{"id":14023,"date":"2017-10-12T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-12T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/?p=14023"},"modified":"2017-10-02T22:59:06","modified_gmt":"2017-10-03T05:59:06","slug":"a-sure-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/2017\/10\/12\/a-sure-foundation\/","title":{"rendered":"A Sure Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Lisa Kohno<\/em><\/p>\n

Take a moment to imagine a cute animated bear\u2019s face on a robot\u2019s body. Now imagine that this \u201ccare bear robot\u201d is not just a toy to buy for your child, but it\u2019s 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\u2019s acute scarcity of childcare workers (Advisen<\/a>). 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\u2019s life: their soul.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Ministries.<\/p>\n

Thus, from early on we want to set the tone that our Lord is intimately involved in the young ones\u2019 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\u2019s 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\u2019t endeavor to feed them a buffet right from the beginning because it\u2019d be impossible for them to intake everything doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t 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).<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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:<\/p>\n