Alleluia! Youth and Family

Thank you, Alleluia!

2007-08-31T06:55:00.000-07:00

Dear People of Alleluia!,

For once I don't have the words to fully express what I'm feeling. Becky Jacobson asked me a few weeks ago if I was going to cry when I left my position as Youth Pastor at Alleluia! I told her no because I'm too macho for that! No, seriously, I don't feel sad at all about leaving my position, because I feel it is the right thing to do now. I will miss watching first hand all the kids continue to grow in faith, but I think it is time for someone else to take over -- and I have seen God quickly provide Amelia Shrum. I know she is just what we need right now.

When I reflect on where the faith of the youth of Alleluia! is now, I am quite content and happy. Our teenagers are becoming gracious leaders who have fun together but who have also proven their faith in times of trouble and disappointment. Our middle schoolers are right behind them and our littlest ones continue to amaze me with their understanding of spiritual things. I am not saying that we have perfect kids, but I am confident that each one can go through their own struggles by faith with our help. I will continue to pray for each one to remain strong in God's power and love.

Although I won't be front and center in youth ministry, I still will care deeply for our kids. As I work on other things in my career, I will keep looking for opportunities to serve, encourage and teach young people. Please pray for God's plan for my next steps to become clear to me and keep praying for our young people, too.

Finally, thanks for all the encouragement each of you has been to my family and me. The "Roast" you all put together a few weeks ago made Ryo, Stephen, Andrew, Faith and me feel well loved and much appreciated. Each of you deserves the same, because without the congregation's prayers, love and support I couldn't have done a thing.

With Christ's love, Don, Ryo, Stephen, Andrew and Faith Pearson

Spiritual Gifts

2007-03-19T06:51:00.000-07:00

In Sunday School, on March 11 and 18, we talked about Spiritual Gifts and how to put them to use. In the characters of Priscilla, Aquila and Apollos (from Acts, chapter 18) we learned how Christians can help each other to identify and enhance our God-given talents.

The first step is to help each other identify our talents. We used the ELCA’s Spiritual Gift Inventory to introduce the kids to the concept that God gives each person a special talent, ability or interest in order to serve others. (1 Peter 4:10) You as a parent may already know what your child’s gift is, but our purpose in doing this is to encourage each of us to understand and use our gift, and to help our church friends do the same.

We used materials from the ELCA’s website entitled “Early Signs of God’s Design." Click here to go to the website and download the materials.

This exercise is meant to support you as you raise your child to worship and serve God. Please read over these materials and let me know if you have any questions. We are praying for your child individually to hear and respond to God’s calling.

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF Results!

2006-11-14T18:52:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the efforts of 15 of our Sunday's COOL kids we were able to raise $132.82 by Trick-or-Treating for UNICEF! This will help UNICEF to provide clean water for a whole village!

Adult Sunday School Bible Study

2006-03-02T13:46:00.000-08:00

The Gospel of Mark

Led by Youth and Family Pastor Don Pearson

Sundays — 9:30 a.m. in the Scottish Corners Elementary Art Room.

March 12—God’s Power—Mark 1:1 to 3:12
March 19—The Disciples—Mark 3:13 to 8:30
March 26—No Meeting
April 2—Suffer Many Things—Mark 8:31 to 10:52
April 9—Triumph?—Mark 11:1 to 16:20

Please read the passage before coming to the study!

Velvet Elvis, Chapter 7

2006-02-12T18:17:00.000-08:00

February 19, Chapter 4 -- Good
pp. 156-177

1. What is the significance of Jesus rising from the dead in a garden? (pp. 156-157)

Our Environment, p. 157
2. Why should Christians be environmentalists? (p. 158)
3. What is the difference between calling creation ‘good’ and ‘perfect’? (p. 158)
4. What environmental sins does Bell talk about on page 159?

Moving Forward, p. 160
5. What will happen to creation when Jesus returns? (p. 160)
6. What is the full meaning of the cross? (p. 161)
7. What is the difference between the beginning of creation in Genesis and the end in Revelation? (p. 161) What does this mean about God’s goal for creation?

A New Culture, p. 161
8. What term does Paul use for Jesus’ resurrection? (p. 161) Why?
9. What did the first Christians do with the order of the Roman Empire? (p. 162) How did they do this? (pp. 162-163) (Read Acts 17:6 in the King James Version if you have it.)
10. What did Paul do first in world literature? (p. 163) (Galatians 3:28)
11. Why didn’t the first Christians spend a lot of time proving Jesus’ resurrection? (p. 164)

Serving Others, p. 165
12. What does Bell mean when he says God’s blessing is always instrumental? (p. 165)
13. And what does Bell mean when he says God’s blessing is universal? (p. 165)
14. Why does Bell call the church a “blessing machine?” (p. 166)

Good News, p. 166
15. When do the most powerful things happen in a church? (p. 167)
16. What’s wrong with setting out to make converts, according to Bell? (p. 167)
17. When does Bell think the church is at its best? (p. 168)

Difficulty, Suffering and Hope, p. 168
18. What message should the church never, ever give about following Jesus? (p. 170)
19. What is the church’s gift to the world around us? (p. 170) Why can we give this gift? How can we give it? (p. 171)

Velvet Elvis, Chapter 6

2006-02-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

February 12, Chapter 6
"New," pp. 138-152

1. What would you say to Bell’s friend at the beginning of this chapter? (p. 138-139)
2. Who does Jesus call “sons of hell?” Why? (p. 139)

Who We Are Now, p. 139
3. What happens when we identify with Jesus’ death on the cross? (p. 139)
4. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17. What does Bell say this means for us? (p. 141) Where should we be putting our efforts?
5. Read Philippians 3:16. What sort of attitude should we have about who we are now? How does that contrast with the guy Bell was speaking to at the beginning of this chapter? (p. 142)
6. What place does shame have in the Christian experience, according to Bell? (p. 142)
7. What should our view of our new life be? (p. 143)
8. What was Jesus’ definition of “eternal life?” (p. 143)
9. What should religious communities focus on? (p. 144)
10. What does Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son teach us about atonement? (p. 145)
11. What does Bell mean, “Hell is full of forgiven people?” (p. 146) What’s the difference between heaven and hell?

Two Realms, p. 147
12. What is Bell’s definition of “hell?” (p. 147)
13. What is Jesus’ goal? (p. 148) Why?
14. How does our vision of heaven and hell need to change? (p. 150)

T’Shuva, p. 150
15. What does Jesus mean when he says “T’shuva?” (p. 150)
16. What does Bell say it means to be reborn? (p. 150)
17. What do we need to do then? (p. 151-152) Watch out, this is a trick question!!!
18. What brings heaven to earth? (p. 151)

Velvet Elvis, Chapter 5

2006-01-29T10:00:00.000-08:00

February 5, Chapter 5
"Dust," pp. 124-134

Torah, p. 124
1. What does Torah mean? (p. 125)
2. What does Bell say was the “central passion of the people of Jesus’ world?” (p. 125)
3. What was the first level of education for first century Jewish children? (p. 126) What was done there?
4. What was the next level of spiritual education? (p. 127)
5. Besides memorizing the rest of the Old Testament, what would students at this level do? (p. 127-8)
6. Why the focus on questions in rabbinic education? (p. 128)

Disciples, p. 129
7. What was the next step in rabbinic education? (p. 129)
8. What was the goal of a rabbi’s talmidim? (p. 129)
9. How far would the talmidim take this goal? (p. 130)
10. What is the significance that Jesus called fishermen to be his talmidim? (p. 131)
11. Why did Jesus take his talmidim to Caesarea Philippi? (p. 132)

“I Chose You”, p. 133
12. What lesson does Bell want us to learn from the “walking on water” passage? (p. 133)
13. What “provokes Jesus to no end?” (p. 134)
14. What message should we take away from this chapter? (last sentence on page 134!)

Velvet Elvis, Chapter 4

2006-01-22T15:30:00.000-08:00

January 29, Chapter 4
Tassels, pp. 96-120

Unleashing a Monster, p. 96
1. How does Bell describe his attitude about going to church at Christian Assembly in Los Angeles? (p. 97)
2. What do you think people loved about Bell’s church? (p. 99-101)
3. Why do you think Bell called this section “Unleashing a Monster?” How did God protect?

***If you are interested in Rob Bell’s church, Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI, visit them online at: http://www.mhbcmi.org

Shalom, p. 105
4. What were tassels, or tzitzit, supposed to remind God’s people of? (p. 105)
5. What kind of healing does Jesus offer? (p. 106)
6. What does shalom mean in the Hebraic understanding? (p. 107)

Restoration, p. 107
7. What are the two aspects of salvation that Bell talks about? (p. 107)
8. What can a merely legal-transaction understanding of salvation lead to? (p. 108-109)

My Soul, p. 110
9. Why do you think Bell decided to paint his own crisis at this point in his book?
10. What is Bell’s definition of “sin?” (p. 114)

Healing, p. 117
11. Give a few reasons why taking a Sabbath is important. (p. 117-118)
12. What does Bell feel is important for pastors and church leaders, as well as for congregation members? (p. 119)

Velvet Elvis, Chapter 3

2006-01-15T09:19:00.001-08:00

January 22, Chapter 3
True, pp. 72-92

Something Bigger, p. 74
1. Why does Bell tell us of his experiences with surfing and dolphins and his family and friends (p. 74) and of AIDS victims and funerals? (p. 75)

Everywhere, p. 75
2. Why is it possible for non-Christians to acknowledge God? (p. 77) (Isaiah 6:3)
3. Why is it even possible for non-Christians to do what is right? (p. 78)
4. What habit of Paul, the Apostle, does Bell admire? (p. 79) Why?

Logos, p. 80
5. In Bell’s opinion, how should we prepare our children for college? (p. 81)
6. What reform are we in need of regarding Jesus? (p. 82)
7. Just how BIG is Jesus? (p. 83) (Colossians 1:17), (Colossians 2:17)

Labels, p. 83
8. Why doesn’t Bell like to use “Christian” as an adjective? (p. 84)
9. What is Bell’s definition of “church?” (p. 85)
10. What is the danger of using “Christian” as a label? (p. 86)

Tour Guides, p. 87
11. What is Bell’s definition of missions? (p. 87)
12. What is a bad missionary attitude? (p. 88)

Our Story, p. 89
13. Why are others’ faith stories important? (p. 90)

Feel free to comment on this post, or pose new questions!

Velvet Elvis, Chapter 2

2006-01-14T14:02:00.000-08:00

January 15, Chapter 2 − Yoke, pp. 40-69

It’s Difficult, p. 41
1. Why doesn’t Bell, a pastor, like to hear people quote the Bible? (p. 42-4)
2. What does it mean to Bell that “the Bible is open-ended?” (p. 46)

Rabbis, p. 47
3. What was a rabbi’s role in the community? (p. 47)
4. What was a “yoke?” (p. 47)
5. Read Matthew 11:30. What kind of yoke did the Rabbi Jesus have?
6. What was the intent of taking up a rabbi’s yoke?
7. How did a new yoke get validated?
8. How was Jesus’ yoke validated?
9. What is “binding and loosing?” (p. 49)
10. What is “giving the keys to the kingdom?”
11. What is Bell’s interpretation of Matthew 16:19 and 18:18?

Our Turn, p. 50
12. What was important to Bell about the yeshiva in Acts 15? (p. 51)
13. What is the main difference in how we use the Bible today versus in New Testament times? (p. 52)
14. Where must binding and loosing be done? Why is this?
15. What does Bell say is wrong with saying “I just take the Bible for what it really says?” (p. 53)
16. What is important to know when studying the Bible? (p. 55)
17. Read Acts 15:28. What does Bell say about this passage? (p. 58)

Alive Today, p. 58
18. Why does Bell believe the Bible is still so powerful? (p. 59)
19. How has God’s Word been living and active to you? (p. 60)

Real, Real, Real, p. 61
20. Why does Bell take issue with viewing the Bible as “data” or as an “owner’s manual” for human beings?
21. What is the Bible then? (p. 63)
22. Give one example of how knowing the ancient cultures of the Bible might enhance or even change the meaning of a Bible passage. (p. 63-65)
23. Although Bible study is necessary, what, in Bell’s opinion is just as necessary? (p. 65)

Creating and Recognizing, p. 66
24. When did the Bible as we know it come about? (p. 67)
25. What does Bell say we must affirm in addition to affirming the Bible as the inspired work of God? (p. 68)

Wrestling, p. 68
26. According to Bell, what is the ultimate display of respect for the word of God? (p. 68)

Velvet Elvis, Introduction and Chapter 1

2006-01-02T09:30:00.000-08:00

VELVET ELVIS
Repainting the Christian Faith
by Rob Bell

January 8 Discussion Questions

Introduction
1. Why did Rob Bell entitle his book “Velvet Elvis?”
2. What is “the challenge for Christians?”
3. How did Martin Luther repaint the Christian faith?
4. What is the difference between the words “reformed” and “reforming?”
5. What sort of reforms is Bell talking about?
6. How does the sentence “If it is true, then it isn’t new.” fit into what Bell is talking about?

Chapter 1 − Jump
1. What it the real question concerning faith?
2. What did Jesus mean when he said he was “the way, the truth, and the life?”
3. What are the “springs” on the trampoline of our faith?
4. How is the doctrine of the Trinity like a spring?
5. Why do you think God is called “I AM?”
6. Why does Bell say, “Doctrine is a wonderful servant and a horrible master.”?
7. What image does Bell use for how some people use doctrine? Why?
8. What reason does Bell give for not building his faith brick by brick with doctrines?
9. How does “trampoline faith” differ from “brick wall faith?”
10. What kind of faith is “scary” to Bell?
11. Why is questioning so central to faith?
12. What do questions help us discover?
13. Why does Bell use the quote, “The mystery is the truth?”
14. What is the difference between how you use a wall and a trampoline? What does this say about how to follow the way of Jesus?

PIPs and KIDs Food Offering

2005-11-15T16:52:00.000-08:00

PIPs and KIDs will be cooperating to gather food for the Lutheran Social Services food pantry during our worship service on Sunday, November 20. Please bring your offering of canned fruits & veggies, soups, canned pasta and boxed macaroni & cheese.

Read to Feed

2005-11-02T10:25:00.001-08:00

The Sunday's COOL kids are getting pledges for donations to Heifer International's Read to Feed program. Sponsors pledge a certain amount per hour that kids read. (Our Bible reading in Sunday's COOL counts!) Then in December, Kathy W. will collect all pledges and send them in to Read to Feed. The money will be used to buy a pregnant goat for a needy family in Tanzania, East Africa. The family is obligated to raise the goat and then give the kid to another local family in need. Bukoli Lutheran Church, our Lutheran partner congregation is located in Tanzania.

Please support our kids by pledging to this reading program!

Elisha

2005-10-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

On October 9, small GROUP studied about the prophet Elijah's successor, Elisha. Both stories come from the book of 2 Kings.

We read the story of how Elisha raised the son of a woman from the dead.

Elisha also healed Naaman, the commander of the army of Aram, from a skin disease.

Both miracles showed that God is good and cares about even the deepest sorrows of our hearts. As Naaman said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel."

We have been watching the Nest Family Video cartoon of the prophet Elisha's life.

Elijah is taken to Heaven

2005-10-02T16:44:00.000-07:00

In small GROUP on October 2, we studied the third and last episode of the prophet Elijah's life. It comes from the book of 1 Kings, chapter 19. We talked about how God passed by Elijah as a still small voice -- not in a mighty wind, a violent earthquake or a consuming fire, but a whisper. Despite God's mighty power, sometimes God speaks to us in a whisper. God, the awesome creator, is also tender and gentle.

We then talked about how just as Elijah was experiencing God more deeply, King Ahab of Israel was falling deeper into evil. He murdered one of his subjects just to steal the man's vineyard. Elijah appeared to accuse King Ahab and fortell God's judgement on him.

Finally, we learned about Elijah's helper Elisha. We practiced saying their names so we could hear how they sound a little different. Eli-JAH and Eli-SHA. We learned that Elijah was one of only a few people who God took directly to heaven. We heard of how God sent a fiery chariot to carry Elijah home in a whirlwind.

Elijah the Prophet

2005-09-26T06:15:00.000-07:00

In small GROUP, we have been studying Elijah, the Prophet. You can read about him in the books of 1 Kings and 2 Kings. God used Elijah to call the people of Israel back to the worship of the one and only God. Elijah clashed with King Ahab and his wife Queen Jezebel, who had brought worship of the false gods Baal and Asherah into Israel.

We watched the animated movie, Testament: The Bible in Animation - Elijah. It is very dramatic and faithful to the Biblical text. It shows the contest on Mt. Carmel, where Elijah challenged Jezebel's priests of Baal to a contest to prove which god was real - Baal or the God of Israel. The movie uses Mendelssohn's "Elijah" oratorio at key dramatic moments.

Rock, Paper, Swords!

2005-09-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

For our first Sunday of the school year we talked about Swords and Rocks.

The Bible refers to itself as the "Sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17) We talked about how we can use the Bible to fight evil and cut down the weeds in our life. Like a Medieval Knight with a sword, we have a powerful weapon in the Bible.

During the second service we talked about how to put our faith in the proper place in our lives. Lisa B. came up with a great lesson on how Jesus' Spirit can soak into our lives. We put blocks of sponges into a jar until it was full. Each sponge-block represented something that takes up our time -- soccer practice, homework, playing with friends, going to school. When our jar was full and couldn't hold any more, we asked, "Where was God?" Instead of making God into another activity we have to cram into our full life, we said that God, through the Holy Spirit soaks into everything else. We got out a pitcher and poured about a half gallon of water into the jar crammed full of sponges -- and it all fit! God's Spirit will soak into everything we do -- not just our time at church.

Then we got out another, bigger jar. We borrowed this lesson from Stephen Covey. Click here for the whole story. In this lesson we learned that we have to make God a priority in our lives, and then everything will fit together!

Summer Sunday's COOL

2005-08-03T10:40:00.000-07:00

Sunday Morning at the Movies
For the Sundays between May 29 and September 4, Sunday’s COOL will be watching movies and talking about the Biblical themes in them. We hope this will be a relaxing but thought provoking summer activity for our kids. Here is the schedule:

10:33 to 10:50 -- Join the congregation for Worship in Song
10:50 -- Kids are dismissed from Worship
10:50 to 10:55 -- Get a “movie snack” and a carpet square
10:55 to 11:25 -- Movie Time!
11:25 -- Return to the Worship for Communion

Each week there will be a theme and a Bible Key Verse to think about while watching the movie. We will not watch movies rated higher than PG. Parents, please check with Don Pearson, our Youth Pastor, if you are concerned about what movies we will watch. There will always be an option for a G movie if there are any objections.

Coloring Contest
While we are watching the movie we will run a coloring contest. Here are the rules:
1. The contest runs from May 29 to September 4 — 15 weeks.
2. You may only win once during the summer.
3. There will be one winner each week, judged by the parent and teen monitors (see below)
4. The winner is not necessarily the best technique or neatest, but the person who gave their best effort, best attitude and best heart in their work for God according to Colossians 3:23 — "Work at everything you do with all your heart. Work as if you were working for the Lord."
5. Winning artwork will be framed and displayed in the hallway of the Alleluia! Office
6. Pick one picture from the box of Sunday’s COOL coloring sheets from last year.
7. You may use crayons, markers, pencils, etc.
8. Winners will get to pick a prize from the Prize Basket (there are new things in there!)
9. Void where prohibited by law. Not open to residents of MI, NE, IS, BE, ST.

Parents and Teens, we need YOUR HELP to supervise the kids while they watch the movies. We need one adult and one teen monitor each week. Please contact Don Pearson to volunteer.

Solomon's Temple

2005-04-12T07:47:00.000-07:00

While the Israelites wandered in the Desert for 40 years, they used a tent called "The Tabernacle" for worship. It represented where God lived. When they stopped, it was put up in the middle of their camp. The Bible books of Exodus and Numbers tell about the tabernacle.

God brought the Israelites into the Promised Land and gave them victory over the Canaanites. Now they could settle down. King David built himself a big house in Jerusalem, then he decided that God should have a great house, too. The first Temple was planned by David but built by his son Solomon. This all happened about 1000 years before Jesus.

This first temple stood until it was destroyed by the Babylonians about 600 years before Jesus. The Israelites were taken prisoner to Babylon and were very sad.

When the Israelites finally returned from Babylon, they started to rebuild the Temple. They finished it about 500 years before Jesus. King Herod did some more work on the Temple about 5o years before Jesus and it is often called “Herod’s Temple." The second temple was a wonder of the ancient world.

This is where Jesus sat and talked to the teachers when he was 12 years old.

The Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 AD (about 35 years after Jesus died.)

Now there is a gold domed Muslim shrine on the site. It is called "The Dome of the Rock" and is the most famous building in Jerusalem.

The site, “the Temple Mount,” is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Today The Temple Mount is managed by Muslims.

If you would like to learn more about the Temple go to The Temple Institute's slideshow.

A Lutheran Rosary

2005-02-27T13:32:00.000-08:00

Pastor Doug recently gave me an article on a Lutheran Rosary. As you may know, a rosary is a set of Roman Catholic prayer beads made to keep track of one's prayers. Some Protestants do not use the rosary because of the association of praying to the Virgin Mary rather than to Jesus.

The Catholic Dominican Fathers sponsor a website with much background information on saying the rosary. Catholic Kids has a website that describes how to do a rosary. There are also several online guides that walk one through the rosary.

The Miami Herald has an interesting article on prayer beads as well as a slide show of the prayer beads of different faiths.

There is a also Christian Rosary which focuses on Gospel Stories.

On March 6, 2005, Alleluia!'s Sunday's COOL group made and prayed an Episcopal Rosary which has 33 beads, representative of Jesus' 33 years of life. This site also has many different prayers you can use with the Episcopal Rosary.

Links in this post:
Lutheran Rosary Article: http://www.elca.org/co/rosary.html
Christian Rosary: http://www.christianrosary.com/members/696999/rosary_history.html
Dominican Fathers Rosary Center: http://www.rosary-center.org
Catholic Kids: http://www.catholic-kids.com/rosary.htm
Online Rosary: http://www.ixeh.net/faith/Treasure/Companion/order-usa/start00.html
Miami Herald article: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10988038.htm?1c
Episcopal Rosary: http://www.gigibeads.net/prayerbeads/prayers/prayers1.html

Serengeti Trek -- VBS 2005

2005-02-27T11:10:00.000-08:00

Alleluia! Lutheran Church
will be presenting Group's Serengeti Trek VBS on June 20-24 at Dublin's Deer Run Elementary. Watch this site for more information. Contact Skipper Don if you'd like to help!

small GROUP - January 16, 2005

2005-01-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

Hannah and Samuel -- 1 Samuel 1-3

First, see if you can remember the first 10 books of the Bible:

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
Joshua, Judges, Ruth,
1 Samuel, 2 Samuel

Then try this online word search.

Samuel, the last Judge
Today we are going to learn about the last Judge. His name was Samuel. He was also born to a woman who could not have children for a long time. His mother's name was Hannah. Hannah was the wife of a man named Elkanah. Elkanah had another wife named Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not. So Peninnah made fun of her. This made Hannah very sad. She cried a lot, then she decided to pray to God.

Here is the story for you to read:

Now, play this game to test your knowledge of this story.

Here is a picture of Samuel being called by God for you to color online!

Samuel is the last Judge. After him, Israel had kings.

Thank you, God, for the elderly

2004-11-18T06:35:00.000-08:00

Tish D. has a heart for the elderly. On Sunday, November 21, she will be coming into Sunday's COOL to tell us about the residents at the Convalarium at Indian Run and show us some pictures of their lives.

Samuel F. Pugh is a 100-year-old pastor, children's author and nursing home resident. He lives in Indianapolis and still volunteers to read in preschools. The picture above is of his hands and one of his many Bibles. He says, "God and I are on very good terms, and we work together to get through everything." He wrote a very touching Thanksgiving prayer about appreciating the simple blessings of food, work, home and health. You can read it here: http://www.appleseeds.org/thankgv5.htm

The Partners in Prayer visited us on November 7 and helped us make Thanksgiving Placemats. We will donate some of the placemats we made to the residents at the Convalarium. We will also send them giant Thanksgiving cards.

Thank you, Tish, for helping us remember our elders!
May God brighten their Thanksgiving Day 2004.

Sunday's COOL Offering

2004-11-09T05:13:00.000-08:00

Susan and Megan D. are coordinating an offering for the Sunday’s COOL kids. They will be collecting canned and boxed foods.

The donated items will go to either the
Plain City Food Pantry or the
Dublin Food Pantry.

We will begin our collections on Sunday, November 7 and continue throughout the school year. We will also have some mini-ushers to help Megan collect. Please help your children prepare their offering by letting them gather the food items and pray for the people who will receive them.

If you are interested in working at the Dublin Food Pantry here is their contact information:
Dublin Area Emergency Assistance Program Food Pantry
Dublin Community Church
614-889-1026
Volunteers serve by stocking shelves, bagging bread and preparing food baskets. Volunteer donations of food items are also welcomed.

Proverbs 22:9 − Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor.

All Hallow's Eve Information and Links

2004-10-07T05:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some links to help you celebrate All Saints' Day and to come up with a costume for our All Hallow's Eve party.
(Sunday, Oct. 31, 5-7 p.m. at the Alleluia! Office)

An argument for celebrating Halloween with gusto (written by an Mt. Vernon Nazarene College Professor): http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/011/29.79.html

An article from Christianity Today entitled "Is Halloween a Witches Brew?" http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/140/42.0.html

A list of Christian History Magazine articles on famous Christians: http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/features/heroes.html

A list of biographies of famous Protestants: http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/1protbio.html

Simplicity has costume ideas and patterns if you can sew:
http://www.simplicity.com/index.cfm?cat=4 (click on "Adult" or "Child" and then on "Religious and Holiday" links)

How to make a Roman Tunic: http://www.dl.ket.org/latin1/things/romanlife/howto.htm

I will post more party and costume information as I run across it.

You may also post any suggestions for the party below.

Guidelines, me hearties!

2004-09-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

Sometimes my role as skipper means I am the cruise director − coming up with games, skits, music, etc. But every once in a while I must be more like Captain Bligh, the disciplinarian commander of the HMS Bounty from the book and movie “Mutiny on the Bounty.” In order to prevent anarchy (and even mutiny!), I do have to lay down the law on a few matters, which I will describe below.

Nursery
In the interest of security and growth, please follow these guidelines:
• The Nursery opens at 9 a.m. and closes at Noon.
• Children must be signed in and out by their parent or guardian. There will be a sign in log on a table at the entrance to their classroom. Upon entering, you will be given a claim check with a number on it, corresponding to your child’s line number on the log. Your child will also be given a number to wear. The nursery attendants will only release your child to you or someone you designate if that person has the corresponding claim check.
• If your child is ill, i.e. has a fever, diarrhea, etc., please do not bring him or her into the nursery.
• The nursery staff is not responsible for disciplining your child. If a questionable situation arises, you will be summoned from worship to care for your child.
• The nursery will have a simple snack consisting of Cheerios, pretzels, etc. If your child has food allergies, please check that day’s snack.
• Please provide a well supplied diaper bag, with diapers, wipes and changing mat for the nursery staff. Mark all items such as cloth diapers, bottles, etc. with your name.

Sunday Programs − small GROUP and Sunday’s COOL
• We have an attendance chart that each child should sign and then check in each week.
• If you filled out a registration for VBS 2004, then I have all your information on file. Please check with me if you have any updates. New children or guests should fill out our Sunday Registration form available near the attendance chart.
• Please let me know if someone other than the person who dropped your child off will be picking them up, otherwise, I will only release them to the person who dropped them off.

Discipline Policy
• The Sunday Children’s programs are designed for elementary school ages only. Children too young to participate may attend the nursery, or stay with their parents in worship. We will do our best to accommodate preschoolers, but please use your discretion.
• Middle and High Schoolers are expected to attend worship − they are not to hang out on the fringes of Sunday’s COOL! There is a schedule of Middle and High School volunteers who are heartily welcomed to be with us. Otherwise, please make sure your teens are attending worship with you! We do have Sunday evening classes for both of these age groups (see below), and they may attend the adult Sunday School at 9:20 as well.
• We have a 2 chances policy. If an adult or teen volunteer asks your child to listen or behave, he or she will get two chances to modify his or her behavior. After two warnings, your child will be returned to you in worship for that morning.
• Our ushers will help us return the children to the service just before communion. If you are an usher, please remember this aspect of your job!

Please post any comments on these policies below.

Sunday Programs Feedback (9/26)

2004-09-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hello all concerned Alleluians,

Please let us know your opinion on how the first Sunday of small GROUP and Sunday's Cool went.

It was a little chaotic, just figuring out where and how to do everything, but I think everyone learned and had a fun time.

Let us know what we did well and what we can do better! Thanks!

Grace Point Community Church on September 19

2004-09-14T04:54:00.000-07:00

If anyone is looking for something to do on Sunday Morning, September 19, (since we don't have our regular worship service that day), consider attending Grace Point Community Church in Lewis Center.

Toni and PD have been there and think they are very similar to us (same type of worship format, worshipping in a school, etc.) and that we could get some good ideas from them -- especially for Sunday School.

Their Camp Quest (Sunday School for infants through 5th grade) starts at 10:30 a.m.

Here is the link to the directions and schedule:

http://gracepoint.cc/timeandlocation.shtml

PIPs and Kids!

2004-09-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

This is an exciting and awesome example of Alleluia! ministries in cooperation!

The PIPs and Sunday’s Cool Kids will be working on some projects together for the upcoming year.

Here are the PIPs and KIDs projects and prospective dates:

Oct 10 – Becky and PIP Intro. (Will you do some craft or snack here? − have to keep their attention!)

Nov 7 − Placemats (remind me and I will show you an example of what my kids made. You might ask Pat S. to help you with this and she might be able to get the use of the schools cool laminating machine! Tish might also like to take some of these to the nursing home. Firemen might like some too − as I’m sure some will be on duty and away from their families on Thanksgiving.)

Dec 5 − Ornaments (We could get a mini Christmas tree, decorate it with ornaments and McDonald's gift certificates and then deliver it to the Food pantry to have the staff give out to any kids that come into the store.)

Jan 2 − Bookmarks (this might be good for the Reeb Kids? Maybe we could purchase (or ask the congregation to donate) some inexpensive books to put them in?)

Feb 6 − Valentines (this is a definite Nursing Home thing − I think it would really touch their hearts.)

Mar 13 − Prayer Eggs (I think we might be able to do 350 for Reeb)

April − any ideas for this?

May − any ideas for this?

Please post your comments or ideas below!

VOTE

2004-09-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

Please choose from the following.
Please give a first and second choice and your reasons.

1. Faith Inkubators/GIFT
2. Potter's Workshops
3. Lifeway/G-Force
4. Group/Faith Weaver/Kid's Own Worship
5. Augsburg Fortress/Witness/Firelight

Thanks!

Equipment Required

2004-09-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

We should have added an additional requirement: EQUIPMENT!

PD has committed to buying a dedicated projector for Sunday's Cool. We would use the screen on the stage in the cafeteria. I think we can get him to throw in a DVD player. But I do not know if we can afford a laptop to go with it.

Do any of these curricula absolutely have to have Power point slides or other computer related elements? Please look into your curriculum and let us know.

Thanks.

New Names for Sunday School

2004-08-26T06:10:00.000-07:00

What should we name the new Sunday School Program?

So far the best ideas we have are to call the 9:20 program
small GROUP
This time will focus on the Bible: reading it, knowing where the different books are, who wrote it, etc. Skipper Don will lead this at first.

Then at 10:15 the kids will go to
Sunday's Cool
This will be like a mini day of VBS every week. See the postings below for more information.

What do you think about these names?
Do you have any other suggestions?
Would you like to draw us a logo?

Please post your comments below!

What we're looking for in a Curriculum for Sunday's Cool

2004-08-26T05:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some things to consider when looking at the curricula below:

1. Needs to be solid Biblically -- there should be a clear Bible Point in each lesson.
2. Needs to be multiage -- this year we will not separate kids out by age, simply because we don't have enough kids to do this effectively.
3. Needs to be interactive and appealing to a variety of learning styles -- that is, there should be music, games, activities, video, etc. in addition to a solid Biblical reference.
4. Needs to be simple to prepare for the volunteers.
5. Needs to be moderately priced. We don't want to be locked into buying a lot of expensive doodads!
6. Needs to be able to be presented in 30 minutes or less (excluding the praise and worship time.)
7. Needs to be FUN and EDIFYING for both kids and adults!

Please keep these guidelines in mind when reviewing the curricula!

Feel free to add to or comment on these guidelines below!

Faith Inkubators (GIFT) Curricula

2004-08-24T11:50:00.000-07:00

Faith Inkubators has this multigenerational Sunday School Program called

GIFT (Generations in Faith Together) at
www.tfss.com

Please add your comments below!

Potter's Workshops SS Curriculum

2004-08-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Check out The Potter's Workshops Sunday School Curriculum at

www.potters-workshops.com

Please post your comments below!

Lifeway SS Curricula

2004-08-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

Lifeway has two brand new Sunday School curricula:

G-Force
www.lifeway.com/curriculumguide/child_GForce.asp

FUEL
www.lifeway.com/curriculumguide/student_FUEL.asp

Please post your comments on these curricula below!

Group Publishing SS Curricula

2004-08-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

Group is the company that brought us Lava Lava Island VBS 2004

Faith Weaver
http://www.faithweaver.com/

Kids' Own Worship (goes with Faith Weaver as a worship program)http://www.kidsownworship.com/

Please post your comments on these below!

Augsburg Fortress SS Curricula

2004-08-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

Check out the Augsburg Fortress Sunday School Curricula at

Witness (this is what we used last year)
www.augsburgfortress.org/witness/

Firelight
www.augsburgfortress.org/firelight/

Please comment on these below!

Sunday School Attendees

2004-08-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Ann & Suzanne we have the following stats on our Alleulia! kids:

Nursery, Ages 1 to 3: 10
Preschool, Ages 4 and 5: 8
Elementary, Ages 6 to 11: 13
Middle School and High School: 16

This breakout is very similar to our VBS makeup.

Questions:
1. Do you think we should have a separate Sunday School Class for preschoolers?
2. What do you think about having the Affirmation group teach Sunday's Cool as a requirement?

Please post your comments below!

Sunday School 2004-2005

2004-08-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

Sunday's Cool

Here is a proposed format for the coming school year's Sunday School:

9:20 − 10:00 a.m. Adult Sunday School and Children’s Bible Activity
Adult Sunday School would be unchanged
Children’s Bible Activity
Using the current Children’s Church format,
see http://www.changingchurch.org/
consists of 2 coloring and activity pages
can be run by 1-2 people since we typically get 10 or few kids for this time
usually only the kids whose parents are either setting up, practicing with the band or going to Adult Sunday School

10:15 − 11:25 a.m. Sunday Bible School (SBS) (like a VBS format)
10:15 − 10:25 Song Fest
using a DVD and big screen projector
one volunteer – possibly a teen to lead songs
10:25 − 10:33 Children’s Message – Bible Teaching
similar to what we do in worship now (Childrens’ Message)
the adult who does this can return to worship when finished
10:33 − 11:20 Activity Station(s)
can be a craft, snack, service project, game
similar to one VBS station, volunteers rotate every week.
theme is based on the day’s teaching.
11:20 − 11:25 Wrapup and Prayer
11:25 − Return for Communion with the Congregation

We are thinking of using VBS-like materials for this. (But very simplified!)

Please post your comments on this below!