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SSTN # 28 - May 2, 2007
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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:
The BE-Attitudes ... for Women & Men
1) Graduation
2) Entertainment...WHY
3) Primary School Assembly?
4) Entertainment: WWJD
... Pentecost Rusher Download
5) VBS Grand Prize
6) Summer Children's Church Comment
7) Retreat Games
8) Summer Children's Church Comment
9) Summer Programs
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The BE-Attitudes ... for Women & Men
Can you think of a time when being poor was a good thing? We want to be
rich in spirit, rich in health and rich in our bank accounts. We want the
best of everything, because having the best is a measurement of our
success. However, when Jesus began his sermon on the mount by saying,
“Blessed are the poor in Spirit…”, he was not touting the benefits of
those who don’t have money, nice clothing or fine food to eat. In God’s
economy, being poor in spirit is about emptiness -- spiritual emptiness.
It is coming to the realization that we are powerless to help ourselves
and that nothing in and of ourselves naturally chooses to follow God’s
ways.
The BE-Attitudes for adults is an eight session study for individuals
or groups which explores how to make Jesus' attitudes your daily
attitudes. To learn more about this series, go to:
http://www.sundayschoolnetwork.com/Bible-4-life.html
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1) Graduation
In response to the Graduation issue, in light of the previous comment
based on age. I wanted to suggests possibly ribbons, certificates or
something special for those children who have possibly progressed more in
their learning. I realize some might say well rewarding people for
learning the word ....that shouldn't be. Yet, as adults we are able to
understand the Lord's rewards within us a little better. Children require
immediate gratification and our encouragement that the Lord will reward
them in life with their knowledge. Also, you may want to be sure and give
special recognition to those with positive behavior, eagerness to learn,
attendance, helpfulness... as all people are not capable of retaining
information but show their talents elsewhere. As God uses all these
talents in His work, I believe we should encourage their demonstration of
such talents. Hope this is helpful.
Mae
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2) Entertainment...WHY
This topic about entertaining kids has been going on for some time now. It
appears that everyone is an expert in how, when and where we should
things, but the main reason should by why?
Jesus ministered, entertained or whatever you would like to call it.
However, He always said 'I always do the things that please my Father.'
Jesus didn't do anything to promote himself only the will of the Father.
Jesus had 12/70 disciples not everyone committed to him.
After Pentecost there were 3000 in one day. The proof of the pudding in
any ministry in whether the Spirit is in or out.
Perhaps that's the question people should ask and not if it is
entertaining.
Glenn (UK)
--from SSTN: I believe the original question went to whether or not having
an entertainment based program could result in a "sit back and entertain
me" attitude and not "how to get children (or adults for that matter)"
involved.
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3) Primary School Assembly?
Hi - Do you have any hits and tips on conducting a Primary School
Assembly.
I would appreciate any suggestions.
Pastor Sheena
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4) Entertainment: WWJD
The Bible declares that " delight yourself in the Lord
and he will grant you the desires of your heart. It
again says in Philippians that " rejoice in the Lord
always and again i say rejoice". Further Paul
admonishes the saints to sing hymns and spiritual
songs.
If we consider the word of God carefully then we will
discover that even God wants us to be entertained.
However His kind of entertainment is not as the world
does it. I have seen many young people who attend
churches services because they will be given an
opportunity to " do their thing". But most of them
have no roots.
When we are mature and well rooted in the Lord then we
will not only get entertained but also know how to
get entertained. It is more exciting to see a crippled
walk or a sinner come to the Lord than to be subjected
to some loud music that only likens the church to a
pub than the house of prayer for all nations.
We are called to be ambassadors, the salt of the earth
and the light of the world, a city on a hill that
cannot be hid. I like one of games in this network
that simply declares " WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?" We need
to be ware and also ask the Lord to tell us what he
would have us do. Amazingly we actually have have his
mind.
My view is that any form of entertainment must come
from the heart(s) of a true believer(s) and inspire or
impart divine principles to the congregants regardless
of their age. Otherwise many people will be unable to
differentiate us from the rest of the world. For the
Bible says " Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
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Pentecost Rusher Download
Have your kids learn about and celebrate Pentecost with our Pentecost
Rusher Toy. It's easy-to-make and you can download as many patterns as you
want for one low download fee!
Learn more in our "Make N' Take Downloads" section at:
http://www.SundaySchoolNetwork.com
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5) VBS Grand Prize
>>Does anybody offer a grand prize at VBS any more? If so, how...
We have tried very hard to make all the children winners without a sense
of loss or competiveness. we do not gift them at VBS. I do however reward
them with Bible Bucks on Sundays. They get them for Bringing a Bible,
Remembering a verse, Bringing a friend, Adding something substantial to
our meeting, acts of kindness etc. Oh, how they love to trade in their
ones and twos for tens! When they get to twenty or a number that fits the
gift they shop with Shar. I strive to have all gifts (not candy) something
with a good christian message. So far, this really works!
His servant,
Sharlene
Canada
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6) Summer Children's Church Comment
I agree that Sunday School should be year round, but in a small church
like ours with few teachers and few students, summers get pretty sparse
for attendance. We don't have subs either, so in the summer when we all
have plans away from home that include Sundays, we pool our kids and
teachers. If you have the people and resources to support the kind of
commitment you are requesting from them, then you are blessed.
The order of importance is God, husband/wife, children, work. I don't
think teaching sunday school should come before family time in the summer,
especially for our teachers who have full time jobs during the week, nor
should kids feel bad for missing sunday school to spend the weekend with
their family elsewhere. This is one of the many reasons I am
anti-attendance awards. Kids don't control that, and for many of our kids,
the parents don't attend church. I have strayed onto another topic here,
so back to my main comment. Perhaps it is just me being defensive when I
read the post, but it seemed condescending to me, and inconsiderate of the
small churches with limited resources but not limited commitment or heart
for the children.
Tanya
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7) Retreat Games
I just returned from my weekend youth retreat and they LOVED the
following game. This is a game regarding decision making .. And how the
Devil will try to steer you wrong.
We had teams of 3. 1 person gets blindfolded - then 1 person is the
"devil" to try to lead you astray & the 3rd person is the "angel" to
lead you safely thru an obstacle course. (We used Frisbees filled w/
water & shaving cream & traffic cones .. But be creative & use whatever
you can find)... The goal is for the blindfolded person to get thru the
obstacle course without "getting messy" or "off course". The blindfolded
person does not know who is the devil or the angel & they have to thy to
decide who's directions to listen to! This makes for great fun & great
discussion afterwards!
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8) Summer Children's Church Comment
>We have Sunday school year around. I never heard of stopping for summer
>until I read it on this forum. Our teachers do not sign up for a 9
>month commitment. If God has called them to teach, He has called them.
I am offended by the post above. We take a break, and it's not that we're
not willing to commit!!! Does this mean that my family can't take a
vacation because I don't have a substitute? Should it mean that my child
and I NEVER get to attend a worship service because we have Sunday
SchooL?? Family worship time is just as important to a child as Sunday
School attendance. We also take off 1-2 weeks at Christmas, Palm Sunday,
and Easter. The point is not teacher laziness or lack of commitment. It's
family worship.
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9) Summer Programs
Our church contines their Sunday School but stops our Wed. Night program
at the end of May. We replace it with a summer program that uses two of
the teachers from the regular Wed night program. Each of the other
teachers help during the summer for a week or two. We divide the groups
into 3,4,5 year old and then from 1st through 5th grade. We choose a theme
("This year it is All Star Champions for God.") and present our lessons
around this theme. We have found that we lose a lot of our kids to summer
sports and this "drop in" kind of program works well for us. We encourge
the children to bring friends and even if they only come a time or two we
have had that opportunity to present them with the word of God. We take a
one week break for VBS. We have a special night at the end of the program
built around our theme. By combining the ages groups we have enought
children to do the program. Judy
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