Editor’s note: This article was shortened, transcribed, and edited from a webinar hosted by Ministry Spark. You can watch the full video here.

How do we lead with the gospel at the center of everything that we do? This is something that we all agree is important. But I think sometimes the gospel can be lost because of the busyness of our schedules. The tyranny of the urgent can sometimes shove it to the periphery of what we do.

It’s important for us to remind ourselves of the things that we know to be true.

First, I want you to know that I’m not going to get into the details of what your vision should be. Vision should be contextualized to the church that you lead and the pastor you serve. The vision for your ministry needs to be centered on the things that your church believes to be true, and the things that your pastor strongly believes your church is called to do.

The goal is not fun. The goal is Jesus.

But today, we are going to talk about those things that are true of every church. No matter where you are, no matter what church you find yourself in.

3 Steps to a Gospel-Centered Children’s Ministry Vision

First, your gospel-centered vision has to be distinctly Christian.

We can sometimes accommodate culture to the point where our message is no longer Christian. So the first thing I would say is your vision has to be distinctly Christian. This is simple, but it’s necessary. Do we properly proclaim God as Father, Christ as Redeemer and Advocate, and the Holy Spirit as Helper? One way we can be faithful to the message of the gospel is to be explicitly trinitarian. We talk about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the messages that we teach and proclaim.

That’s where we must start. The things we’re going to be talking about in our lessons and in our vision need to be focused on the person and work of the Holy Spirit as well as the person and work of Christ in our lives, as ordained by the Father.

happy african american family laying on couch

Secondly, we must avoid Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.

The term Moralistic Therapeutic Deism was created by Christian Smith. Moralistic meaning primarily producing good kids. If the goal of our ministry is primarily producing good kids, we’re missing the mark.

If that’s primary, it’s therapeutic. And if we’re mainly concerned about the feelings of our kids, then we’re also missing the mark.

I think sometimes in our right desire to reach people, we try to focus on feelings and producing good citizens. But as a Church, we are called to write lessons and to preach messages that are uniquely Christian. As a result of being uniquely Christian, we are to point to the person and work of Christ as ordained by the Father, and the Holy Spirit points us back to the work of Christ over and over again.

Thirdly, we must be relentlessly focused.

As leaders, we want to be focused on discipleship over entertainment. For us to be a gospel-centered church, our desire must be focused on the formation of faith in the life of kids.

Therefore, it’s important that we teach every week in a way that children are becoming more and more like Jesus. What I’m not saying is that we shouldn’t be engaging, that we shouldn’t be creative, that kids shouldn’t have a great time.

However, what I am saying is that we teach these truths of Scripture in memorable, age-appropriate, engaging ways. The goal is not fun. The goal is Jesus.

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Don’t get caught up in the wrong things.

What you see in the Bible is that we so often get caught up in the wrong things. But in the Bible, when shepherds count their sheep, it’s not to compete for the biggest flock, it’s because they want to know who is missing.

Unlike Scripture, we typically count to see how many are coming.

But are you showing up in the family? Are you showing up? And are you being present? Are you pastoring the sheep that God has placed in your care? Who is missing?

This is what’s true of a five-year-old heart and a 95-year-old heart: they want to be completely known and totally loved. The beauty of the gospel is it makes the mundane profound, right? Because of the gospel, we understand how we’re loved.


The Word of God goes deep in the hearts of kids. And it shows them what God’s love is like. It reveals to them what God’s love is like. God takes the small gift of my faithfulness and makes it into something far more beautiful than I could ever imagine.

When our ministries are centered on the gospel, everything flows from that.

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