{"id":982,"date":"2014-11-26T19:53:18","date_gmt":"2014-11-26T19:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/?p=982"},"modified":"2014-11-26T19:58:52","modified_gmt":"2014-11-26T19:58:52","slug":"teaching-kids-to-be-sheep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/2014\/11\/26\/teaching-kids-to-be-sheep\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Kids to Be Sheep"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

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

I realize I may have some bias, but I truly can\u2019t think of a more valuable place to serve, with the greatest potential for impact, than working with kids. The opportunity to partner with parents in teaching and training their children is a high calling and incredible privilege. So what exactly are we teaching and training them to do? I think a better question would be, \u201cWho <\/em>are we teaching and training them to be<\/em>?\u201d While there are many valid and compelling answers, one of my answers would be\u2026sheep.<\/p>\n

John 10:4 says, \u201cHis sheep follow Him because they know His voice.\u201d Teaching kids to realize that God speaks, that they can hear and recognize His voice, and to quickly obey what He says will truly equip them to be a lifelong friend and follower of Jesus. Imagine if we had all learned those things at an early age!! The next verse, John 10:5, gives me even stronger motivation, \u201cBut they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger\u2019s voice.\u201d We, as parents, children\u2019s ministry volunteers or leaders, can be a part of helping kids become so familiar with the voice of the Good Shepherd that they will actually run from anyone else\u2019s voice that doesn\u2019t line up with His. Incredible!<\/p>\n

As you\u2019re planning your lesson for this week\u2019s services, or planning an intentional and purposeful connection with your child, keep in mind that ultimately you are helping them to recognize and follow the voice of Jesus. Share with them how it works for you, things that have helped you, and encourage them to give it a shot. Those of you who have been doing this for awhile, share some of your effective tips with us on our KidMin Facebook page<\/a> (IPHCKids)<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a little out of practice yourself, with hearing the voice of the Shepherd, make it a point to get back at it. He\u2019s a GOOD Shepherd and longs to connect with you, speak to you, help, provide for, and protect you\u2026as well as the kids you serve. Let\u2019s be intentional about being and teaching our kids to be\u2026sheep!<\/p>\n

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

Dr. Ellen (Eby) Moore serves as the Consultant for IPHC CHildren\u2019s 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":[25,20,4,27,171],"tags":[113,188,112,189,191],"class_list":{"0":"post-982","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-boys-ministries","7":"category-childrens-ministries","8":"category-discipleship-ministries","9":"category-girls-ministries-childrens-ministries","10":"category-leadership-2","11":"tag-ellen-moore","12":"tag-family","13":"tag-kid-min","14":"tag-parents","15":"tag-sheep","16":"entry"},"title_es":"","content_es":"","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4T9u2-fQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982","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=982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}