Teaching tip 53 - Discipleship.
T.T. 53 - Discipleship.Jesus' final command to us was to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28.19), and this obviously includes children. Although there is much teaching available on how to lead children to Christ, I haven't come across much on how to disciple them. The following are some ideas that you could use in discipling young Christians. I am not suggesting that you share all the teaching ideas given here. You will have to be selective, but remember that the three important points that children need to understand are Certainty, Confession and Continuance.
What is a Christian?
Many children have false ideas of what a Christian really is. They will often talk about someone "Being good", or "Going to church", etc. They need to understand that a Christian is someone who has repented of their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ.
I use the following illustration :- I write on the board
Christ - in - person = Christian,
explaining as I do so that that is what a Christian is - a person in whom Jesus Christ is living, because He has been invited to do so.
I then teach on the three main aspects of discipleship - Certainty, Confession and Continuance.
Certainty.
I show and explain John 1.12 "To all who received him, He gave the right to become children of God.", stressing the need to receive God's gift of Jesus if we are to become part of His family. I emphasize that, if they have received Him, they are now part of God's family, not because of how they may feel, but because God says so " To all who receive Him - - - - - ."
I encourage the children to make a note of the date (their second birthday) that they became part of God's family, Then (or the next time I see the child) I will do something dramatic that the child will remember so as to help assure them of their salvation. I say "Watch carefully what I do next." I then stand up, walk around, return to my chair and kick it over. I say "I kicked over that chair. That is a fact. On the (date) at (place) I (Mr Sweetsur) kicked over a chair, and nothing can ever change that fact. In years to come, I might forget that I did it. But if I did forget, does that mean that it never happened? No, of course not. It happened. Or someone may come to me and say "Oh Mr Sweetsur, you're not the sort of person that goes around kicking over chairs." And I might agree with them and deny that it happened. But if I did, does that mean it didn't happen? No, of course not. Even if I denied it, it still happened. That is a fact that can never change.
In the same way if you have received Jesus into your life, that is a fact. It happened and, even if you forgot it or denied it (which of course I hope you don't), nothing can ever change that. You are a child of God - because God says so! - God promised that if you received Jesus , you would become His child. As God cannot break His promise, and you received Jesus, you are now His child."
Some children who have received Christ may wonder if they are still Christians if they have subsequently done something wrong. A good verse to teach them is 1 John 1.9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." No matter what we may do, God is always willing to forgive us, and clean us up - if we are genuinely sorry.
Illustration 1.
I have a son and, because he is my son, he will always be part of my family. He is just as much my son when he has been bad as when he has been good. I don't like it when he is bad, but he is still my son and I still love him. It is just the same with God's sons and daughters. If you have received Jesus into your life, you are part of His family, no matter whether you have been good or bad. Of course God doesn't like it when we do wrong things, and we may have to ask Him to forgive us and help us do better in the future. But we are still family!
Illustration 2 - "The true picture of your life".
A Christian once had a dream in which he died and went to heaven. There to greet him was St. Peter, who gave him a quick tour of his beautiful new home. Then St. Peter said "Do you like videos?" Rather puzzled, the man replied that he did. "Good" said St. Peter "I am now going to show you a video of your whole life." St. Peter led the man into a sumptuous room, made sure he was comfortable, and left him to watch the video.
The video really was of the man's life, beginning from soon after he had been born. At first the man enjoyed watching it because it showed him interacting with all his old friends, most of whom he hadn't seen for many years. The video showed all the acts of kindness the man had shown, beginning from when he was only a young boy - sharing his toys, including others in his games, helping out at home and at school, comforting people when they were sad, giving money towards good causes, spending quality time with his children etc. etc. As the video progressed, however, the man began to feel rather uneasy.
The video concluded, and St. Peter returned. "Did you enjoy the video of your life?" he asked. The man replied "But that wasn't a true picture of my life. It showed all the good things I did, but it omitted all the bad ones. It's an edited video. It isn't a complete picture of my life." "Oh yes it is", replied St. Peter "When you did do bad things, the moment you said 'sorry' to God, they ceased to exist. And you can't make a video of something that doesn't exist!" What you just saw really is the true picture of your life.
Confession.
Jesus said "If you tell others that you belong to me, I will tell my Father in heaven that you are my followers. But if you reject me, I will tell my Father in heaven that you don't belong to me." Matthew 10. 32,33. (See also Romans 10.9). Confessing our faith in Christ to others is so important. By doing so it seals in our hearts the commitment we have made to Christ.
I instruct children to tell at least one other person that they have received Jesus into their lives. I encourage them to choose as the first person they tell another Christian, or at least someone who is likely to by sympathetic to the decision they have made. This is because I have known children who have confessed their new found faith, and got a cold or even hostile response - which seriously undermined their new fledgling relationship with Christ.
Continuance.
Children need to be taught that their new relationship with Christ is for eternity. The following object lesson is ideal for teaching that newly-born 'baby' Christians need to grow.
Object Lesson - Growing to be like Christ (Fruit in bottle).
This takes a long time to prepare, but is well worth the effort.
While a fruit ( a lemon or orange is ideal ) is still very small and attached to its tree, place a narrow-necked bottle over it and tie to branch. Leave in place until the fruit has fully grown inside the bottle. Remove bottle containing the fruit and show to your class.
Ask "How did I get this fruit inside the bottle?" A few children may work it out, but most won't. Explain how you did it, stating that the tiny fruit had all the potential to grow into a large fruit, but that it needed food to grow. This food (sap) was all provided by the tree. Use this as an analogy for the newly born-again (or baby) Christian who has all that is needed to become the person God wants them to be, but needs to grow. Our food is God's Word (plus prayer and fellowship etc.).
Ask "What would have happened to the baby fruit if I had cut the twig attaching it to the branch while it was still small?" Answer. It would not have grown. In fact it would have withered away and died. Again use the analogy of the baby Christian who does not feed on God's Word.
The way to grow.
1. Prayer.
Teaching tip - Teaching children to P.R.A.Y.
Here is a simple prayer pattern that you can teach children so as to help encourage them to get into regular prayer habits.
Preparation. Get a piece of cardboard, and write out the four words as shown below, ensuring that the first letter of each word is larger than the others.
Praise
Regrets
Ask
Yourself
Cut and fold the cardboard in such a way that you can show the word 'PRAY' on its own, and then in turn unfold the remainder of each word as you talk about it.
Teaching. Prayer is talking to God, and I can't think of anything that God likes better than when we do this. We can talk to God anywhere, anytime, and about anything. The most important thing about prayer, however, is that it should be regular. Set aside a few minutes every day to talk to God. Most people find that the best time of the day to do this is either first thing in the morning, or last thing at night, before they go to bed. These are times which you can easily remember, and you are less likely to be interrupted.
There are basically four different types of prayer, and if you remember the word 'P.R.A.Y.' it will remind you of them. You can use this as your prayer pattern as you talk to God.
P stands for 'Praise'. (Unfold the card to reveal the first word). Praise is talking (or singing) to God about God. You could pray something like "God you're good, loving, wonderful, awesome etc." Praise also includes thanksgiving. I am sure you can all think of a lot to thank God for - Your lives, His gift of Jesus, your families, friends, school, etc.
R stands for 'Regrets'. Think back to the last time you prayed, and ask yourself if there is anything you regret - anything that you have done, said, or even thought that you are sorry about. If there is, ask God to forgive you, and He well. Then ask Him to help you do better next time.
A stands for 'Ask'. We can ask God to help others. We can pray for our family, friends, anybody at all and ask God to be with them and meet their needs. The Bible particularly says that we should pray for those in authority over us, e.g. parents, teachers, those in government. If you don't know their particular needs, you could ask God to help them make good choices.
Y stands for 'Yourself'. God encourages us to come to Him and ask for our needs. In fact, Jesus promised that He would give us all our needs. What are some of the things we need? That's right, food, water, clothes, homes, families to look after us, peace (if we are troubled), joy (if we are sad), love (if someone is annoying us), patience (if we are waiting for something). However, God did not promise to give us everything we want - our wants are different from our needs. God likes to bless us, and there is nothing wrong in asking Him for whatever you want. But He knows what is best for you, and will never give you something that would be bad for you. Therefore, His answer to your request might be Yes, wait, or no. (You could do the well known traffic light illustration here).
Conclusion. Let's all say aloud together the four different types of prayer.
P stands for - - - - - Praise.
R stands for - - - - - Regrets.
A stands for - - - - - Ask.
Y stands for - - - - - Yourself.
Application. Following on from this teaching, I often get the children to write out a prayer along the lines I have described. I emphasise that if they do not wish to write a particular type of prayer (e.g. Regrets) that is alright. Finally, I encourage them to conclude by actually praying their prayer.
2. Bible reading.
Encourage the children to become regular Bible readers, explaining that it is God's love letter to us. For new converts, I encourage them to start their reading with the Gospels.
The Bible is important to us for four main reasons:-
1. It is a book about God.
The Bible is a book that God has written about Himself. So if you want to know what God is really like - Go to the Bible, because nobody knows God better than God knows God!
2. It is a book about ourselves.
The Bible is a book that God has written about us. It is often likened to a mirror. If you want to know what you are like on the outside, you look in a mirror. But if you want to know what you are really like on the inside (what the Bible calls your heart or spirit) - Go to the Bible, because God created you and knows you better than anyone else.
3. It is an instruction book for life.
God knows what's good for you, and He knows what is bad. If you keep going to the Bible, and doing what it says, you won't go far wrong in life. But if you never look at the Bible, or ignore what is says, you are bound to make mistakes and go off in wrong directions through life.
4. It tells you how to become God's friend.
God created us to be His friends - so that He can enjoy us, and we can enjoy Him, both now and forever. And the Bible tells us how through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we can all become God's friends.
3. Church attendance.
Encourage the children to go regularly to a Bible-believing, Christ-centred church, if at all possible.
Why go to church?
1. God tells us to (See Hebrews10.25).
It is a question of obedience. If Jesus is Lord of your life, that means that you are obedient to him. You can hardly say "Jesus, you are my Lord, but I am not going to do what you tell me!" Of course not. You would be contradicting yourself. If that was your attitude, then Jesus wouldn't really be Lord of your life.
"I enjoy going to church regularly, but even if I didn't, I would still go - because Jesus is my Lord, and I have to be obedient to him. Most of you children probably come to church or Sunday school because your parents bring you, or send you along. But when you are older, you will have to decide for yourselves. But if you are serious about living for Jesus, then regular church attendance should be a priority."
2. To meet together as a family / team.
Everyone who has put their trust in Jesus is now part of God's special family. And families meet together, and do things together. It would be a very strange family indeed if the members hardly ever saw each other, or never did things together, like sharing a meal!
Another way of looking at this is to realise that now we are all part of God's team to help bring about His Kingdom on earth.
"Suppose I were to tell you that I was a soccer player. You might reply, "You are, which team do you play for? Manchester United? Real Madrid?" If I replied "I don't actually play for a team", you would say "Oh, come on teacher, you can't be a soccer player and not play for a team." And you would be quite right. In the same way, you can't really be a true Christian and not be part of a local team, or church."
Imagine many coals burning brightly together. Suddenly one of the individual coals falls away from the fire. What will happen to it? Answer. It will burn less and less brightly until eventually it goes out and becomes cold. That is a typical 'picture' of the individual Christian who comes away from the Church and tries to live for Jesus on his own. He will grow cold, and probably give up his faith altogether. We all need the help, support and encouragement of other church members. In the Bible, there is no such thing as an "Individual Christian".
3. To help find God's plan for your life.
God has a special plan for each one of you which is far more wonderful than any plans you may have for yourselves. By going to church, you will meet people who will help you discover what God wants you to do with your life.
4. To help you on your way to heaven.
God wants us all to live with him in heaven. However, our journey to heaven can be a long and dangerous one. We have enemies who don't want us to get to heaven, but by going regularly to church, we can find out how to beat them.
What does the church do?
1. Worship God.
The word 'Worship' is derived from the word 'Worth'. God is indeed worthy of all we can give him. Without God, we would have nothing. In fact we wouldn't even be alive. Everything we have comes from Him. Christians realise this and meet together to give back to God a little of what He has already given us. This might include thanks, praise, love, money, etc.
2. To continue the work of Jesus.
A. Telling others about Jesus.
Jesus wants EVERYONE to know about Him, and what He did for us all on the cross. And He has chosen His church (every believer) to spread this GOOD NEWS throughout the whole earth. It is exciting to be part of this because Jesus promised that when every group of people have heard this GOOD NEWS, then He will return to earth and set up His Kingdom.
B. Demonstrating God's love.
It is no good telling people that God loves them if, at the same time, we don't demonstrate His love by helping others in whatever ways we can.
Jesus loves everyone, but when He was here on earth, He was particularly concerned for the poor, the sick, the weak, the oppressed and the elderly. As part of His church, we should likewise be especially concerned for these groups.
Although the church is not perfect, and has made mistakes, generally, over the last 2,000 years, it has been effective in demonstrating God's love to the world. Much of what is good in society today has been started by the church. Examples include many early schools, universities, hospitals, and organizations such as the scouts, guides, boys and girls' brigades.
It has also been the church that were first to speak out against evils in society such as slavery, child labour and racism.
The church is not only concerned with what is happening in it's own neighbourhood or even country. It also has a good record of sending resources (including people and money) to help the needy in "poor" countries. You may have heard of agencies such as World Vision and Tear Fund which are involved in this.
As someone once said "The church is the only organization which exists for the benefit of it's non members."
Note. You may wish to conclude by giving a few examples of what your church is doing to reach others for Jesus and help meet their needs.
4. Copy Jesus.
God wants us to make right choices. Here is a simple way of remembering how we can do this:- Write out the word S.T.O.P.
S. Stands for "Stop" before you decide.
T. Stands for "Think." What would Jesus do, if he was me? Jesus is our supreme example of how to live our lives. I still find the once-popular W.W.J.D. (What would Jesus do?) bracelets useful in teaching children to follow (copy) Christ. Usually the answer to W.W.J.D. is obvious!
O. Stands for "Obey" the Bible. If what you are thinking of doing is contrary to what the Bible teaches, it is always a wrong choice.
P. Stands for "Pray" and ask Jesus for help. If you have gone through the first three steps (S.T.O.) and are still unsure as to the right choice, ask Jesus to guide you. After praying, if you feel at peace about a certain direction, go ahead and take it. On the other hand, if you feel anxious or worried, then this is probably the wrong direction.
Conclusion.
I would want young converts to Christ to really understand the following five truths:-
1. God is always there. Wherever we go, God is always right there with us.
2. God always answers prayers. His answer may be "Yes", "No", or "Wait", but He will always answer us.
3. God always understands. No matter what is happening in our lives, no matter how we feel, God always understands about us.
4. God always forgives. No matter what we may have done, God will always forgive us if we are really sorry.
5. God always loves. We can never stop God loving us, because "He is love."
posted by Maurice Sweetsur @ 2:00 AM
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