Children's Ministry Blog

This was our sixth and final week as the live studio audiences of The Reindeer Radio Show and The North Pole News.

Today’s Headline: We Can Follow Jesus!

Last week we learned how God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world, and this week we saw how God shared this good news with a few shepherds and wise men.

First, God sent an angel to tell some shepherds that He had sent baby Jesus who had been born in Bethlehem. The shepherds were so excited that they ran to see baby Jesus, and they found him just like the angel had said. The shepherds believed that God had sent Jesus to save us from our sin and fix our friendship with God, and because Jesus could do something so great, they decided to follow Him forever.

A little while later some very wise men saw a big, bright star in the sky. The wise men followed the star which led them to Jesus’ house! The wise men decided to follow Jesus, too, since only He can fix our friendship with God.

Preschoolers in SpringTown & Treehouse heard about the many different ways we follow Jesus. Make these a part of your family’s routine as you all grow in your relationship with our Savior!

• Praying
• Going to Church
• Reading the Bible
• Telling People About Jesus

• Loving Others
• Giving Money to Your Church
• Obeying
• Taking Care of Older People

Elementary school-aged kids in ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave also learned about these ways we follow Jesus, but first they learned how to start following Jesus!
To start following Jesus, we just need to pray and tell Him three things:

• First, we tell God that we have done wrong things (sinned).
• Second, we tell God that we believe in our heart that Jesus died for us and that God brought Him back to life.
• Third, we tell Jesus that we want Him to be our best friend and leader so that we can follow Him forever.

After a great week of Christmas services, NewSpring will not have services on Sunday, December 27, 2009.

See you on Sunday, January 3, 2010 for our last week of The Reindeer Radio Show and North Pole News!

It’s Christmas and our fifth week of pretending to be the live studio audience of the Reindeer Radio Show where we sing along with some cool Christmas tunes and learn lots of good news from God’s word.

And it’s Christmas at the North Pole News where elementary school kids hear hilarious headlines and the news they Need to Know from God’s word.

Today’s Headline (Need to Know): God Sent His Son to be the Savior of the World!

SpringTown & Treehouse (Preschool)
Many of us receive gifts at Christmastime, and today we learned about the best gift ever—the gift God sent us on the very first Christmas—Jesus!

Our Remember Verse tells us why Jesus was born. If your child has the verse memorized on January 3, 2010, he or she will win a prize!

“God (arms open to the sky) sent his Son (hold a baby) to be the Savior (arms stretched out wide) of the world (make a circle with arms above head).” 1 John 4:14 (hold up four fingers)

God sent baby Jesus to save us all from doing wrong things and to fix our friendship with God—that makes Him the best Christmas present ever!

This week at home, help your child place the ornament he or she made at church on your Christmas tree. Ask your child to tell you what Christmas trees remind us of:

The top of the Christmas tree points up to remind us that GOD sent Jesus to us.

The gifts under the tree remind us that God sent us the BEST Christmas gift ever—Jesus!

ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave (Elementary School)
What gifts have you or your child received in years past that are worn out, broken or now boring? We can all probably name a few. Today kids learned about a gift we’ve been given that never wears out, breaks or becomes boring.

In the beginning of time Adam and Eve were best friends with God, but when they disobeyed God and sinned, it hurt everyone’s friendship with God. The prophet Micah told us about how God was going to send someone special to fix our friendship with him. And one night in the tiny town of Bethlehem, the promise God made through Micah came true. A baby was born named Jesus—this was the person God said he would send to save us from our sin and fix our friendship with Him.

The cool thing was that Jesus didn’t come as a king riding on a horse or as a rich man dressed in fancy clothes. He didn’t even come as a grown up! God thought of the best way to have his friends back. He chose to come as a baby, because no one would be afraid of a baby! He came as a baby so that we could be friends with Him and not be afraid. God planned all along to come in a way we could understand.

Today’s headline, God Sent His Son to be the Savior of the World, is also a part of the Bible verse we’re memorizing. Help your child practice memorizing it at home this week so that he or she can win a prize on January 3, 2010!

“God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. We saw his Son and are now telling others about Him.” - 1 John 4:14

Motions for younger elementary kids: “God (arms open to the sky) sent his Son (hold a baby) to be the Savior (arms stretched out wide) of the world (make a circle with arms above head). We saw (take a picture) his Son (pat a baby’s back) and are now telling others (cup hands around mouth) about Him (arms open to sky).” 1 John 4:14 (hold up four fingers, then a one and a four at the same time)

REMINDER: After the last service at your campus on December 24, 2009, the next NewSpring services will be held on January 3, 2010. There will be no services on December 27, 2009.

This was our fourth week pretending to be the live studio audience of the Reindeer Radio Show where we sing along with some cool Christmas tunes and learn lots of good news from God’s word.

And it was also our fourth week as the live studio audience of the North Pole News where the headlines are hilarious and the news is just what we Need to Know.

Today’s Headline (Need to Know): God Has a Plan for Me!

Traveling over the holidays can be fun, but it can also be inconvenient and frustrating. This week we learned how Mary and Joseph had to take a trip just before the first Christmas—an inconvenient and frustrating trip they were not planning to take (Luke 2:1-5, 7c).

As they were preparing for Jesus to be born, Mary and Joseph received the unexpected news that they were going to have to travel to their hometown of Bethlehem, to be counted by the king. After traveling for three long days on foot and by donkey they arrived in Bethlehem to find that all the hotels were full—the only place for them to stay was in a barn full of animals and hay!

See Mary and Joseph did not plan on traveling to Bethlehem, and they did not plan on sleeping in a barn, but amazingly, this was all a part of God’s awesome plan. Kids in ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave learned that seven hundred years earlier, the prophet, Micah, had told us how God had planned to use the unimportant town of Bethlehem as the place for our Savior to be born (Micah 5:2 NIrV). Because God wanted Jesus to be born here, He planned long ago to send Mary and Joseph there around the time Jesus was to be born.

Even though the journey was long and their bed was not in a hotel, everything that happened was a part of God’s plan for Mary, Joseph and Jesus.  In the same way, God has a plan for you! God has many great plans for us, but his greatest plan for us is that we would be best friends with Jesus. God sent Jesus at Christmastime to be our best friend.

Preschoolers learned that when Jesus is our best friend He saves us from doing wrong things and fixes our friendship with God.

And kids in ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave learned that when we are best friends with Jesus our friendship with God is fixed and we can live in heaven with him one day. Sending Jesus was God’s great plan to fix our friendship with him!

Here are a few things you can do this week to remind your child that God has a plan for him or her:

As your child is curious about the presents under the Christmas tree, ask him or her the following questions:

1. Who is this gift for?
2. Does this person know we are giving them this gift? (Hopefully not!)
3. Just like they don’t know that they are getting this gift, we may not always know what God has planned for us.
4. But do you think this person will think this present is great? (Yes!)
5. In the same way we can trust that God’s plans for us are going to be great!

As you are preparing holiday meals, have your child help you follow the recipes and taste the outcome. Tell your child that following the recipe, or plan, makes what you are cooking turn out great, and if we follow God’s plan and have Jesus as our best friend, God will make sure our life turns out great!

Check out www.NewSpring.cc for the Christmas service times at your campus this week, and invite friends, family and strangers to come worship with you! This week’s Christmas services will be the only church services held this week as NewSpring will not have services on December 27, 2009.

Preschool parents, keep working with your child to memorize this series’ Remember Verse. Here is the verse and the motions we do along with it:

“God (arms open to the sky) sent his Son (hold a baby) to be the Savior (arms stretched out wide) of the world (make a circle with arms above head).” 1 John 4:14 (hold up four fingers)

Elementary school parents encourage your child to memorize the following verse Here is the first part of the verse we have been learning:

“God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. We saw his Son and are now telling others about Him.” - 1 John 4:14

Motions for younger elementary kids: “God (arms open to the sky) sent his Son (hold a baby) to be the Savior (arms stretched out wide) of the world (make a circle with arms above head). We saw (take a picture) his Son (pat a baby’s back) and are now telling others (cup hands around mouth) about Him (arms open to sky).” 1 John 4:14 (hold up four fingers, then a one and a four at the same time)

SpringTown & Treehouse (Preschool)

This was our third week pretending to be the live studio audience of the Reindeer Radio Show where we sing along with some cool Christmas tunes and learn lots of good news from God’s word.

Today’s Headline (Need to Know): God Can Do Anything!

All kids love to get things in the mail. The mail is always full of messages. But in the days of the Bible there were no newspapers or mail men to bring people messages. Sometimes God would use angels to send messages to people. Today we learned about an angel’s message to a young girl named Mary in Luke 1:26-38.

God sent an angel named Gabriel to bring good news to Mary. Gabriel told Mary about God’s wonderful plan for her life! He told her that she was going to have a baby boy! Mary’s baby boy would be God’s son and his name would be Jesus. Jesus would be God’s gift to the whole world to save us from doing wrong things and fix our friendship with God. Mary thought it would be impossible for her to have a baby, but Gabriel told her that God Can Do Anything!

One of the best things you can do for your child is to read the Bible to him or her each day. As you read about the amazing things God has done and promises to do, ask your child if they are able to do those things, and remind them that God Can Do Anything!

Keep working with your child to memorize this series’ Remember Verse. Here is the verse and the motions we do along with it:

“God (arms open to the sky) sent his Son (hold a baby) to be the Savior (arms stretched out wide) of the world (make a circle with arms above head).” 1 John 4:14 (hold up four fingers)

ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave (Elementary School)
This was our third week as the live studio audience of the North Pole News where the headlines are hilarious and the news is just what we Need to Know.

Today’s Headline (Need to Know): Nothing is Impossible for God!

Do you know if it will snow on Christmas in 700 years? Only God knows what is going to happen in the future, and He often used people in the Bible called prophets and angels to fill us in on His plans.

God sent messages to us through a prophet named Isaiah. In Isaiah 7:14 we learned that God was going to give us a sign about how He would send Jesus to save us: A girl who has never been married or had a baby will become pregnant.

Seven hundred years later in Luke 1:26-38, another one of God’s messengers, an angel named Gabriel, showed up at Mary’s home just before her wedding. Gabriel told Mary that she was going to have a son—God’s son! Her son’s name would be Jesus, and God would make him king forever! Mary didn’t know how she was going to have a baby since she was not married and had never had a baby, but Gabriel told her that Nothing is Impossible for God!

Encourage your child to read the Bible each day. This is where he or she will see that Nothing is Impossible for God. 

To help your child remember that Nothing is Impossible for God help him or her memorize this series’ Memory Verse. Here is the first part of the verse we have been learning:

“God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” - 1 John 4:14

Motions for younger elementary kids: “God (arms open to the sky) sent his Son (hold a baby) to be the Savior (arms stretched out wide) of the world (make a circle with arms above head).” 1 John 4:14 (hold up four fingers, then a one and a four at the same time)

This week we continued our KidSpring Christmas series.

Preschoolers are pretending to be the live studio audience of the Reindeer Radio Show as they sing along with some cool Christmas tunes and learn lots of good news from God’s word.

And kids in ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave are the live studio audience of the North Pole News where the headlines are hilarious and the news is just what we Need to Know.

Today’s Headline (Need to Know): Jesus Will Save Us!

Most of us have that one Christmas present in mind that we cannot wait to see if we get! Just like we are waiting on our Christmas presents, the people in the Bible were waiting on a present from God—a Savior. Everyone was wondering when the present would come and how it would get here, so God sent His people a message through Micah in Micah 5:3-5a. 

In the message God sent through Micah, God promised to send us a great leader who would save us and take care of us. This leader would be Jesus—Jesus Will Save Us!

Want to know what you can do at home to help your child remember what he or she learned at church this week? Try these:

Preschool families can sing this song we learned to the tune of B-I-N-G-O:

I know my Savior by his name
And Jesus is his name’o!
J-E-S-U-S
J-E-S-U-S
J-E-S-U-S
And Jesus is his name’o!

Elementary school families can send family, friends, neighbors & strangers messages of “Good News” about Jesus, just like Micah told us a message of good news about how God was sending Jesus to save us.

Continue practicing this series’ Remember Verse (with the motions):

Preschool:
“God (arms open to the sky) sent his Son (hold a baby) to be the Savior (arms stretched out wide) of the world (make a circle with arms above head).” 1 John 4:14 (hold up four fingers)

Elementary School:
“God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” - 1 John 4:14

Motions for younger elementary kids: “God (arms open to the sky) sent his Son (hold a baby) to be the Savior (arms stretched out wide) of the world (make a circle with arms above head).” 1 John 4:14 (hold up four fingers, then a one and a four at the same time)

SpringTown & Treehouse (Preschool)

This week began our Christmas series. Over the next six weeks we will pretend to be the live studio audience of the Reindeer Radio Show as we sing along with some cool Christmas tunes and learn lots of good news from God’s word.

Today’s Headline (Need to Know): We Need Jesus!

We Need Jesus because of what happened when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s very first rule in Genesis 2-3. Because Adam and Eve ate from the tree God told them not eat from, they could not be his friends anymore. They needed someone to fix their friendship with God. 

When we disobey and do wrong things, it hurts our friendship with God, too. Just like Adam and Eve, we need someone to fix our friendship with God. Today we learned that Jesus is the only one who can fix our friendship with God—that’s why we need Him, and that’s why God sent Jesus to us at Christmastime!

We also started practicing our new Remember Verse. Remembering God’s word is a great thing to do as a family! If your child has the verse memorized on January 3, 2010, he or she will win a prize! Here is the verse and the motions we do along with it:

“God (arms open to the sky) sent his Son (hold a baby) to be the Savior (arms stretched out wide) of the world (make a circle with arms above head).” 1 John 4:14 (hold up four fingers)

ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave (Elementary School)

This week began our Christmas series. Over the next six weeks we will be the live studio audience of the North Pole News where the headlines are hilarious and the news is just what we Need to Know.

Today’s Headline (Need to Know): We Need a Savior!

Just like we have rules at home, Genesis 2-3 tells us that Adam and Eve had a rule to follow when they lived in God’s garden, The Garden of Eden. A sneaky snake persuaded Adam and Eve to disobey God’s rule, and right away they knew they had done something wrong. The wrong things we do are called sin. When Adam and Eve sinned it hurt their friendship with God and they could not live in His garden anymore.

When we do wrong things we are sinning just like Adam and Eve. And when we sin, it hurts our friendship with God. Today we learned that just like Adam and Eve, we need someone to save us from our sin and fix our friendship with God—We Need a Savior!

We can trust that God has a Savior for us because our new memory verse tells us so. Help your child practice it at home so that he or she can win a cool prize the week after Christmas. Here is the first part of the verse we started learning today:

“God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” - 1 John 4:14

Motions for younger elementary kids: “God (arms open to the sky) sent his Son (hold a baby) to be the Savior (arms stretched out wide) of the world (make a circle with arms above head).” 1 John 4:14 (hold up four fingers, then a one and a four at the same time)

SpringTown & Treehouse (Preschool)

Need to Know: I Will Be Patient
Bible Story: David is Patient, 1 Chronicles 22, 28-29  
Memory Verse: “Teach me how to live.  Lead me along the right path.” - Psalm 27:11
Motions: “Teach me how to live (hold hands out like holding a Bible/book). Lead me along the right path (march in place).” - Psalm 27:11

Review
On our last day of training at Ten Hut we talked about being patient soldiers. Patient soldiers calmly wait on things and people with a happy heart. Our Bible friend David showed us how to be patient.

Mardy shared David’s story with us and Spike, a not-so-patient islander on Canyon Island, to complete his final mission.

David wanted to build a temple, or a church, to tell God thank you for all that He had done. But God did not want David to build the temple—God wanted David’s son, Solomon, to build it.  Since Solomon was only a boy, David would have to wait patiently for the time when Solomon could build the temple. By being patient David was able to store up most of the building materials Solomon would need. David’s patience helped him be a part of God’s plan for building the temple!

When we are told to wait, we should have a happy heart and wait patiently just like David, Solomon and their friends. God will reward us for being patient!

This Week At Home
Allow your child to help you bake a yummy dish for your Thanksgiving meal. Practice being patient as you wait for your hard work to bake in the oven. As you enjoy your dish, thank God for its deliciousness and for helping you be patient as it baked. Talk about other times when it is good to be patient.

ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave (Elementary School)

Need to Know: God Invites Me to Follow Him  
Bible Story: Joshua Tells Israel To Serve the Lord, Joshua 24:1-18
Memory Verse: “Here is what I am commanding you to do. Be strong and brave. Do not be terrified. Do not lose hope. I am the Lord your God. I will be with you wherever you go.” - Joshua 1:9

Review
In our last week of Ten Hut we heard how Joshua challenged the Israelites to follow God and worship only Him. God tells us this story in the Bible because He wants us to follow Him, too. Following God like Joshua and the Israelites is as easy as ABC. Today we learned how to start following God by praying these ABCs:

• A = Admit to God that you have sinned and need to be forgiven.
• B = Believe that Jesus died to take the punishment for your sins and that God raised Jesus back to life.
• C = Choose to let Jesus be the boss, or as the Bible says, the Lord, of your life and your best friend.

This Week At Home
Talking to your child about Jesus is one of the most important things you can do as a parent. This week at church your child should have made a bracelet that spells out the ABCs we talked about. Without pressuring them, ask your kids if they have or want to start following Jesus by praying these ABCs to God. If so, talk about the ABCs in more detail, then offer to silently pray with each of your kids as he or she prays to start following God. Don’t forget that the next step is baptism! Call the NewSpring offices at (864) 226-6585 for more details about the next baptism at your campus.

Practice your memory verse this week! Next week, if you have it memorized, you will win a prize!

SpringTown & Treehouse (Preschool)

Need to Know: I Will Thank God
Bible Story: David’s Thankful Song, Psalm 136; Psalm 9:1-2
Memory Verse: “Teach me how to live.  Lead me along the right path.” - Psalm 27:11 (NLT)
Motions: “Teach me how to live (hold hands out like holding a Bible/book). Lead me along the right path (march in place).” - Psalm 27:11

Review
We have lots of things to thank God for, especially since EVERYTHING we have comes from Him. Because God is so good to us, today we learned I Will Thank God! We remembered that our Bible friend, David, thanked God in the good times and bad times of his life. David’s family sang songs (Psalms) to help them remember to be thankful for everything God has done. We can also show God how thankful we are by telling Him when we pray and by being happy with what we have.

Mardy completed his seventh mission as he told a dark, gloomy & not-so-thankful Berry Blast Islander what we learned today!

This Week At Home
This week your child should have made a “Thankful Hand” with pictures of things he or she is thankful for. Place his or her “Thankful Hand” in a place where your family will often see it. When you see it, tell God how thankful you are for the people and things pictured on the hand.

ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave (Elementary School)

Need to Know: God Will Keep His Promises  
Bible Story: God Keeps His Promise to Caleb, Joshua 14:6-15
Memory Verse: “Here is what I am commanding you to do. Be strong and brave. Do not be terrified. Do not lose hope. I am the Lord your God. I will be with you wherever you go.” - Joshua 1:9

Review
Sometimes people make promises they don’t keep. But there is one person who always keeps His promises, and that’s what we learned about today—God Will Keep His Promises! Sometimes we have to wait on God’s promises to come true, but we can always believe that He will do what He promises to do. We saw how Caleb believed this in Joshua 14:6-15, and now know that we can trust God to keep his promises to us, too.

In Large Group, Boston and Beans finished their final test to earn their Nameless Brigade medals, only to discover they had to wait a week to get them! When they learned that the Sergeant Neice was the hold up, they devised an elaborate pie trap to pay him back. Their plan backfired when Sergeant Neice startled them, and they fell into their own pie pit! Sergeant Neice explained that the medal ceremony is a big deal and that sometimes we have to wait for the things that are promised to us, just like Caleb had to wait for the land God promised him. 

This Week At Home
This week we talked about some of the promises God makes us. Review these with your child. Help your him or her learn to trust in and rely on God’s promises on good days and bad days.

• Matthew 28:20
• Psalm 12:7
• Psalm 35:28
• Psalm 34:19
• Philippians 4:19
• 1 John 1:9
• Isaiah 41:10

SpringTown & Treehouse (Preschool)

Need to Know: I Will Share With Others
Bible Story: David & Mephibosheth, 1 Samuel 20:14-17, 42; 2 Samuel 9
Memory Verse: “Teach me how to live.  Lead me along the right path.” - Psalm 27:11
Motions: “Teach me how to live (hold hands out like holding a Bible/book). Lead me along the right path (march in place).” - Psalm 27:11

Review

Today we learned about sharing. Sharing is something God wants us all to do, so in Small Group we practiced it! We talked about how we can share what God has given us when we see someone who needs what we have. And one day we may need something, and someone will share with us.

In Large Group we helped Mardy take our message to the people on Cookie Island. The people there were very hungry and grumpy. But there was one person on the island who had food—lots and lots of cookies. His name was Chip. We helped Mardy tell Chip what we learned today: I Will Share With Others!

Mardy showed Chip how to share by teaching him about David. David was good at sharing, because he knew that everything he had was a gift from God. He shared all that God had given him with his best friend’s son, Mephibosheth. David shared his house, his land, his food and his time.

This Week At Home

As your child plays ask him where the things he is playing with come from. Remind him that these are all things God is sharing with us. Encourage him to be willing to share what he has since God has shared with us.

ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave (Elementary School)

Need to Know: God Hears My Prayers  
Bible Story: God Hears & Answers Joshua’s Prayers, Joshua 10:1-15
Memory Verse: “Here is what I am commanding you to do. Be strong and brave. Do not be terrified. Do not lose hope. I am the Lord your God. I will be with you wherever you go.” - Joshua 1:9

Review
Today we learned about a crazy prayer Joshua prayed. We saw how God heard Joshua and answered him. We can pray just like Joshua did. When we ask God to do big things, it shows Him that we trust Him and believe that He is big enough to do such big things. We learned that when we pray God does hear us, and that we should believe that He will do what is right in that situation at the right time.

In Large Group Boston and Beans faced the Transmission Tower Assembly Time Trial. They had 24 hours to build a working radio tower! It got dark and they ran out of light, but they remembered how God heard Joshua’s prayer to make the sun stand still. After they prayed, Beans remembered seeing some night vision goggles, and soon they were able to finish the tower assembly!

This Week At Home
Share with your child some of the “crazy” things you have prayed, and how God answered your prayers. Help your child learn pray for big things (Ex: healing someone who is sick, protection during something scary, help inviting 10 people to church or obeying a leader who is hard to obey). Encourage him or her to believe that God has heard the prayer and trust that God will do what is right in that situation at the right time.