"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." -- Jesus
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SSTN # 42 - May 22, 2006
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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:
Take-A-Look Inside: "Tell Me The Story of Jesus"
1) Crippled Lamb program? 2) Disruptive teens? 3) Room Themes? 4) Da Vinci Code is Fiction
Pentecost Rusher
5) Day Care? 6) Ideas on tithing - 4 to 5 yr olds? 7) Changing Children's Church 8) Obtaining Teaching Materials 9) Christmas in July: Camp Christmas 10) To All Committed Sunday School Teachers
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Take-A-Look Inside: "Tell Me The Story of Jesus"
Click on the following link, or copy and paste it to your browser, to take a look inside, "Tell Me the Story of Jesus", a hands-on Bible lesson series for K-5th grade:
I think this is a GREAT idea and a refreshing presentation at Christmas! Max Lucado is a very talented author. Please provide more details of the program...what was great, what didn't work, etc. Did you use a real lamb? I would love to do this with our kids pre-K through 6 grade.
Tami Phillips lrp@ecol.net
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2) Disruptive teens?
Anyone have any tips on disruptive teens in the Sunday School Class. I am so happy they are attending (even if coerced by parents) and walk that fine line of wanting to make class enjoyable and of course Biblically based, and not offend them by calling them out with their behavior. Most of the time it is just constant talking among the couple of friends that sit together. Any new suggestions from experienced teen ministry leaders? thanks
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3) Room Themes?
Hi there. First off I want to say how much of a blessing it is to have this website as a resource. As I’m sure many others would agree it is great to have so many things at your fingertips in one place. It leaves less time searching and more time focusing in on the children.
I am a nursery director at my church and we are getting ready to open a daycare. I teach children ages birth – 5, and soon with the daycare, we will have many age groups. We are getting ready to redecorate all of our classrooms. I am looking for a few new themes. If anyone has any ideas they would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks and God Bless, Elaine in VA
--from SSTN: any/all of the "famous" Bible stories make great visuals: Noah's Ark, Jonah and the Great Fish, Moses in the Basket, Shepherd and Sheep, etc.
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4) Da Vinci Code is Fiction
I hope everyone realizes that The Da Vinci Code is found under the "fiction" section of Book Stores and Libraries!
--from SSTN: yes, exactly. However, you should be aware that the author, Dan Brown, states in his book that his story is based on "true" historical documents; which in fact are not true at all. The greatest thing about this controversy is that it forces Christians to examine why they believe as they do. God's Word will stand as it has for centuries. There is a great online video that discusses this further. You can view it at:
http://www.TruthOrUntruth.com
"Be wise as serpents and gentle as doves." Matt. 10:16
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Pentecost Rusher
Check out this fun Pentecost activity in our Curriculum Creatives section under the, Easy Make N' Take Downloads section at:
We have launched a day care ministry in our church, and we want to start a Christian preschool in the fall. What curriculum do you recommend? Realize that we are just starting off and have very limited funds.
Rev. Chris Dodson revchrisd@earthlink.net
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6) Ideas on tithing - 4 to 5 yr olds?
Hello, I've been involved in our Childrens Ministry for the past year & have started teaching the 4 & 5 yr olds a few months ago.
Can you please help me with ideas on how to teach them to tithe & ideas to do altar call.
Thank you also for all the helpful info that I find on this site.
Regards
Lorraine Govender
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7) Changing Children's Church
Having to share a room can be very frustrating....I have been there...What I did was use tons of object lessons. (You can get books at most Christian book stores) I passed out two or three lessons (to older teens and adults) the week prior to the lessons....asked them to present the lesson in five minutes or less, if possible. They supplied the "objects" needed. They brought them to class and took them with them....This gave each participant opportunity to be part of the ministry and keep the ministry bubbling each week since the children did not know who or what was going to happen....The rest of the hour was spent singing to music tapes and scripture memory. I tried to pull all lessons, music, and scripture together by asking the children "How did the two lessons work together?". Hope this helps. DAR
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8) Obtaining Teaching Materials
Hi, I teach 3rd and 4th grade Sunday school and have only been doing it a year. I have noticed that there are a lot of postings on ideas for teaching etc. Our church orders our curriculum 3 months at a time. When we are done with the lesson, teaching pictures and all we (try to remember) collect them from the other grades and send them to church's that cannot afford to buy these. Maybe there is a church that would be willing to keep their lessons and all and hand down to some that may need it. Maybe calling around your town and asking if they could "adopt" you and instead of throwing these lessons away that every month or so you could go and pick them up and use them. Also.. this can be a challenging thing.. to teach and everyones support is always appreciated. If God brought you to it, He will help you through it. God Bless... Debbie
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9) Christmas in July: Camp Christmas
Best VBS I ever had was Camp Christmas. We did ours the last week of Christmas break when kids and parents were all bored. We had LOTS of help and lots of participation.
We honed in on JESUS is the REASON --- for each and every season.
We transformed our church into a forest camp with people of the church bringing in their artificial trees, small tents and lots of white sheets (for snow).
We did rotation a rotation basis - starting with all together and ending with the entire group.
The kids were split into multi-aged troops (ages 4-12) with the older kids being responsible for the younger in their group. This worked out wonderfully. Each group also had at least one Teen Rangers that kept troops moving from campsite to campsite and intervened if there was any problems (bathroom breaks mainly).
Camp Discovery that was an interaction of a "very smart" Ranger telling the kids about things in the forest -- however - this Ranger didn't know about creation -- so the Field Leader that interacted with him, also led the kids in teaching the Ranger about creation. It was precious to see the kids transform this non-believer into a Christian by the end of the week! (This interaction also was part of the opening and closing).
Game Camp - we used the nativity story and created ideas for games; Camp Chow Down (kids concocted some of their own snacks); Camp Hide-Away was one scripture for the week. The kids did different scripture games each day and also "hid" God's Word in their heart by learning the scripture in sign language; Craft Camp was one craft for the week and troopers worked on it each day; International Camp -- the troopers learned about Christmas in other countries and even had a young Chinese man from a local Bible College interact with the kids on one day. The General Store for the campers to "purchase" inexpensive items with camp money they received for bringing a friend, their Bible, outstanding behavior, and learning their verse for the week. Snowball Games were planned the last day, using paper wads for snowballs.
We made sure the campers knew that Jesus was part of the world each and every day - not just Christmas and Easter.
I wrote the following as a song - however there is no sheet music - (God gave me a gal that could hear it and play it - but not even read music herself!!!) The words are:
Jesus is the reason - we celebrate ALL seasons We celebrate ALL seasons of our lives. If you know Christ as Savior, There's a change in your behavior And folks will know that you know Jesus Christ. In Spring and Summer In Fall and Winter We GROW as we study in God's Word. So you can tell others, Your sisters and your brothers, How trusting HIM can TRULY change your life FOREVER! Jesus is the reason, We celebrate ALL seasons. We celebrate ALL seasons of our lives!
Have a blessed Christmas in July -- and every month!!
Traci, it is all well and good to say respond as Jesus would have (although even He was not always gentle), but you did not answer her questions or offer her help either.
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