May Issue
Last month we had fun exploring how all of God’s special feasts point to Jesus! Jesus is the “unleavened bread” perfect and sinless. He is our Passover Lamb, sacrificed for our sins. Lastly, He is our First Fruits, the first and best. Because He rose first with a heavenly body, we know that we will too!
This month we are talking about friendships. God created us for relationships, not just with Him, but also with one another. We will look at some special friendships in the Bible to help us learn how we can be good friends and what characteristics we should look for in a friend. We’ll also look at some consequences of choosing the wrong kinds of friends.
We’ll start with David and Jonathan. Their unlikely friendship demonstrates loyalty, humility, and strength through adversity. Next, we will meet some brave men who helped David become king. These mighty men were loyal and were willing to even risk their lives to show their love for their friend and leader.
Next, we’ll visit King Jehoshaphat. Even though he was a good king, his friendship with the evil King Ahab almost cost him his life. Finally, we will stop into Capernaum and watch some true friends break through every obstacle and even tear off the roof of a house, all to get their friend to Jesus, the One who could make their friend whole.
“A friend always loves, and a brother is born to share trouble.”
Proverbs 17:17 GTN
VBS Volunteer Dates
We are needing volunteers throughout the next few months to make sure our VBS is a “right side up” success! No experience necessary! Pizza lunch provided May and June.
Monday, May 27th 9am – 2pm
finishing up backdrop prep, designing, cutting, and painting cardboard cut outs for platform and Bethany Hall’s upside-down room. Painting paper backdrop for platform.
Saturday, June 8th 10am – 3pm
finishing painting backdrop, cardboard cut outs.
Tuesday, June 18 10am-3pm
Painting paper backdrop for platform, finishing cardboard cut outs. Organize all décor by room to make set up faster VBS week.
July 15th – 19th 9am – 3pm
VBS set up, skit practice (narrowed times TBD)
Saturday July 20th 10am – 3pm
– VBS DAY!
What’s So Great About Childrens Ministry?
In the past there have seemed to be two schools of thought with children’s ministry. The first is the idea that it is the place where moms of young children go to “serve their time” while their children are little. Others, who might rather serve elsewhere, tend to see serving in children’s ministry as an expected steppingstone on the ministry ladder.
The second might be more of a fear than a school of thought. It is that once a person becomes involved in children’s ministry, they can never get back out again. It’s a black whole that sucks those brave souls willing to risk entering and guilts them into a lifetime of indentured servitude. While unfortunately those stereotypes sometimes exist for a reason, allow me a moment to dispel some fears and myths and share some insights into this enigma known as children’s ministry.
Children’s ministry is a calling just like any other ministry. To thrive, it takes people with passion and love who desire to pour into the next generation. Sometimes the calling is for a lifetime, but for a larger percentage of people, it is for a season. It is an ebb and flow. There will be seasons with great numbers and steady attendance followed by a sudden and drastic reduction of those same two things. There will be
kids who try your patience and kids who simply steal your heart. Every Sunday is an adventure with no two Sunday’s looking alike.
But only the privileged few get to see what is truly happening every Sunday. Underneath the façade of silly motions to worship songs, the glue and glitter of their next project, and their endless requests for more snacks and game time, something profoundly wonderful is transpiring. Children are meeting Jesus. They are discovering a Heavenly Father who is big and strong, loving and kind. Even our littlest charges in the nursery are not excluded from this beautiful introduction. Every lap time Bible story, every finger paint craft, infuses in their hearts the truth that “Jesus Loves the Little Children”.
So, if you have ever felt the nudge to step into our world but have feared entrapment or inadequacy, take a chance, and come see what we’re all about. What you will find might just inspire you as you watch the next generation of Kingdom shakers rise and take their place.
