We finished up the month in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 and Exodus 12. In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul talks about taking time to celebrate Communion or the Lord’s Supper. When we eat the bread and drink the cup, we celebrate how Jesus lived, died, and rose again to make us right with God. As we think about what Paul wrote, we’ll also take time to remember that this celebration is rooted in the Passover celebration, where God’s people remembered how God rescued them from being enslaved in Egypt.
Bottom Line: Make a habit of being grateful. People often focus on bad habits that they need to stop. However, the best way to stop a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. Replace those sweets with healthy choices. Replace TV with exercise. Replace complaining with gratitude. We pray that kids will start to see that gratitude is a choice that God can help them make— especially when they remember all that Jesus did for us on the cross. Today, we spent time practicing our songs for the Christmas program on December 24th. There will be no new scripture memory verses given out until after our Christmas play is over. For now, kids can still say their verses if they need to catch up with our verses that were given so far this season. We hope you all will enjoy this beautiful Christmas Season filled with Hope because our Savior came to earth for us to save us because He loved us! Blessings! The Reign Forest Team
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Hi Reign Forest Friends,
This Sunday, we continue with our monthly theme of Gratitude. In week three, we head to Luke 17:11-19 and discover a significant moment when 10 men with a serious skin condition asked Jesus to heal them. As their skin cleared up, the men were so thrilled about the miracle that most of them ran off and never returned to thank Jesus. Only one man, a Samaritan, turned around and showed his gratitude. Jesus made a point to commend this man’s faith. Bottom Line: Take time to say thank you. This is a simple idea, but it’s often so hard to put into practice. People offer their help with kindness and love, yet we often take those people for granted. We pray that through this moment in Jesus’ life, kids will understand the importance of remembering to show gratitude when others are kind to them. The children spent some time going through their lines in the play. Then we passed out leaves and each child wrote something they were thankful for. On the take home papers, some children took home a color by number picture. Other children brought a "fill-in-the-blank" I'm grateful for... They were challenged to think of someone, write a response and give it to that person as a way to "live out" the monthly theme of Gratitude. Which we explained is letting others know you see how they’ve helped you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving day! The Reign Forest Team Hi Reign Forest Friends,
Our theme for November is gratitude. Throughout this month, we hope kids will learn to be grateful for everything God has done: for the world God made, for the promises God has kept, and for the new life God offers the world through Jesus. When we remember all of these things, we can always be thankful. This week, we started off this series with something Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "Give thanks no matter what happens. God wants you to thank him because you believe in Christ Jesus." It's pretty clear. Giving thanks is something God wants us to do. No matter what happens, we can be thankful for Jesus and God's gift of salvation. Bottom Line: You always have something to be grateful for. When life is hard, or even if life is normal, it can be difficult to find why you should be thankful—especially for kids. We pray that as kids think about this bottom line, they'll remember that they can always be thankful to God for sending Jesus to be our Savior. This week, we also started our Christmas play. With this, there will be no new memory verses until after Christmas. This is a great time for your child(ren) to get caught up with either Reign Forest verses or school verses if they need to. The children can say up to seven verses at this point. Kids saying school verses can't get ahead of the number of Reign Forest verses that were given. Blessings, The Reign Forest Team Dear Reign Forest Friends,
On the fifth Sunday in October, we finished up the month with Philippians 4:8, where Paul writes: “Finally, my brothers and sisters, always think about what is true. Think about what is noble, right and pure. Think about what is lovely and worthy of respect. If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about those kinds of things.” If we want to have integrity with our entire lives, we have to fill our minds with good things in the first place. Bottom Line: Focus on what’s true. Being a person of integrity takes work. We hope that this week, kids will discover how they can fill their minds with what is true and good and worth thinking about. If we fill our minds with what’s true, that will help us live our lives with honesty and integrity. Memory Verse #7: Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8, NLT) Today, we read through this year’s new Christmas Play. We are all excited for the Christmas Season! Rejoice! A Savior has been given to us! ~The Reign Forest Team Dear friends,
In the fourth week of October, we continued the story with Daniel’s friends in Daniel 3. No one would have thought differently about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego if they had bowed down to Nebuchadnezzar’s statue to escape the fiery furnace. But they decided to obey God, even though it might have cost them. God came through and rescued them from the furnace. Because of the integrity these men showed, others were able to see God’s power, too. Bottom Line: When you do what’s right, others can see God. Almost every single day, kids will face a moment when they’ll need to think about making some sort of wise choice—from how much effort to give a project at school, to the way they play at soccer practice, to the way they treat peers they may not always get along with. And as easy as some of these choices might seem to us, kids are thinking about lots of variables, like friends and how people might respond to them. We pray that as kids learn about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they’ll realize the importance of doing the right thing, and that if they do what’s right, they can even help others see what God is like. Memory Verse #6: See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people (1 Thessalonians 5:15, NLT). God Bless, ~The Reign Forest Team Hi Reign Forest friends,
In week three, we head to Daniel 1. When Babylonian officials captured Daniel and his friends, no one would have known (or possibly even cared) if they continued following God’s laws while they were in captivity. However, in their hearts, Daniel and his friends knew what was right. They decided to stay true to their faith by asking not to eat the king’s food, and God rewarded them for it. Bottom Line: Do what’s right wherever you are. It’s one thing to make the wise choice when you’re with people who are in charge—like a teacher, coach, or parent. But a kid might start to wonder if they still need to make the wise choice if they’re just with their friends, away at camp, or even by themselves. We hope this week will remind kids why it’s important to make wise choices wherever they are. Today in Reign Forest, we introduced the memory verse by reading it aloud on strips of paper. Then, we reviewed the October theme word INTEGRITY. We spelled the word using our arms and legs to form the letters. We did a review game by sorting play food into two piles, food Daniel and his friends would and wouldn’t eat. To end our time, the children played human-sized Tic-tac-toe. Memory Verse #5: So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith (Galatians 6:9-10, NLT). Have a wonderful week! The Reign Forest team Hello RF Friends,
Yesterday in RF, our lesson was based on Colossians 3:13, where Paul wrote, "Put up with one another. Forgive one another if you are holding something against someone. Forgive, just as the Lord forgave you." This month in RF, we have been talking about friendship. Forgiveness is a big part of growing friendships. This verse teaches us that because God forgave us, we can forgive others when they mess up - especially the people we consider our friends. Bottom Line: Friends forgive one another. As kids learn about God's incredible forgiveness through Jesus, we hope they will start to understand more about how they can forgive their own friends. It's not just about accepting an apology and saying everything is all right. We pray that kids will understand how they can forgive others and work to rebuild their friendships that are worth saving. After the lesson, we made friendship bracelets with red, yellow, and blue beads as a way to review what we learned about friendship this month... Red beads represent promises. Good friends keep their promises. Yellow beads represent encouragement. Good friends encourage and stand up for each other. Blue beads represent forgiveness. Good friends forgive each other. Memory Verse # 2: Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. Proverbs 17:9, NLT Have a good week! The RF Team Hi Reign Forest Friends,
It’s a new school year, and it’s time for us to begin our Bible Memory verse challenge again! Parents, you should have received the verses for your children in your church mailbox on Sunday, September 17th. If you didn’t, please let Anita or another Reign Forest leader know. Also, like in prior years, the new verse is stapled to the child’s take-home paper for that week. We also include the memory verse in these weekly Reign Forest update emails. This Sunday, week three in September, we head to Acts 9:26-30. Saul had a bad reputation with the followers of Jesus. So when Saul decided to follow Jesus, the other believers had a difficult time trusting that he had really changed. Barnabas went out on a limb and defended Saul. Because of Barnabas, the followers of Jesus chose to help Saul and trust that Jesus had really changed him. Bottom Line: Friends stand up for one another. Of course, we don’t want kids to put themselves in dangerous situations, but there’s an aspect of friendship when we might feel like we need to defend others. It’s important that we find a way to stand up for people who are being treated badly. We want kids to understand how they can encourage others and let them know they’re not alone. Memory Verse #1: A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12 NLT P. S. Today in class, we introduced the Bible memory verse, watched the video Bible story, and had a time of sharing prayer requests & praises. Then we did a “Hot potato” story review game and a freeze variation game of Sharks & Minnows. Have a wonderful week! Reign Forest Team On Sunday, we headed to 1 Samuel 19–20 and 2 Samuel 9 and took a look at one of the most famous friendships in the entire Bible, between David and Jonathan. Before David escaped to hide from King Saul, he promised Jonathan that he would always take care of Jonathan’s family. David had a chance to follow through on that promise and took care of Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, making him feel like a part of his family.
Bottom Line: Friends keep their promises. Trust is a crucial part of friendship. One of the most important ways we can build trust with our friends is by keeping our word. When we promise to do something, we should do everything we can to keep that promise. We pray that as kids learn about David and Jonathan, they’ll think about the ways they can keep their promises and show others that they can be trusted friends. We played “Hot Potato” but with an egg (it was hard-boiled - but the kids didn’t know that until after the game). The kids did a very good job and were very careful passing the egg around. Just as we had to be very careful with the egg, we also have to be very careful to keep the promises that we make. There is no Bible memory verse this week. We will start our new Bible Memory Verse Challenge next Sunday, September 17. Our challenge will run the same as last year. We will challenge the kids to memorize 30 Bible verses throughout this school year. Kids are welcome to memorize the verses that we select in Reign Forest, or they may memorize school verses. Attached is information about the program. Please see Anita if you have any questions. Hi Reign Forest Friends,
For September 2022, the children are learning about TRUST. Each week they learn about the connection between Trust and God’s character, as shown through God’s Big Story (the Bible). In week 3, we meet Isaac’s sons, Jacob and Esau, in Genesis 25, 27, and 28. Jacob and Esau always had a complicated relationship from the moment they were born. Jacob eventually took advantage of Esau’s moment of exhaustion. Of course, Esau was angry, and Jacob might have wondered how God felt about him after tricking his brother’s birthright and blessing out from under him. But in a dream, God reminded Jacob of the promise to his grandfather, Abraham. God loved Jacob and could be trusted. God renewed the covenant that started with Abraham. God always keeps a promise. Bottom Line: You can trust that God has a plan. It can be difficult for kids to understand how God has a plan for their life. They’re at the phase where they hardly know their dinner plans, much less what they hope will happen weeks or months from now. However, this doesn’t mean they don’t need a foundation to understand how God can play a significant role in their plans. We pray that through the story of Jacob and Esau, they can see that God is constantly working to bring something great from our lives. Memory Verse #2: “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NLT Have a great week! The Reign Forest team |
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November 2023
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