Sunday, May 25th

This was my first Sunday away for quite some time, so I feel a bit disconnected from the lessons and goings-on this week.  But thanks for our awesome lead teachers, especially Reba who ran point for me we can all get a glimpse at what occurred Sunday morning, regardless of whether we were there or not!

In Kindergaren/1st Grade Sarah talked about Daniel & the lions den on Sunday in class. The lesson went over Daniel's obedience to God's command of praying to Him only and God's faithfulness to protect Daniel from harm. We recapped (slightly) the previous weeks' lessons - Elijah, Jonah, & Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego.

In 2s & 3s Reba and the kids told the story of Moses beginning in when he was found in the reeds.  In retelling much of his life's story, our children were encouraged to ask wondering questions like: 
-I wonder how Moses felt knowing his people were slaves

-I wonder how it felt for Moses to leave his home and go to the desert

-I wonder why God used fire to speak to Moses

In 2nd-4th Grade Matt Watrous taught the lesson "In the Name of Jesus" on Acts 3 of Peter and John speaking Christ's name and healing the lame man at the gate of the temple.  We asked questions like, "what do you think was going through the man's head when Peter told him to get up and walk?"  "how do you think Peter and John reacted when the man walked?  Were they surprised or did they expect it?

Also, all of our classrooms will be practicing Father Abraham over the next few weeks to get ready for a performance on Father's Day.  Hope you're all ready for an adventure, and feel free to practice at home if the kids are up for it!

Upcoming Lesson Plan for 2s & 3s

Here is the lesson plan for our 2s & 3s for the next few months.  We're going to start using the Godly play format that we did with our kids a few years ago.

You can refer back to the blog from 2012 for the entire lesson plans - thanks for recording those Laura!

Reba:
May 11: Joseph & His Brothers Part I
May 18: Joseph & His Brothers Part II
May 25: Moses in the Reeds

Joey:
June 1: Moses & the Burning Bush
June 8: Plagues & the Passover
June 15: Crossing the Red Sea

Elizabeth G
June 22: Rescue in the Dessert (Mana)
June 29: 10 Commandments



July Lessons:
Promised Land
Jericho
Start the Parables/Story of Jesus Life & Work

Sunday, May 4th

Hi family & friends!

What a blessed Sabbath.  I found myself continually surprised today, and love the way God spoke to me through the worship service, Summer's message, Sunday school lessons, rainy weather, and especially our kids!

My prayer for us all this week, is that we would recognize and celebrate the many ways God is surprising us.  Maybe it's the incredible, sometimes subtle and sometimes obvious, ways our children are growing and changing; reminding us of how fearfully & wonderfully we are made.  Perhaps it's 40 degree swing from sunshine to cloudy-drizzly-blah; reminding us of His power and control over nature. Or even a kind word spoken or heard; reminding us of our call to be a light in darkness.  Let's be ready to see, hear, taste, & touch Him this week.

2s & 3s
Today our 2s & 3s learned about the church.  Reba shared about it being more than just people at Sanctuary.  It's actually a collection of God's people all around the world!  The craft of was of many people from all over the world holding hands, as one unified body.

PS/KG
Just a week after hearing the story of Jonah ourselves, our preschoolers & kindergarteners had a chance to listen in and experience his story as well.  Each of the children got play a role in the story as they retold it to each other and to the teachers.  They loved it :)  They asked questions like: "I wonder how it made God feel to see Jonah run away and hide? and, I wonder why Jonah thought a boat would be a good place to hide from God."

2nd-4th

Our passage today came from Matthew 25 and the parable of the talents.  We spent some time in prayer thanking God the gifts and abilities He's granted us.  Next, we acted out the story with the kids (i.e. Lola) acting out each of the 3 servants and what they did with the money.  We discussed why the master was so cruel as to ban the last servant from his property and then give his money to the one who had the most.  Certainly a tough question!

The point I hoped to take away was how God wants us to take risks for him.  Perhaps with our money, as any good entrepreneur would agree, but also with our gifts and abilities.  We shouldn't be scared to use what we've been given to do His kingdom work.  The two servants who invested their money (talents/gifts) could have easily lost it all, but I believe we're called to trust God with the results.  We are called to "take risks" with what's been entrusted to us.

We also began our new memory verse - Romans 6:23 and took communion with the congregation following our lesson.  It was a great day!