Hello Chapel Hill Families!

CH Kids learned about “The Good Samaritan” (Luke 10:25-37) this past Sunday. We talked about how everyone is our neighbor, and ways we can show kindness to others. Our 4th and 5th graders wrote out some ideas and took them home to fulfill throughout the week with their families. For our Spiritual Practice, the kids played a game where they took turns retelling different parts of the story.

This coming Sunday, we will have popcorn and a movie since many people are traveling for Spring Break. Here are our upcoming Bible lessons:

• March 12th – “The Two Houses” (Matthew 7:24-27) POPCORN SUNDAY!
• March 19th – “The Sower and the Seed” (Matthew 13:1-9)
• March 26th – “The Last Supper” (Mark 14:12-26)

We have started the countdown until my last day by singing and dancing to all my favorite songs before I go on April 2nd. I am going to miss this part of my job the most! We started practicing our Palm Sunday song, “Ho Ho Ho Hosanna”. Click the link if you would like to practice with them at home.

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 are now open to the public to fill the last few 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 March is “PARABLES”.

The parable of the wise and foolish builders is presented in Matthew as part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Jesus tells of two builders who each built a house. One builder built a house on rock and the other builder chose to build a house on sand. And then the rains came. People listening to Jesus’ story originally were familiar with the conditions of the wadi, a desert area that is dry in summer but floods in winter. Houses built on the sand in this area would only last until the heavy rains flooded the area.

This parable illustrates that wisdom is more than knowledge. In the parable, the wise builder builds a house upon rock, while the foolish builder builds a house on sand. When it rains heavily and the floods come, the house on the sand is washed away while the house on the rock remains. Both builders had certainly encountered sand and rock and were aware of the properties of each. The wise builder used knowledge to make a good decision. Wisdom is using what you know to make good decisions.

Jesus’ explanation of this parable is to compare those who hear his words and follow them to the wise builder. Those who hear Jesus’ teachings and ignore them are likened to the foolish builder. Everyone who hears Jesus’ teachings has the same knowledge. Each person makes a choice about using that knowledge. Parables give us wisdom to follow Jesus.

As adults our faith is still expanding and growing. When faced with challenges, struggles, or doubt, remember the acronym, WISE:

W – Wonder: Remain open and curious.
I – Introspection: Reflect on your life as you learn and grow.
S – Scripture: Go to the Bible to gain knowledge about your faith.
E – Everlasting: Know that God’s love is never ending.