Children's Moment

Pay Attention to Your Giving

2011-09-27T15:51:00.004-05:00

"Are we poor?" Twisting around in the front seat to check out the expression on my son's face, I asked, "Are you serious?" Never one to abandon his position, Nick rattled off his evidence, "We live with Aunt Jo and Uncle Ralph, we can't afford new clothes, not good ones, anyway, and anytime I need money for school, you get mad!" The move back home, the career change, the sacrifices necessary to save for a downpayment, all at the same time, changed our family's spending habits. Nick made a valiant effort to process the changes using his seven-year-old worldview, and came to the obvious conclusion: we were now poor. Makes me smile to this day. Nick doesn't remember asking the question, but he remembers that every Sunday we placed a check in the church offering basket.

A child's sense of what matters and his attitudes about money and stuff and God are formed day by day, every day. From the tenderest of ages, our children soak up their world by studying people--all people, all the time--people at home, people at church, people at school, people in public, people on television. Too often the messages teach them they don't have enough, they need more.

What are you teaching your kids about money, about spending, about saving, about giving, about stewardship of God's monetary blessings? Pay attention to your giving. Your children do. Jesus does, too.

1 As Jesus looked up, he saw some rich people putting their gifts into the Temple money box. 2 Then he saw a poor widow putting two small copper coins into the box. 3 He said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. 4 They gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4 NCV

This lesson calls for: play money, one piece per child, a large, clear coin-filled jar, and a church offering basket within easy reach.

(As the kids arrive at the front of the church, hand each a piece of play money while asking questions. You will get some cute answers.)

This is play money.
Do you have any real money?
How do you get real money?
Where does money come from?

Here is a story about money.
Jesus went to church. He watched the people giving money to God. Jesus kept His eye on a rich man who put in lots of money. Will one of you play the rich man? (Choose a big boy.) Al, you are the rich man. Put your hand in the jar, and get as much money as you can hold. Get lots. Now put all those coins in the basket. Good job.

Jesus also spotted a poor woman who put in only one cent. (Hold up a penny.) What is this? (A penny) Is this much money? (No) The poor woman only had one cent. It was all of her money. She put her last cent in the basket for God. Will one of you play the poor woman? (Choose a little girl.) Anna, here is the poor woman’s money. Now put the penny in the basket. Good job.

The poor woman had no money left. She could not buy bread or any food to eat. Why did she want to give all her money to God? Was she silly? No. Did she worry? No. The poor woman gave everything to God, because God always gave everything to her. She trusted God to give her food. Somehow He always did.

God gives everything to us, too. Can you name some things God gave you? Raise your hand if you have a mom. Raise your other hand if you have a dad. You all do! God gave you all moms and dads! Do your moms and dads drive a car? God gave you all cars. How about food? Did any of you eat breakfast this morning? Waffles? Oh, my, what a yummy breakfast. God gave you moms and dads, houses, cars, food, even toys and games and clothes. That is so much! God is good!

(God bless Cameron, who spoke up.) “My dad and mom don’t have any money to buy me what I want.” (Or you can start this topic by asking, “Do you sometimes want something, and your mom or dad say, ‘No, we don’t have money for that?’”) Cameron, here is what you need to think about when that happens. Dads and moms get all this money from God. First they give some money back to God because they want to thank Him. Second, they use some money to pay for a house. Do you boys and girls get to live in the house? Third, they use some money to pay for a car. Do you children get to ride in the car? Fourth, they use some money to buy clothes for you boys and girls. Moms and dads buy you clothes again and again, because you grow! They also use some money to buy food to feed your hungry tummies.

Moms and dads must be careful with the money God gives them. They try to be smart when they spend money. They try not to waste money, because money is a big gift from God. Are any toys and games at your house, Cameron? Not all the toys and games you like, but that is not a bad thing.

Here in our church, we all give money to God, too. We pass this basket around, and people put in some money for God. Does Jesus take a peek at us when we give money at church like He did in our story today? Yes, He always sees us.

Remember the rich man and the poor woman? Jesus said one of them gave more. Raise your hand if you think the rich man gave more. Raise your hand if you think the poor woman gave more. The rich man had a lot of money left over. He didn’t care about the money he gave to God. He didn’t even need it. Jesus said the poor woman gave more, because she gave all!

Bow heads, close eyes, fold hands. Let’s talk to God to thank Him.
Dear God, You give us everything. Thank you! Please help us not to want too much. In Jesus name we ask, amen.

Easter Eye Witnesses

2011-05-09T15:35:00.000-05:00

Sorry for posting in reverse order, but that's how my memory works. I love the account in John of the two men on the road to Emmaus because they witnessed the risen Lord. Jesus was not just a good man who lived long ago, not just a prophet, and certainly not a myth. He is alive. He is the risen Son of God. Hallelujah!

These Easter bible lockets can take some time, depending on how you decide to finish off the necklaces. You can use 36 inches of yarn and tie 3 or 4 square knots and that will look fine. Or get fancy by making the size adjustable with sliding Chinese button knots. Here is the link to learn how to close your necklaces with sliding Chinese button knots: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85Au8vFvc2s.
Use 0.5 - 1.0 mm cord to fit the lockets' opening. If you do these knots, be sure to get real satin rattail cord--yarn won't work. It comes in lots of colors or my favorite, rainbow!

The lockets are really small, 11 mm by 13mm, so print a page of the Jesus pictures really, really tiny!

This Jesus picture is a painting by Akiane Kramarik and is copyrighted, but people have shared it freely on the internet. Go to www.akianeart.com to purchase your own download, see more of her amazing art, and learn her amazing story.

Happy Easter! I want to tell you my favorite Easter story today.

On the very first Easter day, these two guys were so bummed out about Jesus dying on the cross, they decided to leave town. They were walking away from Jerusalem on the road to Emmaus. Suddenly there was another man walking with them! It was Jesus, but Jesus used His amazing power to make it so they could not recognize Him. He said, "Can I walk along with you two?" They said, "Sure." Jesus said, "You guys seemed really bummed out, what's wrong?" They said, "Haven't you heard? Jesus of Nazareth was crucified dead and buried. We really thought Jesus was the Messiah that would save us, but now He's dead."

So Jesus started teaching the men everything in the bible about the Messiah. How the bible says that the Messiah would have to suffer and die. The whole bible is about the Messiah, about Jesus.

Pretty soon they arrived where the two men were going. Jesus would have kept going, but the men said, "why don't you stay the night here and have supper with us?" So Jesus said okay. When they sat down to supper, Jesus took the bread and blessed it. That was when Jesus allowed the men to suddenly recognize who He was. They said, "Jesus! It's You! You're alive!" Then Jesus suddenly disappeared! The men were so happy and excited, they ran all the way back to Jerusalem and started telling people that Jesus of Nazareth was alive.

I have two reasons why I love this Easter story. First it teaches me that the whole bible is about Jesus. From page one all the way to page 1,255 in my bible. Second, it teaches me that if anyone invites Jesus to be with them, Jesus says yes. To every person, every time! All you have to do is invite Jesus to be in your life. He'll always say yes!

I have an Easter gift for each of you that will help you remember that the whole bible is about Jesus. This is a necklace with a bible locket. The bible opens and inside is a picture of... who do you think? (jesus) Who? (Jesus) I can't hear you! (JESUS!)

Now bow heads, close eyes, fold hands. Let's pray to God.

Dear God,
Thank you for Jesus and for telling us all about Him in Your bible.
Thank you that Jesus was willing to die to save us.
And thank you for raising Him back to life.
Help us all to invite Jesus into our lives. We know He will always say yes.
We pray in Jesus name, Amen.

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T10:14:00.000-05:00

Here is a Mother's Day children's sermon that moms will appreciate. The gift is for mom, and not a single child complained. They understood...

Today I'm going to teach you three things. First I will teach you about
candles, then about mothers, then about Jesus.

(Hold up an unlit candle.) What is this? (a candle) (as you light candle) Is it easy or hard to put out a candle's flame? (easy) How can you put out a candle? (fire extinguisher, blow it, spit on fingers and pinch, use "one of those things":) i.e. a snuffer) Right, it is very easy to put out a candle's flame. Let's blow out our candle now (they blow, what fun!)

Today is Mother's Day. Now I know you all love your mothers, right? Raise your hand if you love your mom (raise both your hands high). Our moms take care of us, help us with homework, fix meals, read to us, what else? (clean the house-moms clean everything!) (fix our bathroom-some moms can be plumbers!) They teach us, take care of us when we get sick, and some moms go to work too! Our moms do everything! They are strong and busy and fun.

But sometimes... sometimes... moms get tired, don't they? (nods) Sometimes moms get headaches, or they get sick, or they just don't feel good, right? (nods) And sometimes moms have tears, don't they? (nods) They can be happy tears, like at a wedding. But sometimes our moms are just very sad and they cry, right? (nods) Then what do we do? Hmm...

Well, I learned something in the bible about Jesus. When Jesus was dying on the cross, He still showed how He cared for His mother. He told His disciple, John, to take care of His mother when He went to heaven. Jesus really cared about His mother.

I learned something else in the bible about Jesus. The bible says Jesus would never snuff out a smoldering wick. This part that we light is the wick. (show them on the candle where it is). It is easy to put it out, but Jesus would never do that. Jesus is careful and gentle with the candle's flame. The candle's flame is like a person's light. We say let your light shine, right?

When someone is feeling tired, or sick, or sad, their light is almost out. Jesus is always gentle with a person who is tired. He is gentle when people are sick. And Jesus is very gentle when someone is sad.

That's what we can do when mom is tired. Be gentle with her. When mom is sick, we can give her a gentle hug or gentle words. When she is sad, a gentle gift can help. I want to give you each a gift for you to give to your mothers. It is a brand new candle just like the one we lit here today. Sometimes a candle with a gentle, soft smell helps moms feel better.

(Make sure everybody gets one.) Bow your heads, close your eyes, fold your hands. Let's thank God for our mothers.

Dear God,
Thank you for our moms. Help us to care for them like Jesus cared for His mother. Help us to be gentle with our mothers. In Jesus name we pray,Amen.

The End or the Beginning?

2011-02-27T16:42:00.000-06:00

Here is a quick one to pull together. You just need a pack of black balloons and a pack of brightly colored ones. Then some string or ribbon to tie two together (one of each) for each child. Bring them to church in a big black trash bag, so they can't guess their suprise!

The End Or The Beginning?

Pop quiz! Who is God's Son? (jesus) Who? (Jesus) What did you say? (JESUS!) Boy, you kids are really learning a lot about Jesus!

Remember last time, Jesus was in Capernaum and he helped all the people? Well, someone in the crown in Capernaum got an idea. He said, "Hey, Jesus, I have a good idea! Why don't you stay here in Capernaum forever and be our preacher at our church?!" Then someone else said, "I like that idea! Stay here Jesus, be our preacher." Then pretty soon everyone was saying what a good idea that was. "Jesus, stay here with us. Jesus, stay and be our preacher."

What did Jesus say? If you think Jesus said yes, raise your hand (three hands sneak up). If you think Jesus said no, raise your hand (three hands go up, one is a duplicate!) Okay, if you're not sure what Jesus said, raise both hands (this is fun, and everyone raises both hands, big laugh)! Well, the Bible tells us that Jesus said, (pause for dramatic effect)... He said, "I have to leave." (they are disappointed!) "BECAUSE God wants me to preach His good news to ALL people, not just here in Capernaum."

So, the people of Capernaum were sad, but they understood. Jesus was sad, too because he would miss the people of Capernaum. They loved Him, and He loved them. But also, Jesus was excited to be starting His first big preaching trip to ALL God's people. He wanted to meet them all. And He wanted to help them all. And He wanted to teach them all about God's good news.

And that's the good news! Jesus is for ALL people!

Did you notice that this story is about ending, but also about beginning? Jesus had to end His visit in Capernaum, and He had to begin preaching in other towns and cities. Did you know everytime we have an ending, we also get a beginning? Endings can be sad, right? But beginning can be fun, exciting, happy, joyful, running, jumping, laughing, clapping, GREAT!

When Kindergarten ends, you get to begin first grade!
When Spring ends, we get to begin to enjoy Summer!
When a Christian dies, it is the end of their life here on earth, and people are sad. But it is the beginning of their forever-life in heaven with Jesus, and that is the best new beginning anybody can ever get!

I have something to help you remember. These two balloons are tied together. What color is this one? (black) What color is the other one? (yellow) Which color is a sad color? (black) Which color is a happy color? (yellow) The black balloon is the ending, it is sad. The yellow balloon is the beginning, and it is happy. They are tied together because whenever we have an ending, we also get a new beginning. Just like Jesus got to begin His first big preaching trip to ALL God's people.

Bow heads, close eyes, fold hands.

Dear God,
Thank you for sending Jesus to be for ALL people, even us.
Thank you for endings, even though we get sad.
Thank you for beginnings, and help us to be glad.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.

Jesus is the Christ

2011-02-27T16:23:00.005-06:00

Leave yourself plenty of time to trim the plastic canvas and to thread the cord. Each one took me ten minutes. I used the 3" pre-cut crosses but trimmed them to be similar to the shape of the pattern which I modified. Here is the link: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf56057668.tip.html

Also, I didn't use ribbon, but the metalic cord from the craft shop in various colors.

Jesus is the Christ

Well, we started talking about Jesus quite a few Sundays ago.
Of course at Christmastime, we heard again all about the amazing birth of Jesus. Angels told Mary and Joseph and the shepherds about God's wonderful plan for the birth of His Son, Jesus.

Remember John the Baptist? What a goofy guy! What was goofy about John the Baptist? (they may or may not remember) What did John wear? (camel skins) What did John eat? (locusts and honey) Where did John live? (in the wilderness) Yep, goofy! But he taught people about Jesus. He said the Messiah was finally here. When he baptized Jesus, God spoke to Jesus from Heaven and said, "You are my Son. I am very happy with You."

Remember the devil testing Jesus? He tried to make Jesus doubt that He was really God's son. The devil said to Jesus, "IF you are really the Son of God, turn this stone to bread." But could he fool Jesus? (head shake) No, Jesus believed God.

Remember the people at the synagogue in Nazareth? (they're not sure) Remember the BAD IDEA? (this they remember) While Jesus was preaching to them, they loved His words. But then someone got the BAD IDEA that Jesus was no one special. And the BAD IDEA spread to the others, and soon they were all trying to push Jesus off a cliff! But what did Jesus do? Did He get mad at them? No, did He blast them with His awesome power? No, He miraculously walked right through them!

Jesus IS someone special, isn't He? Who is Jesus? (the Son of God) Right!

So after all that, Jesus left Nazareth and walked to Capernaum. Can you say Capernaum? (let a three year old try, you'll be amazed) The next Sabbath day, he preached to the people of Capernaum in their synagogue. But we'll just call it church, like we say today.

During church a man with an evil spirit in him said the most amazing thing! The evil spirit in the man said, (use a scary voice) "Jesus, I know who You are. You are God's Holy Son, leave us alone!" Do you think Jesus obeyed the evil spirit? (heads shake) No, Jesus commanded the evil spirit to BE QUIET and come out of the man. And what do you think that evil spirit did? (see if they can guess) It did exactly what Jesus ordered! It did not speak another word, and it came out of that poor man! Everyone at church was AMAZED!

After church, Jesus went to Peter's house, and Peter's mother-in-law was very sick-very, very sick. Peter asked Jesus to help her. What do you think Jesus did? (helped her) Of course He did! He healed her so perfectly that she got up and fixed lunch for them! (wide-eyed amazement)

Well, you know how news gets around, right? (nods) Pretty soon everybody in Capernaum heard about Jesus whooping the evil spirit and healing Peter's mother-in-law.

At sundown, when they were finally allowed to, everyone came to Jesus. They brought all their loved ones who had evil spirits, or who were sick. And what do you think Jesus did? (helped them)

How many did Jesus help? (they have no idea, but may guess. if they guess, say, are you sure?) Here's a clue: Jesus spent the whole night, from sundown to dawn, helping them. What do you think? Did he help ten of them? (no, more) How about 100? (yes, probably) Well, Luke tells us Jesus helped them ALL! Everyone in town!

Why? What do we already know about Jesus? (he is good, he loves us, he has power) You kids are really learning a lot about Jesus! He is good. He loves all of us. He has amazing power.

Here is a cross for each of you to remember Jesus. Why does a cross remind us of Jesus? (Jesus died on a cross) That's right. Who is the Son of God? (jesus) Who? (Jesus) Can't hear you! (JESUS!)

Bow heads, close eyes, fold hands.

Dear God our Father,
You are the Father of Jesus too.
Some people don't believe it, like the people in Nazareth.
Some people do believe, like the people in Capernaum.
Please help us to always believe in Jesus, Your Son.
In His name we pray,
Amen.

A Bad Idea

2011-02-27T15:30:00.000-06:00

A heart almost as beautiful as the heart of Jesus: this is a good little craft, if you like origami. Use the 6" by 6" squares in a cool and brightly colored design. Follow this link for instructions: http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-heart.html

Continuing in the fourth chapter of Luke, Jesus has some trouble with the hometown crowd. They revile Him, accuse Him, and finally, caught up in their mass, ignorant frenzy, they are driven to attempt His murder. These are people He grew up with: the families of His boyhood playmates, the friends and customers of Joseph and Mary.

Jesus, the best preacher ever, had had them in the palm of His hand. They were amazed at the beauty and authority of His words. Then came the bad idea. That is how every sin begins, with one bad idea. And ideas, good or bad, tend to sweep through crowds.

A Bad Idea

When Jesus got done whooping the devil in the wilderness, he went to his hometown. It was called Nazareth. That's where Jesus grew up, in Nazareth. He went to church like He ALWAYS did. They called it synagogue back then, but let's just call it church like we say today, okay? Jesus went to church to preach.

The people of Nazareth were so excited to have Jesus back home. Jesus was the best preacher ever. He preached from the book of Isaiah in the Bible. It was this part:

"The Spirit of the Lord is in me. This is because God chose me to tell the Good News to the poor." (Luke 4:18 ICB see link at left)

Then Jesus said, "This is happening right here and now!" What did Jesus mean, "This is happening right here and now?" What was happening right here and now? (they have no idea) The people of Nazareth understood what Jesus meant. When He said, "God chose me" Jesus meant HE was the Messiah Isaiah was writing about!

But then something happened. Someone in the church got an idea. It was a BAD idea! The person said, "Wait a minute! This is only Jesus. We knew him when he was a small boy. He grew up in our town. Jesus is NOBODY SPECIAL!" (they are shocked) Then a few more people started saying the same thing, "Jesus is nobody special!" Pretty soon all the people in the church got the same bad idea. They were so mad at Jesus for saying He was God's Messiah.

The people were so mad, they started pushing Jesus right out the door of the church. Then they were pushing Him all the way out of town, right to the edge of a cliff! They wanted to push Jesus off the cliff and kill Him! What do you think Jesus did then? (they don't know) Do you think He blasted them with His awesome power? (they don't know) Maybe He sent plagues to Nazareth just like God sent plagues to Egypt long ago. Remember? God sent flies, frogs, blood, death, it was just awful. Do you think Jesus did that? No, He did not do any of those things. Jesus did not even get mad at them. He just walked right through them, and there was nothing they could do about it. Jesus walked through them and went on His way.

(Choose the oldest boy) OK Garrett, you pretend to be Jesus. Stand on the edge of the step with your back to the people. Everybody else come around and try to push Garrett off the step when I say so. Garrett, try your best to walk through them, okay? Ready, set, push! (Garrett tries to stay up, but goes down in the end with a great stage fall!) If Garrett couldn't get through a small group of kids, HOW did Jesus get through a big crowd of angry grown-ups? Jesus really has awesome power, doesn't He!

And He has awesome love. Jesus grew up in Nazareth, and He knew those people, and He loved those people, and He loves all of you, too. Jesus would never hurt anyone.

I have a reminder for you. This heart will remind you of Jesus and His awesome love. Who loves you more than anybody? (jesus) Who? (Jesus) I can't hear you! (JESUS!) Yes, He sure does.

Bow heads, close eyes, fold hands.

Dear God,
The love of Jesus is wonderful.
He loves us even when we get a bad idea, even when we do something naughty.
He doesn't get mad.
Please make our bad ideas go away.
Please give us good ideas.
Please help us be good for Jesus.
In His name we pray,
Amen.

Temptation In a Fishbowl

2011-01-13T14:05:00.000-06:00

What’s happening in this picture? (kitten reaching for fish in fishbowl)
What will happen next? (kitten spilling fishbowl, getting fish, eating fish)
Is the fish in trouble in this picture? (yes)
Why is the fish in trouble? (fish is in danger from kitten, he will spill out or get eaten and die)
The fish is in danger, but who is in trouble? Who is being bad? (kitten)
What will happen to the kitten for being bad? (punishment, time-out, etc.)
Do you know who can help the kitten be good? (they don’t know)

If this happened in a Harry Potter movie, could Harry or Ron or Hermione help? Maybe Hermione could wave her wand and say, “leviosa” and make the fishbowl float up to the ceiling where the kitten can’t reach. That would help the fish, but the kitten would still WANT to eat the fish. Hermione might be able to help the fish, but she can’t help the kitten. The kitten is still TEMPTED to be naughty.

If this happened in a Fantastic Four movie, could Thing help? Maybe Thing could clobber the kitten, and scare the kitten away. That would help the fish, but the kitten would still WANT to come back later to get the fish. Thing might be able to help the fish, but he can’t help the kitten. The kitten is still TEMPTED to be naughty.

That poor kitten! He WANTS that fish, doesn’t he? He WANTS to be naughty and catch the fish. He WANTS to be naughty and eat the fish.

Who can help the kitten? Who can make the kitten want to be GOOD instead of naughty? When the devil TEMPTS us to be naughty, who can help US to be good? Jesus! Who? JESUS! Louder! JESUS!!!

Jesus can help us be good, because Jesus already beat the devil. Here is what happened:

(abbreviated from Luke 4: 1-13, The Message)

The Spirit led Jesus into the wild.

For forty wilderness days and nights he was tested by the Devil.

Jesus ate nothing during those days, and he was hungry.

The Devil gave the first test saying: "Since you're God's Son, command this stone to turn into a loaf of bread."

Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy saying: "It takes more than bread to really live."

For the second test the Devil said, "Worship me and all the kingdoms of the earth are yours.”

Jesus refused, again with Deuteronomy, saying: "Worship only the Lord your God."

For the third test the Devil said, "If you are God's Son, jump off the top of the Temple. It's written, isn't it, that 'God has placed you in the care of angels to protect you'"

"Yes," said Jesus, "and it's also written, 'Don't you dare tempt the Lord your God.'"

That completed the testing. The Devil retreated temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity.

See, Jesus beats the devil EVERY time. And when YOU feel like being naughty, Jesus can change your mind. Just ask Him. WOW! How can Jesus DO that?!

Simple, Jesus has AWESOME power, REAL power—not movie power like Thing or Harry Potter and his friends. Jesus has REAL power, and He will use it for YOU, and you, and you, and all of us! All we have to do is ask!

Here is a badge for each of you. It says POWERED BY JESUS. So when you feel like being naughty, remember to pray and ask Jesus to help you with His amazing power to be good. Let’s ask right now. Bow heads, close eyes, fold hands.

Lord, nothing is impossible for You.

We want to be good, but sometimes we feel like being naughty.

Thank you for loving us and helping us.

Please make us good. You’re the only one who can.

Amen.

A Child's Prayer

2010-03-06T11:47:00.000-06:00

Teaching children to pray is so important. One of the best ways is to model prayer that is reverent, humble, trusting, and penitent. Use the routine of mealtimes and bedtime. When teaching kids to take their requests to God, don't set them up for disappointment. Let them know God hears every prayer, understands their prayers even better than they themselves do, and answers every prayer. As they observe our own patience in prayer, they will begin to understand the peace that comes from submission to God's perfect knowledge and perfect timing.

Sometimes I go overboard on my projects for Children's Moments, and this is one of those times. I made origami books out of pretty wrapping papers with a prayer printed inside on the tiny pages. (The wrapping paper needs to be pretty heavy to feed through the printer; start by cutting 8 1/2 x 11 sheets, then after printing, trim to 8 1/2" square.) Here is the link to the You Tube video for folding instructions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXLhjYgMZ68

You can adapt this project to make it much simpler for your group. Try printing the verse onto photo paper and cutting into bookmarks. Or just enlarge the font enough to print on a separate sheet for each child. You can get beautiful paper in the scrapbooking section of a craft store. Or get post-it printing paper from the office supply store, so they can stick the sheet on the wall beside their beds.

Our Bible verse today says, " Ask, and it shall be given to you;" Matthew 7:7. In this verse, Jesus is telling us two things. First He says, "ask"; He is telling us to pray. Then He says, "it shall be given to you"; He is saying that God answers our prayers. "Ask, and it shall be given to you."

Here is a story about a boy who prayed:

Nick loved basketball. He started playing basketball when he was seven years old. Nick wanted to be a good basketball player like Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan is six feet, six inches tall. Nick wanted to be tall. He prayed, "Father, please make me tall, please make me grow at least six feet tall, so I can be a good basketball player." Nick trusted God to answer his prayer. So he practiced basketball. He played basketball. He listened to his basketball coaches and obeyed them. Nick got better and better at basketball. And he grew taller. By the time he was fifteen years old, Nick was five feet, nine inches tall.

Then one night in a basketball game, Nick rolled his ankle. His mom took him to the doctor the next day. The doctor said, "Nick, your ankle is not broken." That was good news. Then the doctor said, "I can see from your x-ray that you're done growing." That was not good news to Nick. Why not? (because he wanted to keep growing, at least three more inches) He was very sad that he would not be six feet tall like he had prayed. He tried not to cry, but he couldn't help it. Nick's mom asked him why he was so sad. He told her about his prayers to God asking God to make him at least six feet tall. He thought God did not answer his prayer. His mom said, "Nick, God understood your prayer and will answer it in the best way and at the best time for you." Nick was not so sure. He decided to play the rest of the season, but after that, he didn't want to play basketball anymore. Nick's coaches were very unhappy. They wanted Nick on the basketball team.

One year later, after missing a whole season of basketball, Nick changed his mind. He was still only five feet, nine inches tall, but he tried out for the basketball team. He made the team, but did not get to play much. Most of the game, he sat on the bench. Nick wanted to play more, so he worked harder, and practiced a lot, and obeyed his coaches, and Nick got better and better at basketball. After awhile, his coaches let him play more in the games. Then at last, Nick was allowed to be a starter and play almost the whole game for the rest of the season. Nick's team was so good that year, they won their basketball sectional, and their first regional basketball game. They were one of the best teams Boone Grove High School ever had.

Nick thought about how God answered his prayer to be six feet tall. God understood Nick's love for basketball. God knew that Nick didn't need to be six feet tall to be good at basketball. So He just helped Nick become good at basketball. Nick worked as hard as he could, and God did the rest. God made Nick and the other players and the coaches as good as they could be. And God gave them all a great basketball season they will never forget. Nick thanked God for his wonderful season of basketball, and Nick thanked God for a better answer to his prayer than he could ever have hoped for.

God loves you all so much. He wants to hear from you. When you pray to God, you are having a talk with God, and He loves that. You can tell God anything. There is nothing you cannot tell to God. God will hear your every prayer. And God will answer your every prayer in the best possible way for you, because He loves you.

Sometimes, we all have trouble deciding what we want to say to God when we pray. Here is a little book with a good prayer to get you started. It's called "A Child's Prayer", and since we are all God's children, it is a good prayer for all of us. So, let's bow our heads, fold our hands, and close our eyes.

Lord, Teach this little child to pray,
   and then accept my prayer.
For You can hear the words I say,
   for You are everywhere.

A little sparrow cannot fall
   unnoticed, Lord, by Thee.
And though I am so young and small,
   You do take care of me.

Teach me to do the thing that's right,
   and when I sin, forgive.
And make it still my chief delight
   to serve You while I live.
Amen.

God bless you in your ministry, and God bless the little ones you are teaching.

Jesus Got Baptized, What's Up With That?

2010-02-06T13:28:00.004-06:00

Continuing in Luke, we are at the baptism of Jesus. What do kids need to know about the baptism of Jesus? Why did Jesus get baptized? Did he have sins to repent from? God had something to say about it. What did God say? What else happened and what did it mean? Just covering these basics will help kids begin to understand the baptism of a penitent believer. And let's face it, kids are curious about baptism!

This origami dove is pretty easy, only takes a couple minutes to fold. I didn't have paper lace doilies, so I used basket style coffee filters. Here is the link to the instructions: http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-dove.html. Good luck!

Hi Everybody! This is my puppet friend, Eli. What kind of animal is Eli? (call on a 2 or 3 year old) An elephant, very good! Is it true that elephants never forget? (heads shake or nod) Well I don't know about real elephants, but I do know that Eli has a great memory. It seems like he remembers everything! Especially Bible verses. Let me see if he gets this one right. (speaking to puppet) Eli, what is our Bible verse for today's lesson? (listen to puppet). Sure enough, he got it right! Luke 3: 21-22. "Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He prayed, heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus in the form of a dove, and a voice came out of heaven saying, 'You are My beloved Son, I am very pleased with You.'"

Remember our lesson last Sunday? Who was baptizing all the people? (John the Baptist) Right! So who baptized Jesus? (John the Baptist) Right again! John the Baptist told the people to do something before they got baptized. Eli, what was it? (repent from their sins) I know all people sin, but Jesus is the Son of ... who? (God!) Right, Jesus is the Son of God. (speaking to puppet) Eli, isn't there a Bible verse that tells if Jesus ever sinned? (listen to Eli) I knew you would remember! (speaking to kids) Eli said "in Jesus there is no sin." 1 John 3:5. Thanks, Eli. So the people had sins to repent from, but Jesus was like, perfect. So why did Jesus need to get baptized? What's up with that?

Well here's the thing, part of baptism is symbolic. Eli, do you know what symbolic means? (Eli shakes his head) Here's what symbolic means: a symbol looks like one thing, but means another thing. Give me a thumbs up. (they do) Good, what does thumbs up mean? (we like something, we agree with someone, this movie is good) Baptism looks like just getting dunked under water, right? (nods) But it means something else. It means the person is starting over to be different. It's like saying, "before I did things my way, not God's way, and that was sinning, but now I want to do things God's way."

Jesus getting baptized was really important. You know how I know that? (heads shake) Because all four gospels tell about it. Who can name the four gospels? (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) Excellent! They all tell the story about Jesus getting baptized. It is the beginning of His ministry, His work, the very first thing He does! And what does God think of Jesus getting started this way? Who remembers? Eli? (he was pleased) Yes, God was very pleased with Jesus, and He let everybody know it, didn't He? How did God let the people know He was pleased with Jesus? (speaking from heaven) Yeah, God spoke from heaven. That must have been awesome to hear! So even though Jesus' baptism was different from everyone else's baptism because Jesus didn't have to repent, still God wanted Jesus to be baptized, and God was very pleased with Jesus.

So, for all the rest of us, baptism is the start of a new life, a life with God. We repent from our sins, and God forgives us. One more thing happens when we get baptized, and it happened to Jesus when He got baptized. What was it? (the dove) Right, the dove! The dove was the Holy Spirit! Baptism is when we get God's gift of the Holy Spirit! Jesus said the Holy Spirit is our Helper. The Holy Spirit helps us live our new life with God!

Here is a paper dove for each of you. It is a symbol of Who? (the Holy Spirit) God's Holy Spirit, right!

Let's bow our heads, fold our hands, and close our eyes. Dear God, You spoke from heaven to everybody. How awesome! You said You are so pleased with Jesus. We want to please You, too. Thank you for forgiving our sins and giving us Your Holy Spirit to help us. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

If you ever have an opportunity to volunteer for nursery duty at your church, do it! This kind of paper project is so fun for kids, especially the 3 and 4 year olds, and you can tell a Bible story while you demonstrate the steps for them. There is nothing better than teaching kids about God, and how much He loves them!

John the Baptist, God Prepares the Way (I Know the Plans I Have For You)

2010-02-06T09:43:00.000-06:00

Why is it that we don't hear much about John the Baptist, the goofy guy from the wilderness? God had John out there preparing the way for Jesus, and that makes me feel good. If God prepared the way for Jesus, He'll prepare my way for me (and you, and you, and you... ) ;-) I believe this because the Bible teaches we are "joint heirs with Jesus", not lesser siblings, but equal siblings, even though we are different from Jesus (duh, diety!) Since God is "not a respecter of persons" i.e. God doesn't play favorites, what He does for one of His children, He'll do for us all. What He did for Jesus, He'll do for us. What He promised Jeremiah (Jer. 29:11), He promises to us! I think kids can understand this, at least I'll try to teach it to them. Here goes...

Hi Everybody! I invited Dooley to come with me today. (Dooley waves, kids wave back.) We were having Puppet Bible Study at my house last week and someone mentioned John the Baptist. Dooley said, "Who's John the Baptist?" So I invited him to come with me this morning because we are going to talk about John the Baptist.

(speaking to puppet) Dooley, some of these church kids already know some things about John the Baptist. (turning to kids) Who knows what John the Baptist wore for clothing? (camel hair tunic, leather belt) Right! Do any of you know what John the Baptist ate for food? (locusts and wild honey) Good job! Can anybody tell Dooley where John the Baptist lived? (in the wilderness) Impressive!

This question is a little harder. John the Baptist had one main job to do. God gave him this job. What was John's main job? (they'll probably guess baptising people or preaching, etc.) You're getting close, but those are not quite the main job that God gave John the Baptist to do.

John the Baptist was supposed to prepare the way for Jesus! That means he had to get the people ready so Jesus could start His ministry. John the Baptist told the people that the Lord was coming, so they needed to repent from their sins and be baptized.

And you know what happened? (they don't know) Dooley, what do you think happened? (Dooley shakes his head, he doesn't know) Lots of people listened to John the Baptist. They came out of the city and towns just to listen to him. And they did repent from their sins, and they did get baptised by John the Baptist.

So Dooley, now you know! God gave John the Baptist a very important job to do. John the Baptist had to prepare the people for Jesus. Did he do his job? (puppet and kids nod) Yes, and he did a good job, too. He got the people ready for Jesus. So then John's job was done, and Jesus could start His ministry.

You see, God prepared the way for Jesus, and He let John the Baptist be His helper. God prepares our way, too. He said in the Bible, in Jeremiah, "I know the plans I have for you" (point to Dooley) and you (point to another), and you, and you, and all of us (pointing with each "you"), "good plans, not bad plans, to give us a future and a hope". See God has a plan for each one of us, a good plan, and He will help make our plan happen for us, just like he helped John the Baptist make His plan for Jesus happen. How cool is that?!

Now, I don't know how John got people's attention so that they would come out of the city and towns to hear him. I don't know if John blew a horn, but he might have. So I have a horn for each of you today. (Dooley claps his hands) This is not an inside toy! Only blow your horn outside, okay? (they all nod, of course!) Moms, Dads, they all agree to only blow their horns outside. (all laugh, pass out horns)

Let's all bow our heads, close our eyes, and fold our hands. Dear God, You prepared the way for Jesus, and You let John the Baptist help You with that! We know You have a plan for each of us, and thank You for caring about us so much. Please guide us along the paths You planned for us. We want to stay on Your good paths! In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

I can almost guarantee one of them will blow the horn in church, but that's okay. Hopefully no babies will cry! May God continually bless your ministry to His little ones. Thanks for reading :-)

Where Would You Look? (Jesus Lost in Jerusalem)

2010-01-17T06:48:00.001-06:00

As a child, I went to church when my parents went to church, and I skipped church when my parents skipped church. My youthful mind equated church with school, and missing a Sunday was almost as good a reason to rejoice as getting a snow-day off of school. Not all kids are like that ... some love school for the opportunity to socialize, and others for the opportunity to learn interesting lessons. That last stretches my imagination as far as it can go, because I have never met that child, but I have heard that some do exist. Or maybe I have only read about them in fiction ... hmm. Nevertheless, my boundless optimism insists, a lesson worth learning is a lesson worth teaching.

The church is a place where people look for God, a fact many congregators would do well to remember. So here you are, a lesson for both your audiences and the conclusion of the second chapter of Luke.

41 Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast.
42 When Jesus was 12 years old, they went to the feast as they always did.
43 When the feast days were over, they went home. The boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.
44 Joseph and Mary traveled for a whole day. They thought that Jesus was with them in the group. Then they began to look for him among their family and friends,
45 but they did not find him. So they went back to Jerusalem to look for him there.

46 After three days they found him. Jesus was sitting in the Temple with the religious teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
47 All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and wise answers.
48 When Jesus' parents saw him, they were amazed.
49 Jesus asked, "Why did you have to look for me? You should have known that I must be where my Father's work is!"

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to help take care of sick people, where do you look for that person? (in a hospital)

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to play football, where do you look for that person? (in a football field, park, backyard)

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to pet puppies and kittens, where do you look for that person? (in a pet store, animal shelter)

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to fly airplanes, where do you look for that person? (in an airport)

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to cook, where do you look for that person? (in the kitchen)

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to go fishing, where do you look for that person? (at a lake or stream, on a boat)

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to sing hymns, where do you look for that person? (in a church)

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to preach sermons, where do you look for that person? (in a church)

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to learn about God, where do you look for that person? (in a church)

In our Bible story today, who was looking for a person? (Jesus' parents, Mary and Joseph)

For which person were they looking? (Jesus)

How long did they spend looking for Jesus? (three days)

Why did it take so long? (they didn't look in the right place)

What did Jesus love to do? (learn about God and talk about God)

Where do people go to learn about God and talk about God? (to church)

And that is just where Jesus' parents found Jesus.

Our last lesson was about making Jesus number one this year. One way to make Jesus number one is to learn about Him and talk about Him and ask questions about Him. Where can we do that? (in church, at home)

One last question: if you are looking for a piece of candy, and you know I love to give you stuff, where do you look for that candy? (believe me, they will get this answer right! Every one of them has no doubt noticed the gift box sitting untouched beside me!)

Let's close our eyes, fold our hands, and bow our heads ...

Dear God,
You made Your church full of people who love to learn about You and teach about You. Sometimes we skip church and we're sorry when that happens. Thank you for making a place for us to learn all about You, God and about Jesus and about Your Holy Spirit. Please make us Your good students.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

This lesson works well with a hand puppet to help answer all the questions. It also engages children, so they'll want to answer questions, too. If you are better than I am at planning ahead, order some little plastic magnifying lenses to pass out instead of sweets. May God bless you in your ministry to His little ones.

The ONE AND ONLY THING! Simeon Sees Jesus

2010-01-02T15:19:00.007-06:00

Kids have so many things they want to do—they can't wait to wake up each morning!

These simple refrigerator magnets can help remind kids that seeing Jesus is the one and only thing they need on their list of goals. For each one, you need six inches of ribbon, one inch of self stick magnetic tape, and glitter glue.

Insert the red ribbon picture into a document, add text, print and cut out to glue on top of each ribbon. Alternatively, leave off the magnet, and you've got a bookmark.

There's a story about a girl dying from leukemia. She made a list of things she wanted to do before she died. Lots of people do that. They list things like:
* visiting all 50 states,
* seeing a baseball game in every major league ball park,
* playing golf at Pebble Beach,
* driving a 2010 Camero …
Do any of you have something you are hoping to do someday? (responses)
In our Bible story from Luke, chapter two, verses 25-30, we will read about Simeon. Simeon gets to do the ONE AND ONLY THING he had wanted to do all his life. Listen closely to see if you can figure out what Simeon's ONE AND ONLY THING was:
(If you have a children's Bible, show them the picture. I use the illustrated New Testament linked at left. Focus their attention by asking, “can you all see?”)

25A man named Simeon lived in Jerusalem. He was a good man and very religious. He was waiting for the time when God would help Israel. The Holy Spirit was in him.
26The Holy Spirit told Simeon that he would not die before he saw the Christ promised by the Lord.
27The Spirit led Simeon to the Temple. Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the Temple to do what the law said they must do.
28Then Simeon took the baby in his arms and thanked God:
29”Now, Lord, you can let me, your servant, die in peace as you said.
30I have seen your Salvation with my own eyes.

What was it? What was the ONE AND ONLY THING Simeon had wanted to do all his life? (responses) That's right! He wanted to see Jesus, the Christ, the one promised by God who would save all the people from their sins. When Simeon saw Jesus he said, “I have seen your Salvation with my own eyes.” Jesus was the one who was going to save the people from their sins.

Seeing that Jesus is the Savior of the world and trusting Him to save us from our sins is something much more important than visiting all 50 states or (mention one of the kids items). In fact it should be our ONE AND ONLY THING to do before we die! Because this is so important, I made a magnet to remind each of you. What is number one this year? (Jesus!)

Only Jesus can rescue us from punishment; only Jesus can give us eternal life in heaven.

Dear God, You let Simeon see Jesus, the Savior of the world—that was awesome! We all need Jesus. Thanks for sending Him to save us. Please help us to understand—only Jesus can keep us from punishment and bring us to heaven when we die. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Happy New Year to you all!

P.S. The movie was "A Walk To Remember" based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks.

Multitude of Paper Angels

2009-12-11T19:44:00.018-06:00

My goal in this lesson is to teach kids about praising God and an important part of the message of Christmas, how God made it so that mankind could be reconciled to Him. It sounds like a lofty subject for kids, but surprisingly, it can be simplified and illustrated...

I made a paper angel for each child using two small basket-style coffee filters, one Kleenex and ~15 inches of narrow gold ribbon (the kind you curl). You'll also need a blue pen to draw the eyes and a red pen to draw the mouth.

Fold one filter in half, and fan fold every 1/4" beginning with the long straight edge. Tie the ribbon around its middle. Wad the Kleenex into a tight ball and enclose it in the middle of the second filter (making a head and body). Attach the wings by tying the ribbon tightly between the head and body of the angel. Spread out the wings. Draw the eyes and mouth. Tie the ends of the ribbon to make a loop and trim the ends.
Read aloud from Luke 2:8-14:
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

(I usually use a full-color illustrated children's New Testament [link at left], reading upside down, so they can see the pictures. It helps focus their attention! But most kids know the King James version of this passage from the Charlie Brown Christmas show, so quote it even if you show pictures from a different Bible.)

You all have heard that story before haven't you? (nods) What night did that story happen? (the first Christmas, the night Jesus was born) That's right!

I know a multitude of angels appeared to the shepherds, but how many is that? How many is a multitude? Is it twelve? If there were twelve kids in one of your Sunday school classrooms, it would start to feel crowded wouldn't it? It would feel like a multitude was in there. Raise your hand if you think a multitude is about twelve angels.

How about twelve times twelve? What does that equal? (kids answer or ask the congregation for help) Right, one hundred forty four. If there were one hundred forty four people in church today, it would really be crowded wouldn't it? (nods) It would feel like a multitude was in here. Raise your hand if you think a multitude is about one hundred forty four angels.

Multitude means crowd, and a crowd can be different numbers. It depends on how much space you have. So how much space did the shepherds have? Were they in a building or outside?(outside) Were they in the city or out in the country? (out in the country) So they had space as far as the eye could see, didn't they? They had tons of space--all filled with angels! So how many angels appeared to the shepherds? Let's hear some guesses. (responses) At least hundreds or thousands, right? Maybe even tens of thousands of angels!

One of the angels was the messenger--he told the shepherds the Good News about Jesus, the Savior, Christ the Lord. And what were the other thousands of angels doing? (praising God) Wow! Thousands and thousands of angels just praising God! That's a lot of praise! Do you like to receive praise when you do a good job? (nods) Well, you know what? So does God, and He really did a great job on the night Jesus was born. What was the great thing God did? I mean what was so good about the Good News?

I'm going to teach you a ten dollar word: (count the sylables on your fingers while saying it) reconciliation--six sylables--wow! It takes fourteen letters just to spell that word--reconciliation. Here's what it means: (fold hands together) In the beginning God was with us--where? (the garden of Eden) Then we sinned, and God sent us away--we were apart from God (spread hands far apart, one hand high and one hand low). Then Jesus was born, and suddenly we all get the chance to be with God again (bring hands together again)--where? (in Heaven) That's reconciliation: (repeat the hand motions) we were together with God, then our sin parted us from God, and now Jesus brings us back together with God. Reconciliation--let me hear you say it (let them practice). Now that's really something to praise God for!

I have here in my Christmas bag a multitude of angels. I know it is a multitude because they are very crowded in there! Each of you may take one angel. You can hang it on your tree at home or hang it on the angel tree here at church. Let it remind you to praise God.

In our prayer today let's praise God, like the angels: Dear God, great job! We love what You did on the first Christmas night! You gave us reconciliation with You, through Jesus. You brought us back together with You! Awesome! May we praise You forever and ever, just like your angels in heaven! In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

And may God bless you all in your service to Him. Merry Christmas :-}