Parents! This Sunday, December 17 is the annual Kids Church Christmas Party.

Please bring in a snack to share and we promise to send your kids back full of sugar…we mean, Christmas spirit!!

Hey Deep Water kids! During Kids Church this Sunday (December 19), we will be having cookies & cocoa. Please bring a dozen cookies (per family, not per kid) to share. Cocoa will be provided.

Hope you’ll join us in some pre-Christmas fun!!!

Hey Deep Water kids! During Kids Church on Sunday, December 19, we will be having cookies & cocoa. Please bring a dozen cookies (per family, not per kid) to share. Cocoa will be provided. Hope you’ll join us in some pre-Christmas fun!!!

Reminder: We have restarted Kids Church! At this time, we aren’t ready to open the Nursery. We’ll do our best to keep you informed as we move forward. If you have any questions, contact us!

We’re restarting Kids Church this week. We’ll maintain Covid protocols in a similar way as our local school district does. If you have any questions, contact us!

At this time, we aren’t ready to open the Nursery. We’ll do our best to keep you informed as we move forward.

We’re planning to restart Kids Church in the coming weeks. There is still time to give your input if you are a parent of a child or want to help. Click here for the survey.

At this time, we aren’t ready to open the Nursery. We’ll do our best to keep you informed as we move forward.

The last year challenged us all. We’ve been able to meet together but not have Kids Church or Nursery. If you have an infant(s) or school-aged child(ren), please take a minute to let us know your thoughts on reopening Kids Church and Nursery. (We also welcome your responses if you wish to volunteer.) The responses we receive will shape our next steps. Because we will need to make decisions based on your specific situation and response, we are asking for your name to complete the survey.

Click here for the survey.

With Easter week coming, we have a 5-minute devotional that will cover each day from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. The videos will allow you to explore the themes of Easter week with your kids. There is a short, 3-minute video with questions to discuss at points where you will be asked to pause the video. (If you noticed I said 5-minute devotional earlier, it’s because the questions should take about 2 minutes. ) We’re posting early this week so you can plan to use this Sunday with the fun Palm Sunday Activity and throughout the week.

Click here for the Easter Week devotional.

The videos are available on Right Now. If you don’t currently have access, let us know you’re interested and we’ll sign you up. It’s a gift from our church to you, so it is no cost to you!

We’re doing something a little different for Kids Church this week, so the post is coming out early so you can plan for it. Since it is Palm Sunday and we can’t meet together, here’s our fun Kids Craft and Exercise.

Follow the instructions and we’ll look for your video comment on Sunday! And if you want to download a branch to cut out and color, click here.

During the current COVID-19 crisis, we’re providing Kids Church materials for use at home.

We’re continuing where we are in the curriculum, week 3 of Emotions.God made us to have emotions, and God has them, too. During this four-week series, elementary students will learn that God is always with them to help them figure out why they feel the way they do, and how to deal with it. Whether the emotions feel good or bad, they can be helpful. Students will learn to pay attention to their emotions, learn to name them, and talk to God and trusted leaders, parents, and friends to help them sort through them. They will remember God’s grace—and that He’s with them to help them get back on track no matter how they’re feeling.

There is a Small Group Guide for each week in the series and a Challenge Card each week. (You can down them by clicking on the link.) Simply watch the video and ask your kids the questions. There is a fun learning activity included each week that you can choose to do too.

Here’ the teaching video:

During the current COVID-19 crisis, we’re providing Kids Church materials for use at home.

We’re continuing where we are in the curriculum, week 3 of Emotions.God made us to have emotions, and God has them, too. During this four-week series, elementary students will learn that God is always with them to help them figure out why they feel the way they do, and how to deal with it. Whether the emotions feel good or bad, they can be helpful. Students will learn to pay attention to their emotions, learn to name them, and talk to God and trusted leaders, parents, and friends to help them sort through them. They will remember God’s grace—and that He’s with them to help them get back on track no matter how they’re feeling.

There are Small Group Guide and a Challenge Card each week. (You can down them by clicking on the link.) Simply watch the video and ask your kids the questions. There is a fun learning activity included each week that you can choose to do too.

Here’ the teaching video:

Remember, we now have Kids Church at both the 9 and 11 am services!

When we first started the 9am service, we did not have Kids Church. This made it difficult for some people to attend at 9am, but we wanted to wait until we were able to offer the consistent quality our kids deserve.

We’re also welcoming a new teaching staff: Mariah started serving as our 11am teacher in December; and Mary began as our 9am teacher on January 31.

Mariah and her husband Lance come to us from Idaho. Mariah spent years with her family as a missionary living on an island in the Pacific. Mary has been part of our Kids Church Team for a while and has volunteered to lead for the 9am service. She and her husband Ron came here thru the AirForce and now call Delaware home. Both Mariah and Mary are really cool people who love Jesus and kids–be sure to meet them! Ask me (Jeff) and I’ll introduce you on Sunday!

Due to the snow last week, we will begin having Kids Church at both the 9 and 11 am services starting this week!

When we first started the 9am service, we did not have Kids Church. This made it difficult for some people to attend at 9am, but we wanted to wait until we were able to offer the consistent quality our kids deserve.

We’re also welcoming a new teaching staff: Mariah started serving as our 11am teacher in December; and Mary will begin as our 9am teacher starting this week, January 31.

Mariah and her husband Lance come to us from Idaho. Mariah spent years with her family as a missionary living on an island in the Pacific. Mary has been part of our Kids Church Team for a while and has volunteered to lead for the 9am service. She and her husband Ron came here thru the AirForce and now call Delaware home. Both Mariah and Mary are really cool people who love Jesus and kids–be sure to meet them! Ask me (Jeff) and I’ll introduce you on Sunday!

Reminder: Starting this week, we’ll have Kids Church at both the 9 and 11 am services.

When we first started the 9am service, we did not have Kids Church. This made it difficult for some people to attend at 9am, but we wanted to wait until we were able to offer the consistent quality our kids deserve.

We’re also welcoming a new teaching staff: Mariah started serving as our 11am teacher in December; and Mary will begin as our 9am teacher starting this week, January 24.

Mariah and her husband Lance come to us from Idaho. Mariah spent years with her family as a missionary living on an island in the Pacific. Mary has been part of our Kids Church Team for a while and has volunteered to lead for the 9am service. She and her husband Ron came here thru the AirForce and now call Delaware home. Both Mariah and Mary are really cool people who love Jesus and kids–be sure to meet them! Ask me (Jeff) and I’ll introduce you on Sunday!

Reminder: We’re adding Kids Church to the 9 am service. When we first started the 9am service, we did not have Kids Church. This made it difficult for some people to attend at 9am, but we wanted to wait until we were able to offer the consistent quality our kids deserve.

We’re also welcoming a new teaching staff: Mariah started serving as our 11am teacher in December; and Mary will begin as our 9am teacher starting January 24. Both are really cool people who love Jesus and kids–be sure to meet them! Ask me (Jeff) and I’ll introduce you on Sunday!

Note for clarity: Kids Church is currently offered at 11 am every week. Starting January 24, we’ll offer it at 9 am too.

Reminder: We’re adding Kids Church to the 9 am service. When we first started the 9am service, we did not have Kids Church. This made it difficult for some people to attend at 9am, but we wanted to wait until we were able to offer the consistent quality our kids deserve.

We’re also welcoming a new teaching staff: Mariah started serving as our 11am teacher in December; and Mary will begin as our 9am teacher starting January 24. Both are really cool people who love Jesus and kids!

Note for clarity: Kids Church is currently offered at 11 am every week. Starting January 24, we’ll offer it at 9 am too.

When we started Deep Water, we used rotating teams of volunteers to teach the kids at Kids Church. As we have continued to grow, the needs for our kids have grown too. With some new volunteers and the expansion to a second service, we are now able to offer Kids Church at both the 9 and 11 am services, starting January 24. (When we first started the 9am service, we did not have Kids Church. This made it difficult for some people to attend at 9am, but we wanted to wait until we were able to offer the consistent quality our kids deserve.)

Instead of rotating teams of volunteers, we will have one teacher teaching weekly at the 9am service and one for the 11am service. So, please welcome Mariah as our 11am teacher and Mary as our 9am teacher. Both are really cool people who love Jesus and kids!

Note for clarity: Kids Church is currently offered at 11 am every week. Starting January 24, we’ll offer it at 9 am too.

As we previously announced, we’ll be starting a second worship service in the fall to make room. It should make the process of finding a seat a little easier–and from the feedback we’re getting, an earlier service will be welcomed by many people.

This is a great opportunity to let friends know about Deep Water. New cards will arrive soon with our new service times. And if you like to do things on Facebook, please invite people to like our page. We’ll have a few more things going out on social media as we prepare.

Of course, to make the new service time a success, we need help in many areas; but there are a few areas in particular:

TECH (the computer and sound people who make things run smoothly)

GREETING (friendly people who can make people feel welcome)

BAND (those people singing and playing instruments), and

HOSPITALITY (those awesome folks who make the coffee, supply snacks and serve them after worship).

KIDS (those awesome people who invest in our kids during the 11am service)

To get involved, sign up on Sunday in the back or here online.

We currently rotate Kids workers so that one teacher and a helper do Kids Church once a month. We have an opening on the rotation and need a person willing to commit to helping with Kids Church on a monthly basis. If you’re interested in seeing if it’s a good fit for you, come give it a test drive: try it for a week with another teacher and see if it is something you would like.

FYI: All teachers working with kids under 18 at Deep Water go through a background check, so you have to be willing to submit to that if you decide to volunteer.

Contact us or comment below if you’re interested in taking a test drive!

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: October 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from last Sunday God Time October 5.
Looking forward to this week’s? Check out the one for God Time October 12.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For last month: September 2014 Parent Cue.
For this month: October 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from last Sunday God Time September 28.
Looking forward to this week’s? Check out the one for God Time October 5.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

When we hear the word creativity we respond in a handful of ways.

Many of us get excited. We love everything to do with creativity. We can draw or paint, sing or dance, and LOVE the arts.

Others of us break out into a cold sweat thinking about that one art class we had to take in high school.

Still others of us simply ignore it. We think we’re just not creative. Never have been; never will be.

And if you look at your kids, I bet at least a few of them feel the same way. They hate being on stage, they have no rhythm, can’t play an instrument, and start to flip out when they see a box of crayons. For whatever reason, they’ve been taught to think about creativity in terms of arts and crafts, music and dance.

But there’s something about creativity that we all need to remember. We’re not creative because of our talents. We’re creative because that’s how God made us. He designed each of us with a mind to think beyond ourselves and imagine the possibility for, well anything.

It’s God’s image in us that gives us the capacity to see beyond the ordinary and to understand a dimension of life that a dog, or a tree, or a whale cannot experience. Our imagination—our creativity—is a reflection of His image.

That’s why we’re taking the month of October to look at CREATIVITY: using your imagination to do something unique.

It’s so important that leaders and parents work to tap into a child’s imagination and fuel their creative side. Not simply because we want to unleash a child’s potential to do unique things, but because we want every child to grow up and put faith in what God can do in their personal life and believe in what He wants to do through them.

You have an opportunity throughout a child’s life to spark his or her creativity and to say over and over again to every child: You have amazing potential to create because you were created in the image of an amazing Creator.

Really, creativity is simply imagination plus action. When your imagination leads you to do something good, to make a unique mark, to find a unique answer or solution, you are being creative.

In week 1, we start with the most creative act ever: God’s creation of the world. In Genesis 1, we see God’s creativity on display as trees and flowers, stars and galaxies, and a whole lot of animals are spoken into being. And then God created us in His image to be creative in the world we call home.

Our Bottom Line is: You were created, so you can be creative. Creativity isn’t just about arts and crafts, creativity is about using your imagination to solve problems and figure out how to help others.

In week 2, we look at Exodus 1:22–2:10. Miriam had the responsibility of watching out for her brother Moses when he was floating in the Nile River. She thought on her feet and creatively figured out a way for Moses’ mother to be with him in the palace.

Our Bottom Line is: Use your imagination to figure it out. We will discover that God gave us an imagination to solve problems of any size.

In week 3, we look at David’s final words in 2 Samuel 23:1-2. David notes that he did what God created him to do. He ruled God’s people. He wrote songs of worship to God. David didn’t always get it right, but he was still a man after God’s heart.

Our Bottom Line is: Use your imagination to do what you were made to do. God uniquely designed each of us to do something specific. We’ll discover ideas for how to put our gifts into practice.

In week 4, we take a look at one of Jesus’ familiar teachings from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:14-16. Jesus told His followers that they are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. We can use our gifts to point others toward Jesus.

Our Bottom Line is: Use your imagination to do more good. When we use our gifts and talents to do good, we have an opportunity to show others God’s love. When people see the good we do, it points them toward God.

Our memory verse this month is Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

God wants to do something unique with our lives. We are created in His image, and because of His work in us through Jesus, we have an amazing capacity to use our creativity to do more good things.

Every parent, every leader wants the children they influence to live their lives to the fullest. When we really believe we are made in the image of God, we believe in a new set of possibilities. When you understand the image of God that is in you, you begin to look at life from a new perspective.

By Dan Scott ©2014 The reThink Group. All rights reserved. www.ThinkOrange.com *Used by permission.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: September 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from last Sunday God Time – September 21.
Looking forward to this week’s? Check out the one for God Time – September 28.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: September 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from last Sunday God Time – September 14.
Looking forward to this week’s? Check out the one for God Time – September 21.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: September 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from last Sunday God Time – September 7.
Looking forward to this week’s? Check out the one for God Time – September 14.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: September 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from last Sunday God Time August 31.
Looking forward to this week’s? Check out the one for God Time – September 7.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Have you ever walked through your local grocery store and noticed the potential just sitting on the shelves?

You can head down one aisle and discover spices from around the world.

Over in the produce stands, you can find the ripest apples, cartons of blueberries, maybe even some obscure Dragon Fruit.

Not to mention all of the staples on another aisle: flour, sugar, eggs, and milk.

Incredible ingredients that will sit there and go bad unless someone takes them home and creates something delicious.

You can speculate all day about the potential in that grocery store, but until there is some type of response to what you believe can really happen, it’s just potential. In other words, with the right kind of response, faith in a process I can’t fully understand, and a big mess of dishes, those ingredients could turn into warm, sticky-sweet, apple cobbler goodness. But if those ingredients just sit there, even though they have incredible potential, the flour will just stay powdery and tasteless. The butter will soften. And those apples will turn brown. In fact, if you do nothing, they will lose their potential and turn into something that just makes your trash smell bad.

Think about someone’s life, with all of the God-given, God-created ingredients. You have time, talents, opportunities, words, and resources. The point is, we can choose to either respond to what God has given us or we can ignore it. One of the most powerful things leaders and parents can do is to inspire their children to trust that God can do amazing things through the abilities He’s given them. Kids should grow up knowing that their faith in God’s ability to do that, can profoundly affect how they view and respond to their unique potential.

That’s why we’re taking September to look more closely at what the Bible has to say about responsibility. We define responsibility as: Showing you can be trusted by what you say and do.

In Week 1, we head back to the garden of Eden where God created Adam and Eve and gave them their First Job. Through passages in Genesis 1 and 2, we’ll see how they were put in charge of the entire world. They took responsibility and began to cultivate the earth.

Our Bottom Line is: Show you can be trusted by taking care of what God has made. The first job God gave to Adam and Eve was a task that we can continue today.

In Week 2, we’ll look at 1 Kings 19:16-21 and 2 Kings 2:1-15. Elijah was nearing the end of his work as God’s prophet. God chose Elisha to carry on the work. But first, Elisha had some things to learn.

Our Bottom Line is: Show you can be trusted to lead by learning how to follow. We all want to lead, but we need to learn from our leaders before we can be in charge.

In Week 3, we’ll hear from one of Jesus’ parables in Matthew 21:28-32. In the Parable of the Two Sons, a father asked his sons to do some work. One said “yes” but didn’t follow through with his actions. The other said “no” at first, but ended up completing the job anyway. We’ll discover that it’s important to do what you say you will.

Our Bottom Line is: Show you can be trusted by what you do. You can’t just say you’ll do something; you actually have to do it.

In Week 4, we’ll look at another of Jesus’ parables found in Matthew 25:14-29a. In the Parable of the Talents, a business owner went on a trip and put three guys in charge of some money. Each one did something different, but only two of them were found faithful and given more responsibility.

Our Bottom Line is: Show you can be trusted with more by taking care of what you have. If you want more responsibility, show that you can be responsible with what you already have.

Our memory verse this month is Luke 16:10a, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.” (NIV) When we show responsibility with the little things, there’s a good chance we’ll have opportunity for greater responsibility in the future.

God has created everyone with potential: talents, time, resources, opportunities. And we can either respond to God with our abilities in a way that honors Him, or we can waste what He has given. Think about the word responsibility. It really breaks down into how you respond with your abilities. And we want children to not only understand how to respond to the ability that God’s given them, but also how to respond to God’s ability to work through them to change the world around them.

By Dan Scott ©2014 The reThink Group. All rights reserved. www.ThinkOrange.com *Used by permission.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: August 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from last Sunday God Time August 24.
Looking forward to this week’s? Check out the one for God Time August 31.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: August 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday God Time August 17.
Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time August 24.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: August 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday God Time August 10.
Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time August 17.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: August 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday  God Time August 3.
Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time August 10.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

If you’re a parent, a teacher, an aunt or uncle, or even just a person who works with kids a lot, chances are that you have some drawings or coloring pages tacked up on the walls of your cubicle or on the side of your fridge. These may not be framed in a museum anytime soon but they are there because you know who made them. You value the kids who made them. You have a relationship with the people who made them.

To put it another way, you respect the art because you know the artist.

During August, we’re talking about respect—showing others they are important by what you say and do. Honestly, it’s easy to respect a flawed painting when you value the person who made it. But when it comes to respecting people, it gets a bit messier.

This month our memory verse comes from 1 Peter 2:17. It just says, “Show proper respect to everyone.” (NIrV) Pretty simple.

But really, it’s not simple, is it? I mean … Respect. Everyone?

If a painting has a few flaws, those are pretty easy to overlook. But people will do and say things that frustrate, anger or hurt us. People—especially those who have some level of authority—may ask us to do something we don’t want to do, or even worse, they may tell us not to do something we really want to do.

In fact, if you think about people only in terms of how they cooperate with what you want, it’s pretty much impossible to show respect. But if we stop and look at people with the knowledge that God made them, then we see things very differently. Suddenly, we can realize two incredible ideas.

First, that God made them.

Second, that God put them exactly where He wants them to be.

Unfortunately, knowing those two things doesn’t make respect any easier. It doesn’t mean that we will agree with everything our boss says. It doesn’t even mean that we submit in every situation—especially if it goes against God.

What it does mean is that we can respect those who have temporary authority in this life, because we know the One who has the ultimate authority, and we trust in Him.

Thankfully, the Bible incudes stories and principles that can help encourage us as we seek to show respect to everyone in our lives.

In Week 1, we’ll take a look at Matthew 8:5-13. Here, we meet a centurion whose servant is terribly sick. This powerful centurion goes straight to the one man he knows can help: Jesus! And when Jesus asks, “Shall I come and heal him?” the centurion shows unbelievable respect for God!

Our Bottom Line is: Respect God because He’s in charge of everything. God set the world in motion. Respect is the proper response to the awesome character of God.

In Week 2, we discover what Paul says about respect. He writes to the new believers in Rome. It wasn’t always easy living under Roman leadership, but in Romans 13:1-5, Paul gives them encouragement and reminds them that God put those people in charge for a reason.

Our Bottom Line is: Respect those who are in charge. When you respect those who are in charge, you’re actually showing respect toward God.

In Week 3, we take a look at 1 Samuel 24. We find David running from King Saul. David has the perfect opportunity to take care of King Saul but trusts God’s timing. David respects King Saul and spares His life.

Our Bottom Line is: Respect those who are in charge, even when they don’t deserve it. Not everyone in authority will deserve your respect all of the time. But God wants us to respect their position of authority and treat them with value as one created in God’s image.

In Week 4, we learn more about James 3:9-12. Our words can be used to glorify God one minute and talk badly about our friends the next. When we’re talking about respect, often it’s our words that we really need to watch.

Our Bottom Line is: Respect others with your words. Our words have power. Let’s use them to value others and treat them with respect.

In Week 5, we’ll close out the month by returning to the book of James. In Chapter 2:1-5 we’ll learn that with God it doesn’t matter what people look like on the outside. We should respect all people because they are valuable to God.

Our Bottom Line is: Respect others because they are important to God. Everyone has value because they were created in God’s image.

We hope that as kids discover what the Bible says about respect, they’ll head into their new school year knowing they can respect those in charge because they know the One who’s in charge of everything.

By Dan Scott ©2014 The reThink Group. All rights reserved. www.ThinkOrange.com *Used by permission.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: July 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday  God Time July 6.
Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time July 13.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: July 2014 Parent Cue.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday God Time June 29.
Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time July 6.

What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: Parent Cue – June 2014

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday God Time June 22. Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time June 29. What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: Parent Cue – June 2014

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday God Time June 15. Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time June 22. What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: Parent Cue – June 2014

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday God Time June 8. Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time June 15. What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids. We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out June’s theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For this month: Parent Cue – June 2014

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday God Time June 1. Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time June 8. What’s the deal with these anyway? Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

This past year, we’ve enjoyed taking kids through a contextual look at God’s One Big Story. We’ve traveled through the Bible covering the familiar stories of Abraham and Joseph, Moses and King David. We made it all the way to Jesus, Paul, and the start of the early church.

As the church started, no longer were these just a handful of disciples. These were growing congregations filled with people from all walks of life. And needless to say, they didn’t always get along. They disagreed and argued. They had a hard time forgiving and serving each other.

Several of the apostles began writing about how to live together as believers. These writings are not presented in the form of a story. They are letters. They are sermons. Delivered by people and for people, they are historic, but they are not really a story. But we think it’s important that kids experience those letters and sermons too. So to help illustrate these important truths, we’ve wrapped them in a summer-long story about friendship. We’re taking the summer to look at what the New Testament letters have to say about friendship.

Friendship is treating others the way you want to be treated. Each week, we’ll take a look at a “one another” principle that gives us a framework for loving others the way God loved us. Because these verses are short, we suggest that you take this summer to memorize each one.

In Week 1, we take a look at what John says about loving each other in 1 John 4:10-12. Kids will learn that because God loved us first, we should also love one another. Our Bottom Line is: Friends love each other.

In Week 2, kids learn from Peter’s teaching on hospitality found in 1 Peter 4:9. When it comes to welcoming others, we need to do so without complaining. Our Bottom Line is: Friends welcome each other.

In Week 3, kids will start talking about what they know that they could teach others. InRomans 15:14, Paul tells the church that they have what it takes to share Jesus with others. Our Bottom Line is: Friends teach each other.

In Week 4, we take a look at an important principle about patience. It’s hard to be a good friend when people can be frustrating. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4:2 that we should put up with one another. Our Bottom Line is: Friends are patient with each other.

Finally, in Week 5, kids talk about an important part of friendship: service. Life isn’t all about us. Paul shares with us in Galatians 5:13b that relationships aren’t all about us. Our Bottom Line is: Friends serve each other.

Our summer widget, the Friend Pix Chain, was created to help kids memorize the verses each week. This simple chain comes with nine guitar-style picks, each one listing a Bible verse reference to go with the nine weeks of our summer Friendship series. Kids can add a new pick each week as they memorize the verse and wear the chain to remind them to treat others as they want to be treated.

We’ve also created a nine-week devotional book called Over the Fence: Adventures in Friendship. The book details the summer adventures of four unlikely friends through nine episodes. Each stand-alone story is followed by four days of devotional thoughts and activities to spark kids’ imaginations with God’s design for friendship. This book will be available for purchase at The Orange Conference or in our online Orange Store in May.

We pray this will be a fun start to the summer for kids to learn more about how they can show friendship to everyone.

By Dan Scott ©2014 The reThink Group. All rights reserved. www.ThinkOrange.com *Used by permission.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids.

We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out May’s  theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For the material for this month: Parent Cue – May 2014

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday: God Time May 18
Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time May 25 .

What’s the deal with these anyway?
Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids.

We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out May’s  theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For the material for this month: Parent Cue – May 2014

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday: God Time May 11.
Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time May 18.

What’s the deal with these anyway?
Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids.

We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out May’s  theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For the material for this month: Parent Cue – May 2014

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday: God Time May 4.
Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time May 11.

What’s the deal with these anyway?
Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids.

We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below. Interested in the teaching plan? Check out May’s  theme here.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For the material this month: Parent Cue – April 2014.
For the material for next month: Parent Cue – May 2014

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday: God Time April 27.
Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time May 4.

What’s the deal with these anyway?
Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Like most kids in elementary school, you probably studied inventors—those men and women who work tirelessly to bring us technology that changes our lives. From a movable type printing press which made it possible for the Bible to be published for the masses, to the Internet which now allows multiple translations of the Bible to show up in the palm of your hand. From figuring out how to harness electricity to creating a glass bulb which can light up the night. Inventors have spent countless hours on prototypes, mistakes, or even failures on their journey toward a breakthrough—that one moment when everything comes together making a theory into a reality.

Simply put: being an inventor takes a whole lot of endurance. But let’s face it—life in general takes a whole lot of endurance too.

The kids in your ministry have been in school for eight or nine months by now. They are tired of the classes, the schoolwork, and the tests. They’re ready for summer, yet they know they still have a few weeks left. Like you, we want them to finish strong. That’s one of the reasons why we’re taking the month of May to look more closely at endurance.

ENDURANCE is sticking with what you started even when it gets tough. When work gets tough, when exhaustion sets in on the soccer field, or when that science project just won’t come together, endurance is what gives us that extra something to keep us going until we finish what we began.

The believers in the early church faced all sorts of trials and suffering that could have easily made them question their faith and abandon the mission Jesus had for them. Yet, they remained strong. They endured through all of it because they had faith that everything they faced was worth it—knowing that more people would know the message of Jesus.

Our memory verse for the month is Galatians 6:9, NIrV: “Let us not become tired of doing good. At the right time we will gather a crop if we don’t give up.” When we have endurance, we can know that it will be worth it. We’ll experience the joy of finishing what we started.

In Week One’s Bible story, before Jesus ascended back into heaven, He left His disciples a huge task of telling the world about His life, death, and resurrection. It’s a big job, but He didn’t leave them without a helper. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and shared God’s story like they never had before! (Acts 1:1-10; Acts 2:1-41) Our Bottom Line is: I can stick with it because God will help me.

In Week Two’s Bible story, we find out that Paul and Silas were thrown in prison after they wouldn’t stop talking about Jesus, even when they were ordered to quit. Paul and Silas started singing, and God showed up for them in big way. (Acts 16:16-40) Our Bottom Line is: I can stick with it even when things don’t go my way.

In Week Three’s Bible story, we take a closer look at our memory verse for the month,Galatians 6:9. This is a great principle reminding us that even when things don’t go our way, if it’s something good, we will see a reward for our hard work and endurance. Our Bottom Line is: I should stick with it because it’s worth it.

In Week Four’s Bible story, we end our month with the special vision that God gives John on the Isle of Patmos. (Revelation 21:1-8, 22-27; 22:1-5) John assured us that God knows how His one big story will end. We get a tiny peek of what that will look like. And it will be amazing. Our Bottom Line is: I can stick with it because God knows the end of the story. We pray kids will find huge comfort in discovering that no matter what they face, God has it already worked out.

By Dan Scott ©2014 The reThink Group. All rights reserved. www.ThinkOrange.com *Used by permission.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids.

We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For the material this month: Parent Cue – April 2014.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from this Sunday: God Time April 20.
Looking forward to next week’s? Check out the one for God Time April 27.

What’s the deal with these anyway?
Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids.

We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For the material this month: Parent Cue – April 2014.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from Sunday: God Time April 6.
Looking forward to next week’s? Forget to pick one up? Check out the one for God Time April 13.

What’s the deal with these anyway?
Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

A 2010 study by the Barna Group found that most active churchgoers see Easter as a good time to invite someone to attend worship service. According to the researcher, “If each of those people brought just one adult as their guest, that’d be the equivalent of adding 115 new people per Christian congregation.” Although it may not be realistic to expect everyone to bring a friend, it is clear that our churches need to be prepared to welcome guests throughout the Easter season. (See the source here.)

The thing about hosting guests is that sometimes we have to give up some of our own comfort to accommodate their needs. We might need to park further away, sit in a seat that isn’t our norm, wear a certain volunteer shirt, or patiently answer questions. An accumulation of small considerations can make a big difference to a guest. And Easter is a wonderful time to find a new way to put guests first in our churches.

Humility is putting others first by giving up what you think you deserve. Putting others first is not our natural inclination. We live in a world that’s all about putting ourselves first. Jesus lived in a world like that too. He could have looked out for Himself, but He didn’t. Out of His love for us, He chose to put us first.

Putting others first will cost you something: your time or money. Maybe it will cost you some pride. But when we choose to follow Jesus with our lives, believing that His death and resurrection made it possible for us to be right with God, the least we can do is put others first—even if it’s a bit uncomfortable and costs us something.

The monthly memory verse is: “Don’t do anything only to get ahead. Don’t do it because you are proud. Instead, be free of pride. Think of others as better than yourselves,” Philippians 2:3, NIrV. When we put others first, sometimes we’ll have to make sacrifices. We might sacrifice our pride. We might sacrifice our wants. But nothing we sacrifice will compare with the great sacrifice Jesus made for us.

In Week One’s Bible story, Jesus serves His disciples by washing their feet (John 13:1-17). Our Bottom Line is: I can put others first by serving them. Serving others often means taking the dirty jobs that no one else wants to do.

In Week Two’s Bible story, Peter wanted to take action and fight in the garden, but he didn’t wait to consider what Jesus wanted (John 18:1-11). Our Bottom Line is: I can put others first by giving up what I want. We show humility when we allow others to choose what they want before we make a choice.

In Week Three’s Bible story, Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient to death on a cross (John 18:12 – 20:23). Our Bottom Line is: I should put others first because Jesus put others first. It cost Jesus everything to put us first. His humility can inspire us to help someone else, even when it costs us something.

In Week Four’s Bible story, Jesus doesn’t have to forgive Peter, but chooses to make things right and restore His relationship with Peter (John 21:1-19). Our Bottom Line is: I can put others first by making things right. Be the first to go to the person and ask for their forgiveness.

By Jessica McKee ©2014 The reThink Group. All rights reserved. www.ThinkOrange.com *Used by permission.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids.

We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For the material this month: Parent Cue – April 2014.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from Sunday: God Time April 6.
Looking forward to next week’s? Forget to pick one up? Check out the one for God Time March 30.

What’s the deal with these anyway?
Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.

Each month we supply a Parent Cue for parents and a weekly God Time sheet for kids.

We post the monthly Parent Cue discussion sheet and the week’s God Time exercise for the lesson that was taught this Sunday. Copies of these are also available on the welcome table as you enter the main worship space. Or, for your convenience, you can download them below.

Parent Cue Discussion Spiritual Discussion Starter Sheet
For the material this month: Monthly Parent Cue – March 2014.

God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from Sunday: God Time March 23.
Looking forward to next week’s? Forget to pick one up? Check out the one for God Time March 23.

What’s the deal with these anyway?
Our goal as a church is provide you with resources to help your children grow spiritually. We’re doing our best to make things simple and easy. Please feel free to give us feedback on this!

• The Parent Cue is meant to be a resource for you to discuss and reinforce the lesson with your kids. The monthly sheet contains discussion questions for each week. They are designed to help you understand what your kids are learning and talk with your kids about spiritual principles in a relaxed way. They make great dinner conversation!
• The God Time is intended to help kids learn to spend some quiet time with God on their own so they learn to grow spiritually and begin to take responsibility for doing spiritual things on their own. (Of course, they can be fun to do as a family and you’re welcome to help them and model it for them as they learn!)

Need instructions, click here.