Jesse Joyner, PhD

Tag: Children’s ministry

  • Play Kahoot! without devices

    If you work with kids in education, ministry, or some other setting, you need to check out Kahoot! I’ve spoken about it on here before and it is a digital resource for teachers and leaders who want to facilitate interactive trivia or feedback with their students. One problem with using Kahoot! in venues with lots…

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  • Big God, Little Kids – free Bible lessons for children’s ministry

    I have written a 13-lesson curriculum called “Big God, Little Kids.” It is a series of lessons built around stories of God doing big things through ordinary kids in the Bible. You are free to use it for any non-profit ministry setting such as Sunday School, Children’s Church, Vacation Bible School, or the like. I…

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  • Faith Development Resources: Early Childhood

    INTRODUCTION Finding quality resources that help nurture the faith development of children and families can sometimes be difficult. This is the first post in a series, broken up by age-level focus, that can be of help to children, family members, and ministry leaders as they navigate the pilgrimage of the Christian faith. I will start…

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  • What Cain and Jesus Share

    What?! You’re comparing Cain, the first murderer, to Jesus? How dare you! Follow me here. I was writing a paper about ministry with children and I suddenly discovered in the Cain and Abel story something I had never seen before… You probably already knew that Cain was the first child to be born (remember, Adam and Eve…

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  • The Role of the Children’s Pastor

    I’m reading a great book on ministry with children right now called Children Matter by Scottie May, Beth Posterski, Catherine Stonehouse, and Linda Cannell (Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s, 2005). Here is a quote that made me stop in my tracks: “Our responsibility is to create an environment in which the child can learn about and enter…

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  • Godly Play: A Model for Ministry with Children

    Godly Play is a teaching system used by many churches around the world to educate children about God, the Bible, and also invite them into the Christian narrative. Jerome Berryman developed the curriculum and he was influenced by the educational theories of Maria Montessori. I observed Godly Play in action once when I was in…

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  • Large Group Game: Hot Potato Extreme

    Here’s a great group game that actively involves everyone and no one gets “out.” It also involves an element of juggling that anyone can do without practice. It is like large group hot potato juggling. Here’s how it works: Have the group sit in a circle. You can do multiple circles if you want to…

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  • Super Easy Scripture Slides and Images

    I recently stumbled upon a fast and free way to make Scripture slides for Children’s Ministry (or any other ministry, for that matter) with an array of free and attractive backgrounds. And it may already be in your phone/device. It’s built into one of the popular apps out there – the free YouVersion app of the…

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  • Bring Me Game Ideas

    The ‘Bring Me’ game is a group activity ideal for engaging children. The leader requests random items, and the first person or group to bring the item gets a point. The game uses technology as it allows for internet-based scavenger hunt challenges. The leader needs to adapt the items according to the group’s characteristics. The…

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  • Eight Original Corny Jokes

    I’m currently falling in love with corny jokes (also known as bad jokes, laffy taffy jokes, and pun jokes). Why? Because they’re great for kids! And I love working with kids and making them smile. I had fun writing these new ones (my wife gets the credit for the third one). Why did the girl…

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  • Never Giving Up in Ministry

    Ministry can often lead to burn out. I’ve had my times of wanting to throw in the towel. Yet when I stop and remember that this is what God wired me for and that He is my strength, I press on. Enjoy a light-hearted video I made about never giving up…  

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Popular Posts

  • “Holy Fools”: Exploring the Journey of Calling for Christian Variety Performers
    “Holy Fools”: Exploring the Journey of Calling for Christian Variety Performers

    I am happy to announce that my PhD dissertation has been published to ProQuest, an academic database for published research. I have made the dissertation open source, which means anyone anywhere can access the full content free of charge. Here is the full dissertation: https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/holy-fools-exploring-journey-calling-christian/docview/2622316783/se-2 Please share far and wide. I am very much excited…

  • The Easiest Large Group Game Ever
    The Easiest Large Group Game Ever

    This is probably the easiest large group game ever invented.  If you can think of an easier one, please let me know in the comments. Heads or Tails! This game of heads or tails involves EVERYONE in your large group.  It is actually better the larger the group gets.  There is an elimination factor to…

  • Merry Christmas from the Joyners!
    Merry Christmas from the Joyners!

    Greetings from our family in Richmond, Virginia! We are thankful for you, our friends and family. We are also thankful to the Lord for His gift of the love to us all this season. This past year has been a roller coaster of experiences and emotions, specifically regarding our spunky little Annie, who is now…

  • Book Release! Incredibly Bad Dad Jokes
    Book Release! Incredibly Bad Dad Jokes

    I have been writing down my original Dad jokes for several years now, but recently they dramatically increased. While the past five months of my life have been the toughest for me as a Dad (with Annie’s medical crisis), the Dad jokes actually came out in full force during this season. You see, in my…

  • A Children’s Ministry Poem
    A Children’s Ministry Poem

    From the mouths of children come questions galore about heaven and angels and Satan and more. They speak what their hearts say without holding back, so the wonder of God is something they never lack. Oh God, who are you? Who inspires the minds of little ones many, so that they may find this Jesus…