Children's Ministry Blog

SpringTown & Treehouse (Preschool)

Need to Know: I Will Be Kind When Others Are Mean
Bible Story: David and Saul, 1 Samuel 26
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

Sometimes it is hard to be nice to people who may cut in front of us in line, make fun of us or break our toys. But this week we learned that God wants us to be kind when others are mean. In the Bible, David showed us that this is possible when he was nice to King Saul even when King Saul was really mean to him. David had a chance to hurt the king, but decided to follow God and show Saul kindness instead.

We also helped Mardy complete his fourth mission as he traveled to Fun Island. There was an islander named Marten who cut in line for one of the island’s best rides. Mardy had to teach two islanders, Becka and Sten, that God wants them to be kind even when Marten is mean. Mardy taught them this by sharing David’s story of kindness to King Saul.

This Week At Home

Ask your child about people they know who are mean. Talk about ways he or she can follow God and show kindness to that person.

ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave (Elementary School)

Need to Know: I Will Not Give Up On What God Asks Me To Do
Bible Story: Joshua Captures Jericho, Joshua 6:1-23
Memory Verse: “Here is what I am commanding you to do. Be strong and brave. Do not be terrified. Do not lose hope.” - Joshua 1:9 (to be continued)

Review
There are lots of things God asks us to do, and sometimes when things get tough we may want to give up.  If we do, then we will miss out on all the good things He has planned for us! This week we talked about some of the things God asks us to do and how we can rely on His word for the strength to not give up. In Ephesians 6:1-3, God gives us the strength to not give up on obeying our parents. And in Ephesians 4:31-32 God gives us the strength we need to forgive each other by reminding us how Jesus forgave us.

In Large Group Seargent Neice gave Boston and Beans a seemingly impossible task of marching around the entire base in full gear for an unknown amount of time. Boston and Beans tried to fake marching by attaching cardboard dummies to a remote controlled car, but Sgt. Neice quickly caught on to their plan! Sgt. Neice helped Boston and Beans remember what Joshua learned in the battle of Jericho - that God would give him the strength he needed and that he shouldn’t give up on what God asked him to do! They trusted God for strength and never gave up!

This Week At Home

Challenge your child to a new game this week!  Encourage her to not give up.  At the end of the game reward your child for not giving up, and remind her to not give up on what God asks us to do so that she can experience His great plans and blessings.

SpringTown & Treehouse (Preschool)

Need to Know: God Gives Me Friends
Bible Story: Best Friends, 1 Samuel 16:14-23; 18-20, The Beginner’s Bible
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

Just like a pool has water and a toothbrush has toothpaste, we have friends. Today we learned where our friends come from—God! As we saw how God blessed David with a friend named Jonathan, we learned that God gives us friends!

In today’s training we helped Mardy with his third mission as he traveled to Treehouse Island. Two people on this island had never talked to each other—they thought they were better off alone. Mardy’s mission was to bring them together and tell them what we’re learning: God Gives Me Friends.

Mardy pulled his Bible from his toolbox and shared the story of two friends named David and Jonathan. Jonathan and David said kind words about each other, Jonathan protected David from his dad, King Saul, and they promised to take care of each others’ families. Jonathan and David showed us what good friends are like, and made the islanders realize that they should be friends.

This Week At Home

Encourage your child to make a new friend this week, and help your child do something kind for one of his or her friends!

ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave (Elementary School)

Need to Know: God Will Make a Way for Me to Follow Him  
Bible Story: Israelites Cross the Jordan River, Joshua 3 & 4
Memory Verse: “Here is what I am commanding you to do. Be strong and brave. Do not be terrified. Do not lose hope.” - Joshua 1:9 (to be continued)

Review

Sometimes God asks us to impossible things like inviting people to church, dealing with our siblings, helping someone in need, or sticking up for someone no one else likes. But these are things we do when we follow God. In our third week of training we learned that God Makes a Way for Us to Follow Him. How does God make a way for us to do this? By giving us the Bible, church, and family and friends who follow Jesus to help us know how to follow Him.

When God asks us to do impossible things, He doesn’t expect us to do them alone—He makes a way for us to follow Him! This is how the Israelites crossed the Jordan River. The river seemed impossible to cross, but God stopped the river’s flow so the Israelites could cross safely. God made a way for them to follow His command to cross the river! And Boston & Beans learned this same lesson as Sergeant Neice provided ways for them to complete the seemingly impossible Wilderness Time Trial.

This Week At Home

What impossible things is God telling your family or its members to do? Invite a friend to church, help someone in need, give something up? Pray as a family for God to make a way for you to follow Him.

SpringTown & Treehouse (Preschool)

Need to Know: I Will Do What I Say I Will Do
Bible Story: David & the Giant, 1 Samuel 17:17-52
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 that it makes God happy when we do what we say we will do. This means that we do not leave things half-done and we do not give up on doing what we tell someone we will do.

We helped Mardy complete his second mission in his Help Corps training. He traveled to Halfway Island to explain to siblings Aaron and Jamie that they needed to do what they said they would do, finishing the construction they started. To help Aaron and Jamie understand, Mardy shared one of David’s stories with them from the Bible.

Each day David did what he said he would do and took very good care of his father’s sheep. One day his father sent him to check on his older brothers who were fighting in a war. When David arrived at the battlefield, he heard a giant from the other army yelling bad things about God and God’s people, the Israelites. David knew that this giant needed to be taken down, and since all the other soldiers were scared, David said he would do it. David knew that God would help him defeat this giant. So David did what he said he would do and defeated Goliath with just a sling and a stone!

This Week At Home

Today your preschooler colored some Coupon Promises for you. Help your child understand that by giving you these coupons he is saying that he will do the tasks on them whenever you give him a coupon back. Use these to help your child practice doing what he says he will do.

ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave (Elementary School)

Need to Know: God Helps Me Through Others and God Helps Others Through Me
Bible Story: Rahab Helps Two Spies, Joshua 2:1-24
Memory Verse: “Here is what I am commanding you to do.  Be strong and brave.” - Joshua 1:9a (to be continued)

Review

In our second week of training at Ten Hut Boston and Beans learned that they needed each other’s help to complete a rescue mission. To make it through the mission they had to remember the time Joshua sent two spies on a mission to Jericho: 

Joshua sent spies to Jericho to prepare for the Israelites’ attack on the city. The spies needed help hiding, and God provided Rahab. Rahab believed in God and needed help staying safe when the Israelites came to attack Jericho. Sometimes God uses other people to help us, like God used Rahab to help the spies. And sometimes God uses us to help others, like God used the spies to help Rahab. That’s what we need to know: God Helps Me Through Others and God Helps Others Through Me.

This Week At Home

Challenge each of your family members to be on the look out (BOLO) for ways God is using others to help you and ways you can help other people.  Discuss these at dinner each night this week.

SpringTown & Treehouse (Preschool)

Need to Know: God Knows Me and Made Me Special
Bible Story: Samuel Chooses David as King, 1 Samuel 16:1-13
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

This is the first week of our new series Ten Hut where we will train to be soldiers in the Help Corps!

For our first day of training we learned how we are all special in many ways. Some of us have red hair and some of us have brown hair. Some of us may be good at art and some of us may be good at sports. Some of us wear glasses and some of us are tall. No matter what we are like, we are special, and our specialness comes from God. Today we learned that God knows each of us and made us all special!

In Large Group we worked with Admiral and Sergeant Argent to help Mardy, the Help Corps’ newest recruit, complete his assignment on Spy Island. Mardy’s assignment was to tell the spies that their spy skills are special because God knows them and made them special! Mardy proved this to the spies by showing them a story in the Bible about David. David was a boy who took very good care of his dad’s sheep. One day a man named Samuel came to David’s family with a very important message from God—David was going to be the next king! David was so surprised! He was the youngest of all his brothers, and he wasn’t the tallest or the strongest. But David believed that God knew him and made him special. God made David to be the king!

This Week At Home

Talk about the ways God made each of your family members special, and begin practicing this series’ memory verse.

ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave (Elementary School)

Need to Know: God Gives Me Courage When I am Afraid
Bible Story: Joshua Leads the Israelites, Joshua 1
Memory Verse: “Here is what I am commanding you to do.  Be strong and brave.” - Joshua 1:9a NIrV (to be continued)

Review

This was the first week for soldiers in our new series, Ten Hut, where will be keeping step with the life of Joshua. After Moses died, God called Joshua to lead His people, the Israelites. This was a tough task, but God told Joshua not to be afraid. God gave Joshua courage and promised to be with him everywhere he went.

In Small Group we talked about some of things we are afraid of, and learned that God is bigger than anything we fear. God gives us courage to battle our fears when we read His word, the Bible. To have courage when we are afraid means that we trust God will take care of us in every situation.

In Large Group we met Boston and Beans who signed up for one of the most highly trained military units of all time…the Nameless Brigade!  Their instructor, Sergeant Niece (pronounced “Nice”), takes learning from God’s word very seriously. Each week Sergeant Niece will send Boston and Beans on different missions where they will have to rely on each other and on God. Their first mission was a night drop where they had to evade search helicopters and guard dogs in order to make it to the rendezvous point. Boston and Beans successfully accomplished their mission because they remembered what they learned in the General’s briefing (Bible story): that God would give them courage!

This Week At Home

Help your child battle his or her fears by gaining courage from the God’s word:

• Psalm 34:4
• Isaiah 41:10
• Deuteronomy 31:6
• Hebrews 13:6
• John 14:18
• Psalm 91:9-10
• 2 Samuel 22:3
• Psalm 46:1
• Deuteronomy 3:22
• Romans 8:39
• Isaiah 12:2

Join us this Sunday as we fall in for our new series, Ten Hut (elementary school) and Ten Hut Jr. (preschool)!

You won’t want to miss it!

Ten Hut Opener from Sydney Haskett on Vimeo.