Camp Grace Curriculum

We are 6 weeks into the curriculum in Camp Grace, after having finished our first round of the split-curriculum (you can read more about this here) on August 6th & 7th. We have studied about creation, how God created man and woman in His image, sin entering the world, the consequences of sin that we experience today, and the corrupt nature evident in humanity through Cain and Abel. 

We began our study of Noah in Genesis 6-8 this past weekend. We saw how God was grieved by the evil rebellion His people were living in, and decided to destroy the world through a flood. One man, Noah, found favor with God because he was righteous and followed God. God gave Noah instructions to build an ark for his family and two of every animal to go aboard in order to be saved from the flood. We saw how Noah was obedient in everything God asked of him, and God was faithful to save Noah and his family from His plan to destroy the world. 

This weekend, we will finish the story of Noah to see how Noah responded in worship to God's grace and faithfulness to save him and his family. We will study from Genesis 8:20-22 and 9:12-17, and discuss what it looks like to worship God in spirit and in truth. We were created by God to worship Him with our lives, and we will learn how we can worship Him.

For more information about our Camp Grace curriculum and an outline of our upcoming curriculum, click here.

Parenting: It's Never An Interruption

"Parenting is all about living by the principle of prepared spontaneity. You don't really know what's going to happen next...What you do know is that Scripture gives you the wisdom that you need and your always-present Messiah gives you the grace that you need to be ready to respond to the moments of opportunity he will give you. Along with this, you and I must remember that our Lord loves our children more than we ever could and his commitment to their growth and change is more faithful and persevering than ours could ever be."

The above excerpt is from a post on the Paul Tripp Ministries blog. The mission of Paul Trip Ministries is "connecting the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life. You can finish reading this post here. 

Paul Tripp is a well-known Pastor and author, President of Paul Tripp Ministries, in addition to Professor of Pastoral Life and Care at the Redeemer Seminary in Dallas, Texas and Executive Director of the Center for Pastoral Life and Care in Fort Worth, Texas. He is a co-author of the How People Change study, which many within our church community have taken part in.

The Burns Family Supports Osborn Mission

Joseph and Elizabeth Osborn have been a part of our Grace community for years, and have been pursuing being missionaries overseas. They recently moved their family from Greenville to Papua New Guinea. They are a part of New Tribes Mission, and their goal is to preach the Gospel, translate the Bible, and eventually plant a church among tribes of people who do not have access to God's Word in their own language. You can find out more about the Osborn's and stay updated through their website, Osborn Mission.

Children's Ministry Saturday Night Coordinator, Molly Burns, and her family are a part of the support team for Joseph and Elizabeth Osborn. Molly was a guest blogger on the Osborn's website this week, sharing why she and her family are partnering with the Osborn's in their mission in Papua New Guinea. Here is an excerpt from her post:

"There are many reasons it seemed natural for us to partner with the Osborns in their mission in PNG. One, because we know it is a real call God has on their lives to go; two, because we know it is an equally real call God has for us to send...as it became increasingly clear that 'the going part' was not God’s call for us, we realized God had brought our families together for us to play a different role in tribal missions."

You can read more from Molly here.

Please be in prayer for the Osborn's as they adjust to a new country, new environment, and as they begin their long-awaited mission of spreading the Gospel of Christ with tribes in PNG.

Preschool Curriculum: Adam & Eve

This weekend, our preschoolers will begin a new series that will run through October 2nd. We will be reading from the beginning of Genesis to study about Adam and Eve, in order to learn that God is Relational. We will see how God created us in His image, male and female, and our response should be to follow Him.

Check out an excerpt from the Leader prep for this weekend's lesson.

"God created human beings to reflect Himself. Our memory verse for this unit says we were created “in His own image.” However, we were not all created the same. The verse goes on to say “male and female He created them.” Even though we are different, we still reflect the image of God.

 
God also created us to be in relationship – relationship with Himself and with others. God knew that it was “not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18) so He provided another person for Adam to connect with. God also provided instructions and responsibilities. Just as God gave Adam and Eve the job of caring for the Garden, God also gives us responsibilities. He has a purpose for each of us. But He doesn't leave us on our own to find and pursue that purpose. He gives us instructions. Just as He gave Adam and Eve guidelines for living in the Garden, our instructions are found within His word, the Bible.
 
But even the most perfect plans don't always go smoothly. And God, in His infinite wisdom, even had a plan for our shortcomings. When Adam and Eve failed to follow God's instructions in the Garden, God already had a plan for their restoration. He provided His Son, Jesus, as a substitute for the punishment that we all deserve and through Him the hope of a restored relationship."

Are you aware that you reflect the image of God? Do you trust in His plan for your life? Do you believe that God provides restoration, no matter how much we mess up? Take some time to pray for God to reveal His plan of redemption to you so you understand more fully how you reflect His image for His glory. Ask God to give the preschool teachers the wisdom and understanding to faithfully teach all of our preschoolers that they were created in God's image to follow Him.

Why Do I Have To Check My Child In And Out?

In July 2007, we implemented a computer-based check-in and check-out system, called Parent Pager at our Pelham Road campus, and have since implemented it at our Powdersville and Downtown campuses. Previously, our attendance tracking consisted of a printed roster attached to a clipboard in each classroom. Parents would sign-in, and then a volunteer administrator would check the numbers during the service. There are a number of advantages to our electronic check-in/out system, over the old system, including:

1. Security. Each weekend, we have over 600 children on just the Pelham Road campus, around children at our Powdersville campus, and around 150 children at our Downtown campus. We cannot expect every volunteer, and especially not classroom substitutes, to know every parent and adult who is authorized to pick up every child. We have never had an issue of someone trying to get a child that he or she is not authorized to pick up, but we want to be proactive in this area, since we are growing so fast as a church.
2. Safety. Accurate tracking allows us to be able to find a child quickly in case of an emergency. Additionally, we can add comments to the child's information if their parents are serving, so we can find them if needed. The photographs can help if we need to find a parent in the worship service. And we can easily update and identify allergy information with this system.
3. Parent-Teacher Connection. Soon after we began using this system, we received a comment from a veteran Camp Grace leader, who said that with this system, he's met more parents in a few months, then he had in the few prior years. Parents have to bring their child to class (versus letting them go on their own), which giving an opportunity for the Small Group leaders to meet and talk with them.
4. Class Sizes. With Parent Pager, we can set maximum numbers on each class. In the past, we've had preschool classes with up to even 18 kids, which creates a less safe and less meaningful environment. Additionally, because we can close classes, most of any bit of 'chaos' is focused in the main hallway, not near the classrooms.
5. Administration. It is now much easier to update class rolls (just a few clicks of a button). Tracking attendance requires much less man power. Three years ago, it took a staff person from 8AM until past lunch on Mondays to count up all the numbers and enter into a spreadsheet; now, we can run a report in just a few minutes, and the numbers are much more accurate. Being able to accurately track numbers helps us to plan for growth.

 If you have questions, please leave a comment or email us.

Kairos Internship Reflection - Caleb Phillips

"How was your summer?" "What did you learn this summer?" "What was your favorite part of the summer?" These are all questions being thrown at me left and right as the best summer of my life draws to a close. My summer as an intern at Grace has been, as I describe it in my response to the above questions, "beyond words." I couldn't begin to put into words an adequate description of what I have learned and experienced this summer, but I am going to do my best.

I had no idea what to expect when I arrived at Grace on Pelham May 21st for the first official day of Kairos. I walked into a room of more than 20 people, knowing only 3 of them, then sat down behind a notebook and stack of books. I was completely clueless on what was about to hit me. I was quickly made aware that I would be serving with Children's Ministry, Fusion, AND 24Seven. After receiving multiple calendars and schedules from my ministry leads along with several meetings, my first day was over. The first week of my internship felt like pouring the Atlantic Ocean into a five-gallon bucket.

Ten weeks later, that first day feels like yesterday. The task lists have been completed, and the summer calendar has come to an end. My feelings were mixed as I thought about moving out of my host home and returning to college life. This summer, I learned more about myself, the church, and about the Lord than I could ever have imagined possible in a ten-week span. Through my experiences this summer, I have learned who I am and who I am not, who God is and who He is not, and what the church is and what it is not.

I found out very quickly this summer that I am even dumber than I thought I was! I can remember walking out of class after hearing Bill White or Matt Williams teach, and having nothing left in the tank to even begin my day. My brain was fried from having everything I believed in questioned and challenged, but it only took a few short days to realize how great of a blessing this was. I realized how important humility is to the learning process through the classes and teaching. The idea of me being under authority and being transparent played a huge role in the formation my view and striving towards humility.

My view of who God is has been transformed as well throughout the summer. I realized it's not in my job description to understand everything about Him. He is greater than I try to make Him to be, and His love is beyond comprehension, so I should praise Him for choosing to love me instead of trying to earn or understand that love. Nothing I do can rid God of His supreme sovereignty, and that gives me a peace beyond measure.

In one of the first Kairos classes of the summer, Jeremy Keever talked about what the Church is and what it isn't. My idea of the Church (little "c" and big "C") had been formed or deformed by my Southern Baptist upbringing and the Southern Baptist University I attend. It was refreshing and encouraging to be immersed in a gospel-centered and biblically oriented church with such a strong heart for community. These three aspects were absent from any church I have ever been a part of, and are my foremost motives in pursuing my membership at Grace.

I am thankful for Grace Church and the people who made this internship possible. I am excited for the momentum gained this summer, both in my life and in Grace Church, and I am looking forward to what God has planned for the future.

- Caleb Phillips, Children's Ministry Kairos Intern

Kairos Internship Reflection - Katie Horton

One of the questions I get about once a week is, "How is your internship going?" I know that in a couple of days, that question will be a past tense question, and I'm just going to have to embrace that. But for now - I never really  know exactly what to say. Don't get me wrong, the internship has been fantastic and life-changing for me. But how do you describe to someone a time in your life where the Lord absolutely rocked you? It's been hard to describe to others the growth and changes that have occurred when I am still trying to figure it all out myself. It hasn't always been easy to learn what I have about myself, and the areas that I need to grow in, but it's great to walk through that in a safe environment.

I guess the best way to share this with others is to pick a few things that I have been learning. I know that I spoke to this to some degree in an earlier post, but I feel like I could easily spend hours telling people about my internship.

From Children's Ministry, I learned the importance of doing behind the scenes work. In the past, most of my ministry and service has been up front and visible, something I have loved. This summer, however, my role in Children's Ministry was the opposite of that. I spent my days in the office cutting paper and prepping for bin stocking each week. It took me a while to realize how important this part of ministry is. It was good for me to see how much prep-work has to be done in order to have Children's Ministry run each week.

From Student Ministry, I learned that stepping outside of my comfort zone is a good thing, and that I need to do it more often. I'm an Early Childhood Education major, so hanging out with children is something that I am familiar with and am gifted in. Hanging out with middle- and high-schoolers, however, is a completely different scenario. As uncomfortable as it was for me at times, I quickly learned that Student Ministry is something that I love and have a passion for. Those students taught me far more than I taught them, and demonstrated a passion for the Lord that encouraged me greatly. I'm excited to get to hang out with them some this year!

I learned the importance of really digging into and studying the Word. Typically, when I would read scripture, it would be a surface level reading and I didn't really have much of a desire to understand the context behind it. However, in class we have learned the importance of understanding scripture in its context. I've learned that in order to enhance my understanding and application of scripture, I should first look at how the original audience would have interpreted it.

From my co-workers, I learned about community and how necessary laughter is. If you haven't spent time with the interns yet, it's a shame. They are some of the most hilarious people I have ever met, I ten to take myself and other things way too seriously, and need people to make me laugh about situations and life, and stop stressing about things. I quickly learned that it was hard to take yourself seriously around them, and that I needed to lighten up and laugh some more. At the same time, however, it's not just fun and games. In class, I learned they are also incredibly wise and knowledgeable about the Bible. They taught me so much and really helped me walk through what we were learning, and what I was going through outside of work. I can't explain how grateful I am for their friendships, and I truly hope that they will continue as we all go our separate ways. They have been incredible community to me, and a huge blessing this summer!

On a practical scale, I learned how to work under different types of management. I have never had a "real" job before where I report to people and have assignments that I turn in, and so the whole experience was an adjustment. Because I was split between two different ministries, I was switching gears between different managing styles and environments. I had to learn how to multi-task, prioritize, and work in different settings. There were times when this was difficult for me because I like to zone in and focus on things, but I know that in the real world, that is not always going to be the case. It was good for me to gain some practical skills in a setting where people are gracious and are willing to walk through things with me.

I am so thankful for the experience that I have been able to have this summer. I know the things that I have learned about scripture and about myself are things that have changed my life in a way that I can't even describe. Not only am I leaving with knowledge, but I'm leaving having gained a community and a church family. As sad as I am about Kairos ending, I know that I have been well prepared to head out into the world to minister to others and spread the Gospel of Christ.

- Katie Horton, Children's Ministry Kairos Intern