by Hosanna Koo

I have been involved in the Fireflies ministry for the past five years and entered the teaching rotation this past summer. Over the past five years, I’ve witnessed God’s faithful hand in softening the hearts of the littlest members of our church. It doesn’t take much to see the depravity of sin in tiny humans who are solely concerned with satisfying their desires, whether it’s through the overwhelming need to have a certain toy at an exact moment with no possibility of sharing or the upset crying echoing down the hall. However, God is not impeded by sin. His grace is greater than our sin and He has overcome the world. He teaches us that He is mighty, that He is everywhere, and that He loves us.

In addition, God is not impeded by age. The fact that we have organized, structured lessons for one-year-olds can be puzzling, but we know that God can change anyone’s heart. If He can turn the vilest of sinners towards Him, then He can also save anyone regardless of age. We as a ministry are solely reliant on the Lord to bear any sort of fruit. Anytime a child demonstrates an understanding of who God is, all praise goes to the Lord of Heaven, because He is working. We do not labor in vain, but are instead comforted by the fact that God doesn’t need the words we speak, the songs we sing, or the pictures we use to communicate truth. We are encouraged by a God who works above human constraints to work wonderful miracles in the hearts of rebellious sinners.

by Timothy Yoon

This past Christmas I was gifted a copy of Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. In its beginning chapters, he gives the reader an autobiographical narrative of his childhood, undergraduate, and seminary years. Piper stresses the influence of various Christian authors during his adulthood, but we should realize that earlier experiences in his childhood also played an important role for him spiritually. These influences came in such forms as a wall placard that displayed the words of the British missionary C.T. Studd, “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last,” as well as from his parents: his father was a traveling preacher with gripping stories of conversion, and his mother as the embodiment of a woman after God’s own heart. [1] If we step back and look at the general course of Piper’s life, we see the fulfillment of a truth that many parents are familiar with:

“Train up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

What exactly is the way in which a child should go? How can we ensure that the lives of our children are not a waste in the sight of God, but pleasing to Him? The answer in Scripture is clear: They must be brought up “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4) so that they may be men and women who love Him with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). In every child there ought to be kindled a great, fervent passion to exalt God by enjoying and displaying His excellence in all areas of life.

Why, some of you may ask, is the importance of children knowing the Lord, even from childhood onwards, stressed so highly? Charles Spurgeon gives multiple reasons in a sermon titled “The Best Burden for Young Shoulders.” He preaches on Lamentations 3:27—”It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke in his youth.” A blessing of dedicating one’s life to Christ early on is:

“There is this goodness about it yet further, that it enables one to be well established in divine things. “They that are planted in the courts of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.” A tree transplanted takes a certain time to root, but when it becomes well established it produces abundant fruit. There must be time for striking root in divine things; everything in the kingdom of grace is not to be learned in 10 minutes. I bless God that a man who has believed in Jesus only one second is a saved man; but he is not an instructed man; he is not an established man. He is not trained for battle; nor tutored for labor. These things take time. When we are converted, we go to Christ’s school; we sit at His feet and learn of Him. Now, who is the best scholar? All other things being equal, I should expect to find the best scholars in school to be those who come early. Eleven o’clock scholars do not learn much; evening scholars, with a good master and great diligence, may pick up something, but scarcely so much as those who have been at the school all day! Oh, how blessed it is to begin to know Christ very early, because then you can go on comprehending with all the saints the heights and depths of that which surpasses knowledge. No fear that you will ever exhaust this knowledge. It is so infinitely great and blessed that if we lived 7,000 years in the world, there would still be more to know of Christ, and we would still have to say, “Oh, the depths.” We need not be afraid, therefore, if we are converted when we are 10, or 15, or 20 years of age, we shall live to wear out the freshness of religion. Ah, no, we shall love it more and understand it better, and by God’s grace practice it more fully as the years roll over us! Therefore it is good to begin soon.” [2]

Fully recognizing the primary responsibility of the parents in raising their children in biblical discipline and instruction, we in the Sonlight staff seek to first and foremost assist the parents in helping the children come to know and love God from a young age. We do this mainly through teaching and setting the foundation of a right understanding of the Bible and of a Christian worldview, as was outlined by Jeff in his article “Two Objectives of Children’s Ministry.” In the Old Testament, for example, we have plenty of opportunities of showing the sinfulness of the human heart and the hope we have in the death and resurrection of Christ. In recent weeks, the children were taught the account of the bronze serpent in Numbers 21. In response to the Israelites’ complaining hearts, God punished them by sending “fiery serpents” but also provided a means of physical salvation through the bronze serpent, at which if any person looked, he or she was saved. This incident, as Christ Himself explains in John 3:14–15, is analogous to His own death. If any child would see his or her impending physical and spiritual death and look upon Christ in true repentance and faith, that child would most certainly be saved.

May we take all opportunities that the Lord puts in our way to point the children to Christ, whether it be through the beauty of a flower at the park, a severe chastisement after continued disobedience, or even the funeral of a beloved family member or friend. In 1755, Jonathan Edward wrote a letter to his ten-year-old son Jonathan Jr., whose playmate had recently died. The father wrote, “This is a loud call of God to you to prepare for death . . . Never give yourself any rest, unless you have good evidence that you are converted and become a new creature.” [3] I pray that all of us, whether parents, staff, or fellow members of the body of Christ, would emulate such love and concern for the children, caring most for the glory of God in the redemption of their souls.

[1] Piper, John. Don’t Waste Your Life. Crossway, 2003.

[2] Ministries, Eternal Life. “The Best Burden for Young Shoulders.” Spurgeon Gems – C. H. Spurgeon Sermons & Other Resources, www.spurgeongems.org/ (emphasis mine).

[3] Marsden, George M. Jonathan Edwards: A Life. Yale University Press, 2003.

by Kyle Grindley

At Lighthouse, we understand that most of the kids in our children’s ministry are not Christians; they have not had their hearts of stone replaced with hearts of flesh, they cannot obey God. Ryan McAdam’s article Why Require Obedience in the Classroom? touched on why we require obedience in spite of their inability. I have found applying this in a way that represents God to be the most challenging aspect of teaching in Sparklers (LBC’s preschool ministry).

One elder presented this challenge in a way that has stuck with me: Can the kids tell the difference between the way we run our classroom and the way any secular school would run theirs? Can the kids see God’s order, righteousness, peace, mercy, grace, love all reflected in the classroom? Or do they only see order, and teachers who are annoyed when it is violated?

I have struggled with how to maintain an ordered classroom where we can teach children about God’s loving-kindness, without unteaching it with the way I impose that order. These are a few guidelines that help me approach classroom discipline.

Discipline in an LBC classroom must come from humble teachers. We are sinners in need of teaching, correction, reproof, and training in righteousness, just like the children. To paraphrase Paul Tripp: we are more like the kids in our class than unlike them (see Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family). We do not discipline the kids because we are their moral superiors, but because we love them and want to teach them that the only way to have joy and peace is by trusting God’s wise words and following God’s good rules.

Discipline in an LBC classroom must come from unconditional love for the kids. Many kids go through a “difficult” time in Sparklers; a few months when they are consistently the recipient of discipline. In these times we must be careful to show unconditional love: a consistent desire to include them in class activities, to hear their thoughts, and to play with them. If children see that they are sought after in difficult times just as in good times, they might see a small picture of God’s love for us. God’s love is not diminished when we sin and does not grow when we obey. God’s love for us is always bringing us closer to Him, sometimes in the sweetness of close communion, and sometimes in the stinging conviction of sin.

Discipline in an LBC classroom must focus on the heart. Classroom disobedience is the result of a child deciding that they will be happier following their own wisdom, doing things their own way, rather than trusting and following God’s way of thinking and acting. It is what we call a My-Way heart (look at Getting to the Heart, by Liannu Khai (Dang)). Luke 6 says “out of the overflow of the heart, his mouth speaks”. We cannot stop at addressing the children’s behavior, we must address the heart that gave birth to that behavior. And we need to address it so that they are ultimately pointed to the only person who can change their hearts. Each time we discipline, it should be another lived example of what we teach during the lesson: “People need Jesus to change their hearts. You need Jesus to change your heart.”

Discipline in an LBC classroom must model a proper response to God’s Word. When we discipline the Sparklers we walk them through the process of repentance. First we identify the issue, perhaps it was unkind words, rebellious action, or an ungrateful attitude. Then we measure those words, actions, and attitudes by God’s Word. Does the Bible say what I did was good or sinful? If our actions are consistent with what God calls good, then we give thanks because our heart is consistent with God’s heart. If we find that God calls what we did sin, then our disobedient heart has been revealed. We ask for forgiveness, and we ask God to change our heart. It is my hope that as the children see their teachers and parents apply this pattern to their situation, they can learn how to apply it themselves. All this in the confidence that God’s Word is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart and bring change.

Please pray for the children’s ministry staff, that we would rely on God’s wisdom in each discipline situation. Pray that we would represent God’s righteousness and mercy each time we require obedience from children who cannot give it. Please pray that each child would trust that joy and peace can be found by listening to God’s wise words, and following His good way.

by Stephanie Chung

Fireflies, the nursery ministry of LBCSD, has one of the largest staffs of any of the children’s ministries, or ministries in general at the church. While this is in no small part due to the sheer number of children the Lord blesses our church with, it is also because of the hearts of the members to love, teach, and disciple our littlest ones. And every week I serve, I get to witness exactly that.

I joined the Fireflies staff about 6-7 years ago while I was in college. I was interested in the ministry because I wanted to serve in an official ministry and I enjoyed working with kids – teaching them God’s Word, shepherding their hearts. I was trying to choose between joining Fireflies or Sparklers, and Carol, our ministry coordinator, got to me first. So here I am.

A few years later, I joined the teaching staff. As an aspiring teacher, I believed I would be a good fit for the ministry. I thought the transition from classroom instruction to teaching nursery lessons would be an easy one; I thought I had the merits needed to be an engaging and effective teacher; I believed myself to possess the necessary qualities to be able to do this well. While these things weren’t untrue, I quickly realized my mistake of depending too much on my own strength to accomplish something only the Lord can do.

Since then, I’ve learned and experienced that teaching the Fireflies is so much more than trying to calm a screaming baby or changing a few smelly diapers, and more than managing a roomful of children with the many different ways they disobey or get into conflicts, and even more than telling a Bible Story in a way that just keeps the children’s interest and then producing a craft to have something to show for the day. Rather, the call of being on staff is an act of worship and glorifying God, through the teaching of His Word in order to make disciples.

One of the main priorities of the ministry is to teach God’s truth, and that comes with the weighty responsibility to handle it accurately (2 Timothy 2:15). Every lesson teaches the children about the God of the Bible – his sovereignty, his goodness, his love. This requires studying and meditating on the passage of scripture from which the lesson is found. The children learn to love God’s word as they learn and memorize scripture through songs and hand-motions, as well as to contemplate the characters and events of the Old and New Testaments. Often, the lessons that we teach about God and his attributes are good and timely reminders for the staff and me as well, and my own love for God and his Word is deepened.

Through the teaching of God’s Word, the staff and I are intentionally carrying out the MVP, particularly the M – to make disciples of Christ (Matthew 28:18-20). We teach a Bible lesson on an attribute of God and appeal to the children to make choices and live lives according to the Lord’s will. Sometimes, the lessons learned aren’t even during the formal lesson time. By interacting with the staff and other children, they are learning to listen and obey the first time, to be kind to others, make wise choices, to share, to be peacemakers.

Serving in nursery is an extension of our worship to the Lord. It is one of the ways we get to glorify God on Sunday morning. We are speaking truth each week, and yes, even starting at this early age because we do not presume on what the Lord can or cannot use to fulfill his kingdom’s work. We are simply called to be the faithful servants to carry out this mission. We plant the seeds of the gospel so that one day, when they can understand the weight of the Lord’s message, the soil will be ready to receive it. This is our prayer and this is our hope. We do this, not because we have the power to save or only because we are called to, but out of love for the Lord and His precious little ones. And we trust that the Lord will work mightily through us in the hearts of the children and accomplish his will.

by Ryan McAdams

For some of you, this may seem like a question with an obvious answer. But, for many parents and children’s ministry servants, myself included, we have had to wrestle with whether or not we should require obedience to God’s standards from unsaved children. The logic against requiring children to obey God’s commands flows something like the following: knowing that without faith, it is impossible to please God, we cannot expect children without the Holy Spirit in them to obey; we are asking the impossible from them.

We have touched on this subject previously in the Beacon, as well as in an excellent treatment on the topic from this year’s GraceLife Weekender (Weekend Conference), and many if not most of the arguments for obedience from children within a family will apply to children within a children’s ministry.

In spite of the seemingly impossible task we are expecting from the unregenerate children, we do require obedience in the classroom. Do we do it for the sake of maintaining order in the classroom and having the events run smoothly? Tempting as it is to let that determine what we do in the ministry, no, we do not require obedience for order in the classroom alone. In short, we require obedience because God requires obedience, for the Lord Jesus himself said “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48).

Now, the astute Biblical scholar might note that Jesus was speaking to his followers about life in the kingdom of God when he made that statement, and argue that this returns us back to the starting question of how we can expect this perfection from children who have not been born again. But, God had given the children of Israel a very similar command in the book of Leviticus, saying that “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Leviticus 20:26). Before you object that God gave that commandment solely to the Israelites, remember that God judged non-Israelite peoples throughout history for their wickedness, for the very lack of conformity to God’s holiness, starting with the people in Noah’s day, to the Canaanites throughout the Israelite conquest, to the judgments against nations around Israel from Nahum, Obadiah, Amos, Isaiah and other prophets. God very much expects obedience from all peoples everywhere, and this includes the children in our classrooms every Sunday.

Understanding that the heart of the natural man is desperately sick, wicked to the core, we understand that without divine help nobody can be holy as God is holy, and thus we all are in big trouble. But, as Jonah also knew, “God is a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.” (Jonah 4:2b). And so God has revealed his law, as an act of divine grace. To the nation of Israel, God provided the sacrificial system, where a person would sacrifice an animal to atone for a sin. And this sacrifice served to remind the individual of the seriousness of his sin, that he should have died in the place of that animal. But even more than that, God gave the law, not so that anyone could attain righteousness by adhering to the rules, for all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, but that the law would imprison us, acting as a harsh tutor or taskmaster, as Paul explained in the third chapter of his letter to the Galatians. Essentially, the law should drive us to despair as it reveals the myriad manifestations of our sinfulness. But, this despair should drive us to the great hope of Jesus Christ, who God made to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

So, we uphold God’s standards in the classroom, like showing kindness, speaking truth, obeying authorities, and try to explain to the children when they have transgressed these things with the hope that with each transgression, they will understand more and more their inadequacy to be holy as God is holy, and the futility in trusting their own works to save them. We want their hearts to beg for God’s help and we want each of them to cling in faith to God’s mercy in the life and death of Jesus, the perfect Son of God.

by Katherine Lam

For those that don’t know, I’ve never been a “kids” person. I grew up being the youngest of three so I had no experience in taking care of a younger sibling. At church, you would have never seen me play with the kids, let alone ask to hold someone’s child. But surely, God challenged me to grow in my love for children as I was looking into joining a ministry to serve in at Lighthouse.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there. (Matthew 19:13-14)

There’s a good number of options when looking at what ministries to serve in, but as I was looking through the list, the children’s ministry particularly caught my eye – not in the best way exactly. The thought of joining made me uncomfortable and I wanted to shy away from it. Yet as I recalled from Scripture Jesus’ tender love for children, I couldn’t help but to recognize my lack thereof and how I needed to grow in it as we’re called to exemplify Christ in all things. Serving in children’s ministry would provide such an opportunity. After some prayer and consideration, I asked to join the Sparklers ministry serving the three- to five-year olds.

Now reflecting upon my time in Sparklers for the past four years, I can confidently say that God has grown my love for children. I still don’t gravitate towards them like some other people naturally do at the church, but I do take delight in developing a relationship with each of them. It’s fun to see their individual personalities come out as you get to know them, but it’s also bittersweet to witness when they first enter from Fireflies to when they move up to Sonlight as you get personally attached.

But don’t get me wrong, there are the frustrating, not-as-easy discipline moments with them as well. There’s even been a time I cried! But what a tremendous joy it is to be in a position to shepherd them, share the Gospel, and hopefully make a lasting impact on their souls.

I encourage you, if you think you disqualify from serving in the children’s ministry because of your lack of love towards them, to pray and reconsider. Ask God to give you a heart for them. Not only is it a way to serve the church body, but it’s also a way to grow in Christlikeness.

by Melissa Ho

Six years is a long time. That is how long I have been serving in Fireflies. I started in 2012 as a regular staff member and have been a teacher/helper since 2013 till the present. Fireflies is the youngest of all the children’s ministries at Lighthouse Bible Church for little children ranging from newborn babies to toddlers who are 3 years of age…or until Sparklers is ready to receive them. Any given Sunday, eight ladies (teacher, helper, regular staff), provide not just “childcare” for over 40 kids in our ministry but so much more. You may be curious as to what goes on while you’re sitting in service, listening to the Sunday Morning sermon. No need to be worried; the screaming and crying you might hear when the music for praise fades does not take place all the time. Usually, two of our staffers will help with N1, which is our program for newborn babies until they are walking. The rest of us stay and serve in N2, which is for the children who are walking. The following is a taste of the fun, the tears, and the lessons that are experienced within our ministry. At the end, you will find some of my own personal reflections as well.

So we begin with drop off, which can be crazy. Therefore, in order to ease the flow of traffic during drop off, our parents are encouraged to sign their children into nursery prior to the start of worship. Some days, there may be crying and there may be extra reminders from our staff that we need to be patient and wait for mommy, that mommy will be back and that while mommy is not here, God is always with us.

Once the tears fade, we have the chance for a little bit of play time. Contrary to what you may think, play time is more than just having fun. While it’s fun to play with whatever we want, play time for kids at any age, typically lends itself to conflicts. When I hear “noooooo!,” or “someone took my toy,” or “they hit me,” or “that’s mine,” I find these to be teachable moments of how to peace-make even at this young age. These conflicts are great opportunities for our nursery kids to realize that life is not just about them, that sharing is non-negotiable, and that ultimately, we may not always make good choices but that we can always ask for forgiveness to make things right.

We continue with snack time, which is a time when, of course, the kids get to eat. Usually Goldfish crackers are the winner. However, during this time, we also intentionally use it to review our monthly Bible verse song and our rules. It works out for the best, since they are all busy eating and there’s not much else to do but to eat and listen. Each month there is a specific song with simple hand motions that we teach and sing with the kids. After singing, we review our rules. Our rules in nursery are: Listen the first time and be kind to one another. We then pray and “wash our hands” with some hand sanitizer before we eat our snack.

After snack and cleaning up, the kids go back to play time, and we usually take some of the kids to use the restroom. When all of our staff is back, we transition into our teaching time. The first reminder about teaching time is that toys do not get to join us at the table. They may, however, remain under our chairs while we learn. Our teaching time includes a lesson that is taught every Sunday for the whole month. While it sounds repetitive to re-learn the same lesson week after week, I have seen firsthand how beneficial it is, especially for kids at this age.

Recently, back in the month of April, I had the opportunity to be on staff as the teacher for three consecutive weeks. It’s not typical to be the teacher for nursery three weeks in a row, but it actually worked out because the consistency of being able to re-teach the same lesson and follow up with the kids allowed me the opportunity to share a mini-version of the gospel with them. April’s lesson is called “Jesus is Alive.” The lesson is about Christ’s death on the cross and his resurrection, which was the perfect basis for me to tell them why Jesus died. The simple reason being that we make mistakes, and we don’t always make good choices, meaning that we are not perfect and we need Jesus to save us from our sins. It’s amazing how these children are so young but how much they can understand as shown by their answers to questions during a lesson. Our lesson concludes with a coloring page along with a memory verse paper for the children to take home to their parents. If we are feeling ambitious, we get the chance to complete a craft (usually the last Sunday of the month). The rest of the time in nursery is spent with more time to play, clean up, and wait for mommy or daddy to pick us up.

As part of my full-time job being an early childhood special education preschool teacher, I am constantly dealing with discipline and behavior issues, both good and not so good, in my classroom every day. One thing that I’ve come to realize from witnessing the partnership between our nursery ministry and our parents is that this particular partnership rooted in the gospel is not a luxury I have in my own classroom. Discipline is necessary in any classroom and within our nursery class. It is reassuring that discipline issues are rarely taken lightly by our parents. If there are any issues that arise, we are able to partner with our parents by letting them know what the issue is and having them deal appropriately with the situation. I recently encountered a situation in which I had to inform parents of a discipline issue with their children. To be honest, I was very encouraged by the way these parents handled the situation and the fact that they genuinely sought to teach their children what obedience means, not just to their nursery teachers or mommy and daddy, but first and foremost to God.

Thank you to our past, present, and even future nursery parents, for allowing our staff to come alongside you as you strive to teach obedience to your children in accordance with the Bible. Thank you for trusting our ministry to teach your children. Last thing: for those of you who have a heart to serve the youngest of our church, and if what you have read about our ministry sounds like a challenge you would like to take on, please come join our staff! I promise we make it easy!

by Liannu Khai

“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:43-45)

Every Sparklers class begins in one of two ways: 1) We go over the 4 Sparkler Rules or 2) We review our heart verses, Luke 6:43-45. If you are curious about our Sparkler rules, you can read Paul Chen’s article on those. Instead, I wanted to take a bit of time to talk about the Sparklers’ heart verses, what we go over, and how they shape disciplining moments.

The goal of reviewing these verses in the beginning of class is to help them reflect on their heart. We, first, typically read the verse together. Then, the teacher reviewing it will either concentrate on a certain part of the verse (e.g. What does the word “abundance” mean?) or will go over the verse more generally, breaking down the illustration.

In these verses, Jesus talks about two types of trees. We see a good tree and a bad tree. What do these trees represent? They represent our hearts. As there are two types of trees, there are two types of hearts – good, “God-way” hearts and bad, “my-way” hearts. The trees bear fruits according to what kind of tree they are. As apple trees only grow apples, good trees will only grow good fruits. God-way hearts will only produce good, God-pleasing fruit. What is “fruit” though and how do people bear it? People don’t exactly grow apples and oranges from their arms. No way! Instead, a person’s fruit comes in the form of our words, thoughts, and actions. The words that come out of our mouths, the attitudes and thoughts that stir in our minds, and the actions we perform are all rooted in our hearts. Our fruit reveals the type of heart we have. How do we know whether our fruit is good fruit or bad fruit? The Bible, God’s word, tells us exactly what is good and what is bad. It tells us what pleases the Lord and what displeases him. When we do anything that displeases God, we sin. We produce bad fruit and reveal our “my-way” hearts. However, left to our own power, we can never please and obey God (Rom. 3:12) because of our wicked hearts (Jer. 17:9). We need to ask God to help us obey him. Ultimately, we need to ask God to change our hearts.

These verses aid us when we need to discipline any of the Sparklers because our goal is to help them see how their actions compare with scripture. Rather than making superficial, behavioral changes, we hope for a change of heart by attempting to dig to the root of the issue. We ask them questions to help them understand their fruit, the heart behind it, and what God’s word says about it. This is definitely not easy. They are not always responsive, but I pray that God can use these disciplining moments to plant seeds in their life. Our greatest prayer, as Sparklers staff, is that the kids may see their sinfulness and their great need for Christ to save them. I pray that as they grow older, Luke 6:43-45 will be written on their hearts as they examine their fruits, their heart, and their standing before God. It has definitely been written on mine.

by Ryan McAdams

Over the summer, my daughter and a number of her friends graduated from our Sunday preschool (Sparklers) ministry to the elementary school (Sonlight) ministry, bringing the number of children who regularly attend our Sonlight program to between 45 and 50 children. Less than two months later, our church moved to a two-service format which runs the same program for both the first and second services. I won’t bore you with the details, but this resulted in our Sonlight program transitioning from one group altogether to four groups, splitting the older and younger groups, and splitting with the two services. Of course, this resulted in needs for more staff and changes to the way we run each classroom. But, amid all of the changes we made to accommodate this new structure, Sonlight will always comprise the following components:

Teaching the Breadth of God’s Word

We have over an hour with the children whenever we have time with them in Sonlight, and we want to make the most of our time. Though most of the children probably hear Biblical teaching at home, we want to do our part to assist the parents in the making of disciples, even little ones, and we know that faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the word of God. And, believing that all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, we don’t want to limit our instruction to the familiar Bible stories, but proclaim the whole of God’s greatness to the next generation.

A Safe Environment

We run our Sonlight program concurrently with our Sunday School Services to enable our parents to receive the benefit of teaching without distraction. If the parents can’t trust that their children are in a safe environment in the Sonlight classroom, then we give the parents cause to worry and are providing a hindrance to the parents’ learning and thus failing in our goal.

Staff Who Love the Children

While we did have additional staffing needs with the transitions and we do promote service in our Children’s Ministries as a way for a member to begin to involve himself in the church, we don’t want to throw unwilling participants on our staff. We want staff who desire to serve the families of our church body and shepherd the children of the church. Additionally, we want staff who have demonstrated faithfulness and consistency in their Christian character, people who would model Jesus Christ well for the observant children in our care. So, even with the desire for greater numbers in our staff, we won’t just look for warm bodies to fill spots, but rather those who love God and want to use their abilities to serve the church in this particular way.
Though the adjustments for the recent changes may not have finished, I know that however our program looks, we can count on these components to help form the core of our Sonlight ministry, as we seek faithfulness to our Lord and to bring glory to his name in every ministry of our church.

by Lisa Kohno

Take a moment to imagine a cute animated bear’s face on a robot’s body. Now imagine that this “care bear robot” is not just a toy to buy for your child, but it’s actually life-sized and designed to take care of your child. In this day and age, this is not an imagination but rather a very real reality in Japan where these Baymax-like robots are currently being introduced to Japanese nurseries in response to the nation’s acute scarcity of childcare workers (Advisen). Certainly these amiable automations have been programmed to be able to greet a child, comfort them, record their temperatures, and even monitor their general health, but they are far limited in their ability to care for the most important aspect of a child’s life: their soul.

In contrast, our Fireflies Nursery ministry is concerned with both the material and immaterial needs of the infants and toddlers of our church family, as we recognize that caring for a child is not merely ensuring their physical wellness and growth, but most importantly nurturing their spiritual maturation and shepherding their hearts to know, love, and worship Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Yes, a typical day in nursery will entail playing with the children, having snacks, consoling those who are crying, and changing diapers, but what I so highly admire about Lighthouse Bible Church is how we seek to uphold a high view of God and His Word at every stage of life, and this by no means is watered down for our Children’s Ministries.

Thus, from early on we want to set the tone that our Lord is intimately involved in the young ones’ everyday life by emphasizing time to pray, participate in worship, rehearse Scripture memory verses, and teach lessons from the Bible. Some unbelieving friends and coworkers have expressed bewilderment that we actually instruct the children at this young age, but it’s crucial to remember that although their minds may be limited, their spirits are assuredly active and able to grasp simple truths of God. Just as it is with newborn babies and physical food, although we don’t endeavor to feed them a buffet right from the beginning because it’d be impossible for them to intake everything doesn’t mean we don’t feed them at all lest they should starve. Rather, we start with consistently feeding them milk as the basic building block to feed and nourish their growing bodies. Likewise with spiritual food, although they may not be ready to comprehend deep theology and feast on the riches of hermeneutics at their age, it is still vital that they start by feeding off the pure spiritual milk of His Word that they may grow up into salvation until they are ready for more solid food (1 Peter 2:2; 1 Corinthians 3:2).

With this knowledge in mind, particularly on N-2 which is comprised of the older walkers to potty-trained three-year-olds, we teach basic lessons from Scripture about God’s character, remembering that the only sure foundation for the little ones is Jesus Christ (Isaiah 28:16). Because at this age repetition is key, we go over the same lesson for the entire month using pictures, felt boards, and sometimes crafts, seeking to impart great truths of our awesome God in simple words. Some examples of our rotation of lessons include:

• God is Good
• God Made Everything
• Jesus is Alive
• God is Everywhere
• Jesus is the Boss
• God Knows Everything
• Jesus Loves Me
• God Always Wins

Although we recognize the young children may not be able to understand every phrase and lesson immediately, we believe that with time and constant reiteration they can grow in their familiarity and comprehension of these basic truths, especially as they mature and move on to the older Children’s Ministries. This is an important place to start since how can they come to love Someone they do not know? Therefore, little by little we seek to help usher them towards a greater awareness of who our God is so they can eventually come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Though it will take patience and perseverance, we press on and will not cease to declare the “sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done” (Psalm 78:2-4). It’s been my great joy to personally witness how shakily waddling one year-olds with blank stares and bad separation anxiety who slump down in their chairs, soon become stable and confident three year-olds who follow along with the motions to our memory songs and enthusiastically proclaim, “God!” or “Jesus!” with shining eyes as we ask them who created them / provided for Elijah / brought the Israelites out of Egypt / stilled the waters and waves / died for our sins and is alive today / etc.

Serving on staff as a single lady has also offered a unique perspective as I am reminded that my mission in life is to make disciples of Christ (Matthew 28:18-20) and be poured out to testify of the Gospel of God’s grace (Acts 20:24), whether that is through marriage and shepherding my own children one day–which isn’t a guarantee–or not. Learning how to joyfully submit and lead the life to which God has called me to now (1 Corinthians 7:17) in His infinite wisdom, incomparable love, and infallible sovereignty, I’m grateful He has graciously placed me in different spheres of influence to carry this commission out in my current stage as an employee / daughter / sister / friend. But I especially give praise that without even having children of my own or knowing the future, He has already granted me the gift of becoming a spiritual mother through this ministry, that I may play a small role in impacting future generations unto Christ. Although not always glorious and definitely with its share of challenges, it is a sweet joy and tremendous privilege to help plant the seeds of God’s truth in the fertile hearts of these little souls and have the honor of partnering alongside the parents in the discipleship of the most precious people in their lives towards our one sure Foundation.

All this to say… if you have been waiting for a sign to join our Fireflies Nursery ministry, THIS IS IT. (Just kidding!) But if you are a female member who loves God and children, I highly encourage you to at least try observing and prayerfully consider serving our church family in this way, especially as splitting to two services now offers more opportunities to get involved and practically apply all that you are learning through the preaching of His Word. Not only is this a valuable ministry to get to know and come alongside solid, like-minded sisters from all different affinity groups (and develop a deep respect for what parents do 24/7 with no break!), but it is also a great way to tangibly live out the “Passion Statement” to love God and people (Matthew 22:37-40) week to week and grow in your own worship of our Lord. Again, it may not be the most esteemed position, but what will you learn through Fireflies Nursery you ask? Well, let me share with you just a few nuggets of wisdom I’ve gained through the past four blessed years…

It’s learning that love is doing the hard work and truly sacrificing for the sake of others rather than simply loving them when they are lovable (Romans 5:8). This means not just holding the adorable babies when they are sweet, docile, and cuddly, but also changing exploding poo diapers and catching spit-up with your bare hands,. It also means patiently consoling an emotionally distressed toddler as they push you away and your ears ring from their screaming, and most importantly, gently but firmly instructing their hearts of their sin and need for a Savior as cold defiance grips their wills and hot selfishness drives their choices. And to do this all being empowered by the love of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14-15) as we get a small taste of how much God loves us as His own children (1 John 3:1) and bears with us compassionately in our mess and rebellion as well, to remember that He likewise disciplines us as a loving Father that we may partake in His holiness (Hebrews 12:10).

It’s learning the paradox of what it means to be great in God’s eyes by becoming last and serving the least (Luke 22:26-27), as we lovingly (and literally) stoop low to minister to the children and esteem it the highest honor to be entrusted with their souls. It’s learning from and being challenged by the kids too, whether we run to our Abba Father as gleefully and desperately as they do when they see their parents walk through the door, or if we are like the ones who hold on to lesser toys/snacks/things of this world thinking they will satisfy us more than the presence of the One who has made us and treasures us. It’s learning to grow in awe and childlike wonder of who our great God is and all He has done for us. It’s learning that God’s laws and boundaries for us are for our good and protection, just as we seek the children’s highest welfare even if that makes them think we are not after their highest joy at times. It’s learning through tears like the children who eagerly await their parents’ return and keep asking where they are, to trust that He is coming back again for us even when we cannot see Him, that we can cling to His character, hope in His promises, and rest in His love for us at all times.

Frankly, it’s a lot about learning our own deficiencies and helplessness too, that God is sovereign when it comes to salvation and it’s up to the Spirit to change hearts (Ezekiel 36:26). Although it has been mentioned serving in Children’s Ministry is sometimes difficult for this very reason as you may not see the fruit of your efforts right away, I trust that God is faithful and I’m thankful knowing the harvest of this ministry may take a few years to see which has taught me to all the more depend solely on God, the power of His Spirit, and persevere in the priority of prayer as we remember, “Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it” (Psalm 127:1).

And ultimately, I have learned that when you love anyone, the greatest way we can show them this reality is to love them not in word or talk, but in in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18) all the way to God Himself by consistently pointing to Him and investing His Word into their hearts. So let us do this with abounding joy and confident hope in the power of the holy Scriptures that from childhood are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:14-15). Let us behold our King and pass on the greatness and glory of God to the next generation, laying a firm foundation in Jesus Christ that we may train up an army of little image-bearers to proclaim all His praiseworthy deeds!