The Rooster Crowed!

In the book of Luke chapter 22: 54-62 we read the account of when Peter denied Jesus, repeatedly. Peter spent a ton of time with Jesus, travelling with him, learning from him, eating with him and now he has just witness him be arrested right in front of him. Peter was scared, upset, mad, and frustrated. He didn't know what was going to happen to his friend, he didn't know what was going to happen to himself, and that led him to make a great mistake. Peter's fear drove him to a place where he lied, he denied ever being acquainted with Jesus. He denied his friend, his brother, his Lord, his Savior! The one who loved him unconditionally and would die for him in a moment, the one who did die for him. Not a moment too soon and the rooster crowed! Just like Jesus told Peter it was going to happen, the rooster crowed right after he denied Jesus for the third time. As soon as the rooster crowed Peter was made aware of what he had done. He was overthrown with shame, disappointment, and regret.

This is what we talked about in Jr. Church on Sunday. We mess up all of the time, and sometimes in the moment we don't realize it, but at some point we always do. There is always a rooster that crows that makes us aware of our mistakes. But thankfully we serve a gracious, forgiving Lord. Peter didn't let his mistake stop him, but instead it pushed him forward. He was able to see the mistake he had made, asked Jesus for forgiveness and then pushed forward with his life where he became the rock on which the church was built. He became one of the greatest preachers/teachers of all time. He was an eye witness to Jesus' ministry, to his death, to his resurrection, to his unfailing and unconditional forgiveness. Peter became a better man after his mistake. Our mistakes don't define us, Jesus does. In Jr. Church we talked about different scenarios and how to make them better if we do something wrong, or how to make the right choice when want to do something wrong. We talked about how the more we know about Jesus, and the more we know Jesus, the more we can be like Jesus. We talked about how because Peter followed Jesus and spent all of his time with him he was able to become like him, and that we could do the same by reading our bibles, praying, going to church, spending time with other people who love Jesus, etc.

I find that every week as I prepare lessons for your children, I am also learning new things, or relearning old things that I have forgotten or chosen to ignore and from this week I am noticing the importance of the rooster's crow. It wasn't before that moment that Peter truly realized what he was doing and I think we find ourselves far too often in that same position. We find ourselves falling into sin without noticing until it's very obvious, until the rooster crows and then we have a choice to make. Do we choose to listen to the warning cry of the rooster and turn from our bad ways or do we continue down a path of destruction ignoring the rooster altogether? I think the more we ignore the rooster's crow the quieter it gets, and the easier it is to ignore the warning signs altogether. Don't quiet your rooster's crow, instead listen to his loud crow and act! Listen to the warning signs and turn to Jesus who will forgive you. That's what I took away from my preparation last week and thought I would share with you.

The memory verses that your kids worked on this week were the same as last week,
Younger kids:
"Come and follow me." Jesus said,
"I will send you out to fish for people."
Mark 1:17

Older kids:

“Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right,
because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you
ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done
to you.  

John 13:12-15

Please take some time to work on these verses with your kids this week, make it a challenge and see

if you can memorize them too. Spend some time worshiping with your kids too, whether it's through

prayer, singing, dancing, reading scripture, serving, etc. spend some intentional time with your children

focusing on God. If you want some music to dance and sing too you can find the worship playlist that

we use in Jr. Church here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW1XM9341lIbwDUQYbJvUVp6n1BUSNNhI

Have a great week!

-Megan

The Big Denial

As we continue to Dive In! to the life of Peter and what it means to follow Jesus we have learned that we aren't always going to get it right. This past Sunday we took a look at the story of when Peter denied Jesus, not once, not twice, but THREE times the night that Jesus was arrested. We talked about how Peter would have felt after doing this, as well as how Jesus would have felt. We discussed how even though Peter messed up it didn't change the way that Jesus saw him. Jesus gave showed Peter grace and forgave him, and that same grace and forgiveness is offered to us every time we mess up.

The kids seem to be doing quite well with their memory work. The little kids have almost all got their verse down pat! But as a reminder and so they can work on it at home this is the verse:

"Come and follow me." Jesus said,
"I will send you out to fish for people."
Mark 1:17

And the older kids' verse is:

“Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right,
because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you
ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done
to you.  

John 13:12-15

Just like last week, I want to encourage you to memorize these verses with your children. It is

important to instill in them now the spiritual disciplines that we want them to carry through life

and having God's word on their minds is one of those disciplines (it will also be good for you).

Your children have come to love the song "My Lighthouse" by Rend Collective. It is a great

worship song and we found a video with actions so that your kids can dance to it. If you would

like to see that video or any of the other worship videos that we share with your children you

can search on youtube: "cornwall church kids" and a playlist called "worship songs with actions"

will come up (I will attach the link at the end of this blog). Teaching your kids to worship and

letting them see you worship is another great experience to share with your kids and singing and

dancing is a fun way to do that.

Check out our playlist here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW1XM9341lIbwDUQYbJvUVp6n1BUSNNhI

Turn up the music and have some fun singing praises and dancing for God with your children

this week :)

- Megan

Stinky Feet and BARF

It seems as though I skipped a week, sorry about that! But a lot happened this week. I was away over the weekend teaching at Snowball Camp out at Canoe Cove so I wasn't here to teach your kids on Sunday morning, I do however know exactly what they learned about. On Sunday morning your kids continued on with their Dive In! series diving deeper into the life of Peter. This week they talked about the last supper, and when Jesus washed the disciples dirty, stinky feet. They learned that they are free to follow Jesus and that they can do that by serving others.

The memory verse for the younger kids is the same one for the whole series which is:

“Come and follow me,” (motion hands toward self)

Jesus said. (both hands point up)

“I will send you out (walk in place)

to fish for people.” (cup hands around mouth to make a fish face)

Mark 1:17

And the older kids got a new memory verse this week:

After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked,
“Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right,
because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you
ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done
to you.  

John 13:12-15

We want to encourage your children to memorize scripture so that they think of God's word
often and so when they find themselves in difficult situations, or just want some
encouragement they can have these verses to turn to. Memorizing God's word is
something all of us should be doing so that more of our focus is on Him, so I would
encourage you to memorize these verses with your children.

If your children were at Snowball camp this past weekend, then they had the great privilege
of learning about BARF! BARF was a series of lessons that I created based on the life of
Peter (Peter was on my mind already from preparing for Jr. Church each week). BARF
stands for Believe, Accept, Repent, and Follow. We talked about when Peter first believed
in Jesus, when he accepted Jesus as the Son of God, when he repented of his sins and
how Peter followed Jesus. If your kids have been in Jr. Church and attended Snowball
camp then there would have been a bit of overlap with the stories, but the camp lessons
went deeper and took a bit of a different direction. The kids at camp also heard some of my
BARF story as I shared with them when I first believed in Jesus, accepted Jesus, repented
of my sins and how I follow Jesus. We talked about how following Jesus is doing what he
said as well as what he did and how everyday we need to consciously make the decisions
to BARF, to believe, accept, repent and follow, that isn't a one time thing but that everyday
we need to give our lives to Jesus. I told the children that everyone who follows Jesus has
a BARF story, so if you get asked about BARF this week or in the future, that is totally my
fault and I'm not sorry. I hope that you will share your story with your kids and help them to
write their own as God guides them through life.

I hope you have a great week this week and that your kids who were at camp get well
rested (I know I'm tired from those late nights and copious amounts of sugar!).
See you next week!

- Megan

Can You Walk on Water?

On Sunday in Jr. Church we continued with our Dive In! Series, diving further into the life of Peter. Nicolas shared the story from the time that Jesus was walking on water and asked Peter to join him (Matthew 14:22-33). The kids learned about how Peter lost sight of Jesus and started to sink, but that Jesus was there ready to pick him up. We talked about the importance of trusting in Jesus and how he is always there for us. When we asked the kids if they can walk on water they were pretty quick to say that they could, but after some more thinking they realized that they too would probably get scared and that Jesus walking on water was a pretty cool miracle.

The younger kids (preschool and kindergarten) are still working on this memory verse:

“Come and follow me,” (motion hands toward self)
Jesus said. (both hands point up)
“I will send you out (walk in place)
to fish for people.” (cup hands around mouth to make a fish face)
Mark 1:17

But our older kids (grade 1-5) have moved on to this one:

But Jesus, immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 
"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." 
"Come," he said. 
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
Matthew 14:27-29

We have put a challenge out to the older kids that if they can memorize 5 memory verses than they will win a small prize, but if they choose, they can go for a larger prize by memorizing 10. We are keeping track using a sticker chart in our classroom which also has my name and Tayte's name so that they can see that we are memorizing the scriptures with them and to encourage them to do better than us.

So what about you? Would you have been able to walk on water when Jesus called to you?

Also a reminder that Canoe Cove Christian Camp's Snowball Camps are coming up the first (Grades 4-6) and second (grades 7-12) weekends in February. You can register online at canoecovechristiancamp.org.

- Megan

Catching Men in Fish Nets?

Yesterday in Jr. Church we revisited the story of Jesus sending out Peter to fish for men! I asked the kids if Jesus meant we were supposed to go out and catch people in fish nets. We all laughed at the concept and they explained to me that Jesus meant he wanted Peter to share His story with everyone. We talked about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and played a game of charades to learn what following Jesus looks like. We talked about how following Jesus means listening to our parents, being kind to everyone around us, and when we mess up to ask for forgiveness. We also talked about how if we want to know how to follow Jesus than we have to read our bibles and pray so we know what Jesus would want us to do.

The children are still working hard at memorizing their scripture verse for this series, and I was pleasantly surprised with how many kids knew the verse yesterday. I want to encourage you to keep practicing this verse with your children over the next few weeks:

“Come and follow me,” (motion hands toward self)
Jesus said. (both hands point up)
“I will send you out (walk in place)
to fish for people.” (cup hands around mouth to make a fish face)
Mark 1:17

Spend some time talking with your kids this week about Peter, what it means to fish for men, and what it means to follow Jesus.

Also, if you haven't already please take a moment and fill out this feedback survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DYNLSJT

And don't forget that camp is coming up in a couple of weeks at Canoe Cove Christian Camp! Grades 4-6 camp is on February 2-4 and Grades 7-12 is February 7-11. You can register online at canoecovechristiancamp.org.

Enjoy your week!

- Megan

A New Year!

It is crazy to believe that another year has come and gone! Our church as a whole has gone through many changes over this past year, one of them being that I (Megan) was hired on in October as a full time children's minister and office administrator. Since taking on this role there have been some changes made to our Jr. Church program. The biggest change being that we now send the children to their program for the entirety of the service instead of just a portion. When changes happen it is important to make sure that they were made for the right reason. It is important that the change is a good change and not just change for the sake of change. With that being said, we would like to hear from you! We now have a full semester under our belts of having the children downstairs for the full hour and we want to give you the opportunity to let us know what you think of the changes. Please take a couple of minutes and fill out this quick anonymous survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DYNLSJT

Your feedback is important to us and so a goal for the new year is to keep you in the loop as to what is happening in Jr. Church. This blog will be updated on a weekly basis (at least) with what your children have been learning, any memory verses that they are working on as well as any events that your children may be interested in, etc.

This past Sunday (January 7th) in Jr. Church, we started a new series called "Dive In." This series is going to walk your children through the life of Peter and teach them what it really means to be a follower of Jesus! This week they heard the story of Jesus sending Peter out to fish for men from Luke 5:1-11 and their memory verse for the next few weeks is Mark 1:17 (there are actions in the brackets if that will help your child to memorize it easier):

“Come and follow me,” (motion hands toward self)
Jesus said. (both hands point up)
“I will send you out (walk in place)
to fish for people.” (cup hands around mouth to make a fish face)
Mark 1:17

Winter camps are coming up at Canoe Cove Christian Camp! There is a camp for kids in grades 4-6 which is February 2-4 and a camp for grades 7-12 February 9-11. If you would like to register your child/children for winter camp you can find the registration forms here:

http://www.canoecovechristiancamp.org/registration-and-policies/

I think that is everything for now. I hope you all have a great week!

- Megan