VBS plans are being made for this summer! We hope you can join in the fun so please reserve the date… Saturday, July 14th
This year we plan on telling stories of peacemakers while remembering that God’s Shalom and the life and words of Jesus are at the roots of these stories.
Come ready to have fun, be creative, and listen to stories of PEACEMAKERS!
Another peek inside Sunday School at PMC courtesy of Kelsey Knight King, (professional Sunday School Teacher and maker of snacks from antiquity)
We went a bit rogue today. The children gave the thumbs-down to the exercise the curriculum suggested for the memory verse (acting out the words and saying "NOOOooooo!" when we get to the "No one, after lighting a lamp, hides it under a bushel basket" part of the verse), so they decided to challenge themselves and say the memory verse without looking at the poster, instead. But then the NOOOOooo! crept back in. Maybe you had to be there, but it was pretty funny.
I asked them to tell me about a time when they had been excluded from something. Their stories were sort of what you would expect, but also sort of heart-rending. We drew pictures of what the situation would have looked like if we had been included. We reimagined the situations in a happier, more inclusive way; the way that Jesus would like, and a way that can remind us to include others.
I brought copies of a song that isn't in our hymnal- "A Song of Peace", which Jean Sibelius wrote in 1865. It's one of my very favorite pieces of music. He wrote it about Finland, and about how his hopes and dreams lie there, but also about how there are other, equally valuable, hopes and dreams from "other hearts in other lands." I sent it home with the children.
We talked about the social situation in Jesus' time; the Roman Centurions in Capernaum were hated by the Jews, as they represented the oppressor, and the Jews definitely didn't want to include the Centurions in their lives. "Jesus was a Jew," I told the children; "do you think he went along with the social rules about excluding Centurions?" "NOOOOooo!", they answered. :)
Our Bible story proved them right; because of a Centurion's great faith, Jesus healed the Centurion's servant. We talked about how the Bible story isn't just about including those who are different from us; it also shows us that we can learn from "outsiders. Jesus said the Centurion's trust in God was the greatest He had seen in Israel.
And that's not all we can learn from the Roman Centurion- we can also eat delicious snacks from ancient Rome! I made globuli- little balls made of quark and semolina (I used ricotta and flour), fried in olive oil, and drizzled in honey.
This week: The children asked me to ask you to make globuli. :) The recipe is at http://www.squidoo.com/ancient-food-rome#module12427329
Next week: Jesus walks on water! We're going to try it, too.
By now you may have heard the news….we kicked off the memorization of the NEW TESTAMENT books of the bible on January 29th. The kids are learning a song with Molly and we are engaging in a “soccer game” by memorizing the 27 books! Until the end of the Sunday School year your child may memorize the books of the NT and recite them during coffee time. Attached is a list of the “chunks” of books that move them across the soccer field towards a goal! Each child is placed on a team and the current score is 4-3 as we had 7 children say them all!!
There are a couple of things to note:
1. Unlike the OT books, kids should learn each “chunk” of books. Knowing one book in the next group does NOT move them to the next place on the soccer field. Only reciting the whole group moves their player.
2. At the end, it is fun if the child can recite the “whole” list at once, but it is not required.
3. Adults are welcome and encouraged to participate! Remember…only 27 books this time, not 39! Spelling is not required.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Melissa Burton
Today was probably the most popular Sunday School session in recent memory- partial credit goes to Lucy, for being my planning helper.
Our memory verse activity was light related, of course- we split up into two teams and took turns tagging each other with a flashlight beam, saying "______, you are light for the world. Let your light shine." Then that person would tag the next person, etc. Sort of a humbling way to find out that some of these children still do not know my name. :)
Many of the disciples depicted on the story card were pretty mustache-heavy; luckily I brought a selection of fuzzy black stick-on mustaches for everyone to wear.
Both in the New Testament and today, Jesus needed followers to walk the path with him and to help with the work. So we sang "We are walking in the light of God", updated our timeline and checked out our map, and then settled down to the Bible story about the gathering of the twelve disciples. Each child had a couple "disciple" cards, and raised them high when their guy's name got mentioned. Many of the disciples depicted on the story card were pretty mustache-heavy; luckily I brought a selection of fuzzy black stick-on mustaches for everyone to wear. We had to make two separate trips to the bathrooms to look at ourselves in the mirror. :) Then the children made disciple cards with their own names on them, and we taped all the disciple names, both new and old, to a big sheet with a picture of a path on it. Following the path of Jesus, you see.
Snack was an unexpected hit- I brought Ritz crackers and canned pink salmon, 'cause lots of the original disciples were fishermen. I was expecting some push back, but that salmon was GONE. Like, instantly. Sophisticated Portland children. :)
The grand finale was one of the improv games from Lucy's acting class called "What are you doing?" This is a game where someone comes along and asks you what you're doing- you tell them you're doing something completely different than you actually are (say, "riding an ostrich" when you're actually miming death-by-quicksand) and then the someone mimes riding an ostrich til someone asks THEM, etc. You have to really think about what you're doing, and then stop doing it to do something else.
Kind of like becoming a disciple.
This week- Play "What are you doing?" with your child. Do it. Trust me.
Next week- When we do good works, we give glory to God and provide "salt" to the world. Painting with salt! Eating snacks with salt!
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