Kids Blog #20 - The Revelation

“Something to Look Forward to”

What a journey we’ve had reading through the Bible together! I’ve learned so much – I hope you have too!

Revelation is the last book of the Bible. There can be some things in this book that are hard to understand, like when it talks about lampstands and keys and scrolls and seals, but the great message of Revelation is that God is the winner!

I love to read books! I really like books that have good guys and bad guys and in the end of the story, the good guys win! That’s what we read about in Revelation. In the end, God and those who believe in Him (the good guys) WIN! When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ we have so much to look forward to!

As a family, I hope you’ll keep reading God’s word together, keep praying together and continue to talk about what real faith and trust in God looks like in our everyday lives. Those who believe in Jesus Christ are the “good guys” and in the end, we will stand with God as the winners – now that’s something to look forward to!

Kids Blog #19 - The Apostle's Teaching

The Apostle's Teaching

**Note: This post is meant as a surprise to the children in the family… don’t worry – the surprise is worth the wait!

This week we read I Corinthians 13, also known as the “love chapter”. As a reminder of all that God’s love means to us and as a special treat for our kids, we’re going to send our kids on a treasure hunt to find all the “ingredients” of love. Along the way, they’ll also find elements of making an ice cream Sundae. When the hunt is over, the family can enjoy a love feast of their finds!

First, find a room in the house that has quite a few nooks and crannies that you can hide things in. This will be the “treasure room”. You will need some small pieces of paper and tape or post-it notes to write each element of love on the ingredients.

Ingredients you will need:

Love is patient – bottle of chocolate syrup

Love is kind – ice cream scoop

Love doesn’t want what it can’t have – jar of cherries

Love isn’t proud – caramel sauce

Love isn’t rude – bag of M&Ms

Love doesn’t say “Me first!” – peanuts

Love isn’t easily angered – bottle of whip cream

Love always trusts – bunch of bananas

Love always hopes – bowls

Love always keeps going to the end – spoons

Before you begin, write “Love NEVER fails” on a sheet of paper in large letters and post on the freezer door in your kitchen. Once the child(ren) have gathered all the ingredients, have them figure out what is missing from their sundaes. When they figure out they are missing the ice cream, they will see the sign on the freezer. As you sit down as a family to eat your ice cream sundaes, pass out the post-it notes and have members of the family read each of them out loud. After reading each note, think of a way we can show (or not show-in the case of the “isn’t” phrases) love to each other.

The best part is that last phrase – that God’s love, his never ending “agape” love is perfect and NEVER fails. Now THAT is something to throw an ice cream party about!!

Kids Blog #18 - Paul to the Leaders

“The Apostles Teaching”

**Note: This post is meant as a surprise to the children in the family… don’t worry – the surprise is worth the wait!

This week we read I Corinthians 13, also known as the “love chapter”. As a reminder of all that God’s love means to us and as a special treat for our kids, we’re going to send our kids on a treasure hunt to find all the “ingredients” of love. Along the way, they’ll also find elements of making an ice cream Sundae. When the hunt is over, the family can enjoy a love feast of their finds!

First, find a room in the house that has quite a few nooks and crannies that you can hide things in. This will be the “treasure room”. You will need some small pieces of paper and tape or post-it notes to write each element of love on the ingredients.

Ingredients you will need:

Love is patient – bottle of chocolate syrup

Love is kind – ice cream scoop

Love doesn’t want what it can’t have – jar of cherries

Love isn’t proud – caramel sauce

Love isn’t rude – bag of M&Ms

Love doesn’t say “Me first!” – peanuts

Love isn’t easily angered – bottle of whip cream

Love always trusts – bunch of bananas

Love always hopes – bowls

Love always keeps going to the end – spoons

Before you begin, write “Love NEVER fails” on a sheet of paper in large letters and post on the freezer door in your kitchen. Once the child(ren) have gathered all the ingredients, have them figure out what is missing from their sundaes. When they figure out they are missing the ice cream, they will see the sign on the freezer. As you sit down as a family to eat your ice cream sundaes, pass out the post-it notes and have members of the family read each of them out loud. After reading each note, think of a way we can show (or not show-in the case of the “isn’t” phrases) love to each other.

The best part is that last phrase – that God’s love, his never ending “agape” love is perfect and NEVER fails. Now THAT is something to throw an ice cream party about!!

Kids Blog #17 Paul to the Churches

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…” Galatians 5:22

Have you ever seen a peach tree with fruit on its branches? The limbs hang lower and the fruit makes the air smell terrific when you walk near it. When peaches are ready they smell as good as candy and taste even better! You can’t walk by a peach tree with ripe fruit without wanting to get closer and pick fruit from it.

That is the way people should feel about us as Christ-followers! They should notice the sweetness of our lives, through our choices and the way we show love to them and want to be near us. The Spirit of God gives to us the things that show who He is to the people around us. What are those things that the Holy Spirit gives us? It tells us in Galatians chapter 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

When we ask Jesus to be our forever friend and decide to follow Him, he gives us his Holy Spirit to help us show His love to our friends and neighbors.

Now it’s your turn…

Can you name the fruits of the spirit? Try to say them as a family – maybe even come up with a rap or song to remember them!

How can we share the love of Jesus with our friends at school using the fruit of God’s Spirit?

This week, pray and ask God to use you to show His love by the power of His Holy Spirit. Just like the ripened peach, people will want to be near you and see that because you show them love, they are special to God too!

Kids Blog #16 - The Travels of Paul

“From One Person to the Next ”

This week we read in Acts about the first missionary journey! When I was younger, the church my family attended supported a missionary family that lived and shared God’s love in Guyana (in South America). They would come to our church once a year and share with us a slide show and stories of how God was changing the hearts and lives of the people in the churches and schools that they worked in. I looked forward to their visits – I loved seeing their pictures and hearing their stories! I remember praying several times during those years, “God, if you want me to go to Guyana, or somewhere else far away, to tell others about you – I’ll go.”

God hasn’t asked me to go to Guyana, but He has given me the privilege of working at Southbrook Church and being a part of leading kids on a journey to know Jesus and make Him known each week in The Cove – I’m so thankful for that!

God has asked each one of us to share His love and truth with others – whether it’s in a far away country or right here in our schools and neighborhoods. God’s message of love and forgiveness needs to be passed on from one person to the next – it’s as easy as talking with your friends and family about what God is doing in your life today. How is He answering your prayers, how is He providing for your family, how is He helping you when you feel afraid or lonely, how does He get your attention when you’ve sinned and how do you feel after you’ve asked for forgiveness? You can be a “missionary” when you share those things with friends in your classroom or at the neighborhood park.

Do you tell others about Jesus or do you think that’s someone else’s job? Take some time to talk with your family about ways that you can tell others about Jesus. Think about what friends or family members you could talk with and take turns “practicing” what you might say to them.

This week, I’m praying that you will take the time to talk about what God is doing in your life. Let’s all do our part and pass God’s message of love and forgiveness from one person to the next!

Kids Blog #15 - The Church is Born

“The Church Is Born”

We read this week about the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The Holy Spirit was given to the people who trusted in Jesus Christ on that day, so that they could go and tell others with the power of God at work in them. On that day, they all spoke in their own languages, sharing the message of Jesus and worshipping God together. Can you imagine what it would be like to hear all of those languages at the same time? To me, it would sound like a lot of buzzing noise. I only speak one language – English.

One of the amazing things about God is that He understands every language around the world. Incredible, huh? In fact, he hears the prayers of Christians in China and Germany and Brazil and Mexico with the same love and care as He shows us!

Today, let’s remember that we serve the God of ALL creation. He knows everything about us and can speak every language. Take a few minutes to say out loud the name of Jesus in each of these languages and remember that He is the God of every nation.

Nante koto da – Japan

Hay-soos – Spain

Lisus – Russian

Yeshua – Hebrew

Jezoo – Italian

Yesu- Welsh and Swahili

Lisa – Turkish

Al Maseeh – Arabic

Yesu-nim – Korean

Kids Blog #14 - The Cross of Christ

“God’s Perfect Gift to Us”

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! What a perfect time for us to give thanks for the gift that God gave to us – His perfect son, Jesus! As a family, give thanks for the price that Jesus paid for each of our sins – so that we can have a relationship with Him that will last forever!

It may seem a little strange to make Easter Story Cookies in the month of November, but anytime is a perfect time to remember as a family what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Easter Story Cookies
You will need:
1 c. of whole pecans
1 tsp. of vinegar
3 eggs – just the whites
1 pinch of salt
1 c. of sugar

A zipper baggie, a wooden spoon, a mixer and mixing bowl, wax paper, a cookie sheet, a piece of tape and a Bible.

Preheat oven to 300 – It is important to do this before you start the recipe!

Place pecans in the baggie and beat them with the wooden spoon to break them into small pieces. Read John 19:1-3 After Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.

Smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp of vinegar into a mixing bowl. Read John 19:28-30 When Jesus was thirsty on the cross, he was given vinegar to drink.

Add the egg whites to vinegar. Read John 10:10 Eggs represent life. Jesus gave His life to give us life.

Sprinkle a little salt into your hand and taste it. Add the rest to the bowl. Read Luke 23:27 This represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers and the bitterness of our own sin.

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1c. of sugar. Read Psalms 34:8 and John 3:16 The sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12-15 mins. until stiff peaks are formed. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3 The color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Read Matt 27:57-60 Each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven off. Take the piece of tape and seal the oven door. Read Matt 27:65-66 Jesus’ tomb was sealed.

Go to Bed! Read John 16:20 and 22 You may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

The next morning…open the oven door and share the cookies. Read Matt 28:1-9 Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On that first Easter, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.

Remember and give thanks that Jesus lives!