With that said, the Bible Quest database is now up to date. In fact it’s better than up to date. It has next week’s up already!  It’s a database FROM THE FUTURE!

Have a fabulous weekend, and enjoy!

Click here for the database.

During Advent, the student leadership team and I had the privilege of leading the church in Advent devotionals each week.  I am so proud of the kids who were willing to get up in front of the whole church and read.

At our last meeting, the kids helped me put together a video/slideshow for our final devotional.  The kids were awesome and totally got into this project. They were a joy to work with and I am thankful for them!! This week we are celebrating Jesus our Restorer.  Now, I’m not sure that’s a word… but the point is that Jesus came to RESTORE us, totally and completely.  I have been blessed to be set free from the chains which had paralyzed me in fear and self-protection. Only through coming to the feet of Jesus and giving up everything to Him have I found that freedom.

As you watch the video, think about the things that hold you back from bringing God glory in ministry and the things that keep relationships at arms length.  Ask God for freedom from those things.  He will bring it.

Matthew 1:21 says,

And you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

Merry Christmas!

Changed Forever from Liz Griggs on Vimeo.

This is the short devotional one of our 6th grade students read in church on Sunday:

Today, we begin to prepare our hearts for the Baby Jesus, our Salvation wrapped in a human body. This week we think about Jesus our Healer, who came to heal us from sickness and death and the effects of sin in our lives.

The Bible says,

⁴ Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

Let’s pray:

Dear Jesus,

Thank you that when you came to earth it was with the purpose of bringing us peace and healing.  You came knowing you would be wounded and crucified, yet you came as a little helpless baby.  Thank you for your healing power in our hearts, in our minds and in our bodies.

So, Jesus, we come to you today wounded and broken, in need of your healing.  We bring our broken hearts and bodies to you as a birthday gift for you, knowing that these are more precious to you than gold, frankincense and myrrh.  We trust you Lord with our hearts.  You can heal the hurt feelings, rejection and all bitterness.  We trust you Lord with our bodies.  You are the great physician, capable of healing the most stubborn of diseases.  We trust you because you are good and you are sovereign and you are trustworthy.

Baby Jesus, we worship at your manger and say, “Come into our hearts and heal us from the inside out.”

Amen.

It’s my favorite time of year again!  Advent – preparing our hearts and homes for the coming of the Baby Jesus.  Jesus, Emmanuel – God with us!  There are so many awesome things about Jesus coming to earth as a human child… it’s hard to choose what to focus on!

Right now, our church is going through a series on restoration.  Last week, we learned about how Jesus came to bring us salvation.  So, this year, during Advent, we are celebrating Jesus, our salvation!

Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”  Although we often treat salvation as a one-time deal — our ticket to heaven — the word here for save, “sozo”, is much more.  It includes deliverance, restoration, protection, preservation, healing and being made whole.  This year we hope to celebrate Jesus, who came to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).  We will celebrate:

Jesus the Healer — He came to heal us from our sickness and death and from the effects of sin in our lives.

Jesus the Deliverer — He came to deliver us from bondage to sin and temptation.

Jesus the Protector — He came to protect us from the evil one and to be the very armor we wear in battle.

Jesus the Restorer — He came to restore us back to our original design, authority and intimacy with God.

You can download our Advent Calendar (click here), or you can pick up a copy at church in the Children’s Hallway.  There are lots of fun activities to do as a family to get ready for Christmas.  We encourage you to do as many as your family can manage during this often busy season.  We hope that you will make sure to carve out time each day to prioritize family and to prepare your hearts and homes for welcoming the Christ-child this Christmas.

There are two traditions you can use with this calendar.  The first is to just simply do the activities on the calendar. You can combine it with a fun Advent calendar or Christmas countdown you have at home or just cross off the days on this calendar until you get to Christmas. The second way is along with an Advent wreath. The wreath does not have to be fancy: there are 4 candles in the wreath (usually 3 purple and 1 pink) and 1 candle in the center of the wreath that is white. Each day at home the candles are lit, perhaps before the evening meal — one candle the first week, and then another each following week until December 25^th. The pink candle is usually lit on the third Sunday of Advent. As the candles are lit, refer to this calendar for devotionals or activities to do when you light your wreath each night. All candles, including the white candle, are lit on Christmas Eve.  The white candle signifies the birth of Christ.

Let us celebrate the Baby who is God’s salvation wrapped in a human body.  Jesus – our Salvation.

(Advent starts this Sunday, Nov 27th!)

Seeking Him for Kids – Week 3

I know God is at work in our church – I can see it in our leadership and the people I interact with.  I know He is at work in me – to be honest, there were times this week I was feeling emotionally winded from all the things God is working with me on.  I also have great desire to see God at work in our kids… in my kids!

How do we keep track of the spiritual state of our kids’ hearts? Weekly (or daily) evaluation of their behavior?  Their willingness to pray at dinner or bedtime?  Making sure they have the right answers on their Bible Quest? Pushing them to have the most verses memorized? Conversations about what Christ is doing in my life and theirs?  If you’re wondering when I’m going to give you the right answer, it’s not going to happen.

I can in no way for sure know the state of my daughter’s heart, but I can see the fruit and the work of the Holy Spirit.  He is moving in my daughter and speaking to her heart and it is amazing!  More and more these days I find myself asking, “What am I teaching her?” In words to her, to myself, to my husband, to God, to the annoying driver in front of me…I am teaching her.  In my actions towards her, my husband, others… I am teaching her.

This week my 7-year-old said something that floored me – and she said it twice!  Sunday morning in church, she was trying to figure out what to do during our time of worship and personal reflection.  I suggested to her that she should do what the adults were doing and listen to what God had to say to her.  The whiny, defiant response back was, “But, Mom, I’m just a kid!”  Ack!  Where did she learn that?  I took that moment to tell her the same Jesus that lives in my heart lives in hers, too, and she can hear Him.  She came away from that service with some very awesome notes of encouragement written to friends as well as some truths about her and God written and drawn in pictures.  These were things not said from the pulpit or by the worship leader.  I haven’t told her this yet, but I am convinced that was the Lord speaking to her heart.

Later in the week, we were trying to work through some hurt feelings she had, but there was so much fit throwing, it was hard to get anywhere.  I again encouraged her to ask God to search her heart (Psalm 139) and He would show her what was going on.  Again, she reacted harshly with the words, “But, Mom, I can’t! I’m just a kid!”  I again said, “No! God can speak to you.”  There was a continuation of the emotional upheaval she had been displaying and then it just stopped.  She said in a calm voice, “Oh Mom, I didn’t know what it was before, but now I do.  I am angry because I haven’t forgiven those kids.”  I don’t know if I could count on one hand the number of adults I’ve heard say something like that. WOW! I was stunned, amazed, thankful, in shock, speechless, crying, … you get the picture.  We prayed later that night to forgive those who had hurt her.  Then she prayed and asked Jesus forgiveness for yelling at me in anger (her words, not mine).  Now I was asking, where did she learn this stuff?? And how do I encourage it?  I’m not sure.  I know I don’t remember teaching it.  But, I do know one thing for sure:

My daughter, who is “just a kid”, was spoken to by the living God.

I don’t know where she got the lie that because she’s a kid, she can’t hear from God. But, we’re breaking through that with truth!

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.        ~ 1 Timothy 4:12

I am now praying that God would give me a heart of forgiveness like He has given my daughter.  I’m praying that for our whole church.  And this is just the first week!  I can’t wait to see what God has in store for our church and our families!  I’m holding onto His promise that those who seek will find!

In our family, we are choosing to do the study during the week in preparation for Sunday’s sermon and Sunday school classes.

So this week, my husband and I did the studies each morning from the first chapter of the book (Revival), and our 7-year-old worked on her Bible Quest.  I’m anticipating the Lord using this in our lives to unify us as a family and draw us closer to Him.  It’s not like He’s hiding from us as we seek Him.  He wants to be found!  The Bible promises that those who seek will find.  So, we’re counting on our faithful God who keeps His promises.

As we have been preparing for this series, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to do the fasting as a family.  My husband and I have talked about what we want to do personally, but I think it will be important to prep our kids for what’s ahead.

I’ve been thinking in particular of the electronic media fast that coming up the first week of September.  Considering we are a family who tend to fill our days with e-mail, youtube, facebook, xBox, Netflix, Wii, blogging, computer games, smart phones, etc., etc., etc….. it’s probably safe to bet cutting out all of that will be a huge shock for my kids (not to mention me!).  I know that it will be important for them to understand this is a time to look for God, not sit and pout because we can’t play Lego Star Wars.  Have any of you had success with this?  What has worked? What hasn’t?

Join me in praying for the Lord to not only reveal Himself to us during the next 3 months, but also to our kids!

Here is the kids’ study for Week 2 – Seeking Him.

We feel that it is so important for families to do this together.  So, while the adults and teens in our church will be going through the workbook Seeking Him by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Tim Grissom, our Faith Quest team has written a weekly study for kids (aimed at grades 2-6, but anyone can do it!).

This is the first installment.  Look for a new one each week!

Seeking Him – Week 1

Each week’s study will also be available on our Bible Quest page.  I can’t wait to see what God has in store for each of us, our families and our church.

I’m trying to come up with a list of ways to get the kids to engage in the service and things parents can do to help their kids engage.  We don’t want kids that are “seen and not heard”.  We want kids to be a vibrant part of our service.

So, do you have any ideas that have helped you and your kids in the worship service?  Share them, please!

As I was sitting there listening to colleagues, family members, former students, current students, and parents of students, I was struck by what a gift it was for her to hear the legacy she has left behind her.  I can only hope to make as great of an impact as she has in her 50 years in education.

As teachers (Sunday school or other), we rarely get to hear the impact we make.  Often times, it’s because the impact doesn’t really show itself until the kids are long-gone from our classes.  But, sometimes, I think people just forget to say it.  I know I often forget to tell people how thankful I am for them.  Then I get embarrassed that I haven’t said it and it seems so out-of-date or even irrelevant.

I’ll tell you one thing I know for sure.  It is never irrelevant or out-of-date to tell someone you are thankful for them or how they have blessed you and/or your family.

Today, I read this blog post from Randy Alcorn about finding out 30 years after her death, the impact his mom made on a family.  It made me want to share it with you.

Please take just a few seconds this week to tell the teachers (especially Sunday school) how they have impacted you and your kids!  You will be blessing them greatly!

Resurrection Eggs (PreK-2nd Grade)

You can treat this activity like an advent calendar for Easter or go through the whole thing on Easter or from Good Friday through Easter morning.

Road to Easter (2nd-6th Grade)

This is a cut and paste timeline activity for the events that happened between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.  You can have your kids hunt through the scriptures to check their work.  Check Matthew 21, 26-28; Mark 11-16; Luke 19-24; and John 12-20.  (Those are a lot of passages, but to help your younger kids along you can glance through your section headings in your Bible and get a good idea of where to specifically send them.)

Jelly Beans Easter Poem

Try putting this into your kids Easter baskets or just as a little gift for them.  Put jelly beans into a bag and attach this poem:

RED is for the blood He gave.
GREEN is for the grass He made.
YELLOW is for the sun so bright.
ORANGE is for the edge of night.
BLACK is for the sins we made.
WHITE is for the grace he gave.
PURPLE is for His hour of sorrow.
PINK is for our new tomorrow.
A bag full of jelly beans colorful and sweet,
Is a prayer, is a promise, is a special treat.

I pray that you have a blessed time celebrating Jesus’s victory over sin and death! Jesus is risen!

He is risen, indeed!!