Well, my schedule got the best of me and I haven't blogged in a while.  I heard about some children's ministry leaders deciding to blog this week about Orange principles.  The idea started with Kenny Conley and I'm jumping in to share my thoughts as well.  If you're interested, you can follow the conversation through the twitter hashtag, #orangeweek.

If you haven't heard about Orange, you can read about Orange here

Like everyone else, I'll blog about the Orange Essentials each day.  You can read a much better description of them than I could ever write, here.  Today will be about Refining the Message.

Refining the Message

Refining the message is all about taking what is timeless (God's truth as revealed in the Bible) and communicating it in the best way possible.  Regardless of who our audience is, we only have a limited time with them.  In CCC Kids we remind our volunteers that we might only have 40 hours a year with each child.  We must decide what to do with those 40 hours, and we have to make them count.  

Preschool and Elementary age children do not need to learn the whole Bible.  In fact, they don't need to learn the big stories either.  The stories communicate who God is, how much he loves all people and how he is calling everyone to himself.  Our fullest life is found in following Jesus, and that is what kids need to know.  The stories help communicate that, and hopefully kids will also learn a ton about how to make wise choices along the way.

Someone really smart said "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up".  I'm a total fan of knowing the Bible really well, kids too.  But I'm more of a fan of loving God and loving others.  Refining the message is a principle that reminds us that we have been given a message that is timeless and life changing, and we're also given the responsibility of making it relevant and engaging to our audience.  It would be cool if people listened intently regardless of how engaging and relevant the message was, but that is simply not the case.

Questions to help in refining the message:

How much time do we have with our audience? (1 hour, 40 hours, 6 years x 40 hours/year)
What do they need to know at this stage of their life? (list them out, prioritize and simplify)
Are we teaching for knowledge or application?
In studying Jesus' teachings, how did he make the message relevant and engaging in his context?