{"id":322,"date":"2014-08-19T00:53:21","date_gmt":"2014-08-19T00:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/?p=322"},"modified":"2014-08-19T00:53:21","modified_gmt":"2014-08-19T00:53:21","slug":"the-importance-of-childrens-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/2014\/08\/19\/the-importance-of-childrens-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Children’s Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"kids\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

KIDS!!<\/p>\n

Just the mention of the word \u201ckids\u201d can conjure up feelings of joy, dread, excitement, exhaustion, hope, or sheer fear! If you\u2019re a parent, grandparent, teacher, or children\u2019s church volunteer you know what I\u2019m talking about. Despite our feelings on any given day, there\u2019s an underlying truth that is essential to remember\u2026these kids are of great value and importance.<\/p>\n

While we\u2019re changing diapers, we\u2019re also changing the future. While we\u2019re feeding a body, we\u2019re also feeding a soul. While we\u2019re teaching to sing a song, we\u2019re also teaching to live a life. While we\u2019re sharing a story, we\u2019re also sharing ourselves. And while we\u2019re loving a little one, we\u2019re also loving Jesus. He said so Himself, \u201cWhenever you did it for any of My people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for Me.\u201d (Matt. 25:40 CEV)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s always safe, not to mention wise, to take our cues from Jesus. He made sure His disciples knew that He did not want kids kept away from Him, but brought to Him. Not because He just happened to be in a really good mood that day or saw an especially endearing child, but because He knew their extreme value and intrinsic importance. In fact, the advancement of His Kingdom would depend on them! So He was clear to tell the kids to \u201cCome\u201d because He knew the plans He had for them.<\/p>\n

God has great plans for kids, \u201cto give them hope and a good future\u201d (Jer. 29:11). And He has chosen to use us in the process. What a privilege to be trusted and loved enough by God that He would place the future in our hands! No matter what our role, let\u2019s be intentional in our love for, communication with, and training of the future. After all, they\u2019re KIDS!!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ellen<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr. Ellen (Eby) Moore serves as the Consultant for IPHC CHildren’s Ministries, as well as the Children\u2019s Pastor at The Ark Church, in Conroe, Texas.\u00a0 An Oklahoma native with a rich IPHC heritage, Ellen earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership from Oral Roberts University after receiving her undergraduate and masters degrees in Education from Central State University (now the University of Central Oklahoma).\u00a0 After years in public and private education she now enjoys serving kids, parents, and volunteers in her local church by creating environments where kids are connected to Jesus and encouraged and equipped to follow and serve Jesus for the rest of their lives.\u00a0 Ellen is convinced that God has incredible plans for every child\u2019s life right now, not just for when they grow up, and they are changing the world.\u00a0 Ellen has been happily married to her childhood sweetheart, Phillip, for over 25 years, and they\u2019re about to enjoy the \u201cempty nest\u201d as both of their children, Joshua and Meagan, will soon be in college.\u00a0 When she has free time, you\u2019ll usually find her in the kitchen.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-322","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-childrens-ministries","7":"category-discipleship-ministries","8":"entry"},"title_es":"","content_es":"","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4T9u2-5c","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}