Ministering to Babies

Ministry to Babies and Toddlers You can support infants and toddlers' spiritual growth using these tips.

• Read to little ones about God and Jesus. Simple Bibles for toddlers such as board books about God's creation, animals, and family are great choices.
• Talk often about God and Jesus.
• Tell children constantly that Jesus loves them.
• Use teachable moments to highlight spiritual truths.
• As children learn to talk, help instill words of our faith such as God, Jesus, Bible, and pray in their vocabulary.
• Include infants and toddlers in spiritual activities such as worship and prayer.
• Know that infants and toddlers really do learn at church.
• Invite little ones to special worship occasions such as Christmas Eve.
• Encourage parents to have their youngest children present during prayer times at home.
• Pray with infants and toddlers. Explain that prayer is talking to God.
• Make prayer a part of the routine in your classroom.
• Remember that children discover God from infancy. Paul wrote to Timothy "from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures" (2 Timothy 3:15).


* From childrensministry.com

Make a Difference for Jesus

Saturday, October 23rd is the national Make a Difference Day! Jesus wants us to make a difference for Him EVERYDAY! Here's some suggestions for treating others to a bit of God's love:

• Fill a box with clothing or toys. Find an organization to give the box to (one that gives them to children would be great). Operation Christmas Child is a great one!
• Collect aluminum cans. When you cash them in at a recycling center, give the money to a project like the Angel Tree (who gives toys to children with a parent in prison)
• Collect used books to donate to a woman's/children's shelter.
• Collect canned food to give to a community food pantry.
• Collect new gloves, hats, socks, or blankets to take to a homeless shelter. 
• Gather up some friends and go to an elderly person's house to complete chores, such as raking leaves. 
• Make holiday cards (don't sign them) and take them to assisted living residents for them to mail to their family and friends. Take some stamps too!

* by Lucinda Rollings from Live Wire

TrUnK-oR-tReAt 2010

Looking for a safe, family friendly alternative for Halloween??? Come check out Bethel St. Paul's Trunk-or-Treat on Saturday October 30th from 6:30 - 8:30.

Kids will "trick or treat" through our decorated cars, get lots of yummy candy, play games, grab a snack, and have a ton of fun!

Look at all the fun we had last year, and it was raining!

Cookin' With the Kiddos

Here's a cute fall idea to involve the kids in the kitchen. (It's even great for preschoolers)

Make caramel apples together. Dip apples (on sticks) into melted caramel and roll them around in toppings: nuts, sprinkles, coconut etc. Let the apples dry on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet.

While you're making the yummy treats, talk to your kids about the harvest, since fall is officially here. Check out Psalm 65:9.

Happy Fall!!!

Biblical Command for Families

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”         Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Recap:

Talk about them when you sit at home

and when you walk along the road,

when you lie down

and when you get up.

Family Devotion Time Rhythm for Busy Families

Sit -> meal time

Walk -> traveling (to school, grandma’s, etc)

Lie Down -> tucking in at bedtime

Get up -> morning routine

Holy Spirit At Home Devotion

We've been talking about the Holy Spirit during Junior church on Sundays. Here's a great object lesson to do during bath time with your younger kids, or maybe while doing chores and washing dishes with older kids. 

You'll need a cup, paper towel, and water.

Fill the tub with water.  Take a paper towel and put it in the cup.  Ask your kids what will happen if you put the cup in the water–will the towel get wet or will it stay dry?  
First show them how the paper towel stays dry by placing the cup perpendicularly in the water.  The air in the cup will force the water to around the cup keeping the paper towel dry. As you are showing the dry paper towel, explain to the children that we don’t see the air and that everything in the room is surrounded by the air but it would appear that the air does not take up any space.  However, the air took up space in the cup so that water could not get it.


Even though we can’t see air, we can see that it has properties that can be seen.  This is true of the Holy Spirit.  Those who have the invisible Holy Spirit living inside them will have visible evidence.  At this point, take the opportunity to share Gal. 5:22-25.

New Church Year

A new church year is about to start, and boy have I been busy!!!!

• New Sunday School classes will start next Sunday!!! Make sure you're there! A new attendance challenge starts too!

• WNL kicks off in 3 weeks!!!! I am working to make WNL much more hands on and active. We are also having a huge attendance and bring a friend challenge!!!! Make sure you're there September 8th at 6:30pm!!!

• In Junior Church we've been learning about the Holy Spirit in a very hands on way. It's been great! The kids have been very engaged. Ask them what we've been learning!!!!

I'm looking forward to a new year; It's going to be a great one!