JULY MEMORY VERSE
The LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9)
So far this month our stories about community have been from the Old Testament. Today’s Bible story is found in the New Testament. Jesus often spoke of God’s kingdom. Sometimes we imagine the kingdom of God as being a place and time in the future. Jesus spoke of God’s kingdom as being present on earth right now. Moreover, Jesus encouraged his followers – that’s us, too– to bring about God’s kingdom here on earth. The kingdom of God is present anytime and anywhere God’s followers are doing God’s work and living in community the way God wants them to live.
Jesus compared God’s kingdom to a mustard seed. Mustard seeds are very tiny. Yet when planted, a mustard seed can grow into a large tree-like bush. Some mustard trees are taller than people, yet they start from a seed so small it could be easily lost.
Next, Jesus compared the kingdom of God to yeast. Bakers know the power of yeast. Although yeast is small, it causes bread dough to rise. Just a tiny bit affects a whole batch of dough. If left unchecked, the dough will continue to rise and grow many times its original size.
God’s kingdom is present all around us. As we will learn from the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast, even small things can have a large effect. These parables remind us that God’s kingdom is ordinary. God’s kingdom is abundant. God’s kingdom is surprising! When we follow Jesus’ teachings and live the way God wants us to live, great and amazing things can happen. God can turn our small efforts into magnificent results. God’s kingdom is here and now.
DEEP BLUE ADVENTURES APP
While I was looking for all the new material to share with you about our new unit, I stumbled across this app. I downloaded it for free, and it has all the videos to go along with the Bible story each week. There is a trivia game, a fun scripture game and another maze game that reinforced the verse of the month. It isn’t anything fancy, but I thought I would share if you were looking for new ways to engage your kids with our weekly Bible stories at home. GET IT HERE
For the month of July, we will be taking a break from Zoom Sunday school. Pastor Lisa and Allison will be collaborating on new ideas for interacting with your children. Please join our Chapel Hill Kids Facebook Group for prerecorded and “Godly Play LIVE” Sunday School lessons. We will post favorite songs with actions each week as well as lesson plan demonstrations, and much more!
If your child did not receive a “Flat Jesus” in the mail this week, here is a digital download for you to print at home. We want the kids to remember that, even though we cannot meet together at church right now, that Jesus is always with them! Have your child color, cut out, and laminate his/her “Flat Jesus” then take him with you on your summer trips and outings. Snap a picture of “Flat Jesus” and post on our Chapel Hill Kids Facebook Group to see where CH Kids are taking Him this Summer.