Looking Ahead…Mark your calendars!
 
April 8th: Kids’ Choir dress rehearsal, 3:00pm
April 9th: Palm Sunday (All kids will lay Palm Branches), Kids’ Choir Sings in PM service
April 16th: Easter Sunday, No Children’s activities during PM Service
May 17: Final Kids’ Choir
May 21st: Final TeamKID
May 26th: End of School Bash for all OCBC Kids, 6pm
June 4th-8th: VBS…Rome, Paul and the Undergound Church
June 14th: Summer Kids’ program begins
June 25th-28th: PowerPlus Preteen Camp @ Pineywoods
 
DON’T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR PRETEEN CAMP!
 
PowerPlus Preteen Camp 2017 @Pineywoods
“CONSUMED”                                                                                                                                
Psalm 119:17-24
 
Camp Cost:
$205 if registered on or before May 16th
$220 if registered after May 16th
 
$75 deposit due April 17th.  Remainder of cost due June 1st.
​

TeamKID, Sundays @ 6pm
Memory Verse: Romans 3:23
Bible Passage: The Fall – Genesis 3:1-24
Missions Emphasis: Burkina Faso
 
What We Learned: This week, your child was reminded that all people fail to live
up to God’s perfect standard. He gave one simple rule to Adam and Eve. They broke it,
and humans have suffered from the consequences of sin ever since. God later issued
the Ten Commandments as rules for how people should treat Him and others. The
Ten Commandments are meant to benefit people, and yet we break them. We come up
short and need a Savior. That’s why Jesus came to Earth! Emphasize to your child that
we cannot pay God back for the wrong we commit. We must trust Jesus to wash away
our sin. He is the only way we can be forgiven by a holy God.
 
At-Home: This is a great week to gauge your child’s understanding of the gospel.
Many children will declare themselves Christians even when they have an incomplete
understanding of salvation. Sometimes, before coming to faith in Christ, kids will
express a desire to be baptized. A child is ready to take the next step toward God in faith
when he understands the difference between needs and wants. Here’s why: a person
can want to be a Christian for any number of reasons. He only understands the need to
become a Christ follower when faced with the horrific reality of his own sin. Knowing
what your child understands and believes about sin is a great way to gauge his readiness
to become a Christian. Engage in the following activity and use the discussion prompts
as a way to continue the learning at home this week.
Make a list of family or community rules. Discuss each rule and talk about what might
happen if someone broke the rule. Explain that even though sometimes the rules feel
limiting, they are intended to help and protect everyone. Highlight that instructions
from God and others are gifts. Take a moment and thank God for the instructions He
provides for life — and for His forgiveness when we fail.
 
Bonus Verse: Acts 16:31
 
Kids' Choir, Wednesdays @ 7pm
 Hymn of the month: 
At the Cross
Getting ready for Easter! Everyone needs to be at all rehearsals…don’t forget to bring your books!
 
THE GOSPEL PROJECT FOR KIDS, Sundays @ 9:30am
 
Unit Description: After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He grew up and began to prepare for His ministry. Jesus demonstrated from a young age that He understood His role as God’s Son. When Jesus was baptized, God confirmed His sonship. Jesus was subsequently tempted by Satan, but He did not sin.
Key Passage: 1 Timothy 1:15
Big Picture Question: What makes Jesus different? Jesus is fully God and fully man.
 
Bible Story: Jesus at the Temple
Bible Passage: Luke 2:40-52
Main Point: Jesus came to earth to do His Father’s plan
 
The Book of Luke records just two narratives about Jesus’ childhood: His dedication (Luke 2:21-40) and His time at the temple when He was 12 years old (Luke 2:41-52). Both stories set the stage for Jesus’ ministry on earth as an adult. Mary and Joseph were faithful Jews. They had dedicated the baby Jesus according to the law of Moses, and they traveled to Jerusalem each year to celebrate Passover. God had commanded the men to appear before Him three times a year to observe certain festivals. (See Deut. 16:16.) Once a year, those who followed God’s law would travel to Jerusalem—often in large groups—to celebrate Passover.
 
In Bible times, a Jewish boy became a man at 13. His father would train him to take on all the responsibilities of adulthood, social and spiritual. Joseph was a carpenter, and he likely trained Jesus in his trade. When Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem, Joseph might have taken Jesus around the city to teach Him the significance of the temple and explain the purpose of the Passover feast. Jesus’ parents started the journey back home after the feast. They assumed Jesus was among their traveling companions, but He wasn’t. Jesus had stayed behind at the temple. Mary and Joseph traveled for a day before they noticed Jesus was missing. They went back to Jerusalem and found Him at the temple. When Mary asked why He had done this, Jesus answered Mary’s question with a question: “Didn’t you know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” Mary and Joseph did not understand. But Jesus is God’s Son, and it was necessary that He honor His true Father. In all this, Jesus did not sin. Even as a child, Jesus wanted to do His Father’s plan. As Jesus grew up, He became strong and wise. God blessed Jesus as He got ready to follow His Father’s plan: to die on the cross and rescue people from sin.
 
Check this session’s Activity Page and Big Picture Card as well as the Gospel Project for Kids Family App for ways to interact with the Bible content this week.
 
FAMILY STARTING POINTS
 ● Babies and Toddlers
○ Jesus is God’s Son.
○ Jesus went to the temple to worship God.
○ Jesus came to earth to do God’s plan.
○ Jesus honored God the Father and His earthly parents too.
● Preschool
○ What makes Jesus different? Jesus is God’s One and Only Son.
○ Jesus came to earth to do God's plan.
● Kids
○ What makes Jesus different? Jesus is fully God and fully man.
○ Jesus came to earth to do His Father's plan.
 
UNIT KEY PASSAGE
● 1 Timothy 1:15
 
NEXT WEEK
● “Jesus Was Baptized” (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:1-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:19-34)
 
In Christ,
Stephenie
​

​Looking Ahead…Mark your calendars!
 
March 15th: No Kids’ Choir (Spring Break)
March 19th: No TeamKID (Spring Break)
April 9th: Palm Sunday (All kids will lay Palm Branches), Kids’ Choir Sings in PM service
April 16th: Easter Sunday, No Children’s activities during PM Service
May 17: Final Kids’ Choir
May 21st: Final TeamKID
May 26th: End of School Bash for all OCBC Kids, 6pm
June 4th-8th: VBS
June 14th: Summer Kids’ program begins
June 25th-28th: PowerPlus Preteen Camp @ Pineywoods 

TeamKID, Sundays @ 6pm
What is God’s Most Important Creation?
 
Memory Verse: Genesis 1:27
Bible Passage: The Creation of Adam and Eve – Genesis 1:25-27; 2:7, 19-25
Missions Emphasis: Kathmandu, Nepal
 
What We Learned:
For the next six sessions, kids will be learning what the Bible
teaches about people. First, salvation is offered because of what Christ accomplished
on the cross. However, people need to understand the reality of their own sin and their
need for salvation. Next, all of God’s Word tells of the Covenant relationship He desires
with people and the perfect plans He has for people. Knowing what Scripture says
about people is the key to knowing ourselves. The following sessions will set a primary
foundation for your child’s understanding of sin, self, and the purposed plans of God.
Today your child learned that humans are God’s most important creation. Everything
that God made was good, but He called humankind “very good.” We are made in God’s
image, which means we have the unique ability to give God glory through the way we
use our abilities and interact with each other and the world.
At-Home: This week at home, place a poster board on the floor or affix it on a wall or
gather at a table and simply pass a piece of paper around. Draw a large oval representing
a face. Take turns blindfolding family members. Each person should try to draw one
feature of the face: hair, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, teeth, and so forth. Talk about
how amazing it is that God made people in such a special, precise, and perfect way.
 
For deeper discussion, use the following prompts.
 
1. In your own words, describe how God created people.
 
2. After reading Genesis 1–2, talk about the differences and similarities in each chapter.
Discuss as a family how the two narratives fit together.
 
3. As a spoiler for next week, ask your son or daughter why Adam and Eve were totally
            unashamed.
 
Bonus Verse: Romans 12:1
Kids' Choir, Wednesdays @ 7pm
 Hymn of the month: 
At the Cross
We are starting to prepare for Easter! Now is a great time to join the choir!
 
THE GOSPEL PROJECT FOR KIDS, Sundays @ 9:30am
 
Unit Description:
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He grew up and began to prepare for His ministry. Jesus demonstrated from a young age that He understood His role as God’s Son. When Jesus was baptized, God confirmed His sonship. Jesus was subsequently tempted by Satan, but He did not sin.
Key Passage: 1 Timothy 1:15
Big Picture Question: What makes Jesus different? Jesus is fully God and fully man.
 
Bible Story: Mary Praised God
Bible Passage: Luke 1:26-56
Main Point: God chose Mary to be Jesus’ mother.
 
God’s people had not heard a clear message from God for hundreds of years. Then one day, Gabriel—an angel of the Lord—told a man that his wife, Elizabeth, was going to have a baby. The baby's name would be John. Then the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she would have a baby, and her baby would be God's Son. Mary and Elizabeth were relatives. Elizabeth was old and barren; she and her husband, Zechariah, had no children. Mary was a young girl—likely in her early teens. She was a virgin, engaged to be married to Joseph. The announcements of these pregnancies were miraculous for both women. Both babies had been foretold by the prophet Isaiah—John in Isaiah 40:3 and Jesus in Isaiah 7:14. The angel Gabriel told Mary that Elizabeth was pregnant too, and Mary hurried to see her.
 
The journey would not have been easy. Mary traveled nearly one hundred miles to see Elizabeth, and her arrival brought great joy to both Elizabeth and Elizabeth's unborn baby. In the presence of the unborn Messiah, John leaped in Elizabeth's womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she said, "Mary, you are blessed!" The story of Mary's visit with Elizabeth gives us a remarkable picture of women living by faith. Being a young, unwed pregnant woman could have caused Mary to worry. Instead, her response is marked by her trust in God. Mary's song reflects her knowledge of God's Word and her understanding of who God is. Mary was willing to follow God’s plan, even though being Jesus’ mother would not be easy. Mary wanted to bring praise to God. Likewise, Jesus brought praise to His Father by willingly dying on the cross to save people from sin.
 
Check this session’s Activity Page and Big Picture Card as well as the Gospel Project for Kids Family App for ways to interact with the Bible content this week.
 
FAMILY STARTING POINTS
 ● Babies and Toddlers
 ○ Jesus is God’s Son.
○ God promised to send Jesus to earth.
 ○ Mary praised God for sending Jesus.
○ Nothing is impossible with God.
 
● Preschool
○ What makes Jesus different? Jesus is God’s One and Only Son.
○ Jesus’ mother was Mary.
  
● Kids            
○ What makes Jesus different? Jesus is fully God and fully man.
○ God chose Mary to be Jesus’ mother.
 
 UNIT KEY PASSAGE
● 1 Timothy 1:15
 
NEXT WEEK
 ● “Jesus Was Born” ​(Matthew 2:1-12; Luke 2:1-20)
 
In Christ,
Stephenie

Looking Ahead…Mark your calendars!
 
March 4th: CANCELLED- OCBC Kids to Ellen’s  (This will be rescheduled for later in March!)
March 16th: No Kids’ Choir (Spring Break)
March 19th: No TeamKID (Spring Break)
April 9th: Palm Sunday (All kids will lay Palm Branches), Kids’ Choir Sings in PM service
April 16th: Easter Sunday, No Children’s activities during PM Service
May 17: Final Kids’ Choir
May 21st: Final TeamKID
May 26th: End of School Bash for all OCBC Kids, 6pm
June 4th-8th: VBS
June 14th: Summer Kids’ program begins
June 25th-28th: PowerPlus Preteen Camp @ Pineywoods
 
 
***OCBC Kids’ to Ellen’s will be postponed to a later date in March. 
I will get details to you ASAP!***

TeamKID, Sundays @ 6pm
Is God Just And Good?
 
Memory Verse: Psalm 25:8
Bible Passage: The Cross – Matthew 27:32-56; Luke 23: 26-47
Missions Emphasis: Missionaries Obeying God’s Call and Direction
 
What We Learned:
During this week’s meeting, your child learned more about our
just and holy God. Because God is holy and just, He can’t be in the presence of sin and
selfishness. Therefore, we can’t come to Him through any attempts to be good on our
own. The only way we can come to God is through Jesus Christ, His Son! Children (and
adults) understand the gospel better when they realize that the holiness of God demands
perfection. That’s why Jesus had to die on the cross as a substitute. Through the cross, He
takes the sins of believers and gives them His perfect righteousness. As you talk to your
child about these concepts, remember that only Jesus is holy and just. It is only because of
what He did that we can come before God and have a relationship with Him.
Fully understanding why God allows bad things to happen is a challenge. However, when
we understand that our lives were spared and God’s own Son, Jesus, became the recipient
of that wrath through death on the cross we can see how good God truly is.
 
At-Home: This week’s meeting will likely prompt a response from your child. If your child
has trusted Jesus for salvation, encourage her in a deeper understanding of God’s nature
and the purpose of the crucifixion. If she begins asking questions about salvation, be ready
to engage her but follow her lead and move at his pace in arriving at the conclusion she is
comfortable with.
 
 If your child has not yet trusted Jesus for salvation, use these prompts
below to gauge what your child learned and how it applies to her.
 
1. Can you summarize the Bible story you heard in class this week?
2. Do you know what holiness is and why it is important?
3. Are you holy? Am I holy? Why or why not?
4. Do you know what it means to be just?
 
Bonus Verse: Nahum 1:7
Kids' Choir, Wednesdays @ 7pm
 Hymn of the month: 
At the Cross
We are starting to prepare for Easter! Now is a great time to join the choir!
 
THE GOSPEL PROJECT FOR KIDS, Sundays @ 9:30am
 
Unit Description: Many Jews returned to their land, but some remained in Persia. God used Esther to protect God’s people, and Nehemiah led them to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls. Even after returning home, the Israelites struggled to obey God completely and worship Him. Malachi the prophet warned the people not to be lazy in the way they worshiped God. Then there was silence.
Key Passage: Lamentations 3:22-23
Big Picture Question: Does God keep His promises? Yes, God is always faithful even when we are not.
 
Bible Story: Malachi the Prophet
Bible Passage: Malachi 1–4
Main Point: God told His people to repent and get ready for Jesus.
 
This week was our final week in the Old Testament as we looked at the Book of Malachi. After many years living as prisoners in Babylon, God’s people had returned to Judah. They had worked hard and overcome opposition to rebuild the temple and the walls around Jerusalem. Surely God would restore them … finally! But nothing happened. As they waited, they faced drought and economic uncertainty. God’s people probably didn’t feel like God had blessed them at all. “It is useless to serve God,” they said. “What have we gained by keeping His requirements?” (Mal. 3:14). Did God still care? It wasn’t long until they fell back into the same patterns of sin that led to their exile in the first place: idolatry, covetousness, hypocrisy, arrogance, and abuse of the poor. But God did still love His people. He had been working out His divine plan of redemption, and He never gave up on them. God sent a message to His people through the prophet Malachi. Malachi was the last of the Old Testament prophets. He spoke to God’s people approximately 100 years after the end of the Babylonian captivity.
 
Malachi’s message from God was a wake­up call. God communicated through Malachi that the people’s lack of blessing didn’t mean that God didn’t care. God exposed His people’s sin and made clear that their actions merited a curse. God’s people needed to repent and turn back to God. “But for you who fear My name,” God said, “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings” (Mal. 4:2). Malachi was a messenger—a prophet—who told God's people to repent. Malachi also told about another messenger God would send. This messenger, John the Baptist, would call people to repent and get them ready for a final Messenger, Jesus Christ. Jesus would bring good news of salvation.
 
Help your kids understand that 400 years of silence followed Malachi’s prophecy; God did not communicate to His people. This period brings us to the New Testament, when the silence would be broken by the last prophet before Jesus, John the Baptist. His words about Jesus in John 1:29 offered hope to all who heard: “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Check this session’s Activity Page and Big Picture Card as well as the Gospel Project for Kids Family App for ways to interact with the Bible content this week.
 
FAMILY STARTING POINTS
● Babies and Toddlers
○ God keeps His promises.
○ Malachi told people God’s words.
○ God promised to send a messenger before the Messiah.
○ Jesus is God’s Son, the Messiah.
● Preschool
○ Does God keep His promises? Yes, God is always faithful.
 ○ God told His people to repent.
● Kids
○ Does God keep His promises? Yes, God is always faithful even when we are not.
○ God told His people to repent and get ready for Jesus.
 
UNIT KEY PASSAGE
● Lamentations 3:22­23
 
 NEXT WEEK
● “From Abraham to Jesus” (Matthew 1:1­17
 
In Christ,
Stephenie
​