Let Us Teach Kids

Have you shopped for backpacks lately? Have you seen all the features, all  the options available on a lowly backpack? They come with rollers, but many schools don't allow them. They come with drink holders, and pockets, and compartments and a little hamster that does their homework for them. OK, so maybe you haven't found the hamster model, but I'm sure you've seen the dazzling and confusing options available. We buy them at the beginning of the school year, or we use them for back packing

Happy Valentine's Day!Look for someone to encourage today!   Spread Love Drama/Puppet Skit Hart: What’s wrong with you?  Reggie: Awe, I’m grounded. I hate being grounded, especially when it’s not my fault.  Hart: You’re grounded and it’s not your fault?  Reggie: It’s my teacher’s fault. She read dis dumb quote to us. My teacher says dat Mother Teresa said “Spread love everywhere ya go.” But I don’t believe it.  Hart:  You don’t believe what?  R

This is a short illustration that you might want to add to your service on Sunday to celebrate love. Deut 10:12  "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, You know about requirements. Maybe your  teacher explained the requirements or what you absolutely had to do to make a passing grade at the beginning of the school year

    Ever parent has a list of four lettered words that they don’t use and teach their children not to as well- right? OK, at least we agree we shouldn’t use them, even when we smash our fingers in the car door. But, there’s a four lettered word that isn’t used in far too many homes. Oh, we talk about it. We tell our friends at church we will do it. Maybe you even included it on your New Year’s resolution list, but saying the word doesn’t bring results. It’s not a magic word. But if

Have you ever thought of hiring a personal trainer? One hour of watching "The Biggest Loser" leaves me with mixed feeling on the subject. Yet when you look at the results it is clearly obvious the difference a personal trainer can make in an individual’s physical success. Here are some of the benefits of a personal trainer: 1. They design a personal fitness program to fit (no pun intended) you. 2. They work one on one with you. 3. They monitor your fitness progress. 4. They make sure you are

If you follow my blog regularly. Then you know this month my emphasis is prayer. One because so many churches are emphasis starting the New Year with prayer. My husband and I are starting this year with a prayer emphasis in our lives. I believe it sets the tone for the entire year. Children need to be a part of that prayer emphasis. Secondly, developing children's prayer muscles is so important. We need to help them form prayer habits and a prayer life style. The y

Drought is devastating to the farmers. Even rich, fertile ground becomes cracked and hard. Healthy crops wither and begin to die. The farmer’s life, money and hope is tied up in the wilting crop as he waits for rain. The occasional clouds that float past are only hollow promises. He waits, because that is all the farmer of yesterday could do. Every conversation turned to the same concern, "When is it going to rain?" Even in the little white church between the rows of wilting corn, the wrinkles

I'm sure every child will agree that their favorite part of Christmas is the gifts. But sometimes the package under the tree with your name on it, isn't what you want. Or sometimes we get that special gift but it breaks. Like one poor little boy who received only two gifts one Christmas. He loved his new shirt and especially the football.  The shirt had a tag with metal prongs that went into the fabric and bent back to hold the tag in place. With a giggle he pulled the tag off and shov

For this skit you will need a lamb and a mouse. By changing the dialogue slightly you can use any farm animal for the mouse that you may already have. If you want to add to your menagerie, we have great prices on the lamb and the mouse. I would take the vest off the mouse and pin a bow on her head. The lamb should do most of his dialogue in a whisper.  If you don't have the puppet then add mouse and lamb ears to actors and let them act out the skit. Mouse: For crying out loud, how i

Be sure you use a tiny, sweet voice for this skit to be effective.

  Hello. I’m  Caleb. I know. I know I've heard it all day. My mom thinks it looks cu-ute, but I think I look stupid. She dressed me up in this striped shirt so I could tell you the candy cane story. Actually, it's a pretty cool story.  Show candy candy. She said I could eat the candy after I tell you the story so here's the short version.  

It’s a true story about how candy canes were made. A candy maker from Indiana wanted to make a very special Christmas candy. It had to be hard candy because the gospel is built on the rock solid promises of God’s word. Its shape would be very special, too. It would be shaped like a shepherd’s staff. And when turned upside down it would form a “J” to represent the precious name of Jesus, the good shepherd that gave His life for His sheep.   Can I eat the candy cane now?

Oh, that's right. That's right. The sin part. Because Jesus never did anything bad the candy had to be white. The white reminds us that Jesus was pure and clean. Jesus never sinned one time. Imagine that, He never told a lie. He never took anything that didn't belong to Him.   Can I eat the candy cane now?

Yeah, that's right the red... red stands for the blood of Jesus.  Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for the sins of the world. He could do that because He never sinned. The large red stripe reminds you that Jesus purchased your salvation with His blood on the cross. The three thin red stripes represent the stripes on Jesus’ back. It hurt Jesus so bad, but Jesus took that bad whipping to purchase your peace and your healing.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I'm not really a kid and I can't really eat this candy cane, cause in case you haven't noticed,  I'm just a puppet. I only pretend to be real. I can only move when the puppeteer moves me. I can only talk when the puppeteer moves my mouth, but God didn't make you a puppet. He gave you a free will. You make choices with that free will. You either choose to accept God's free gift of salvation or reject it.  If I handed you a candy cane, you would say thank you and just enjoy it. Salvation is a gift like that. Why don’t you take God’s gift today? You can receive it right now. The teacher will tell you how. 

And one more thing. Next time you eat a candy cane, think about what I said? Those candy canes sure look good.

(The teacher may want to follow with the simple ABC plan of salvation.)

Gifts surprise us, makes us laugh, makes us feel special and loved. They are fun or difficult to select. Meaningful gifts enrich us when we give them and thrill us when we receive them. Gifts come in all sizes, shapes and prices. The size of the gift doesn't determine it's value--neither does its price tag. Sometimes gifts are very good and sometimes they can be disappointing. The perfect gift on one person's gift gauge is a bad gift on another person's. Gifts arrive from parents, grandparents

Children love puppets. You can use this skit to tell the Christmas story in a unique way. Christmas is such a special time. We need to take every opportunity to share the good news of Jesus creatively and powerfully! Use two mouse puppets. Take the vest off one mouse and add glasses on the one with the vest. Little Mouse:Have you and grandma mouse always lived in the church? Grandpa Mouse: Your Grandma and I used to live on a farm outside the city. It was a noisy place most the time. All t

This is written for a teacher to use in their class. For visuals, you will need your favorite candy bar in two sizes, a bite sized and the biggest size you can find. The sad thing is you won't get to eat the big one, you will be giving it away. Think of it this way, it’s better to give than receive or you just saved yourself from eating a million calories. Print out three words strips in 125 font or as big as you can make, “Better in God”; "Bow Inspect Give"; and "Believe in God". Fold each wo

In the tabernacle, if you move from the brazen altar and then continue to the next piece of furniture you will come to the laver. For a long time this piece puzzled me. The altar was where the sacrifice for sin was made. It is a picture of the atoning and cleansing power of Jesus, the sacrificial lamb. But the laver was a place of cleansing also. Why was the laver necessary? What was God saying to the New Testament believer through this section of the picture of the tabernacle? The laver was on

Well, howdy there. I'm Bubba. Welcome to our show sponsored by Bubba's Bar B Q. We want to thank Bubba's Bar B Q for the new choir robes even though the choir director don't really like the red pig or the Bubba's Bar B Q printed on the back. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and sit a spell with Bubba, while we cook some good stuff. (looks off stage) Do I have to wear this monkey suit? I feel plum stupid. Dey said if I wanna have a cookin show I gotta look like a cook. All the cooks down at the Bar

Driving back roads this Spring to put on Parenting Conferences in North Carolina took me through rich farmland. It was too early to plant, but already the fields were plowed awaiting warmer weather. I remember the sweet smell of plowed fields that filled the air as I drove through Lancaster, PA. I thank God for farmers, because I love to eat all kinds of produce. As I looked at those fields and thought about how much work it must be to produce a harvest, I realized children's leaders are  f