Brian Dembowczyk - Gospel-Centered Kids Ministry: How the gospel will transform your kids, your church, your community, and the world

Brian has had a big impact on our family. My kids have been in a kids ministry the last several years that uses The Gospel Projecta curriculum that is centered on the gospel that Brian helps form every week. Not only are they learning stories in the Bible, but also they are learning how these point us to Jesus. And my kids, like me, need Him to change and refresh their hearts. As a dad, I am very thankful for the ministry philosophy outlined in this book.

Eric Geiger , vice president, LifeWay Christian Resources

Im thrilled whenever I see veteran kidmin leaders like Brian Dembowczyk sounding the alarm against a moralistic substitute for the gospel, and leading the charge to give our children the Story of the Bible, not just the stories of the Bible. Transformation of the heart, brought about only by an encounter with Jesus through the gospel, should be our goal when we serve our children. Im thankful for the way Brian steers us in the right direction.

Trevin Wax , Bible and Reference Publisher for B&H, managing editor of The Gospel Project, author of Gospel-Centered Teaching: Showing Christ in All the Scripture

Every Christian leader and parent understands the tremendous privilege and responsibility of passing on the faith to the next generation. The statistics tell us that only 30 percent of kids will remain steadfast in the faith as adults. These numbers should both alarm us and bolster our commitment to disciple our children. In Gospel-Centered Kids Ministry , Brian Dembowczyk offers a clarion call to the church that is not full of gimmicks and fads. The answer isnt guilt-heavy moralism or behavior modification. The answer is found in applying the beauty and power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to little hearts. Dembowczyk makes this case with deep theology and a warm pastoral heart. This book is a gift to the entire church.

Matthew Z. Capps (D.Min., Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary), senior pastor, Fairview Baptist Church, Apex, North Carolina

Copyright 2018 by B&H Publishing Group Printed in the United States of American

All rights reserved.

978-1-5359-3955-3

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: C248.4

Subject Heading: CHRISTIAN LIFE / GOSPEL / DISCIPLESHIP

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible Copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

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Introduction

On April 11, 1970, at 2:13 p.m., 203,400 gallons of kerosene and 318,000 gallons of liquid oxygen were ignited. The resulting fury was harnessed to produce 7.5 million pounds of thrust to lift the Saturn V rocket off Launch Pad 39A at Cape Canaveral in central Florida and, after two more controlled explosions, propel it into space.

Along for the ride that day was the three astronaut crew of Apollo 13 , Commander James Lovell Jr., Command Module Pilot John Swigert Jr., and Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise Jr. Apollo 13 s mission, to land on the moon, followed in the quite literal footsteps of Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 . This was billed as just the third moon landing ever. The previous two landings had only taken place within the last nine months.

At 9:08 p.m. on April 13, just a few minutes after the crew had completed a TV broadcast, they heard a loud noise and felt a vibration. A warning light caught John Swigerts attention. He immediately radioed in the famous, although often modified line, Houston, weve had a problem here.

What no one knew at the time was a small explosion had knocked out one of the main crafts two oxygen tanks and had damaged the other. The situation was dire. The oxygen the crew needed to breathe was rapidly venting into space, and electrical power and the water supply were also severely depleted.

At the time, the crew was 200,000 miles from Earthroughly the distance around the world eight times.

Ninety minutes after the explosion, with oxygen plummeting toward zero, the crew quickly put a plan in place to use the Lunar Module (LM) as a lifeboat to keep them alive. The crew was instructed to shut down the Command Module (CM), move into the LM, and close the hatch between the two.

The LM had plenty of oxygen. The craft had independent tanks designed for the moon descent that would provide plenty of breathing hours for the crew. There were also ascent tanks available and two backpacks with extra oxygen for walking on the moon.

Oxygen wasnt a problem, but water and power certainly would be. Each of the three astronauts was limited to drinking only six ounces of water a day, less than a quarter of what each man would normally drink. As a result, the crew became dehydrated and lost just over 31 pounds of combined body weight, more than any other crew before them. Lovell dropped 14 pounds alone. Energy was also reduced to 20 percent of what would normally be used.

The crew soon discovered another problem, removing carbon dioxide from the LM. The lithium hydroxide canisters could sufficiently remove CO for two men for two days. However, the LM now needed to remove the carbon dioxide produced by three men for about four days. There were enough filters on the CM, but yet another problem developedthe CMs system used square filters while the LM used round ones.

By the second day of the crews escape to the LM, the carbon dioxide levels had risen to dangerous levels. There was only one thing NASA could do: figure out how to make a square peg fit into a round hole. The lives of the three astronauts were at stake. NASA teams on the ground got to work, thought outside of the box, and developed a procedure to use the square canisters with the round system using plastic bags, cardboard, and tape.

With the carbon dioxide emergency solved and the water and power rationed, there was still one lingering question to answer. And it was a big one.

How would the crew get back safely to Earth?

There were two parts to the answer. The first concerned navigation.

When the explosion occurred, the craft was on course for a lunar landing. Now, the goal was to return the craft to the trajectory needed to get it back to Earth. Yet again, there was a problem. The navigation system used the stars to determine direction, but the explosion had created a debris field around the ship, making it impossible to locate a reliable star. Once again, NASA was tasked to solve a problem and once again, they came through. An alternate process of using the sun for navigation was used to put the craft on the proper course back to Earth.

The second part of getting the crew safely back to Earth involved powering up the CM for re-entry. The LM could not be used to enter Earths orbit. The CM was needed for that, but it had been shut down. NASA had to do something never done before: develop a routine to power up a craft in space using barely any electricity. What they came up with also had to be perfectly completed by a crew that was tired, cold, and dehydrated. Teams on the ground worked frantically on the problem and completed the process checklist.

It worked. Perfectly.

On April 17, 1970, the Apollo 13 capsule splashed down into the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean near Samoa, and the astronauts were taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima.

James Lovell, John Swigert, and Fred Haise were back on Earth. What might have been NASAs greatest failure became one of its greatest victories.