The weeks leading up to Christmas are some of our favorite moments of the year in Northgate Kids! This December, we’re celebrating with a special series called Candy Cane Christmas, where each week we look at a part of the candy cane and discover how it points us to Jesus.

Relationships can’t happen without communication, and our God is relational. He knows us and wants to be known by us. He is the God who speaks. Throughout His story, we see our Father talking to His kids. Whether in an audible voice or a gentle whisper, or through the godly advice of others, God speaks. And His words are always worth listening to. As our kids explore this series the Old Testament stories of people who listened (and didn’t listen) to God’s voice, may they be have ears tuned to the kind voice of our loving Father.

We all love a good rescue story where a hero arrives just in time to save the day! Because of our sin, we all need to be rescued—and God had the perfect plan for a rescue mission to save His people! God’s plan started long ago when He promised a Redeemer and Rescuer. The God Rescues series dives into four Old Testament stories of God working out His rescue plan among His people. In each lesson, kids will discover God’s plan, power, and care for His people as He leads the way for the greatest rescue of all time—salvation through Jesus.

Families are messy. And I’m not just talking about the awkward conversations at the Thanksgiving table when politics or parenting styles come up. Our families see the best and worst in us, and throughout the Old Testament, God’s family was no different. This month we are looking back in history at the creation of God's family and how, in His endless mercy, God didn’t merely take this messy family and redeem it. He made this family the very vehicle through which He brought redemption to the world. He made them His family. And through Jesus—a son of Abraham and the Son of God—we too are a part of the family. So when our loving Father looks at you and me, it isn’t the worst in us He sees. He just sees His kids.

The journey of faith is about so much more than managing behavior; it is an invitation from God to walk with Him in wonder. God invites every person into His big story, for it is only there that His sons and daughters discover who they are. From a young age, the question “Who am I?” is wired into each of us, and God alone can provide the answer. In this series, kids will discover that God knows them, Jesus loves them, and the Holy Spirit leads them. They will discover that they cannot find the answer to the age-old question by looking within but by looking into the eyes of the God who sees them. Who am I? I am known, I am loved, I am led. Because of Jesus, I am a child of God.

What does it mean to really worship God? While worshiping through music and song may be the first thing that comes to mind when we consider worship, we’ll start this series by learning through the Shema, which means “hear,” that we can listen to God and worship Him with our whole selves. We’ll discover that we can worship unashamed with our whole hearts, explore how God is worthy of worship, and hold close the truth that God is with us when we worship.

At church this month, our kids are diving into a series called Rooted from Wonder Ink — and it’s all about helping them understand that when our lives are rooted in God’s truth, we can grow strong, steady, and full of life.

We often use the word helper to describe someone who is well-meaning but not that powerful, like the sidekick to a superhero. But when Jesus told His disciples in John 16:7 that He was sending a helper, He was promising someone so much more than a sidekick! The Holy Spirit is the very fullness of God—fully powerful, fully wise, fully loving. The Holy Spirit is God, and just as Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit is with us! In this series, we’ll see the Holy Spirit work through Paul, move in prison-breaking power, help us pray, and unite the church. The Holy Spirit isn’t merely a sidekick; He is God, our helper!

Throughout the arc of God’s big story, we see God at work executing a rescue plan to bring His people from slavery to freedom, death to life. During the Easter season, we remember that God’s own Son, Jesus Christ, came once for all, offering the way into God’s presence by way of His life and His blood. In this five-lesson series, we’ll walk through what it looks like for God to show up, promise His presence, and make the way where there was none. We will connect the long journey of God’s people from slavery to freedom, from Moses and the Israelites in Egypt to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus is alive, and because of Him, we can transition from slavery to freedom, from death to life—now those are connections worth celebrating!

When we study the life of Jesus, we see the way He interacted with others, cared for them, and spent His time with them. In this month's series, we will discover His power and compassion as He brings healing, witness His generous forgiveness, see that He wants us to remember His death, and realize that we can sit at His feet and simply spend time with Him. In a world that’s filled with distractions and disruptions, we can come to Jesus and simply walk with Him in relationship and be forever changed. Together, let’s discover that walking with Jesus isn’t following a specific set of rules or to-do lists; it is surrendering ourselves as we sit at His feet and worship our King.

In the Gospel of John and the book of Revelation, Jesus makes statements about Himself that reveal who He is and what He came to do. These I AM statements reveal the nature of Jesus and His heart for people, helping us know Him more: “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6), “I am the vine” (John 15:5), and “I am the Alpha and Omega” (Revelation 21:6). In this series, we will discover that the I AMs are more than just statements; they help us know how we can respond to Jesus and know Him more deeply as our life-giver, our way to God, our source of abiding, our beginning and end.

Who is Jesus? He is the exact likeness of God—the physical representation of God on earth. As a child and later as an adult, Jesus shows us what God is like. This series will help us understand Jesus and who He is. He is the Messiah, and God the Father speaks words of affirmation at His baptism. When Jesus is led into the wilderness and His humanity is put on display, He is tempted and does not sin. Through His first miracle, we see Jesus reveal to His followers that He is amazing. The more we know Him, the more we know God, and the more we are drawn to Him.

Waiting can be hard, especially when you are waiting for something good. For hundreds of years, God’s people waited for Jesus to come. He is the One who God promised, the One coming to make all things right. He is the good and perfect King who will rule forever. There is no one like Him, and His arrival signaled hope and salvation for all who felt the weight of sin and brokenness upon this world. As the everlasting King and Prince of Peace, He is worthy of all worship. In this series, God invites us to meet and worship our true King.

Since August, Kids Church has been diving into the wonderful old stories of the Bible. This month, through the adventures of Isaiah, Esther, the fiery furnace, and Daniel in the lion's den, our kids will discover that they are never alone—God is ALWAYS with them.

Learning to pray with your kids can be a challenging thing to begin, especially if you have never done it before. November is an excellent month to begin! With it being the month of Thanksgiving, we naturally use this season to reflect on things we are grateful for. So why not create and begin a prayer practice with your kids!?

What’s the most exciting victory story you’ve ever heard? Well, buckle your seatbelt for this series because nothing is quite as suspenseful as when God helps His people win. The stories of God’s victories are full of surprises! He is with people who face battles, and He’ll use anything—sticky mud, water from a river, a handful of smooth stones, chariots of fire—to triumph. When God is on your side, there’s no reason to worry. We can be strong because He is our strength. God is powerful, and He is always victorious. In this series, we’ll dive into the victorious stories of Deborah and Barak, David, Elisha and Naaman, and Elisha and an army of angels. Who will you share these exciting stories of God’s victory with?

Water from a rock? A talking donkey? An impossible longing fulfilled? Food from almost nothing? In this series, kids will discover that, as God works on behalf of His people, He often works in unexpected ways to bring about His plans in His timing. He hears our prayers, His gifts are good, and His plans cannot be stopped. What will God do next? No one can possibly imagine. But it is possible for us to believe God can use anything to care for His people—even rocks and a donkey!

God’s faithfulness remains even as people display unfaithfulness to Him. It isn’t long before sin takes over the world. God is saddened by this change in the way people relate to Him and each other. Through the life of Noah, God shows He honors those who do what is right, and He is faithful to bring Isaac and Rebekah together so His chosen people can grow. When His people are oppressed, God sends help and lets them know they are His, and when God gives the Law, He shows that His people are set apart. In this series, we’ll celebrate that God is the faithful God who will always be faithful to His people!

What does it mean to be WonderFILLED? It means you know who God is and who He has made you to be. It means you look for Him and see Him throughout His creation—including within your life! This month our we will help kids discover their true identity in God’s big story and know without a doubt that they belong to the wonder-giver himself! The Be WonderFILLED series introduces and explores the four core values of our new curriculum Wonder Ink: God Knows Me, Jesus Loves Me, the Holy Spirit Leads Me, and I Am a Child of God. Each lesson in the series dives deeper into one of the core values to help kids discover that their lives can tell of God’s wonder.

Choose joy! This may be a commonly used phrase you’ve heard, but what does it actually mean? Joy is more than being excited about the good things that happen to us. Joy is an attitude—a decision to trust God no matter what is going on in our lives. From the very beginning, God had a plan for the world. As we dive into the Bible, we’ll discover God’s plan for us and how God has been at work through it all. When we see and celebrate what God is doing, we can find true joy!

Growing in faith is not something that happens by simply cramming more information about the Bible into a child’s brain. All of that knowledge in their head means nothing if we don’t help them experience how that knowledge can transform their heart. To experience faith, we want kids to practice their faith, and that takes commitment.

Waiting is a part of life. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait on our own. Through the Holy Spirit, God can help us experience the patience we need to wait well. After all, God is patient with us. God is in control and knows what’s best for us.

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.

God showed kindness by sending Jesus for us—even when we didn’t deserve it. Because of God’s love for us, we can be kind to everyone. Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit. And when you show kindness to others, you give them a glimpse into the heart of God, and how much God loves them. Kindness should be a characteristic of people who follow Jesus.

In Psalm 24:1, David wrote, “The earth belongs to the Lord. And so does everything in it.” (NIrV) God is the author of creation, and God has entrusted us to care for and cultivate the world we see around us. We do that by taking responsibility. From work we need to accomplish, to people we meet, to the words we use, life is filled with moments where we can decide to reflect God’s character, take responsibility, and use what we have wisely. When we follow through and do what needs to be done, we can point others to Jesus, the One who took the ultimate responsibility for us and made it possible for us to be with God forever.

This December, we’re “decking the halls” and taking the whole the month to focus on nothing but Christmas by celebrating Jesus, God’s greatest gift! We can’t wait to shine a spotlight on crucial moments in the story of Jesus’ birth as we count down to Christmas.

Throughout this month, we hope kids will learn to be grateful for everything God has done: for the world God made, for the promises God has kept, and for the new life God offers the world through Jesus. When we remember all of these things, we can always be thankful.