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SSTN # 61 - May 16, 2003


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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:


1) Miracles of Jesus
2) Tolerance, compassion, acceptance, understanding, LOVE
3) Ready To Give Up?
4) Graduation Gift
5) Teacher Appreciation Videos


--> NEW Downloadable Items!!


6) Miracles of Jesus
7) Graduation gifts   
8) Miracles of Jesus
9) Networking in Romania?


--> First Aid Others Kit


10) Teacher Appreciation Videos   
11) Naming our Children's Ministry program?
12) Teacher appreciation   
13) Fruit of the Spirit
14) Graduation Gift

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1) Miracles of Jesus

We have just completed a workshop rotation on Jesus feeding the 5,000. We
had a cooking rotation the kids really enjoyed. We had a Bible time
picnic.
We talked about what kind of foods were available in Jesus time.We put the
food in a picnic basket and had flat bread, tuna, pistachio nuts, grapes,
cheese, etc. We took a blanket and went outside with the kids for the
lesson. They really enjoyed it and had a tasty snack too.


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2) Tolerance, compassion, acceptance, understanding, LOVE  

>>You will not lose the other children in your
>>class....make them a part of this community

Since I have had this experience in our church, I disagree. Other children
do not like it when one child totally disrupts the class. We have had
several who quit coming and when we went to check on them this was the
reason they gave (and they came back when we assured them we would not let
him disrupt the class anymore.  So I think we need to deal with the
problem child. I do not think it is good to "reward" him or her by giving
them special jobs. This tells the children that bad behavior reaps good
rewards.  Why do we think that because it is Sunday school we should not
have rules and order? The Bible teaches us rules and order.

We have been dealing with one child in our Ss for over 8 years. He was
disruptive at age 5, now at age 13 he is obnoxious and rude, thinks he
does not have to obey any rules anywhere. We have tried EVERYTHING that
has been suggested, plus a lot of other stuff.
The main problem here is a lack of discipline in the home, no consistency
in anything, etc.  He has problems in public school, has been suspended
many times, been to counseling, worked with one on one, they have done
everything but send him to boot camp.  If the parents choose not to
discipline, it creates a problem for the child and everyone who is around
him.
Are we trying to show him love? YES we are. Now that he is in the youth
group, the other kids do not like to take him places because of the way he
acts (rude to waiters, etc.).  We have prayed for him, made him a special
prayer project, worked with him and his family and so on.  I know that
part of this is due to his home like, but I also know that a child can
control his own behavior and make right choices.
I am not asking for advice, just suggesting that there are some situations
where you have to decide if leaving a disruptive child in a classroom is
worth losing the rest of the class.

A Sunday School teacher

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3) Ready To Give Up?

Is there anyone out there who can Identify with me If so please I could
use your advice and prayers. I am a childrens church leader of a new
ministry for the last 2 years. I have two people who is suppose to be
working along with me but instead they work against me. Are church do not
have the space to have childrens church on sunday morning so what we do is
have it on saturdays I am working without a curriculum but I am getting
information for lessons of the internet and as well from work study books
from the bible book stores I am doing the best I can with what I get. I
had 1 of my teachers tell me that the programe is boring and she has been
talking with the parents behind my back. I am so hurt by this I am about
to give it up and let her run the ministry. this person has several years
with working with children of the world and I thought she would be a great
help to me but turns out she is bad mouthing me. I am very good with the
children they love me! most of the ch! ildren call me auntie and there
parents and I have very good relationship(so I thought). What do I do. I
am torn on the inside. dellaboo1@yahoo.com


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4)  Graduation Gift

> Hi, everyone
> I need some info on a nice little gift to give to our graduating seniors.

How about a prayer journal... to encourage prayer as a part of their daily
worship? The memories recorded therein will last them a lifetime!

In His Love, Lori

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5) Teacher Appreciation Videos

>My question is this: I'm looking a place to purchase video clips or
>even videos that pertain to appreciating teachers. Thanks so much!

Thank You by Ray Boltz: A Music Video Tribute to SS Teachers

www:grouppublishing.com
I saw this in the 2003 GROUP books catalog   Item#2017 page 40


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--> NEW Downloadable items!

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browsing experience more convenient. Check out the following NEW
downloadable items:

USA Patriotic Catcher
First Aid Others Kit
Jesus Loves All Children Frame
Armor of God Playing Cube
Sword of the Spirit Bookmark 

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6) Miracles of Jesus

>We are trying to plan our Bible school this year ourselves, and the theme
>we want to use is "Miracles of Jesus", and would love to have some ideas
>for all the age groups.

Here is an object lesson that I use for teaching about the Trinity, but it
could easily be adapted to demonstrate the "water to wine" miracle.

There are many ways of explaining the trinity to children, but the one I
like the best is very visual, and involves the use of food colouring.

If you ask at a cake shop, they should be able to tell you where to obtain
food colouring in powder form. This comes in a variety of colours.

Stick small pieces of double-sided sticky tape to the inside bottoms of
three glasses. Choose three suitable colours, and place a little on each
tape. These food colourings are very concentrated, so only  very small
amounts are required, and are consequently unlikely to be noticed by the
children. However, you will probably need to determine by trial and error
the best way to do this preparation.

Show a jar of clear water. State "There is one God, represented by the
water in this jar, who is made up of three different Persons - Father, Son
and Holy Spirit." As you are talking, pour some water into your three
glasses to produce the three different colours.

Depending on your group, you could then go on to discuss the different
aspects of the three Persons of the trinity in more detail.

The following lesson can be used to illustrate "miracles" in general.

Needle through a balloon.

Punctuating an inflated balloon with a pin or needle, without it bursting,
will always fascinate children. There are two ways you can achieve this :-
1. Place a small piece if clear sticking tape on the inflated balloon. You
can then pierce this without the balloon bursting. 2. Pierce the balloon
where the rubber is thickest i.e. near the hole and at the opposite end.
In fact, by using these two locations, you should be able to pass your
needle right through the balloon. Hints. Don't inflate the balloon too
much. Use a sharp needle. Smear a little greese on the end of your needle.
I have used this illustration in two ways. You may be able to think of
others. 1. Miracles. State that normally when you prick a balloon with a
needle it will burst - Give an illustration. (If appropriate you could
tell the children why it bursts, by talking about air pressure, rapid flow
of air to the hole etc.). State that God can overcome or suspend the
natural physical laws of the Universe. He can do miracles. Proceed with
your demonstration. 2. Sharing your testimony.  Inflate about four or five
balloons, and write on them things which you (or others) once thought
would give  lasting satisfaction e.g. Sport, Job, Money, etc. On the last
one write "Jesus." Keep the balloons (or at least the words) out of sight
until required. Produce the balloons one at a time, and talk about how you
once thought that Sport etc. would really satisfy you for life, but that
in the end you found it wasn't really what you were searching for. It let
you down. Burst the balloon with your pin or needle. Proceed until you are
left with the "Jesus" balloon. Explain that this is what you have always
been searching for, and that you have found that He will never let you
down. Prick the balloon in the appropriate place to demonstrate!

Maurice Sweetsur.

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7) Graduation gifts   

You could get them books.

God's Little Instruction Book for the Class of 2003


Where Ya Gonna Go? Now That You're a Graduate by Kevin
Johnson   

God's Promises Are Great For Graduates

They also have some others. Hope this helps!
Kari
1st UPC
Ages 3-12

--from SSTN: you can find these books in our bookstore. Type the title
into the search box:   http://www.christiancrafters.com/bookstore.html

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8) Miracles of Jesus

We are trying to plan our Bible school this year ourselves, .....check out
the rotation series on Miracles of Jesus under Lesson Set Index, New
Testament at http://www.kirkofkildaire.org/quest/contents.html.  Blessings
as you plan.  Sharon


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9) Networking in Romania?

We need help with personnel. Also we need you to come and help with the
children in Dallas, Romanian. If you have any encouragement ideas write to
steveharrietracicot@yahoo.com
Thank-you


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--> First Aid Others Kit

Holds a Band-Aid, a stick of Gum, a Lifesaver candy, an Eraser, and a
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Children can make it and take it home. Print out as many patterns as you
need for a onetime fee of only $3.00. Once you've purchased the pattern
you'll receive instructions via email on how to download it from the site.
Available only online. No waiting and no shipping costs!


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10) Teacher Appreciation Videos   

This is in response to Cindy Barber's question about teacher appreciation
videos dated May 2, 2003.  During our teacher appreciation Sunday, I will
be giving our teacher's a video we made.  I went to each Sunday School
class and took video of different activities.  We are putting together the
video to Ray Boltz's song Thank You.  It is a song about Sunday School
teachers.

Hope this helps!
Rhonda Bart


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11) Naming our Children's Ministry program?

Hi all,
This is my first post and I am hoping someone out there has more creative
juices flowing right now than I do.  I recently took over the position of
Children's Ministry Director for our church.  I cover the program from 5th
grade and under.  I would like to have a name for the overall program that
would cover Sunday School up to 5th grade and also our Children's Church
and Sunday School Opening time.  My thought is to (after coming up with an
overall name) have a name/mascot of some sort for each of the Sunday
school classes ( nursery, preschool, K/1, 2/3, 4/5), this name would tie
into the overall name.  I would then make a banner for each class to use
in the classroom and also during church programs.  We don't have a huge
program yet (about 30 kids), but I would like to have a name that would
really interest the kids in inviting their friends to come with them,
somewhat like a club would do.

I thought the easiest way to do this was to let the kids and the church
body name the program, but after a month of accepting entries, nothing
really came across my desk that yelled "Hey, Pick Me".  Actually, there
were very few entries submitted.  So,  I am asking you all for any ideas
that you might have.  I searched the archieves, but I couldn't find
anything there.

This is a great web site full of information and I hope to be a help to
someone else in the future.
You can respond to me personally if you would like at
wellsvillestevens@msn.com .

Thank you,
Linda
   
--from SSTN: Type "name" into the search box of the Archives to find some
clever names. Also, for those responding, please share your new ideas via
SSTN so everyone may benefit from your knowledge. ysic, sarah keith <><

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12) Teacher appreciation   

Dear Cindy, I would recommend Ray Boltz singing Thank You for teacher
appreciation. It is found on the Precious Memory Video by the Gaithers. He
dreams he is in heaven and gets eternal reward for the job he did teaching
SS and because of him, someone else is in heaven too.It's very moving.
Theres also a video by Focus on the Family called Molder of Dreams. It
features the teacher Guy Doud. You may be able to find something you like
on that.
ysic Carol from Newfoundland, Canada

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13) Fruit of the Spirit

I am doing an awesome Fruit of the Spirit program where I have the whole
classroom decorated like an open-air Bible market with booths named One of
a kindness crafts, love-a-lot community center, Goodness Stand, and Faith
Full Cafe. The program is from (again) Group publishing called "Kids'
Travel Guide to the Fruit of the Spirit" and has more ideas than we can
use in it for kids from K to 5th grade. It is excellent. It is a 13 week
program and we are in week 6 and I have found the kids, teachers, and I
love it! Go to their website and search the title - grouppublishing.com If
you have any questions feel free to ask, teacher2mykids@aol.com

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14) Graduation Gift

An idea we have used with our confirmation classes is to
purchase inexpensive fleece travel blankets (found at Walmart or Target)
and have them monogrammed "Confirmation Class, 2003." The same could be
done for a graduating class, including the name or the church name, etc.
The kids seem to love this!
Nancy in CT

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