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Saturday, July 14, 2012

Kiddos and Jesus ii

The rain stranded many of my children in their homes. 
Only five showed up today, and I thanked the Lord for their diligence. 

I told them the story of Jesus calling His disciples. They were different people of different backgrounds yet they excitedly joined Jesus at His invitation leaving everything behind.

The story ended in a conclusion that even today, Jesus is inviting us to follow Him. We closed in a prayer asking God to help us constantly follow Him until our last breath.

As I leave, one of the boys named Bogz said,
" Thank you teacher Sarah for what have you taught us today."
Those words warmed my heart. I smiled and pointed him to the One who truly deserves his thanks.
He grinned and turned his back from me yet I heard him say, 
"Lord, thank you."
These are precious little moments that I wish will last in my memory.
It's been a while that I've waited on God to work in their hearts.
And now, in the least expected time, He's showing His faithfulness through the life of Bogz.
I was oblivious about it for the past weeks until I noticed that his attitude changed.
He used to be the most rowdy in the group, and I always find myself almost at the snap of my patience whenever I reprimand him.
But now, he volunteers to do closing prayers and even became my ally to hush noisy children.

Funny, I thought.
"In the place where I was not looking, there I found what I've been searching.
That's a riddle for me. I've seen it happen before at another time ,place and group of children. 
Now, it seems to be happening again.
If you've been teaching you can attest that naturally, 
you keep an eye on those who seem to be the most behaved,attentive, and active in oral quizzes.
In my mind, I see their future in the ministry of God.
 For that reason, God gently rebuked me by proving me wrong.
Those 'good kids' started disappearing and most never came back.
 They stopped, not because they wanted to, but because of various personal issues.

Those that are left were most likely handpicked by God to stretch my patience.
With a sigh, I continued teaching them God's Word, telling them stories from the Bible.
And those efforts start paying off. Thanks to God again.
The progress may be gradual, but all the cost of raising a heritage unto the Lord, 
through His strength, is worth it.
( Bogz )




Saturday, July 7, 2012

Kiddos and Jesus

For today's lesson, we talked about Jesus' temptation. I used the lesson found in ministry-to-children.com. Instead of fruits and chocolate candies, I mixed bread and chocolate marshmallows. I can't contain my smile when most children begged to have marshmallows instead of bread. As expected, almost all the younger kids weren't able to resist the temptation of the mouth-watering marshmallows. They picked and straightly popped it into their mouths for fear that I might require them to return it.


(Note: This is just a borrowed picture from google. 
I should have taken a picture of the actual. OK, next time)

The lesson I borrowed do really have good and practical exegetical points for children. In addition, I love that they made efforts to create lessons that are Christ- centered. Indeed, even young kids need to know Jesus. Know Him and not just know about Him. I believe that behind their playful facades, God's Holy Spirit is working. As much that I try to be simple and concise with my teaching styles,I can only rely on the internal work of God's Spirit in opening the understanding of these young minds about great Bible truths.

The highlight of the lesson was, of course, Jesus. Had He listened to Satan, we would be left without a Savior. Having read a wise advice from here, I am now careful in not turning the lessons to moral stories. The Bible is about Jesus. The rest of the characters and events are but stages for the display of His Person.More love to our Savior and Lord! 


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