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.