Monday, March 23, 2009

March 22 - Fourth day of HOPE

Boy was today fun!

In our Cuddle Zone, the children heard the story of Jesus healing a Deaf man. We realized that Jesus will help us no matter what! We got to play with some musical instruments and had fun "helping" with the Tennis ball game!

In our Discovery Zone, we discussed a difficult topic - Heaven.

We found out that Jesus told his disciples about a house at the Last Supper. After he broke the bread and drank the wine, he told the disciples about his Father's house. When he was talking about his Father's house, he was not talking about Joseph's house that he grew up in, but he was talking about God's House. He told his disciples how God's House had many rooms and had space for everyone who believes. He also instructed his disciples that the only way to God's House was through Jesus. Finally we discussed how God is a part of Jesus and Jesus is a part of God.

After the story, we said a prayer and then played a game where we tried to jump to Heaven. Well not Heaven actually, but a picture on the floor. It was too far for anyone to jump to on one jump, but we soon found out that if we placed rocks on the way, we could get there. Those rocks (going to church, following rules, doing good things) all helped us get to Heaven. It was difficult, but then we learned that if we just ask Jesus to be our savior, then he will make a bridge for us. Just by asking, Jesus will show us the way to Heaven.

Then we moved onto the activity, and what an activity we had! We got to create our picture of Heaven and God's House on paper. We had glitter glue, markers and crayons, pieces of construction paper, foam stickers and many other items to make a spectacular picture. As we made our pictures, we talked about the items that we put on our pictures and why we choose them.

Finally our time came to an end so we blew out our candles and said goodbye until next week!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

March 15th - Third day of HOPE

Today we had a wonderful day at the South Campus. After singing some wonderful songs with the Praise band we were invited on stage for our special Kids Connection momment. Erin didn't have the hat on today as her mystery item was too big, so she brought up the Mystery Bag. We started by lighting our candle, and then we started talking about the word HOPE. We discussed how it really doesn't mean "wish" or "want", but for people who follow Jesus, it means a lot more. It means that we believe that God has a plan for us and even though we may not understand what is happening, we place our trust in Him. That placing our trust is HOPE.

After discussing HOPE, we remembered the previous weeks stories of Paul's Shipwreck and Lazarus being raised from the Dead. Next we took turns guessing whay Erin had in her Mystery Bag. Afer several guesses, she showed us...a paper plate and silverware. We were stumped as to what they had to do with HOPE, but we knew that we would know in a few minutes once we marched down the long hallway to our classroom. Once there, we lit the second candle to remember those who were not in class with us today. We then reviewed our virtue word for March - HOPE.

HOPE is believing that something good can come out of something bad.

Memory Verse: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” Romans 8:28, NIV/NIrV

Bottom Line: Whatever happens, remember what Jesus did for you.

Our Bible Story is The Last Supper (Jesus’ Last Supper with the disciples) • Luke 22:7-23; John 13:33-38

We had a very important story today, the story of Jesus and the last supper. We re-enacted the Passover meal, talking about what Jesus meant when he said "This is my body" and "This is my blood". We then learned the great instruction that Jesus left for all of us, which is "Love one another."

Then we moved to our craft. We made placemats that reminded us of things that give us hope. We colored the items on the paper and then cut them out and glued them to the construction paper. We had a great time!

Our time was coming to an end, so we said our prayer and blew out our candle, remembering that we are the light. Next week, we will hear the story about the promise Jesus made to us of Heaven. We will discuss that whatever happens, we need to remember what Jesus promised.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

March 1st - First day of HOPE

Today we had a wonderful day at the South Campus. After singing some wonderful songs with the acoustic Praise band (who were AWESOME by the way!)we marched down the long hallway to our classroom. Once there, we lit our candles and remembered those who were not in class with us today. We then introduced our new virtue word for March - HOPE.

HOPE is believing that something good can come out of something bad.

Memory Verse: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” Romans 8:28, NIV/NIrV

Bottom Line: Whatever happens, remember God has a plan.

Our Bible Story is Shipwrecked! (Paul sails for Rome) • Acts 27:1-44; 28:1-11

We started our discussions by figuring out what was in the mystery bag. After several guesses we found out that there was a cruise ship DVD in the mystery bag. Why a DVD of a cruise ship? We then heard the story about Paul's sail for Rome. While Paul was a prisoner, he was put on a ship and they set sail for Rome from Caesarea. Paul warned the crew that they shouldn't sail, but they didn't listen to him. They set sail anyway and halfway through the trip, they started to encounter some bad weather. The weather proceeds to get worse until they are facing a hurricane! Paul is then visited by an angel who tells him that they will be safe, but they need to beach the ship. Paul communicates this to the crew, who was very scared by this point. They finally find an island and beach the ship.

On this island, they are met by the local official who greets them. He finds out that his father was very ill. Paul heals him and the other sick people on the island. After several months, they set sail again. Throughout this entire time, things looked very bleak for Paul and the other passengers on this ship, but Paul never lost hope. He knew whatever happens, remember God has a plan.

Then we moved to our craft. Each child was given a folded paper boat. We decorated our boats with markers and stickers. We also were given a paper Paul that we colored as well. Once our boats and Paul was colored, we took them to a table where we had a table-top map setup and we took our boats and followed Paul's course on the map from Caesarea to Malta, re-enacting his journey.

Our time was coming to an end, so we said our prayer and blew out our candle, remembering that we are the light. We had a few extra minutes so we played a simple game. I sat in the chair, placed a happy face on the ground to my right and a sad face to my left. We then took turns choosing cards that had different situations on them and we choose whether they were happy or sad situations. We even had a situation that could be both!

Next week, we will hear the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. We will discuss that whatever happens, we need to remember how powerful God is.