Untapped Spiritual influences!

Sitting in your pews Sunday after Sunday may be the greatest untapped influence to the children you minister to. The “sold out” Christian teen can do more to encourage your children to follow Jesus than any amazing object lesson or creative sermon. These teens can teach children to worship by simply worshipping with them. Seeing “Sold out” teens living a “sold out” life may be a critical piece to the many pieces of a young child’s spiritual growth. The weight of influence they can have is immeasurable.

I am forty-six years old and I consider myself kind of hip and cool for my age. I think anyone in children’s ministry has to be young at heart. I lead a contemporary high energy worship experience for our children but when I stand up in front of our kids with teens next to me the energy in our service is so much greater! Why? To the children, I am their pastor, teacher, mother figure and leader. When my teen worship leaders stand in front of them, they are “rock stars”! They are the greatest example of what a Christian looks like next to Jesus himself. They see them as who they can be in Christ!

When our sophomore athlete Mitchell sings out and does the crazy motions it melts even the toughest fifth grade boy’s cool exterior! When Kiirsten, our Senior raises her hands in adoration during “You Are God Alone” the song takes on a whole different feeling as our children see worship lived out in front of their very eyes. These teens preach Jesus and worship by example.

I encourage you, if you have teens living and walking each day loving Jesus, snatch them up to serve the children you minister to. Train them for service. Teach them to be servant leaders. Choose the teens that will be in front of your kids carefully. Invest in these teens. A teen that does not have a solid relationship with Jesus is not ready for the responsibility of service to children. Our teen worship leaders serve with us for worship and then move into the main service in order to be spiritually fed themselves. I am a firm believer in making sure our teen helpers get into the main service by sermon time! Some teens may not have the desire or ability to serve in your music ministry but some would be honored to give their testimony on a Sunday. Some teens would enjoy doing a skit for you, praying to start the service or simply helping to take up the offering. Again, do not allow the teens to miss out on being spiritually fed in the main service but give them opportunities during Children's services to be visible to the children. The example they set will pay great dividends to the Kingdom of God.

Chances are you may be training one of these teens to go into children’s ministry one day!