Archive for June, 2011

The Big Story: Lesson Ideas for Moses, Plagues, and the 10 Commandments

By | June 30, 2011 | Elementary Age, Ministry Ideas, Preschoolers | No comments
Flickr by imkukie
We’ve been making our way through the major stories in the Bible (I wish we had time to hit them all!) as part of our Big Summer Plans.  This past Wednesday, we covered Moses (early life and beyond), the 10 Plagues, and the 10 Commandments.  During story-time, I used a lesson from the “Forget-Me-Not Bible Story Activities” book.  Kids swatted flies, repeated the famous “But Pharoah said No!” line over and over, and generally acted out the plagues from their seats.

When it came to the Passover, I lowered my voice a bit and explained the terrible final plague and how Pharoah’s stubbornness caused great pain, but God’s people were saved by the blood of the lamb.   I was amazed at how quiet and focused the kids became as we entered this part of the story.  They seemed truly concerned for both the Egyptians and the Israelites.  It was a powerful story-time moment and it reminded me once again how God’s Word is living and active (and interesting!).

For our station time of the nights, here’s the options we had available:

  • News Broadcast: Kids pretend like they are first hand witnesses to the Escape from Egypt, either as Israelites or Egyptians.  They draft up questions and interview each other for the camera.  The guy who made our Spy Guy movies will do some editing and we’ll show the kids the videos for a bit of fun later.  (Idea from Forget Me Not Bible Story Activities)
  • Make a Brochure: In this station, kids use Egyptian websites, Cool Bible Tools, and the Bible to make a brochure of Egypt.  The theme “Come Visit Egypt: Home of the 10 Plagues” was a popular one, but kids could focus on any part of the story or country.
  • Egyptian Wall Painting: Who doesn’t love drawing on walls?  We slapped some butcher paper up and gave kids copies of hieroglyphs and their corresponding letters.  (We used stuff from these Egyptian books, but you can find the same information online).
  • Stone Rubbings: We have a big stone outside with the 10 Commandments on it, so kids went outside to make stone rubbings of it.  They also talked about which commandment is easiest to follow or hardest to follow while they waited for other kids to finish their rubbings.
  • We didn’t do this one, but it would have fun to go outside and do some activities with sidewalk chalk, whether writing with hieroglyphics on the parking lot (writing the memory verse perhaps?) or drawing a set of 10 Commandment stones.

Got some ideas of your own?  Post a comment and let me know!

Sunday Sermon: Rebuilding the World

By | June 28, 2011 | My Thoughts | No comments
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This past Sunday we had a guest speaker from India share a message from Nehemiah (chapter one) with our church.  He made some great points as to why Nehemiah was effective in his mission.  I thought I’d share with the readers here. Enjoy!

Nehemiah Was Filled with Compassion

When Nehemiah heard the news about his people, he wept and mourned for many days. Verse four says, ”When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.”   When was the last time we really mourned for anything, not directly related to ourselves?  When we really got on our faces in intercession for another person or people group?  When we felt the pain on injustice burning deeply in our own hearts?
For many of us, it’s been too long, I’m afraid.  It’s inconvenient.  It’s stressful.  It’s not easily scheduled, and it doesn’t seem very productive.  Oh yeah, and it’s pretty uncomfortable too.  And to prolong the mourning for days?  That seems like too much.  But what if it did it?  What if we really thought about the spiritual state of our country or even our own neighborhood?  The souls of our friends and family?  What if we truly mourned, fasted, and prayed for those things that we say we really care about?
Check out this great soundtrack about the subject of mourning:

Nehemiah Was Connected

  1. To God (through prayer, fasting, and making the Lord a priority)
  2. To the People: “…while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem” (vs 1-2).  Nehemiah took the time to ask about his people.  How often are we so busy scurrying around with our to-do list that we don’t have time to ask (and listen!) to how people are doing.

Nehemiah Was Filled with Prayer

Check out Nehemiah’s prayer (vs 5-10):

“LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”

In this prayer, Nehemiah was opening his whole heart to God.  He was revealing his true feelings and he wasn’t holding back.  He understood the holiness of God and sought righteousness by confessing both his own sin and the sins of the nation before making a request.  He prayed with confidence and a firm trust in God.

Remember Jacob when he wrestled with God?  He said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:26).   Do we have the confidence in God to make such a request?  Do we persevere in prayer till we see results?  I for one, am not such a diligent prayer.  When I think about the lives that are possible affected by my ministry, I am ashamed that I do not take praying for these souls more seriously.

Finally, Nehemiah Was a Man of Sacrifice

Nehemiah was cup-bearer to the King.  He lived a comfortable life, and he knew in order to rebuild the walls he would have to leave that life.  Once on the build site, he was criticized by his people, attacked by enemies, ridiculed and more. It was worth the sacrifice to him, though.  He was a man on a mission.

 

 

Volunteer Appreciation Ideas

By | June 23, 2011 | Ministry Ideas, Resources, Volunteers | 1 Comment
Flickr by the|G|™

I don’t know if you have a Christmas Tree Shoppe in your area, but they are a real hot spot for seasonal bargains (don’t be fooled by the name!)  If you haven’t recognized/appreciated your volunteers lately, here’s some ideas:

  • Canvas Tote Bags (20×16″): $3.99 each (who couldn’t use an extra one of these for the summer?)
  • Sunscreen $1.99-$4.99 (practical!  Stick it in the tote bag to make a summer essentials kit)
  • Insulated Coffee Mugs $2.69 (fun designs)
  • Sun Tea Jars $2.99 (pair with a lemonade mix for a fun summer kit)
  • Bath and Body Lotions, Sprays, and Soaps $1.00 (for the ladies!)
  • Solid Wood Frames $2.99 – $4.99 (frame a great kidmin picture; some even have inspirational phrases)
  • Giant Cupcake Mold $6.99 (throw an appreciation party with this!)

Plus, sign up for email coupons and get $10 off a $50 purchase.  Prices good June 19th through July 3rd.

This is not related, but they also have a pre-made lemonade stand for $24.99 that might be an adorable summertime decoration for your Children’s Ministry area, especially if you keep it stocked.  Recruit a couple of older kids to run it!

What about you?

Got some great seasonal appreciation ideas? Leave a comment and let me know!

Great Egyptian Websites

By | June 22, 2011 | Ministry Ideas, Vacation Bible School | 1 Comment
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This week, in “The Big Story“, we’re covering much of Moses’ life, life in Egypt, the 10 Plagues, and the 10 Commandments.  Some of the kids are making brochures for ancient Egypt, so I wanted to find some kid-friendly, safe sites.   For those of you who might be doing EGYPT VBS, these would be some great resources as well.  Check them out!

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt for Kids

  • This site also has lots of extras from maps, activities, crafts, and more!
  • Here’s a few highlights:
  • Egypt Today
  • Make an Egyptian Postcard

Other Egyptian Posts

I’m Headed to Camp!

By | June 21, 2011 | Ministry Ideas | No comments

This week is Youth Adventure Camp for teens in the Pennsylvania area.  Last year, my daughter and I went to help all week and be with my husband who was serving as a cabin leader.  This year, due to the pregnancy (35 weeks!), we’re only doing two days of camp, but I’m still really excited.  This camp was hugely influential in my spiritual walk as a teen, and I’m so pumped that six of our church youth are attending this year (a first!).  Please pray that their eyes and hearts with be opened.  Here’s some highlights from last year’s camp.  I’ll be sure to fill you in on this year’s camp when I return!

 

God’s Big Story: Bible Lesson Ideas for Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph

By | June 21, 2011 | Bible Study, Elementary Age, Ministry Ideas, Preschoolers | 2 Comments

For our summer Wednesday night program, we’re doing a Story Time approach (check out all our summer plans here).   We will be covering the major stories in the Bible and showing how they are all one big part of God’s redeeming plan of love.  Sometimes I read out of the Read and Share Bible, sometimes the kids act out the story using the Big Action Bible Skits book, and sometimes leaders act it out for the kids.  After the story, the kids head to stations.

 

What are Stations?

Each night, kids can choose from between three and five stations, all of which relate to some part of the night’s story. For our most recent night, the focus was on the Isaac & Rebekah, Jacob & Esau, and Jacob & family. Here’s the stations we had available:

Logical: Ask the Pastor

For this, kids wrote down questions about our story to try to “Stump the Pastor”.  This was a great to use whenever kids asked a story during story time.  I would simply say, “That would be a great question to ask the Pastor!”  Pastor made a guest appearance and talked with the kids at this station about different aspects of the story.

 

Drama: Recreate the Story

I assembled a variety of props that related to the story and set them all out on the table.  I was hoping the kids would free play a little more, but they wanted me to read the story again (out of the Read and Share Bible) as they acted along. Either way, they are getting into the Bible, so it suits me fine!  Here’s some of the props we used:

  • Soup bowl and spoon
  • Gold Coins
  • Play mustaches and beards
  • Egypt head dress (left over from our Egypt VBS last year!)
  • Tulle
  • White sheets
  • Bathrobe of many colors
  • Rock

Cooking: Cookie Map of Egypt (from Forget Me Not Bible Stories, Group Publishing)

At this station, kids used an overhead projector to trace a map of Egypt onto a piece of wax paper.  Then they shaped some sugar cookie dough (we just used a roll, premade from the grocery store) to look like Egypt.  They baked it and then added details with frosting such as the Nile River, etc.

Art: Joseph’s Fancy Coat

A classic Bible craft, kids used a coloring page of Joseph and his coat to start.  After they colored Joseph, they cut out felt to design a coat for him.  They could also add little embellishments such as glitter, sequins, etc.  Needless to say, this was a popular station.  They don’t call them “old standbys” for no reason!

Piecing the Story All Together

Next week, I think I’ll help the kids put together a family tree based on the stories we’ve heard so far.  I want them see how the Bible is connected throughout the Old and New Testament, and this might help solidify the continuity between stories.  We’ve also been working on the Bible Timeline for the same reason.

What About You?

Got a great idea for these Bible accounts?  Send me an email and let me know!  Or leave me a comment!

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