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SSTN # 72 - August 12, 2004
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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:
--> Amazing Miracles of the Bible
1) Burlap Fabric ideas
2) Children's day at church?
3) Songs in sign language?
4) Finger
Prayer
--> Spirit Gifts...An Introduction For Children
5) Right date for VBS?
6) Holy Books Rap
7) Pirates and Sunday School
8) Letter from Pakistan
--> Super Heroes of the Bible
9) Finger Plays
10) Toddler Sunday School?
11) This Old Ragged Flag - Song
12) VBS For Smaller Groups
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--> Amazing Miracles of the Bible
God’s glory and love are revealed through the miracles he performed and
were fully realized when he came to earth in the form of a man to save
mankind. By studying the miracles of the Bible children will gain a better
understanding of God’s love and faithfulness and how he continues to be
loving and faithful in miraculous ways to his people today. Great for
rotation-type programs!
In the Curriculum Creatives section:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html
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1) Burlap Fabric ideas
You can find ideas for using Burlap fabric at:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/creative_challenge.html
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2) Children's day at church?
Hi, In october our children's sunday school class is supposed to do the
church service!!!! The problem is the children's class is very small.
Two faithful members and 5 to 6 others that randomly attend..... I need
any suggestions!!!!! They already ring the church bell, light candles,
help with communion, take up offering, so what else.............. We
know the new testament song, and the fruit of the spirit but i am getting
nervous as to what else we can do. I thought we could pick out our
favorite children songs and as far as the service part i am confused. Can
anyone help???? God bless, karen
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3) Songs in sign language?
I have seen in the past where the youth will perfrom a
song in sign language. Where can I find information as to
how to learn and teach this to our yourth? I am beginnign
to work with the youth fellowship of our church and
thought that would be a great way for them to enhance our
worship service. Anyone that can supply me with some
infomration, I would be most appreciative.
Guy Short
Lawrenceville, VA
--from SSTN: check out our Archives and Links pages:
http://www.ChristianCrafters.Com
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4) Finger
Prayer
> I need some finger plays. Or songs that use the children's fingers to
learn Bible
> lesson or bible concepts. Any ideas?
Here is a finger prayer exercise that has been around for many years.
Get the children to have their hands facing inwards. Then :-
1st. Finger (Thumb). This one is the nearest to us. We should pray for our
families.
2nd. Finger. This one does the pointing. We should pray for those who
'point the way' for us - our Church leaders and Sunday school teachers.
3rd. Finger. This one is the tallest. We should pray for the Leaders in
National and local Government.
4th. Finger. The weakest. We should pray for the sick, needy and poor
people.
5th. Finger. The smallest. We should pray for the 'little people' - other
children we know.
There are some variations on this theme. For example, The first (Thumb)
points to us. We should pray for our own needs. The fourth is the 'ring'
finger. We should pray for family and friends. The fifth is the smallest.
We should pray for the sick and helpless.
Maurice Sweetsur
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--> Spirit Gifts...An Introduction For Children
An inspirational midweek program that contains a variety of fun lessons,
crafts, and games to teach the children in your ministry about the
following Spirit-filled Gifts: FAITH, WISDOM, MIRACLES, HEALING,
ENCOURAGEMENT, GIVING, MERCY, SERVING, and EVANGELISM.
To learn more, visit this webpage:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html
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5) Right date for VBS?
HELP! Does anyone have any suggestions on when the perfect date to hold
VBS would be? I have been the director of Children’s Ministries at our
church for the past 5 years, this is my 5th VBS and we can’t seem to get
the date right. We have approx. 50 children attend VBS each year but we
have many, many more who choose not to attend or go on vacation that week.
We have our VBS the second week in August. We start advertising our VBS
usually in April or May so people can put it on their calendars early and
plan their vacations around it, but it doesn’t seem to work. We have a
large enough church that we should have around 80 – 100 children
participating. The first year we tried it in June, the second year in
July. Both dates failed because of people going on vacation. Each year I
need to report the numbers attending VBS and they should be increasing,
instead they remain the same or are less. What am I doing wrong?? Help!
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6) Holy Books Rap
The Holy Books Rap song is by James Ward. I have it on cassette, I’ve had
this for over 5 years. It’s the only song I’ve been able to find that is
really catchy and the kids pick up on really easy. I use it with our
confirmation age students. Kids younger than this don’t seem to be able to
catch on because it goes rather fast. I don’t know if the song is still
being published or not, if you need more information, please e-mail me at
jlarcom@commumc.org. Jeannine
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7) Pirates and Sunday School
I wanted to take a moment to respond to the recent comment about pirates
that appeared in the newsletter. I recently completed writing a 5 day
Sunday School or Vacation Bible School program on pirates, that is named
after an existing curriculum known as the 7 C's, while the main idea of
the 7 C's is the same, all of the skits were written by me, and the craft
projects were pulled off of the Internet. When I was reading back the
introduction I wrote, I thought it was sooo appropriate in answering the
comment that was made that pirates should not be introduced in Sunday
School or church programs. The idea of introducing pirates into a Sunday
school environment has often been frowned upon by some. If you are one of
those people, than I apologize in advance for offending you or anyone
else. Done tactfully and tastefully I believe that pirates, like any other
theme can be incorporated into a Sunday school or Vacation Bible School
program as a memorable and fun theme that is perfect for the summer
months.
First of all, let's take a look at the word pirate. The word pirate
basically means "one who practices piracy". So, what's piracy? Piracy is
the act of robbery on the high seas OR "the unauthorized use of another's
production, invention or concept especially in infringement of a
copyright" according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. So, before you are
quick to judge as to whether or not pirates should be introduced into a
Sunday school classroom, take into consideration that at some time or
another we have all committed "piracy" by burning a copy of a favorite CD,
or downloading music off the Internet, or even by singing Happy Birthday
at a birthday party without paying royalties on it. So, as Christians, let
us not judge the acts of pirates, but learn from them, and lets face it,
no one said that all pirates had to be mean crooks, they could be crazy
land lubbers with squawking parrots that will help children remember
important Biblical truths.
Hope this sheds some light on the idea of not using pirates in Sunday
School, personally, I see nothing wrong with doing so.
Love in Christ,
Sarah in California
living_life_my_way@earthlink.net
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8) Letter From Pakistan
Greeting from Pakistan
I am from Pakistan it is a Muslim country but praise God there are many
Christians. i am Children Ministry Leader in our church
There are two many area's in Pakistan where people don't send there
children to Sunday school. thousand of thousands children who don't know
Jesus Christ. so i am praying and trying to make plan to reach in some of
the area's with my sister & some other Sunday school teachers and start
good new classes. but i have no resources i want help if its possible. (i
need story books coloring books, color pencils, children clothes, shoes,
toys stationary, and other staff. or financial help, and most important
spiritual help your prayers. if you can help me in this regard or refer
this request to others i will be very thank full to you
God bless you
In Christ
Miss Aziz
roxialive777@yahoo.com
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--> Super Heroes of the Bible
"Super Heroes of the Bible" is a special midweek program which examines
the lives of some famous and not-so-famous people who had willing hearts
to obey God. And by obeying him, they were used in miraculous and powerful
ways to help change the course of human history. It is the goal of this
series to build FAITH, COURAGE, and OBEDIENCE in the lives of children,
and to change the world for Jesus Christ.
To learn more, go to this page:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html
(you may need to copy and paste this address to your browser)
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9) Finger Plays
There are a couple of free finger plays available on the web at:
http://www.geocities.com/buildakid/fingerplays.html it doesn't have very
many, but the ones that are there, are basic preschool lessons anyway
(Adam and Eve for instance). There are some excellent resources available
for purchase that have loads of finger plays as well, here are a few of
those items with their ISBN numbers:
The Pray and Play Bible for Young Children ISBN # 0764420240
My First Bible Verse Finger Plays For Gods Word ISBN # 0570048419
Bible Stories With Songs & Finger plays: Stories Come Alive for Young
Children ISBN # 1551452979
Gospel Light also makes a curriculum called Bright Beginnings that uses
finger plays.
Hope this helps!
Love in Christ,
Sarah in California
--from SSTN: check our bookstore search box for these titles:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/bookstore.html
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10) Toddler Sunday School?
I have just started a Sunday School Class for 1-3 yr. olds. I am needing
simple, Bible based games, & activities to do w/ them. I would also like
to start a "Bible Circle Time". If anyone has ideas for me, please let me
know.
God Bless, Angela.
--from SSTN: the Pray & Play Bibles (Vol. 1 and 2) are great resources.
Also, the Finger Play ideas mentioned in this SSTN and the previous one
(SSTN # 71 Aug 2004) are very good too. You can find them in our
Bookstore:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/bookstore.html
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11) This Old Ragged Flag - Song
--from SSTN: Many of you responded to this, so I'll post two that are
different:
>>
I don't know if this is the one you are talking about but you can read it
and listen to it at
http://www.strawberrylady.com/military/oldflag.htm
Lynette S
>>
http://www.juntosociety.com/patriotism/trof.html
You can find the words to THAT OLD RAGGED FLAG by Johnny Cash at the URL
above. Hope this helps.
Rebecca
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12) VBS For Smaller Groups
Group's VBS Lava Island seems to have received mixed reviews this year.
Some groups loved it and others didn't feel it was up to the usual
standards. One subscriber did make the observation that it was not really
suitable for a small group. I would agree. Group's stuff is great but it
is expensive and it is usually geared towards larger churches. If you are
looking for an alternative VBS I would suggest "The Family Story Bible
Curriculum Modules" published by Wood Lake books.
There are two six day programs "Easter Stories" and the "Birth &
Childhood Stories of Jesus."
These are not flashy materials with lots of gimmicks. They are simple,
gently presented, uncomplicated programs that are easy to prepare and do
not require a lot of volunteers. This material can be adapted for small
or large groups. Compared to Group's stuff they are a bargain! There are
no extra charges for student's books as the program includes reproducible
sheets. The crafts, decorations and other activities use everyday items
that are inexpensive and easy to find.
Sharon
--from SSTN: you will find these programs in our bookstore. Just type the
titles into the search box to locate them:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/bookstore.html
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