The Sunday School Teacher's Network Newsletter - Great ideas for children's ministry!


The Place for Christian Education Communication Children need the Lord...teach them about Jesus!
Issue #18 - May 27, 2009 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. ~ Jesus
To reply or to post a new topic: Please TITLE your email to reflect the content of your message. When replying, highlight the text that is pertinent to your response, then hit reply. NEED PRAYER? Visit our Prayer Board. Scroll to the bottom of the newsletter for details.	Make n' Take the Pentecost Rusher Toy A small, one-time fee allows you to download as many patterns as you need!
In this issue of the SSTN Newsletter: Scroll down the page to view articles. 1) Pasta-bility...without wine-ing 2) Christian Baseball Skits? 3) Ascension Sunday 4) VBS vs. Sports Camp 5) Search Tool Update...easy-to-use! Your participation makes SSTN a success! 6) Children, Go Where I Send Thee? 7) Vision for Children's Ministry Explained 8) Western Themed Object Lesson 9) Western Themed Object Lesson Click here to email your friends and coworkers to join us.	Home Search for Ideas Support SSTN PCM Discount 15% OFF Ministry Resources Bible-4-Life Curriculum Gospel Fun Activities Holidays & Holy Days Make N' Take Downloads E-books F-R-E-E Resources Bible Games Christian Crafts Christian Skits Object Talks Missions For Kids Recycling Ideas VBS & Summer Clubs

1) Pasta-bility...without wine-ing Check out, Pasta-bility...without wine-ing, a clever teacher appreciation idea, located in our "Crafts: Holy Days & Holidays" section at: http://www.sundayschoolnetwork.com/page6.html
2) Christian Baseball Skits? Hi, We're using a baseball theme for VBS this year and I haven't been able to find appropriate skits that include a salvation message or at least use some Christian characteristics in them. Anyone have some good ideas? Thanks, Sue Findlay, OH --from SSTN: for added inspiration, use our search tool and use keyword, "baseball". See posting #5 in today's newsletter.
3) Ascension Sunday Regarding Ascension Sunday teachings for children, What if there was some kind of craft that had Jerusalem in it? I say this because Jesus ascended to the heavenly Zion, the city of the living God which is in heaven. Zion in the Bible was at Jerusalem. When David went to Zion and worshiped, he connected with the heavenly Zion. The Lord was there and gave gifts to David which we can see in the Psalms. Psalm 2 is a good example. Jesus prepares a place in the heavenly city for us. When I read some of the Psalms it's as if the Lord came down to connect with David, and no doubt such was the case as he worshiped God there.
4) VBS vs. Sports Camp This tip is for those churches and children's ministries directors/pastors who have a passion for seeing lost unchurched kids to come and find Jesus (and have the opportunity for salvation). I have been a children's pastor for over 5 years now and have done only 2 Vacation Bible Schools (but have participated in many prior to this). After I directed the second VBS I decided there had to be a better way to do an evangelistic outreach for children. We were finding that there were many "new visiting" kids coming from other churches to our VBS. This was not my goal. I wanted kids who would not otherwise grace the door of a church to come and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. These churched kids (from other churches and ours) hear the gospel every week. If our VBS's were only going to be ministering to churched kids I began to feel that we were wasting our time (exhausting our selves everyday for a week so that the same kids I minister to each Sunday can get more of the same). I started to pray and do some soul searching and one day the revelation came after observing a couple of boys wrinkle up their nose at the mention of a Vacation "Bible School". Unchurched kids do not want to come to a Bible school. It's not a vacation for them. Then I set out on a mission to find the solution to this problem. I found that there are some sports camps kits that are VBS (sshhhh, we don't call it that anymore) kits in disguise. We have been doing sports camps and giving the kids the Gospel for 3 years now and we have seen an increase of 25-50% of unchurched kids attend. Our salvation alter calls are bigger too! Our Sports Camp ministry team and the whole church for the most part is on board (although it has taken these 3 years for them to understand why we do the Sports Camps and don't call it VBS). I have church members who actually politely correct other helpers when they slip up and call it a VBS. You may ask why this is so important. I have had parents all geared up (registering their child at a table in the mall or at a fair) to bring their unchurched child (family) to our Sports Camp and then only to have a church member call it a vacation Bible school and have the parent quickly back peddle and say they would think about it. And you can guess that we didn't see them back for the camp or a church service either. Once we get the families to the sports camp we minister to them (give them the opportunity to accept Jesus, see if they have other needs we can help with) and we have had several stay and are still here today helping us with this years sports camp. We just have to present the gospel to unchurched people in a way that they can grasp and feel like you are meeting a need they want met. Many parents want their kids to be in sports but many can't afford it. We provide an evening week long sports camp for free. Little do they know that we will offer them something they think they don't need or want, Jesus. Many accept the invitation in the end and that's what the church and ministry is all about, meeting the real needs of those around us. Blessings, Pastor Sheila Bush Children's Pastor/C.E. Director Tecumseh Assembly of God --from SSTN: excellent advice!
5) Search Tool and SSTN Archives Updated The Search Tool and SSTN Archives have now been updated for 2009. The easiest way to search for ideas, over 1400 pages, is now found on our home page at: http://www.sundayschoolnetwork.com Type in almost any subject related to children's ministry to find a goldmine of ideas! To access past issues of SSTN (the archives), follow this link: http://www.sundayschoolnetwork.com/archives.html or use the "Search for Ideas" link in the bright, green box, above.
6) Children, Go Where I Send Thee? We are on a very tight budget for Bible School in August; therefore, we're trying to come up with our own curriculum, activities for our theme "Children, Go Where I Send Thee". Does anyone have any ideas for crafts, activities involving FEET? Thanks. Linda --from: I sure hope you'll be using the song with the same name. If not, google the title to find it. Also, make sure you use our "Search For Ideas" link, green box, above, and type "feet" into the search box.
7) Vision for Children's Ministry Explained I had something more mundane in mind in asking for a vision. Ultimately, the goal is to love the Lord their God with all their heart and soul and strength, and their neighbors as themselves. I was thinking of things like: Knowing the story of salvation history; Knowing the layout of the Bible, Having a habit of Bible reading, Having a regular prayer life. Those whose students come from established Christian homes may find this silly, but we have a great many parents who are new to the faith (even though they may have grown up nominally Christian), and kids to whom telling about Jesus walking on water is as strange as if we were to say, "Now today we're going to talk about my favorite story when Vishnu was a cow herder." Our teachers, too, are not grounded in the Word, and I would like to contribute to their spiritual growth as well. Anne L. Haehl--I tell stories. --from SSTN: The things you were thinking about, could become your goals/vision--so that, knowing the salvation history of the Bible or having a regular prayer life, would be taught via a curriculum or lesson series that would express those goals. I can point you to The Great Promises of the Bible for salvation history. It was written for the purpose of showing how the Bible is ONE story concerning God's plan of salvation for humankind. Actually, the goal of the entire Bible-4-Life series is to teach foundational Bible truths for children and teachers of children.
8) Western Themed Object Lesson The decorating theme is western. What is the objective or lesson theme for the day (salvation, healing, provision, etc.)? That is what you base your object lessons on. Teresa
9) Western Themed Object Lesson Hi Tammy, You can find a western themed puppet skit on "Being Greedy" at http://www.puppetresources.com/index.php?scriptID=616&what=viewscript&t=1242083290 The skit is called "I Want a New Horse". This could be easily adapted to a two-person play. I hope this helps, Connie G.
Will you partner with me? Your donation of one dollar a month helps to provide the Christian educational resources in the website and newsletter. To learn how you can partner with me, go to the following webpage: http://www.SundaySchoolNetwork.com/ministry_support.html Or, write your US check or US Money Order to: S.A. Keith - Creative Imaginations (d.b.a.) Mail to: SundaySchoolNetwork.com 438 East Ilex Drive Lake Park, FL 33403 USA (In the memo section of your check write: "SSTN Subscription." Please include your email address.) Your webservant, Sarah Keith <><
ADVERTISE WITH US! Visit the following page to learn how you can advertise your business, ministry or product to over 27,000 Christian educators: http://www.SundaySchoolNetwork.com/advertising.html
SSTN Posting Guidelines: http://SundaySchoolNetwork.com/SSTN_guidelines.html
Copyright 1997 - 2008 / d.b.a. "S. A. Keith of Creative Imaginations Reproducing in any medium, commercial or noncommercial, is strictly prohibited without prior written permission. SSTN has contributors from all over the world who share their ideas. If you reprint any of the ideas from SSTN, SundaySchoolNetwork.com or ChristianCrafters.Com in any medium (websites, magazines, newsletters, etc.), you must contact the submitter, and website for reprint permissions. Any materials used must also include the submitter's name and where the ideas were gleaned from. The opinions expressed or advertisements displayed in the SSTN e-Newsletter are not necessarily endorsed by SundaySchoolNetwork.com or any of its affiliates. SSTN reserves the right to edit and or exclude information from the SSTN e-Newsletter. SundaySchoolNetwork.com \| SSTN.org \| ChristianCrafters.com \| Bible-4-Life.com ChristianTeachersNetwork.com \| Sunday-School-Lessons.com \| Bible-Lessons.net \| FreeCraftsAndGames.com
*NEED PRAYER?* SSTN has developed a Prayer Board for it's members. You may submit your requests, but while you're there, pray for others too! We ask that you guard this area and monitor it for abuses that could arise. It is not a place for gossip or for marketing products. Please respect this area. It has been set apart for you! Follow this link to begin posting your prayer requests and praying for your brothers and sisters in Christ across the world: http://sstn.org/corkboard/index.html
SUBSCRIBE -- UNSUBSCRIBE Directions To SUBSCRIBE a new email address, visit the following page at: http://www.SundaySchoolNetwork.Com/page3.html (If you are subscribing your friends, make sure you have their permission.) To UNSUBSCRIBE, scroll to the very bottom of your newsletter and click the unsubscribe link.