March Virtue

Its that time. March is upon us.

The virtue for March is Hope. Watch this video to see what your children will be learning about this month in KidQuest.

The Challenge

Can you believe we are three weeks away from the end of the first season of The Challenge? We have been learning through Old Testament stories that GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE! I really feel that our kids are starting to see that God has a plan for them if they are willing to accept it and trust that he knows what he is doing.

Last night we looked at the story of Esther. What a great story of going up against adversity and facing it with courage, boldness, strength, and confidence. Esther was willing to lay down her life for her people – out of sheer love for them and God. Her stand required courage, strength, boldness, and confidence. No matter what you face in life, God stands ready to give you the courage, strength, boldness, and confidence you need to stand for him.

Here are the questions I gave to the kids to think about, maybe you can talk to your kids and see their very cool perspective on the story of Esther.

• What kind of person do you think Esther was?
• Why would she risk her life for her people like this?
• What would you have done in her situation?
• Tell us of a time when you had to choose whether or not to take a tough stand for your beliefs, stand up for someone who had been wronged, or stand up to an enemy?
• What can we learn from Esther’s stand?

February 22 Take Home Stuff

FirstLook Small Talk Card


KidQuest God Time Card
KidQuest Fridge Door Card

Yesterday in KidQuest

(From 252 Basics Leader Summary)

Before this month, has it ever struck you how fair God is to everyone, and as a result, how fair Christianity is?

Unlike other religions that require people to keep stringent laws, Christianity is the fairest because God offers His gift of salvation to all, requiring only that we believe in His Son, accepting Him as our Savior. God loved and gave; we believe and receive (John 3:16). God doesn’t discriminate when it comes to whom He wants to spend eternity with. He sent His Son to die for everyone. He forgives everyone who asks for forgiveness. And if we believe in His Son, Jesus, we are going to spend forever with Him—no matter who we are or what we’ve done.

Is that not truly amazing? Fairness is making sure that everyone is treated respectfully. God exhibits fairness and respect for us in the highest measure. None of us deserve His gift of salvation, and yet it is freely offered to any who believe. We weren’t standing with the disciples when Jesus gave His final words before ascending into heaven. We didn’t look into His eyes or feel His hand on our shoulders as He said, “Spread the word.” But when we entered into a relationship with God through faith in Christ, we signed up to be missionaries. When we treat everyone with fairness, telling and showing everyone the way to Jesus, imagine how God can use us to bring others to Him for eternity!

Yesterday in FirstLook

This week we again talked about how much God loves us and how he used stories such as the parable of the Prodigal Son to show us this love.

Bible Story Focus -- Jesus wants me to know that God is a loving Father. The Prodigal Son. Luke 15:19-24
Key Question -- Why did Jesus tell these stories?
Bottom Line -- Jesus wants me to know what God is like.
Memory Verse -- "The Son wants to tell others about the Father." Luke 10:22, CEV

This Week's Take Home Stuff

Here are the take home materials for February Week 3 (Feb. 15) Download by using the right-click button and Save As.

GodTime Card (KidQuest)
Fridge Door Card (KidQuest)
Small Talk Card (FirstLook)

What a Weekend

I am so excited about some of the things that happened yesterday in the children's ministry.

We were able to share the salvation message with over 50 elementary students.

The preschoolers learned the first half of the story of the prodigal son and will continue next week when they learn that the Father is really God and he wants to welcome everyone to his house, Heaven.

The first edition of the KidQuest Space Report was circulated. If you didn't receive one, make sure you pick up a copy next time you are at the church.

KidQuest Space Report

The first ever KidQuest Space Report has been published. Be sure to pick up your copy this Sunday!!!

SmallTalk Card

This is an image of what we call the SmallTalk card. This is a card that is for you the FirstLook parent. As you can see it shows the key question, bottom line, what every kids needs to know, Bible story reference and teachable moments. Teachable moments is a section to help you talk about the Bible story at home with your preschooler.

You can pick up these cards as you exit the FirstLook room. You can also download it by right clicking on the image, choosing Save As and then saving it on your computer.

GodTime Cards

It has come to my attention that some of our great kids are a little confused about GodTime cards. So I wanted to clear up some of the confusion with you the responsible parents.

What is a GodTime Card?

A GodTime card is a tool we make available every week to your elementary student. The GodTime card is a weekly devotional card that we pray your child will use to establish a regular devotion time with God. As your child exits the KidQuest room each week, they can pick up their GodTime card copy.

Here is where the confusion lies. Each week, I encourage the kids to take their GodTime cards home and do the 4 devotions over the course of the week. If they bring back their GodTime card the following week, they are entered into a drawing. Before KidQuest really gets under way, the Host will draw 4 or 5 GodTime cards from those turned in. Those 4 or 5 students then recieve a priveldged seat on couches located in the back of the room during the Large Group teaching time. At random, we decided to also give away prizes and snacks to those who have won the drawing. For example, this past week, we drew 4 GodTime cards. Those students got to enjoy a quick snack as they sat on the couches and listened to the Bible story. One of those 4 also received another special prize; A virtue poster.

I hope this helps you understand what the kids are talking about every week.

If your child is unable to come to KidQuest or loses their copy of the GodTime card, you will be able to come to the blog at any time and download the latest one. All you have to do is right click on the image and choose Save As. Then save the image anywhere on your computer that you wish.

Here is a copy of the February 8 GodTime card.

This is an image of what we call the Fridge Door Card. This is a card that is for you the parent. As you can see it shows the virtue of the month, bottom line for the week, memory verse, virtue definition, and things you can talk about with your student.

Just like the GodTime cards, you can pick up one of these as you exit the KidQuest room. You can also download these to print them off and put on your Fridge.



For more material that you can purchase that goes along with KidQuest, check out the links for FamilyTime Virtue Packs and the ReThink Group Store!

This Coming Sunday in KidQuest is IMPORTANT!

I just wanted everyone to know that this weekend in KidQuest is what it is all about. We will be presenting the message of salvation to all our elementary kids. So as you enter the weekend, continue to pray for the hearts of our kids who have never heard the message before and even the kids who have heard it but never accepted it too.

Here is the lesson summary written by 252 Basics.

"Have you ever had an enemy?
Maybe it was someone who betrayed you, rejected you, intentionally hurt you, or maybe he or she caused you pain without thinking, and --zing-- suddenly, you had an enemy. Or maybe you're the one who did the betraying, rejecting, or hurting, intentionally or not.

If so, you can probably understand the temptation to treat that person differently from the way you treat a friend.

This weekend's lesson challenges us to do something unnatural. It isn't natural to treat everyone with fairness, especially and enemy. Thankfully though, even when we were God's enemies (yes, its true; read Romans 5:10), He treated us with ultimate fairness by offering every one of us the gift of forgiveness and a fresh start.

Just look at what He did through Saul/Paul: Saul, who persecuted Jesus through hateful treatment of His followers, ultimately became Paul, the zealous missionary, preacher, and writer of 13 New Testament books.

God wants to work through us like that too. He wants us to allow Him to display His attitude of fairness to those who, to our way of thinking, don't deserve it. When we do, it creates a powerful example of His all-encompassing love and takes a huge step toward turning an enemy into a friend."

(for more information about 252 Basics, check out the link to their website on the right)

February Virtue Video

This video explains what we are teaching in KidQuest this month about Fairness.
It was created by the ReThink Group. For a link to their resources and store, please click on the link on the right.

Past Week in FirstLook

Everyone loses things from time to time. Jesus told a story about a shepherd who lost a sheep. The shepherd loved that sheep so much that he went to find it right away. Remind your preschooler about a time that he or she lost a favorite toy. Talk about how he or she felt when she realized the toy was gone. Then, ask him or her how he or she she felt when he or she found the toy. Remind him or her that God loves him or her even more than he or she loves that toy. He loves him or her even more that Mommy and Daddy.

Isn't God's love amazing?

Basic Truth -- Jesus wants to be my friend forever.
Key Question -- Why did Jesus tell these stories?
Bottom Line -- Jesus wants me to know what God is like.
Memory Verse -- "The Son wants to tell others about the Father"
Luke 10:22 (CEV)
Bible Story Focus -- Jesus wants me to know how much God cares about me. We told the story of the Lost Sheep-- Luke 15:3-7

Past Week in KidQuest

Kids are quick to notice someone who is different from them in some way. Younger children may embarrass us by pointing out the man at the mall who limps. Preadolescents can be hard on peers who’re not considered cool or among the “pretty people.” Let’s face it: as we get older, we’re going to run into all kinds of prejudices—our own as well as others’. Today’s lesson will help kids explore how God wants them to respond to those who are different from them. The basics are simple:

1. Be fair. Make sure that everyone is treated respectfully—including those who are different.
   
2. Jesus modeled this for us, not only by rescuing us from death, but through all His interactions with people.
   
3. He even taught about it directly, through a parable commonly known as “The Good Samaritan” (today’s Bible story). He wants us not only to treat others fairly, but to go out of our way to exercise fairness in the way we treat others—even those who are different.
4. When kids discover and apply Jesus’ teachings about fairness, He will work through them to defuse prejudices and ignite God’s love in the community around them.

Feb. 1 in FirstLook

This past week in FirstLook (our preschool room)...

Our Bible story came from Luke 2 when Jesus was "lost" in Jerusalem. In reality Jesus was teaching at the temple and his parents did not know so they left him as they began to return home. We learned that even we we are lost or something is going wrong we can trust that Jesus knows what he is doing just like he did when he was at the temple teaching.

Our Bottom Line was "Jesus wants me to know what God is like." That is what he was teaching about at the temple when he was 12 years old. We can learn a lot from the life of Jesus, we get to see that God knows exactly what he is doing even when other people do not.

This story helps us to remember that "Jesus wants to be my friend forever." So this month, remember to talk with your preschooler about how Jesus wants to be their friend and will watch out for them even when things seem to be bad.

Jesus wants everyone to know about God. When Jesus was only 12 years old, He went to the temple to teach the Bible teachers about God. Ask your preschooler to tell you the story of Jesus in the temple. If they can't remember it, get out a Bible and help them remember it. Jesus helped others learn about God's love by telling stories. You can find stories that Jesus told in the Bible. Take time to read several of Jesus' stories this week with your preschooler and encourage him to share these stories with his family and friends.

Feb 1 in KidQuest

This month in KidQuest we are learning about Fairness.

Fairness is making sure everyone is treated respectfully.
This month at home try to remember to teach this virtue in different areas of your student's life.

This past week we used James 2:1-9 to show that playing favorites is a sin in the eyes of God. So help your children remember this week that they are to be fair to everyone and not show favoritism. The bottom line of the lesson was "treat everyone fairly because everyone's important to God."

Here are some things you could talk about with your elementary student over the course of the week. Don't only ask them about these things, share with your kids times when you have been treated unfairly too whether as a child or even at work.

• Have you ever been treated unfairly?
• What happened?
• What did you do about it?

The memory verse for February is
-- Proverbs 31:9 -- "Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."

SuperStart! Medical Release

All kids and sponsors who plan to attend SuperStart! you must fill out this Medial Release form and give it to Matt along with your $15 deposit.

http://media.ciy.com/pdf/superstart/medical-release-form.pdf