Kidzworks IS Big Church!

By Jackie Ray


“Your parents will come pick you up when they're done with big church.”

“Have fun in little church, kids!”
 
“Do you want to go to big church with us today?”
 
“But mom, I want to go to BIG church!”

The truth is that there is no “big” or “little” church. WE are the church. We all come in different sizes, shapes, colors, and cultures. We all have different religious backgrounds. But WE are the church and we are not little in God’s eyes. We are a BIG deal to God.

Every one of us is created in His image. Every one of us was created to worship and glorify God with our whole selves. Every one of us needs to love God and love others.

"’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Luke 10:27

Kids ministry is not about providing child care so the adults can worship God... at least not in Kidzworks! When kids come to Kidzworks they serve each other, they worship God with their time, their resources, their full selves, their prayers, and their interpretation and memorization of scripture. They brain storm ways to minister to their friends and to bring them into relationship with God.

Kids do church BIG. In Kidzworks we worship God with gusto. Kids give an offering with joy. Kids sing and dance to the Lord with energy and excitement. They lead each other in worship. They run the technology. They lead the small group. They share scripture and prayer and experiences they have with God. There is nothing little about kids doing church. There is nothing little about doing church with kids.

God even says to us “Big” people - "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3

As a minister to children, I am blessed. I am blessed when the Holy Spirit moves in the hearts of children and adults in the room. I am blessed when I hear a Bible story in a way I have never heard it before and God pokes my heart and says “HEY! That’s for you.” I am blessed by the fellowship that I enjoy with the kids. Isn’t that what being a church is all about? I say YES! Why do we segregate ourselves into “big people” and “little people” when to God there is no difference? We are the church.

Come do big church with us in Kidzworks. You will be blessed.



Jackie is our Janesville Kidzworks director, and is sold out to creating amazing experiences for your kids. If you're interested in volunteering for Kidzworks, contact Jackie here.

Project Hope - March, 2015

Project Hope

"I just felt like everybody treated me like a normal person,” said an elderly woman who showed up at Project Hope on Sunday. “I know that’s probably not a big deal to most people, but sometimes I feel like needing help makes me less or something. It was nice to get help and not feel like everybody thinks something wrong about you.”

It’s stories like this (and at least a dozen more) that make my heart swell with love and appreciation for the people I get to do life and church with. I watched parents serving alongside their kids. I watched teenagers (my own included) partner up and serve some of the most needy people in our city. I watched our prayer team lift the spirits of hurting, desperate people. I watched one family come through to receive services and then turn around and ask if they could stay and volunteer for the rest of the event.

I watched people from our community set aside religious and cultural differences for the expressed purpose of serving those who Jesus called “the least of these, my brothers…” And I watched family after family walk in and get served with dignity and love. I can’t explain how full my heart was as I saw people living out what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a hurting world.

I know that some of us wished that we had more people show up to receive services, and we have some ideas for how to change that in the future, but I also know that God did exactly what he wanted, and our volunteers, our church, and our city are all the better for it. Stories of how God moved in our guests and volunteers are being told all around our church and small groups, and we’ll be sharing some of the ones we can in church this weekend (back at Lincoln!)

Jesus said this about his mission here on earth:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free…” (Luke 4:18)

If it was good enough for him, it’s sure good enough for us. People all around us are living in physical, financial, and spiritual oppression, and they don’t know the road that leads to freedom. It’s time that we help people find their way out of the darkness in the same way Jesus did for us.

"You are a chosen [people]... that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9)



Do you have any experiences from Sunday afternoon that you’d like to share? Comment below or post it to our Facebook page.