UNKNOWN 0:00

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Welcome to another episode, the place where we talk about kids ministry and take a peek behind the scenes. We try to share a little bit of what we've learned that works for us and some of our failures so you can avoid them. We release a new episode every Friday, and this is your Backstage Pass to see the magic or disaster that happens behind the scenes of our kids ministry. I'm your host, Gabe Baker, and today I am riding solo. So typically we have a guest, usually somebody from our We'll make the best of it, and I think that it'll be a little shorter than typical, but what I want to talk about is making an impact, and And basically what I intend to do is I'm going to read a article that I wrote for the WPF Together magazine. This is, I don't know, a couple of years ago for, I think, the summer edition. And I just want to talk a little bit about this is kind of what we do in kids ministry. And, you know, on other podcasts, we've talked about how there's so many things that we do that are on Meaning that there's things you do or things that we do in kids ministry that you can't always... measure. You know, you can't just put your finger on it and say, oh, this is why that happened. So, for example, I was just recently at a youth camp and Brother Booker and I were discussing that, you know, and this is a good measuring tool for sure, but often it seems like the main measuring tool is how many people receive the Holy Ghost. And that is a good measurement and it's great and don't want to diminish that, but there are services where no one might receive the Holy Ghost for the first time that are powerful, life-changing services. And so there's so many things in something like that that's, again, going back to the word, unquantifiable. It's something that you can't tell, like, oh, that service is what made such an impact that that young man became a preacher one day. I mean, you know, there's so many things things that you can't point and put your finger on. And so while I'm definitely a fan of goals that are measurable and, you know, that you can track and we should have those because if you don't know what you're aiming at and you'll hit it every time. But I think that we have to be careful and there's a practice that we should be doing every day. And it's not just about the end result. It's about this is what we do. because it's the right thing to do on a daily basis. All right, well, that's my preamble. And so I'm going to read this article, and I think I might try to even maybe add some sound effects and things like that. So I hope you enjoy this shorter podcast today. All right, here we go. This is from WPF Together Magazine. I wrote this in 2012. 22 I think. The candle flame flickered violently in the dim room. Silhouettes jumped and swirled on the walls like ninja in combat. The reflection from the man's glasses was mesmerizing. His voice was just above a whisper, building anticipation with each breath. The full moon cast shadows onto the dirt streets. The moon was bright, making the shadows black as coal. The city was quiet. Most were asleep in their beds. A small, wraith-like shadow slipped furtively through the blackness. No one seemed to notice the figure hugging the ominous gloom of the tall buildings, shrouded in darkness. Off in the distance, a dog barked. Somewhere, a horse neighed, but the night remained still. The man was anxious. He had to know. He had heard the rumors. Everyone had. But he wanted to find out for himself. Of course, he had to keep what he was doing a secret. No one could know about his clandestine trip tonight. The teacher looked around the room and asked, Does anyone want to know the rest of the story? Tom desperately wanted to hear the rest of the story. He wanted to hear it right now. But he didn't want to let on. No, he was much too cool for that. So he just shrugged indifferently and turned his head away. That morning, he hadn't even been sure if he wanted to get on the bus or not. It was his first time, and he had been to a quote Sunday school before, but when he had gone before it was a lot more like school. He had colored a picture, eaten a cookie, and had almost fallen asleep. This was different. There was no chance of falling asleep here. Today, he and the other kids sang songs at the top of their lungs, and one of the teachers said that they could talk to God right there in the room. The teacher encouraged everyone to pray. At this, Tom started to fold his hands and had planned to promptly take a power nap during the quiet. But it wasn't quiet. He had never seen anything like it. The teacher had his voice raised and the kids were allowed to say stuff out loud. Tom didn't see God anywhere, but maybe he actually could talk to him. Tom talked to God about his mom. "'God, if you're really real, can you help my mom get a job? Can you really do that kind of stuff? Also, my little sister is sick. Can you make her not be sick anymore?' Tom glanced around. Some kids had their hands in the air." Tom quickly unfolded his hands, but then he remembered something that he had seen before and bowed his head. Amen, he said to make it official. When it came time for the story, Tom expected a paper and some crayons to go along with a droning voice. He was in for a surprise. The teacher lit a candle, dimmed the lights, and began the story. Tom was hooked on every word. He didn't realize the Bibles had stories like this. It was exciting. Tom found himself on the edge of his seat waiting to see what would happen. Turns out the man in the night was a member of some gang called the Sandy Drum or something like that. This guy, Nicodemus, was sneaking across the city to ask Jesus some questions. Tom liked Nicodemus because he was a lot like himself. He didn't want anyone to know that he was actually interested in what Jesus had to say. Also, Nicodemus asked good questions like, how can you be born again? When the teacher explained what he called, quote, the plan of salvation, Tom could barely contain himself, but he kept his cool. He had learned that you couldn't show any sign of weakness. Don't let them know you're interested. But he couldn't wait to get home and tell his mom. Sunday, like thousands of other apostolics, I went to church. I didn't preach a conference or a revival. I didn't preach in the pulpit. I didn't lead songs and I didn't write a book. However, I did interact with some very significant church leaders. I quoted scripture to an evangelist. I sang with a worship leader. I had snacks with a youth leader and I prayed with a pastor as he reached out to God. I explained the plan of salvation to some musicians and talked about God's love to an usher. Next Sunday, I don't know who else might be there, but I do know this. God loves them, and they will carry out this precious faith forward. They are the kids of our Sunday school and the leaders of the future. When we do children's ministry, we want to see results. But remember, this is what we do. It is our, quote, lifestyle. When you're in the will of God doing His work, the harvest will come. Keep working in the field. Sometimes you don't know the impact you're having. Well, like I said, this is going to be a shorter podcast, so we're going to call that a wrap. We'll see you next week.