April 16th: Easter Sunday, No Children’s activities during PM Service
April 23rd: Preteen Camp Benefit Breakfast
April 27th: VBS Planning Meeting
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.
*We did not have TeamKID this past Sunday due to the Kids’ Choir Easter presentation. This is the information from the previous week.
Does God Love People Even Though They Sin?
Memory Verse: 1 John 1:9
Bible Passage: Joseph Forgives His Brothers – Genesis 45:1-15; 50:15-21
Missions Emphasis: Norway
What We Learned: In this week’s lesson, your child learned the joy of being
forgiven from the story of Joseph. Even though Joseph was betrayed and mistreated, he
didn’t become bitter or grumble about the path his life had taken. He knew God had a
purpose. Joseph used his strengths and circumstances to rescue people. Because Joseph
trusted God, he could give the gift of forgiveness to his brothers. He freed them from the
punishment they deserved. Ultimately, that’s what forgiveness is for us: mercy—where
God withholds the punishment we deserve and gives grace instead. God also freed us
from the punishment we all deserve by sending Jesus to pay for our sin on the cross.
Jesus triumphed over death, and now He offers forgiveness to people who believe His
position, His words, and His authority to erase sin. The greatest news of all is that God
loves people despite the reality that we all sin. God desires to restore His relationship
with each person, and through His Son, Jesus, He made the provision to do just that. Not
everyone will choose to take Him up on His offer of love.
Because so much about life feels performance-based, it’s easy for kids to feel as if they
must earn God’s love. Knowing that we can’t earn God’s love might just inspire the
strong-willed child to try anyway. Ultimately, there is so much comfort knowing that
“while we are still sinners” (Romans 5:8), God loved us enough to send Christ to die
for us. This truth eliminates the need to try so hard and allows us to fully rest in God’s
promises.
At-Home: As a picture of forgiveness, fill a jar with water, and have your child squirt
and stir various food coloring into the water. Carefully pour bleach little by little into the
water, stir more, and wait for the water to become clear again (take safety precautions so
that no bleach splashes on skin or in eyes). Talk about how great it is when people and
God forgive those who have done wrong.
Bonus Verse: Luke 6:37
Kids' Choir, Wednesdays @ 7pm
GREAT JOB KIDS’ 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.
Bible Story: Jesus Was Tempted
Bible Passage: Matthew 4:1-11
Main Point: Jesus was tempted and never sinned.
After Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness. Jesus fasted for 40 days, and He was hungry. There in the wilderness, the Devil, who is the agent of temptation and father of lies, appeared to Jesus. The Devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” If You are the Son of God? The Devil knew who Jesus is. He challenged Jesus to prove it. The Devil wanted to ruin God’s plan of redemption which was set in motion in Genesis 3. In the garden of Eden, Satan used a seemingly innocent question to arouse doubt in Eve: “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1). Adam and Eve ate the fruit God had forbidden them to eat, and sin entered the world. Jesus came to reverse the curse, to succeed where Adam failed. The Devil’s aim was to use a similar trick as in Eden to get Jesus to sin, to disqualify Him from the role of sinless Savior. The Devil targeted Jesus in His weakness. He tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread, to put Himself in danger, and to worship him as a way to fulfill Jesus’ mission without going to the cross. “Go away, Satan!” Jesus replied. Jesus was tempted, but He trusted God and never sinned. Jesus is perfect and righteous. A perfect sacrifice was required to take away sin. Jesus was that perfect sacrifice. He died on the cross to free us from sin and to give us the power to say no to temptation.
The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus, our High Priest, can sympathize with our weaknesses because He was tested in every way we are, yet He never sinned. Jesus’ actions are an example for believers, but what happens when we do give in to temptation? Emphasize to your kids that we can boldly approach God’s throne to receive grace to help us through temptation, and mercy and forgiveness when we sin (See Heb. 4:14-16.) We have hope because Christ died for sinners.
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 was tempted in the wilderness.
○ Jesus always obeyed God’s words.
○ God sent Jesus because He loves us.
● Preschool
○ What makes Jesus different? Jesus is God’s One and Only Son.
○ Jesus was tempted.
● Kids
○ What makes Jesus different? Jesus is fully God and fully man.
○ Jesus was tempted and never sinned.
UNIT KEY PASSAGE
● 1 Timothy 1:15
NEXT WEEK
● “Jesus Met Nicodemus” (John 3:1-21)
In Christ,
Stephenie