Preschool (2 years to Pre-K)

God Makes Good Things!

This is a truth I believe we wrestle with into adulthood.  Am I good enough?  Why can’t I sing as well as she can?  Why aren’t I as strong as he is?

The challenge of comparison is a weight we pick up and put down throughout our lives as we learn and re-learn the truth of God’s word… God Makes Good Things.  This week we continue to talk about Day 6 and God’s final creation that day.  Many would say, God saved the best for last.  Why?  Because that’s when He made people.

As parents, I think we can all agree on one thing.  We love our preschoolers and we believe God crafted them so uniquely.  In fact, in the moments that our little ones get frustrated or hurt because they can’t do what someone else can do we launch into an endless list of all the things that make them special.  Our hearts and spirits ache for our kids to know how beautifully crafted they are.

Do you realize that your Heavenly Father views you the same way?  Do you know that when you look at yourself in the mirror and wrestle through doubts about your physical appearance, your personality, your abilities and talents… your Heavenly Father is somewhere in the background whispering the truth to you.  That God Makes Good Things.  We can chalk this week’s story up to the simple knowledge that the creation of man was supernatural, not accidental.  Or we can dig deeper and be reminded of the miraculous work that God did in the way He crafted Adam and Eve and every other human being.  This week, Make It Personal, by recognizing those moments where inadequacy creeps in.  Submit those thoughts to the Lord and focus on that still, small voice reminding you that you are fearfully & wonderfully made.

Elementary (K-3rd Grade)

Love is choosing to give someone your time and friendship no matter what.

Our Bible story is actually two different stories that happened pretty close together (Mark 8:29, 10:35-37; John 13:34-35, 15:12-13). We listen in as Jesus is trying to prepare the disciples that He’s going to die and leave. So you’d think that they’d be super focused, but instead, we find that they are fighting over who will sit closest to Him in heaven—basically, who’s the VIP here?

Jesus turns this around on them by giving them just a taste of what Greater Love looks like. He starts to do a servant’s job and wash their feet. Then he commands them to do the same—to love one another in a big way. Even to lay down their lives for their friends. So our Bottom Line is: Love others by putting them first.

Jesus doesn’t just tell us one thing and do something different. No. He showed us what real love taken to the ultimate limit looks like—by dying in our place. So surely we can treat others the way we want to be treated and as our monthly Memory Verse says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39, NIV

This week, Create a Rhythm, by recognizing the ways your child puts others first.  What is recognized is repeated.

Club 45

Hot, Bold & Confident

In Acts 4:1-22, we focus on how Peter and John boldly taught about the Resurrection of Christ to an audience filled with people that would take any means necessary to stifle that message.

In a world today filled with mixed messages and agendas, we want our tweens to have a Hot, Bold, Confident faith that doesn’t waiver a midst an audience that disagrees.  But how do we do this?

This week, Make It Personal by reading through Acts 4:1-22 yourself.  Ask God to show you one area of your life where He wants you to be Hot, Bold & Confident in your faith.  When you choose to lean into Christ, your child learns to lean into Christ too.