How to Answer Your Kids’ Questions About Becoming a Christian

There’s nothing more exciting and more terrifying to many Christian parents than when their kids start asking questions about baptism and how to become a Christian. It’s exciting, because having your kids want to dedicate their lives to Christ is a huge Christian parenting goal. It can be scary though because the stakes are so high.

What exactly is the age of accountability? Is my child really ready to make that serious of a commitment? Does he or she really understand what is involved in being a Christian? Does he or she understand enough? What are your child’s motives for wanting to be baptized? Should I try to delay the baptism even though my child is mature, but slightly younger than the average age?

Those and a thousand other questions may be racing through your head when your child first mentions an interest. The most common questions most parents have, however, are, “What should I study with my child in the Bible to make sure he or she understands how and is truly ready to become a Christian?” and “Am I personally able to do that study with my child?”

I was in your shoes not too many years ago. Even though I had studied baptism with others several times in the past, it just feels different when it is your own child. I looked around for a study that was biblically accurate and would engage a young person. I found absolutely nothing that appealed to me. So, since we happened to also be homeschooling at the time, I asked my daughter if she would help me write a baptism study for other families to use too as we studied together. I took her questions and our discussions and created “A Student’s Guide to Baptism (With Leader’s Guide)”.

The study is designed to take you and your child through the important basics of becoming a Christian in an organized fashion. It also answers many of the common questions young people have that can make them reluctant to be baptized, but which aren’t theological in nature. The leader’s guide contains resources like additional scriptures for each section should your child have additional questions or concerns he or she needs to address.

The study is set up so it can be gone through relatively quickly with your child that is almost certainly ready to become a Christian. It also has questions and activities that can slow down the process a bit for more immature, but interested young people. Many of the questions are also designed to help you uncover what is really on your child’s heart and mind about becoming a Christian. The activities can also be used after baptism to begin discipling your child to the Christian life.

Every year, this is our most popular resource. The feedback from parents and even classroom teachers who have used it with small groups has been incredibly positive. It truly seems to give parents the confidence they need to study the Bible with their own children. Best of all, it’s totally free! You can find it here.

May God bless you as you study His word with your children!

Free Resource for Studying Baptism With Your Child

One of the most common questions parents ask Bible class teachers is “How should I study baptism with my child?”. A few years ago, Teach One Reach One’s founder, Thereasa Winnett, noticed her daughter beginning to show an interest in baptism. Over the course of a week, she wrote this study as she talked with her daughter about what she knew and what concerns she and her friends had about baptism. Thereasa based the lessons not only on scripture, but also on the common questions students have on the subject.

The study includes a leader guide to help you make the most of your time studying baptism with the children and teens in your life. The study also provides meaningful support activities for parents to use to help their children grow spiritually either before or after their baptism. The activities can also be used as a subtle way for parents with children who really aren’t ready for baptism to continue the dialogue with their child over a longer period of time. The leader’s guide gives you guidelines for how to shorten the study for children who are ready and lengthen it for children who are not quite mature enough.

Please feel free to share this study with parents and teachers who may want to study baptism with others. You can find it here. We have been told it helps provide a nice framework for studying baptism with adults as well. Over the next few years, we will be adding links for this same study translated by native speakers into various languages. Feel free to share those links as well. Our only request is that you not present this material as your own or sell it to anyone.

May God bless you as you study baptism with your child!

Free Resource For Studying Baptism With Your Kids

If your kids are reaching or have reached the age of accountability, you may want to study baptism with them. Or perhaps one of them has already asked to be baptized and you want to make sure they understand what they are doing. Parents are sometimes reluctant to study with their kids, because they aren’t quite sure what to say.

When our daughter was expressing an interest in baptism, we couldn’t find anything that really explained things clearly. So we begin designing our own study. Eventually we added a leader’s guide and questions and activities a young person can complete either before or after baptism to investigate some topics in more depth.

The best news is that this study is now a free ebook on our website. You can download it or print off the pages you want printed. This has become one of our most popular resources and has been used by both parents and Bible class teachers. We’ve even been told some people who downloaded it used it as a guide for studying with adults interested in baptism.

Feel free to share this link with other Christians you know who may want to use it to study with others. http://teachonereachone.org/baptism-study/

Why Your Child With Special Needs Has An Important Place in God’s Kingdom

Why Your Child With Special Needs Has An Important Place in God's Kingdom - Parenting Like HannahAs a child, one of my favorite stories in the Bible was Mephibosheth. There was something fascinating to me about the idea of David honoring a promise to his friend Jonathan. In a time when David would have been considered justified to have killed Mephibosheth as a member of his “opposition”, he basically made Mephibosheth a member of his family. Oh, there were a few hiccups later, but they had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Mephibosheth had special needs.

Continue reading Why Your Child With Special Needs Has An Important Place in God’s Kingdom

5 Reasons Your Child May Be Delaying Baptism

5 Reasons Your Child May Be Delaying Baptism - Parenting Like HannahWe all know the “age of accountability” for baptism (and thereby becoming a Christian) probably varies slightly from child to child. For years I have watched as the first children in a class study with their parents, decide they want to be baptized and dedicate their lives to Christ. The parents of the other children in their grade start looking forward to the day when their child decides to become a Christian, too.

Many of those children will probably become Christians at some point over the next few years. As the remaining children enter high school, the looks of anticipation can gradually turn to panic. Parents wonder if their child will reject God entirely. Many are afraid to talk about baptism or ask questions for fear of frightening a child who must be on the borderline of rejecting God. After all, what parent wants to ask the question or make the comment that is the final straw in their child’s faith life?

Surprisingly, there are 5 very common misconceptions young people have about becoming a Christian. Accepting one of these as truth can delay a decision and commitment to God for months and even years. Yet many of them could be easily corrected and encourage your child to make the most important decision of his/her life.

So what are the most common reasons young people might delay baptism?

Continue reading 5 Reasons Your Child May Be Delaying Baptism