Blogging Toward Sunday, March 18th, 2018

Fifth Sunday in Lent

Unbreakable

Theme: Marriage Vows! 

 

Jeremiah 31:31-34 Common English Bible 

31 The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.

32 It won't be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant with me even though I was their husband, declares the Lord.33 No, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my Instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

34 They will no longer need to teach each other to say, "Know the Lord!" because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord; for I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sins.

As the the Children's Ministry Director every week I work hard to match the message in worship to the message in Kids Worship.  The purpose is to provide continuity among family members and hopefully a point of communication later on about the weekly biblical message.  The best way I can think of doing this is by breaking down the Bible verse in to one simple Bible point. Thankfully, curriculum resources are available with this in mind, so finding activities is pretty simple.  Bible points are also how I create my Children's Stories.  They lead to short and sweet moments for God to speak through our children and also set adults up for a snapshot of the days message.  

Another perk of a Bible point is I'm easily reminded of them throughout my daily life.  One of my favorites is "God's Word Is Full of Surprises."  Although it's not the Bible point for this week, I have found myself thinking, "Wow, God's Word "IS" full of surprises!"  I'm surprised at how enjoyable this piece of scripture has been.  It appeared simple and straight forward, but the more I studied, the more I gained.  I was surprised in how my initial outline for the message has changed.  What I confidently proposed in the beginning has revised to something much deeper.  This leads me to our sermon title, Marriage Vows.  I was surprised to find that the title Marriage Vows doesn't mean exactly what you might think.  To give you a hint, The Bible point for this week is, "We Belong to God!"   Come hear what I have to say.  I hope God's Word will surprise you too.   

See you in Church!

Julie Chatfield

Director of Children's Ministries