Our friends at Antioch Church are partnering with the Louisville Orphan Care Alliance to host a a free orphan care and adoption seminar that will be held on Saturday, January 28 from 8:00 AM until 2:30 PM at the Southside Ministry Center, 5007 Southside Drive, Louisville, 40214. Breakfast and lunch are provided.

The seminar will cover a wide variety of topics of interest to any individual or family desiring to learn more about living out the Biblical command to care for orphans. To see a complete schedule and register for the January 28th seminar, go to www.orphancarealliance.org.

I love Dr. Timothy Paul Jones for several reasons. He is a Sojourn East member. He invites our family over for mexican food/game nights (how cool is that!). And he’s brilliant.

Children’s Ministry Magazine has just posted one of his articles entitled, “Debunking the Dropout Myth.” I’m thankful for this article, because Dr. Jones cut through the false motivations and statistical myths that have motivated many in the family ministry movement. What he offers instead is a refreshing gospel-driven perspective of family ministry–one that encourages pastors to be more focused on faithfulness than stats.

“So tell me,” I asked, “why do you want to move your church toward a family ministry model?”
The two ministry leaders I’d met with at the coffee shop were sincere, good people. Both were passionate about the gospel and faithful to Scripture. Their church had asked me to help them minister more effectively to families.
“Well,” the pastor said, “nine out of 10 kids drop out of church after they graduate. Evidently, what we’re doing isn’t working.”
“Mm-hmm,” the children’s director agreed. “We just want to do so much better than that.”
“Is your church actually losing that many?” I asked.
They looked at each other before shrugging.
“I don’t really know,” the pastor replied. “We don’t see them after they graduate. Sometimes that’s because they’re involved in another church, I guess.”
The children’s director continued, “If we had programs to teach parents how to grow their kids spiritually, we could stop the loss.”
“I’ll do everything I can to help your church,” I said. “But first, let’s rethink your reasons for considering these changes-because the problem you think is the problem is probably not the problem at all.”

Here’s why these two ministry leaders-and scores of others like them-need to rethink their motivations: The nine-out-of-10 dropout number isn’t true. It was never true, yet many church leaders still believe it. Take a trip with me to the origins of this statistic and why it’s long past time to lay this lie to rest.
Read the rest of the article at the Children’s Ministry Mag site!

In October and November, SojournKids studied through a unit of curriculum on the “Creation Days.” Over seven weeks, we learned about each day of creation. And, for each day of creation, we studied one biblical truth about our Creator God. Here are the seven SojournKids At Home sheets for these seven lessons along with a brief description of the theme for each:

October 16th, Day 1: “Out of Nothing”
When we make things, we use materials that we have on hand. If you wanted to make a piece of artwork, you would take a blank piece of paper or a canvas. Then, you would use crayons, markers, pencil, pen, or paint to create something on that blank page. God didn’t create that way. He didn’t have any materials or supplies (there weren’t any!). God not only made everything. God made everything out of nothing!

October 23rd, Day 2: “Everything in its Place”
God did not make the world all at once as we see it now. At first, the land, water, air and sky were all mixed up. The earth didn’t have any shape, and it was completely empty. But God spoke into the dark, empty mess, and he cleaned it up. God gave the world its shape and order.

October 30th, Day 3: “My Father’s World”
When you color a picture, you put your name in the corner of the page. You put your name there because you own the picture. You own it because you colored it. You made it. We’ve learned that God made everything. Because God made everything, he also owns everything. Everything belongs to God, because God made it all.

November 6th, Day 4: “King of Times and Seasons”
God rules the world that he made by guiding and directing it to do everything that he planned. God has a plan for the world he made. He didn’t create the world wondering what might happen. God works out everything according to what he wants. and no one can stop God from doing what he wants, because nothing is outside God’s control. God controls both grasshoppers and hurricanes.

November 13th, Day 5: “God Has the Best Imagination.”
Do you realize that when God made the giraffe, there had never been one before? Not only can he make something from nothing, with only his words–the things he makes are totally unique! God has the best imagination. There had never been a bear before God made the first bear. There had never been a person before God made the first person.

November 20th, Day 6: “People–the Crown of Creation.”
What part of God’s creation shows his goodness, his glory, and his beauty more than any other? People do! You and me! People are the crown of God’s creation. The Bible says it this way: “I think about the heavens. I think about what your fingers have created. I think about the moon and stars that you have set in place. What is a human being that you think about him? What is a son of man that you take care of him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings. You placed on him a crown of glory and honor” (Psalm 8:3-5).

November 27th, Day 7: “Sabbath Rest”
God made one day different from the others. On the first six days, God worked. But, after he finished his work, God set aside one day for rest. On that day, God rested from all of his work. God didn’t need to rest, but he rested. Why? God has made us so that we can work like him. But God wanted to show us that we should rest too. So, God rested to show us that we should rest.

Some friends of mine at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glenn Mills, PA, have put together an amazing devotional for the four weeks of Advent. It traces four prophecies from the Old Testament through their announcement and fulfillment in the birth of Christ. The preface explains:

This booklet is designed to help you on a journey, exploring the most wonderful prophecies of the Bible, which predicted the coming of the Christ Child hundreds of years before the reign of Caesar Augustus and the census which drew Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem. Then, it will lead you through the fulfillment of those same prophesies, tracing the redemptive plan of God all the way to the second Advent, when God is united in person, to his redeemed people.

For each prophecy, the devotional also provides an accompanying holiday activity to do with your family. I’ve come across it a bit late this year, but I think this devotional may guide our family through the Christmas season in 2012. Click here to download a copy of this great resource!

1. When Your Kids Can’t Sleep
2. When Your Kids Want Control
3. When Your Kids Keep Whining
4. When Your Kids Get Sick
5. When Your Kids Scratch the Neighbor’s Car
6. When Your Kids Disobey You (Again!)
7. When Your Kids Have a Meltdown in Public
8. When Your Kids Get Overly Emotional
9. When Your Kids Ask About Death
10. When Your Kids Ask About Earthquakes
11. When You’re Stuck in the Basement
12. When You’re Just There.

Leader 1: What do we celebrate in December? (Allow children to answer.) That’s right, we celebrate CHRISTMAS! What is Christmas? (Allow children to answer.) Christmas is Jesus’ Birthday! We are going to sing some songs this morning about Jesus’ birthday. The songs are called Christmas Carols. Let’s STAND UP and sing to celebrate Jesus’ birth!

1. “O Come, All Ye Faithful”

Leader 2: The Bible tells us that when Jesus was born, an angel appeared to some shepherds who were out watching over their sheep. The shepherds were very surprised to be visited by an angel! The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! We have good news for you and for everybody in the whole world! For today, in Bethlehem, the city of David, a Savior is born, Christ the LORD!” And guess what happened next? Suddenly the whole sky was full of angels praising GOD and singing: “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth, goodwill to men!” The next song is about the good news that the shepherds heard. Jesus was born! He came to save people from their sins!

2. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”

Leader 1: Every person who ever lived has done bad things. We’ve all sinned, and disobeyed God. But God didn’t leave everything broken by sin. Instead, He had a plan to save people. He sent His Son Jesus to earth as a baby. Jesus is God, and yet He became a person. When Jesus was born as a person, it gave us a hint about what God was going to do, because in Jesus, God and people can be together. Jesus lived a perfect life, died on the cross, and rose from the dead, so that everyone who believes in Him is forgiven and right with God. Jesus’ birth is so amazing! He brings joy to the whole world!

3. “Joy to the World”

Leader 2: We’re going to pray now, so everybody fold your hands and close your eyes and be still and pay attention to God; we’re going to talk to Him now. “Jesus, thank You so much for becoming a person. Thank You for never sinning, but being punished as a person for wrong things You never did. Because of You, our sins can be takenaway. Because You were born, we can have new life. Happy Birthday, Jesus! Amen.”

After the shepherds went to see Jesus, they left and told everyone they met about God’s Son, born to save sinners. Let’sbe like them! Let’s go tell the good news of Jesus to everyone!

4. “Go Tell It on the Mountain”

Arrangements of each of the songs in this liturgy can be found on Sojourn’s albums, A Child is Born,  and, Advent Songs.

Download these free coloring pages from our own Mandy Groce and http://ministry-to-children.com to use in your church, home, or school around Christmas. The first page has Angels singing overhead and the second shows shepherds keeping their flocks by night. We’ll definitely be using them on Christmas Sunday here at Sojourn.

     

• Angels (first page) PDF document or JPEG image
• Shepherds (second page) PDF document or JPEG image

The inspiration for this artwork is Luke 2:14, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (ESV translation)

You can leave a comment below to share your appreciation with Mandy for her artwork. You might also enjoy her series of Advent coloring pages.

HT: Ministry-to-children.com

Artists, Danielle Hammon and Jenna Schrock, collaborated on this learning center installation for our pre-K classroom. They built a table and painted it white with grey roadways. Then, they added wood models of buildings from our neighborhood–a grocery store, a school, homes, and the 930 Art Center. Next, wooden pawns were painted red and placed among the cityscape to represent people. The interactive learning center is used to teach kids that the church is the people called out by Christ (painted red). The church is not a building. The church gathers at a building, and it can also gather in homes or at a workplace.

Last year, my good friend Sam Luce of Redeemer Church in Utica, NY, interviewed Sally Lloyd-Jones of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York, NY, about… what else?  Redemption!  Sally is the author of the well-known Jesus Storybook Bible. Sam and Sally also talked about Christmas, Storytelling, and Children’s Ministry.  Here is one of the gems from the article:

Storytelling is performance as much as anything.  And, a crucial part of my performance is obviously rehearsal.  I find trying to tell your story out on real live children is crucial; it will show you want does and doesn’t work.  I think it’s a bit like being a stand-up comic.  It should sound natural, but it needs to be something you’ve written, learned, refined and rehearsed.

It’s important to involve the children in the story.  When I read stories to children I make eye contact with them and react with them as if I am reading the story for the first time, just like they are.  This keeps it playful and draws the children in as you all react together.

Download the whole thing here.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

So much in our life tells us that it is our performance that makes us who we are. This is especially true in the lives of kids. Think what they hear from chore charts, report cards, standardized tests, recitals, and athletic banquets. Performance—work and reward—is one of the basic structures of our lives. As a result, kids grow up thinking, “I am what I am because of what I do… or because of what I’ve failed to do.” Have you ever thought about how different this “message of performance” is from the Bible’s message of redemption? In 1 Corinthians 15:10, the Apostle Paul says, “I am what I am by the grace of God.” Proof of Grace is Sojourn’s third children’s book. It is about reclaiming the Bible’s teaching about grace for the next generation. The book is written on a 1st or 2nd grade reading level, and we intend for it to speak to children on two levels.

First, Proof of Grace is a teaching book. We want our kids to embrace and remember the Bible’s teaching about grace so that they can combat the performance messages they hear. We want them to remember, as the apostle Paul said, that it is God’s grace that makes believers who we are. We’ve designed this book as a tool to aid in remembering. The PROOF acrostic can be memorized, and we’ve provided Bible and doctrine memory work along with family devotional ideas for each point on pages 19- 23. Information about a corresponding curriculum written for our church community’s study of Ephesians 1-2 can be found at sojournkids.com/proof

Second, Proof of Grace is a pirate adventure about a boy named Jesse whose parents send him on a scavenger hunt. It is an adventure book, because God’s grace should overwhelm us. It should fill us with a sense of adventure and wonder. Life is filled with dark passages. But though God’s ways disturb us now, they will one day be found delightful. God’s message of sovereign love overtakes us when we need it most. When our kids are battling against sin and suffering, they need a picture of God’s love that overcomes their rebellion and their circumstances. Our hope is that they will never cease to be amazed that God reached down and saved scallywags like you and me. We want them to uncover the gospel as the greatest treasure so that they can’t stop talking about the mystery and beauty of what they’ve discovered.

Download your FREE electronic copy of Proof of Grace today:

Here is another version with spreads of the pages in Adobe’s friendly PDF format!