Fall Lesson Schedule (Thru 11/23/14)

Here are the lessons for the next few months for the three oldest classrooms.  

Parents & Teachers, if you'd like to view the entire curriculum or specific lesson please follow the link below as I've shared it via dropbox.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4gfdhczew2zfhgb/AAAUn_DdZifYvLV2W8iT1RWua?dl=0

3s & 4s:

From the Jesus Storybook Bible.  Continuing our lessons on the life of Jesus:

9/21/14 - Washed with tears. (Sinful Woman annoints Jesus feet) Mark 14

9/28/14 - The Servant King. (The Last Supper) Mark 14

10/5/14 - A dark night in the garden (Gathsemane) Mark 14

10/12/14 - The sun stops shining (The Crucifixion) Mark 15

10/19/14 - God’s wonderful surprise (The Resurrection) Mark 16

10/26/14 - Going home (The Ascension) Mark 16

11/2/14 - God sends help (Pentecost) John 15

11/9/14 - A new way to see (Saul become Paul) Acts 6-9

11/16/14 - A dream of heaven (John sees into the future) Romans 1, 5, 21, and 22

11/23/14 - Thanksgiving Week Lesson

Kindergarten-2nd Grade:

From Imagine Year 2 Units 3-4

9/21/14 - A Crowd Praises God: Luke 7:11-17

9/28/14  - Jesus and a Thankful Man: Luke 17:11-19

10/5/14 - Jesus Heals a Man Who Couldn't See: Luke 18:35-43

10/12/14 - Mary Honors Jesus: John 12:1-11

10/19/14 - A Crowd Honors Jesus Matthew 21:1-17 

10/26/14 - Jesus Dies John 18-19

11/2/14 - Jesus Is Alive! John 20:1-18; Acts 1:1-9

11/9/14 - A Man Jumps for Joy Acts 3:1-16

11/16/14 -  Peter and Tabitha Acts 9:36-43

11/23/14 -  Peter Is Rescued  Acts 12:1-19

3rd-5th Grade

From Marvel Year 1 Units 4-5

9/21/14 - Stephen's Story: Acts 6; 7:51-8:4

9/28/14  - Simon the Sorcerer: Acts 8:4-25

10/5/14 - Tabitha: Acts 9:36-43

10/12/14 - Peter's Vision: Acts 10:1-11:21

10/19/14 -  Peter's Rescue: Acts 12:1-19

10/26/14 - Saul's Conversion: Acts 9:1-31

11/2/14 - The Send Off Acts 13:1-12

11/9/14 - Lystra: Acts 14:8-20

11/16/14 -  The Council at Jerusalem: Acts 15:1-35

11/23/14 -  A Stop at Phillipi: Acts 16:11-40

Sunday, Sept. 14th 2014

Beautiful day wasn't it?  A baptism.  Bright, warm sunshine. Hopefully some Sabbath rest.  Randy's words of encouragement to model love and thankfulness to a watching world really sunk in for me today, and I hope they did for you to.  Just as we confessed our commitment to join with Christ in his covenant to little Benjamin, so to did we act on that promise made to so many of the children in our church, and to our community as a whole.

Here's a little update on what each classroom looked like today:

3s & 4s:  Elizabeth Gunnink & Yarek.

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32 - The story of the Prodigal Son (Jesus Storybook Bible)

After a welcome and some time singing, the kids dug right into the story.

Craft:  Coloring pictures of the prodigal son story

Snack: Popsicles....but you'd never know from how well Yarek cleaned them up!

K-2nd Grade: Sarah Lewis Assink, Heather Whitney

Scripture: Luke 5:27-32  - Jesus called Matthew and Matthew followed him.

Basically the kids learned about how Jesus befriends Matthew the tax collector, a man who had NO friends. Eating and drinking with sinners was strictly for- bidden, and it implied acceptance of their sin. He called Matthew to a new life as his dis- ciple, and that invitation was so compelling and liberating to Matthew that he threw a party so all his disreputable friends could meet Jesus.

The whole class threw a party together to celebrate, in solidarity with Matthew.  In Sarah's words "who needs an excuse to have a party anyway?"  Indeed.  What better to celebrate than a sinner being welcomed into the family of God?  Sounds strangely familiar doesn't it? :)

3rd-5th Grade: Chris Gunnink

Scripture: Acts 4:36-5:16 - Ananias & Sapphira

The focus of this lesson is that members of the Christian community should be honest, sincere, and truthful and should not be concerned with being number one in the community.

Chris confided in me that it was a tough passage and lesson for him to teach and for the kids to grasp.  Understandably so when the plot of the story mainly entails a husband and wife being struck dead for lying!  My encouragement to him, to the kids, and to you as parents would be not to ignore or gloss over these TOUGH place in the Bible, but to have a conversation about it.  Questions like, "was that a scary story for you" or "why do you think that's even in the Bible?" are good!   You don't need to have the answers....because honestly it can be good to be confused or scared together.  It may cause you to dig deeper into the Word to find out more.

I think the lesson does a good job of describing the reason for this passage:

Today, we tend to think of the church as a voluntary organization that we may freely join and that should answer to our needs and desires. In the Bible the church is the creation of the Holy Spirit, who brings us into fellowship with Christ and each other. While this story does not teach us to be afraid in church, it does teach us to take our place in its fellowship very seriously. 

Sunday Sept. 7th

What a day!  God certainly provides doesn't he?

Not only did we have almost 30 kids between the two services, I was sick and had to find coverage for a few spots early Sunday morning.  A big thanks to Jasmine for stepping up and teaching the younger class, and Janet & Norm who took on the older kids with very little lead time.  Ali also jumped in during 2nd service and rocked it.  As usual.

The story and lesson this Sunday was on the story of Zaccheaus, which according to Jasmine was tough for those 3s & 4s of ours to understand because "c'mon, kids from age 2-4 are friends with everyone."  Well said Jasmine :)  

You should have seen a craft sent home with your little one resembling a tree with a little Zacchaeus man in it. Hopefully a reminder all week of the story of Jesus love for "the least of these."

One thing that came to mind when I thought of that story and this phrase was the community dinners we were a part of for the month of August.  Seeing Sanctuary and Greenwood friends of all ages, but especially those little ones running around reminded me of Jesus call for us to be his hands and feet.  In the same way he invited Zaccheaus home with him for dinner that night, we have had the opportunity to dine with folks in our city that most like to blame, ignore, or despise - like the tax collectors of old.  I love that our children are seeing them differently.

That's all for now!  Hope the first week or two of school has been treating you all well.

Joey