Sunday School Teacher's Newsletter, Great Ideas for Children's Ministry!





August 5, 2014 -- Issue #13 - Volume 15


Today's articles are listed, below. When replying, highlight the text that is pertinent to your response, then hit reply. Title your message to reflect the content.

1) Lighthouse Poem 2) Role Model Parable? 3) Glory of God "Light and Fire" Images 4) Food Devotion: Banana Boat 5) [Jesus is] Coming Soon 6) Feeling Useless? 7) Lava Light Craft



1) Lighthouse Poem My Lighthouse Christ is the only Lighthouse And He's often rescued me Around me life's seas were raging Nowhere in dense darkness could I safely flee Debris was all around me, never felt I more alone The breaking waves drowned my cry for help And my feeble groan I felt the time had come for me to die But all around was blackest black. I thought of God but all my life On Him I'd turned my back I'd heard He was the Light of the world But I continued in my sin I always loved the darkness Thought no one knew where I had been My feeble breath was failing I took one more look around My eye could see a Lighthouse A ray of hope I found O Christ, my lighthouse It's Your mercy that I need He bade me "Come into the Light" On His Word I gladly feed I'm now His Light shining brightly For the One who rescued me Have seen many brought from danger And darkness as they this Lighthouse see! Copyright 2012 Ray Zander Used by Permission from Life of Faith – Vol. IX --from SSTN: Join us this coming Fall semester as we teach the LIGHTHOUSE– An Overview for Children on the Book of Acts and the Glory of God.



2) Role Model Parable? I would like to have a parable which can impress our Christian youth to be an ideal role model to other community youths. Regards, Cecil Macarthur Luther --from SSTN: The Toothpaste Sermon comes to mind. It's not a Biblical parable, but it makes a good point about using our words (or actions) to positively or negatively influence others. Check it out at: http://sundayschoolnetwork.com/sermon_toothpaste.html	When you purchase the Amazing Parable Race, you'll receive a 15% off coupon* to buy the digital combo-version of the Parables of Jesus--Vol. 1 & 2.



3) Glory of God "Light and Fire" Images For those participating in teaching the Lighthouse Bible Curriculum for children this coming Fall semester, Lesson One introduces the fact that light and fire in Scripture often refers to God's glory presence. Below, you will find links to images that you can use during lesson time. I suggest bringing a laptop to class to show them as you present the lesson. I am adding one more glory scenario to the list. (This will be added to the second edition printing of the book.) The very first mention of light in Scripture is in the creation account in Genesis chapter 1. The light had to be God's light, his glory presence! How can I be sure? First, because the Sun wasn't created until the fourth day! And Revelation 21:23 makes it clear that the New Jerusalem, the new creation, . . . had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it,for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. (That fires me up! Pun intended!) There are hundreds of "light and fire" images to choose from across the internet. Check out the Creation glory of God pics on our Pinterest board .
I hope you find this helpful! For those who will be participating in teaching the Lighthouse Bible Curriculum, I look forward to hearing your ideas, and sharing them here on SSTN! I've never tried this before, teaching a curriculum and inviting our members to join us in the journey. I hope this proves to be a useful tool for all involved! Let us inspire one another! Your webservant, Sarah Keith <><



4) Food Devotion: Banana Boat Use this food devotion when teaching a lesson on any Bible story that includes a boat! This particular food devotion is from our Bible Curriculum for children, Jonah—No Ordinary Fish Tale! Lessons for Children on God’s Mercy & Salvation. What You Need: Ice cream, blue food coloring, peeled banana, plastic knife, paper plate, spoon, and any of the following toppings to represent Jonah and the sailors: mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, fresh berries. Get the directions on our home page or in the Jonah book.



5) [Jesus is] Coming Soon Tears, fears, and smears are gone forever Nothing from His love can sever No long nights nor fights, God is in control No more dyin', sighin', lyin' We're home, we've reached our goal. Gone forever segregation, degradation, and intimidation All is perfect peace and love We'll praise, our anthem raise, through endless days With Christ our Lord above! Copyright 2012 Ray Zander Life of Faith - Vol. IX (Used by permission)



6) Feeling useless? The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember: Noah was a drunk. Abraham was too old. Isaac was a daydreamer. Jacob was a liar. Leah wasn't attractive. Joseph was abused. Moses had a stuttering problem. Gideon was afraid. Samson was a womanizer. Rahab was a prostitute. Jeremiah and Timothy were too young. David had an affair and was a murderer. Elijah was suicidal. Isaiah preached naked. Jonah ran away from God. Naomi was a widow. Job went . . . read the rest of this encouragement, and other recently posted ideas on our home page.



7) Lava Light Craft (Sin Separates Us From God) Oil and water are two substances that cannot mix. Today's Bible craft serves to remind us that God's holy presence cannot mix with our sin either; we are separated from God because of it. But, when Jesus died on the cross he washed away our sin; we were cleansed and made right with God. We can now enter into God's holy presence---we can mix with God! Our mini-lava light reminds us that our sin (the oil) separates us from God. But the good news is that Jesus (the Living Water) came to wash away our sin to join us to God! As the salt (Christian) moves past the oil (sin) and into the water (Jesus), this reminds us that when we are free from our sin, we can move towards Christ! Get the directions to this Bible craft in the RED DOT section of our Any Time Bible Crafts & Food Devotions. Your webservant, Sarah Keith <><







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