Here is a look at what will be spoken over your babies/toddlers and in the Preschool/PreK Room during the month of March!
Jesus wants EVERYONE on His team! Jesus wants everyone everywhere to follow Him and be His friend forever. No matter what we can do or can’t do, what we have done, what we look like, or where we live, Jesus is alive and He wants to be our friend...FOREVER! And that kind of Good News makes us all want to say, “GO TEAM!”
WEEK 1 Story Focus: Jesus wants to be friends with everyone everywhere. The woman at the well had made wrong choices and those choices left her walking to a well, all alone, in the middle of the day. Top that with the fact that she was from a town where the people were not friends with the people in the town Jesus was from. So the woman was shocked when Jesus asked her for a drink of water. But soon, everything changed, because Jesus told her that He is God’s Son. Jesus wanted to be her friend forever because Jesus wants to be EVERYONE’s friend forever.
WEEK 2 Story Focus: Jesus wants everyone to follow Him. Jesus begins forming what would become His team of 12 disciples. Jesus didn’t go to the religious leaders or the powerful political leaders to pick His team. No, instead Jesus went to a fishing boat where He asked Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him. Then Jesus went to a tax collector’s booth and asked a very unpopular Matthew to follow Him. Jesus chose 12 people, from different jobs and families, to follow Him and become His friends, the disciples. But that’s not all of this story, because Jesus isn’t done yet! Jesus loves everyone, and Jesus wants everyone to be His friend forever!
WEEK 3 Story Focus: Jesus is a good friend. Jesus does something unexpected to show His friends, the disciples, what it looks like to be a good friend. He didn’t show them how to defend someone in battle or how to convince a person to stop doing wrong. Instead, Jesus got a bowl of water and a cloth. Jesus got on His knees and washed His disciples’ dirty, smelly feet. Jesus did this to teach them—and us—how to be a good friend. Every time we think of others and put them first, we are being a good friend like Jesus.
WEEK 4 Story Focus: We can celebrate Jesus. As Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey, the people are so excited that they lay palm branches and coats on the road to make a special path for Jesus while they cheer and shout, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Yay, Jesus!” The people waved their palm branches in the air and celebrated Jesus. And we can celebrate Jesus today and everyday because Jesus wants to be our friend forever.
WEEK 5 Story Focus: Jesus is alive! Jesus dies, is put in a tomb, and comes back just like He said He would, so we could be His friend forever. Yes, Jesus is alive and Jesus wants to be my friend forever. And Jesus wants to be your friend forever...every child’s friend forever...every-person-in-the- world’s friend forever!
Here is a look at what we will be teaching in our elementary classrooms for the month of March: THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PEACE AND GOD’S CHARACTER, AS SHOWN THROUGH GOD’S BIG STORY
Throughout Scripture, we can see how peace is something near to God’s heart. Even though people chose to break their relationship with God, God made a way to fix that relationship through Jesus. And because we reflect God’s image, making peace with others should be a priority for us as well. That’s why we’re taking the first three weeks of March to highlight some passages and stories about peace to help kids understand more about how they can be peacemakers in their world.
IDEAS TO KEEP IN MIND AS YOU TALK ABOUT PEACE WITH KIDS Peace can be tricky. Sometimes it seems like everywhere we look, peace seems out of reach. It’s hard enough getting along with people we know and love, much less strangers. And when you add conflict between people groups and entire nations, the idea of peacemaking can feel overwhelming. Remember, kids can only handle so much information about current events and might not even be aware of the conflict in the world. Don’t present information that kids would be learning for the first time. If a child asks about a current event situation they may have heard about, choose your words wisely. Only answer the question a child is asking without giving an answer that goes into too much detail and causes anxiety.
WEEK 1 In week one, we look at something Paul wrote in Romans 12:18: “If possible, live in peace with everyone. Do that as much as you can.” This is a big challenge! Do as much as you can to live in peace . . . with everyone! Paul was stressing how important it is for us to do everything in our power to fix what is broken—and make connections with the people around us. After all, this is what God did for us through Jesus. Bottom Line: Make peace whenever you can. When God made peace with us through Jesus, God showed us that peace with others is possible. This doesn’t mean that it will be easy, but living in peace with others is worth our best effort. We pray that kids will discover how they can show God’s love by the way they make peace with the people in their lives. Click Here for this week's at home devotional.
WEEK 2 For week two, we head to Genesis 13:5-18. We read how Abram and Lot’s herdsmen were arguing because there wasn’t enough land for both men’s herds. Abram chose to make peace with Lot by letting Lot choose the land he wanted. Abram could have taken the best land for himself, but instead, he trusted God and allowed Lot to decide. Bottom Line: You can show you care by letting go of what’s fair. Sometimes creating peace with someone means giving up what might seem most fair to you. It takes a strong person to have the self-control to make a compromise and walk away. We pray that kids will learn how they can choose peace when it would be easier to argue and fight. Click Here for this week's devotional!
WEEK 3 In 1 Samuel 25:1-35, we find a story about a woman named Abigail. We read how King David was furious with a man named Nabal who had mistreated his men. David decided to get revenge . . . until Nabal’s wife, Abigail, intercepted him, apologized, and offered gifts as a way to make peace. Even though Abigail wasn’t responsible for her husband’s offense, she realized that she could play a role in making peace Bottom Line: You can help others make peace. Peace is often about helping stop an argument before it can escalate into something worse. It takes time and energy to act as a peacemaker between other people, but God can give us the strength to help others make peace. For kids, this might mean getting the help of an adult who can calm down a situation. Sometimes an outside perspective is what someone needs to see a peaceful solution to an argument they’re having. We pray that God will give kids wisdom to see how they can step in and help make peace. Click Herefor this week's devotional!
LEADING UP TO EASTER These two weeks are a “series within a series.” Since Easter falls on the last Sunday in March, this gives us a chance to focus our attention on the events of Palm Sunday and the week leading up to Easter Sunday. The scripts in these two weeks will still include some language related to peace; however, the focus is on the peace God made possible through Jesus instead of the peace we can make with others. Click Herefor this week's at home devotional!
WEEK 4 We kick off Easter week with the story of Palm Sunday as described in Matthew 21:1-11. By this time, God’s people had been waiting hundreds of years for God’s promised Savior. As Jesus’ ministry grew, the people were starting to believe that Jesus WAS that Savior. They were sure that God’s promises were finally coming true! So when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, just like a prophesy foretold, the people celebrated and worshipped Him. And while they might not have fully understood how Jesus was about to make peace, they could celebrate because God was faithful to send a Savior. Jesus came to be our savior. Jesus was more than a good teacher and miracle worker. Jesus is God’s very own Son. God promised that Jesus would come and save us from the consequences of our sin. When Jesus came, He fulfilled all of the promises that God made. On top of that, Jesus is the Savior we all need to have a forever relationship with God. We pray that all kids choose to trust Jesus as their Savior this Easter season. Click Herefor this week's at home devotional!
WEEK 5 We finish March by celebrating Jesus’ resurrection as described in Luke 24:1-12, 36-49. God went to great lengths to make peace with us. All of God’s promises came true, and everything that Jesus said and did led up to this moment. When Jesus paid the price for our sin on the cross and then came back to life, He made it possible for us to have peace with God forever! THAT is something to celebrate Bottom Line: Jesus is alive. As we celebrate Easter this year, we want kids to know why we make such a big deal about this special day. Jesus isn’t just some person that said and did some cool things a long time ago. We believe that Jesus is God’s Son . . . and through Him, we can have life forever with God. That’s only possible because Jesus is alive! We pray that kids will understand what Jesus has done for them and choose to put their trust in Him. Click Herefor this week's at home devotional!
