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Children & Youth News
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Stepping Stones
This week, the children will be reading two parables that Jesus taught, the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin. It teaches us that no matter who we are God cares about each one of us individually.
Here are some conversation starters for this week:
- How do you feel when you’ve lost something?
- What are your best tips for finding lost things?
- How do you know God loves each and every one of us?
- Take turns telling about a time when you were lost. What did you do? Talk about what the best things to do in such a situation are.
As a fun activity to do this week…engage your children in a fun game of hide and seek!
Middle SchoolThe students will be reading Luke 14:25-35 for a lesson entitled “The Cost of Discipleship”. This lesson will help teach students the difference between cheap and costly discipleship. Cheap discipleship is about following Jesus for what we can get out of it. Costly discipleship (true discipleship) is about recognizing that following Jesus won’t always be easy, but it will always be worth it because Jesus is the only one worth following. Students will also think about how they can start preparing for potential difficulties they’ll encounter on the road of discipleship.
Ask your middle school youth the following:
- Does anything about following Jesus make you excited? Nervous?
- What’s one thing you might have to sacrifice to follow Jesus?
Rites of Passage Ceremony-June 7th
This year we are starting a new tradition with our 8th graders which is based loosely off of the old Rite 13 Ceremony we have had in years past. On June 7th, during the worship service, the church and their parents will bless each individual 8th grade student as they prepare to move on to high school. More information will be sent to those families in the near future.
Forum
This week’s lesson is called “Jesus treats the least as family” and it comes from Mark 5:21-34. It is about hospitality. Some say it’s a spiritual gift that certain people are wired with, while the rest of us are free to focus on other things. When Jesus lived on earth, he extended hospitality to those around him, welcoming them into his presence with warmth and kindness. And he made a point to include the least. As Christ-followers who seek to do the things that Jesus did, we can extend hospitality because God welcomed and loved us first. Take some time to talk to your teens about how you can make your house more welcoming to different people? What would be the most welcoming and why to those people:Your friends, the coolest kid at school, your Sunday School teacher, the most awkward student/teacher at school, the last homeless person you saw, the President of the United States.
High School Overnight March 7th-8thAttention all High School Students. We will have a very exciting overnighter in a few weeks. Please text or email me if you are planning on attending! The doors will open at 8pm and will close at 10pm…so make sure you are in the church by then. We are planning on playing some great games, making some delicious pancakes (perhaps Nick will make his infamous Red Bull pancakes) and have a meaningful time of worship in the early hours of Sunday.
Confirmation Class
This week, the confirmation class will be headed to Eastern Point Retreat Center in Gloucester to walk the stations of the cross. Please continue to pray for them and this year long journey that they are nearing the end of.
On Saturday June 13th, the members of the confirmation class will be invited to a ceremony for them to make the decision about whether they want to join the church or not. It will be a very special service for them. On the following day, June 14th, those who made the decision will be recognized during our normal worship service.
