Children’s Ministry Update (September)

God is Forgiving!

In September we will be studying the book of Judges, where we will see how — despite Israel’s cycle of unfaithfulness — God is patient and forgiving and continues to deliver them time after time. What a blessing that in our lives God is forgiving and faithful (even when we are unfaithful), just as he was in the time of the Judges!

The Israelites needed to be delivered not just from their enemies, but from their sin. And so do we! Thankfully, we will see a great picture in the book of Ruth of the redemption God is preparing for His people in Jesus.

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For Teachers

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Teachers, we can’t say often enough how important and appreciated your ministry is. This past month has offered several opportunities to reflect together on the impact of the past year at our Fall training and the vision dinner. We hope you were encouraged by these times of celebration as well, but in case you missed them — you are making a difference and you are greatly appreciated!

Memory verse for Unit 9: This unit’s verse is 1 John 1:9a: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” You can always find a printout of the current verse in the curriculum folder.

Training meeting: On August 11th, we held our quarterly training. Thank you to everyone who attended and enjoyed Huey Magoo’s chicken, updates on new initiatives for the coming year, and prayer time in our teaching teams. If you missed the training, feel free to catch up with Jenn or Joel on what was covered.

Teaching tips for September: As you have probably seen, we’ve begun two fun new ways to bridge the gap from Sunday morning to the home: ROCK Books and ROCK Blocks. Please encourage the children in your class to bring their books to and from church. You’ll notice there’s a sheet up front where you can write encouraging notes to share with parents. Have questions about when to give a ROCK Block to one of your kids? Check out this guide. (It’s also posted at the ROCK Block station in the hallway)

Training videos: Check out these Gospel Project videos for each of the upcoming lessons in September. Click on the date and lesson title to expand and show the video.

September 1: Session 9.1, Israel's Unfaithfulness

September 8: Session 9.2, Deborah and Barak

September 15: Session 9.3, Gideon

September 22: Session 9.4, Samson

September 29: Session 9.5, Ruth and Boaz

For Parents

We are excited for a new semester in the children’s ministry, and we consider it a privilege to partner with you in helping raise up the children of the church to know and love Jesus Christ.

For those of you with children in Pre-K, K-2, or grades 3-5, you have hopefully seen the new ROCK Book. Yes…it’s another thing to (forget to!) bring to and from church. But we hope that with time the children will be motivated to make it a part of their Sunday worship routine.

We’re in the early days of rolling it out, but the goal, in a nutshell, is to help build a bridge from Sunday morning to the home. The ROCK Book has a few things in it: (a) take-home sheets for each Sunday lesson, which you can use in family worship; (b) sermon sheets to use on “Family Sunday” (or if your child doesn’t attend ROCK); (c) memory verse for the unit; (d) communication page where teachers can write down notes or milestones.

Family worship tip for September: Take a look at the ROCK Book, of course! Try reviewing the lesson on Sunday or Monday night using the take-home sheet. Ask your children what the passage was…what they learned…what they liked about their class…what they discovered about God. (Be sure to sign the sheet, too! Once they get four, they can show them to Jenn or Joel and get a ROCK Block!)

Devotional Questions for September 1-7

Devotional Questions for September 8-14

Devotional Questions for September 15-21

Devotional Questions for September 22-28

Devotional Questions for September 29-October 5