Our 1st Graders Song

As I blogged about last week, a couple of our elementary small groups wrote a Psalm or song as we studied King David.

I put a request out there to see if anyone could put it to music, and my friend and fellow Children's Minister in Jefferson city, MO put this together for us! Thanks Mark!

SERVING

Every lesson that we teach whether in the Nursery, FirstLook, KidQuest or The Challenge has a time of life application that we call an environment.  For the next 4 weeks, that environement is SERVING.

This environment of SERVING is really a posture of our heart and asks the question, "What needs to be done?" It allows the Holy Spirit to cultivate a sensitivity to others and focuses on a cause bigger than one individual life. It helps fulfill the mandate that as Christ followers we are to view our lives as living sacrifices that we generously give away!

Every time we switch enviroments, we also switch memory verses that help us focus on the application into our personal lives. Here are the memory verses in our different areas of worship:

KidQuest (elementary worship)

Mark 9:35b

"If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

FirstLook (preschool worship)

Galatians 5:13b

"Serve one another in love."

We would love to see your kids put these great verses into their minds and hearts as they learn about serving over the next four weeks!

Writing Songs

On Sunday, our kids learned about David dancing before God in his UNDERWEAR.  The focus on the lesson was to do everything for God and it doesn't really matter what other people think.

Just imagine the KING, in the middle of the city of Jerusalem dancing around in his underwear.  Granted he had a great excuse, God had just given his people the Ark of the Covenant back, oh what a scene and party that must have been.

Since David was a song writer and wrote much of the book of Psalms, our small group activity was to write a worship song. I am so proud of the way these kids put their heads together and wrote a song together.

I am sorry parents, but the 10:30 service was not able to get to this activity because they went downstairs to witness Brendan's baptism; seeing someone join Christ's family trumps anything else we can do while we are worshiping Him.

Here is what the 9:00 1st Grade Small Group wrote --

God we love you,
God you love us,
God you are in our hearts.

You make me happy,
You shine like a star,
You watch over us
You are the best by far

Here is what the 2/3 Grade Small Group wrote --

Jesus you are the Mighty King
You are the King of Kings
You are the Lord of Lords
You are the Lord of Heaven

You are Holy
We will worship you all day
We love you with all our hearts
And you love us right back

You are strong and powerful
No one can beat you
Strong and mighty
King of ALL

God's Presence Inspires Our Worship (KidQuest -- January 8)

Happy New Year!
 This past Sunday was our very last KidQuest service in the youth room.  On Sunday, January 8, the teens will be starting their own teen worship service, and we will be moving to our very own room!  Make sure you pay attention to the new signs to direct you towards the right place!

Sunday was also fun because I was able to  use the Lion King as an sermon illustration.  Remember in Lion King with Rakifi hold up Simba to present him to the kingdom? Well in the Bible, Simeon does something very similar in Luke 2. He presents Jesus, when he was 8 days old, to the people gathered in the temple yard.

Now that we are into the New Year and the Christmas season is over, its time to go back into our chronological study of the Bible.  Before Christmas we left off when Saul was anointed by Samuel, so our Big God Story picks back up with King David dancing in his underwear!

Throughout the Bible, we are given examples of God-inspired worship, like when King David, after battling the Philistines, gathered his men to retrieve the ark of the covenant, “which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty” (2 Samuel 6:2). It was finally time to bring the ark back to the capital city of Jerusalem, where national worship would be restored.

David … danced before the Lord with all his might … while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 2 Samuel 6:14–15

King David and his men reclaimed the ark from Kiriath Jearim, a city located about nine miles from Jerusalem. The ark had been there for 20 years, under the care of Abinadab’s son, Eleazar, who had been sanctified to keep it (1 Samuel 7:1–2). Before this, the ark was in Beth Shemesh, where the Philistines left it seven months after taking it into battle (1 Samuel 6). While in their possession, many terrible things happened to their people, such as tumors, boils, and an infestation of rats. Not understanding God’s power, they were glad to be rid of it.

But now, after all this time, the means by which God chose to dwell with His people was being brought back to its rightful home among God’s people. Because David knew the magnitude of this event, he was inspired to worship God with abandon.

You may be living in a season where you feel out of your comfort zone, or you may be living in a season of comfort. Either way, invite God into every aspect of your life. If you are feeling discomfort in your life, ask God to inspire you to worship Him, even in the midst of this trial. If you are in a season of comfort, consider asking God to move you into a place where you can experience a greater awareness of His presence in your life. Know that this request may bring you out of your comfort zone.

TruBlessings -- New Nursery Curriculum!

Tru Blessings

We are extremely committed to teaching ALL our kids about the love of Jesus as soon as we can. We are always looking for the best way to teach them as well.  With Tru Blessings, we think we have found the perfect curriculum for our precious Nursery kids here at Wentzville Christian Church.  Let me tell you more about Tru Blessings.

Foundational Truths

• God Made Me
• God Loves Me
• God Is With Me

Key Features

• As with curriculum in our other children's ministry areas, we are committed to teaching what we call "The Big God Story." The Big God Story is a method of teaching that Bible that walks our kids through the Bible in chronological order on a yearly basis. Tru Blessings is no different.  However, we are jumping in midstream, so we will start with Genesis in September. 
  
• Repetition
• Each part of The Big God Story will be repeated two weeks in a row, but will utilize different large group storytelling techniques and small group activities each week.
  
• Interactive
• Children will use their senses to explore God’s Word through a variety of touch, see, listen, and move activities and visuals.
  
• Remember and Celebrate
• Remember and Celebrate Sundays happen on the 13th week of every quarter (once per quarter) and will be a weekend to remember the three foundational truths and celebrate who God is. These weekends will align with KidQuest and FirstLook Remember & Celebrate’s.
  
• Worship
•  Kids will worship through music provided with Tru Blessings and encouraged in the home as well.
  
• Environments
• Lessons are not written in any one of the 10 environments, but the parent components will land heavily on the environments and how to create them in the home. These environments will also align with what is being taught in FirstLook and KidQuest (See parenting components.)

Parenting Components

• HomeFront Weekly
• We email out the "take home" sheets to parents we have an email address for every Monday morning. If you would like to sign up to receive this great resource, click here.
  
• Inspire, Equip, Support
• Every week in our email, we hope to Inspire you to be the best parent you can be, Equip you with great Biblical resources for your home and Support you however we can.
  
• Child development tips for parents that align with spiritual formation included in our weekly email.

Here is the basic timeline of what your kids will be experiencing while in the nursery.

• Explore: 15-20 minutes
• Kids explore materials that will help teachers introduce the day's Bible story.
• Discover: 10-15 minutes
•  Bible Story Telling
• Respond: 5 minutes
• Worship
• Prayer
• Bless: 5 minutes
• Snack
• Leaders pray over your children while they are eating
• Connect: 15-30 minutes
• Create a craft that connects to the Big God Story
• Free play

If you have any questions about this transition, please email me.