When Children Pray by Cheri Fuller

(Parent/Teacher resource) Order this book online.
Because children are able to approach God in prayer with innocence and unhindered by inhibitions, God uses them as one of His most powerful prayer intercessors. When Children Pray shows us many times over how God honors children by using them to accomplish His plan.

Cheri Fuller does this first and foremost by using scripture. She also gives examples of answered prayer in some very young people's lives. She walks us through, knowing first that we as parents and teachers must build our prayer life on a solid foundation, then become partners in prayer with the children God has put in our care. God began using His relationship with David, Daniel, Samuel, and Timothy at a very early age to make a very powerful impact on the lives of the people around them.

James 1:2-6 tells us if we ask in faith what we ask will be given to us. Children possess a faith that we as adults strive to achieve each day in our walk with God's grace. This book will help anyone to build a solid, faith-filled prayer life, and what a blessing it is to be able watch God work in our lives.

Jesus and Me: A Study of the Life of Christ by Carol Jackson

(Children's Bible Studies) Order this book online.
Jesus and Me has 52 lessons that are targeted towards children ages 6 to 9 and gives them the opportunity to learn about the life of Jesus, be able to apply it to their lives, and then share with those people whom have an intricate part of their lives.

It offers a weekly study, Bible verses to memorize, and group activities making it fun to learn how to share God's word with their friends. These activities are created to work with the different learning styles of children. Paul tells us that our faith is built by hearing the Word, and adults know the importance of being in the Word with consistency to mature in our walks. Then we can share what God teaches us to the world around us. God's call for this is as important to our children as it is to us, and when we make our children's studies appropriate to their ages, we can rest assured they will learn the Bible and respond to its truths.

Almost Every Answer for Practically Any Teacher by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson

(Parent/teacher resource) Order this book online.
So often when a person steps out and volunteers for a ministry, they find the old adage "Twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work" is suddenly real to them. Next they ask the question, "What in the world have I gotten myself into?"

When God calls us to be a part of His work, our hearts work very hard at being obedient and faithful to that call. Often someone will feel a tug at his or her heart to teach but gives into the human fear of "not being qualified." This book helps us to know that God does not call us to a ministry and then fail to equip us. He will grow us, work with us, and give us the resources to truly succeed in His work. This book is a wonderful resource for all of the tough questions and issues that seem to arise on a very regular basis in children's ministry. It contains over a hundred articles by different authors such as Charles Swindoll, Gary Smalley, and others. It helps us through our own issues with teaching techniques (storytelling, prayer, etc.), keeping our lessons age-appropriate, teacher burnout, how to discipline in the classroom, understanding the Holy Spirit and His purpose in your teaching, how to discern and learn the different needs of the children you teach, and how to apply all of this not only your teaching life but also your own walk.

Shepherding a Child's Heart (Dr. Tedd Tripp)

(Teacher/Parent resource) Order this book online.
All of a child's actions and words come straight from the heart and Dr. Tripp shows us how to direct that God-given gift toward His purpose and plan for a child's life. He teaches us how to build a biblical foundation in the counsel that we give children whether we are parenting or teaching.

At some point in every child's life, he or she will examine the claims of scripture and decide whether or not they will embrace the truth. Dr. Tripp walks us through learning to discern the behavior of a child, establishing our authority in their life, shaping the influences around them, examining and working the goals you have for your child's life, developing a strong communication, disciplining, and techniques for the application of all of these. Your family structure is very important to you and most assuredly we have all found that it isn't something we ever "finish" and can take for granted as being perfect. Dr. Tripp is valuable resource to all of us and can show us so much when we feel we most desperately need guidance.

The House that God Builds by Skip Heitzig

(Parent resource) Order this book online.
This book takes us through the facets of our home and gives us prospective on being a husband, wife, father, mother, and also the gift from God of being a parent. The House that God Builds gives us solid biblical understanding of God's plan for us from the beginning of our marriage to building our relationship with Him, then each other, and then our children. It takes this foundation, gives us study notes, and leads us to relevant scripture to continue building these relationships and to rejoice in the blessing that God will give us when we trust in Him and His plans.

Psalm 127:1 tells us "Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it."

Conspiracy of Kindness (Steve Sjogren)

(Teacher resource) Order this book online.
In this book, Mr. Sjogren shows us that it is often the unassuming act of a Christian who wins an unbeliever's heart most effectively. He shows us the importance of evangelism and some of the ways that Christian people have chosen to do this. All evangelism must start with a kind and compassionate heart towards the unbelieving people around us. He helps us sort out our methods of evangelism and helps to keep us from confusing, and therefore frustrating, someone who may at that particular moment have an open heart to hear the Word. He shows us ways of getting children involved in an evangelism outreach in our community. He also teaches first that whatever we do get involved with, we must reach very deep in our hearts and pull God's gift of kindness to the forefront of our lives and be willing to go outside of our Christian circles to share this kindness. There is no greater reward that he gives us than watching a stranger delight at God's love and want in their lives that same compassion and love.

Window on the World by Daphne Spraggett, with Jill Johnstone

(Missions Outreach) Order this book online.
This book takes us around the world into many different cultures and beliefs. It shows children the location of various places, outlines their populations, languages, and what they believe about God and His role in their lives. Most children will be very surprised to find that they have the awesome privilege of owning a Bible and worshiping God openly and with all their heart. It is a true learning experience to find that God has blessed us by allowing us to be part of our culture and that as Christians we should pray fervently for these other countries. We can truly have a part in these people's lives by praying for their needs and getting involved in making the Gospel available to them. Knowing the power of prayer and thanking God ahead of time for His awesome touch in their lives.

Growing Compassionate Kids by Jan Johnson

(Parent resource) Order this book online.
This book is a study on helping your children to gain a perspective on the world around them. We all have dreams of the people that we want our children to grow into and Jan Johnson lays out for us some very applicable guidelines for helping our kids be those people. She shows how to help them "see beyond their own backyard," and care for other people in a way that keeps them from applying stereotypes or limits on someone because of race, culture, or circumstances in their lives.

When we reach an appreciation for where other people are in their lives and are able to show them God's love through us and the things we do, God does powerful things in all of us. The "key ingredient" of compassion is to get beyond "self" to "others," and when we do this, it will effect our families, friends, and all of the people that we come into daily contact with. This will become a natural part of your family life and enable your family to step out in faith and become the evangelists that God calls us to be.

How to Discipline Children by Gospel Light

(Teacher resource) Order this book online.
This short 15-minute tape is full of a much-needed answer to a much-asked question in the classroom, "How can I get control over this classroom for an hour?" As Sunday school teachers, we are only given a very small amount of time in these children's lives and some of them come to class each week not prepared to give their hearts and minds to the teaching of Jesus.

Not only are they not ready to learn, they want to make sure that none of the other kids are interested either. This tape shows us some very effective methods of setting guidelines in the classroom, building a climate of trust, how to help children change their behavior, when the best thing to do is nothing, and many more ideas to be most effective in presenting our curriculum and reaching each child with the Gospel and God's overwhelming desire to be a part of their lives.

Raising Kids God's Way by Kathi Hudson

(Parent resource)
One of our strongest desires for our children is to protect them from the moral issues that they face everyday in our society. Raising Kids God's way is a biblical guide to show us the difference between teaching and training and how to apply it in our daily interaction with our children. We would like to be confident that they will hold close what we teach when they go out each day and are faced with the issues that peer pressures brings. Training your children in God's way does not automatically protect them from making bad choices or sin, but you can rest in peace that bad choices won't win out in their lives.

This book walks us through defining our goals for our children, aiming for success with those goals, identifying our own walks to become a model to our children, and the importance of prayer in our lives. Ms. Hudson also shows us the importance of teaching wisdom and knowing God's Will, decision-making, encouragement, helping your child handle failure, discipline, and self-management. If we are willing to prayerfully read through these techniques and apply them with our children, we will know in our hearts that we have fulfilled our calling to God and done our part in His plan for their future.

When Children Pray by Cheri Fuller

(Parent/Teacher resource) Order this book online.
Because children are able to approach God in prayer with innocence and unhindered by inhibitions, God uses them as one of His most powerful prayer intercessors. When Children Pray shows us many times over how God honors children by using them to accomplish His plan.

Cheri Fuller does this first and foremost by using scripture. She also gives examples of answered prayer in some very young people's lives. She walks us through, knowing first that we as parents and teachers must build our prayer life on a solid foundation, then become partners in prayer with the children God has put in our care. God began using His relationship with David, Daniel, Samuel, and Timothy at a very early age to make a very powerful impact on the lives of the people around them.

James 1:2-6 tells us if we ask in faith what we ask will be given to us. Children possess a faith that we as adults strive to achieve each day in our walk with God's grace. This book will help anyone to build a solid, faith-filled prayer life, and what a blessing it is to be able watch God work in our lives.

Jesus and Me: A Study of the Life of Christ by Carol Jackson

(Children's Bible Studies) Order this book online.
Jesus and Me has 52 lessons that are targeted towards children ages 6 to 9 and gives them the opportunity to learn about the life of Jesus, be able to apply it to their lives, and then share with those people whom have an intricate part of their lives.

It offers a weekly study, Bible verses to memorize, and group activities making it fun to learn how to share God's word with their friends. These activities are created to work with the different learning styles of children. Paul tells us that our faith is built by hearing the Word, and adults know the importance of being in the Word with consistency to mature in our walks. Then we can share what God teaches us to the world around us. God's call for this is as important to our children as it is to us, and when we make our children's studies appropriate to their ages, we can rest assured they will learn the Bible and respond to its truths.

Almost Every Answer for Practically Any Teacher by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson

(Parent/teacher resource) Order this book online.
So often when a person steps out and volunteers for a ministry, they find the old adage "Twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work" is suddenly real to them. Next they ask the question, "What in the world have I gotten myself into?"

When God calls us to be a part of His work, our hearts work very hard at being obedient and faithful to that call. Often someone will feel a tug at his or her heart to teach but gives into the human fear of "not being qualified." This book helps us to know that God does not call us to a ministry and then fail to equip us. He will grow us, work with us, and give us the resources to truly succeed in His work. This book is a wonderful resource for all of the tough questions and issues that seem to arise on a very regular basis in children's ministry. It contains over a hundred articles by different authors such as Charles Swindoll, Gary Smalley, and others. It helps us through our own issues with teaching techniques (storytelling, prayer, etc.), keeping our lessons age-appropriate, teacher burnout, how to discipline in the classroom, understanding the Holy Spirit and His purpose in your teaching, how to discern and learn the different needs of the children you teach, and how to apply all of this not only your teaching life but also your own walk.

Shepherding a Child's Heart (Dr. Tedd Tripp)

(Teacher/Parent resource) Order this book online.
All of a child's actions and words come straight from the heart and Dr. Tripp shows us how to direct that God-given gift toward His purpose and plan for a child's life. He teaches us how to build a biblical foundation in the counsel that we give children whether we are parenting or teaching.

At some point in every child's life, he or she will examine the claims of scripture and decide whether or not they will embrace the truth. Dr. Tripp walks us through learning to discern the behavior of a child, establishing our authority in their life, shaping the influences around them, examining and working the goals you have for your child's life, developing a strong communication, disciplining, and techniques for the application of all of these. Your family structure is very important to you and most assuredly we have all found that it isn't something we ever "finish" and can take for granted as being perfect. Dr. Tripp is valuable resource to all of us and can show us so much when we feel we most desperately need guidance.

The House that God Builds by Skip Heitzig

(Parent resource) Order this book online.
This book takes us through the facets of our home and gives us prospective on being a husband, wife, father, mother, and also the gift from God of being a parent. The House that God Builds gives us solid biblical understanding of God's plan for us from the beginning of our marriage to building our relationship with Him, then each other, and then our children. It takes this foundation, gives us study notes, and leads us to relevant scripture to continue building these relationships and to rejoice in the blessing that God will give us when we trust in Him and His plans.

Psalm 127:1 tells us "Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it."

Conspiracy of Kindness (Steve Sjogren)

(Teacher resource) Order this book online.
In this book, Mr. Sjogren shows us that it is often the unassuming act of a Christian who wins an unbeliever's heart most effectively. He shows us the importance of evangelism and some of the ways that Christian people have chosen to do this. All evangelism must start with a kind and compassionate heart towards the unbelieving people around us. He helps us sort out our methods of evangelism and helps to keep us from confusing, and therefore frustrating, someone who may at that particular moment have an open heart to hear the Word. He shows us ways of getting children involved in an evangelism outreach in our community. He also teaches first that whatever we do get involved with, we must reach very deep in our hearts and pull God's gift of kindness to the forefront of our lives and be willing to go outside of our Christian circles to share this kindness. There is no greater reward that he gives us than watching a stranger delight at God's love and want in their lives that same compassion and love.

Window on the World by Daphne Spraggett, with Jill Johnstone

(Missions Outreach) Order this book online.
This book takes us around the world into many different cultures and beliefs. It shows children the location of various places, outlines their populations, languages, and what they believe about God and His role in their lives. Most children will be very surprised to find that they have the awesome privilege of owning a Bible and worshiping God openly and with all their heart. It is a true learning experience to find that God has blessed us by allowing us to be part of our culture and that as Christians we should pray fervently for these other countries. We can truly have a part in these people's lives by praying for their needs and getting involved in making the Gospel available to them. Knowing the power of prayer and thanking God ahead of time for His awesome touch in their lives.

Growing Compassionate Kids by Jan Johnson

(Parent resource) Order this book online.
This book is a study on helping your children to gain a perspective on the world around them. We all have dreams of the people that we want our children to grow into and Jan Johnson lays out for us some very applicable guidelines for helping our kids be those people. She shows how to help them "see beyond their own backyard," and care for other people in a way that keeps them from applying stereotypes or limits on someone because of race, culture, or circumstances in their lives.

When we reach an appreciation for where other people are in their lives and are able to show them God's love through us and the things we do, God does powerful things in all of us. The "key ingredient" of compassion is to get beyond "self" to "others," and when we do this, it will effect our families, friends, and all of the people that we come into daily contact with. This will become a natural part of your family life and enable your family to step out in faith and become the evangelists that God calls us to be.

How to Discipline Children by Gospel Light

(Teacher resource) Order this book online.
This short 15-minute tape is full of a much-needed answer to a much-asked question in the classroom, "How can I get control over this classroom for an hour?" As Sunday school teachers, we are only given a very small amount of time in these children's lives and some of them come to class each week not prepared to give their hearts and minds to the teaching of Jesus.

Not only are they not ready to learn, they want to make sure that none of the other kids are interested either. This tape shows us some very effective methods of setting guidelines in the classroom, building a climate of trust, how to help children change their behavior, when the best thing to do is nothing, and many more ideas to be most effective in presenting our curriculum and reaching each child with the Gospel and God's overwhelming desire to be a part of their lives.

Raising Kids God's Way by Kathi Hudson

(Parent resource)
One of our strongest desires for our children is to protect them from the moral issues that they face everyday in our society. Raising Kids God's way is a biblical guide to show us the difference between teaching and training and how to apply it in our daily interaction with our children. We would like to be confident that they will hold close what we teach when they go out each day and are faced with the issues that peer pressures brings. Training your children in God's way does not automatically protect them from making bad choices or sin, but you can rest in peace that bad choices won't win out in their lives.

This book walks us through defining our goals for our children, aiming for success with those goals, identifying our own walks to become a model to our children, and the importance of prayer in our lives. Ms. Hudson also shows us the importance of teaching wisdom and knowing God's Will, decision-making, encouragement, helping your child handle failure, discipline, and self-management. If we are willing to prayerfully read through these techniques and apply them with our children, we will know in our hearts that we have fulfilled our calling to God and done our part in His plan for their future.