ELEVATE - Week of September 9

"God gave His best - I should give my best."

This week our kids continued their journey towards discovering the greatest treasure ever by uncovering the BIRTH stone. The birth that they learned about was the birth of Jesus - God's greatest gift.

The verse of the week is: "For God loved the world so much that he gave his only son. . .John 3:16a" Please help them to memorize the verse so they can get a prize next Sunday.

This week as you discuss with your kids, encourage them to always go above and beyond what is asked of them. God gave his best and because we love God we want to give our best to others no matter what.

Below is a link and ideas to help you out this week.

Give Your Very Best
Sit down with your child at the computer and watch this YouTube video together. (of course, this is clean, but always monitor your child closely when on YouTube) It should spark great conversation about giving God your very best.

Notice all of the things that your child is doing well this week. Praise them.. Encourage them. Don't fuss because they aren't doing the best job they can when you ask them to clean their room. Actually go alongside them and train them all over again. This time, talk to them about how God gave his best (Jesus) to us and because we love God we want to always try to do our very best in everything that we do - even cleaning our room.

Have fun!!

Until next week. . . .

ELEVATE - Week of September 2

"Sin Separates Us From God"

This week the kids began a journey through the life of Jesus. They learned how through Adam and Eve, sin entered the world. Because of this sin we are no longer perfect and therefore separated from God (Genesis 2-3).

Their verse for the week: "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard Romans 3:23."

Below is a link that will help you as parents to continue to dialogue. Please set aside some time over dinner this week or as you drive along in the car to talk with your kids about sin and how it separates us from the Father. The first link will help you through that conversation. Print it out! Really do it!

Click here

At Cool River we value the next generation. We also believe that it is the primary responsibility of the parents to pass along the faith to their kids. We are going to do our best to equip you in the journey. Please continue to make efforts every single day to talk about God with you kids. Read them Bible stories. Heck, make them read the stories to you! Listen to Christian music in your car. Pray before bedtime. Talk! Open up the lines of communication and invite Jesus into the conversation. You are gonna be amazed!!!!

AFTER you spend time helping your child understand this week about what sin is, watch this video together (note:this is a clean YouTube video - please monitor your child closely while using YouTube)
Video

Ask the question. . ."Why do you think God sent his son to Earth?" Follow this with conversation depending upon their answer.

Next Sunday's lesson topic is "God gave His best - I should give my best." It is basically the Christmas story and John 3:16. They will learn how God decided to provide a way for us to be with him even though we have sin in our life - the birth of Jesus as our Savior from our sins.

Check back for more next week!

Z Graphic Novels

CHECK THIS OUT!!!

Very Cool! Watch the trailer on the website.

The Bible ... larger than life! Kids will love reading its stories told through the graphic storytelling of Korean manga. Readers will enjoy learning the Bible’s characters and landscapes portrayed through this cutting-edge Japanese style of art now popular around the world...

Living Without Regrets

Looking back on your life, is there anything you'd do differently? On this FamilyLife broadcast, Mark DeMoss, founder of The DeMoss Group, tells Dennis Rainey about the tremendous impact his father had on him. Mark shares with Dennis why he's resolved to live his life on purpose and how that resolution affects all areas of his life.
Link to Broadcast