Next Steps for Kids, Part 1

This past weekend we had almost thirty kids who gave their life to Jesus in the pond baptism service. But the big question that's on everyone's mind is, "What's next? Where do we go from here?" Well, the great news is that baptism is the just the beginning. God has a huge adventure in store for every new believer as they grow closer to Him, lock arms with other believers and light on the world on fire with God's love. It doesn't matter if you're seven or thirty-seven, God is calling every new believer to grow in their relationship with Him and with others.

Over the next few days, we'll take a look at some next steps for kids once they've taken the plunge and decided to follow Jesus.

Next Step 1 - Start a Daily Time to Hang Out with God.

The first thing every kid needs to do is to carve out some daily time to hang out with God and get to know Him better. If you want to grow to be better friends with a kid at school, you spend time with them. You do stuff together. It's the same way with God.

In 2 Peter 3:18, Peter says to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

That could mean praying (just talking to God), reading your Bible or writing some of your thoughts and prayers in a journal. It could actually mean a whole lot more stuff than that, but those are a great place to start.

If kids don't have a Bible, they need get one ASAP. Here are fantastic Bibles to help kids grow in their faith:

* The Beginner’s Bible (ages 6 and under)

* NIrV Kids Quest Study Bible (ages 6–12)

Another big help are something called devotional books. They're filled with cool stories and questions to help kids understand what it means to follow Jesus. Here are a couple that we recommend in children's ministry:

* The Beginner’s Bible Book of Devotions: My Time With God (ages 6 and under)

* The NIrV Adventure Bible Book of Devotions for Early Readers (Ages 6–9)

* The NIV Adventure Bible Book of Devotions (ages 9–12)

Okay, that's a cool place to start, doing life with Jesus. In a couple of days, we'll look at two other awesome steps to help kids grow on their adventure with God.