May 23, 2010

Today we talked about Jesus and the little children. During the three years that Jesus spent doing ministry he performed many miracles. He healed lepers, drove out demons, gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk, and raised the dead. He was a highly sought after public figure. People wanted him to bless their children. Like the rest of us, these parents wanted what was best for their kids. Surely they thought that if this man blessed their kids, they would be healthy, happy, successful and righteous all of their days. The problem: the disciples tried to prevent the parents from bringing their kids to Christ. I am sure they thought the Master had more important things to do than pay attention to a bunch of grubby kids and their grasping parents. Jesus reaction was to scold his disciples and welcome the parents and children. As he was holding these little ones, he taught a lesson to the adults around him. These kids matter - A LOT! He actually said that the Kingdom of God belongs to those with hearts like little children. Kids are an important part of the Church. Their prayers are powerful and honest. Their perspective of the Bible is unique and enlightening.
We spent the remainder of our time making "apple people"- I can't really do justice to the creativity of the kids with mere words. Photos will be posted on the website sometime in the near future.
We also worked on our ministry name. The kids voted and we have a winner. The unveiling will come soon!
Parent Stumper Question: "Which Gospels contain the story of Jesus and the Little Children?"

May 9, 2010

This week we discussed the reunion of Jacob and Esau. When Jacob left home his twin brother was very angry with him. In fact, he planned to kill him. Jacob had tricked his older brother into giving up his inheritance and then he tricked their father into giving him Esau's blessing. Fourteen years passed and when the brothers met again, Jacob was certain his brother would still be angry with him. He prepared a huge peace offering which he sent to his brother ahead of him and his family. When he finally met up with his brother, he was astounded to discover that his brother had forgiven him! Jacob did nothing to earn this forgiveness, Esau gave it freely. Kind of like the love and forgiveness God lavishes on us. We have done nothing to earn it but he delights in giving it!

Parent Stumper Question: What did Rachel steal from her father?

Sunday April 25, 2010

The last Sunday of the month is "Birthday Sunday." We celebrate the birthdays of the month by enjoying goodies, playing games, and our birthday kids get to pick an object for "Sink or Float." This is a great chance for us to just hang out together and share what is going on. Happy Birthday to Zakary, Joe, Colby, and Ben!
Next week we will be learning about Jacob's adventures in Paddan Aram.

Don't forget Tuesday night Bible Study at Kathy's house. 6-7pm. Everyone is welcome for games, goodies, and friendship!

Sunday April 18, 2010

We are continuing to learn about the character of the people of the Old Testament. Last week we discussed Jacob and Esau. We learned that although Jacob got wealth and his father's blessing by tricking his father and his brother, he really lost out in the end. He had to flee his home and his brother hated him and planned to kill him.
Yesterday we talked about Jacob's dream. When he was on his way to hide out with his Uncle Laban, Jacob had a dream of a stairway, angels, and God. In this dream, God renewed the convenant He had made to Abraham. Even though Jacob was less than honest, God kept the promise He had made to Abraham. God is so good!

Sunday March 14, 2010

We finished learning about Abraham a few weeks ago. On Sunday we moved on to Isaac and Rebekah. We learned about how God is faithful in answering prayer. We also had mini wedding cakes - thank you Sherri! Next week we will be learning about Jacob and Esau.

Parent stumper questions: How old was Abraham when he died? How old was Sarah when she died? Kids, don't forget you get a marble if you can tell me the answer to these questions. Don't forget your Bibles!

Sunday January 24, 2010

Our message for today was "Things are Not Always as They Appear." We played an optical illusion game and talked about the story of Lot and Abram. When Abram left Haran at the age of 75 he took his nephew, Lot with him. This worked fine until Abram's servants and Lots servants started arguing about whose animals should graze on the best land. When Abram and Lot decided to go their separate ways, Abram let Lot choose where to go. Lot looked out over the land and chose the land in the Jordan Valley. Although this looked like the best land, he ran into all sorts of trouble. Ask your child to tell you about some of the trouble he had.

Kids, here is your Parent Stumper question - How old was Abram when God changed his name to Abraham. Don't forget, I will add a marble to the jar for each kid who is able to tell me the answer. Hint: Look in Genesis 17.

Our memory verse for the remainder of January and February is Zephaniah 3:17. This is an awesome verse that reminds us of God's amazing love for us. I hope you will take the time to work with your kids on learning this verse. Hiding God's word in our hearts is a worthwhile endeavor.

Sunday January 17, 2010

This week we talked about Abram. Since he is such an important figure we will be spending more than one week on him. We briefly discussed who he was, what the kids already know about him and why he is important to us. Abram had great faith in God. He is an example to us all of how to trust God. We will be discussing him in more detail next week.

Kids- Don't forget the "Parent Stumper Question" Where was Abram from originally? The answer can be found in Genesis 11. Hint: It is not Haran.

Sunday January 10, 2010

We learned about the Tower of Babel in Children's Church on Sunday. After the flood, God told Noah and his sons to spread out over the whole earth. After a while, people forgot what God had commanded and broke the covenant with God by settling in one place. To make matters worse, they came up with a plan to build a tower to heaven. We discussed why the people wanted to do this, why this was bad, and why God made everyone speak different languages. Ask your kids if God wanted to punish the people for what they did or if He had another reason for preventing them from working together to build the tower.

Kids here is a stumper question for you to ask your parents: Who was Ehud and what totally gross thing did he do? You can find the answer in Judges 3. I will add a marble to the jar for each kid who can tell me about Ehud on Sunday!