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Telling Others about Jesus

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Over the course of this term, we’ve aimed to answer big questions about who Jesus is. Every week a new question was asked and the truth to that question discovered. What we hope to have done is teach our children more about how wonderful Jesus is and the need for them to keep seeking him and growing in knowing him. But there is more. Our focus this week is that because Jesus is so incredible, we cannot keep him for ourselves. We need to tell others about him too.

Our Part

As a church, we have a proclamation that says: To know Christ and to make Him known. We discussed this with our children. We looked at what Jesus said at the Great Commission. We looked at the instructions he gave the disciples: to wait for the Holy Spirit to anoint them to reach the world and share the good news of what Jesus did for all. This Sunday we encouraged our children to desire to tell others about Jesus. To help explore this practice, we used candles and sweets (not together) to help emphasise the need to share this wonderful news.

Your Part

Help your children think of ways to share the gospel. Children don’t fear offending people like we adults do. They would be happy to tell others about Jesus. Help them to meet people (be it family or friends), help them pray for the unsaved, help them with their testimony and how they can share it. Remind your children often of the Great Commission. And be the example as always. We long to see great evangelists birthed in our children.

– The Children’s Church team

Breaking Bread with our Kids

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As Christians, sons and daughters of God, we need to make an effort in remembering what God has done, both throughout history and in our personal lives. We often see in Scripture how God commands the people to teach all God has done to the generations to come, so that His wonders will never be forgotten. Jesus taught something similar when he broke bread with the disciples, asking them to use the breaking of bread to be a means of remembering him and all that he did.

Our Part
So this weekend at Cornerstone Kids we taught about the need to remember Jesus, and one of the ways we need to remember him is by the breaking of bread. We looked at the scriptures, we looked at the symbolism and we explained the act of breaking bread together. Across the sites we invited parents to join with their children in breaking bread.

It was such a beautiful picture seeing families together, parents and children, breaking bread together, praying together in remembering what Jesus did for us. Some children were too young to be involved or still unsure of what breaking of bread meant, but we do pray that their time will come to celebrate Jesus too in this act.

Your Part
Thank you to the parents who were involved. You play such a key role in being your child’s example. For those who did break bread, please break bread regularly at home together, remembering Jesus and praying together. It is a wonderful thing to do and is commanded in Acts 2.

Please keep speaking to your children about their relationship with Jesus. We cannot take it for granted that their lives will be plain sailing as children. We need to lead them and mentor them in their relationship with Christ. Actively journey with them in this awesome life with Christ.

– Children’s Church team

How do you know if a biscuit or a cupcake is delicious?

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How do you know if a biscuit or a cupcake is delicious? Even though it may look delicious, that doesn’t mean that it is delicious. It could have rotten ingredients inside. The only way to know if it is delicious is to taste it.

We used this idea in learning more about our relationship with Jesus. We need to taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 33:8). This week we chose to look at how we can know God’s goodness and glory by tasting Him.

Our part
The emphasis of our lesson was on our need to experience God. If we want to know more about Him we need to experience Him. The truth is that when we do experience God we realise how wonderful He is. We get to see how great He is and experience His goodness and from that we long to have more of Him. It is like a good slice of cake. When you have tasted it, and taste that it is good, you want more and more.

We also looked at Paul. He had so many credible attributes to his name, but after experiencing Jesus, he said that he counted all of his achievements as rubbish in comparison to God. He experienced Jesus and realised that nothing compares to His goodness.

Your part
Help your children in experiencing God. Spend time praying together, reading the Bible together, worshipping together. Tell them what you think of Jesus. If you make Him big, they too will want to make Him big in their life.

Please remember that this coming Sunday we will break bread with the children. Please join us if you feel your child is ready to break bread. There is no pressure in this. If you are unsure please chat to one of our teachers.

–  The Children’s Church Team

Stand Up!

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There is a popular quote that says, “For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing” (Simon Wiesenthal). The world today needs good people to stand up – in fact, to be more accurate, not just good people, but it needs the Church to stand up. In Acts 26:16 God says, “Stand up! I have chosen you to be my servant.” This was our memory verse this weekend as we encouraged our children to stand up and be led by God to be used for His Kingdom and cause.

Our Part
We looked at some common scenarios seen today where we need people to stand up – like standing up against gossiping, bullying, cheating. God tells us what is right and He gives us courage and confidence to stand up for what is right. We encouraged our children to stand up against what’s wrong and ask God to help us fight for what is right.

We looked at the story of Esther in the Bible. In the face of wickedness, and at the risk of losing her life, led by God she chose to stand up for what was right. She chose to speak to the king, to fight for what was right and good. God used her and gave her courage to save her people. We pray that God will use our children like he used Esther. We pray that they will be boys and girls of courage, faith and confidence in God to stand up for God’s Kingdom.

Your Part
Always be the example. Are you willing to stand up for what is right? There are so many causes in society today, and some are really good, but the central cause we ought to fight for and give our lives to is seeing God’s Kingdom advance.

Go over the story of Esther again with your children. Ask them what things happen at school that they know are not good and need to be challenged. Perhaps your child is part of a group that chooses to gossip or tease or bully. Help them see how that isn’t good and needs to be addressed. Explain how Esther did it, how God led her, and equally how God will lead us to stand for good.

We truly pray for a generation of courageous boys and girls to be found in our children. But it requires response. Will we listen to God? Will we seek His anointing? Will we stand?

– Children’s Church team

What can Jesus do for me when I mess up?

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We continue our investigating and discovery of Jesus. Our key question this week was, “What can Jesus do for me when I mess up?” The amazing answer is that He grants us forgiveness. It is because of Jesus that we can come before God and find forgiveness for our sin. This was the incredible truth about Jesus that we explored.

Our Part
This Sunday we looked at the story of the prodigal son. It is such a beautiful story with so many lessons that we can learn. Using images and even modern day examples, we discussed the story and focused on God’s grace. We looked how God forgives us of our sin – He cleans up our mess even when we don’t deserve it. Just like the loving father in the story, our Father God welcomes us to Him, forgives us and reminds us that we are His children.

Your Part
We think that it is key that you spend some time reflecting on this story with your children. It is so important to focus on how God can forgive us and that He says He will if we confess our sins to Him. Our children need to know that they can come to God with their faults, their worst actions, their sin and know that He is willing to forgive and still love them. We as parents also need to learn to display grace. We need to try to show forgiveness to our children, and not hold their faults against them.

It is a wonderful privilege to share the Gospel with our children. Keep talking about Jesus, the forgiveness we receive in Him and the family we have through Him.

– The Children’s Church team

Connecting Your Work to God’s Plan

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by Christopher Bompas

There are Sundays when you come to Church and you find yourself bursting with God’s love. Then Monday comes… suddenly without releasing it, you turn into a different person (i.e. Mr Hyde). Do we have to step out of the rat race to serve God? No.

Here’s why – we were created to work. The work that we do for the Church is of equal importance to what we do in the world. So how should we approach work as followers of Christ?

Work to cultivate. We have inherited Adam’s mission to subdue the earth (Genesis 1:28). In the urban setting, this doesn’t mean literally sticking our hands in the soil. God wants us to complete the work that He started and do things that glorify Him.

Work with love. While doing what you love isn’t always possible, we can still express Jesus’s command that we love one another in every task, no matter how big or small (John 13:34).

Work to serve. The modern world teaches us to arrange our priorities like this: (1) ourselves, (2) others and (3) God. In contrast, Christ sets the perfect example to follow in washing his disciple’s feet (John 13:1-17). See this video:

Work according to purpose. There are no cushy jobs in the Kingdom of God. Each job is equally important and we need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal how He can best make use of our talents (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)

There is incredible joy and satisfaction in work. Please speak to our deacons and elders, if you need support and encouragement in finding the special purpose that He has for you. Trust us, it’s more beautiful than you can ever imagine!

Jesus Washes us Clean

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This past Sunday we continued with our investigating of who Jesus is. The key question was, “Why do we need Jesus?” We have looked at who he is, but now we need to know why we need him in our lives.

We started by looking at the incredible truth Jesus gives in John 14:6 where he says that he is the way and truth and life, and thus the only way to the Father. He is our salvation. He is the only way.

We then looked at how he washed his disciples’ feet and what we can learn from that humble act. One key point that was made was to see how Jesus washes us clean. He removes the dirt of sin in our lives and makes a clean and right before our Father. Our children were reminded of the beautiful Gospel message and how it applies to them. As always there was some time of fun and games to help emphasise the message.

This was a report given by one of our teachers on how part of the morning went:

“What an amazing morning. God definitely spoke to His kids. As our Grade 2’s were colouring in the craft with their feet they were saying how hard it was, how sore it was, and how frustrating it was. BUT they kept on doing it. On and on they went. What a life lesson to learn: serving others and God can be tough like this but to persevere is the way to follow Jesus. Jesus has called us to serve others and serve Him. He knows at times it’s hard, and we don’t do it perfectly, but he encourages us to keep doing it.”

What a great lesson to experience. We hope our children have learned to persevere for Christ despite the difficulties that may come. May we, the parents and teachers, learn the same.

Your Part
Continue to reflect on the gospel with your children. Think of what it means to love and serve others, and to love and serve God. Help them see what Jesus did for us and how we can respond to him. In the busyness of this term we are seeing such fruit come out in our children. Please play a role in helping water such life.

We continue to investigate next week.

– The Children’s Church team

No matter what your story looks like, your story is God’s story

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by Natasha Maine

This was my sixth Kaleidoscope. Like every Kaleidoscope, it was truly amazing. It gave me that much-needed fill and brought me closer to God and what He wants for my life. This year’s theme was “Every face tells a story”. It’s amazing to see how God is in the details because that theme was definitely a common thread in every speaker’s message from God.

I can go on and on about all the wonderful things I have taken away from this conference. But what I really want to share is: Your story may be one where you think it’s not that exciting. You grew up knowing God and growing in your relationship with Him from a very early age. Or it may be like the one we heard from Vanessa Goosen – 16 years in jail with lots of hardships and struggles.

But no matter what your story looks like, your story is God story.

He has given you your story to glorify His name in one way or another. Not all of us were given a story as radical as some but your story is unique and exactly what God wants for you. He has a plan and a purpose for your story. Your hardships and triumphs were given to you to shape you, to set your roots deeper in Him. Don’t be so set and focused on the circumstances and problems – but look to His amazing love and grace within those circumstances. He wants to use your story for His good. To help someone; maybe even just one person. Or it may be that you will help many people. Most importantly, God wants to see your face and He wants you to choose Him every single day – He wants you to say YES to Him every single day.

Use me God for you in any way you want to!

Check out all the photos from Kaleidoscope 2017
Download the recordings

 

Jesus is Trustworthy

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One of the greatest desires and needs we have as people is the need to find trust in others. We long to have people in our lives that we can rely on, call on in times of need, and trust with our lives. Sadly we do let each other down – often. But there is someone who calls on us to trust Him with our life, and that is Jesus. We need to learn to trust in Jesus, for He is trustworthy.

Our Part
We looked at Psalm 56:3: “When I am afraid I will trust in you.” We have covered the experience of fear many times with our children. This week we wanted to emphasise that no matter what we are feeling or experiencing, we need to learn to trust in Jesus with our lives. When we learn to have trust in Jesus, we find the ability, the hope and courage to not fear what we experience or what may lie ahead. Our fear is kept afar when we are filled with trust in Jesus. Trusting Jesus means we that we know that he will care for us, protect us and love us throughout what happens.

We looked at how in the Gospels, an official from Capernaum feared that his son would die. He had one last hope and that was to trust in Jesus. When Jesus chose not to follow the official to his house but rather assure him that his son would live, the official again had to trust in Jesus. On his way home he heard the incredible news that his son is well. His trust in Jesus paid off.

Your Part
Speak to your children about what it means to trust someone. Tell them Bible stories where men and women had to trust God over and over again, and how God always proved to be trustworthy. Talk to your children about what they may fear. We heard some interesting points from our older children. Assure them of how trusting Jesus helps to combat fear.

We often encourage our children to love Jesus. A place to start that may be simpler for children is for them to first learn to trust Jesus. When they learn to trust Jesus, then it becomes easy to love him.

– The Children’s Church team

The Promised One of God

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Last week we looked who the Promised One of God is. We looked at Old Testament prophecies and the clues God gave on who the Messiah would be. We tried to tick the boxes and we worked out that, sorry to say moms and dads, you are not the Promised One of God, but neither are we, the teachers. So who is? Well we tried Jesus and guess what? He ticked all of the boxes. He is the Promised One of God.

So this week we started to learn more about Jesus.

Children’s church reflection for 30 April 2017

Last week we looked who the Promised One of God is. We looked at Old Testament prophecies and the clues God gave on who the Messiah would be. We tried to tick the boxes and we worked out that, sorry to say moms and dads, you are not the Promised One of God, but neither are we, the teachers. So who is? Well we tried Jesus and guess what? He ticked all of the boxes. He is the promised one of God.

So this week we started to learn more about Jesus. We looked at four eye-witnesses from His birth to when He was twelve: the shepherds, Simeon, Anna and the teachers in Jerusalem. Their confession about Jesus helps confirm that He is the Saviour, the Promised One of God.

Our Part

We spent time looking at how Jesus, even from birth, was acknowledged by many to be the Saviour of the world. We pointed out how amazing the Father is in His revealing the Messiah. The first people to meet the King of kings were lowly shepherds – not kings, not the rich, not the important leaders, but shepherds. This confirms that Jesus is the Saviour for all people.

Your Part

Spend time talking about Jesus and who He is to you and to scripture. Look at His birth and the people who met Him in His young age and what they said about Him. Your job is to introduce your child to Jesus and hope and pray that they would fall in love with this wonderful King.

We will continue with some more investigating next week.

Children’s Church team

Their confession about Jesus helps confirm that He is the Saviour, the Promised One of God.

Our Part
We spent time looking at how Jesus, even from birth, was acknowledged by many to be the Saviour of the world. We pointed out how amazing the Father is in His revealing the Messiah. The first people to meet the King of kings were lowly shepherds – not kings, not the rich, not the important leaders, but shepherds. This confirms that Jesus is the Saviour for all people.

Your Part
Spend time talking about Jesus and who He is to you and to scripture. Look at His birth and the people who met Him in His young age and what they said about Him. Your job is to introduce your child to Jesus and hope and pray that they would fall in love with this wonderful King.

We will continue with some more investigating next week.

– Children’s Church team