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SSTN
#1 - January 3, 2003
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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:
1) Jesus More than Santa Chat
2) Craft for Jesus' baptism
3) Jesus More Than Santa Chat
4) Ten Commandment's Lesson
5) White elephant exchange
--> Christian Patterns-In-A-Pocket
6) Anxiety...Scriptures?
7) White elephant exchange
8)
Christmas Love
9) Craft for Jesus' baptism
10) Christmas Traditions
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1) Jesus More than Santa Chat
I think I may have posted this earlier. We had Santa come to Ss and tell
the Christmas story. He had costumes in his bag and had the kids put them
on as he told the story. At the end he told the kids that everyone thinks
Santa is the most important part of Christmas, but that is not true. Even
Santa has to bow to Jesus. he took of his hat and bowed at he manger. You
could have heard a pin drop! Then he invited the children to pray with
him.
We have also had Santa bring the objects of Christmas (star, tree, wreath,
etc., and explain their significance.
Teresa
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2) Craft for Jesus' baptism
In response to this, One time I took a paper plate and cut a slit in the
middle. I colored the paper plate blue. It looks like the river. I
found
a picture of John baptising Jesus. I traced Jesus and cut Him out with a
little overlap at the bottom. I pushed Him through the slit and folded
the
overlap and taped Jesus to the bottom. This will show Jesus "coming up
out
of the water." On top of plate, you can cut a dove figure and tape or
paste
him on Jesus shoulder or tape bird on pipe cleaner and attach on paper
plate. You can write anything on this. My kids liked it. I hope you can
use it. If I can help more: thekingskid@comporium.net Nancy
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3) Jesus More Than Santa Chat
I am giving a talk this Sunday using 3 wrapped gifts. In one box put a
Toys R' Us newspaper insert, in the other put a $5 and in the last one put
a small porcellin figure of the baby Jesus. Ask for 3 volunteers, have the
first open the package with the Toys R' Us insert. Tell that child that
they can have anything on that page that they want for Christmas, then ask
them, when the toys are all broken and lost, what will you have then? Hand
out the second gift with the $5 in it. Let the child open it, tell them
they can use that $5 to buy whatever they want, then ask them if that will
really make them happy. Then have a child open the gift with the baby
Jesus in it. Ask them what they will be getting for Christmas. They and
other kids should say things like, eternal love, forgiveness,etc. It
really has an impact on them. Blessings, Jeannine
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4) Ten Commandment's Lesson
A downloadable lesson from ChristianCrafters.Com:
The Bible tells us that God gave us the Ten Commandments as a sort of
guardian, or baby-sitter, to teach us right from wrong. When we disobey a
command of God it is called sin. The Bible tells us that ALL people sin.
Without the commandments we wouldn’t know how to behave. But we also
wouldn’t understand how much we fall short in being like God. He is
perfect and without sin - he is holy. What if we were never told it is
wrong to steal, or to lie, or to murder? Just think how much worse this
world would be! However, it is important to understand that the
commandments are more than just a list of "DON’TS". The commands show us
how much God loves us. Why do you think your parents do not want you
playing in the street when there is oncoming traffic?
(Allow for class discussion) Yes, you could get hit by a car. Do they say,
"Don’t play in traffic" because they hate you? No, because they love you
and want to protect you. Our Father God has given us the Ten Commandments
for the same reason: he loves us and wants to protect us.
Go to the following webpage to get the rest of this lesson accompanied by
a craft and a game: http://www.christiancrafters.com/lesson_nogods.html
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5) White elephant exchange
We usually have little pieces of paper with the numbers on them for how
many ever are in attendance. Everyone draws a number out of a container
and we start with the person who drew the number one and then next is
number two, etc.
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--> Christian Patterns-In-A-Pocket...FREE shipping!
Now you can purchase any of the Patterns-In-A-Pocket lessons with
activities
and you won't have to pay USA shipping fees!
Learn more here:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/pocket_patterns.html
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6) Anxiety...Scriptures?
I am having some anxiety about some upcoming events. I have to do
something that I've never done before. Does anyone have any verses to
help ease my fears about my undecided future. K.L.
--from SSTN: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a
future." Jeremiah 29:11.
Also see: Proverbs 3:5-6, Matthew 6:25-34.
ysic, sarah <><
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7) White elephant exchange
How about this...to begin with, everyone is given a number on a piece of
paper. Then someone is your caller, calling out the numbers randomly,
every guest takes a gift as their number is called, but no one unwraps
until everyone is holding a gift, then everyone unwraps together, and sets
the gift down on the table in front of them. Then the "take a gift"
sequence starts again, with the caller again calling out numbers randomly,
except this time as your number is called you can either take your
original gift or someone else's to keep. Have fun!
In Him, Kristine <><
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8)
Christmas Love
Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience.
I had cut back on nonessential obligations - extensive card writing,
endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found
myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and
of course, the true meaning of Christmas.
My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting
season for a six year old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his
school's "Winter Pageant." I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be
working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining
moment, I
spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the
morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening
were
welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the
compromise.
So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early,
found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several
other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the
students
were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat
cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform
their song.
Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday
as "Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial
entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer.
So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly
taken
aback by its bold title.
Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy
mittens,
red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front
row-center stage - held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the
title of
the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would
hold
up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child
holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas
Love."
The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a
small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down--totally
unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W". The audience of 1st through
6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea
they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W".
Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued
until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush
came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we
understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the
first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our
festivities.
For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and
clear: "CHRISTWAS LOVE" And, I believe, He still is.
Copyright 1999 Candy Chand
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9) Craft for Jesus' baptism
Good morning....go to different websites Danielles Place and get a pattern
for a dove. After making them you can always fly the doves from the
ceiling.
God bless,
Joni
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10) Christmas Traditions
a. We have an Advent Basket with small gifts. Each gift/day is based on
the life of Jesus. We open one gift per night and read the accompanying
scripture. I am going to submit this to SSTN one of these days (too late
for this year), but it is a little too complicated to do en masse as a
Sunday School project.
b. On Christmas Eve, we go outside for a few minutes and look at the
stars and talk about how the shepherds on the hillsides must have felt,
and about the exceeding joy that the Wise Men felt when they saw the
special star.
c. Every year my son makes a nativity or manger craft. There are lots of
ideas in craft books and on the web. We keep them all and display them
from one year to the next as a group. The display gets lots of comments.
Sally in Wichita
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