We Are Mighty to Serve!

As part of the Sunday school class, I try to find ways that the first and second grade class can share Jesus with others. For example, every year we collect items and fill shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. In addition to this, we try to find other ways that we can serve and share our love of Jesus Christ. For example, if we have a church member that is sick or recovering from surgery, we will shower the person with cards and prayers. For the past month or so, we have been sending a card each week to a church member who had surgery. This week, I received a beautiful letter from her in the mail. I can’t wait to share the letter with the children tomorrow! They will be so excited! How do you share Jesus with others?

What Did The First and Second Grade Sunday School Class Do On February 20th?

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Lesson: Jesus Visited Mary and Martha from Luke chapter ten verses thirty-eight through forty-two

Introduction to the Lesson: The children in my Sunday school class absolutely love word finds! Every so often I will create word find with words from the lesson. The children love to work together to find all of the words. This week they had to find eight words for the upcoming lesson. I love using word searches as an introduction to the lesson, because the children already know some of what we will be reading about! They love to be able to connect the words that they found earlier in the Sunday school hour to what they are reading out of the Bible.

Lesson Time: I read Luke 10:38-42 to the children. I stop during the reading to ask the children questions about the text. At the end of the lesson, I passed out an index card to each child. Each of the index cards had different questions on them relating to the scripture that we read as well as the life application (How We Can Serve the Lord). The class then goes around in a circle. Each child reads his/her question, and the other children answer the question. This really helps to reinforce the concepts form the lesson.

Craft Time: The children made a paper plate serving clock (modified from a Life Way resource). Before making the craft, I had the children brainstorm with me ways that we can serve the Lord. I wrote the ideas on the white board in the Sunday school classroom.

Here are the instructions for making the clock:
1. Distribute a plate to each child
2. Have the children fold the paper plate to make four even sections
3. Have the children use marker to label the hour marks of 3, 6, 9, and 12
4. Ask the children to write or draw four ways that they can serve the Lord, one in each section of the clock
5. Have pre-cut strips for the hour and minute hand
6. Have the children cut/glue or use a brass fastener to connect the paper strips (clock hands) to the paper plate
7. Have the children share their clock with others

Lesson Extension: Word Collage- The children used a half sheet of construction paper to glue on this week’s memory verse, which is Galatians 5:13 (Serve one another through love). They then used marker to write ways that we can serve the Lord around the memory verse. We hung them up on the Sunday school bulletin board. I hope to share a picture of our bulletin board in the near future…as this will encourage me to do more work on the bulletin board.

Looking for ways to reinforce this week’s lesson at home?
-Have your son/daughter tell you the story from this week
-Re-read the Luke 10:38-42 with your son/daughter
-Brainstorm ways with your son/daughter that you can serve the Lord
-Continue to pray with your son/daughter

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes! :)

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 package of dry cake mix (I used Betty Crocker’s party cake mix.)
24 cake cup cones (I used 12 jumbo size cake cup cones.)
Eggs, oil, and water as per the ingredients on the back of the cake mix box

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
Mix cake according to the directions on the back of the box
Place cupcake wrappers (cups) in the muffin pan
Place cones into the muffin pan
Fill the cones about ¾ filled
Bake for approximately 20 minutes
Cool, ice, and then eat!

ABC

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Introduction to the Lesson:

As the children came in the door to the Sunday school room, they were assigned a letter. The children could have been assigned one of three letters, A, B, or C. They were then instructed to use a plain white sheet of paper to list or draw items that started with their letter. After about ten minutes, the children shared what they came up with. I also shared the ABC’s of becoming a Christian with them.

Snack:

For snack I made ice cream cone cupcakes. My next post will provide instructions on how to make these. The kids enjoyed them! Plus, it was even one the birthday of one child! I didn’t even know it was his birthday, so this worked out perfectly!

The Lesson:

Together we read Acts 8:26-40. I stopped along the way to ask children questions about the passage. At the end of the passage, the children had the opportunity to earn prizes. If they were successfully able to answer a question correctly about the passage, they could pick one item from the “prize box.” I don’t often award prizes for this, but sometimes I do.

Lesson Extension:

When I arrived at the church, I opened my Sunday school bag to find that my glue sticks were missing in action. Instead of gluing three circles, each labeled A, B, or C, I improvised and had the children make a chain. The children labeled three circles, A, B, and C. Then they added the definition for each letter, and a verse that corresponds with each letter to separated circles. We then stapled them together to make a chain.
This is one of the many times that I am thankful to be a school teacher. A few years back, I would have panicked if I couldn’t find the glue sticks. Now I just say, “Okay, how can I make this craft happen?”

During the month of February, we will be learning more about what the Bible tells us to do regarding making decisions. I hope to post some ideas that I have planned later in the week. Stay tuned for the cupcake recipe and a post later this week!