CrossLife Kids

Our vision and prayer for the children of CrossLife Church is for them to:



KNOW God and His character, learning to put faith in Him in all of life,
GROW into passionately obedient followers of Jesus Christ, and
GO into the world to share His reconciling, forgiving love with others.



“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” - Luke 10:27



At CrossLife Church, we want to assist and support parents as they guide and train their children. We believe the Bible teaches that moms and dads have the primary responsibility for the spiritual development of their children. As we spend time with children in our Sunday morning children’s ministry, our goal is to reinforce and support the training and instruction the children are receiving at home. We also want to put an emphasis on equipping parents to disciple their children.  In addition, everyone who is part of CrossLife is also part of the larger “covenant family” with a responsibility to share in spiritually equipping and training the next generation. “He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach their children; that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments...” - Psalm 78:5-7



Know

We want our children to know God personally and to know God’s character.  We teach His words and His deeds in the scope of what is known as the history of redemption.  The central person of this history is Jesus Christ, the Beloved Son of God who died on the cross for the sins of the world, who was buried and who was raised from the dead three days later (1 Cor 15:1-4).  Our prayerful hope and decided intention is to help children come to know God personally through a relationship with Jesus Christ.  This requires that they learn to trust the God of the Bible, which is His completely trustworthy and authoritative Word. In order to trust God in Christ like this, it is essential for children to understand that they HAVE fallen, DO fall and WILL fall short of what God requires of them.  Children must understand that by God's grace, their sins are forgiven only through faith in the good news of Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection. It is only then that they come to know Jesus Christ as their personal one and only Savior and Lord.  We don’t simply want children to know about God – we want them to be transformed as they respond to His grace and to the gospel (2 Cor 3:18, Rom 12:1-2). “Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.” Psalm 100:3. “Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” Proverbs 30:5. “Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, for whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.” 1 Corinthians 8:6.



Grow

We want our children to grow in their knowledge of God in Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible, what the Christian tradition has long referred to as “the Holy Scriptures (writings).”  That’s why in every children’s activity at CrossLife, children will hear God-in-Christ-centered teaching, so that they might grow in their understanding of the character of God as revealed to us in the person and work Jesus Christ. We want them to grow not only in knowledge but also in grace.  As children learn who God is and learn how to trust Him, we believe this pleases God and that God will begin the process of transforming them more and more into, and conforming them to, the image of Christ (2 Cor 3:18, Rom 8:29). Our job is to scatter and water the seeds of the gospel, the good news of Jesus’ death-burial-resurrection, so that as they grow older they will grow more and more into passionate obedient followers of God. “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52.



Go

Living a life of obedient trust of God in Christ that is evidenced by a growing personal relationship with God and others, we want our children to go.  We want them to understand that the mission of the church is to tell others about Jesus and to make disciples, and that they are part of this mission, God’s mission to the world.  We want them to be lights when they walk out the doors of our homes and church. We want them to be so in love with Jesus that they shine brightly for Christ as they go into the darkness of an unbelieving world.  We want our children to love, serve, pray, and share the gospel with those who don’t know Jesus. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28: 19-20.

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Edited and modified from Redeeemer Church LR Children's ministry