School's Out!

School is almost over and the kids will be home all day! Yeah!!! Now I know some of us have a hard time with the kids being home all day everyday during the summer. The kids get bored, pick on their siblings or just fight with them, and they seem to get into everything. But let me encourage you to make the most of your summer. Take the time to do things with your kids that you don't get time to do during the school year. Go into the summer with a plan, so that you can avoid some of the problems summer can bring. I know for me as a parent of teenagers, our summer times together are almost over. And I look back over the years and wonder, did I make the most of my time with my kids? I sure do hope so.

The Living Word

Doing this series of "40 days in the Word" continues to remind me how much "life" the Word of God breathes into us. I'm sure its all of our goal to read the Bible more than we do, but sometimes we get distracted and don't spend the time in there that we need. But as I make it my goal to stay with the daily Bible readings, I am continuously overwhelmed with how it changes me. God's Word is the only thing that cuts through to our soul, unlike anything else. It reminds me that when I'm not where I want to be spiritually or where I need to be mentally, that it is the Word of God that Transforms us! Thank you Lord for giving us your life giving Word.

Generosity

This month the kids have been learning about what it means to be generous- giving something away that makes someones day. Being generous is easy when it doesn't cost us much, or when we give out of our abundance. But when it hurts is when we give something away that really does mean a lot to us, or when we give more than what we're really comfortable with. We challenged the kids to be generous with their stuff, and that people are more important than stuff. For us as Christians to be people centered as opposed to being stuff oriented. That first Christmas, Jesus came to this earth as a baby and as the greatest gift we could ever receive. He was all people oriented, He came to give His life for people not stuff. So this Christmas I want to challenge you. Have you been task, or stuff oriented? Or have you been people centered, where you are making the most out of the time you are able to spend with your family, friends, co-workers, etc... I think so many of us have so many different parties to attend and functions to go too, that we just try and get everything done instead of making the most of the time with the people we are with. You never know what it will mean to someone if you take time to make them feel special or important when you are with them. God bless, and everyone have a Merry Christmas!!!

PARENTS!!!!!

Hey parents, I wanted to thank you for allowing us to partner with you in helping to lead your children into a growing relationship with Jesus. We still believe that what happens at home is more important than what happens at church, so we believe in you and we are available to assist you in any way we can. We want to stay connected with you, so I am going to list a few things that we will be doing with the kids for a period of time.
First, this months virtue is Generosity- giving something away to make someones day. See if you can find some ways that your children can practice this sometime this month. Also, we are trying to point out that we should value people more than we should value things.

Second, we will be singing on Christmas morning during the service. I'm excited for the kids to be able to share in the service. We will only be having one service at 10, so if you can be here that would be great!

Third, we are striving to give the kids an idea of what missions is and to give them opportunities to be able to serve others.

Fourth, one of the three basic truths that we try to instill in the children is to "Treat others the way I want to be treated." So we will be talking to the kids about respect, and respect for others and others things. So whatever you can do at home to reinforce this truth, that would be great.

Again, we love working with the kids and appreciate the opportunity to work with your family!

God Bless,

Bob

Faith in Kindergarten : Downloadable Video Illustrations at Bluefish TV

Faith in Kindergarten : Downloadable Video Illustrations at Bluefish TV

Fall has Arrived!

I don't know about you, but I love fall! For me it is the best time of the year, with all the smells and sights outside is awesome. The only negative that I could see, is that the cold winter comes next. But hey, lets enjoy fall! First of all, we are back rolling with the children's ministry. I am ecstatic to say that we have a wonderful team working with your children on Sunday mornings. They are getting adjusted and doing a fabulous job with the kids. Our goal is to love your children the way that Jesus does. And on Wednesday nights we are focusing our fun and games all around the Bible. The kids are having fun learning their verses and testing their bible knowledge. I think it's challenging some of the leaders as well. Please quiz your kids after Wednesday nights and see what they have learned.
I wanted to take this opportunity to announce to you about the Kidventure coming this October 22 to 23rd. We will be having a CAMP IN here at the church. Make sure to watch for future announcements about this event. Kidventure is designed to provide an activity for small group leaders to be able to spend more time with their small group kids. We are looking forward to this and know that the kids will be excited to have this time together. So please mark this on your calendar because I believe it will be a time of making memories for your kids and for us!

God Bless!
Pastor Bob

Change?!

Well this time next week our lives will be different. I usually consider myself someone that likes change because I feel that change involves growing and experiencing new  and awesome things that God has for us. But I'm not sure about this change. This change involves driving my only son to college and leaving him there. For the past 18 years I've been able to tell him good night, and give him a hug when I wanted too. Just to know that all your family is home and safe at night brings about a peace. That is soon going to be something of the past, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm excited for him, for all the things he is going to experience and learn, the new friends he will make, and finding the direction God has for his life. But for his mom and me, what we think about is different. We still see that little boy that used to run up and jump into your arms when you came home, the one that needed our help putting his coat on, or used to call for dada when he wanted something. But now he is all grown up and moving out. My prayer is that we have prepared him for all the decisions he will have to make in the next few months of his life. I trust and know that Jesus will be with him even though we will not. But we will still miss our "little boy".