God's Love - Part 2

The past few weeks in kid's Connection, we have had awesome times of worship. The children have participated with energy and enthusiasm in praise to Jesus. Here are some pictures from this past Wednesday:

They all want to come up to the front and help the "praise leaders" and as long as they are worshipping, we love the energy and let them!

I love this part of "The Crazy Song" when they fall on their knees before Jesus in prayer. To see a room full of children on their faces is amazing.

The next part of the song is awesome too. They lift their hands to Jesus:

I just love the energy and passion they have been bringing each Wednesday and hope that it not only continues, but gets better every week!

After worship, announcements and prayer, we had a very neat object lesson from Sister T. It was called The Corners of God's Love. She held up a piece of paper with the words "God is Love" written on it. After asking the children if they believe that it is important to share the love of God with others, she asked if they thought that when they share God's love, do they have more or less of His love for themselves. They thought that it was the same or more, so she did a demonstration.

Holding up the paper, she asked how many corners there were on it. They assured here that there were 4, so she continued by asking how many corners there would be if she cut one off. Most of the children answered that there would be 3 left, but a few caught on quickly! Holding their curiosity, she cut off a corner and "shared" God's love with one of our visitors - giving them the corner she cut off and telling them that Jesus loves them so much and He wants them to know it.

Now, to count the corners that are left. Well, if you cut a corner off the paper and then count again, you will find that you now have 5 corners! They were in awe!

Again, she shared God's love with another visitor, telling about how much He loves them, then counted the corners and now, there were 6! Completing all 4 original corners and continuing to share God's love with the visitors or those who haven't been in a while, the final count was 8 corners.

The moral: When we share God's love with others, we don't have less for ourselves - it actually gets bigger and we have more of His love, for ourselves and to share with more people!

Next, Sister Dawn taught an object lesson with a tootsie roll pop. She compared the inside to our hearts when we first give them to Jesus. They are soft and sweet. But, when we do things that make Jesus sad, we add layers of hardness to our hearts - like the candy around the tootsie pop. But, when we repent and ask Jesus to cover us with His love and mercy, He takes that away, like when we eat the outside of the tootsie pop and He leaves us with His love in our hearts. They were given tootsie pops to take home to share this with their family.

The last thing we did this week was to play a quizzing type game that was also similar to a sword drill - asking questions from verses that had to do with the love of God. So, we set up a buzzer, put children onto teams and started. Each team had a Bible. The question was asked and the team was given time to look up the verse and hit the buzzer with the answer. They earned points for their team when they answered correctly.

Aman and Jiliane search for the correct verse:

Presley searches as well:

Brett found the right one and stands to read it out loud:

The game ended with each team having answered at least one question correctly. They seemed to enjoy this type of game and did a great job looking up the verses!

Faith brought her friend Kennedy for the 2nd week in a row - she is already sharing God's love - must have been her baptism!

Zachary Hinkle, Dylan Stitt and Jayce Hinkle:

All in all, we had another great week in KC!

God's Love

Since most of our lives are bombarded at this time of the year with the message of Valentine's Day, we decided that we would use this as an opportunity to remind the children of kid's Connection where true love came from in the first place.

Through the use of various colored hearts, we learned a message of the love of God for all of us.

A black heart represents our hearts when they are full of sin and we don't let Jesus in; when we continue to live however we want to live.

A red heart represents the blood that Jesus shed on the cross to cleanse us from our sins. He died for us because He loves us.

A white heart represents our hearts after Jesus has cleansed us - after we have repented and given our lives to Him, he makes us clean and new!

A green heart represents our new life. Just like in the spring, the grass will turn green again with a new life, so we have a new life in Jesus when we let Him lead us.

A yellow heart represents the streets of gold in Heaven where Jesus is preparing a place for us. He loves us so much that He wants us to be there with Him.

With this simple message, we hoped to convey to the children a message of God's love and His desire for them to know Him and give their lives to Him. That is the true meaning of love - God's love for us.

Next, we had a scavenger hunt prepared for them. They were in three teams for the hunt and were given a list of items to find that would symbolize God's love - lots of hearts - representing His love for us: sweet candy - His love for us is sweet; a stuffed animal - He provides comfort and love; a heart eraser - His love erases our sins, etc. We gave them 5 minutes to see which team could find the most items. All of the items were found just in the nick of time and the blue team had the most items found. This earned them 1000 points for their team! The orange and green teams tied and each won 750 points for their teams. The points remain very close.

On Your Mark, Get Set, GO!!


Caleb, Dylan and Erica looking for the treasure:


Don't give up - keep looking! There were 14 items hidden in Griffin Hall.


Jiliane and Cameron checking off their lists:


Chris found the last hidden item - a pencil (God is writing our story!):


Remember that they earn points several ways. They can fill out a review sheet in their team color when they arrive each week. They can participate in worship. They can win contests. They are all awarded points for bringing offering. Participation is also rewarded. Soon, we will have a winner for this quarter to choose the type of party we will have. We are looking forward to another great party!

Paul

An awesome character trait about Paul is that he did what God wanted no matter what people thought of him for it. That is what we wanted the kids to learn this week in KC - that even when people don't feel that it is good or important, if God does, that is all that matters! We began with a great time of worship and prayer. The kids always jump right in to give their prayer requests - written down and orally - and also to tell of answers to prayer.





We enlisted some of the kids to help out with a simple skit retelling the story of the good Samaritan to reinforce the character trait Paul was demonstrating.

Brock was the man who was beaten by theives (just for pretend!):



Caleb was the priest who came by and ignored the injured man:



Jiliane was the Levite who was too busy to be bothered:



Jaycie was the good Samaritan who put the man on her "donkey" and took care of him. It was unplanned but worked out perfect that she was Brock's sister and brothers and sisters would not normally be ready to help each other, but she did what was right no matter what anyone else did!



Next, we separated into small groups for some focused lessons. Brother Mark used a potato head to teach his lesson. If we listen to what other people say, even if it is not what God would want, we end up as messed up as a potato head with a foot for an ear and a mouth for an eye! The kids really seemed to catch on that that would not be good and that it is better to obey God and have things turn out the right way. They got to make their own potato head pictures to take home with a reminder that it is better to obey God than man.





Sister Dawn talked about caring too much about what our friends think. We have parents and teachers to help lead and guide us, but our friends can often tell us the wrong thing. She led the children in praying with and for each other to be set free from worrying about what our friends think and standing up for what is right.





Sister Tammy used pudding to reinforce the truth. She had a box of pudding to make for a treat for the kids, but didn't really think that it was important to follow the directions on the side of the box and just did it any way that sounded good. Instead of 2 c. of cold milk, she just used about 1/2 c. of warm water that was nearby and easy to get to. Then, it said to stir quickly for 2 minutes and she was too tired, so she just did about 30 seconds. (lots of sweet children offered to help when she was too tired!) Needless to say, the pudding was not very yummy looking! She compared that to living for God without following His instructions for us - those found in the Bible - and how yucky our lives would be if we don't follow those guidelines. The kids still got to have some pudding made the correct way!





Riley and Christina before church:


Jared before service:


Jeremiah and Dylan:


Thank you for sharing your children with us!

Happy New Year!

2009 is here and it is the perfect time for new beginnings and fresh start - even for kids! We began with brainstorming things that we do that we really don't like to do or don't want to do anymore - things that Jesus probably wouldn't want us to do. They were so honest and we were amazed at some of the things they brought up - realizing that they are not concentrating in school, needing to stop mocking others, needing to obey their parents better, needing to be more honest, not eating too much sugar... - they were really thinking!

After we brainstormed, each child was given a blank piece of paper. They were encouraged to close their eyes and think of the thing they wanted to try to stop doing this year and then we prayed together, asking Jesus to forgive us of those things and to help us to stop doing them.







After we prayed, they brought their blank cards forward and placed them at the foot of the cross. We rejoiced that as of right then, when we repented, Jesus forgave us and it was as if we never did those things before! We are clean now!

Next, we helped them brainstorm good habits that they wanted to developed this year. We compared starting new habits to seeds. When you plant a seed, you need certain things to help it grow - you have to prepare the soil and get rid of the weeds. We just did that by giving things to Jesus! You need water and sun - we get those from spending time with Jesus and he washes us and shines His light on us. We want to plant good seeds so that good things will grow in our lives.

Then, they were given seed shaped papers with the verse "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" written on one side. They were encouraged to put some good things that they want to do this year on the other side and then to place that by their bed or in their Bible, so that they could see it and remember to continue to ask Jesus help them to be their best for Him.

We pray that they will continue to want to live for Jesus and allow Him to work in their lives this year while their good seeds begin to take root and grow! 2009 can be our best year ever!

Merry Christmas!

Although we haven't had kid's Connection due to various events, the children were so excited to get back in the swing of things and we were excited to get to hang out with them for the evening. We had a lovely party planned for them with fun, games and lessons to learn.


We started the evening with a Christmas Carol game. Each of the children had a number. As we played a familiar Christmas Carol, we would randomly call out a number and stop the music - while each child with that number would stand up and continue to sing the song. Then, the music would start again and we would go another round. The kids really got into it and enjoyed singing loudly and with gusto.









The next game was a Christmas card toss. They got into a line, were given a Christmas card and had to attempt to throw the card into a bin about 3 feet away from them - much harder than it sounds! The winning team was only able to get 2 cards in the bin!


Kirstyn, Collin, Brett, Cameron and others wait in line for Sister Shanna to give them their card.




The next game was the "big one"! The children sat around tables and picked up a small Christmas stocking, waiting anxiously for the next step.





Next, we placed a tray filled with candy, toys and goodies in the center of each table with instructions to NOT touch until instructed. They couldn't take their eyes off the prizes, though!

Caleb and Jeremiah eye up the goodies while Amber looks on:





Such a lot of good things to choose from:





Waiting patiently, kind of!




On the "Go" signal, each child had 30 seconds to fill their stocking with the goodies from the tray.














At the end of the time, they had to stop immediately and listen for the next instructions. This was where it got interesting. We reminded the children that Christmas is not about getting, but about giving, that it is better to give than receive and that sometimes, we can get too caught up in thinking about all that we can get to make ourselves happy. For that reason, they were asked to pass their stocking to the child on their right! Each child now still had a stocking, but it was different than the one they had filled. Some were not very happy with this arrangement, but were again reminded about the true meaning of Christmas. It is our prayer that they will have learned a valuable lesson from this experience that will go with them for the rest of their lives.


After finishing up with the stocking game, we moved to the front to have a snack of Christmas cookies and here a story - The Legend of the Candy Cane - that incorporated the true meaning of Christmas in a unique way. Each of the children was given their own candy cane at the end as a reminder of what Christmas is truly about. Again, it is our prayer that each child will remember the most important things about the Christmas season.


A few more random pictures. Evyn was a great help during the party:




Cheyenne and Alexei wait for the party to begin:




We hope that all of you have a wonderful Christmas filled with good times and people that you love!

Thankfulness

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We spent this week in KC simply learning to be thankful for the things we have and to not take the little things for granted - even toothbrushes and shoes! We related some of the stories the men brought back from a recent trip to build a church in Guatamala and all that those families go without - we are so blessed in our country!

In addition to those lessons, our KC children participated in creating a gift for the Women of Worth - the widows group - from our church. They have an annual Christmas party and KC wanted to contribute something to make them smile. The children all helped in making pretzel rods dipped in different types of chocolate and then putting various toppings on them - so pretty, fun and easy to do! They also signed cards to give to each woman.

Alexei and Alexandria sign cards:

Zach uses M&M's to decorate a pretzel:

Alesha and Corbin work on their masterpieces:

A group signs cards while others work on various "Thanksgiving" activities:

The prayer request box in an important weekly part of kid's Connection. Students have the opportunity to right down their prayer requests and their praise reports and turn in for all of us to pray over them or rejoice with them. With continue to have prayers answered from requests turned in each week! God is building their faith.

Some of the finished products:

It is our prayer that you and your family have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving week filled with faith, food, family, friends and all the things that you love the most!

Surprise!

This past Wednesday turned out a little different than all of you were expecting! If you were at church with your children, you know that we did not have kid's Connection. Instead, Pastor made a few remarks and then we were all asked to go and tour the new building!

Some of the kid's Connection staff were stationed in the new children's chapel to welcome everyone and to answer questions. It was awesome to see the looks on everyone's faces when they saw the new facilities.

We are so excited to start having services there on Wednesday nights! What a blessing it will be.

We pray that you are all as excited as we are of the great things that God is doing and that He is going to continue to do in and for our kids and our kid's ministries.

See you next week for our regular kid's connection service!