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SSTN  # 4 - January 15, 2002

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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:

1) Appreciation months with Volunteer Acrostic
2) Explaining the Trinity
3) Creeds?
--> What's W.W.J.S.? ...and why?
4) Masks to explain the Trinity
5) Valentine crafts?
6) Ideas for New Year's
7) Need ideas for Jr/Sr High?
8) Valentine's Day banquet
9) Trinity question
10) Drama Skits For Teens
--> What's the LOOP?
11) Science object lesson?
12) Trinity Snowman Lesson

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1) Appreciation months and Volunteer Acrostic

> "Can someone tell me if their are designated appreciation months?  Is >there a month for volunteers, Sunday School Teachers, Deacons, Ushers, >Pianist/Music Leaders, etc?"

Yes, the month of April is designated as volunteer appreciation month.  I
get mail order catalogs that offer numerous things that can be purchased
to give to volunteers.

I've used this saying in the bulletin at our church to express our
appreciation to our volunteers:  "Volunteers aren't paid because they're
worthless...it's because they're priceless!"

Last year, I created cards to give to all our volunteers that had flowers
on the front and it said - "Thank you for planting the seeds of God's
love" - and I tucked in a packet of seeds in each card.

There's also an acrostic for the word Volunteers:

V - alued for your time and care,
O - pening your heart with all you share,
L - ending a hand whenever you're asked,
U - sing your talents to ease our tasks,
N - eeded for your contributions,
T - aking the time to find solutions,
E - steemed for your many thoughtful ways,
E - ver eager to brighten our days,
R - espected and treasured wherever you are,
S - hining your light, just like a star!

Love in Christ,
Cathy Bodell
Frankfort, MI

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2)  Explaining the Trinity

There is a wonderful book to explain the concept of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost to young children.  It is called "3 in 1: A Picture of
God" by Joanne Marchausen.

--from SSTN: You can find it in the Christian Education section of the
Bookstore: 
http://www.christiancrafters.com/bookstore.html 

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3) Creeds?

I am beginning to create a curriculum on the Apostles creed for a 4-6th
grade Sunday School class. I'd love to hear from anyone that's done
something similar successfully, how you might divide up the creed for
digestible lessons - and possible activities and crafts that would
accompany each lesson. Happy New Year all.

Blessings,
Jeremy Kidwell

--from SSTN: a copy of the Apostles Creed may be found at:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/mytestimony.html 

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What's W.W.J.S.? ... and why?

W.W.J.S. means, "WHAT WOULD JESUS SAY?"
An obvious take off on the popular slogan W.W.J.D.?
"WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?"

While playing a WWJD game with my Sunday School class, I asked one of the
boys "What would Jesus do in a particular situation?" He replied honestly,
"I have no idea!" That's when I realized that the slogan is probably
meaningless to many others as well. His problem was that he needed to know
"what Jesus says," in order to know how Jesus would behave. In other
words, he needed to read and understand the Scriptures to know the mind of
Christ, before he could begin to behave like Christ. This is when I began
to think about W.W.J.S.? and how important it is to stress that we cannot
behave like Jesus, without knowing his words, his mind, and his heart.
This happens only by reading the Scriptures to learn what he says! As a
result, I designed the "W.W.J.S. Gospel Catchers" with this in mind.

Students can use the "W.W.J.S. Gospel Catchers" to begin to learn what
Jesus says by using the following patterns: the Colors of Christ (Gospel
Colors), the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the Promises of God.
Follow this link to learn more:

http://www.christiancrafters.com/kt_kit.html 


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4) Masks to explain the Trinity

>Does anyone have any creative ideas on how to explain the concept of the
>Trinity to preschoolers?

Try using masks. Children this age like "dress up" and you might consider
using masks as a way to explain the trinity. God was the right answer to
who was born at Christmas (!), it was God in God's 'Jesus' face.  The Holy
Spirit is often represented by a dove so a dove mask could be God's Holy
Spirit face.  The children can see your own face as representing God's
face and the masks show that it is always God expressed in different ways.
Blessings,
Eva

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5) Valentine crafts?   

I am in charge of a Valentine party for 14 ten yoea olds.  Can you suggest
some craft projects.   I would like to use the theme "love
One Another" or "God loves you"
God bless you, Rosemary

--from SSTN: check out the Crafts page:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/page6.html 

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6) Ideas for New Year's

I'll be doing this with my 5th and 6th grade class in light of New Year's
resolutions, but it might work for younger ones, too.

You'll need: a large jar or container with a lid, walnuts, enough rice to
fill the container, a spoon or small measuring cup, and a large bowl to
hold the rice for the demonstration.

For the New Year, I'll be emphasizing starting a new habit of praying
first thing in the morning. To illustrate why that works better, "rice and
walnuts" is perfect.

Tell your group the rice represents the things we do all day long. For
each thing, take a small amount of rice and pour it into the jar. For
example, you can say "You wake up in the morning, and brush your teeth and
wash your face (pour a small amount of rice in the jar.) Then you eat
breakfast and go to school (add some more rice)." Continue throughout the
day, at school, after school with friends, watching TV, doing homework,
dinner, etc, until the day is done. Your jar should be almost full of
rice.

Now, tell your group the walnuts represent your prayers to God. One walnut
for each prayer: For your parents, for you to do well on a test, for your
friend whose parents are fighting, etc. Of course, by this point, you
can't put the lid on the jar, which would represent you've fallen asleep
and don't have time in your day to talk to God.

Then start over, putting in the prayers (walnuts) first. Then go through
your day in the same order, with the same activities. The rice will fit
very nicely in the jar with the walnuts and you should be able to put the
lid on, representing a complete day.

Scripture reference: Psalm 5:3 "In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."
(NIV)

You may want to do a test run first, just to make sure you've got the
right amount of rice for your container, and that the walnuts really won't
fit in the first time around. :-) If you want, you could also give out
small jars with a walnut and rice in them as a reminder for them to take
home.
For his kingdom,
Amy

--from SSTN: this lesson may also be found in the Sermons section of the
site under "Put God First":
http://www.christiancrafters.com/sermons.html 

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7) Need ideas for Jr/Sr High?

Hi -- I subscribed to this sight thinking it would be a great resource for
me, but all of the ideas seem to be geared toward younger children.  I've
been teaching Jr-Sr High for several years (grades 7-12), and could use
some new ideas.
Thanks!
Joan

--from SSTN: Hi Joan, I know there are hundreds of other teachers in the
network for this age group. Something for everyone in the network to
consider...I have found the more specific the requests, the more likely
you'll get an answer. Narrow down the ideas you are looking for. i.e.
Topics? Goals for the year? Specific Scriptures? etc. Also, make sure you
check out the Christian Education section in the Bookstore for some great
resources for youths:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/bookstore.html 
I will be adding new youth resources to the bookstore this week!
ysic, sarah <><

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8) Valentine's Day banquet

>> want to do something different but can't come up with anything.

I really enjoy the newsletter. Thanks so much for offering it! I have a
response to this:
At my church, our youth group does a very entertaining variety show for a
dressy banquet that we have once a year. The youth do skits, songs, some
comedy and some
serious things. Usually they have a very touching conclusion...like a song
or movement with candles. One of the funniest skits involved using large
refrigerator cardboard boxes with the top fronts cut out to mimic TVs. A
person got inside each box. The skit was a version of what it is like to
channel surf on TV, switching from one station to another. One TV was a
cooking show, one a drama, one a kids' show, etc. Only one person was
visible at a time...the others ducked down inside their boxes until it was
time for a particular line. That person would say a line, then duck down
and a person in another box would pop up and finish the sentence,  then
start another sentence and duck down and a person in a different box would
complete it. It was very funny and everyone really enjoyed it.If you want
more details, I would be happy to provide a couple of samples from the
show.
Carol

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9) Trinity question

Somewhere I got the idea of braiding three different colors of yard
together to explain the Trinity to visualize how the three parts are as
one. I am planning to use this for a children's sermon for the next
Trinity Sunday to start a braid and then to complete it as the children
watch.  Carol

--from SSTN: this is one that I wrote and may be found in the Sermons
section under "The Triune God-Or Three In One?"
http://www.christiancrafters.com/sermons.html 
ysic, Sarah K. <><

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10) Drama Skits For Teens

I am a retired Sunday School/YouthGroup Leader, and have accumulated quite
a lot of Drama Skits for Teens.If anyone is interested I can be reached
at:   Email: bobandmolly@bigpond.com
They are about various subjects of life and are not copyrighted and
therefore can be altered to suit particular circumstances. These are free
to "good homes"

Thank you for a interesting newsletter I have just joined and I am find
much contentment in reading and visiting the interesting Web sites that
you talk about.  My son and Daughter-in-law are ordained Salvation Army
Ministers, so I pass on some of your ideas and information to them.
Regards, Bob Evans
Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

--from SSTN: Welcome to SSTN! Glad to hear from you! Your sister in
Christ, (ysic) Sarah K. <><

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--> What's the LOOP?

L-eading kids to Christ,
O-ffering advice
O-pen discussion forum
P-roviding free resources

Invite your friends, pastors, and coworkers
to join our discussion in SSTN.

http://www.christiancrafters.com/page3.html 


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11) Science object lesson?

We are starting a new class from 1st - 4th grades and the theme of the
class is hands-on science.  Does anyone know of a resource that can help
me
find science object lesson which tie into scripture?  Thanks for any info.
PB

--from SSTN: check out the Bookstore Christian Education and Bookstore
Crafts section:    http://www.christiancrafters.com/bookstore.html 

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12) Trinity Snowman Lesson

>Does anyone have any creative ideas on how to explain the concept of the
>Trinity to >preschoolers?

Use "the snowman"  We're going to use a whole month for this - following
Jesus is cool):  Head, represents the Spirit who speaks to our minds.
Body, represents Jesus with arms spread open to die for our sins.  Base,
represents God, who is the strong foundation -- we can always stand upon
his love and caring, and build our lives UP ON him.  Vicki

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