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SSTN # 44 - April 4, 2003
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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:
--> Egg-shaped Easter Story Cards
1) Easter Teacher "Goodies"
2) The Dinosaur Saga
3) The Dinosaur Saga
4) Reaching our youth
5) Leaving church
--> Armor of God Playing Cube
6) Security procedures
7) Lighthouse Themes
8) Lighthouse vbs
9) Blank CD Crafts
10) Avoiding Drugs Lessons?
--> NEW-LIFE PUPPETS
11) Lighthouse VBS
12) Thank You Thank You Thank You!!
13) Discipline?
14) Kids manners in church
15) Leaving your church
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Easter Story Cards
Ten Egg-shaped cards that tell the Easter Story - When the cards
are cut, colored and assembled, players can play Easter Egg Scramble and
learn the Easter Story! Reproducible so your whole class can make a set!
In the Curriculum section:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html
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1) Easter Teacher "Goodies"
One way that we like to encourage and show our teacher's that we
appreciate them, is to give them a little "goodie" for various holidays.
The "goodie" is placed on the counter in their classroom before they
arrive. I wanted to share some Easter ideas: We have all seen the various
versions of the Jelly Bean poem. I wrote my own version of it that I felt
was more suited for adults. We place them in a celophane bag and staple
this poem on it:
This is just a bag of Jelly Beans but their colors tell the story..about
what Easter truly means...of Jesus, the King of Glory.
Black was the condition of our hearts, By sin were enticed
White is for the spotless Lamb who became the sacrifice
Red is for His precious blood that He gave at Calvary
Green is for the ransom...His blood paid for you and me
Purple is for the majesty of the risen King.
Because He rose on Easter, "O death where is thy sting?"
Orange is for His mercies, new each and every day
Yellow is for the Son of God...His is the only way!
So as you enjoy this Easter Treat, may the message remind you of...The
sacrifice that Jesus gave because of God's great love. (John 3:16)
THIS YEAR, we are making each teacher a cookie. It is a hand with a red
heart in the center (basically, the amish "hand to work", hearts to God")
We will place it in a celophane bag with a little Easter Grass, and this
will be the attached card: (Note: Author unknown...)
His Hands
Healed the sick so we could know...
His compassion
Held a child so that we could know...
His Kindness
Touched the oppressed so that we could know...
His concern...
Bore the nails so that we could know...
His love!
May your life be filled with Joy this Easter! We appreciate your servant
heart in Children's Ministry.
"I am the Living One, I was dead and behold, I am alive for ever and
ever"...Rev 1:18 NIV.
Our teachers have shared over and over how they appreciate the thought.
If you would like any additional idea's we have done in the past for other
Holiday's or when we start fall, email me directly with the heading
"Teacher Goodies" and I will be happy to share. Smaedavis@aol.com
Blessings from California
Shana
--from SSTN: Shana, please share your ideas with the whole network.
ysic, sarah <><
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2) The Dinosaur Saga
>Maurice Sweetsur writes:
>Surely, as Christians, we should go instead to the book written
>by the only Person who was there in the beginning -- the Bible.
>>I am curious as to what kind of scientist you are, sir. In my opinion,
>>which is all any of us have to offer, God does not expect us to "check
>>our brains at the door," so to speak, when we read the Bible. When you
>>state the you are an ex-evolutionist...Sincerely, Xandra.
I think Xandra has missed the point completely! As teachers we are here to
teach the Word of God and not our own philosophies and opinions. Stick to
the teachings in the Bible (which is what the Lord expects) after all
opinions will be used by the devil to bring confusion and division. Teach
the truth and not speculation. If the Lord thought we needed to know more
about topics like dinosaurs he would have mentioned it clearer in His
word.
As teachers we are dealing with little vulnerable minds that must be
filled
with the truth, teaching on topics which is pure speculation could result
in a child later rejecting Christ because of something taught in Sunday
school years before which later causes conflict in an adult mind and even
lead them to doubt their belief.
Vicky
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3) The Dinosaur Saga
>>Re: SSTN # 36 - March 14, 2003
>>I am curious as to what kind of scientist you are, sir. In my opinion,
>>which is all any of us have to offer, God does not expect us to "check
>>brains at the door," so to speak, when we read the Bible.
I have to admit that I am somewhat confused by the above response to what
was said by Maurice Sweetsur. The statement that "God does not expect us
to check our brains at the door" seems to suggest an emphasis being placed
on oursleves; what we know now compared to what was known thousands of
years ago. This approach, in my opinion takes the Glory away from God.
The BIBLE is what christians should be basing their knowledge of life on,
applying it to life today rather than saying that we know so much more
now, that we have "evolved away" from the importance of what is stated in
the bible.
Glory to God forever
Diane
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4) Reaching our youth
My husband is a youth minister and about a year ago he took a position
with a VERY small church. There were only 3 youths at the first Wed.
night service. We now have close to 30 every Wed. Our Wed night program
goes as follows: We open with prayer requests and prayer. We then have
two or three praise and worship songs. You can find a lot of great stuff.
There are a lot of upbeat, more modern sounding songs that our teens
really love. Wayne then has about 30 minutes where he has a bible verse
or story, then he relates it to the problems that teens are going through
today. We sometimes have games. Bible trivia, dares, just silly things.
Prizes are anything from CDs to little erasers. We use our teens to help
us during Children's Church on sundays and they really like that. They
help with crafts, handing out snacks, etc. I think it helps them to feel
needed and it helps them feel like they are contributing to the church.
Hope this helps.
Jenny
Georgia
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5) Leaving church
Hi! I read your letter on the problems your having with a troublesome
family, i topo have had similar instances wher the same occured. I have
found that a sift answer turneth away wrath, however it is the churches
or its prospective leaders responsibility to coorect unrully members. 1
thes. 5:14 & Rom. 16:17-19 , 1 Cor 1:10 , however carful consideration
must be applied as to the depth of the evil that exist as to whether it
can be comntained unto repentance and prayer on the aggressors part. But
if they persist they must be repremanded.
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Armor of God Playing Cube
Kids can make it and take it home. A great memory tool!
Only $3.00 to download and print out as many as you need!
Go to the following webpage to get the free lesson and to learn more:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/game_armor.html
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6) Security procedures
We live in a relatively safe and small community so many in our area (and
congregation) are really complacent about security issues. However, we
feel it is really important to do as much as we can to ensure the safety
of our children while they are at church. About a year and a half ago, we
began a sign-in procedure for all our children's activities. We also have
pagers for preschool and nursery children.
We require all parents to sign their children in on class clipboards. The
clipboards contain the name of the class, the location (we do rotation
model, so it changes each week), the teachers and the grade level.
The parents sign in their child's name, their name, and their location (A
Sunday school class, worship service or a phone number if they are leaving
-- unfortunately we have several parents who just drop off their children
and do not remain in the building) and also indicate if there are any
allergies or other health issues (we have a child severely allergic to
peanuts and a diabetic child). This has been well-received by the newer
members of our church, but not so welcome to the established members who
grew up in the church. We have persisted however, and now have fairly
good
compliance with the majority of parents. For our 5-6th graders we allow
parents to give us "blanket permission" to release their child without a
parent or older sibling. All other children must be picked up by a parent
or older sibling. If parents do not come to pick up their child, I take
the child and go and seek the parent out. We always explain that our
purpose is to maintain a safe environment for their child. I try to be
pleasant when I talk to the parents, but I also gently remind them that
the teachers need to be able to leave the room to go home or on to
worship. Periodically I put notices in the newsletter or bulletin
reminding parents to please be courteous and prompt in picking up their
children.
Hope this helps...
Jaymie Derden
State Street UMC
Bristol, VA
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7) Lighthouse Themes
Our Vacation Bible School last year was also based on the Lighthouse theme
and the centeral message being Let your light so shine among men. For
decorating our autotorium I asked a gentleman from our congergation to
bulid a small lighthouse. He exceeded all my expections making the
lighthouse almost 10 feet tall equiped with a working light. To this we
added a small peir made out of wood and rope and spread out blue table
cloths under this for water. We paper mached several rocks to add to the
scene along with some greenery. This created a real focal point for the
kids to see each evening before they were dismissed to class. I asked all
of the men giving devotions to base it on light. For example: Jesus
being the light of the world, Let your light shine, etc. One person gave
a very good devotion. She had all the children gather in a circle and
passed out small votive candles to each student and said that the candles
represent us. She started by lighting the candle of the child next to her
and said that this represented sharing salvation with another. This
student then lit the candle of the next person in the circle and so on
until every candle was lit. This would be impactful especially if done in
the dark.For crafts we did things that pertained to light. One night we
had the children decorate small clear globe light bulbs with glass paint.
Another night we collected clear jars and had the kids decorate them with
puffy paint and then we tied craft wire to the top and attached beads to
form a handle. We added a small tea light for a little lantern.Hope this
helps.
Stacey P Michigan
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8) Lighthouse vbs
I brought in the lighthouse from my garden- we darkened the room and had
its beacon on when the children came in so they could see how Jesus lights
up a room and the world. We were doing the Jonah vbs. As crafts, for the
older children, we did Chrismon (both so they could see many of the
symbols of Christ and so they could see that
Christ-mon were there long before Digimon!). For the younger children, I
bought flat topped ice cream cones, white icing , red and black licorice
whips, jelly rings and Canada mints. The kids had a great time spreading
the icing on the cones, spiraling the licorice whips around them, putting
the jelly ring on top and standing the Canada mint in the ring to make the
light. Some of the lighthouses went home but many of them got eaten before
they left the room! Aprons or old shirts to cover any good clothes help
too! Have fun! Thanks for such a great website!
Linda Niznik *<><
--from SSTN: Thank you, Linda. For anyone else interested in Chrismon
information, see this page:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/chrismon.html
ysic, sarah ><>
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9) Blank CD Crafts
Vicky:
A member of our church painted various Christmas and winter scenes on
blank
CDs, turning them into great Christmas ornaments and then sold them for $1
a piece to raise money for our Alternative Christmas Market. The funds
raised at this year's Alternative Christmas market went to support several
of our local charities. Children could paint the CDs instead...use
glitter, glitter glue, stickers, stamps, pom-poms, you name it! Paint
Christmas symbols, write relevant scripture...the possibilities are
limitless!
Char
New Britain, CT
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10) Avoiding Drug Lesson?
Hi,
I would like any suggestions/ lessons you may have on christian ways to
teach kids the importance of avoiding drugs.
Thank You, Sharon
--from SSTN: some verses to get you started are:
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit)
2 Corinthians 6:16-18
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Also, Jesus has told us to repent, which means to turn away from sin and
turn to God. See "Missing The Mark" in the Bible games section at:
http://www.ChristianCrafters.Com
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NEW-LIFE PUPPET patterns
When assembled, New Life Puppets turn inside out to change from a tadpole
to a frog, or a caterpillar to a butterfly. They're easy-to-make and
children will learn about becoming new creatures in Christ! Get a free
puppet skit too! In our Curriculum section:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html
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11) Lighthouse VBS
Anderson's Prom and Party sells lighthouse props. www.andersonsprom.com.
Stumps is another source. We made a lighthouse, put it on an island (use
real sand or burlap fabric) made palm trees from carpet tubes (made tubes
of cheesecloth (10 yards per tree) to fit over the carpet tube. Dyed the
cheesecloth brown (rit dye). Use large rubber bands to hold it in place
(the fabric folds over to hide them). Fronds were cut from large pieces
of green felt. Sew a strip of fabric about 1-1/2 wide down the center back
of the frond. Leave it open at the bottom. Slip a straightened clothes
hanger into it and bend the frond to desired shape. Stick the ends of the
fronds in the top of the tube. There are lots of Hawaiian decorations at
the party stores which work well with this theme.
Teresa
La Marque, TX
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12) Thank You Thank You Thank You!!
I joined this newsletter/group after I clearly heard the Lord tell me to
prepare to teach the children in our church. I did argue with Him on this
subject, needless to say I lost the arguement. After several months of
being in the midst of you wonderfuls God has clearly shown me that I can
do this, and I can make a difference in the lives of the children in the
church. I have always held the belief, if you want to bless a mamma or a
daddy, love their child. Now comes the opportunity to put this into
action more than ever before. I begin teaching the second Sunday in April.
Just in time for Easter!! We have been repainting the whole children's
department of the church so everything will be fresh and new. We have
completed a 4 wall mural in the nursery and are currently working on the
restroom between the two children's rooms. Next week we will do murals in
the classroom I get to teach in. The children are excited about seeing
changes around the church so there is! a true excitement and expectation
from them also! I am sorry this is so long, but I most certainly wanted to
speak a blessing of great joy in your hearts as each of you continue to
minister to our future!
Blessings, Angela Hampton
--from SSTN: Angela, you're welcome, welcome, welcome! ;o)) Glad to have
you! Ysic, sarah keith <><
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13) Discipline?
help I have ages 4-8 and about half of my class (mostly boys) are so
disruptive, that its hard to teach. I'm put out one fire and another
start. And I do have some that really listen and want to learn and its not
fair for them. I've tried many things but they dont seem to stick for very
long. discouraged in children's church.
God Bless America! Love Pegs
--from SSTN: Hi Pegs, you will find a TON of help on this subject in the
Archives List:
http://christiancrafters.com/archives.html
Use keywords: discipline, unruly, disruptive, etc. to find this
information.
ysic, sarah <><
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14) Kids manners in church
Can anyone help me! I am the new Sunday school director at our small
country church. The kids have been free to do as they will, running
through the church, getting food from our kitchen anytime, taking supplies
out of the Sunday school closet (and not putting anything back), etc. I
want to change some of this behavior. People of the church want it
changed also. Our church is very good about providing money for the youth
programs. I am looking for books or an elective curriculum on "God and
manners, Church manners,Obeying rules, Respecting people". This would be
for grades Kindergarten through 8th grade. I am thinking about "Kids
Travel Guide to the 10 Commandments". I am looking for the book "In God's
House:A guidebook for Children on Using Good Manners at Church" by Chuck
McIntosh and Bev Cook. (If anyone has a copy they would sell me PLEASE
email me) Parents of the church want their kids to be memorizing verses
and I have used several ideas for this site....THANKS!
Your help is appreciated.
Thanks Val in Ohio
--from SSTN: check out "God's Top Ten" in the Curriculum section:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html
or find the other books in the bookstore at:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/bookstore.html
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15) Leaving your church
we are new christians and a year ago we found a little church,with
various age groups... we found alot of problems in the church but also
spent alot of time in prayer,because we knew this is where God wanted us
to
be,diligently we kept going and found areas to get involved in,i teach
sunday school,we also became the new youth group leaders in january,God
has
worked His way thorough this little church and we've seen many hearts
change and numerous growth.I believe God doesn't want us to sit back and
wait for friends and things to happen spiritually in our church family,we
have to make ourselves be known and put our faith forward,this is why God
sent out deciples to share the love of God,heal people,and fellowship,go
up introduce yourself,have your own dinner party,talk to the pastor about
planning a pick nic,or potluck,our job in the church is to take care of
each other,God doesn't put someone in charge of this,we have to step out
on our own,we make our own happiness,and we also make our church our
home,we set ourselves up for diappointments,if you believe it is someone
elses job to make your church your home,we are all sheep and God is our
shepherd,we all are brothers and sisters in christ,it is yours and my job
to make our church our family and our home,we will all be united together
one day,as one in christ,if you leave this church because no one has
aproached you,then i don't believe this pleases God,because you will find
this at your next stop as well,you need to extend your frienship and love
to others don't wait,for frienship and love to come to you.Im sure there
are many others in the church that feel the way you do.We as christians
and part of God's family have to make the difference and reach out to
others,before someone might feel comfortable reaching out to you.God can
use us anywhere we are at,we have to step out in faith,God has a plan for
you,please ask Him to guide you,and believe me from experience,God will
pave the road! God be with you,i will pray for you,Remember where there
is a thorn there is a beautiful ROSE at the top,God loves you and He also
needs those that are bold and willing to go where things are quite
uncomfortable. <>< <>< <><
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