Easter will be here soon!
Easter comes early this year–March 31. Amidst all the chocolate bunnies and egg hunts, it’s a time to step back and celebrate what God has done. Jesus led a perfect, sinless life here on earth and sacrificed his life in order that we may have eternal life. On Easter we celebrate his sacrifice and his resurrection. Mark your calendar and join us at our regular time (11 am) as we celebrate. Of course, if you can’t join us, you can always catch the podcast here or in iTunes here.
Looking ahead: Dover Days-Special Project
As mentioned previously, we plan on setting up a booth on Saturday and telling people about who we are and why we do what we do. In planning and preparing, we have a really cool idea for a way to grab people’s attention while serving them. Well, we have a few ideas, but we have one new one that will be a lot of fun. This idea will take a little practice, but is great for people who love seeing kids smile. Even though Dover Days is still weeks away, if you want to be a part of this, I need to know in order to get things ready. (I’m purposely being cryptic while we plan out the idea, so you’ll have to come ask me in person or contact me for more information.)
Anyone who calls Deep Water home is welcome to come and pass out literature & cool swag, talk to people–and play lots of cool games with kids. Mark May 4 on your calendar. We’ll have more information soon–and you’ll even be able to order a T-Shirt if you want one.
And, of course, even if you don’t want to volunteer for this special project, remember to save the date for Dover Days. It’s a fun local event celebrating Dover’s history. There are lots of things for kids and adults to enjoy–and, as a church, we love being a part of this community!
Parent Cue for 2nd week of March
As a church, we want to supply resources to help you as a parent move your kids forward in their journey of faith. To help you, we supply a weekly “Parent Cue” and “Kids Devotional”. The Parent Cue will help you discuss the week’s lesson and Bible story with your child. You can schedule a time to sit down with them–or just have a discussion over dinner. For this week’s parent Cue, click here to download it.
For older kids, we also have Kids Devotional material that goes along with what we’re learning in Kids Church. Encourage kids to choose four different days during the week to do these devotions. Most 4th and 5th graders are capable of having a “quiet time” on their own, once they’ve been taught how to do it, but they still need an adult to prompt them and/or follow up on it. Even though kids in early elementary (kindergarten through 3rd grade) are beginning to read things on their own, most are not mature enough to have a God time by themselves. This is something extra you may choose to do with your younger kids. Click to download it here.
Looking ahead: Dover Days
Dover Days is a fun local event celebrating Dover’s history. While Deep Water has a pretty short history (although, we do have a bit of connection to some Delaware history), we do love being a part of this community.
We plan on setting up a booth on Saturday and telling people about who we are and why we do what we do. If you call Deep Water home, we’d love for you to get the opportunity to help us with passing out literature & cool swag, talking to people–and playing lots of cool games with kids. If you want to help us, mark the date on your calendar: May 4. We’ll have more information coming soon–and you’ll even be able to order a T-Shirt if you want one. So, wait for information, or contact me!
How to Study the Bible-Part 2
Last week, we discussed one simple way to get started reading the Bible (SOAP). This week, I’d like to discuss my favorite method of studying the Scriptures–the inductive Bible study method. Inductive Bible study is the process of looking into passages of the Bible and finding what the passage means from the evidence in the passage. Although authors may vary the process some, the basic method usually involved four steps.
The Inductive Method
- Observation: What do I see?
- Interpretation: What does it mean?
- Application: How should we respond?
- Personalization: How will I respond?
We’ll begin this week with observation (step 1). As we do, let’s learn to read and study the Bible. Here are a few tips for studying:
Studying the Bible
- Read–many people are never transformed by the Bible, because they never read the Bible with an open heart and mind
- Slowly–we often rush through reading, but the process of reading is more important than getting done
- Patiently–some passages might not be understood immediately, we need to take time with them
- Thoroughly–often we miss significant things because we gloss over the details
- Reflect–take time to think & pray for insight
- Record–keeping a journal or record will help you process passage
- Repeat–sometimes the depth of meaning in a passage is discovered only after spending significant time with a passage
To help you give this a try, let’s look at the passage we’ll be going over this week on Sunday. Comment below or contact me if you want to discuss your observations.
Exercise: Make observations in Luke 10:38-42, asking the following questions:
- Who?
- What?
- Where?
- When?
How many observations can you make?