Kidmin Drawing Board: CHASE THE LION (Series concept)

This is a three part children’s church sermon series loosely inspired by Mark Batterson’s book In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day as well as his Bible study book for young adults entitled Chase The Lion. The objective of the series is to teach children to be bold and fearless in the face of the enemy. 1 Peter 5:8 says Satan “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Satan roars the loudest when are closest to our greatest God given blessings and opportunities. During this series, the kids will learn two important lessons. From Daniel’s terrifying experience in the lions' den, they will learn to have faith that God will protect them and deliver them. Just as he shut the lions' mouths in the den, He also shuts Satan’s mouth when he starts roaring. From Benaiah’s experience in the pit with the lion, they will learn how God gives us the strength and boldness to chase down and defeat even our greatest fears.

This series is "on the drawing board".  We have it, along with a few other ideas, on our drawing board prayerfully considering them all.  If we end up using the series, I will try my best to post at least one sermon or order of service along with game and craft ideas.  I am a full time college student and my husband works full time so keeping the blog updated is unfortunately quite difficult at times.  I hope you all have been able to use our ideas in part or completely.  The goal of this blog is to give other struggling children's pastors with small budgets inspiration for cheap but meaningful series and lessons to teach the kids in your church.

SERIES OUTLINE:
Week 1: “ROAR”
Power Verse: 1 Peter 5:8

Week 2: “In the Den”
Power Verse: 2 Timothy 4:18

Week 3: “In a Pit”
Power Verse: Joshua 1:9

SUPERKIDS: HIS HEROES (SERIES OUTLINE)

This series draws parallels between popular comic book superheroes and Biblical heroes and events to teach the complicated Biblical principles on a child’s level and make it relevant to their lives.  As prizes, we will be giving away Action Bibles at the end of the series.  For the series finale, all of the children will be invited to come to children’s church dressed as their favorite superhero.  The costume can be as simple as a t-shirt or as complex as a homemade or store bought costume.  Volunteers and adult volunteers are always welcome to come dressed in their favorite superhero attire.

“A MARVEL-OUS TEAM”

            This lesson will be comparing the assembly of the Avengers based on their gifts and abilities to the assembly of the body of Christ according to our gifts and abilities by discussing Jesus’ selection of the twelve disciples.

Power verse: “You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” – 1 Corinthians 12:27 (NIV)

Games: “Tug-a-war” – if we have enough kids, we will divide up and play tug-a-war inside or outside.

OR

“Building Jump” – decorate boxes of varying sizes to represent buildings.  Kids divide into two teams and have to race through an obstacle course without knocking over any buildings.  After all teammates have ran through once, whichever team has the most buildings still standing wins.

“SUPER ARMOR”

            Ironman wears a physical armor, but in this lesson, we will learn about an impenetrable spiritual armor God has for each of us to wear in our battle against the evils of this world.

Power verse: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” – Ephesians 6:11 (NIV)

Game: “Armor Race” – kids divide into two teams.  Team members race to help one of their teammates put on his/her whole armor before the other team gets their armor on.

“HIS WARRIORS”

            Just as little Steven Rogers is transformed into a mighty warrior, this lesson illustrates how God can transform us and use us despite our weaknesses just as he used little David to defeat giant Goliath.

Power verse: “Fight the good fight of faith.” – 1 Timothy 6:12 (NIV)

Game: Armed with the cardboard Captain America shields left over from last week’s game, two volunteers will compete to hit one another with foam balls.  The shields will be used to deflect the balls.  Whoever has been hit the least amount of times after the clock runs out wins.  OR:  Two adult leaders could dress in the shields and two kid volunteers can try to hit them with foam balls.  Whichever kid hits their adult leader the most times before the clock runs out wins.

“SUPER STRENGTH”

            This lesson will parallel the Incredible Hulks super strength with Samson’s super strength and discuss how we shouldn’t take our blessings for granted. 

Power verse: “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” – Ephesians 6:10 (NIV)

Game: “Super Strength Challenge”

Use two large cardboard boxes to make fake buildings.  Cut large squares out of box for “windows” and tape construction paper inside the squares.  Two kids will compete to see who can knock the most windows out of the building before the clock runs out.  (Each window that is knocked out represents one person they are able to “rescue”.)

“THE BRIGHT LIGHT”

            Just as the people of Gotham needed a hero to come and protect them and take care of them, we too need a hero.  God sent His only son JESUS to be our savior.  He is truly the greatest superhero in the world!  There is no one like him!  This lesson will teach us that while comic book heroes aren’t real, we have a real superhero we can count on to be there to rescue us every day: JESUS!!!

Power Verse: “He said, ‘I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’.” – John 8:12

“BRIGHT LIGHT RISES”

            It has been two thousand years since Jesus died on the cross for our sins, rose from the dead, and returned to sit beside our father in Heaven.  Don’t worry, a day is soon approaching, when God can no longer bare to see the sin and evil of this world, and He’s going to send Jesus back to get us.  When they day comes, we’ll meet Him in the sky and He’ll lead us to our eternal Heavenly home.  We have to be alert and ready because we don’t want to be left behind!  This lesson will give a positive hopeful message during the Halloween season when fear and death seem to be glorified.

Power verse: “Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” – Acts 1:11

 

Small Town Pastors

This is a a copy of a post I wrote on Facebook (with personal details like names edited out of the post).  I wrote it because I am a member of a small town church.  As a ministry leader, it breaks my heart to see how unappreciated the sacrifices are that small town pastors make.  (I'm guilty of this, too.). People expect them to always be at their beck and call to unload their mountain of "problems".  They think they magically appear at church with a sermon.  The hours spent away from their families preparing a sermon in which they're undoubtedly interrupted countless times by phone calls and visits for prayer.    They are treated like super humans.  The demands on their lives from the congregation and community are unimaginable.  Sometimes we forget our pastors are people just like us.  Next time you see your pastor, give him/her a hug and let them know how much you appreciate their sacrifices.

"I have a special place in my heart for small town pastors.  Aside from raising a family and working a full time job, they pastor a church.  Small churches don't have big budgets or a large staff, so the pastor and his wife are often the music leaders, Sunday school teachers, grounds keepers, bookkeepers, maintenance crew, and serve as fill-in help when the youth pastor or children's pastor need a week off.  When you're at the ER in the middle of the night with a sick child or parent, they are the first familiar faces you see walk through the door.  They use their own vacation time at work to preach funerals for people in the community who are not even members of their church.  They are the only people who pray for you as much as your own mother prays for you.  They come into church carrying their own burdens but listen sincerely as we unload our own burdens on them, too.  Vision Ministries has an awesome small town pastor and pastor's wife. This Labor Day, I would like to thank them and all of the small town pastors who labor for us.  You'll never make it rich, but there's a greater reward awaiting you.  May God continue to bless you and give you the strength to do the impossible. :)"

GAMERS Series: Scripture Twisters

You'll go a little old school and use tongue twisters and the Hasboro game Twister (buy online) as metaphors for how "scripture twisters" (2 Peter 3:17) try to trip us up in our walk with God. We did this as a Wednesday night series, but you could easily add praise and worship music and other elements to create a kid's church sermon. From the crinkled up game mat in the photo, you can tell our church kids had a ton of fun.


(All scripture verses were used from The Message:Remix.)




Lesson Outline:

I. Scripture Twister Word Jumble
Let the kids find and circle the words in tonight's Bible lesson which are concealed and hid within a jumble of other words. After finishing, they get a piece of candy. Let the kids take turns reading aloud the memory verse.

II. Tongue Twisters
Let the kids draw pieces of paper from a hat, bag, or your hand. Each piece of paper will have a silly tongue twister on it. Let the kids have fun trying to say their tongue twisters. Discuss how you intentionally worded the phrases difficult for the kids to say, so they would trip up and have a hard time.

III. Scripture Twisters Lesson
Who in here has ever opened up their Bible, read a little, and had a tough time understanding the verses? Sometimes the Bible can be difficult to understand. I'm a grown up, and I still have a hard time knowing what it means every now and then. You know, the disciple Peter said this very thing about his friend Paul's letters. Paul wrote a lot of letters (open Bible and name a few of his letters or ask the kids if they can name any of Paul's letters for a piece of candy) and boy are there some difficult to understand things in his letters! Paul wrote the truth to the churches and believers, but the things he wrote about could be really hard to understand sometimes. People were twisting his words around and confusing themselves. Most simply didn't understand what Paul meant, but some were intentionally twisting his words around.

There are still people today who twist words in the Bible around. Peter called them lawless and loose-talking teachers... Today we'll be referring to them as scripture twisters. As in Peter and Paul's day, some scripture twisters, twist around scriptures because they themselves are confused. Other scripture twisters try to twist Bible verses and events around to confuse us. Why? Because they don't believe He exists or maybe they do, but they don't love him like we do. They are mean and sneaky. They like to read us or tell us Bible verses but twist the words around to confuse us and trip us up in our walk with God. Like here's a silly example. Sometimes Sunday School teachers will ask this question: "How many animals did Moses take on the ark?" If you're not paying attention to the question you might jump up and say, "TWO!!! HE TOOK TWO!!!" But is that true? No, because Moses didn't take any animals on the ark. It was Noah who built the ark. See how I twisted the words around and caught you off guard? That was just a silly example. 

Well, other people will twist around the wording of scripture in much more serious ways to trick you. If you haven’t been reading your Bible and learning your Bible verses, you might get tripped up and lose your footing. Who has ever played the game Twister? We are actually going to play the game tonight. But first, we are going to get (VOLUNTEER) to do a little demonstration for us.

(Ask volunteer to do what you tell them. This works best if the volunteer is an adult who can intentionally help prove your point and play along. Try to intentionally make it where the person gets all jumbled up and loses their footing and falls)

What happened to (volunteer)? They fell. Why did they fall? Because their feet got all twisted up and they couldn’t stand anymore, could they? That’s what our Bible verse talks about, isn’t it? People try to twist the Bible around so we get confused, stumble, and fall. But how do we keep from getting confused???? WE READ AND KNOW OUR BIBLE! And how do we make sure we don’t stumble and fall???? WE LISTEN CAREFULLY WHEN PEOPLE SPEAK!!!

IV. Play Twister
Let the kids end the night by playing twister. It may not seem like it has much to do with the lesson, but perhaps it will serve as a great conversation starter between the kids and their parents about the Bible lesson.

Back To School: Cardboard Bus

I didn't have any unfinished pictures of the bus without the youth kids inside.  They duct taped cardboard panels together, painted it yellow, added cardboard wheels, and a few personalized touches.  They were going for a comical look to fit with the funny back to school skit.

The Misadventures of Sherlock Hymns

The Misadventures of Sherlock Hymns
Series Rough Outline

Part I - Halloween Series
1. The Missing Demoniac
2. The Seven Sons
3. The Vanished Saints

Part II - Easter Series
1. The Kidnapped Carpenter
2. The Blood Stained Cross
3. The Empty Tomb

Part III - Parables
1. The Good Samaritan
2. The Hidden Treasure
3. The Pharisee & The Publican
4. The Two Houses
5. The Prodigal Son

On three seasonal adventures, kids can follow the comical detective duo of Sherlock Hymns and Joanie Watson as they solve a string of curious Biblical mysteries.  My hope is to build a Sherlock and Watson puppet; however, a cheaper alternative would be dressing up puppets I already have to look like Sherlock and Watson.  Of course, this is just a rough sketch of an idea that I might use one day, so I haven't actually written out any sermons or an order of service.