KidsCreek 252 2011
As a Children’s Pastor I am thrilled at what our children are learning and how they are being influenced at Spring Creek Church. I am thankful that our church leadership is supportive and that we have great leaders that are totally on board with our vision. I know that what we’re doing is making an eternal difference and that God is pleased.
When I boil it down to the simplest idea my real desire is that our kids will embrace Jesus as their Savior and His church as their home. I love it that kids want to come to church and that they’re hearing the consistent message of God’s Word about Jesus. I want them to grow up having committed their lives to Him and knowing that they have a role to play in His church. All we do with kids revolves around this simple idea.
It’s with great pleasure to review just how the children were influenced this past year. It has been a great year.
January
We started off the year with focus and DETERMINATION. Our direction for the month was God’s instruction, “Let us keep running the race marked out for us” in Hebrews 12:1. Israel’s experience with the plagues and days spent in the wilderness helped us to see that God can be trusted no matter what and it’s always worth it finish what you’ve started. We concluded the month with a look at Paul’s determination to finish his “race” no matter the cost. Scriptures: Exodus 3; 5; 7-11; 12, Numbers 14:1-39, 1 Corinthians 10:6, 11-13, 2 Corinthians 11:23-27, Acts 20:24, 2 Timothy 3:16-17
February
In the second month of this year we looked closely at Jesus’ teaching to “Do to others as you would have them do to you” in Luke 6:31. This consistent theme threads itself throughout all of our lessons in the year because it impacts all of our relationships. We saw that not only did Jesus teach this lesson but he modeled it in his KINDNESS to all people. We learned that we show others their value by how we treat them and that we should treat even our enemies with KINDNESS because they too have value and are created by God. Scriptures: Luke 6:17-20, 27-36; Mark 10:13-16; Matthew 25:35-40; Acts 9:26-30
March
In March our lessons revolved around David’s statement in Psalm 56:3, “When I am afraid, I will trust in you”. Four of the greatest demonstrations of COURAGE are found in the stories of David and Goliath, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Esther, and Daniel in the lion’s den. In each of these stories we saw that God is always with us and that we can be brave enough to trust Him and do what we should do even when we’re afraid. Scriptures: 1 Samuel 17:1-50; Daniel 3; Esther 4, 5:1-8, 7:1-16, 8:3-8; Daniel 6:1-23
April
The challenging statement of Paul in Philippians 2:3 that we should “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” gave us a lot to talk about in April. Jesus not only taught the disciples to live this way but Jesus gave us the ultimate example of HUMILITY in his life and death. We saw how Jesus gave up what he deserved for us because putting God first was his first priority. In this month we learned to put others first by giving up what we think we deserve like Jesus did for us in his life, burial, and resurrection. Scriptures: John 13:1-17; Luke 22:39-44, John 18:2-11; Mark 14:53,55-65; 15:1-20,22-33,37-39; Matthew 28:1-10,16-20
May
In May we were blessed to consider Colossians 3:13 “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” FORGIVENESS is hard because it means that someone who has wronged you doesn’t have to pay. We learned that when we choose to forgive instead of holding a grudge or repaying in kind that we are acting like God and pleasing Him. We also learned that our acts of forgiveness can actually help to change the people we’re forgiving. The stories of Zacchaeus and Joseph gave us prime examples of lives changed by forgiveness. Jesus’ parable of the unmerciful servant and teaching regarding reconciliation rounded out the month of learning what it means to forgive. Scriptures: Matthew 18:21-35; Luke 19:1-9; Genesis 45:1-15; Matthew 5:1-2,23-24; Philippians 4:6-7
We pulled out an additional play for families in May by offering our first ever 252 FamilyX. This fun and fast-paced presentation for the whole family on Forgiveness provided parents with ideas and tools for further conversation at home.
June
FAITH was our monthly theme to kick of the summer and Hebrews 11:1 gave us clear direction for our lessons. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Our Bible lessons from Hebrews this month demonstrated that God’s creation shows us a lot about who He is, that He can be trusted because He always keeps His promises, and He can be trusted even in hard times. Lessons included the stories of Joseph, Abraham, Creation, and the crossing of the Red Sea. We also learned that it is by faith in Jesus Christ we are saved. Scriptures: Hebrews 10:32-35, 11:1-3,8-12,22,27-29; Exodus 14:5-31
July
Our look into the book for Hebrews carried over into July. In particular the idea of PERSEVERANCE from Isaiah 40:31 was the prominent lesson. “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will walk and not be faint.” We were reminded how God was faithful in bringing others through difficult times and that we too can refuse to give up when life gets hard. Keeping our eyes on Jesus and remembering that God disciplines us to grow us helped us to see how to carry on in hard times. Another clear presentation of what it means to be saved and how to trust Jesus as savior was given to the children this month. Scriptures: Hebrews 10:32-36; 11:32-40; 12:1-3,7,9-15; Matthew 28:20
We took a side journey at the end of the month to talk about the faith skill of navigating the Bible. The Bereans modeled a diligent study of the scripture in Acts 17 and the kids were taught that they too can read and study the Bible for themselves.
August
Ephesians 2:8 says “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” and in August we learned that by God’s GRACE we are getting something great that we don’t deserve. The parables that Jesus told about the lost sheep, coin, and son helped the kids to see that everyone needs to be rescued from their sins and that’s why Jesus came. We also learned that God will always love me more than I can imagine and that we should offer grace to others as God has to us. Children were challenged to embrace Jesus as their Savior and accept God’s gracious provision for forgiveness. Scriptures: Luke 15:1-32; John 3:16
September
We began the school year by seeing how “Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man” from Luke 2:52. We learned that KNOWLEDGE is important and that it helps us to be better at whatever we do. Specifically as we learn what God says and obey Him it helps us to trust Him more. And when we discover what God says, it can make us grow wiser and teach us how God wants us to treat others. Four events in the life of Jesus guided our study; Jesus in the Temple, Jesus baptized, Jesus tempted, and Jesus in the synagogue. Scriptures: Luke 2:41-52; Luke 3:21-23; Luke 4:1-30.
We offered our second installment of 252 FamilyX and focused once again on the theme for the month. Families enjoyed the zany presentation regarding Jesus in the Temple and were given more ideas and resources to continue these spiritual lessons at home.
October
In October we learned that CREATIVITY comes from God and is a valuable tool in making a mark for Him in life. We saw in Ephesians 2:10 that “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Like David we can do more good when we make use of the gifts that God has given each of us and that great things could happen if we all used our gifts together. Scriptures: Genesis 1:1-2:1; Exodus 1:22-2:10; 2 Samuel 23:1-2; Matthew 5:14-16; Acts 2:42-47
November
November was a terrific month because of our focus on 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that tell us to “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus”. The kids were reminded that there is always something to be thankful for and there are many times in life where we just need to take some time to adjust our attitude and express our GRATITUDE. The parable of the vineyard workers and the healing of the 10 lepers gave us vivid examples of what God thinks our attitude should be. We also took a close look at the Last Supper and how taking time to celebrate what God has done by remembering Jesus’ sacrifice will help us to maintain the right attitude of gratitude. Scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 5:13; Matthew 20:1-15; Luke 17:11-19; Luke 22:14-20
December
We’re concluding the year with lessons on GENEROSITY. In 1 Timothy 6:18 Paul told Timothy to “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share” and we’ve set out to help our children know and obey this command. The children were influenced by the idea that we can make someone’s day when we’re willing to give something away. We also saw how we must be careful so that stuff doesn’t get in our way of loving Jesus. The ultimate gift of Jesus provided the capstone of our teaching and the primary example of what it means to be generous. Scriptures: Luke 12:13-21; Luke 18:18-25; John 3:16-17; Luke 2:1-18
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