July Elementary Overview

July's focus - The Parables of Jesus
We are learning all about the parables of Jesus this month. He often shared stories with people to teach them about the kingdom of God and the importance of sharing His love with others!
Week 1: The Sower and the Seed - Matthew 13:3-8 - Jesus teaches us to keep telling others about him because many will believe. Just like the farmer plants many seeds for them to grow, Jesus desires for us to share with many people so they may come to know Him.
Week 2: The Wise and Foolish Builders - Matthew 7:24-27 - Jesus shows us the difference between building a solid foundation verses an unstable foundation. We should live like the wise men who built their house on the rock, not like the foolish men who built upon sand. Jesus teaches us to build our lives on Him by obeying him!
Week 3: The Great Banquet - Luke 14:15-24 - Jesus teaches us that God invites all kinds of people to become part of his family. This is a great story to show that matter who we are or where we are in life, we all need a Savior in Jesus!
Week 4: The Lost Son - Luke 15:11-32 - Jesus teaches us to love and forgive each other the way God loves and forgives us.
Parables provide great illustrations and examples to show children fundamental truths. Try to introduce as much discussion about each parable and what they mean to us today. Discuss the lessons behind the parables and how we might apply them to our lives.

July Preschool Overview

July’s focus – Jesus’ miracles
This month, the preschool ministry is learning about some of the miracles Jesus performed during His earthly ministry. We encourage you to talk more about these miracles at home.
Week 1 – Jesus heals the sick – sickness is all around us. It is one of the most obvious and constant effects of the Fall. Christ healed the sick to show us His power over the physical and to point us to His power over the spiritual. Just like our bodies can experience sickness, so too our hearts are sick with sin until we give our hearts to Jesus to heal. And while Jesus will not always heal physical illness, we remember that He is good and that He is taking care of us in the best way possible.
Week 2 – Jesus feeds 5,000 – Jesus took a tiny portion, blessed it, and served it to thousands! In this story, we see our Savior meeting a physical need. But He’s also showing us that He can feed our hearts, too. The hunger deep inside of us is a spiritual one that only Jesus can satisfy.
Week 3 – Jesus walks on water – Our God has control over every single thing, including the wind and the waves! He also has the power to call His people to Him and they are safe from harm as long as they keep their eyes on the Savior. This miracle shows us the importance of recognizing Christ’s omnipotence and following after Him above everything else.
Week 4 – Jesus raises the dead – There are several stories in Scripture of Christ raising the dead, the most notable being the story of Lazarus. This is a unique way that God displays His power. In death there is finality and sadness, unless Christ intercedes. Apart from Jesus, death is a forever separation from God. But because Jesus defeated death, we can be with God forever.
As always, we want to bring discussion back to the greatest miracle that ever occurred, Christ’s death on the cross to pay for our sins and His defeat of sin and death when He was resurrected.

Elementary Follow-up: Daniel weeks 1&2

This month we are learning about the Old Testament story of Daniel. In Daniel 3, we see the boldness of Daniel's friends - Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. King Nebuchadnezzar commanded everyone to worship an idol rather than the one true God. Those that do not obey will be thrown into the fiery furnace - yikes! Daniel's friends refuse to obey the king because they refuse to break the First Commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me". They recognized God's power but also recognized He has power to do what He sees fit!

In Daniel 6, Daniel is put into a similar situation as his friends. Men became jealous of the favor Daniel found in the eyes of the new king, Darius. They knew that Daniel would not bow down to anyone other than God so they persuaded Darius to command all to worship himself. The punishment for those that didn’t obey? Being thrown into the lion’s den - ouch! Not much better than the furnace. Still, Daniel refuses to worship his friend, the king. Darius even hopes that God delivers Daniel as they throw him to the lions. Later when Darius checks on him, Daniel is alive and well, praising God – much to the surprise of all! The Lord closed the mouths of the lions!
All four of the men trusted the Lord and put their lives in His hands, unsure of their outcome but knowing that He knows what’s best!

Go Deeper!

"And we know that in all things
God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose..."
Romans 8:28

Paul even writes a few verses later in the Book of Romans, "If God is with us, who can be against us?" It's like when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego told the king that God can save them from the furnace but even if He decides not to, they still will not worship false gods. Wow! They understand the power of our God and that He chooses what is best for us, even if we don't understand it at the time.
• Do you think it was hard for Daniel and his friends to obey God?
Definitely! Their lives were at risk if they were wrong! Thankfully, they based their hope on the truth of God's Word! It is only because of God's character and His promises that they had the strength to stand up to the king.

Grow Together!

During this unit, your children are also learning about kids just like them that live in countries where it is punishable by law to openly worship Christ and even to talk about Him.
- Talk about the type of environment that Daniel and his friends were in. Their very lives were threatened when they wouldn't worship an object or another person.
- Pray with your family and thank God that you live in a place where you are free to worship, pray and believe in Jesus!

Elementary Follow-up: Jonah Week 2

Jonah 3 & 4

Focus: Jonah learned that God is eager to forgive all who repent.
This week, we finished the story of Jonah in the Old Testament. Jonah didn't want to show kindness to the people of Nineveh like God had commanded him. But in chapters 3 and 4, we see Jonah eventually obey God by going into Nineveh to preach to the people. The people repented, not because Jonah had a cool preaching style but because of the truth in the words he spoke- "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned" [Jonah 3:4]. God used an ordinary, stubborn guy for His glory!

Go Deeper!
"But I tell you who hear me:
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."
Luke 6:27

In this passage, Jesus tells us to be kind to not only our friends, but also our enemies. Jonah was commanded to do the very same thing when God told Jonah to tell Nineveh about God's love. [Jonah 1:12]

* Did Jesus listen to His own advice? Yes! There are many instances in the New Testament where Jesus ate with people that weren't well liked by others. He lived a life of loving others, whether or not they loved him back. By obeying what God had commanded Him to do, He did the most loving act of all- He died on the cross for the sins of the world. Because of this sacrifice, those who believe and trust in Jesus receive the gift of salvation. We don't deserve this gift, much like how Jonah didn't feel the people of Ninevite deserved God's compassion.

Grow Together!

Sit down with your child and talk about some very specific friends, neighbors or family members who it might be hard to show kindness to due to conflict, losing touch, or simply not clicking to begin with. With your child, come up with a plan to show kindness to that person – maybe by baking them a treat and delivering it with a kind note, offering to help them complete a chore or simply arranging a time to play together.

Preschool Jonah Follow-up: Week 2

Gulp - Jonah in the Fish!

This week, we continued the story of Jonah. In chapter 2, we see what happened to Jonah when he thought he could run from God - he ended up in the belly of a fish! During the three days in the fish, Jonah cries out to the Lord and recognizes that God is everywhere and that he can't run from him.

Go Deeper!

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

In this passage, Jesus tells the disciples to go out into the world and tell others about Him. This sounds a lot like when God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to tell others about God's love! [Jonah 1:12] Jesus even says at the end of this passage that he will be "with you always, to the very end." No matter where you go, God is always there! Here are some questions you can ask your child:
- When are times that we try to hide? [When we are scared; When we don't want to pick up toys; To be alone]
- Why did Jonah try to hide? [He didn't want to obey God or go to Nineveh; He didn't like the people in Nineveh]
- Is there a place we can go to hide from God? Under the bed? In the closet? [No! No matter where we go, God is everywhere!] *Have fun thinking of silly places to try to hide!*

Grow Together!

*Play hide and seek! This is a great way to illustrate the story at home. After the "seeking" part is over, talk about how Jonah tried to run from God. Reinforce that God is everywhere!
*Get dramatic! Participating in dramatic play is one of the best ways to remember stories! If you have a big box lying around, pull it out and have the whole family decorate it like a big fish. Use markers, tissue paper, fabric, whatever you have lying around! Then act out the story! Your child can go inside the "fish" and get spit out!

Elementary Follow-up: Jonah Week 1

Gulp! Jonah and the Big Fish

Focus: Even though Jonah disobeyed God, God never gave up on him.
This week, we learned about the story of Jonah and how God's mercy was displayed through Jonah. We see Jonah disobey God because he had a hard time understanding why he needed to show love to the Ninevites, who were a very unloving group of folks to begin with. Though imperfect and initially disobedient, Jonah was eventually used in a mighty way by the Lord!

Go Deeper!

"...You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Matthew 22:37-39

How does this passage in Matthew relate to Jonah? [Jonah was commanded by God to share God's love with the Ninevites.] Was Jonah loving God and his neighbors with his choices? [Had Jonah loved God with all his heart and loved his neighbors, he would have obeyed God from the beginning. Even though he disobeyed, God still used Jonah, but not until after He disciplined Jonah for his disobedience.]

We looked at Jonah's prayer in Jonah chapter 2. How does this prayer point us to Jesus? [This is the prayer of a sinner, calling upon God to save him. This is the kind of prayer we may all pray at one time or another, as we beg God for His mercy and salvation. It reminds us that we are never outside of God's presence and never beyond the saving power of Jesus Christ, who died to save us once and for all time.]

The Challenge!

Just like Jonah, there are times that we feel left out or we even leave out people. As followers of Christ, we are called to love others, even when it's hard. Encourage your child to reach out to another child in your neighborhood that is sometimes ignored or made fun of by others.

Preschool Jonah Follow-up: Week 1

Jonah Runs Away

Your child is learning the story of Jonah. Jonah’s story is found in the book of Jonah in the Old Testament. This week we focused on chapter 1 where God gave Jonah instructions to go to Nineveh and tell the people about Him. Because Jonah didn’t like the Ninevite people, he disobeyed God and went the other way. This week we are talking about obedience.

Why should we listen to God?
We should listen to God because He knows what is best for us and works all things for our good.

What happens when we don’t listen to God?
Jonah had to go through some scary and unsafe things because He didn’t listen to God. He also probably missed out on some of the good things that God wanted to do in and through him.

Activities:
Give your child a chore or responsibility they don’t necessarily enjoy. If they complete the task, talk about the story of Jonah and how God wants our obedience. Reward them for their obedience and talk about how God wants to bless us for our obedience too. If they don’t complete the task, talk about how sometimes our disobedience means we miss out on some of the great things God wants to do in our lives.