Hello Reign Forest Families,

In week four of April, we head to Exodus 32:1–35 where we find the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai. Instead of obeying God and waiting for Moses to come down off the mountain, the entire nation of Israel grew impatient. They built a golden calf and began to worship it instead of worshiping God. Their lack of patience had some severe consequences.
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Bottom Line: When you think you can’t wait, think about what’s true. It’s easier to wait when you remember all the times God has helped you before. You can trust Him, knowing that He’ll help you wait.

Memory Verse : Let all that I am wait patiently before God, for my hope is in him. Psalm 62:5
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Blessings,
The Reign Forest Team

There’s an important patience principle King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 14:29. How we respond to waiting shows others our character. Getting frustrated and angry doesn’t make the wait any less; it just makes us look foolish.
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Bottom Line: When you think you can’t wait, keep your cool. Sometimes when you’re waiting, becoming angry and frustrated with others is the first thing that pops into our minds. But when it comes to waiting, often there’s very little we can do to make the wait any less. While you’re waiting, don’t make yourself look foolish by taking it out on the people around you.

Memory Verse: People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness. Proverbs 14:29  NLT
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Blessings,
The Reign Forest Team

​Hello Reign Forest families,
 
Yesterday, we learned about having patience and looked at 1 Samuel 1:6-2:1 where we discovered the story of Hannah. She had waited years for a child. Rather than becoming frustrated and angry towards God, she prays and tells Him all about it. When God answers her prayer, she gives her son back to God. He honored her waiting and blessed her with even more children.
 
Bottom Line: When you think you can’t wait, talk to God about it. It’s important for us all to remember that talking to God about waiting will help us stay patient through whatever circumstance we might face. He may not change our circumstance, but He’ll give the strength to keep waiting.
 
Memory Verse: No memory verse this week. We will start back to regular Reign Forest and having memory verses again next week.
 
Blessings,
 
Angie, Anita, Cheryl, Jessi, Kristen 

Key question:  Have you ever received unexpected kindness?  Often the best kindness is the kindness that feels completely random.  We want to show others unexpected kindness.
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In Matthew 25:35-40, we revisited one of Jesus’ teachings on kindness.  For one reason or another, people are overlooked every day-no one even notices them, much less shows kindness to them.  But Jesus says that when we show kindness to one of the least of these, it is as if we’re showing kindness to Him.  We want to discover how kids can show kindness to people who are overlooked in their world.

Bottom line:  Be kind to people who are overlooked.  Everyone deserves to be treated like they’re valuable, no matter who they are.  We hope kids start to see people who have needs and work with adults in their life to show kindness and meet those needs.

Bible Memory Verse:  A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.   Proverbs 17:17    

Hello from the Reign Forest
 
Key Question: How do you walk away from a fight? If you walk into a fifth-grade classroom, you’ll start to discover that even if fists aren’t flying, kids fight with each other. Walking away from a fight can be one of the hardest things a kid does because they feel like their entire reputation is at stake. We pray kids leave with a game plan for how they can make the wise choice and walk away from a fight.
 
Throughout Genesis 26, we find Abraham’s son, Isaac, settles in his father’s land and reopens some wells. When his new neighbors argue with him, he simply moves to a new place and digs new wells. Isaac had every right to fight for those wells, but he chose peace instead.
 
Bottom Line: Prove you care more about others by walking away from a fight. Sometimes creating peace with someone means walking away even if we’re not wrong. Often it takes a stronger person to have the self-control to walk away.
 
Bible Memory Verse: “A hot-tempered person starts fights; a cool-tempered person stops them.” Proverbs 15:18 NLT
 
Blessings
The Reign Forest Team

Hello Reign Forest Friends,
When Jesus died and then rose from the dead, He paid the price for everything that was wrong and unfair in this world. Because of Jesus, we can have peace. We don’t have to get even. Instead, we can reflect the character of Christ by caring for others and making peace

Key Question: Why is it so hard to give up what you think is fair? Fairness is a big deal to kids. It’s often their biggest complaint when something doesn’t go their way. As kids start with this question, they’ll discover how God thinks about fairness and how they can be more willing to let go of what they think is fair.
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We start the month in Genesis 13:5-18, God blessed Abram and his nephew, Lot, with a large amount of flocks and herds, so many that the land they were on couldn’t sustain all of them. The workers on each side were not getting along. Abram and Lot knew it was time to separate. Although God had promised Abram the land of Canaan and had a right to take whatever he wanted, Abram allowed Lot to choose first. Abram let go of the best land in order to make peace with his family.

Bottom Line: Prove you care more about others by letting go of “what’s fair.” Sometimes choosing peace means letting go of what we want or our perception of ourselves. Preserving the relationship is more important that protecting our own sense of fairness.

Bible Memory Verse: “So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.” Romans 14:19 NLT

Blessings,
Angie, Anita, Cheryl, Jessi, and Kristin

Hello Reign Forest Families,
Last week in RF we finished our Kindness Theme.  Here's a summary of the time spent together:

Key Question: How can you be kind to people you don’t get along with?　There are times when we face people who we feel don’t deserve our kindness. Most likely, preteens have a list of people who they don’t get along with and why those people don’t deserve their kindness. But Jesus tells us to love our enemies. Through this question, we hope kids start to discover how they can show kindness to people who fall into this category.
We finished out our month in Matthew 5:43-48. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expands the scope of who deserves our kindness.　Not everyone will be kind to us; some may be quite mean to us.　Jesus says that we should love our enemies and pray for them.
　　
Bottom Line: Be kind to people who aren’t kind to you.　As kids discover what Jesus says about loving our enemies, we pray that your kids discover ways they can show God’s love and kindness to people they might not get along with all of the time. They don’t have to be best friends, but they can be kind.

Bible Memory Verse: Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. (Romans 12:14 NLT ​)
 
Blessings,
The Reign Forest Team

Hello from Reign Forest
 
In Reign Forest, we are studying kindness during the month of February. God was kind to us even when we didn’t deserve it. Even when we were still sinners, Jesus died for us. Because of God’s great love for us, we can be kind to everyone. Jesus personified kindness in the way He lived and interacted with the people He met. But, as we read the Gospels, we find that Jesus didn’t just model kindness. He commanded it. By treating others the way we want to be treated, we live out the way Jesus taught us to live.
 
Week 2 key question: When is it hard to be kind? If we’re completely honest, we encounter situations when we don’t feel like being kind. Kids will soon start to understand how to think about what they do and don’t want to do. We hope they can work through the difficulties they face when showing kindness when they don’t want to show kindness. If they can identify when it’s hard to be kind, they can figure out a plan to help them show kindness anyway.

In Ruth 1 and 2, we find Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth. Their husbands have died and Ruth has the opportunity to return home to her family. Instead, she chooses to show kindness to Naomi and stay with her. Ruth's kindness doesn't go unnoticed. Boaz notices how Ruth is caring for her mother-in-law. He goes above and beyond to care for Ruth and completely changes her life.
 
Bottom Line: Be kind to your family and friends. When it comes to our family and friends, we often find ourselves taking them for granted. We hope through the story of Ruth, kids will learn to show kindness to those we care about most.
 
Bible memory verse - How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! (Psalm 133:1, NLT)
 
Blessings
The Reign Forest Team

Hi Reign Forest Friends,
 
In Reign Forest, we are going to be studying kindness during the month of February. God was kind to us even when we didn’t deserve it. Even when we were still sinners, Jesus died for us. Because of God’s great love for us, we can be kind to everyone. Jesus personified kindness in the way He lived and interacted with the people He met. But, as we read the Gospels, we find that Jesus didn’t just model kindness. He commanded it. By treating others the way we want to be treated, we live out the way Jesus taught us to live.
 
Key Question: What does kindness look like? While this may seem like a simple question, preteens need to start from a concrete idea before connecting that idea to their own life. When kids can identify the kindness of others, they have a better chance of replicating that in their own life. We want kids to figure out how they can show kindness to others based on the ways people have been kind to them.

We start the month talking about the foundation for our kindness. In Titus 3:4-7, Paul talked about God’s amazing kindness towards us. God poured out His kindness when He sent Jesus to rescue us from the consequences of our sin. We can have life forever because of God’s kindness and love.

Bottom Line: Be kind to others because God is kind to you. We pray that as kids learn about God’s kindness through Jesus, they will see how they can reflect God’s kindness to the people in their life.
  
Memory Verse: Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 NLT  

​Blessings,
Anita, Angie, Cheryl, Kristin, and Jessi

We finish out our month in Mark 12:41-44. Jesus is with His disciples and notices how wealthy people are giving lots of money, but then came a poor widow. She gave just two small coins. While this seemed like such a small gift, Jesus says this woman actually gave more than the rich people because she gave everything she had.
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Bottom Line: Practice living for God. We know that most kids love to sing and worship God. But worship isn’t just something we do when we sing at church; worship is really how we honor God with our whole lives—through how we love others and serve them, how we give of our time and talents, how we obey and praise God, even how we rest. We want kids to practice the faith skill, LIVE, and discover that worship isn’t just singing loud, it’s living loud.

Bible Verse:  Colossians 3:17 - And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
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Blessings,
The Reign Forest Team