Hello Chapel Hill Families!

CH Kids learned about the kingdom of God this Sunday through the parables of The Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin. Ask your child who this lesson was for. What do the sheep and coins represent?

In February, our Faith Word is “KINGDOM” and our Memory Verse is from Mark 10:14 “God’s kingdom belongs to the people like these children”. Our Bible Stories this month include:

• February 5th “Jesus and the Children” (Mark 10:13-16)
• February 12th “The Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin” (Luke 15:3-10)
• February 19th “The Forgiving Father” (Luke 15:11-32)
• February 26th “The Widow’s Coins” (Luke 21:1-4)

RESIGNATION

It is with mixed emotions that I share that my last day as Director of Children’s Discipleship will be Palm Sunday, April 2nd. I am thankful for my time as a Chapel Hill employee, proud of the work that I have done, and look forward to assisting whoever takes over this position in the future. If you or someone you know would be a great fit, please contact the office to apply. Schedule is flexible outside of Sunday mornings and special events. Approximately 15-20 hours per week. I’m happy to answer further questions, and plan on being a part of the transition process.

-Allison

PALM SUNDAY EASTER EGG HUNT & LUNCH

I hope you and your children will join us for our annual Palm Sunday Easter Egg Hunt and Lunch! Kids will be singing during both 9:30 and 11:00AM services so plan on coming at 9:30 and staying to enjoy a meal until the egg hunt at noon. Lunch proceeds benefit our CH Youth Summer Mission Trips.

If you would like to donate candy or small items to stuff the eggs, please deposit those in the green bins located at the entrances of the church by Sunday, March 26th. Thank you!

KDIC & PRESCHOOL ENROLLMENT

Kids Day in Christ and Chapel Hill Preschool opened their enrollment to current families and Chapel Hill members on February 1st. If you have young children interested in attending these programs, please click the links below to get them signed up. These programs fill fast, and will be open to the public on March 1st to fill any remaining spots.

Summer KDIC

KDIC 2023-2024

Preschool 2023-2024

Lunch Bunch 2023-2024 (Extended Preschool Day)

VBS 2023

Save the Date for VBS at Chapel Hill! Volunteer Registration is now OPEN! Child attendance will be limited to 250 children. To ensure your child gets a spot, join our team to receive a link for EARLY child registration. We will open child registration to the public on Palm Sunday, and will close once we fill all our spots.  We filled all 250 spots before Memorial Day last year, so do not delay!

Information for our new families:

• Our volunteers are supposed to arrive by 9:00, but life happens and sometimes they are running late. Please try to drop off kids between 9:15 and 9:30 AM to avoid waiting on them to arrive.
• Please walk your children back to their classrooms at drop off. We want our volunteers to see who goes with which kid to help speed up our pick up time.
• Don’t forget your pick-up ticket. You will show this to get back to the children’s wing and again to their teacher to pick them up.
• Remember that kids are now promoted to their next grade level so check that their name tags show they are in the right group. Please let Ryan know if it is incorrect.

We sponsor cousins, Neema & Kikwete, who live in the Angel House Orphanage in Tanzania, Africa. We have pledged to give $90/month in order to provide food, clothing and schooling to these children at Angel House. Each Sunday, kids have the opportunity to bring money to put into our offering for Neema and Kikwete. Would you help us meet our goal by sending your child with $1.00 each week? Our former Director of Children’s Ministries, Raegan Brane, has visited Angel House in the past. You can find out more information about the Grassroots Organization and Angel House by clicking HERE.

REMINDER:

If you have a 3rd, 4th or 5th grader that has a Deep Blue Bible, please help them remember to bring it with them to Sunday school each week! We don’t have many extras of that particular version at the church and they will be looking up and reading scripture every time they come to church from now on.

Don’t forget to check our Chapel Hill Kids Facebook Group regularly for the most up to date information. If you haven’t checked your child’s information on the birthday post, please make sure you do so as soon as possible. I have marked it as an announcement so you can easily find it. If you have moved in the last year, please contact the office so that we have your correct address on file so they can receive some birthday mail. The office number is (316) 684-1117.

Blessings to you and your children,

Allison

Celebrate Wonder is a Sunday school curriculum that engages children’s natural sense of curiosity to help them understand God’s love. It creates a safe environment for kids to ask big questions — helping them explore the Bible in ways that feed their imagination and encourages creativity. Through carefully-selected Bible stories, songs, videos, and hands-on activities, Celebrate Wonder gives children the tools to explore their faith while incorporating it into their daily lives.

Each month, our weekly stories will align with a Faith Word. The Faith Word for the month of February is “KINGDOM”.

Many teachings on this well-known parable focus on the happy return of the younger son. However, the parable of the forgiving father is really about all three of the characters in the story—the younger son, the father, and the older brother. At some point in our lives, each of us has probably felt like each one of these three family members. Most of us can relate to the father, as we have had the experience of continuing to love someone despite a mistake. And then there’s the older brother. At one time or another we have each felt that life is unfair. And, of course, we must remember the younger son. We have each made poor choices and been in a situation where we needed to ask for forgiveness.

Hopefully, we have each also experienced the relief of being forgiven and loved no matter what. We can all strive to be like the forgiving father, but we can also strive to be the younger son who recognizes our wrongs and asks for forgiveness. We can even be like the older brother who might be hesitant to offer forgiveness, but continues to be in conversation with those whom we feel have done wrong.

Jesus used the parable of the forgiving father to teach people that every person is important to God. There are things to learn from each person in this story. When we can put ourselves in the shoes of others, we can be reminded that God’s unfailing love and forgiveness is offered to everyone.

Sometimes forgiveness is hard, and forgiveness is not always required. However, are there things for which you might need to give yourself forgiveness? Consider something you might be holding against yourself. Something you said, did, or didn’t do. This Bible story reminds us that no one is perfect, but we can always run into God’s loving arms. When we can know we are forgiven we better understand God’s unconditional love. This week, rest in the knowledge that you are a beloved child of God.