But aside from such fascinating information, the children have also picked up on a few key lessons: First, that things tend to go better when we follow God's instructions. Second, that if we ask him God will forgive us and make things right again. And finally, that God always keeps his promises - He promised to protect his people if they followed him, and he promised to let their enemies take them away if they did not follow him. Through the stories of the kings we see him keep both these promises, and many more of them. | We finally made it to the end of the Kings! After several terms of learning about the good, the bad, and the really evil, we finally reached Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. I've been highly impressed with the kids interest in the kings, and their ability to keep track of the long list of them. They've held onto some very important details - such as how Jehoram was struck with an awful disease that made his intestines come out! As promised, at the conclusion of the kings, we took the temple model outside and burned it down - in a reenactment of 2 Chronicles 36:19. It took a bit to get the temple to burn, but we finally got there and the entire thing was reduced to ashes. We were not left hopeless though - in keeping with the theme of God following through on his promises we read the final part of 2 Chronicles: "This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and has appointed me to build him a temple at Jerusalem in Judah. Whoever among you of His people may go up, and may the Lord his God be with him." 2 Chron. 36:23 (HCSB) And so we wait for 2017, to find out what happens next in God's big story. |
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A few weeks ago the CrossFire children had a bit of fun with the story of Elijah and the contest on Mt Carmel:
We've spent a lot of time in the past few terms talking about 3 kings in depth - Saul, David, and Solomon. But now we're heading into the crazy period of time where Israel had 39 kings in the space of about 380 years. That's a lot of kings considering that a nation only got a new king once the old king was dead. So why so many kings? For that we need to check out the second part of Solomon's life.
And what was Solomon doing? Gathering up horses, and gold, and women...lots and lots of women. Women who turned his heart away from God. Naturally there was a consequence for this sin. God took the kingdom away from Solomon. Yet He remained faithful to his promise to David. He did not take the whole kingdom away, for he had promised David that his descendants would always rule God's people. So Solomon's son Rehoboam was given Judah (and Benjamin which had pretty much been absorbed into Judah by that stage), and the rest of the kingdom went to one of Solomon's workers - Jeroboam.
During this time God sent many prophets to turn the people's hearts back to him. In the next two terms we are going to cover a lot of Biblical ground - weaving the books of the prophets in with the stories of the kings; covering the history of Israel and Judah to the point of exile...oh yeah, we're also going to be learning this song...should be fun... I hope you all had a lovely Easter. For those who did the Holy Week Easter Family Devotional I hope that it helped you and your family to grow in your understanding and love of the Easter story. I would love to hear your feedback about the devo - things that worked or didn't work; things that you added in; and whether or not you would like more of these on other topics.
It was amazing to be in CrossFire on Easter Sunday. I decided to do something a little different. Instead of doing some worship, then a story followed by a craft, we began in a circle and watched the crucifixion and resurrection scenes from What's In the Bible With Buck Denver (Volume 10). This is the most accurate and compelling retelling of the Easter story for kids that I have ever come across, and it well worth watching. After the video, I gave the children a few options - they were able to visit any of the following stations to make a response to the story: Art - draw a picture of the part of the story which stood out to you Write - write a poem, song or other creative writing piece about the story Prayer - I set up a corner with a cross, some candles, quiet music and put some curtains up to make it more private Story - the kids had the option of reading the story again in the Bible or a Bible storybook, or to watch a different video of the story. I have never seen CrossFire so quiet and focused. The children went their various ways. They spoke to each other, but only calmly and about their work. It was touching to see them slip into the prayer corner to be quiet with God for a little while; or to write about how they love God; and to see their drawings of the first Easter. It was one of those sessions when it suddenly seemed like they really get it. Matthew 28:1-20
Visual Clue: Plastic Egg Teach the traditional Easter greeting and response - “He is Risen!” “He is Risen Indeed!” then read the story. Discussion Starters:
Videos: Beginner's Bible version (includes crucifixion - resurrection begins 1:46) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq-NhRUIejo Older kids version: (Start at 16:37, continue to 20:53): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PSgoPdKQFQ Congratulations! You have completed the 2016 Easter Family Devotional. I hope you enjoyed learning more about Easter together Matthew 27:62-66
Visual Clue: Stone Pray together, then read the story. Discussion Starters:
Activity Options:
Extra: Make a tomb garden (instructions here) - pick your favourite from the list of ideas Video: (skip to 15:49, end at 16:30) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PSgoPdKQFQ Matthew 27:1-61 Visual Clue: Cross Pray together, then read the story. Discussion Starters:
Extra: make hot cross buns click here for recipe Videos: What's in the Bible clip - link is to JellyTelly.com, where you can get a free week's subscription to hundreds for kids videos including the full What's in the Bible series. Volume 10 is the Gospel story including an awesome retelling of Easter. If you'd rather not download it, I have a copy of the dvd you are welcome to borrow it: www.jellytelly.com Simple Version for young kids (skip to 15:14, end at 15:49): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PSgoPdKQFQ Matthew 26:26-75
Visual Clue: Bread and Cup Pray together, then read the story. Discussion Starters:
Activity Options:
Story Video: Beginner's Bible Version (Whole story of Easter - skip to 10:33, end at 15:14; covers supper, prayer and arrest) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PSgoPdKQFQ Word for Word (Last Supper only): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cau9Hys25Mg Matthew 26: 6-16
Visual Clue: Perfume Pray together, then read the story. Discussion Starters:
Story online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruhjpOczDaI The Important Commandments – Matthew 22:34-40
Visual Clue: Origami Heart Pray together, then read the story. Discussion Starters:
Videos: Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14hOxWe_FVU (you may wish to skip to about 1 minute in as the odd character presenting the story does talk quite a bit to start with) Love the Lord you God song (kids know this one from CrossFire):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA58XlFSIzQ&list=PLJfA8QgEJTH7U-uAdAn_n06q8tVgD3MHS&index=32 |