Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Lord's Supper (Take 2)


We had the Lord’s Supper again this week, and most of our kids come without parents, so each small group leader talks to their kids about what it means and kind of gauges whether or not the kids are ready.  I talked to a group of three boys, explained what it is and means, and who should and shouldn’t take it.  I said, “Not everyone here is a Christian and they shouldn’t take it, and if you’re not a Christian, that’s ok, but you shouldn’t take it.  I want everyone to be Christians, and I think one day they may be, but that’s ok if you don’t believe yet.”  The guys kind of looked at me and said, “I’m going to take it.  God made us right?” I said, “Yes, but…” They quickly cut off my thought and said, “If He made us, then He loves us and we should love Him and worship Him.” Again, I said, “Yes, but…” I then thought for a second, and realized they were right and to them it was simple, straightforward, and obvious.  They might not be able to articulate lots, but they understand that God made us, He loves us, He sent Jesus for us, and we should follow and love Him in return.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Youth Promotion



This past week, we had a bunch of the fifth graders over to the Church to welcome them into the youth group.  It was a happy evening mixed with a tinge of sadness.  For the past two years, I've worked with the boys in my small group and was proud of them but also kind of sad to see them moving on.  We had 7 boys there that evening and another 3 who we couldn't find and it was a great evening of fun and games.  They really enjoyed it and did great later in the week at youth group with the older high school students.  I was excited about getting them into youth group because they've been looking forward to it since they found out there was a youth group :)   Over the next month, we’ll be trying to get them into Discipleship Groups. 

  
Another team is here now and it’s a busy week!

Monday, June 11, 2012

The Lord's Supper



We began regular Sunday services on Easter, and two weeks ago had our first celebration of the Lord’s Supper.  It was an amazing night to see our baby church grow.  Many people weren’t ready to take the Lord’s Supper, but did fine with waiting.  We were worried that some of the kids would not understand and play around too much, but they did great and have been doing really well on Sundays.

We finished our first team week and Kid’s club was great!  Adam’s View averaged around 45 kids, Totus around 60, and Warm Springs averaged around 50.  The highlight for me was when we did the story about Elisha and the Widow whose bread and oil never ran out.  When I was asking the kids about the story, I asked, “What did Elisha ask the woman for?” Someone shouted out bread, and then a 4 year old boy said, “The bread is His body.” I was stumped and overjoyed for a second, but quickly continued with the discussion of the story.  It made me so happy to see these little guys remembering what we’ve covered in previous lessons and connecting it to other stories.  It’s just a small picture of what God’s doing and the growing faith of the children.    

Thanks for your prayers and continue to keep us in prayer as we go through the summer and attempt to lead people to Jesus.