It is the desire of Vancouver Vineyard Church to see children come into a saving relationship with Jesus and to grow in that
relationship. Throughout the ages, the Lord has instructed one
generation to speak to the next generation about who the Lord
is and what He has done. Deuteronomy 6 instructs us to "Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your strength. These commandments that I give you to-
day are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children.
Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along
the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
We count it not only a responsibility, but also a privilege and join
the psalmist in appealing to the Lord, "Even when I am old and
gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the
next generation, your might to all who are to come." (Ps. 71:18)
Although we are called to "confess" and to "declare", we recognize
that, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him-but God has revealed
it to us by his Spirit." (I Corinthians 2:9-10) We believe that there is
no little Holy Spirit for children and big Holy Spirit for adults.
He is the same Holy Spirit, and it is He who speaks to the
heart of the children just as He speaks to our hearts.
Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, "Just as each of us has one
body with many members, and these members do not all have the
same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and
each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, ac-
cording to the grace given us." (Rom. 12:4-6) We must not try to
place the children in a type-mold, for each one of the children has
been created and gifted to perform different functions within the Body
of Christ. We are called to help the children to identify their God-given
talents and gifts to encourage and bless them as they each follow
after the Lord and what He has for them.
