Clown College for St. Patricks Day this Sunday
One of the things we would like to do to connect with people this St. Patricks Day is make silly balloon hats and animals for people as we hand them a card about where we are. (And we plan to stand near our door so we can point people to where we meet.)
As much as I love tying balloons, I will need some help to make it a success. As I’ve said before, they are surprisingly easy to learn to make. We will have a “clown college” course: Balloon Tying 101 & Silly Leprechaun Hats this Sunday, March 2 after the main worship gathering. It will only take about 15-20 minutes to learn to make hats and animals. If you find you can’t quite get the hang of it, you could help the day of the parade by filling balloons for those who tie them.
If you can take a minute to RSVP, it will help me plan for balloon making supplies and to gauge interest. You can RSVP by commenting below or clicking on the event in our online community by logging in here.
Saturday Seminary…a Reasonable Faith
Diary of a Prodigal Kid [Control + Alt + Delete] (March 2014 Kids Church Theme)
Louis Zamperini was on a WWII reconnaissance run when his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean. He was captured and held as a POW, enduring two years of verbal and physical torture. When he returned home at the end of the war, Mr. Zamperini continued to suffer regular nightmares and felt his life spinning out of control. Until he heard Billy Graham deliver a message about forgiveness. Mr. Zamperini found the guards who had haunted him and chose to fogive them. He hasn’t had a nightmare since.
“The hardest thing in life is to forgive.” Mr. Zamperini said. “But healing, real healing, only comes from forgiveness.” See more of Louis Zamperini’s inspiring story of the power of forgiveness here.
Forgiveness is deciding that someone who has wronged you doesn’t have to pay.When we choose to forgive others, it’s a response to the great love and forgiveness God has shown us. Forgiveness means letting go of what someone did to us in order to restore the relationship.
But forgiveness isn’t always a simple exchange. What if the person never apologizes? Forgive anyway. What if the person does it again? Forgive again. What if the person never changes? Keep on forgiving. By controlling how you respond and making an alternate choice to forgive, you can delete the impact of what that person did to you.
The monthly memory verse is:“Forgive the things you are holding against one another. Forgive, just as the Lord forgave you,” Colossians 3:13, NIrV. Through God’s forgiveness, we are inspired to love, serve, and give to others. His forgiveness changes our eternity. And our forgiveness of others can impact their futures.
In Week One’s Bible story, Jesus told a story about a son who sinned against his father (Luke 15:11-20). He owned what he did was wrong and returned home to seek his father’s forgiveness. Our Bottom Line is: Everyone needs to be forgiven, even me.
In Week Two’s Bible story, the older brother chose not to forgive the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:21-32). He missed out on a party and also missed out on rebuilding a relationship with his brother. Our Bottom Line is: When you don’t forgive, you miss out.
In Week Three’s Bible story, Peter thought he was doing well to forgive someone seven times (Matthew 18:21-35). Jesus raised the stakes when He said we should forgive others even more. Our Bottom Line is: Since God forgave you, you should forgive others.
In Week Four’s Bible story, Jesus teaches about judging with an example of someone who needs to focus on his own problems before pointing out his friend’s. (Matthew 7:1-5). Our Bottom Line is: Be careful not to judge others, because you’ve been wrong too.
In Week Five’s Bible story, Zacchaeus was a tax collector who stole money from people (Luke 19:1-10). Jesus offered him forgiveness, which changed Zacchaeus’ outlook on life. Our Bottom Line is: When people are forgiven, it can change them.
By Jessica McKee ©2013 The reThink Group. All rights reserved. www.ThinkOrange.com *Used by permission.
Kids God Time Sheets & Monthly Parent Cue (Sunday, February 23)
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: February Parent Cue.
God Time Quiet Time Exercise for Kids
For the lesson from Sunday: God Time February 23.
Looking forward to next week’s? Forget to pick one up? Check out the one for God Time March 2.
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.
Clown College for St. Patricks Day
As a church, we try to connect with people during downtown events. With St. Patricks Day approaching, we have an opportunity to connect with people as they attend the parade on Saturday, March 15, 2014.
One of the things we would like to do is make silly balloon hats and animals for people as we hand them a card about where we are. (And we plan to stand near our door so we can point people to where we meet.) As much as I love tying balloons, I will need some help to make it a success. They are surprisingly easy to learn to make. We will have a “clown college” course: Balloon Tying 101 & Silly Leprechaun Hats on Sunday, March 2 after the main worship gathering. It will only take about 15-20 minutes to learn to make hats and animals. If you find you can’t quite get the hang of it, you could help the day of the parade by filling balloons for those who tie them.
We have a few other ideas about how to connect with people, but are still open to ideas. If you have some ideas or are interested in learning more or helping out, contact me (Jeff).
If you can take a minute to RSVP, it will help me plan for balloon making supplies and to gauge interest. You can RSVP by commenting below or clicking on the event in our online community by logging in here.