Kids programming on April 19th!

Here's what your kids learned about this weekend, while you were elevating your hands in worship!

    Preschool spent more time this week talking about best friends! There’s nothing like a best friend. And there’s no one like our best friend, Jesus. We’ve been talking a lot about Jesus this month, because we like to remember all Jesus has done for us every Easter.
    Two of Jesus’ friends were walking down the road feeling very sad. Someone began walking with these two friends. It was Jesus! Jesus walked up to His two friends and talked to them, but the friends didn’t know it was Jesus. The friends told Jesus all that had happened and how their very best friend was gone. 

    The friends were having such a good time with Jesus that they wanted to spend more time with Him. They asked Jesus to stay and eat, and that’s exactly what He did. They all sat down to eat together. Jesus took the bread, He prayed and thanked God for the food and then began passing it out to His friends. That's when they knew that it was Jesus with them all along!

    Elementary learned a little bit about Peter & John from the book of Acts. Remember Peter and John as they stood before the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish council in the first century? They were strong, immovable, decisive, unwavering. But consider their situation. Frankly, they had a lot to fear. 

    They had just watched their dear friend and Savior, Jesus, be arrested, tried, convicted, and crucified on bogus charges. Even though they later came to understand this was part of God’s plan, they likely feared a similar fate. But, when the time came, they boldly declared they would choose to obey God over anyone else. That's the kind of conviction that comes from God. He fueled Peter and John with it, and He wants to fuel us with it as well. Why? Because Jesus is not physically present on the earth anymore, but we are! 

    So what moves us from just holding convictions to acting on them? Two things: reflecting on what our convictions are and why we hold them, and spending time with the one who gives us the courage to stand. When we do that, we’ll show others who God is, revealing Him to be strong, immovable, decisive, and unwavering.

    Surge's lesson this week was about STEPS: When you read the Gospels—the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—and go through the words and actions of Jesus, it seems like following Him is anything but a little step. He’s asking people to take some major leaps.

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:34-35 NIV).
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48 NIV). 

    But Jesus’ expectations seem very high for His followers. Every big thing that Jesus asks us to do starts with a step. The challenge to love our enemies? A step. The challenge to forgive? A step. The challenge to be thankful? The challenge to be patient? The challenge to pray or read the Bible? Step, step, step. Even following Him begins with a simple step. Jesus extended the invitation time and time again to those around Him with two little words, “Follow me.” For some, those words seemed huge and they were reluctant to step. Others just simply got up and followed. But regardless of the weight of those words, the reality is that following Him requires a step. Then another step. Then another step. 

    We encouraged your middle schoolers to take small steps of faith. Want a fun movie to watch with your kids this week? They saw a clip from What About Bob - this clip, in fact:

Have a great week, parents - we'll see you Sunday!