Our Vision for Grace Alive Kids

Not only childcare (of course, there is a time for that), but God has bigger and bolder plans for His children. For God's people and church, Grace Alive Kids has a more excellent vision and mission for reaching the next generation because Jesus has set one for us - proclaim the gospel to all, baptize, and disciple (Matthew 28)

Grace Alive's vision and mission is a movement for all people to discover, deepen, and display their relationship with Jesus Christ. Grace Alive Kids is no different from that vision and mission. However, with a greater emphasis on being a movement for all kids and parents to reach the next generation for Jesus.

If you have kids or care for any number of children in your life, I am sure you feel the weight of stewardship. Stewardship means to be held responsible for someone else's stuff. Someone's property is all of God's creation. Personally, there is a heavyweight that sits on me daily as a mother of two beautiful girls. These precious little image-bearers of God, born in sin, a lost soul, unshaped heart, were given to me as gifts from God. That weightiness is a gift and opportunity to shepherd and point a soul throughout life to a Savior, Jesus.

As one of my children's sole caregivers, I am grateful to know I do not carry weighty stewardship alone. There is a higher calling to parents but also pastors and kids' ministry workers. That call is God-given and driven by grace to love, protect, and shepherd kids toward Jesus. God makes sure He calls parents and a believing community of people to surround, protect, shepherd, and care for children - namely His church.

Grace Alive Kids believe God allows us several hours a week to teach and disciple one the largest group of unbelievers. Kids! What a great privilege and weighty responsible we are invited to do with Jesus. It's not a burden; it's an immense privilege that we get to serve alongside Jesus from infancy and up to teach and model by example the gospel to little worshippers who have an eternal destiny - either heaven or hell. What a beautiful and worthy invitation and opportunity we have.

Here are the critical pipers of Grace Alive Kids:

Gospel-Centered

Grace Alive Kids is centered and fueled by the gospel. Why and how we serve kids is the overflow of the grace given to us through the gospel. The Gospel Project curriculum structures our teaching and engaging activities. But open Bibles are the treasure we practice with kids. We do not shy ourselves from teaching and challenging children to learn and love God's word, the Bible. The Gospel: God's Plan for Me helps us to never miss God's full story for them: God rules; we sinned; God provided, Jesus gives, and we respond. We orbit our ministry to kids and families around God's love and grace of the good news of Jesus given to us as the only way of salvation from sin, death, and satan and to abide with the Father. The finished work of the Cross of Jesus Christ empowers, sustains, and reminds us who we belong to and who we are. The gospel is a person, and we want children to know, love, and trust the finished work of this person, Jesus. All scripture testifies of Jesus and his story of redemption. Grace Alive Kids will undoubtedly experience and learn through the Bible the full word of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in hopes of them receiving salvation and baptism in Jesus one day.

Safe, Secure, Fun

Ensuring safety and security overflows from a trust in Christ protection and provision and his stewardship that God has given us over children. Safety and protection are our highest aims for our children. We trust the way we do kids volunteer interviews, training, background checks, parent and volunteer guidelines, safety, and security in our facility will provide our families with ease that we take the care and protection of children seriously. With Grace Alive Kids' policies and guidelines, we want to be firm in enforcing, friendly in our communication, and consistently adhering to all of them. This builds a safe and secure environment, trust with parents, and a predictable caring culture of Grace Alive Kids. Grace Alive Kids cultivate joy and fun in learning about Jesus. Our passion and love for Jesus give us joy and excitement to share with kids. So, fun is a natural part of a child's desire, and we desire to model that worshipping, serving, obeying, and trusting Jesus is our greatest treasure and joy. Intentional and purposeful fun is our aim as we shepherd kids toward following Jesus.

Multiethnic Community

The diverse and multiethnic ministry should be primary in our living rooms and every aspect of our kids' spiritual formation. Imagine your child's testimony being able to live in authentic gospel racially unified community where we celebrate the beauty of differences. Imagine that being the overflow from a beautiful river of seeing the gospel in full display through Christ's redemptive plan for all people to know and abide in Jesus together. Thank God the Bible is full of color and ethnic groups. And so is Grace Alive Kids. When scriptures promise or use the word "all," its literal meaning is ALL. All tribes, all nations, all ethnic groups, all races, all social, economic statues, and all ages (we see Jesus did not turn children away from them coming to him Mark 10:14.) Grace Alive Kids aims to teach and model the beauty of the Bible, a love for God, and all people. We desire all kids to be represented and affirmed as image bears of God from our choice of worship and dance songs, curriculum content, and "one another" small groups. Kids will get to experience a little taste of what heaven will look like and feel as all kids worship Jesus together.

Missional

Grace Alive Kids believes all ages should know that God's mission is not only to rescue us but for us to go and tell about the love of Jesus for salvation for all. Children belong to God, and he has a plan for their life. We cannot shield them from everything from the world, nor do we want to send them out carelessly without equipping with the gospel. We trust the work of God's hand in a child's life to come to salvation and be missionaries for his kingdom. When we raise kids in God's loving care and protection, we do so knowing they will be sent out into a lost world with His missional purpose. For those reasons, children are raised with effort by intentionally shaping and crafting them to be shot out into the world like arrows for generational gospel impact (Psalms 127:3-5). Whatever that looks for each child, we know that all of God's disciples are sent on a mission no matter the occupation or the domestic or international mission field. Grace Alive Kids models the importance of sharing the gospel.

Partners with Parents

As a church, Grace Alive Kids partner with parents to disciple: instruct children by word and example, in the truth of God's Word. We can see reaching and raising the next generation was God's plan and invite to the parent (Deut 6:4-9.) Also, in Psalm 78:7, we see God's desire for every age. God wants kids to put their hope in him. He wants them to know and trust him. Specifically, God wants them not to forget what he's done to rescue and save us. Instead, he wants the next generation to remember his words and obey them.

However, several hours a week, parents entrust their precious gift of children to the church to watch, love, instruct and protect kids in our care. In context, Psalm 78 also tells us that God gave the call to teach and train children to the surrounding community. Training kids doesn't end with parents; it includes the whole church. We need each other. We need one another's encouragement, one another's accountability, and one another's eyes to see what we can't see. Without understanding the church's role, we will shortcut children's growth in discipleship and development in a deep love for belonging and building up Jesus' bride, the church.

No small thing … kids ministry is quite the opposite.

While some may see children as weak, small, or insignificant with no status, but it is such as these Jesus summons our faith and trust in Him to be alike theirs in the kingdom (Matthew 19:1-5.) Children are not distracting Jesus from ministry or insignificant in His eyes; children actually can worship, get excited, and be a part of Jesus' ministry (Matthew 21:15.) God makes it clear that children have an influential role to play and belong in the kingdom of God. They are His treasure, and He desires for them to come to Him (Mark10:14-15.) Their worship and faith are not reserved for the mature or only adults (Psalm 8:2.) And if all this is true for Jesus, it's real and commissioned to purse in Grace Alive Kids too.

Is kids' ministry weighty? Yes. Challenging? Yes. Messy. Yes. Is it a high and worthy calling? Yes. We are herding lost sheep to eat goldfish and shape their hardened hearts to know someday, love, obey, serve, and tell others about Jesus and that he is inviting to Him. We trust that Jesus has a plan for all children and families to discover, deepen, and display a relationship in Him, through His church. So, not merely childcare for us. We are choosing a better, more significant, and bolder mission for reaching the next generation. All this sounds grand and very big and even impossible almost. But I think that's the point of the gospel and God's mission. It's God's grand story and gracious salvation plan through Jesus for the dead to come alive and share this good news with others. However, this plan of grace is available for Grace Alive Kids and is authored and possible in and through Him (Eph 2:5.)

We are graciously privileged and humbled to come alongside Jesus to partner with families to reach the next generation.

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