Dear RF Friends,

Last Sunday, we finished our two month series on confidence with something Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39. The church in Rome needed some encouragement . . . and Paul delivered. He wrote, "Nothing at all can ever separate us from God’s love. That’s because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done" (NIrV). God’s love gives us the confidence to face anything.

Bottom Line: Live like you believe what God says is true. God’s Word is filled with His promises. When we believe them, we can live with confidence that God will be true to those promises and help us through whatever comes our way. 

Mixed up colors of play-doh always kind of bugged me, but I discovered it can actually be used to teach a lesson!  During RF, we purposely mixed 2 different colors of play-doh together and then "attempted" to separate them, but we couldn't do it!  The inseparable play-doh reminded us that nothing can separate us from God's love.  

Blessings,
RF Team

Hello Reign Forest Friends!
 
Congratulations to everyone who 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 19 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 Aug 12). If your child needs to catch up, he/she has until August 12 to say as many verses as they can. We encourage everyone to work hard 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, Toy’R’Us, LifeWay, etc). Please let Anita know your child’s prize request by Aug. 12.  Feel free to email your child’s request to Anita at ajwenrich@dejazzd.com or have him/her 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 Reign Forest Friends, 
Today we continued talking about what it means to have Confidence.

​There’s an important story about confidence found in Matthew 14:22-33. Peter and the rest of the disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee when they noticed a figure walking on the surface of the water. When they finally realized that the figure was Jesus, Peter called out and asked Jesus to invite him onto the water. Jesus did. And Peter took a stroll on top of the waves. However, only when Peter is focused on Jesus is he able to stay above water.

Bottom Line: Stay focused on Jesus. When we put our confidence in Jesus, we are able to find the courage to make the wise choice in a difficult situation. Jesus may not be asking us to walk on water, but He does have something planned for us. We hope kids start to understand some practical ways for how they can focus on Jesus and what He wants for their life.

If any children still have verses to say, continue to work on them this week.  You can still say them next Sunday.        
                                   
See you next week! 
The Reign Forest Team

We look to John 1:43–51. John recounts the start of Jesus ministry when He was starting to choose the 12 Disciples. One of those disciples was a guy named Philip. Philip was so overwhelmed when he met Jesus that he couldn’t wait to tell others. Philip found his friend Nathanael and invited him to meet Jesus. Turns out that Jesus had big plans for Nathanael too!
 
Bottom Line: Find friends who help you trust Jesus. We all need people in our life who will help us live fully alive. We want kids to figure out who, in their life, is encouraging them to have faith in Jesus. And that they will encourage others to have faith in Jesus too!
 
Blessings
The Reign Forest Team

Dear friends and families of the Reign Forest,
There’s an important story about honesty throughout the book of Judges 13–16. From the start, Samson was set apart to lead God’s people. His life had many ups and downs as he tried to live from his own strength, but ultimately his confidence in God allowed him to carry out the plan for his life.
 
Bottom Line: God is stronger than anyone. Believing that God is stronger than anyone can give us the confidence to put our trust in what He can do more than what we can do. We can only do so much on our own. We need God’s help to accomplish God’s plan for our lives.!

Until next week,
The Reign Forest Team

​PS  Remember this is catch-up time for any of you who still have verses to say before our Celebration/ Party.  You will have at least 3 more Sundays to say verses.

Hello Reign Forest Friends!
 
We look to Judges 6–8. When God called Gideon to lead the Israelites, Gideon doubted God would really want him to help. Gideon was from the smallest tribe, the smallest family, and he was the smallest of his family! God wanted him anyway and eventually Gideon learned that God could use him no matter what!
 
Bottom Line: God can use you no matter what. Big or small, young or old, God can use people to do amazing things. We pray that whether kids feel like Gideon or have the confidence of an extreme sports superstar, kids will realize that God can use them. 
We did a quick review of the story together by writing down and crossing out numbers from the story (ask them to show and explain it to you). We also talked about some bugs and how strong they are! The kids were given a small creature to take home to remind them that no matter how small, young, unsure, etc. they may feel, they can be confident that God will be with them always and give them the strength, courage, wisdom they need to do what God asks them to do.
 
Memory Verse #30 - LAST VERSE FOR THE SEASON!!! -   This is my command – be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with  you wherever you go!   Joshua 1:9 NLT

The next few weeks can be used to make up any missed memory verses. More information to come about the Reign Forest 30 Verse Challenge End Of Season Party!
 
Blessings, 
The Reign Forest Team

Hello Reign Forest Friends,
  
We start the month of June with something that Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:20-21. He explains that we are held together by Jesus. When we build our life on Jesus, we have a strong foundation that will stand against whatever life might throw at us.
 
Bottom Line: Jesus matters most. Jesus came to bring us life to the full. We find confidence when we build our life on Him. We pray that kids will understand that living fully alive is best when they put their trust in Jesus.
 
Memory Verse: But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. Jeremiah 17:7 NLT 
 
Blessings,
 
Angie, Anita, Cheryl, Jessi, and Kristin

We looked at 1 Samuel 21-22. David is on the run from King Saul and escapes to the town of Nob where he asks the priest Ahimelek for help. Ahimelek asks some questions, but instead of telling the truth, David spins a tale that ends up getting Ahimelek killed when King Saul found out. David found out the hard way that lies have severe consequences.

Bottom Line: When you’re not truthful, you hurt others. We tend to think that if we lie, we’re only helping ourselves get out of trouble or get something we want. But lies have consequences. Often those repercussions extend beyond ourselves to the people we lie to or lie about. We pray that kids will realize that telling the truth keeps everyone from experiencing unnecessary pain.
 
Memory Verse: Psalms 15:2 - Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
 
The Reign Forest Team
Angie, Anita, Cheryl, Jessi, Kristin

We start the month in 2 Kings 5 and learn more about the prophet Elisha and his servant named Gehazi. After Elisha helped Naaman, Gehazi saw Elisha turn down an extravagant gift from Naaman. But Gehazi decided that he could take advantage of the situation and take the gift for himself. He went behind Elisha’s back, denied his actions, and inevitably lost Elisha’s trust.

Bottom Line: When you’re not truthful you lose trust. If you continually tell lies and hurt people with dishonesty, eventually you will lose the trust of those around you. We hope kids realize that honesty helps them build relationships with others.
 
Memory Verse: Proverbs 10:9 - People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed.
 
Have a great week!
~ Reign Forest Team