"Why Futureland Kids?" Good question!
1) We often say "kids are our future." We say this because we recognize that how we treat our kids today will affect how they behave when they are adults. Having the word "future" in our name helps us to remember that we are raising these children to be healthy, godly people who love and serve Jesus. We are sowing good things into them now for an abundant harvest later.
2) Jesus often said things like "The kingdom of heaven is like..." and "You've heard that it was said... but I tell you...". Jesus was radically changing the way people thought about how we behave by bringing what will one day be a reality for all who believe into the current, fallen, broken world. In other words, Jesus is about bringing the future into the now. As we pray and ponder the direction for our community of faith, we are drawn to Isaiah 61, in which Isaiah talks about bringing good news to the poor, binding up the broken hearted, releasing prisoners from darkness, and freeing the captives. Much of the language in this passage of Scripture is Messianic in nature and speaks of events that have not yet occurred or are in the process of occurring. The grace that Christ extends to us and the power of the Holy Spirit within in us call us to be transformers of this world as we eagerly await Jesus' return (Titus 2:11-14).
3) Creativity has been defined as "new ideas that have value." If we are to be transformers of culture, we must cultivate the ability in our children to imagine a world that is free from pain and sin. In order to change the world that is we must first be able to dream of a world that is not. In Futureland, we lead children in creatively exploring the struggles of today with the kingdom of tomorrow.