KidzPort March 7 – Dem’s da Rules

March 8, 2010

Ever wonder why there are so many rules?   We have rules for everything -

what we can’t do, what we have to do…

Kids, especially, have a lot of rules to deal with.  Parents’ rules, school rules, church rules.  Sometimes the rules seem unfair or even silly.  We talked Sunday about some of those rules; what the kids felt was unfair, or unreasonable.  (Surprisingly few bedtime complaints.)   I’m happy to report almost none of our kids are allowed to watch The Family Guy.

God has rules.  The most famous of these are the Ten Commandments.   But there are actually over six hundred commandments in the Old Testament!  How are we supposed to remember them all?    Romans 2:15 says:

who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) (Romans 2:15, New King James Version)

So, in other words, God places His law directly in our hearts, so that we can know what it right and wrong.  We need to listen to that.  How?  Psalm 119:11 says this:

Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You. (Psalm 119:11, New King James Version)

(Which, by the way, is a memory verse.)  If we keep reading God’s word, then we will be better able to obey His rules, won’t we?

For Parents:

• Read the memory verse together with your child. (Ps. 119:11) What does it say to them?  Have them explain it to you.
• We went over the Ten Commandments in class.  See how many your child remembers, and work together toward memorizing them.
• Pray together that both of you will listen to God’s word that He has placed in your heart.

KidzPort February 7 – ABBA

February 9, 2010

Not the band.  No “Dancing Queen” here.

It’s pretty common in our culture to give people nicknames.   We do it all the time, even if the “nickname” is just adding an ending to someone’s name.   We even give our parents “nicknames” of sorts; we call mothers “mom, mommy, mamma, ma.”    We call fathers “dad, daddy, dadda, pappa, pop…”   Technically, these are called diminutives. That’s an unfortunate word.  Because when we give someone a personalized name, it means that we have a special, personal, intimate relationship with that person.   After all, it would be weird if a total stranger came up to a woman and started calling her “Mommy.”  Wouldn’t it?

Can we have this kind of familiar, casual relationship with God?  Of course!!  In fact, the Bible shows us we can.  The Aramaic work abba is the equivalent to something like “Daddy.”   Jesus used this word when praying in the garden.  (Mark 14:36)

For Parents:

• Ask your child if they have any nicknames for their friends, or talk about any “family” names that your family might have.  Are there stories behind them?
• Read Romans 8 and Galatians 4 together.  Can you find where “Abba” is used, and why.  What does it say to you?
• Pray together, trying to be more personal and less formal in our conversations with our heavenly “Daddy.”

KidzPort Feburary 15 – Drawing Near

February 16, 2009

We had a great conversation this week about drawing near to God.  The topic came from last week’s message by Sister Amy. 

One fun thing that we did was show the difference between one person moving toward another, and two people moving toward each other.  It takes a lot less work to approach someone if they are moving toward you at the same time – especially if their steps are a lot bigger than yours.

Our tex this week was from James 4:7-10. 

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

We also talked about why we must approach God with “clean hands” and a “pure heart.” 

For Parents:

• Demonstrate what it means to “draw close” by striving to draw close to your child this week.
• Practice the memory verse with your child: James 4:8

Also this weekend, some members of KidzPort shared in song at Beacon of Light Community Church in Waterbury. Click for bigness.

KidzPort – February 8 – More and More Music

February 9, 2009

We spent almost the entire time Sunday working on some new music – with a purpose.  

We’ve been teaching on that God alone stands out – that there is truly no one like Him.  In fact, our verse states it: 2Sam 7:22

Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

We continued to work on the song “There is No One Like You” by David Crowder* Band.

There is no one like you

There has never, ever been anyone like you!

For Parents:

• Continue to work on the memory verse with your child.
• If you have access to this song, play it, and have your child sing along.
• In your prayers with your child, stress that there is no one like God.