Have you told your kids the story of Jesus? Do they know him? Have you captivated their attention? Have you told them in a way that makes sense to them?
Check out, "Tell Me the Story of Jesus", a two-semester, hands-on Bible lesson series on the life of Jesus, from childhood to Pentecost.
Could anyone please tell me where I can get a cd or cassette with the song brother let me be your servant?can I also take this oppurtunity to say thanksfor a wonderful and helpful website. Thanks and God bless from hazel in the UK.
--from SSTN: you can find it here: http://www.pine-net.com/babcocksstore/servsong.htm
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2) Gossip
Hi, It is important to remember that no one is perfect, and that we are all trying to think and do the right thing so that we can make it to Gods kingdom. Church should be viewed as a HOSPITAL every week we get sick and we go there for healing. We meet sick people and well people there. Everyone that goes to church/hospital they are going for a reason, to be healed. We cannot watch what other people do we just need do what is right Gossip is a hurtful thing, and we all do it at one time or another, pray for yourself and for people who do hurtful things to you ask god to give you the strength and the courage. I ask God for this everyday. i ask God to help me to not hold grudges. I can always forgive but not forget. Any advice is welcome ANNIE (Bham England UK)
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3) African Mission?
I've just been told that while I'm visiting my mom in Africa, I will be giving her kindergarten class their Bible study lesson for the two weeks. The class is taught in Swahili so I will have an interpreter - I've decided on doing it on "God made me special." I can only do two crafts so don't need craft ideas. I'm going to begin with Genesis and cover why we were created. I also thought I could do one on being fearfully and wonderfully made and bringing some magnifying glasses to look at our fingerprints. After that I am drawing a blank here! I'm leaving the first week of Septermber and need ideas quick. Luggage weight is very limited so must rely on supplies (which also will be quite limited I'm sure) over there. Thanks Vivian
--from SSTN: great opportunity. It's important to tell the kids the solution to our problem too. We were created to love and serve God, but we have a problem, sin, it comes between us and God. A simple way to communicate this with kids, of all languages, is to use the Wordless Book or Colors of Christ. You can see examples of this in our crafts section: http://www.SundaySchoolNetwork.com
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4) After School Club
In response to an after school Bible study. My daughter does 2 after school programs. The school will not pass out the materials but allow my daughter to come in at the beginning of the school year and pass out flyers and permission slips for an after school "Good News Club". They let her use the school free of charge naturally. She uses programs from CEF (Child Evangalism Fellowship). You can go to their website and find out more. www.cefonline.com/ministry/gnc.php
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Get on the Super Hero Team!
Get your kids on the Super Hero team when you use, "Super Heroes of the Bible", one of our two-semester series from our Bible-4-Life curriculum section. You'll find it listed at: http://www.sundayschoolnetwork.com/curriculum.html
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5) Nativity set for toddlers?
I want to buy or make a nativity set that can be used by our toddler class. I've seen the Fischer Price and Playskool sets on ebay, the FP is cute but I'm not sure if I want a set where everyone looks like a child. I also want one that can be handled but the kids and will hold up over time, any suggestions? Linda in Edmonds
--from SSTN: any of the sturdy plastic or wood ones, so long as the pieces are not too small, will work. I've always allowed my own kids to play with the pieces over the years. In fact, one of the advent preparations we've done in our family was to place the kings across the room, then each day one of the kids was allowed to move them closer to the baby Jesus.
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6) Monkey VBS
There is a monkey song the kids choir has sung in the past - "Who is the King of the Jungle?" and in it we used the monkey sound and motions. This would go with your VBS theme.
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7) Monkey VBS
"Animal Fair" sings about a monkey. The original version includes a line "The monkey, he got drunk" but the "Wee SIng Silly Songs" version says "you should have seen the monk" instead.
Also, this is not a monkey song, but there's an old children's hymn "O be careful little eyes what you see"
Other verses are "...little ears what you hear"... and "../little lips what you speak.."
Also ..."little feet where you go..." and "...little hands what you do..."
If you'd like the entire words I could give them to you. Might also be able to locate the sheet music for it. My e-mail is laebanks@htomail.com
Laura (Cayman Islands)
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8) Battlezone VBS
This is in response to the request for some ideas for a Battlezone VBS theme. First hello to a fellow Kentuckian! We have never done a battlezone theme but I had a few ideas. I would treat the kids as new recruits. When you're doing your large group teach time you could address them as private first class and have them answer you "sir yes sir!" I would have the main storyteller dress in army gear and be the general there to share stories.
First you could talk about the different vehicles used for battle- tanks, fighter planes, choppers etc. You could even make up some sort of personality test with these. For example, are you a fighter jet, leading others into battle or are you a supply truck, taking care of the needs around you or are you a helicopter rescue vehicle- always helping your friends out when they have a problem. All of these vehicles are a vital part of the army. God made us all different, and we're all important to his army. All of these vehicles need fuel if they want to run. We need fuel if we're going to run and the fuel is God's word. When you do your Bible memory time say, "Privates, its time to fuel up!"
As far as Bible stories if I was doing it, I would do 5 lessons on Paul and the battles he faced. The battles could be loneliness, fear, rejection, wanting to give up, peer pressure, discouragement, pride,etc There are so many great Bible stories about Paul- his conversion, initial rejection by the apostles, being lowered in a basket, shipwrecks, jail time, and more. Each lesson could be about a battle he faced and how he used the armor of God to fight that battle. After all he did pen the verses in Galations about the armor of God so who better to talk about it. If you have one main teacher, they could be Paul, telling his story each day. The thing I like about this theme is that I think it would be very applicable to kid's lives today and would hit on things that they face today such as loneliness, fear, etc. Your Bible verses each day could deal with that particular battle. Or you could just have the kids memorize the armor of God verses over the whole 5 days. If you don't want to do Paul, you could also do great battles of the Old Testament- Joshua/Jericho, Moses vs Pharoah, Gideon and his whittled down army, Daniel vs Lions, David vs Goliath, etc.
As far as a song, once we did a song with our kids that is like the army chant from the Tony the Tiger commercial. You would have to change the words to go with your theme. You chant the line and the kids repeat you Everywhere we go People want to know Who we are So we tell them We're God's soldiers Mighty mighty soldiers Taking a stand Following his command and so on. Hope this helps get your gears turning! Blessings! Dawn
The Watermelon story is from Child Evangelism Fellowship. The black seeds stand for sin. The meat of the melon stand for Jesus blood. The white rhine is for a clean heart. The green rhine is for growth. With the book you get the story pictures plus game ideas for a watermelon party. I've done it a couple of times and had lots of fun.
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10) Watermelon Lesson
Concerning the request about the watermelon story. Child Evangelism Fellowship had a story about the watermelon. I'm not sure if it's still in print, but this might be a good source.
Sheila Lake
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