Last night at Kids Quest Wednesday the elementary school age kids learned about trusting God. Together we talked about the story of Abraham trusting that God had a plan when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. We talked about how sometimes it is hard for us to trust God when we can't see God or when we don't know what the future holds.
One of the hardest times for me to trust God was about a year ago when my brother, Thomas, was in a tragic motorcycle accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury. Thomas had been in a coma for almost two weeks, and when Thomas woke up he couldn't talk, eat, walk, or do much of anything. I told the kids it was harder for me to trust God because I wanted my brother to get better so bad, but I didn't know if my brother would ever get better. During that time of uncertainty it was the kids at the church that reminded me to trust God. They were constantly praying for my brother and for me. Their unwavering faith in God helped me to remember that I needed to trust in God.
The kids were delighted last Spring as I would come to church each week with a good update about the progress Thomas was making in his recovery. They all had begged me to bring my brother to meet them. As I was getting ready for last night's lesson, I had wished that Thomas was still living in Georgia so he could come and talk to the kids about how he trusted God during his recovery. Luckily we have access to wonderful technology that made that possible. Thomas so graciously made a video of himself sending a message to the kids about how he can trust in God. Thomas told the kids that he trusted in God all throughout his recovery and because Thomas trusted God then, it's made his relationship with God stronger today. Below is the video Thomas made for the kids.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Daniel's Lesson
February 14th is a day we have set aside on our calendar each year to tell the people who are important in our lives how much we care about them. We often spend the other 364 days of the year neglecting to do this and it takes a special holiday, like Valentine's Day, to remind us to tell someone that we love them.
The Bible talks about love many different times. Doing a simple Google search, I found that the word love or a form of the word love appears in the Bible over 600 times in the New International Version! If you ask any kid they would tell you that 600 is a pretty big number, so the concept of love is pretty significant to God.
God made each one of us out of love. God sent his son, Jesus, to Earth because God loved us so much. During Jesus' ministry on Earth he taught us about love numerous times. In fact, when Jesus was being challenged to identify the greatest commandment that God had given us, he responded by saying, "The greatest commandment is to love others just as I have loved you." Christ calls us to share God's love not just on Valentine's Day, but everyday!
This weekend I saw the perfect example of the kind of love that Jesus is talking about. On Saturday mornings 85 children come to our gym to play in our children's basketball league. During the game each child is assigned to guard another child from the opposite team. Most of the time the kids guard each other throughout the game without saying a word to their opponent. They are both from rival teams. and to talk to each other would be fraternizing with the enemy.
However, this past Saturday I saw something different happen. It was the very beginning of the game. Excitement filled the air as both teams began playing with hopes of scoring many baskets. Just as the game was gaining momentum, one of the children hurt their finger and had to go sit down. Daniel, who was on the same team as the hurt girl, quickly rushed over to her to make sure she was okay. Then to Daniel's surprise he was put into the game to give the girl time to let her finger feel better.
Daniel is a kindhearted boy who, like any boy, loves competition. I expected for Daniel to take his spot in the game, guarding his opponent, and saying nothing to the opponent just like everyone else did. Instead Daniel ran into the game, went up to his opponent, and said "Hi! I'm Daniel. How are you?"
That simple gesture that Daniel made by greeting his opponent, a stranger, is one way Christ wants us to love others. Daniel's small greeting showed me that sharing Christ's love with someone doesn't have to be some grand gesture. It doesn't have to involve candy, flowers, or the moving of any mountains. Showing love to someone the way Christ has loved us can simply mean showing others, even a stranger, that you care for them.
Thank you Daniel for reminding me how easy and important it is to love others just the way Christ has loved us.
The Bible talks about love many different times. Doing a simple Google search, I found that the word love or a form of the word love appears in the Bible over 600 times in the New International Version! If you ask any kid they would tell you that 600 is a pretty big number, so the concept of love is pretty significant to God.
God made each one of us out of love. God sent his son, Jesus, to Earth because God loved us so much. During Jesus' ministry on Earth he taught us about love numerous times. In fact, when Jesus was being challenged to identify the greatest commandment that God had given us, he responded by saying, "The greatest commandment is to love others just as I have loved you." Christ calls us to share God's love not just on Valentine's Day, but everyday!
This weekend I saw the perfect example of the kind of love that Jesus is talking about. On Saturday mornings 85 children come to our gym to play in our children's basketball league. During the game each child is assigned to guard another child from the opposite team. Most of the time the kids guard each other throughout the game without saying a word to their opponent. They are both from rival teams. and to talk to each other would be fraternizing with the enemy.
However, this past Saturday I saw something different happen. It was the very beginning of the game. Excitement filled the air as both teams began playing with hopes of scoring many baskets. Just as the game was gaining momentum, one of the children hurt their finger and had to go sit down. Daniel, who was on the same team as the hurt girl, quickly rushed over to her to make sure she was okay. Then to Daniel's surprise he was put into the game to give the girl time to let her finger feel better.
Daniel is a kindhearted boy who, like any boy, loves competition. I expected for Daniel to take his spot in the game, guarding his opponent, and saying nothing to the opponent just like everyone else did. Instead Daniel ran into the game, went up to his opponent, and said "Hi! I'm Daniel. How are you?"
That simple gesture that Daniel made by greeting his opponent, a stranger, is one way Christ wants us to love others. Daniel's small greeting showed me that sharing Christ's love with someone doesn't have to be some grand gesture. It doesn't have to involve candy, flowers, or the moving of any mountains. Showing love to someone the way Christ has loved us can simply mean showing others, even a stranger, that you care for them.
Thank you Daniel for reminding me how easy and important it is to love others just the way Christ has loved us.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
What is Kids Quest?
Merriam-Webster defines quest as a person or group of person who are on a search or adventurous journey. If you think about it, all people are on a quest. We are all on a quest to live a fulfilling life experiencing all that we can and seizing as many opportunities as possible. As Christians we are on a different kind of quest. As Christians we are on a journey to experience, understand, and share God’s love through Jesus Christ.
So what is Kids Quest? Kids Quest is the Children’s Ministry of First Baptist Marietta where were are joining with our children on their life quest as we strive to teach and share Christ’s presence and Christ’s love to every child.
Kids Quest’s purpose is share the knowledge of God and God’s love; encourage each child to experience God’s presence by being in a personal relationship with Christ; and offers various opportunities and projects for children to begin doing or living out their faith. It is my prayer that each child is able to grow in a relationship with God through knowing, being, and doing.
Through this blog we will share our journey and our quest to carry out God' great commission with you. I hope you will come along in this ultimate quest!
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