The new school year has arrived, and with four kids in school, I’ve received approximately 10,000 emails in the last week regarding school. Many of these emails are logistics, but many are asking kids to come and be part of something.
Join the Band! Join the Basketball Team! Join the Student Council! Join the Dodgeball Team! Join the Art Club! Join the Drama Club! Join Speech Team!
Kids are surrounded by voices and information and invitations asking them to belong to something. With all the chaos and voices that kids hear, we as a community of believers need to work harder than ever before to be the loudest voice they hear. We need our kids to know that they belong.
“I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly.”—John 10:10
They belong to a Father who sees them, knows them, and loves them beyond anything in this world. But they also belong to a church family that sees them, knows them, loves them, and wants to walk beside them on their faith journey. Kids need to know that they belong to a church family that is invested in their lives today and wants to encourage and equip them for what is ahead.
As a church community, we are called to invest in this next generation. We are called to encourage and equip kids as disciples now and as future leaders. Research has shown over and over that one of the biggest factors in the formation of a kid’s faith is relationships. It’s so important for a kid to have a loving, caring, Jesus-focused adult pouring them.
As a church, we can have great programs and curriculum, but more importantly, we need great adults; adults in relationship with our kids and students showing them they belong and that their identity is found in Christ.
John 10:10 tells us, “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly.” May this be the prayer for our kids: that they have a life beyond the voices of this world, a life that tells them of a God who loves them and died for them, a life in which they are confident of where they belong.
We invite you to prayerfully consider how God is calling you to walk beside the next generation here at King of Kings. We have many amazing opportunities from rocking babies in the Nursery during services on a Sunday morning to leading a small group of high schoolers as they navigate life and every age group in between. May we as a church community be a loud voice to the next generation, telling them, “Join us! You belong here!”
