H7 Story: The Bible Is Absolutely True

Each week, across our three campuses, FCC is averaging forty preschoolers from age 2-5. (This doesn’t even count the babies in our nurseries!) This provides our church community with a huge opportunity to teach our littles the basic truths about who God is and what His word says. Early Childhood ministry is so much more than babysitting. Yes, we play games and have fun, but by the time a preschooler “graduates” into the elementary class, they have been instilled with a basic understanding of certain truths which they can build off of for the rest of their lives.

Each Sunday, in every service, for about three years of a child’s life, we cover this basic truth with each preschooler. “What do we know about the Bible? It’s…Absolutely true! (leg pats, leg pats, thumbs up) Absolutely true! (leg pats, leg pats, thumbs up) Everything the Bible says is (leg pats, leg pats, hands together to make a Bible) Absolutely true! (leg pats, leg pats, thumbs up) Which means we can trust absolutely everything that God puts in the Bible because it’s absolutely true!” Our Early Childhood kiddos all know this clap and they love participating and learning about the Bible together.

Four months ago, we added something to what the kiddos are learning at church. Preschoolers have now started learning from the same scripture as adults on Sunday morning. This means that most recently, we have integrated an understanding of sin into our lessons. Our preschoolers have been learning that “sin (make an X with arms) is anything we think (touch temples), say (touch corners of mouth), or do (pound fists together), that doesn’t obey God (make a horizontal X)” and have a basic understanding that we are all sinners and do bad things but Jesus changed everything for us and we can have new life in Him! Early Childhood ministry is such an opportunity to teach basic truths that kids will build off of and come back to for the rest of their lives.

Lindsay Allen is both a parent and an Early Childhood teacher at the Afton Campus. “I've seen so much growth through our children in class and my own child at home,” she explained. “As a teacher, and honestly, an adult who is still learning every lesson, reviewing the basics of what sin is has allowed discussion in class on sin and how it affects our decisions and walk with God.” Lindsay continued by saying, “At home I'm able to look back to this reference and ask my girls: is this a sin? We can then review the motions we learned to help them decide independently if their actions are honoring God. Even in my own life I have thought several times recently: is this something I am saying or doing to honor God like I taught on Sunday? Learning the absolute truth of the Bible and of sin each Sunday is growing our children to be prepared for whatever battles they may face growing up.”