Our Response as Kidmin Leaders

After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, many Christians are fired up for the Kingdom. What should our role in the spiritual battle be as kidmin leaders?

This passion-filled episode will challenge you to stand on the Word and give you some next steps and encouragement. Be warned... if you cry with friends, you might need a tissue. 

#standontheauthorityoftheword #intentionalchildrensministry #beintentional

Transcript

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Welcome to the Kidman Huddle with Amber Pike, where children as ministry leaders get equipped, encouraged, and empowered to disciple with intentionality, growing God's kingdom one child at a time.

SPEAKER_01: 0:16

Welcome back to the Kidman Huddle. So like many of you, I have really struggled with what happened in our nation last week with the assassination of Charlie Kirk. I mourned. I've cried for days to where my daughter is asking, Mommy, are you going to be okay? And I think some of the stuff that I've seen, you know, our soul is recognizing another kingdom worker. Our brother died and was taken too soon. But I think from our perspective as ministry leaders, Part of the morning is that we saw what he was doing. He was reaching young people for the kingdom and it's gotten me fired up. And I'm guessing you're in the same boat, right? You have this passion and this heart to teach boys and girls about Jesus. And I have felt shame, just, you know, full disclosure, putting it out there. I have felt a little bit of shame that I've not done enough. And I, in lots of tears have reached out to God and he doesn't ever give me words. I don't hear him audibly. I just, it's that, you know, that feeling that strong, like I know exactly what he's saying. And I was asking for words because that would be so much clearer, right? If he would just send me an email, a written note, but no. And so it was, I think the second night after Charlie's murder and I was praying and I can't believe I actually fell asleep. I've been having trouble sleeping because I was just so torn up about this. And every time I'd wake up through the night, I would pray and I'd pray for Erica because I can't imagine what she as a wife and a mom is going through. And I couldn't believe that I fell asleep like pretty quickly. And I woke up because my son is loud and wouldn't fuss at him. But I just had some peace that I've been in this fight and And I've been doing exactly what I was supposed to do. And so I know this shame that I'm feeling is more of the fire going through the nation right now. And it's just like, rah, let's grab our torches and march kind of feeling. So this is my encouragement to you, Kidman Leader, who I'm going to assume there are some of you, at least one, because why else would I felt I needed to make this podcast episode, right? Is feeling this, this, what am I supposed to do? Do I need to do more? Do I need to start marching on college campuses or high schools or elementary schools? Do I need to start, you know, going on the streets, going door to door, you know, whatever. So I have some encouragement for you and just what I felt God was speaking to me. I have been serving in children's ministry since I was 15. That's, I'm not good at math, but it's a lot of years. It's over 20 years, going on 25 years. I've been fighting this spiritual battle that we are in. Ephesians 6 tells us about the spiritual battle that our children are in. We are told that Satan is prowling like a roaring lion, seeking for souls to devour. And I have been saying, not alone, it's not an original thought of Amber. He's been after our kids. If you look on TV, if you go to the library, everywhere you look, our kids are being indoctrinated and desensitized. I was prepping for a breakout that I was doing at a conference, which people were unhappy with me. Sorry, people. I'm not sorry. And I was showing real life examples of this anti-God indoctrination that our children, it is just being shoved at them everywhere. Here's a couple. My library. Brand new releases. Love our library. We're library fans. We're book people. In so many books about the two daddies or the two mommies and pride flags and all of this. It's right there. Top shelf. You turn on cartoons. Did you grow up with the Muppets or the Muppet babies as I did? It's kind of been revived Well, now Gonzo is Gonzarella. And Gonzo wants to be able to identify however Gonzo wants to identify, not as he was created. Obviously, he's a cartoon character, but it's still, it's indoctrination. DC Comics. Did you grow up with comics? Are your kids into superheroes? Do you know that DC Comics has a Pride Month comic? And Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, they're not just besties, they're lovers. Now, I will give DC some props that DC just fired one of their authors she was authoring creating writing the new Red Hood series and she was posting how happy she was that Charlie Kirk died and DC sacked her and has now asked all comic book stores who were receiving their first shipment of the first episode issue to ship it back so I'll give you props for that DC now let's get rid of the pride comic drag queen story hours there are so many shows on YouTube for our kids in schools, in libraries. It is everywhere for our kids, and they're trying to slip it in. I was talking with my niece. She was telling me about this book that she read, and right at the end, oh, guess what? That character is gay. I'm seeing it. They're making a kind of third-tier character in some young adult books. They're being non-binary, so we're calling them they. It's not an important character, but it's in there. Our kids are being indoctrinated and desensitized. This spiritual battle is being waged for our kids and Kidman leaders if last week was not a wake-up call to you that you need to strengthen up. I don't, I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. Like we have to, we have to strengthen up. So here is what I see. Three responses that we should have as Kidman leaders right now with this spiritual battle that A, God warned us about. And B, we are seeing, unfortunately, blatantly lived out in front of our lives. You know, I got two kids. I've got four nieces. This is their world. And I am, I'm ready to get a lot louder speaking up for Jesus. So now, Number one, we need to boldly and unashamedly stand on the authority, supremacy, and inerrancy of scripture. You see, this is why I think we are in the problem that we are in in this world, is the home and the church have stopped believing the Bible as truth. All of these issues, they're Bible issues, and we stopped accepting it as truth. Evolution, well, my Bible tells me that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Homosexual relationships, my Bible tells me that that's detestable. Gay marriage, my Bible tells me that God created marriage between one man and one woman for life. God tells me that all life is precious because we're fearfully and wonderfully made. All of these issues, we have the truth right there in front of us. So Kidman leaders, we can no longer just teach stories. We can no longer put our truth into God's word. We can no longer pick and choose. If you want an object lesson, go to my YouTube channel. I have a great illustration using some cuffs and they're falling down. We cannot pick and choose which parts of the Bible are truth because they are all interconnected. And if one part of the Bible is not true, we have to chuck it all out. But thankfully, my God wrote the Bible. Second Timothy 3.16, it is God inspired. John 17.17, it is his truth. We will take all of it and we need to boldly and unashamedly stand on the authority, the inerrancy and the supremacy of scripture. It is what we need. That needs to be the basis of your church and your classroom Number two, we need to be intentional with our ministry. There are so many curriculums out there that are a waste of time. There are some children's ministry leaders, I hate to tell you, you've been wasting time, wasting opportunities. If all you're doing is giving them a coloring sheet, some cookies for a snack, and teaching them a Bible story, it's not cutting it. They need a firm foundation built on the truth of God's word. Remember the wise and foolish builder in Matthew 7? We have to give our kids a foundation when the world screams its lies to these kids. And oh my goodness, is that world loud right now. They need that foundation built on the word, the authority, supremacy, and inerrancy of scripture. And we need to make sure we are doing that in our classroom. We are teaching God's word as truth. We are giving them the answer. Do you know why Charlie was so popular with young people? Because he let them ask questions. Are you creating space for questions in your children's ministry? This is literally apologetics. It's being able to defend your faith. You have to know what you believe and you have to be able to defend it. Are we giving them proofs? Are we teaching them why God's word is true? Are we teaching them these things we need to be? Give them time to ask questions. Questions are not bad. Those will likely be some of the best conversations, the best lesson times that you've had. When you pause and just let the kids ask what God is dealing, ask the questions that God is pouring on their heart. We have to do more. We cannot just teach Bible stories, we have to give them a firm foundation built on the word. Hey, I have an entire book that will help you walk through this intentional children's ministry. It's going to challenge you and encourage you not to waste a single minute. I'll give you a real life example. We had a baptism at my church yesterday and the little girl invited her cousin and I found out later that this was cousins first time at church. So did I waste my time? Thankfully, I did not. And the gospel was given in this boy. I don't know how much he caught. He wasn't paying a ton of attention. Um, I think there was some, some issues actually had to walk him out of children's church. He just couldn't handle it. The noise was too much and he was about ready to melt down and he wanted to go with Nana, but he heard about sin and the God that loved him. And as I was walking him back to, to Nana, because I had a suspicion that this was not a child who had a faith background at home and And he was a little sad that he was leaving. I think he thought he was disappointing me, even though he had just met me. And as I walked him over to Nana with a smile on my face, I am so glad that you were here today. He was loved by Jesus. And he heard the truth of God's word. No sugarcoating. We have to do that. We have to be intentional, making sure that that one hour counts, that we are building the foundation in them. But it's not enough for us just to do it at church. Number three, we need to be partnering with parents. How different would our world look today if mom and dad built their homes on the word of God? They were reading it, living it, teaching it to their children. God did not set up the church to be the passer-ons of faith. It was mom and dad. The family unit was the primary means of discipleship. So your one hour at church, it's not enough. You have to be partnering with mom and dad so that they are leading, building firm foundations in their kids at home. I have so many podcasts on this and episodes. It's in my book. You know, everything from teaching parents is their responsibility to equipping them with resources, resourcing correctly, all of these things. I would love to talk to you about equipping parents, but just know mom and dad need to be doing it at home. So we Kidman leaders. We have a job to do. We have a role in this battle, the spiritual battle that's waging for the souls of our kids. And there is not time to waste. If you weren't on fire before, I hope you are now. Satan does not want God to win. We know God will win, but we want to see every boy and girl on our ministry following Christ so that they can go and tell others to be the salt, to be the light, to share the amazing, radical, eternity-changing love of Jesus with everyone that they meet. So my friends, this is our response. What are we doing in our ministries? Are we grounding kids in the truths of God's word? Are we just entertaining them with a story and a game and a snack? We don't have time for that. We need to ground them in God's word. We need to partner with mom and dad, light a fire under mom and dad. Hey, eternity is at stake for your child. The morality of our culture is crazy. We want to see a bunch of young Daniels rise up. We want to see Paul's and Timothy's and Barnabas's. I don't know the plural of Barnabas. We want to see them boldly and unashamedly sharing the message of Jesus Christ. This is our response. So I told you at the beginning that I felt a little shame that I hadn't been doing it. Like, what have I done? Have I been effective? My friends, that was... That was... the feelings, the sensation, who knows? Maybe that was Satan trying to distract me from what I'm supposed to do. But I have this encouragement for you because you see, God gave me a piece that that's not my job. My job isn't to go and do those things. I'm not supposed to get into the school systems and do that. I'm not supposed to march on the streets. That's not my role or my giftedness. Years ago, I read a book by a popular Christian author who basically said everybody, any Christian should be selling everything they own and moving in the mission field. And I'm like, but that's not me. God's called me to work in the church. I know my role. I know my lane. In Corinthians, we see the one body, many parts passage. The church body, we have different roles, different jobs, different parts. You, your part, your role in the body is to teach the kids at church. So are you doing that well? Are you being faithful to fulfill that calling and that role God has placed on your life? that you are teaching kids how to know, love, serve, follow Jesus? Are you grounding them to where they have a firm foundation built on the word with Jesus in their hearts? That's your lane. That's where I'm supposed to stay. And I have a piece that I am doing my job in the fight. I have been, and I will continue to do this. I will continue to ground boys and girls in the faith. And then also to champion you guys, to encourage you all. I want to see more and more children's ministries using stronger curriculum, teaching the Bible, being intentional with their time because eternity is at stake for these kids. We want to see every boy and girl walking with Jesus. We do not want to see a single one of the kids who came to our ministry spend eternity separated from God. So soldiers, The battle is real. And I just want to encourage you to be faithful to the position that God has given you in this battle. Be strong. Be bold. Maybe you're the only one at your church who is boldly teaching kids the truths of God's word. My friend, soldier on. Reach out to me. I'll give you a hug and a cheer and encouragement. Do what you're supposed to do. Do what God has called you to do. Teach children God's truths. And remember, friends, what you knew matters.