Parents »

Make Your Summer at Home with Kids Count

May 252013

With my kindergartener who just finished school yesterday, plus a 2-year-old and 4-old-year old at home already, I’ve been gearing up for my summer at home with these three very active little people for a few weeks. With over two months all together at home this summer, I wanted to have a good plan in place for our time together so that 1) it’s fun for the kids and me, and 2) we use our time intentionally. Are you hoping for the same?

To come up with a solid plan, I began by thinking through these three questions that this post will address:

What challenges do you face this summer?
What are your goals for the kids this summer?
How will you execute your goals practically? (includes LOTS of practical summer ideas!)

If you’re in the same boat, maybe it will be helpful for you to think through these questions with me. I’ll share pictures of ideas I’m going to put into place, but just know that I’m no expert. I’ll blog again later in the summer and let you know how it’s going. And, I’d love for you to share any of your summer plan ideas with me and our readers in the comments section!

Here is the process I’ve gone through the past few weeks to make my summer at home with kids count… Continue reading »

Kids Club Devotional (Day 2: Light)

5th Grade, Elementary, Kids Club, Parents, Preschool, Volunteers No Responses »

May 212013

Last week, we shared Day 1 of our Kids Club devotional with you and discussed how God’s Word is like a Map. Each story is like a different clue that work together to help us find the greatest treasure of all–Christ. Today, we’ll learn that the bible is a light that shows us the darkness of our sin and points us to Jesus, who takes it away.

Feel free to click on the images below to make them larger or download our entire printable devotional here.

Crossing Kids: Sunday, May 19, 2013

5th Grade, Elementary, Family, Little Ones, Parents, Preschool, Sunday Morning No Responses »

May 192013

Little Ones

Big Idea: Jesus uses His followers to tell others about His love.

Memory Verse: “Go make disciples of all nations” – Matthew 28:19

Bible Story Focus: Paul and Silas in jail

Lesson Overview:

In this lesson, kids will hear the story of Paul and Silas in jail. They will learn that Paul and Silas trusted God when they were in prison and because of this, God rescued them. God wanted Paul and Silas to share His love with others, including the jailer that became a follower of Jesus.

Songs

“Wherever, Whatever” from I Count on You CD

“My God is So Big” from One Big Gulp

Pre-School

Monthly Image: Trumpet

Big Idea: Jesus uses His followers to tell others about His love.

Memory Verse: “Go make disciples of all nations” – Matthew 28:19

Bible Story Focus: Paul Discovers a Statue | Acts 17:16-34

Lesson Overview:

Paul tells the people of Athens of the Forever King. In this lesson, kids will hear of Paul’s travels to Athens, a city that worshipped statues and made Paul very sad. Kids will hear of Paul’s courage to stand up in front of a large counsel of people and tell them about the Forever King. Kids will hear that many people became believers that day. Jesus wants us to share Jesus with others; He uses His people to bring others close to Him.

Songs

“Shout” from Little Praise Party

“We Can Praise Jesus” from I Count on You CD

Activities
At all services, children will be “finding Paul” and helping put him on the map where he traveled in the lesson for the week. At the 8:00 and 11:00 kids will be making megaphones with the memory verse to remind themselves to proclaim the good news of Jesus, just like Paul did. At 9:30 children will be making “Tell It” bracelets they can wear to tell others about Jesus, just like Paul did.

Kindergarten-4th Grade

Unit: Judges

Unit Key Passage: Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. Judges 2:18

Unit Christ Connection: God used the judges to deliver His people from their enemies; Christ delivers people from the greatest enemy, Satan.

Bible Passage: Judges 6-8

Big Picture Question: How should we respond to God’s calling? We should obey God and trust Him to help us.

Follow Up Questions:

• What did the Angel of the LORD as Gideon to do? (Destroy the idols of his father and build an altar to God instead—Judges 6:25-26)

• What material did Gideon ask God to use to prove He would be with them against the Midianites? (Fleece—Judges 6:36-40)

5th Grade

Grapple Question: Why Aren’t Other Religions OK?

Kids Learn: Jesus Is the Only Way

Dig Into the Bible: Matthew 7:13-23; Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; 1 John 5:1-12

With hundreds of different religions in the world (not to mention all the different denominations and beliefs there are even among Christians!), sometimes we forget the main foundation of our faith: Having a relationship with Jesus is the only way to salvation.

It’s important to know about other religions so we can discuss our beliefs intelligently. With your preteen, write down five questions you have about other religions. Then together type “compare religions” into an Internet search engine, and find a site that answers some of the questions you have.

Why I’ve Tried Stop to Saying “I’ll Pray for You”

5th Grade, Devotional, Elementary, Parents, prayer, Preschool, Volunteers No Responses »

May 162013

I know many people have “one word” they are focusing on for the year. While I have not been entirely focused on this concept, I have felt God calling me to a specific area of focus this year. For me, that word is obedience.

Obedience: to follow. No matter what.

Yes, I made up that definition. But truly, I feel like God has been reminding me in ways, big and small, my only job is to follow him. To be obedient.

We know we’re supposed to obey God, right? I mean, it sounds simple. And it’s all over the Bible, the command to obey.

Here are some examples in God’s word (emphasis is mine):

“Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:22

“Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My father will love them and we will come to them and make our home with them.” John 14:23

“And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.” 1 John 1:6

So what does this look like in real life? Just because it’s stated over and over again doesn’t mean it’s easy to actually live out.

For me, God has been speaking in many ways. I could give you lots of ways God has spoken to me about obedience. Today, though, we’ll just go with one. One of the ways it’s been clear I need to be more obedient is in prayer. Let me give you an example:

Have you ever had someone tell you something and asked you to pray for it and then you walk away and realize 3 days later you haven’t spent any time actually praying for that request? I know I have. And I always have the best of intention. Well, in my intent to be obedient this year, I don’t ever want to forget to pray when someone asks me to. When I tell someone I will pray for something, I want keep my commitment to them and to God. I want to be obedient to God’s call to lift up each other in prayer.

Because of this, I’ve stopped saying “I will pray for you” and I’ve started saying “Can I pray for you right now?”

I may have the best of intentions. I may actually do it later. But in order to be obedient to the call of prayer, I’ve started just praying. Right then. Here’s what I’ve found:

*It allows the two of us praying together to share a moment that neither of us would have if we would have prayed separately.

*It often gives immediate peace to the person being prayed over.

* It means I really DO pray for whatever focus needs my prayers and I don’t get swept away in the rest of the day’s task.

*Later in the day, it actually brings that moment to my mind and makes me more likely to pray for the event in the future, even days beyond the initial prayers.

This works with kids, with friends, with fellow ministry volunteers. What I’ve found is that most people really appreciate being prayed over, right then and there. In fact, no one (that I already knew to be a believer) has ever told me no.

So I encourage you: stop telling people you’ll pray for them and start praying WITH them. I think you’ll find we are a more connected body of Christ and we’ll be more connected TO Christ.

Kids Club 2013 Devotional (Day 1: Map)

Devotional, Family, Kids Club, Parents, Volunteers No Responses »

May 142013

If you’ve been around The Crossing for a while, you probably know that one of our favorite weeks of the year is Kids Club, our camp-like spin on VBS. We would also like to give you a glimpse of this year’s theme along with a special resource to help equip you–both parents and volunteers–for follow up conversations to come. Each week, we will post the next portion of our parent/volunteer devotional to the blog.

You can click on the image below to make them appear larger or download the entire thing here.

Motherhood and Fear

Devotional, Parents, prayer, Reflection No Responses »

May 072013

Most mothers (including myself) have had to deal with fears when it comes to our children. It is a very common emotion from the very moment you find out you are pregnant and especially when you first hold your baby in your arms. Our fear comes in all shapes and sizes and can hit us in any place or moment. I remember right after my oldest was born, I struggled with some of the worst fears I had ever experienced in my life. I couldn’t stop thinking about what “could” happen to him. I find that now my fears come when I wake in the middle of the night and start to think about something going on in one of my children’s lives. It is a real downward spiral from there if I don’t stop and do something about it quickly.

The only way I have found to combat these fears is to pray and to meditate on scripture that helps me fight this battle against fear. A few verses that I find myself running to are:

“In the night I remember your name, O Lord.” Psalm 119:55

“For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:6

Fear is defined as “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.” Most of the things I fear are of the imagined kind but the emotions I feel are no less real than if there was a true danger about to occur.

Then sometimes our fears are realized and we are faced with the reality that we live in a sin stained world. I’ve faced fear when losing a child in a crowded Disney World at closing time, fear at losing a toddler at a park near a lake, finding out my child has type 1 diabetes that will affect her the rest of her life, fears when my teenagers drive around in the car late at night and many others. Life is full of times when we face fear straight on and need to trust Jesus with them.

I recently ran across a few short blogs on Girltalk and thought I would share a few with you. All of them deal with the fears we face as mothers. And all of them spoke to my heart and encouraged me to listen to Jesus’ words “Do not be afraid.” John 14:27

Sparrows and Sovereignty

Crossing Kids: Sunday, May 5, 2013

5th Grade, Elementary, Family, Little Ones, Parents, Preschool, Sunday Morning No Responses »

May 062013

Little Ones

Big Idea: Jesus uses His followers to tell others about His love.

Memory Verse: “Go make disciples of all nations” – Matthew 28:19

Bible Story Focus: Paul and Silas in jail

Lesson Overview:

Songs

“Wherever, Whatever” from I Count on You CD

“My God is So Big” from One Big Gulp

Preschool

Monthly Image: Trumpet

Big Idea: Jesus uses His followers to tell others about His love.

Memory Verse: “Go make disciples of all nations” – Matthew 28:19

Bible Story Focus: Saul/Paul and Barnabas Go Out | Acts 13-14

Lesson Overview:

In this lesson, kids will take a close look at the travels of Paul and Barnabas to Cypress and then to Pisidian Antioch to share with others about Jesus. Kids will hear Paul’s message to the people of Pisidian explaining how Jesus came through the line of David (Acts 13:22-23). They will learn that the Forever King, even after His resurrection can still change lives.

Songs

“Shout” from Little Praise Party

“We Can Praise Jesus” from I Count on You CD

Kindergarten-4th Grade

Rotation Topic: Forever Home with Our Forever King

Key Concept: Those who trust in Jesus as their Forever King will one day live with Him in their Forever Home.

Objectives: After participating in the workshop unit on Revelation 21, children will understand:

- God always keeps his promises: God kept his big promise to David to send a Forever King (2 Sam 7) when He sent Jesus as our Savior. Therefore, we can trust God’s promise of our Forever Home (2 Sam 7; Rev 21:5, John 14:1-3) for those who trust in Him, too.

- We will be happiest when we live forever with Jesus: The greatest thing about our Forever Home is that we will finally be with our Forever King. We will be truly satisfied then. (Rev 21:3-4, 6-7; Psalm 27:4)

- When Jesus returns, our world will be made new:When we are in our Forever Home with our Forever King, everything that is broken in our world will be fixed— no sin, no tears, no death, no sadness, no sickness, no pain, etc. (Rev. 21:1, 4-5)

- Our Forever Home is better than we can ever imagine: We only have a small glimpse of what heaven will be like; it is more amazing than we can ever imagine. (1 Corinthians 2:9; Rev. 21:10-27; Psalm 27:4)

- Heaven is for those who trust in Jesus as their Forever King. We cannot earn our way into heaven by “being good.” We must trust that Jesus paid for our sins by dying on the cross for us. He is the one who saves us!

Memory Verse:

Psalm 27:4 (NIrV):

⁴ I’m asking the Lord for only one thing.
Here is what I want.
I want to live in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life.
I want to look at the beauty of the Lord.
I want to worship him in his temple.

Unit Overview: God’s promise to King David in 2 Samuel 7:11-16 was indestructible. Sin, death, and time didn’t stop it. God sent our Forever King to us as a man named Jesus, our Savior. But, the promise doesn’t stop there. King Jesus will come again in all this glory and bring his kingdom forever when he returns (Revelation 21). Children will learn in this unit how God will keep his big promise to David and us ultimately when we are with our Forever King in our Forever Home. They will also learn that we will be happiest and all things made right when we are with him forever in heaven. That is what we are made for and can look forward to!

Workshop Descriptions

Workshop #1: Something Beautiful

We will explore the idea of what the “new heaven and new earth” will be like and why we can look forward to it, like King David did. To do this, we will:

· play a game called “Trash Game”

· read and discuss Something Beautiful

· discuss Revelation 21 in small groups

· have children decorate a bookmark that has our memory verse on it

Workshop #2: Who Will Be Your King?

Children will learn that our Forever Home is for those who make Jesus their King. We will explore this idea by:

· Sharing a gospel diagram called “Who Will Be Your King?”

· Playing a game called “Lay Down Your Crown”

· Reviewing the “Who Will Be Your King?” presentation through a small group activity

· Sending kids home with a booklet called “Who Will Be Your King?”

Workshop #3: Create a “Forever Home” Castle

We will ask and try to answer the question “Why is heaven better than where we are?” To do this, we will:

· Review our memory verse.

· Read and discuss Revelation 21 in small groups.

· Each child will create a Forever Home castle that describes what heaven will be like.

Workshop 4: Forever Home Celebration

We will celebrate our Forever King and his promise of a Forever Home. To do this, we will:

· Review our memory verse and motions

· Watch “A Dream of Heaven” video from The Jesus Storybook Bible

· Have a banquet together at tables while listening toHome and discussing questions about heaven.

· Play a party game with balloons

Workshop #5: Forever King Timeline

Children will discover how God’s promise to David to send a king who will reign forever on his throne is fulfilled in the birth of and ultimately in the return of Jesus. To do this, we will:

· Review the memory verse and do motions.

· Play a game called “Birthday Line-Up” that helps kids learn what a timeline is.

· Discuss how the three main parts of the Forever King Story we have talked about this year fit into The Big God Story timeline on the wall (the promise to King David 2 Samuel 7, the birth of Jesus in Luke 2, and the return of Jesus in Revelation 21).

· Review the big Forever King story and have kids create their own timeline in small groups.

Music:

Big House - Audio Adrenaline

Home - Forever/Home CD

A Place for You - Forever Home CD

5th Grade

Grapple Question:

Why Is Church So Long?

Kids Learn: Church Practices

Dig Into the Bible: Psalm 100:1-3; Luke 22:19-20; 2 Corinthians 9:7; 1 Timothy 2:8, 4:13

Do your kids complain about how much time you spend at church each week? Do this object lesson as a family to remind everyone of the importance of spending time with God each week.

Measure and cut a rope or string to make it 168 inches long (that’s how many hours are in a week). Then attach a 1-inch piece of masking tape to the string (one hour is the aver- age length of a church service). Stretch the string out so your family can see it. Then read Psalm 150 as a family. Spending time at church is just one small opportunity to worship God. Talk about how you could spend the other 167 hours a week praising him!

Remembering the Big Picture

Family, Parents, Reflection 1 Response »

Apr 302013

I have been thinking a lot lately about what Bissy Crosby shared last Wednesday night at the Moms Seminar: Remembering the Big Picture. I’ve also had a few moms who couldn’t be there ask about it, so I thought I would share my notes with you.

Bissy described that we either live in need of HELP or live filled with HOPE. We obviously want to live daily with hope as our anchor and yet for so many of our days we are in need of help. She said we are guaranteed a troubled, weary, anxious heart (one that needs help) when we do the following things:

1. Neglect our personal relationship with Christ.

2. Determine to neglect God’s word. Can’t find the time in a day to read the Bible.

3. Decide problems are everyone else’s fault.

4. Don’t practice reflection or confession.

5. Rush to worry about problems or challenges and stay away from prayer.

She pointed us to Psalm 90 as a way to help us remember the big picture. In verse 12, it says “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” And she shared one question that helps us remember what is most important: Is this __________ going to matter in 10,000 years? (You fill in the blank.) Will this minor issue with my child matter? Will the clean house matter? The real answer that will matter is “Are they a child of God?” And have I invested my time each day so that my children will have every chance to be a child of God?

God is the one who brings our children to himself and changes their hearts but are we leading them to Jesus as we parent? Does how we spend out time each day reveal our need of HELP or our deep trust in finding our HOPE in Jesus?

One practical idea that Julie Geyer shared with us is something that can help us remember the big picture. She has created a simple jar for each of her children. In each jar, she has placed a number of items that represent that child to her. For example, for one child she placed googly eyes because she has an eye for the creative. She has placed the number of items that represent the number of weekends that each child has left in their home. And after each weekend, she takes an item out of the jar. This has helped her “number her days” that she has left to influence and guide that child to Jesus. She shared that she made a jar for her oldest son who is already out of the house. She has placed a short pencil with no eraser in this jar to remind her that his days are gone in their home and that she can’t go back and erase the past. This also reminds her to pray for him because God is not finished writing his story in his life.

I was especially moved by this idea since I am counting down the weekends with my oldest son who will graduate this May. I’m not sure what season of life you are in, but the saying is very true that days go by slowly, but the years go by quickly. May we be mothers who determine to keep the “big picture” in front of us daily and lead our children to Jesus.

If you attended the seminar, I’d love to hear how you are applying what you heard last week.

“On Purpose” from Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing

Devotional, Family, Parents, Uncategorized No Responses »

Apr 272013

Not only is Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd-Jones something kids of a wide age range can enjoy, but it’s something that stirs my own heart every time I read it. In fact, I’ve been reading one each morning before most of the kids are up. It’s a quick and beautiful reminder of a truth about God and what that means for my life.

I wanted to share the one I read to my preschool daughter this morning called “On Purpose”. What if we each lived our days with this truth in our hearts? And what if our kids–perhaps especially our daughters in this beauty-obsessed culture–grow up living out a truth like this?

ON PURPOSE

by Sally Llloyd-Jones

Did you just end up here on earth? Was it all by accident?

The Bible says it wasn’t a mistake or an accident. It was a plan.

You didn’t just end up here. God put you here on purpose.

God wanted you here, and he had to have you here right now. Because he has a wonderful plan for you–something that only you can do.

Every single thing about you–the color of your eyes, your name, what you love, every day you will live–God knew before time began.

Even before you were born, he loved you. You began in God’s heart.

You are his. Made by him. Made for him.

“You saw my body as it was formed. All the days planned for me…before I was one day old.”

PSALM 139:16 (NCV)

Here is the trailer video that will give you an idea of what to expect if you order this delightful devotional. The art work makes my heart sing as much as the words do.

Older Entries