Fall Frenzy 2011

We had our Fall Connect Event yesterday. What an amazing, exciting time we had!!!! 

Set up!

Photo Booth and Check In

Candy!!!

Costumes :)

Pastor Lori x3

More Costumes!

  

Pumpkin Painting

Yummy Food!

Route 412 Greeters for Fall Frenzy!

Fall Coloring Sheets!

Hay Ride!

Inflatables!!

Getting ready to put some pies in the faces of 4 brave, crazy guys!

Pied!

Relay Races!

Thank you so much for our Connect Activities Director Nina Bunk and all the volunteers and staff for pulling off an amazing Fall Frenzy event!!! We had a great turn out and fun was had by all!!

Hidden Treasure Scriptures

This is a fun, little activity to do at your house with your toddler or preschooler to help them become familiar with some of your favorite scriptures. 

Hide envelopes around your house.

Tell your toddler you are going on a special hunt to find some great, secret treasures of the Bible. Then, have your toddler scurry around the house in search of the hidden envelopes.

When they open each envelope, they should find a blank paper with a scripture at the top.

Then, they will have to find the hidden message by using water colors to go over the blank page which will reveal the picture.

This is done by using a white crayon to draw invisible images. Your images will be revealed after painting over it with water colors!

When the picture is revealed, read the coordinating scripture.

Here were my 5 pictures/scriptures: 

House: As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

Cross: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Star: You will shine among them like stars as you hold firmly to the word of life.  

Happy Thought Bubble: Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Purse: My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

The Calling

I just wanted to post a poem by Roger Fields that we passed our to all of our Family Ministries leaders and workers at our Seminar a couple weeks ago. There are a few phrases in it that I have been pondering all month.
Remember... you are a minister!

{for a printable version, click here}

THE CALLING (by Roger Fields)
I am a minister.
I minister to the largest mission field in the world.
I minister to children.

My calling is sure. My challenge is big. My vision is clear.
My desire is strong. My influence is eternal. My impact is critical.
My values are solid. My faith is tough. My mission is urgent.
My purpose is unmistakable. My direction is forward. My heart is genuine.
My strength is supernatural. My reward is promised.
And my God is real.

In a world of cynicism, I offer hope.
In a world of confusion, I offer truth.
In a world of immorality, I offer values.
In a world of neglect, I offer attention.
In a world of abuse, I offer safety.
In a world of ridicule, I offer affirmation.
In a world of division, I offer reconciliation.
In a world of bitterness, I offer forgiveness.
In a world of sin, I offer salvation.
In a world of hate, I offer God’s love.

I refuse to be dismayed, disengaged, disgruntled, discouraged or distracted.
Neither will I look back, stand back, fall back, go back or sit back.
I do not need applause, flattery, adulation, prestige, stature or veneration.
I do not have time for business as usual, mediocre standards, small thinking, outdated methods,
normal expectations, average results, ordinary ideas, petty disputes or low vision.
I will not give up, give in, bail out, lie down, turn over, quit or surrender.

I will pray when things look bad.
I will pray when things look good.
I will move forward when others stand still.
I will trust God when obstacles arise.
I will work when the task is overwhelming.
I will get up when I fall down.

My calling is to reach boys and girls for God.
It is too serious to be taken lightly, too urgent to be postponed, too vital to be ignored, too relevant to be overlooked, too significant to be trivialized, too eternal to be fleeting and too passionate to be quenched.

I know my mission. I know my challenge.
I also know my limitations, my weaknesses, my fears and my problems.
And I know my God.
Let others get the praise. Let the church get the blessing. Let God get the glory.

I am a minister. I minister to children.
This is who I am. This is what I do.

Family Ministries Fall Seminar 2011 {notes}

Family Ministries Seminar
Fall 2011/Winter 2012
Saturday, October 8, 2011

Every person has 168 hours in a week.
The average child spends 56 of those hours sleeping
...35 of those hours in school
...20 of those hours watching TV
...10 of those hours eating
...7 if those hours playing outside
...4 of those hours going potty
… and 1 of those hours at church

That hour (or hours) is the time we have been given to pour Jesus into the hearts of the children God has entrusted us with.

Colossians 3:23, 24
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Family Ministries Spiritual Insight:

• This is a calling.. You are a minister.
• Any form of ministry/leadership takes sacrifice
• To some, you are the only way they will experience the tangible love of God
•  The church represents the light
• You are ministering to future ministers

Family Ministries Practical Information:

• Set-up/Clean-up/Welcome
• New parents information
• Praise in public, correct in private
• Security for parents
• Do you value the ministry to their child?
• Be prepared for “Service was AMAZING”

MYTHS debunked about working in Family Ministries…
Myth #1: I won’t be able to grow spiritually like I need to if I am in the back all the time.
Myth #2: I’m not very good with kids/ I have never worked with kids.
Myth #3: I’m not spiritually mature enough to teach others about God, I’m just learning myself.
Myth #4: I can’t do it, I am with kids ALL DAY LONG.

Think Orange

One of my favorite websites currently is a concept by Reggie Joiner (Worked under Andy Stanley as Children's Minister at North Point Community Church in Atlanta) called ORANGE PARENTS. The concept of "ORANGE" really commissions the family and the church to work together to equip this next generation for the call God has placed on their lives. 

One thing I ran across today in Joiner's book "THINK ORANGE" was this Family Time Chart. I love the way it is broken up to give us some ideas on the different roles we have with our children and ways to strategically speak into their lives.