones their wives and their children thank you so here we see in second chronicles chapter 20 you know King Jehoshaphat his he just walks in the ways the Lord compared to his fathers before him who worshiped idols but when he becomes king you know he re-institutes the worship the reading of the law gets the temple cleaned up and you know God blesses him with peace and prosperity so Judah is just prospering and flourishing but you know suddenly we see three kings coming to fight against King Jehoshaphat and into King Jehoshaphat you know trying to get all his generals and soldiers and plan a strategy on how they can face this vast army of three kings and their armies you know he actually does something that is very unusual he you know he if you know the narrative we read that you know he asked all the people to fast and pray and here we and then he calls them all to the temple and you know and all of them are there men women children and even little ones and all of them are fast and praying and he says even your animal should fast and pray so everyone in the Israelite community so here is a situation where they're going for war and you know they need strength but he's saying you know hey come on let's fast and pray and it's not just men and women so let your children just be at home and then be playing but it's everyone including children and little ones bring them to the temple so everyone had gathered to the temple so I think it was just such a beautiful must have been such a beautiful learning experience for these little ones and children just to know you know what to do in times of crisis in times of struggles and just to see the power of God just being demonstrated you know Joseph comes and you know he doesn't say no grumble or murmur against God doesn't say God you know compared to all my forefathers who worshiped idols I did this this this I honored you and then why is all of you know why is this happening to me you know why is these three kings coming to fight against us but he actually you know praises God he will read 2 Chronicles chapter 20 beautiful passage he just praises God you know and you're just reading the the end of his his praise and worship and prayer to God he says he just is reminding God of who he is a covenant that he's made with his people and then he says you know we have no power to face this vast army we do not know what to do but our eyes are on you and then God you know his spirit comes upon Jesse and then he tells and he tells the people and King Joseph at what what is the strategy for war and I'm sure when they're doing all of this you know children in the little ones are hearing and they are just learning you know how God speaks to them that he's a God who's living a God who speaks a God who sees a God is mindful a God who works on their behalf and you know before they even march out for war these three kings you know sorry they march out for war but even before they reach the place they see that you know all these three kings and their armies have fought against each other and everyone is killed and they just bring back plunder and it takes three days for them to bring back the plunder so all of this is something that you know the children are watching and learning and it's something that you know they will grow into knowing who God is so sometimes we feel that you know children should be left out of okay bring them in for praise and worship but sometimes for prayer fasting we think we shouldn't include children but it's it's good at a very young age to have children you know pray and fast sometimes we think hey children can't fast they're too small to fast but we have you know I've seen children from other faiths as young as in grade four and grade five you know fasting and going without water the entire day so zealous for their for their God so why not our Christian children you know why not be in part of them and teach them this at a very young age you know the power of just praying and interceding and coming before God and start when they as they're growing up you know they're not just running to people or running to Google or running here and there to search for answers but they know where to come they know where they get their answers from and they would also learn the power of fasting the next one is repentance so children are also part of the repentance or when the people of Israel repentant of their sins children are also part of this we read this in Ezra chapter 10 verse 1 can one of you please read that please Ezra 10 this one now while Ezra was praying and while he was confessing we think and bowing down for the house of God a very large family of men women and children gave up to him from Israel for people were very bitterly thank you Maggie so here we see that Ezra is basically you know weeping and mourning and confessing the sins of the people before the house of God and you know the people of Israel men women and children gathered around him and they also you know weep bitterly sorry for the people wept very bitterly so this shows that you know the people were also struck by the conviction of their sin and their need to confess and repent and they they sorrowed you know or they mourned or grieved over the sin of that of the community of the covenant community they were part of just as Ezra had done so we see that even children were part of this repentance and learning you know what sin is how sin grieves the heart of God how sin breaks our relationship with God the covenant that we have with God and how important it is for repentance so you know children were also part of you know the corporate worship, praise, prayer, repentance and also part of the reading and the hearing of scripture Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 2 can one of you please read that please. Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 2 so Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month amen. Amen Thank you Mr. Abini so here Nehemiah has finished building the walls of Jerusalem and you know Ezra the priest brings out the law and he reads it before the people and here we see that of course children are not mentioned but it mentions men women and all who are able to understand so if we look at the scripture passages that we have read so far children were part of you know part of everything that was done in the community of Israel so here we see that if they were able to understand I'm sure their parents would have brought them to listen to the reading of the scripture or the law so it's so important for us to get children to read and to listen to the word of God from a very young age so that you know they would just learn and they would love God's word we also see that salvation is not something that has a specific age limit there's no age limit set in scripture for the gift of salvation or the baptism of the Holy Spirit let's look at one scripture passage in Acts chapter 2 verses 38 to 39 can one of you please read that please Acts chapter 2 verse 38 and 39 Acts chapter 2 verses 38 to 39 and Peter said to them repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift to the Holy Spirit but this promise is for you and for your children and for all those who are far off everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself amen so here we see you know just so excited to read this verse just saying that repentance, baptism, forgiveness of sin, salvation which we are talking about just one word that fits in all of this and also the gift to the Holy Spirit is also for children so there is no senior Holy Spirit or junior Holy Spirit or the child Holy Spirit but the Holy Spirit works equally amongst all age groups whether it's a small child whether it's a mature grown up old adult can receive salvation so sometimes we think we should not talk about sin, salvation the consequences of sin or hell choose children because they might get frightened but you know it's important for them to know at a very young age and understand this so that they're able to know what Jesus has done or even talk about how Jesus was crucified on the cross because we can think it's so gruesome it's so difficult for the little minds, innocent minds to understand all of this but you know at a very young age if we are just able to communicate have them to understand they'll come to a place where they would sense that need to ask Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins also for the baptism of the Holy Spirit sometimes we think what can a small child understand about receiving the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit of flowing in the gifts of speaking in tongues but we see that even small children, young children can flow in the gifts of the Spirit, can speak in tongues can minister healing and deliverance to people so because scripture says this promise is for you and for your children so let's not put any limitations in our understanding of what children can take or not take but let's go with what scripture says because they are in an age where they can understand these things and flow and the Holy Spirit we can just minister to them, teach them but it's the Holy Spirit would work in them and lead them and guide them to greater things that he has, the plan and the purposes that he has for them before we move on anyone has any questions so far what we covered any questions? So we just saw how children are part integral part of the covenantal community part of the praise and worship prayer, repentance public reading of scripture and salvation so you know as a church today which is you know, in covenant with God the bride of Christ we need to also keep in mind that we need to include children in the various aspects of church life, we should train them teach them how to meaningfully participate in various aspects of church life. Yes Mange, you had you had your hand up? Yes first I wanted to ask in all scripture to be read we see that soldiers were included into, were part of the meeting so why do we separate them now why do we have separate church ministry while we see the Bible they were part of the main congregation Sorry Mange, can you please repeat that because I could not hear your question clearly sorry. Okay I was asking we see in all scripture that we read so far we see that children were part of the meeting were part of congregation and they were not segregated from the main body of the church so why do we separate them and have a separate service or entity called kids ministry why don't we just allow them to train us so that we can all worship together or hear the word together or if it's prophesied prophesied at the same time together what do we have to have kids ministry thank you Thank you Mange, so I think my internet connectivity is very unstable so just repeating your question you're saying that from the scripture passage that we read so that children were also part of the gathering along with other men and women the older folks of the Israelite community so why in today's church we are having a separate time of worship or a gathering for children and separate for adults yes that's your question right yes that's my question Good question As the generations have come and we've evolved into things basically learning about child psychology their understanding their ways of growing and how to cater to their needs it's the best thing that we do to have a separate time where we are teaching them the foundations because those who are in adult worship service they're already past that foundation stage they come to a stage where we can give them solid food of course everyone is not in the same level some of them require milk but children are in that foundation years of their life where we need to teach them in a way that they best understand we will look at the developmental needs of children in different age groups so even when we have children's church or we have Sunday school we don't teach children altogether from all age groups at one time we have children in different classes meeting in different classrooms and we engage to them in their level of understanding their mindset, their mental faculties their social learning skills their ability to grasp how we teach a child in grade 1 or grade 2 can be very different from how we teach a child in grade 8, 9 and 10 the challenges a child in grade 1 and 2 will be very different from the challenges a child or a teen in grade 8, 8, 9 and 10 will be going through so good to basically teach them in their level where they are able to understand the challenges and difficulties they face so that the word of God comes alive to them in their own circumstances in their own situations of course when they are in grade 10 they think they don't want to be any longer in children's church but in these days that once children transition from grade 10 to the adult church they are not able to fit in because they are way too high for them to understand or to be part of the adult church and they feel they are way too small to come to children's church so they are in between and this transition stage is a very difficult stage for all of them because they are teenagers going through various changes physically, emotionally spiritually, mentally and so they don't fit in so we kind of started a teen church where children are really enjoying it it's important that we cater to children in their own age groups based on their needs just like in school we just don't send children directly to college but they go from grade from kindergarten to grade 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 because they are learning basically and they are building up and they come to a stage where they can go to college and then walk alongside with other adults in their kind of relationship or understanding of the things of the world and the mindset and able to relate to them so sometimes there are children in the in the gathering in church when it comes to basically to say praise and worship or sometimes even prayer or extended times of prayer or extended times of praise and worship and fasting and prayer we could include children but also if you have it separately it becomes more meaningful for them to also pray and engage and break down their prayer points and make it more easier for them so that they are able to enjoy what they are doing but I am sure when it came to the Israelite community they were not so well advanced in all of these things they didn't even have the law in their hands for them to read the parents to read and access it so it was just a priest so everyone had to just go together and listen to the priest but then of course the parents would impart to them and let me read impress it on their hearts throughout the day so parents have the responsibility of teaching their children throughout the week it's just one or two hours when they engage in church where they are taught and they are learning does that help Mindy? Thank you Hello? Yes Kishan Ma'am can we say to our children do personal devotion? Yes why not? Can we say to our children do personal devotion? Yes we can we have lot of children devotional books that are available today for different age groups so parents by that I have seen that I have seen books those for various ages they have these devotional books and children are able to read of course when they come to an age where they are able to read maybe grade 4, 5, 6 onwards they are able to read so they can have their devotions and it's also the parents who sit along with them help them out understand and read God's Word practice to get children sorry so good practice to get children cultivated in this whole area of spending personal time with God but if for children who are not able to read grade 1, 2 and 3 their parents basically just sit with them share a story or narrative from the Word of God and then you know get them to pray and sometimes you know get them to pray for their friends or their family members who are not well so just teaching them so I have seen many parents who do this of course now these parents don't have the time so this is kind of not a regular routine but it's good to practice it so that children learn at a very young age does that help? thank you Kishan can children ask for gift of the Holy Spirit? yes yes because here we see Acts chapter 2 was 38 and 39 it says for your children and we do have the baptism of the Holy Spirit in adult church at APC once I was leading it and there was I think there was just one adult and we had one team and we had 3 children from children's church who had come for baptism of the Holy Spirit and just the desire in their hearts for the baptism of the Holy Spirit they came we of course have baptism of the Holy Spirit at children's church in the year where we teach them about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and then we get them in their own classes to pray how to start praying in tongues how to just wait upon the Holy Spirit so many of them as young as in grade 3 and 4 have started speaking in tongues and their parents have told me that they do speak in tongues yes I want to be baptized not just for adults and they came for the baptism of the Holy Spirit in adult church we had 3 children and I think one child must have been in 5th grade very small 4th and 5th grade just amazing of course she didn't speak in tongues but she just told me that she had a small vision and she saw she was dancing and worshipping God she loves to do dance choreography dancing and praising God so I said maybe when you're doing that the Holy Spirit will just minister to you and you can start speaking in tongues so just believe that and keep pursuing and you will speak in tongues so yes that was so beautiful actually and children in grade 3, 4 yes they do speak in tongues the Holy Spirit the curriculum that we have at APC we have all of the Bible college courses which you all are learning we teach the same thing for our children our children's church so we have the courses written out for grade 1 grade 2 to 4, grade 2 is grade 5 to 7 grade 3 is grade 8 to 10 we teach about the covenants, we teach them about the Holy Spirit we teach all that you are learning they too learn but you know catering to their age specific understanding and we build on it through the levels Elisha says in my church although we separate children from service we have an integration service of it yes that's good I've seen that in churches where they have children come in for worship and after worship they have somebody come in to tell them a small narrative, a small story and a small learning that is part of the adult church and then the children are taken to their own children's church but some churches don't have that yes so it's good to have children part of the part of the service they also learn we had our children's church once lead the entire service at all people's church they let the worship, they played the instruments they did the declaration they also two of them shared the word and then we had a choreography we had during the worship we had two children paint and you know we got how to hear from the Holy Spirit and after that reveal what the Holy Spirit was leading them to paint and then release the word and for those that the word that they shared it was applicable for whoever they could come and take that painting and then we had children who were trained in healing and deliverance they went through that whole pastor's book on healing and deliverance and in the first semester they went through that whole course for almost a year we taught them and then we had those children stand up in front and we had people come up in front and minister and just such a powerful worship and how God was glorified to the lives of these young children so we can even have children lead worship not just I mean do the entire service preach, teach, minister, pray for people and not just do some songs and choreography and things like that we can teach them the importance of also doing this and the children did an excellent job I mean God was just immensely glorified in that service yes okay any other questions anyone else has in some churches I've seen how the children come up in front and release a prophetic you know they release prophetic words words of wisdom words of knowledge they pray for healing it's just so powerful but we need to train children in all of this we had something called the kingdom builders club where we train children and how to release a supernatural they do dance and choreography when they sing when they lead worship when they pray ministering healing and deliverance and also you know those who are interested in art painting and how to release the prophetic through that so all those who have had gifts in those different areas we had these kingdom builders club we just didn't teach them the skill but also how to release the supernatural and when they let the service you know it was just so powerful how God worked through them yes okay we'll stop here we'll continue on Wednesday thank you all for joining class anyone has any other questions before we end class today no okay thank you everyone for joining class and I will see you after the break for first activity thank you