Kids’ Church at Home
PlanetKids is the children’s ministry (kids’ church) of Planetshakers Church. We believe that no child is too young to have a personal relationship with God. Our aim is to create an exciting and contemporary take on the traditional Sunday School experience. We do this by teaching kids about Jesus Christ and the joy, peace, unconditional love and hope that He brings - in a way that is fun, stimulating, faith-filled and creative!
Kids’ church is traditionally held in buildings with four walls and a roof, where families go each Sunday to celebrate their faith. Some buildings have stained glass windows and others have lights, LED screens and projectors. At Planetshakers Church, we believe that the quality of a child’s church experience involves far more than accessing great buildings and facilities. Rather, it is belonging to a supportive spiritual family—the Church—and experiencing God, first hand, in a way that they can understand at their own level of age and maturity. It is meeting together as the family of God, worshipping Him, learning about Him and growing in personal relationship with Him. It is sharing this journey with others in the family who can wrap around, love and support each child and their family as they journey through life.
In this season, we’ve taken kids’ church into homes - it’s now online! This enables us to care for and interact with children, no matter what the circumstances. Even though we are currently unable to connect face-to-face in our buildings, we are making sure that we continue to meet together as the Bible encourages us to do, making use of the amazing technology available to us today!
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
As Christian parents raising our children in a challenging world, we want to keep pointing our kids to Jesus Christ. We want them to understand that no matter the circumstances or situations they face, Jesus loves them and is present and able to help them. We want our children to make Him number one in their lives, setting them up for a lifetime of unshakable faith. We want our children to have a sound knowledge of God’s Word in their lives and to be discipled in the principles of His Kingdom. As such, we need to do whatever it takes to facilitate their personal relationship with Jesus and remove every obstacle that might hinder that.
Planetshakers desires to assist parents in this by providing access to the kids’ church experience — praise and worship for kids, sermons for kids memory verses for kids and many more Christian activities for kids — at home, so that your children can continue to learn about Jesus and grow in their relationship with Him.
Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’.
We understand that for a parent, the thought of running a church service at home for their children can feel quite daunting. Be encouraged, however, that it does not have to be difficult. Kids’ church at home can actually be an amazing experience and one that can bring your family closer together as you ALL grow in your relationship with God at the same time. Your children will follow your lead, so this is an amazing opportunity to establish a culture of worship and prayer in your home, while also having fun together!
Planetkids Online
To assist parents in running kids’ church at home, we have created a Planetkids Online experience. Planetkids Online is a collection of the highlights of our children’s ministry programs. This is conveniently compiled into fun, energetic episodes that are released weekly. They are designed for families to watch and engage in a kids’ church experience. Our aim is to provide accessible, age-appropriate and state-of-the-art tools for parents to help their children learn and apply Biblical principles, and grow deeper in their personal relationships with Jesus Christ.
Praise and Worship
Each Planetkids Online episode begins with praise and worship for kids.
As a parent, this is an opportunity to model how to step into an encounter with God and encourage your child to do the same. We suggest that you remove all distractions and ask your children to stand up and participate, just as they would if they were attending church face-to-face. During praise, encourage them to clap, jump and do their best dance moves. Try and make this fun, remembering that praise and worship is not about having a great voice or the best dance moves, but rather, making a joyful noise and being thankful to God for all He has done. During worship, encourage children to close their eyes, as this will help them focus and listen to hear what God is saying to them personally.
Prompt your child to lift his or her hands as if they are receiving a present from God, reminding them that God wants to give good gifts to them. This will help children to be expectant for God to move in their lives. No child is too young to receive a touch from God and it can, and WILL, take place in your living room. Remember that they will follow your lead so make sure to model authentic praise and worship yourself—removing all distractions that may capture your attention during this time.
Remember This
Each Planetskids Online episode has a “Remember This” segment which is a modern take on the traditional concept of memory verses for kids. In this segment, we ask children to memorise a Bible verse that is applicable to their lives. Learning the Bible is a foundational skill for building faith and by starting young, children will recall important truths throughout their lives, which they can then apply to their situation and access the supernatural power of God. Anything that parents can do to help their kids learn these verses is invaluable. Consider the kinds of reinforcement or rewards that motivate your children in this.
Preaching and Teaching
During each Planetkids Online episode, one of our Planetkids staff members will preach a message that is contemporary, age appropriate and Bible-based. Depending on the age of your child, there are different strategies that you can use to help them get the most out of this segment:
- Have your children try to focus on what is being said in the message. This could be achieved by taking notes or drawing pictures of what the message meant to them.
- Look up and read the Bible verses together during or after the message and discuss the context and application.
- When the message is finished, talk to your children about what they learned. You can start by asking them a few questions:
Q: What do you think the message was about?
Q: What stood out to you?
Q: What does this mean to you?
Q: What can you do differently this week based on what you learned?
This will help to create a conversation with your children about what was said and provide you with an opportunity to teach them more about Jesus Christ. Perhaps even share about what Jesus Christ has done in your personal life.
Family Devotion and Colouring Sheet
To reinforce the message that is being communicated, a family devotion and a colouring sheet has been created to accompany each episode. You can do this as a family straight after watching the episode, or you can save it for later in the week. Creating opportunities to learn about God as a family will help you grow closer together and closer to God.
As you can see, the Planetkids Online episodes are crafted to help you run kids’ church at home when unable to attend church face-to-face. It is a powerful tool for parents to help your child to learn and grow in their relationship with God.
But remember, you are not doing this alone!
If you have any questions, we would love to hear from you. You can reach out by contacting one of our Planetkids Campus Leaders or emailing [email protected]. The Planetkids Team is here to help and support your family.
We look forward with great anticipation to the moment when we can gather together again in our buildings, but in the meantime, we are grateful for the opportunity and technology that enables us to continue meeting together online as a spiritual family.
At the end of this season - and in every season - we want to be able to say:
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth”
By enabling your kids to access Planetkids Online at home, you will be taking great steps to making this a reality!
