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SSTN # 37 - April 30, 2004


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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:


Prayer Wheel ... NEW!

1) No Room To Teach
2) No Place to Teach
3) Fruit of the Spirit Songs

The Parables of Jesus ... NEW!

4) Fruit of the Spirit Song
5) No Place To Teach
6) Handprint prayer?

Fruit of the Spirit Spinner ... NEW!
 
7) Fruit of the Spirit Rap / Song
8) Fruit of the Spirit Song
9) No Where To Teach 

Ascension Sunday Craft

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Prayer Wheel ... NEW!

Children turn the wheel to learn "The Lord's Prayer", the prayer that
Jesus taught us to pray. Use the Prayer Wheel during class time, at the
dinner table, or for morning and bedtime prayers! Kids color, cut, and
assemble the easy-to-make patterns.

Learn more at:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html 


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1) No Room To Teach
 
If children's ministry is not ONE of the main priorities in a church the
church will eventually die (literally). Therefore, it is sad when a church
doesn't make a place for children. I would suggest asking the parents that
do bring their children to become a voice for their kids and ask that a
place be made for them. Also, remind your pastor and those in charge about
Jesus' warnings:
 
"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But
if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it
would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and
to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Matt. 18:5-6
 
and

Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on
them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."    Matt. 19:13-14

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2) No Place To Teach

This message is in response to the posting about having no place to teach.
While I don't know all of the circumstances, and I likely don't even have
the definite solution, I would definitely suggest that this is a matter
that you should take up with God in prayer. Talk about the situation,
think through it, and see if this church is really where God wants you to
be, or if it is merely a stepping stone to get you to another church,
another ministry, or on a completely different path in your life. If it
comes down to the decision that you are where you are supposed to be at,
then ask God for the wisdom to solve the situation currently at hand. With
His help, you can find the right words to express your concerns to the
Pastor in a way that will not seem harsh or criticizing of what the Pastor
wants for the church. Explain that the children need a consistent place to
meet as often as possible, and give reasons why, such as consistency helps
children to feel loved, nurtured, and safe. Also explain that you are
unable to teach without having a designated area to teach in, as it makes
it impossible to plan activities not knowing whether you will be indoors
or outdoors, and when it is outdoors what can be done in the case of
rainy, windy, snowy...you fill in that blank weather. Maybe God has you
there to help establish a children's ministry that works in a church which
may not be primarily focused on it's youth. If this is the case, you can
set up a Sunday School class just about anywhere. A cornered off section
of the parking lot with chairs and a couple of tables, a grassy area with
blankets and a portable tent, or a section of a hallway that has been
sectioned off and tables set up could all serve as temporary classrooms.
It may just be (and sounds like the case is) that the focus when
establishing the church was not on the youth, and all though reaching the
youth is important it sounds as though your church may just not have the
facilities available. Bottom line is, if the Pastor is interested in
having a youth program, then there should be a way to compromise, even if
it means other groups in the church sacrificing some time, space, or
parking spots. Go to God in prayer for the wisdom, and let your heart
guide your actions and God hold His hand over your mouth...at least that
always works for me.
Hope this helps!
Love in Christ,
Sarah in California


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3) Fruit of the Spirit Songs

There are at least 2 different songs from Gospel Light - one was with a
Bible School on Son Country or Son Farm and one with a program that we use
as a mid-week Bible club centered on Fruits of the Spirit.  There's a
third my girls learned at a church camp that lets kids pick a fruit and
then insert it in the song:   The fruit of the spirit ain't (name of the
fruit)The fruit of the spirit ain't (name of the fruit)
If you wanna be a (name of the fruit), you might as well
hear it You can't be a fruit of the spirit.
The fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-contro-o-o-l! 
Love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness
and self control!

Any tune or rhythm that fit the words will work, with the "chorus" really
being more a shouting out of the names of the fruit of the spirit.  Simple
claps add to it also.  (My daughter that teaches Kindergarten encourages
using "isn't" in place of "ain't")


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The Parables of Jesus ... NEW!

Parables are "earthly stories with heavenly meanings”. This 12 week series
examines six parables that focus on "Faith", "God's Mercy", "Being
Merciful", "Obedience", "Prayer", and "Evangelism". Through the use of
hands-on Bible lessons, crafts and games, children will gain a better
understanding of these important truths. Can be incorporated into
rotation-type programs!  Learn more at:

http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html 


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4) Fruit of the Spirit Song

Hi Mary W,
 
There is a CD by Vineyard Music called Fruit of the Spirit which has a
song about the Fruit of the Spirit on it.  It also contains a second CD
with the lyrics, music and actions for the songs.  There are other great
songs for children on it.  Well worth the buy.  The code on the CD is G2
6012 1 29390 2 9    VMD9377.
 
Blessings
Vanessa, Durban, S Africa


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5) No Place To Teach

I too am a Sunday School teacher at a small curuch, when we first started
out four years ago we had a great building that allowed us to have rooms
and as we grew we were able to split the children age appropriate - on
those Sundays when we only had two in each group we combined to make it
more fun. Well two years ago the are we lived in had a flood and our
location was ruined, we then had to move to a Jr high school - here we
have meet in the halls, in the gym, outside, and even in the stair well.
We roll wit the punches and just keep praying, We have a sunday school
trailer that we load up everything we are going to need and different
parishners take turns towing into to our location. We have tables and
chairs as well as our supplies - we teachers have to keep up with our own
curric and craft stuff but we have seen these children leaving us blessed
and ask there parent to bring them back because they had fun and we have
had many families join our church simply because of our children's
ministry. I will pray for your situation- I wish I had an easy answer for
us it just gets easier every year, however we do have a great support from
our pasters as well as our elders and deacons. We have about 5-10 kids in
each of our classes and meet at seperate ends of a hall, its not what we
want but it is what God has given us. May God bless you and give you some
creative ideas to help you. Don't give up!
 
Holly M

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6) Handprint prayer?

I'm looking for a handprint prayer that I saw somewhere.  The pinkie
finger is to pray for yourself , the pointer to pray for teachers, etc.
and I'm unable to recall the rest.  Any help would be greatly
appreciated.  Thank you.

--from SSTN: you can find it in the Archives.
Type "prayer" or "pinkie" into the search box at: 
 http://christiancrafters.com/archives.html  


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Fruit of the Spirit Spinner ... NEW!

Children will learn the Fruit of the Spirit in a fun new way. Each
characteristic is illustrated with a whimsical cartoon fruit for kids to
color, cut, and spin.

Get a lesson and learn more here:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/lesson_spirit_fruit.html 


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7) Fruit of the Spirit Rap / Song

This message is in response to the Fruit Of The Spirit Song or Rap. There
is an amazing company called Guiding Light that has a set of video's as
well as CD's. One of the CD's in their series is called Music Machine The
Fruit Of The Spirit Volume 1 and you can order it directly from them for
under $10. The CD is awesome and has one song for each Fruit Of The Spirit
and would be great to use with any lesson. To order from them you need the
item number B-CD-MM-FOfSp. I'm not sure if Amazon.com or other large
retailers sell the CD's but you may want to check around before you buy.
Hope this helps!
Love in Christ,
Sarah in California
 
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8) Fruit of the Spirit Song

Hi - check out the Donutman - he has a website - cannot recall if he is
Donutman or Doughnutman but do a search then type in Fruits of the
Spirit once at his sight - look for songs, I remember.  The words to a
song are there and you can also hear it.  It is terrific and I taught my
classes - gr. JK to gr. 6 the song for our wrap up of the Fruits of the
Spirit unit and they performed it for the congregation on Palm Sunday.
It was very easy and a real hit!
Some of the words are
"Do you know the fruits of the spirit,
If you do, then orange you glad...
....Love takes care of others.
    Joy means that God makes me glad.
    Peace is still and quiet.
    Patience waits and is not sad...
..."etc....
I know we cannot print all the words due to copyright, but this does
give you an idea and the children (and adults hearing it) loved it.
Diane
Chatham, Ont

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9) No Where To Teach 

Sounds like no or very little prayer has gone forth first of all.
Remember to "always pray."  Remember Satan is the Father of
Confusion too!  God will open doors and light your
path.  Secondly, what you need sounds like to me is a back up
plan.  If you haven't already, incorporate teaching games into
your lesson plan and bring a blanket or two from home if you have
to so the children can sit down somewhere (inside/outside).  Games
like "Hot Potatoe" "Musical Chairs" "Memorization of Bible Verses"
etc. may be helpful.

Much Love from Charlotte, North Carolina

--from SSTN: Use Bible Games too at:
http://christiancrafters.com/page10.html 

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Ascension Sunday
 
May 23 is Ascension Sunday. This day celebrates the ascension of Jesus
into heaven, recorded in Acts 1:1-11. Have your class make and take the
"Jesus Ascending Mini-Movie" to coordinate with your lesson. Learn more
at:

http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html 


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