​Hello Everyone!
Today we learn about Joseph and what happens to him in Egypt. In Genesis 40, we discover that while Joseph was thrown into prison for a crime he didn’t commit, God helped him interpret a couple of dreams that came true. He thought this was his chance to get out jail. Instead Joseph was forgotten and stayed in prison several more years. Even though God was with Joseph, he must have been confused at what was happening to him.
 
Bottom Line: When life doesn’t make sense, you can trust God is with you. From not being able to understand something in school to a family situation you never expected, what’s happening in our life won’t always make sense. We pray that no matter what kids face, they’ll trust that God is in control, and they can trust Him to get through it.
 
Bible Verse: So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord! (Psalm 31:24). 
 
Blessings to all,
The Reign Forest Team,
Anita, Jessi, Angie, Kristin, and Cheryl

Hello Reign Forest Friends!
We find out what happens to Jacob’s son, Joseph, in Genesis 37 and 39:1-2. Joseph learned what it meant to trust God through difficulty. Because Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son, his brothers hated him. This only became worse when Joseph had a series of dreams where his brothers bowed to him. The brothers get back at Joseph when they sell him to a band of traders headed to Egypt. He must have felt scared and completely alone. Thankfully, he wasn’t. God was with him the whole time.

Bottom Line: When you think you’re alone, you can trust God is with you. Kids will face times when they feel like they’re alone. We hope this lesson from Joseph’s life will encourage them as they remember that God is always with them.

Memory Verse #2: But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence (Jeremiah 17:7).
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Blessings:
The Reign Forest Team

​We start the month with Jacob. We find his story through various passages in Genesis 25, 27, and 28. Jacob might have wondered how God felt about him after swindling his brother’s birthright and blessing out from under him. But in a dream, God reminded Jacob that He loved Jacob and could be trusted. God renewed the covenant that he started with Jacob’s grandfather Abraham. God always keeps his promises.
 
Bottom Line: You can trust God, no matter what. From being powerful enough to create the universe to being personal enough to love each one of us through Jesus, God has proved that He can be trusted in any and every circumstance. We pray that kids will discover they can trust God with whatever they face in their own life.
 
Bible Verse: Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5, NLT)
 
We kick off a new season of our new Bible Memory Challenge with the above verse.  We are excited to see all the children that attend Reign Forest participating in the 30 verse challenge this year!  The children may recite verses to leaders before Sunday School and during the designated time in Reign Forest.
 
Blessings to all,
The Reign Forest Leaders
~Angie, Anita, Cheryl, Jessi & Kristin

Hello from the Reign Forest!
 
We started our journey through the Bible in Genesis 3:1-23. God created Adam and Eve to take care of His perfect world. God gave them one simple rule to obey: Don’t eat from that tree. But ultimately, they didn’t trust God and did what they wanted to do. They broke the one rule, and when they did, it changed the course of history.
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Bottom Line: Trust and obey, even when you think your way is better. Whether you’re a kid or an adult, you’ll face a moment when you don’t want to do what you’ve been asked to do. This is especially true when you have a better way in mind. We hope kids start figuring out why doing what they’re asked to do is more important than doing their own thing. Our leaders are wise and they may know things that we don’t. We should trust them and follow their directions
 
Blessings
The Reign Forest Team

​Hello Reign Forest Friends!
 
Congratulations to everyone who has met (or who is working hard and will reach) our Bible Memory Verse Challenge this year!!! We are so PROUD of everyone! We invite ALL children to join us for our Bible Memory Verse Celebration on Sunday, Aug 18, during Reign Forest.  And again this year, we will be giving out prizes to reward everyone who has worked hard and met the Bible Memory Verse Challenge (all 30 verses need to be said by the beginning of Reign Forest on Aug 18). If your child is needing to catch up, he/she has a few more weeks to say as many verses as they can. We encourage everyone to work hard in the next couple of weeks to reach the goal of 30 verses!
 
We will be giving each child who has met our challenge a $25.00 gift certificate to his/her favorite store (Walmart, Amazon, Target, LifeWay, etc.). Please let Anita know your child’s prize request by Aug. 12.  Please have your child tell Anita in the next few weeks.
 
We are so excited and proud of ALL the children for their hard work with memorizing these Bible verses.
 
Thank you!!
The Reign Forest Team
Angie, Anita, Cheryl, Jessi, and Kristen

Dear RF Friends,
 
On Sunday, we finished up our nine lessons on the fruits of the Spirit with a lesson on self-control.  In James 3:3-10, we're reminded that our words have power.  James uses practical images like a horse bit, a ship's rudder, and a flame to show us just how powerful they are.  We can use words to encourage and help others, or we can use our words to hurt them.  
 
Bottom Line: God gives you the power to have self-control.  Self-control can be tricky, especially when we want something really bad or when life doesn't go our way.  This can also be true with the words we use.  We pray that kids will begin to see that they don't need to do this all on their own.  God can help them show self-control.  
 
Time is winding down, but there is still opportunity to catch-up on Bible memory verses!  
 
~ RF Team

Greetings from the Reign Forest!

This week we discovered how faithfulness shows up in an incredible moment that Luke records in Acts 12:119. Peter faithfully served God and preached the message of Jesus. The church faithfully prayed for Peter while he was in prison. God was faithful to Peter and sent an angel to help him escape. They could hardly believe what happened, but everyone praised God for his faithfulness.

Bottom Line: Be faithful so others can count on you. Faithfulness will look different for each of us. Some of us will be faithful to family members who need encouragement. Others will faithfully help friends who struggle a bit. We hope kids learn that when they are faithful to others, God can do some amazing things through them.
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Blessings: The Reign Forest Team 

Hi Everyone,
 
In RF on Sunday, we talked about the 5th fruit of the Spirit - kindness.  Here is the summary from our time together....
 
How can you be kind, even when it’s hard? We finished the month in Luke 10:25-37 and looked at Jesus’ familiar parable of The Good Samaritan. Through this story, Jesus completely changed how people who follow Him should look at showing kindness to others. Kindness isn’t just for people we know or like, but it’s for everyone we meet.

Bottom Line: Be kind to everyone. Everyone is someone who God loves. We pray that our kids start to realize that everyone deserves kindness. We show kindness to others because Jesus first showed kindness to us.  We  talked about simple ways they can put God’s love into action with the way they are kind to people they meet.  
 
Blessings,
The RF Team

Hello Reign Forest Friends,

In Luke 2:22-35, we read about Simeon. God promised Simeon that he would live to see the Messiah. While we’re not sure how long he waited, he must have been so excited when the Holy Spirit led him into the temple courtyard where Simeon saw Mary and Joseph with Jesus! God’s promises were true, and seeing Jesus was worth the wait!

Bottom Line: When you need to wait, ask God for patience. We all face moments where we’ll find it difficult to have patience. From waiting in line to get a seat at your favorite restaurant to sitting in construction traffic on your way to vacation, how can you have patience when you just want to get a move on? We pray that kids will start with prayer and ask God for help. God can give us patience in any situation!

No new Bible Verses.  There's still time to catch up on missed verses. Don't know the verses?  See the bulletin board in the fellowship hall - they're all posted there.
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Have a blessed week!
~The Reign Forest Team

Hello Reign Forest Friends,

We head to a moment from the Sermon on the Mount recorded for us in Matthew 6:26 Jesus reminded His followers not to worry. After all, if God cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, God will definitely care for each one of us and what we need.

Bottom Line: You can have peace because God is in control. Sometimes we might wonder what kids have to worry about. However, any disruption in schedule or expectations or an argument with a friend can cause kids to feel like life is out of control. We hope that as kids learn how much God cares for them, they’ll discover how they can find peace.
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Blessings,
The Reign Forest Team