FirstLook -- October 24 - 30 (God Shows Me How to Live)

Don't forget about Trunk or Treat on Sunday afternoon from 3-5pm.  Its not too late to register your trunk, just give me a call at the church office.

Also this Sunday in FirstLook, we will give the kids their new memory verse for the next four weeks. Here it is for you to start working on now.

John 14:9b
"Jesus answered...Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father."

When we switch memory verses, we also switch environments. In our children's ministry an environment is a common goal or focus we can use to create enviroments in the home and at church which draw us closer to Christ.  For the next 4 weeks we will focus on the environment of MODELING. Here is our description of MODELING:

Biblical content needs a practical living expression in order for it to be spiritually impacting. This environment serves as a hands-on example of what it means for children to put their faith into action. Modeling puts flesh on faith and reminds us that others are watching to see if we live what we believe.

God has always shown us how to live. Once He redeemed Israel from the land of Egypt, God formed the Mosaic covenant between Himself and His people. It began a new era in their history. God continued to fulfill the promises He made to Abraham and to Moses. But the Mosaic covenant was the law that addressed Israel alone. This covenant established the standards of righteousness for God’s people—His holy nation.

Yahweh was the God of Israel, and the people were in relationship with Him. The Mosaic covenant was not a means to salvation. Instead, God gave His people a model for living through the Ten Commandments that enhanced their worship and service to Him. This covenant demanded not only that the Israelites conform to a set of laws, but also that their hearts be oriented toward God. When the people lived out the laws, their lives demonstrated the intimate relationship they shared with God. A holy nation living in worship and service to the Lord acts as a catalyst to bring the nations of the earth into relationship with Him.

The covenant between God and His people at Sinai was a foreshadowing of what was to come. His law was put in place to “lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). In Him our worship, and our service, is complete. He has shown us how to live with Him and with others. As we follow the Lord we model for others the relationship it is possible to have with the Holy God.

You can also go download the MODELING HomeFront Monthly for activities to connect home and church by going to http://wentzvillecc.org/621738.ihtml.

KidQuest October 24 - 30 (God Initiates Relationship)

Don't forget about Trunk or Treat on Sunday afternoon from 3-5pm.  Its not too late to register your trunk, just give me a call at the church office.

Also this Sunday in KidQuest, we will give the kids their new memory verse for the next four weeks. Here it is for you to start working on now.

Matthew 11:29
"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

When we switch memory verses, we also switch environments. In our children's ministry an environment is a common goal or focus we can use to create enviroments in the home and at church which draw us closer to Christ.  For the next 4 weeks we will focus on the environment of MODELING. Here is our description of MODELING:

Biblical content needs a practical living expression in order for it to be spiritually impacting. This environment serves as a hands-on example of what it means for children to put their faith into action. Modeling puts flesh on faith and reminds us that others are watching to see if we live what we believe.

The Mosaic covenant did not arise out of a vacuum, but was created in the context of relationship. God initiated relationship with the future Israelites the moment He called Abraham away from his home. He continued to initiate relationship when He introduced Himself to Moses as the Lord who had heard His people’s cries (Exodus 3), freed His people from slavery (Exodus 12), and provided for them in the wilderness (Exodus 16).

In Exodus 19—24, God gave His people the Ten Commandments as part of the covenant at Mt. Sinai. This marked the beginning of a new era in the history of God’s people and the next stage in the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant, which was the basis for the redemption from Egypt. In the Sinaitic covenant, God had freed His people so they could worship only Him. The Sinaitic covenant was God’s idea of worship (Exodus 3:12).

The gift of the commandments was God’s way of modeling how He wanted them to worship Him. Their obedience was a form of worship, and showed their thankfulness for what He had done for them. The Sinaitic covenant demanded not only that the Israelites conform to a set of laws, but also that their hearts be oriented toward God. And from this point on, the history of the Israelites hinged on whether or not they stayed faithful to the covenant with God they accepted at Mt. Sinai.

The covenant at Sinai was a beautiful demonstration of the relationship between God and His people. It was also a foretaste of what was to come—the new covenant that would not only be written on stone tablets, but written on the hearts and in the minds of all those who believe (Hebrews 8:10).

You can also go download the MODELING HomeFront Monthly for activities to connect home and church by going to http://wentzvillecc.org/621738.ihtml.

God Knows What We Need (KidQuest -- October 16)

While His people were in the wilderness, God knew what they needed. He sent down manna (which literally means, “What is it?”) to sustain the Israelites. According to the Bible, manna had the sweet taste of honey. Numbers describes how the Israelites could grind the manna and pound it into cake. He could have given them anything to eat, but by His mercy, He provided a delicious, rich food. They were commanded to collect only what they each needed for that day. God challenged His people to be fully dependent on His provision.

Many years later, during Jesus’ earthly ministry, He continuously refers to himself as the “bread of life,” pointing back to the manna God provided in the wilderness. Take, for instance, this passage from John: “I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:48–51).

In the desert, God provided for Moses and the Israelites’ physical sustenance. He gave them what was needed to live on earth. However, Jesus provides us with something much greater: life eternal. God calls us to be people who are wholly dependent on Him each day. He asks us to be children who trust in Him, believing that He knows what we need.

God Is the One True God (October 16 in FirstLook)

God does nothing by accident! If you don't believe me check out what your FirstLook student will be learning this Sunday about the 10 plagues over Egypt.

Undoubtedly the mighty hand of the one true God was demonstrated in contrast to the powerlessness of the Egyptian false gods. Prior to the Passover, God declared, “I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord” (Exodus 12:12b). Many scholars believe the plagues were directly attacking the ancient Egyptian gods. The table below demonstrates the correlation between the plagues and the Egyptian gods.

In the Bible, even the number of plagues was significant. To the Israelites, the number 10 represented wholeness and completion. For instance, the Ten Commandments are the complete, divine perfection of the Law. By sending 10 plagues, God was stating they were completely plagued and completely judged. He was demonstrating His total power as the one true God.

PLAGUE	EGYPTIAN GOD
Moses lifts his staff over the Nile and God turns all the water in Egypt into blood (Exodus 7:14–24).	Hapi: The Egyptian god of the Nile.
God sends swarms of frogs out of the water to cover the land of Egypt (Exodus 8:1–15).	Heket: The Egyptian goddess of fertility, water, and renewal. She is depicted as having the head of a frog.
Moses strikes the ground with his staff, and God turns the dust into gnats which cover men and animals. This is the first plague that the Egyptian magicians could not replicate (Exodus 8:16–19).	Geb: The Egyptian god who ruled over the dust of the earth.
God sends dense swarms of flies which plague only the Egyptians. The Israelites are not affected by this wonder (Exodus 8:20–32).	Khepri: The god of creation. He is depicted with the head of a fly.
God sends a plague over all of the Egyptians’ livestock. Not a single animal belonging to the Israelites is affected (Exodus 9:1–7).	Hathor: The goddess of love and protection; depicted with the head of a cow.
God instructs Moses to throw a handful of ashes in the presence of Pharaoh. Doing so unleashes sores on all the Egyptians and their animals (Exodus 9:8–12). Cleanliness was of utmost importance to the Egyptians. Historically, this would have made them ceremonially unclean and therefore unable to worship their gods. They weren’t even allowed in the presence of Pharaoh. Therefore, only Moses and Aaron could now be in contact with him.	Isis: The goddess of medicine and peace.
God sends the worst hail and lightning storm the Egyptians had ever experienced. Israelites are, once again, unharmed (Exodus 9:13–35).	Nut: The goddess of the sky.
Moses lifted his staff against Egypt, and God sent a massive storm of locusts—so many that the ground was entirely black. They devoured every crop and every last piece of fruit growing on the trees (Exodus 10:1–20).	Seth: The god of storms and disorder.
God instructs Moses to lift his hand to the sky. In doing so, total darkness blankets Egypt for three full days. No Egyptian could see anyone else or leave his house. Only the Israelites have light where they live (Exodus 10:21–29). Scholars believe that, in Egyptian culture, darkness represented death, judgment, and hopelessness.	Ra: The sun god.
The final plague: The firstborn of each Egyptian household would die. The Israelites were instructed in the Passover rituals and no Israelite child was harmed (Exodus 11—12).	Pharaoh: The ultimate power of Egypt; considered the greatest god of all. He was believed to be the son of Ra, manifest in the flesh.

God Leads to New Life (KidQuest -- October 2)

Passover is one of the most significant parts of The Big God Story, ushering in a new way of life for the Israelites. Without a doubt, many of the images of the Passover feast point to Jesus. In fact, Philip, Paul, Peter, and John all affirmed the Passover Lamb is a picture of Jesus in Acts 8:32; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Peter 1:19; and Revelation 5:6, 13:8. Here are some of the comparisons found in Exodus 12:

“Tell the whole community of Israel that … each man is to take a lamb for his family … year-old males without defect …” (vv. 3, 5). The Israelites were instructed to kill and eat a perfect lamb. Similarly, it was only through Christ’s perfect life and His death that His people can be saved.

“All the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight” (v. 6). Many translations render the words “at twilight” to mean, “between the evenings,” the Jewish ninth hour. Accordingly, Christ died at the hands of the people during the ninth hour of the day.

“Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs” (v. 7). By doing this, the Israelites affirmed their belief that God would save them by the blood of the lamb. In the same way, we actively submit to Christ in order to be saved.

“That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast” (v. 8). The bitter herbs reminded the Israelites of their sojourn in Egypt and, eventually, stood for the sin Christ accepted on our behalf. The bread without yeast was both practical (because fermentation takes time) and symbolic of a life without sin.

“The blood will be a sign for you … when I see the blood, I will pass over you …” (v. 13). The “Passover” is an allusion to the fact that God “passed over” the houses of the Israelites covered by the blood. When Christ shared communion with the apostles during Passover, He showed that His blood was not only sufficient to cover their sins, but also to obliterate them.

When God liberated His people from bondage, He brought them into new life; He bound them together as a nation of His own people. To commemorate this moment, God instituted Passover—a meal not only to remind the Israelites of their liberation, but one which also pointed toward Christ, the Lamb of God, whose blood covers the sins of the world (John 1:29).

God Saves (FirstLook -- October 2)

This week in FirstLook we will be talking about Baby Moses and how his part of God's Big Story is connected to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Do you know how and why God's people were enslaved in Egypt and why Moses was put in a basket on the river? Keep reading to find out the answer that your preschoolers will be learning about this weekend and don't forget to download this week's HomeFront Weekly which will give you a great baby floating activity!

To be sure, our God saved Abraham and blessed him with many descendants. God kept His covenant with Abraham. The book of Exodus opens by listing the sons of Jacob (Israel) who brought their families to Egypt to escape the famine in Canaan. It’s possible that in Egypt they were doubling their population about every 25 years. This is the same rate of growth we are currently experiencing worldwide.

This population explosion amongst the Israelites concerned the later pharaoh. His fear led him to devise a plan to enslave the people and destroy newborn Hebrew boys. Two Hebrew midwives outsmarted the pharaoh. They told him the Hebrew women were just too strong and were able to deliver the babies before they could arrive. When Pharaoh realized he had been deceived and his attempts had failed, he ordered his people to act as spies and cast any male babies of the Israelites into the Nile River.

In the midst of it all, a son was born into the tribe of Levi. Trusting in God, the child’s parents defied Pharaoh’s edict and hid their son for three months. Ironically, it was Pharaoh’s daughter who rescued the baby and named him Moses. God then used Moses’ sister to help the princess arrange for a nurse, the child’s own mother, to care for him. The child was able to grow up in the home of his parents during his early years, receiving the strong inculcating of Hebrew traditions. Moses’ foundation of faith was received at his parents’ knees. Jewish mothers would, from the time a baby was first cradled in their arms, begin to whisper in their ears, “Jehovah is God.”

God is a God of salvation. He delivered Moses and set a corrected course for him to deliver a nation. It is through this nation (specifically, the tribe of Judah) that salvation came to the world through Jesus Christ. Our God saves!

God is the Lord (part 1) in KidQuest (September 25)

This next Sunday in KidQuest we will be looking at what Pharoah says to Moses when Moses asks him to let the Israelites go free.  Not only that but we will look at the plagues God uses to "change" Pharoah's mind.

Over the past few weeks we have heard God's covenant with Abraham and how God declared himself as the King of King by saying I AM in Exodus 3 to Moses.  However, the Israelites needed to learn more about their great God in order to follow him. They needed to trust him, and know He is the Lord.  Not only did God use the plagues to change Pharoah's mind but also to prove to the Israelites and the Egyptians that He is the only real God (I am who I am).

• When God changed the water to blood, God judged the Nile itself, which had been deified as a god.
• The plague of frogs was a judgment on ancient forms of idolatry in Egypt.
• When “dense swarms of flies poured into every place and throughout Egypt, many assert God was judging the Egyptian god, Uaticht.
• Some of the gods of Egypt were identified with figurines of bulls, cows, rams, and other livestock, hence the plague on the livestock.
• The plague of boils was not only painful, but an embarrassing judgment on the Egyptian obsession with physical cleanliness and beauty.
• Through the plague of hail, God proved there “is no one like me in all the earth” (Exodus 9:14), because He controlled the weather.
• God also proved He had control over the sun in the universe, creating the “darkness that [could] be felt.”

Through all of the plagues, God undermined the relationship between Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and the Egyptians and their false gods. By His defeat, God proved He alone had the right to His people; He alone was worthy of their worship.

God is the Lord (part 1) in KidQuest

Over the next few weeks in KidQuest we will be talking about the life of Moses and we are calling this section of The Big God Story, "God is the Lord." Here is a little background to help you out this week as you talk about Moses in your home. If you want an activity to do with your kids to also help you introduce Moses in your home, check out this week's HomeFront Weekly that was emailed to you or can be downloaded here.

When God revealed His name to Moses in Exodus 3:14, He said, “‘I AM WHO I AM [Ehyeh-Asherr-Ehyeh]. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM [Ehyeh] has sent me to you.’” The word Ehyeh means, “to be” or “to become” and the word Asherr means “who” or “what.” Therefore, Ehyeh-Asherr-Ehyeh means, “I am that I am,” or “I am who I am,” or “I am going to be who I am going to be,” etc.

By making Himself known through the name Ehyeh-Asherr-Ehyeh, God revealed that He exists, has always existed, and will always exist (in contrast to the Egyptian gods who did not exist). But He revealed even more than that. The name Ehyeh-Asherr-Ehyeh also implies liveliness, movement, and dynamism. This is nowhere more evident than in God’s incarnation, when He became a man. The name Jesus (Yeshua) means, “Jehovah is salvation.” Through Jesus Christ, God became what He needed to be for the sake of His people: salvation incarnate. Ehyeh-Asherr-Ehyeh, the God of the covenant, became a man in order to fulfill His covenant promise. Through Jesus, God defeated the ultimate barrier to His people’s inability to live with Him and worship Him forever.

In the New Testament, Jesus indicated that He was Jehovah by calling Himself, “I am.” God said in John 15:1, “I am the true vine,” and in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world.” Through these and other confessions, Jesus revealed Himself as the everlasting Ehyeh-Asherr-Ehyeh, who has always been, will always be, and will continue to become what He will be for the sake of His people.

This week's lesson is told through the environment of FAITH COMMUNITY, the thread of worship, and focuses on God as the Lord of Lords, and the King of Kings. God is everything we need, and He is sufficient for us. In Him, we find our comfort, our salvation, our Friend, and our fortress.

Spend some time worshipping the Lord and praying God will reveal Himself as the Lord of Lords in your life—the One who wants you to worship only Him. Pray He will become what you need. Are you feeling anxious? Pray He will be your peace. Are you feeling weak? Pray He will be your strength. Are you feeling sad? Pray He will be your joy. Spend time with God, who is sufficient to meet your every need. Also, allow God to use your faith community to strengthen you. Reach out to others in your church or family, and allow them to be God’s messengers in your life.