5) VBS Grand Prize 6) Summer Children's Church Comment 7) Retreat Games 8) Summer Children's Church Comment 9) Summer Programs
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The BE-Attitudes ... for Women & Men
Can you think of a time when being poor was a good thing? We want to be rich in spirit, rich in health and rich in our bank accounts. We want the best of everything, because having the best is a measurement of our success. However, when Jesus began his sermon on the mount by saying, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit…”, he was not touting the benefits of those who don’t have money, nice clothing or fine food to eat. In God’s economy, being poor in spirit is about emptiness -- spiritual emptiness. It is coming to the realization that we are powerless to help ourselves and that nothing in and of ourselves naturally chooses to follow God’s ways.
The BE-Attitudes for adults is an eight session study for individuals or groups which explores how to make Jesus' attitudes your daily attitudes. To learn more about this series, go to:
In response to the Graduation issue, in light of the previous comment based on age. I wanted to suggests possibly ribbons, certificates or something special for those children who have possibly progressed more in their learning. I realize some might say well rewarding people for learning the word ....that shouldn't be. Yet, as adults we are able to understand the Lord's rewards within us a little better. Children require immediate gratification and our encouragement that the Lord will reward them in life with their knowledge. Also, you may want to be sure and give special recognition to those with positive behavior, eagerness to learn, attendance, helpfulness... as all people are not capable of retaining information but show their talents elsewhere. As God uses all these talents in His work, I believe we should encourage their demonstration of such talents. Hope this is helpful.
Mae
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2) Entertainment...WHY
This topic about entertaining kids has been going on for some time now. It appears that everyone is an expert in how, when and where we should things, but the main reason should by why?
Jesus ministered, entertained or whatever you would like to call it. However, He always said 'I always do the things that please my Father.' Jesus didn't do anything to promote himself only the will of the Father. Jesus had 12/70 disciples not everyone committed to him.
After Pentecost there were 3000 in one day. The proof of the pudding in any ministry in whether the Spirit is in or out.
Perhaps that's the question people should ask and not if it is entertaining. Glenn (UK)
--from SSTN: I believe the original question went to whether or not having an entertainment based program could result in a "sit back and entertain me" attitude and not "how to get children (or adults for that matter)" involved.
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3) Primary School Assembly?
Hi - Do you have any hits and tips on conducting a Primary School Assembly. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Pastor Sheena
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4) Entertainment: WWJD
The Bible declares that " delight yourself in the Lord and he will grant you the desires of your heart. It again says in Philippians that " rejoice in the Lord always and again i say rejoice". Further Paul admonishes the saints to sing hymns and spiritual songs. If we consider the word of God carefully then we will discover that even God wants us to be entertained. However His kind of entertainment is not as the world does it. I have seen many young people who attend churches services because they will be given an opportunity to " do their thing". But most of them have no roots.
When we are mature and well rooted in the Lord then we will not only get entertained but also know how to get entertained. It is more exciting to see a crippled walk or a sinner come to the Lord than to be subjected to some loud music that only likens the church to a pub than the house of prayer for all nations.
We are called to be ambassadors, the salt of the earth and the light of the world, a city on a hill that cannot be hid. I like one of games in this network that simply declares " WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?" We need to be ware and also ask the Lord to tell us what he would have us do. Amazingly we actually have have his mind.
My view is that any form of entertainment must come from the heart(s) of a true believer(s) and inspire or impart divine principles to the congregants regardless of their age. Otherwise many people will be unable to differentiate us from the rest of the world. For the Bible says " Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
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Pentecost Rusher Download
Have your kids learn about and celebrate Pentecost with our Pentecost Rusher Toy. It's easy-to-make and you can download as many patterns as you want for one low download fee!
>>Does anybody offer a grand prize at VBS any more? If so, how...
We have tried very hard to make all the children winners without a sense of loss or competiveness. we do not gift them at VBS. I do however reward them with Bible Bucks on Sundays. They get them for Bringing a Bible, Remembering a verse, Bringing a friend, Adding something substantial to our meeting, acts of kindness etc. Oh, how they love to trade in their ones and twos for tens! When they get to twenty or a number that fits the gift they shop with Shar. I strive to have all gifts (not candy) something with a good christian message. So far, this really works! His servant, Sharlene Canada
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6) Summer Children's Church Comment
I agree that Sunday School should be year round, but in a small church like ours with few teachers and few students, summers get pretty sparse for attendance. We don't have subs either, so in the summer when we all have plans away from home that include Sundays, we pool our kids and teachers. If you have the people and resources to support the kind of commitment you are requesting from them, then you are blessed.
The order of importance is God, husband/wife, children, work. I don't think teaching sunday school should come before family time in the summer, especially for our teachers who have full time jobs during the week, nor should kids feel bad for missing sunday school to spend the weekend with their family elsewhere. This is one of the many reasons I am anti-attendance awards. Kids don't control that, and for many of our kids, the parents don't attend church. I have strayed onto another topic here, so back to my main comment. Perhaps it is just me being defensive when I read the post, but it seemed condescending to me, and inconsiderate of the small churches with limited resources but not limited commitment or heart for the children.
Tanya
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7) Retreat Games
I just returned from my weekend youth retreat and they LOVED the following game. This is a game regarding decision making .. And how the Devil will try to steer you wrong.
We had teams of 3. 1 person gets blindfolded - then 1 person is the "devil" to try to lead you astray & the 3rd person is the "angel" to lead you safely thru an obstacle course. (We used Frisbees filled w/ water & shaving cream & traffic cones .. But be creative & use whatever you can find)... The goal is for the blindfolded person to get thru the obstacle course without "getting messy" or "off course". The blindfolded person does not know who is the devil or the angel & they have to thy to decide who's directions to listen to! This makes for great fun & great discussion afterwards!
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8) Summer Children's Church Comment
>We have Sunday school year around. I never heard of stopping for summer >until I read it on this forum. Our teachers do not sign up for a 9 >month commitment. If God has called them to teach, He has called them.
I am offended by the post above. We take a break, and it's not that we're not willing to commit!!! Does this mean that my family can't take a vacation because I don't have a substitute? Should it mean that my child and I NEVER get to attend a worship service because we have Sunday SchooL?? Family worship time is just as important to a child as Sunday School attendance. We also take off 1-2 weeks at Christmas, Palm Sunday, and Easter. The point is not teacher laziness or lack of commitment. It's family worship.
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9) Summer Programs
Our church contines their Sunday School but stops our Wed. Night program at the end of May. We replace it with a summer program that uses two of the teachers from the regular Wed night program. Each of the other teachers help during the summer for a week or two. We divide the groups into 3,4,5 year old and then from 1st through 5th grade. We choose a theme ("This year it is All Star Champions for God.") and present our lessons around this theme. We have found that we lose a lot of our kids to summer sports and this "drop in" kind of program works well for us. We encourge the children to bring friends and even if they only come a time or two we have had that opportunity to present them with the word of God. We take a one week break for VBS. We have a special night at the end of the program built around our theme. By combining the ages groups we have enought children to do the program. Judy
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