Going Deep!

“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon … [Read more...]

Parenting Seminar: Tough Stuff

Parenting is anything but an easy undertaking. In the broken world that we live in today, our children are being faced with giant, tough stuff as they go to school, participate in extracurricular activities, watch media and simply do life. The issues they face come faster, sooner and harder than generations before. As a church, our desire is to be authentic and real about these tough issues. After talking with families, the top three issues on their hearts as parents are sexuality, depression … [Read more...]

Parenting Seminar #2 – Divorce Care

As we continue to partner with parents, next on the line-up is the Parenting Seminar on Divorce Care. Megan Wessberg oversees Saddleback Kids’ Grades 4-6 Weekend ministry and has a huge heart for kids going through divorce. This heart passion and connection to this age, stage and situation led Megan into overseeing our Divorce Care for Kids. Megan leads from a place of personal experience, wise counsel and compassion to parents who have gone through, are going through or may even be considering … [Read more...]

The 12th Man

In the game of American football (I realize I just lost 85% of you), there is a phenomenon called the "12th man.” You see there are 11 men on the field of play during the game – not less, not more, always 11. The “12th man” is the radical fan in the stands who is on his or her feet cheering for their team no matter what the score or the circumstances on the field. When you are on the field of play, the energy from the fans in the stand can literally change the momentum of the game. That is why … [Read more...]

Spiritual Tools To Take Home!

Children are our number one priority and focus.  Of course!  That makes total sense since we are Saddleback Kids, the Children’s Ministry of Saddleback Church.  But at the end of the day we cannot overlook the primary disciplers of the children—parents (or other loving adults).  After all, it is the moms, the dads, the grandparents and more who spend the most teachable time with the children in our ministry.  At most, we get 3 hours a week, if they attend weekend services and are in a Kids Small … [Read more...]

Great Resource for Parents in Your Ministry

As children's ministry leaders, we are constantly on the look out for great resources that we can use ourselves or provide to the parents we minister to. Talk Now and Later written by Brian Dollar is one of those great resources everyone should have in their library. We all know it is hard to be a kid these days with all of the things they have to face. This book helps parents lead kids through some of life's tough topics when they do not know what to say or how to address them. Some of the … [Read more...]

Brave – Saddleback Kids

Here is a quick video from Saddleback's new Worship CD - Brave. It's a collection of 10 songs written and produced for kids to sing and parents to enjoy too! Nine of the 10 songs are original songs written by the Saddleback Worship staff for this project. The Worship staff, along with Saddleback Kids and InResponse Music put a lot of love and energy into this project. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/brave/id909373079 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUD8f2jwZDU   … [Read more...]

Podcast 3 – How to Intentionally Use Events that Draw Kids to Your Church

We have a special guest, Randy Isola from Chicago, IL, with us as we discuss how to intentionally use events to bring kids onto our campus. Think about how you plan an event. Do you strategically plan and approach an event in how it can lead to the next one? Are they a one-off event? Are they balanced in how they can move a child in their spiritual maturity? Are you going after the kid, but also highlighting the parent’s experience and gaining a new leader in the process? Today we talk about … [Read more...]

I wish I were creative

I read a story recently of an artist who worked for Hallmark Cards. He traveled to many schools as a guest speaker to talk about his work. He would introduce himself as an artist and then ask the students, “How many of you are artists?” In Kindergarten and first grade almost every hand went up immediately. In the second grade classroom, about three-quarters of the class would typically raise their hands. When he asked the third grade only a few would respond. By the time he asked the … [Read more...]