Elementary Camp Presentation

In our Camp Grace programming this weekend, we again promoted our annual summer camp.  If you have a current 3rd or 4th grader, we hope that he or she can join us.  We had 70 campers last year, and hope that even more are able to enjoy this experience.

See this previous post for more information and to see the video that your child saw.  We'll communicate more over the couple of months (with registration beginning right after Easter), but go ahead and reserve the dates June 18-20.

Here are some things that campers enjoyed about last year's camp:

"Being together with my friends" [we had 85 campers and leaders last year]
"Sleeping over"
"Pranking the boys" and "Pranking the girls"
"Shopping at the canteen"
"Eating smores at the bonfire"
"Coffee!" [don't worry - only decaf is allowed at dinner]
"A lake, a giant swing, a giant slide!"

Rules of the House

Those of you who are familiar with our Camp Grace (elementary) programming know that we send home a S’more Card each week.  The purpose is to give families an overview of what was covered, and some additional activities.  We’ve made a number of changes to the format of the S’more Card over the years.  For example, over a year ago, we reduced this take-home from 4 pages to 2, to coincide with the introduction of the ROAD Bible Reading plan bookmarks. 

This past January, we made another significant change. We changed the “family activity” side by giving you three options of ways to lead your children.  We know that whether you use the fun activity, or you help your child with their ROAD Map study, or if you use another resource, the most important thing is that you are leading your child in knowing and worshiping Jesus.  We want to help you with that, and we would love to know what you are doing to disciple your child.  No matter which or how many activities you do with your children, please sign and return their cards each week. If you have any questions about these changes, email Nicky Darling, our Elementary Coordinator.

Recently, as we studied the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20), we asked our campers to list rules that they have in their home.  Here are some answers we got back:

• “We can’t say bad words”
• “No running in house. No jumping on furniture. No wrestling. No smacking food. No wineing [whining].”  (Boys will be boys.)
•  “Collect fire wood”
• “No playing Wii more than 30 minutes”
• “No fighting. No hitting. No aggravating. No rudeness.” (Aren’t these sort of the same?)
• “Clean my room”
• “Don’t let anybody in unless we ask”
•  “Pick up your clothes after you take a shower”
•  “No locking doors to rooms. No yelling at people. No slamming doors. No bad words.”  (Anger issues?)
•  “Go to sleep at night”
•  “Do not play with matches. Do not play with knives.”  (Umm. . .  watch out for this kid)
• “Feed the cats in the morning and at 5:00 PM”

Then we asked why they think they have these rules.  Here’s some responses:

• “To keep me safe” (most common answer)
• “To make the house run good”
•  “To treat others with love”
•  “So we do not break things”
• “To show me that I need a Savior and cannot keep all the rules”

Of course, God gave us the Ten Commandments (and many other instructions) because He knows what is best and because He wants us to respect and love others. But even more, these commands from Him show us that we can never be perfect. Since we can never fully obey Him, we need a Savior to die for our rebellion.  God provided Jesus as the payment for our sins.

Money, Money, Money

In our adult worship services, we have been teaching about money, through the series entitled “Fear and Freedom.”  (If you missed any weeks or want to review, you can get the audio and notes from our website.)  The goal for this series is not to get the body to bring their money to the church, but to rally the church’s resources to help the body. 

Just as it is the role of the Grace Church staff to equip the body in this area of discipleship, it is the role of parents to teach their children about money from a Biblical perspective.  In this article from The Village Church, we are prodded with these questions:

“How are you teaching your children to love the Lord in all areas of life, including money? Are you talking to them often about why we give money to our church? Are you leading by example in the way you and your spouse talk about and handle money in your household.”

Another useful article along these lines is by John Piper, on the Desiring God website.

Through this series, have you done anything new or different to help teach your children about money?

Why and How Does the Holy Spirit Fill Believers?

This summer will mark 15 years for me as a believer in Jesus Christ.  Because of my indifference to God for 19+ years, it had to be the power and grace of God that moved me to surrender my life to Him.  Not only that, God has kept me from repeatedly hardening my heart against Him, as I have gone through seasons of hardships and doubts.  By His love, He wants me to know, follow, and trust in Him, because that is what is best for me. 

The Holy Spirit has given me new life, and He now gives me the power to live a life that is pleasing to Christ.  He has continually worked in my life to help me live for Christ.  “The Spirit [should] be such a strong influence in your life that you end up speaking and acting in ways that are holy and honoring to Christ” (“Big Truths for Young Hearts”).  But how do we live by the Spirit (Galatians 5:25)?  Author Bruce Ware helps answer this:

“The Spirit will have a greater influence and will provide more direction in our lives as God’s Word ‘dwells’ more and more within us.  Our reading of his Word, our time spent memorizing and meditating on Scripture, is one of the main tools that the Spirit uses to help us think, feel, and act in ways that are more and more pleasing to Christ. . . .  Believers should long to be more ‘filled’ with God’s Word so they will be more ‘filled’ with his Spirit.” 

Therefore, since we need to be filled with God’s Word, how are you doing that?  Even more, how are you helping your children do that?  You cannot rely on mere church attendance to fill this need (although that is a part of it).  Next week, I will give some ideas of things that have helped me and my family grow in God’s Word.  For now, I’d love to hear what you and your family are doing.

-- Joey Espinosa

Coats for Kids - Final Tally

Thanks to everyone who participated in our "Coats for Kids" collection, over the past few weeks.  We raised about $150 from our preschoolers!  The money will be used to purchase coats, hats, and gloves for Pendleton Place, a children's emergency shelter in Greenville.  Hopefully, your children learned that God owns everything; therefore, we should be free to be generous to others. 

Why Parents of Young Children Should Serve in Children's Ministry

Parents of young children regularly ask us if they are expected to serve during our weekend services. We understand the thinking behind it, since parents in this season of life are tired and busy. But we must understand that virtually everyone is busy and tired in their own stage of life! The question is, “What are we tired and busy with?”  Many people have the time and energy for other good activities (work, hobbies, extra-curricular activities, para-church organizations, etc), while neglecting or minimizing service within the local church.

We need to make the most of every hour of the week, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). If you’re not serving during one of our weekend services, what are you doing to redeem that time? Furthermore, we must remember that hundreds and hundreds of people made sacrifices to create room for people like us to be a part of Grace Church, and we all should do likewise.

Here are some other reasons why parents should serve:

1. Be a model for their own children. We all need to serve outside the church, but your children need to see you put a high value on giving to the local church. The church is one of the few God-ordained institutions.
2. They have experience and knowledge. We love that so many singles and young couples serve. But who understands children better than parents who are right in the midst of it?
3. There is a need. You have probably noticed that Grace Church has a very high ratio of children to adults. Furthermore, we have over 100 children’s small groups every single weekend. Somebody needs to serve. It’s as plain as that.
4. Opportunity to invest in other children. This goes from leaders of 2-year-olds who reinforce the principle that children need to obey and love others, to the leaders of 9-year-olds who foster an environment where children can learn and relate. Many children in our church body are not being spiritually-led at home. Who is going to teach them?
5. Receive a blessing from God. Do you trust that God will honor you and bless you for your service? You cannot outdo God in the area of faithfulness and giving. God commands sacrificial service, and He blesses those who obey Him in this area.

Our Curriculum

I came across this article from childrensministry.com. It walks through a list of questions that a children's ministry should use as a guideline in choosing a curriculum to use. Technically, we have already "chosen" our curriculum, as volunteers have led the way in writing our curriculum over the past few years.

Our Camp Grace curriculum writing began about 5 years ago, and we are now in our third edition of this 2-year cycle. It was originally a 2 1/2 year curriculum, but shortened so that each child would go through the curriculum twice if they are in Camp Grace for all 4 years (1st - 4th grades).

We began our preschool curriculum writing process 3 years ago, implementing it in August of 2007.

Over a series of posts, we'll answer a series of questions from the above-mentioned article, that we hope will help explain why we chose to write our own curriculum, and what we are trying to accomplish through it. Here are the questions we'll address:

1. Why does this ministry exist? What's our goal and mission?
2. What do we value? What do we want to see happen?
3. What's our philosophy of learning? What elements should be incorporated in our programming?
4. What is the focus of the curriculum? What does the scope and sequence need to look like?
5. What is our ministry model?
6. What does a "win" look like? How do we know that we're succeeding?

If you have any other or more specific questions about our programming or curriculum, please comment here.