Heartprints
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The Season of Winter
Recently, we turned our clocks back from daylight savings to winter and shorter days. God has given us seasons to show His perfect plan for our universe. Psalm 104:19 He made the moon to mark the months, and the sun sets according to a regular schedule. And long ago, Moses wrote: in Genesis 1:14, God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years. Remember this song? “Oh the weather outside is frightful but the fire is so delightful?” Winter is when we can reflect on the goodness of God in times of…
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Giving Thanks With a Whole Heart
When it comes to freedom of worship the worst prison is the prison of the ungrateful heart. True thankfulness can’t cohabitate with greed. It will not grow beside the feelings that we may have what we need but there is so much more we want and we can’t really be happy till we get it. We have a whole generation that believes Thanksgiving is more about overeating and shopping than giving thanks.
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Goliath and the Tween
A 5th Grade Sunday School class talks about David and Goliath.
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Focus on What’s Important
A 5th Grade Sunday School Class talks about Jesus preparing for His death.
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Boundaries That Protect
A child doesn’t have to be burned to learn that fire is dangerous. It’s not necessary to be hit by a car to learn that a street is not a safe place to play. Children need consistent reinforcement of truth to learn it. For most children, this will be enough to shape their thinking and influence their actions. While they are very young, we take them by the hand moving them out of danger while reinforcing with our words, “It’s hot, don’t touch it or it will burn you. It is dangerous to go into the street. That is a no! This is a yes.” Our actions and words influence…
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Will you have a crown to lay at His feet?
This week we saw the end of the life of Queen Elizabeth, who had reigned over her nation for over 70 yrs. She reigned longer than any British monarch, and in those years, she remained steadfast and lived by the words she shared as a new queen in 1953. “I declare before you that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service, and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong,” But what was more remarkable was her testimony that she wished Jesus would return so she could lay her earthly crown at his feet. In sharing this with children, you…
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Sandy the Sucker
A 5th Grade Sunday School class talks about Nehemiah and Sanballat aka Sandy the Sucker.
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PRAYER NEVER DOES NOTHING
Prayer is a dialogue. Prayer is not just a conversation; it’s the place where faith meets command and obedience is born. Can we really reduce it to a formula of what, when and how to speak to God? Does one size really fit all? I think not.
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Nehemiah The Swifty
A 5th Grade Sunday School class talks about Nehemiah. He and Taylor Swift have a few things in common!
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No Little Pharisees!
I have been teaching children for just shy of 50 years. That is a lot of teaching. But have I been teaching them well? In recent years, I have had to stop and reevaluate the things I have said as I quoted God’s Word to the children. In doing so I concluded that there were times that if a child followed my teaching, they would come out more like a pharisee than a believer. How many times have we as teachers and parents been guilty of telling the children that God hates sin without emphasizing His great love for the sinner? The Pharisees had God’s Words in their mouths but…