Skip to main content

Devices - here to stay

 

In today’s fast paced, device driven world, it is increasingly difficult to teach Children’s Church—especially if you are an older person trying to keep up with the influences in children’s lives. To my dismay, I find that some of the children I teach do not have robust social skills. It is difficult to encourage them to participate in discussions or answer questions. Or is it me? I certainly must ponder that question. In the past, I have sometimes used online YouTube animated clips to tell a Bible story, and the children certainly pay attention, but are then unable to answer any questions about what they have just watched. So potentially, their attention span is decreasing. I decided that I would not buy into the worldly ‘device’ war and stopped using the clips to teach. Instead, I went the old-fashioned ‘object lesson’ way. They certainly enjoy that, but again it is exceedingly difficult to get them to participate in the following discussion. I base crafts and games on the same lesson to try and help it sink in.

I have also found that none of the children (anything from 4 – 10 children currently on any given Sunday, ages 6-12 years) appear to be reading the Bible or praying. Families are so busy these days it is just one more thing for them to do. Maybe their parents or caregivers don’t get devotional time either. It makes me sad that we can be too busy for the most important thing in our day.

I have given parents some ideas on how to make God a part of the rhythm of their day as a family. I am also challenging the children to read their Bibles and pray regularly as a competition, using the good old-fashioned star charts. We will see what happens!

My next step is investigating a Bible app for children, checking it is Biblically accurate and recommending it to parents who allow their children ‘device time’. Although I am not keen to add to the problems of device use, if it gets the children engaged in the Word, I need to try anything I can. God’s got this!

If you are finding it hard to fit devotional time into your day, then you are too busy. Why not make an appointment with God, put it in your diary. Maybe get up half an hour early to read the Word and pray with your spouse? Maybe make a point of discussing a Bible story and praying with your children at bedtime. Although it can be hard to see when you are in the midst of the pressure and stress of everyday life, spending time with God is the best use of your time.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Time to relax

  Another update on the ongoing saga of the renovations. The new kitchen has now been pushed out until September with no date given. The flooring has now been pushed out until the 19 September and wallpapering sometime after that. We have to wait for the wallpapering before we install the new heat pump and the range-hood. The new lounge suite will take three to four months to be ready in the colour we want. Family are coming for our 140 th church celebrations the second week in October. I’m praying that the heat pump is up! There will literally be no chairs for them to sit on. Hopefully the new kitchen will at least be installed so I can unpack all the boxes that are currently stored in the spare bedrooms otherwise I have no place for them to sleep. I am laughing at the thought of sleeping bags in the lounge around the piano which is currently right in the middle where we moved it to allow painters to get around it. But today, I had a lovely relaxing morning. My friend is stil...
Post a Comment
Read more

Planting Seeds

  Carrying on from last week, I was wondering how I am sowing seeds. I realised that we can all sow seeds everywhere we go. I don’t go out that often actually, I don’t belong to any secular groups but I can still be responsive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Under his leading I made a determined effort to get to know the names of all the staff at my two favourite cafés that I visit at least weekly. I ask about their families; I support where I can. My friends and I find opportunities to give them all a little gift of chocolate and a card with a verse of scripture written on it. They all know we are Christians. I guess that might be called planting seeds. I converse with the supermarket checkout operators just to have a chance to bring a blessing to them. Some of them now know I am a Christian. I can easily bring God into conversations with unsaved family members, neighbours and strangers I stop and talk to in the park—with the leading of the Holy Spirit. I do not adopt a heavy...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Importance of Unity

  What do you do when you think the Pastor or Senior Leadership Team have got it wrong! A friend was recently talking about a decision made by our Senior Leadership Team (SLT) including the Pastor. We are a small church community, so decisions affect every member there. However, unless directly involved in a programme or initiative the SLT do not know how a decision they make might impact on the on-the-ground day-to-day running of that programme or initiative. It is important to talk to those involved to get their perspective and even in a small church this might not necessarily happen. Having said that, our SLT are generally very good at consulting. So, what do you do if you think it’s an unwise decision? This will of course depend on size of the church, whether the Pastor is a good listener and is prepared to talk about it and I’m sure, many other factors. My perspective is that I do not want to be talking about the Pastor behind his back. I do not want to gossip about him ...
Post a Comment
Read more