Kids Programming on April 5th!

Hey Parents!

As we prepare for Easter, your kids learned some awesome stuff this week! Preschoolers learned about Palm Sunday and Christ's entrance to Jerusalem, elementary kids learned about people who had CONVICTION (Jesus) and those who didn't (Pilate), and Surge talked about finding joy in hard places.

Preschoolers talked all about Palm Sunday. When our story starts, Jesus was with His special friends, the disciples. He told two of them to go and get a donkey. Jesus’ friends did exactly what He said and brought the donkey to Him.

Imagine a huge crowd of people waiting for a parade to begin. Everyone is excited and happy. The people are lined up on each side of the street. They just can’t wait! They weren't waiting for a parade. They were waiting to see Jesus come down the road! When the people saw Jesus riding on the donkey, they began cheering, ‘Hosanna! Hosanna! Yeah, Jesus!’ They laid their leaves and coats on the road for Jesus to walk on. They cheered and waved their hands in the air. It was so exciting!

Elementary kids had a more somber morning, talking about conviction - and what it means when you stand for what is right, even when others don't. Unlike Jesus, we'll never be called on to save someone in the way He does. But LIKE Jesus, there will be times we'll have to stand for what's right even when others don't. So, it won't always be easy. And, frankly, bad things can happen when you stand for what's right. 

We need to understand that standing for what's right doesn't ensure that things will always turn out the way we want them to. But, we also need to understand that good stuff happens when someone stands for what's right: when you do, you show others who God is. You can also rest assured that you're not alone; you can KNOW God is with you!

Surge used the clip you might remember from last week's message:

The story of the Hoyt family runs parallel to what we have been learning the last couple of weeks. It's the epitome of a family in struggle finding the joy through their hardships. Last week we learned of Humility and having an "I am second" mindset.  Of the father and son team who have brought so much inspiration to so many, Mr. Dick Hoyt, Rick’s dad, is a vision of humility. 

Who knows who YOU could inspire as you deal with your struggles?  In fact, there may be someone you know that is in your life because God wants them there.  The fact is Jesus poured out his life for us on the cross and God calls on US to do the same thing for HIM and for others around us.

When someone we know is suffering we are usually tempted to avoid the person or change the subject. Maybe deep in our hearts we would want to lend a hand but because we want to appear “cool” we just make believe there isn’t a problem.  

Next week, there will be no Surge - we're encouraging your middle schoolers to attend the baptism service with you!  See you on the 19th!


**UPDATE** Here are this week's elementary GodTime Cards! Sorry for leaving them out of the original post.

Comments

[Carrie]

Thanks for putting the link to the God Time cards! Forgot to get mine this week. :p