Sunday December 9, 2007

PEACE

Last week we heard about Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, not being liked by certain Jewish people and how they hurt him. This week, in Acts 8:1-8, we read about Saul “Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” (Acts 8:3) Saul did not want anyone speaking about Jesus Christ. A lot of Christians ran away from Jerusalem so they would not be put in prison or killed. Even though it looked like the church was falling apart…GOD WAS AT WORK!!! "Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” (Acts 8:4) Just because the Christians had to leave their homes in Jerusalem, they did not stop believing in Jesus Christ and performing miracles in His name. They began to spread the good news to all the people they met in other cities. Even though it was very sad that Stephen and other Christians were killed or put in jail, God used the disaster to spread the message that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world. Nothing, not even someone’s death can stop the love of Jesus being spread around the world.

THIS WEEKS MEMORY VERSE

“For he … is our peace…” (Eph. 2:14)

Sunday December 2, 2007

WHERE CAN WE WORSHIP GOD?

Is church a good place to God? Definitely! It is nice to go to a special building to be with others who love God, want to learn more about Him, want to sing praises to Him, want to worship Him, want to pray to Him, and want to share His love with others. Is church the only place where you can worship God? Definitely NOT! No man-made building can hold God. In Acts 6:8-8:1, we read about the Jews who did not like a man named Stephen saying that the Jewish Temple was not where God lived and was not only place to worship God. They did not understand that true faith not need a special building. “The God who made this world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands” (Acts 17:24). God is not in a building. People can meet God anywhere. Jesus, God’s son, died for our sins and those people who believe this will receive God’s Holy Spirit and God will live in them. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and Spirit of God dwells in you”( 1 Cor 3:16). This is very exciting news but the Jews in Acts 6:8-8:1 did not believe what Stephen told them so they threw stones at him.

THIS WEEKS MEMORY VERSE:
“Put your hope in God…” (Psalm 42:5)

Sunday, November 25, 2007

In Acts 6:1, we read, “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.” It was exciting to see more and more people believing in Jesus Christ, but it was not good that some of these new Christians were unhappy because they felt that they were being left out and forgotten. Jesus’ apostles were very busy teaching and praying, so they chose seven men that would be good at taking care of the needy.

THIS WEEKS MEMORY VERSE:

"Blessed is he who is kind to the needy."
(Proverbs 14:21)

Sunday November 18, 2007

What do you do when you get sick? I bet you tell your parents that you are not feeling well, they take your temperature, and then they decide if you need some medicine. If you have a really high temperature, a bad injury, a serious infection, or a broken bone, they will take you to the doctor’s office or the hospital. In Canada, we always know that we can go to someone near us when we are sick and they will help us get better. In the Bible, in the book of Acts, there were no hospitals and a lot of today's medicines were not discovered. So what did people do? Well, when they saw Jesus' apostles performing so many miracles (remember the crippled man that Peter and John prayed for?) they “brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some them as he passed by." (Acts 5:15) The people knew that God had given Peter special powers, through the Holy Spirit, to heal the sick “in Jesus name”. Because of the peoples’ strong faith “all of them were healed” (Acts 5:16)

THIS WEEKS MEMORY VERSE:
“We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29)

Sunday November 4, 2007

IN TROUBLE FOR JESUS

In Acts 3, we read about Peter and John praying, in Jesus name, for a crippled man to walk...and the man did! Do you think that you would get in trouble if you helped someone walk? No way! People would be amazed and very pleased that you were able to help the man. In the Bible, it says that man people who saw the crippled man walking "were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened..." (Acts 3:10). BUT the religious leaders that had wanted Jesus killed were not happy that Peter and John were saying, "You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead." (Acts 3:15) They did not believe that Jesus was God's Son and rose from the dead. They didn't believe in miracles being performed in Jesus name. So they put Peter and John in jail! But guess what is so amazing? Even when Jesus' disciples were put in jail many people still believed in Jesus and became Christians. Nothing can stop the power of the Holy Spirit.

THIS WEEKS MEMORY VERSE
"And they...spoke the word of God boldy." (Acts 4:31)

Sunday October 28, 2007

SHOW ME YOUR MUSCLES!
I love to exercise to make my body feel strong and healthy. There are all kinds of exercises that you can do to keep your body in shape. You can run, walk, bike, jump, swim ... or play a sport like hockey, soccer, basketball and so on. The more you exercise, the stronger your muscles will get! BUT ... How strong is your faith? Today we learned about a man who was born crippled. He would sit at the temple gates everyday and beg for money from the people who walked by. One day two disciples, Peter and John, passed by. They did something very special for the crippled man. Instead of giving him money, they prayed for him: "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazateth, walk." (Acts 3:6) Instantly, the man's feet and ankles became strong so he jumped up and began to walk. "By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. (Acts 3:16) We will work together this year to try and help each other strengthen our faith!

THIS WEEKS MEMORY VERSE:

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you..." (Acts 1:8)

October 21, 2007

Become an Adding Machine

How do we get more of something? If we want more sandwiches we use more bread; if we want more cookies we use more cookie dough; if we want more muscles we exercise more; and if we want more people to come to our party we invite them. In Acts 2:41, we read, “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” People were starting to understand that Jesus, God’s Son, died for their sins and He could be the Lord and Saviour of their lives if they asked Him. “And the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved.”(Acts 2:47) God wants to add everybody to His kingdom, including all you children. Is there anyone you could tell about Jesus and invite them to come to Church and learn more? Let’s try to all become God’s little adding machines!

THIS WEEKS MEMORY VERSE
"And the Lord added to their numbers…”
(Acts 2:47)

Sunday October 14, 2007

Do you like to receive gifts? Why do we give a gift to someone? We might give someone a present for their birthday, anniversary, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Father's day, Mother's Day, a new baby, graduation, and so on. In the Bible, we can find a lot of verses that talk about God giving gifts to His people. In Acts 1:4, just before Jesus was taken up to heaven in a cloud, we read that Jesus told His disciples to "wait for the gift my Father promised..." I bet the disciples were very excited and impatient to receive their gift. What could it be? The disciples all waited together and prayed continually. Then, ten days after Jesus went to heaven, they received their gift. Do you think they received it from a mailman? No!

This Weeks Memory Verse:

"Repent and be baptized...and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:38

Sunday September 30th, 2007

Wouldn’t you like to be able to read the bible all by yourself? Well... guess what ... one day you will. Then you can read about God creating the earth, Noah building the Ark, city walls being built, cities being destroyed, Jesus being born, Jesus performing miracles, Jesus healing the sick and teaching his disciples how to live, Jesus dying for our sins and rising from the dead so we can have eternal life with Him in heaven. WOW!… that sounds great, but how do we learn to read? Today, we will start to learn the letters of the alphabet. Then, we can put the letters together to make some words that you will read in the bible.

Why Should We Pray?

What do you do when you want to ask somebody a question, tell them something, or thank them for something? You either go talk to them, call them on the telephone, or send them a letter. That was easy to answer… but what do you do when you want to talk to God? You might be scared, needy, worried, sad, mad, hurt, happy, or even thankful. What do you do? “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:4-7).

Each week in our Sunday School class we will list our prayer requests, answers to prayers, and prayers of thanksgiving. If you have something or someone to pray for please tell Mrs. Abbott.

THIS WEEKS MEMORY VERSE

“ …Lord, teach us to pray…” (Luke 11:1).

September Start-Up

A very warm welcome to all 3, 4, and 5 year old children to our fun-filled Sunday School class. Once again you will each get your own duotang for weekly papers. Each paper will have an activity to do, a memory verse, a prayer journal, and other interesting news.

Each week one child will be allowed to take Violet, the cat, home. They will take care of her, play with her, practice memory verses with her, and pray with her. A parent can write a few lines in Violet’s book about what you did and then you can draw or paste a picture of Violet and you in the book.

THIS WEEKS MEMORY VERSE:

“I know the plans I have for you…” (Jeremiah 29:11)