FAMILY PLUS Children's - June 30

Hey everyone!

Well 2 of our 4 Summer Camps are over and we are starting the month of July. This means that we are halfway through with this Summer. It is flying by! A great summer so far, and I am learning so much this summer from being with these kids. It never ceases to amaze me how much God can continually teach you about life through these kids. 

We just finished a great week at camp with our 3rd-5th graders in Campbellsville, KY. I saw God work in ways that I didn't expect. One of our days I could sense that God was about to do something big, so I kept praying and began texting others in our church to intercede for our kids. That night I saw something big for sure, but it wasn't what I was expecting. I was thinking that God might save a child or something like that, but instead God began to free some of these kids from the burdens that they carry in life. May God continue that work in the lives of our children!

This month in Kidstuf we start a new series in the book of Acts. I'm pumped! I've been studying Acts for the past 3 months, so this is going to be fun for me to teach. It's all about the Church and what happened in those first years.

Here is what they are learning this week...

Scripture: Acts 2; 4:1-22; 6:1-7

Life Application:  I can serve in my church

Memory Verse: Acts 22:15 “...for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.”

Prayer for the Nations: South Korea

Since this is all about the Church, I want you to think about how you serve the church. In what ways do you serve? Teach? Lead? First Impressions? Etc? 

Now I want you to think about how your kids can assist you in your service. I've seen kids help hand our bulletins. I've seen kids help their parents get ready to teach. How can you show them that they should be serving the church?

Maybe you don't serve anywhere. If you would like to start thinking about it let me know. I would love to talk about your gifts or put you in touch with someone else who can. I want you to live a fulfilled live in Christ and using your gifts is part of that kind of life. 

Don't forget about KidzDays in the Glade (July 9-13). Register at any info center in the church or online till July 1st!

Jared Norris
Children's Minister
The Glade Church

Day 4 - OMC

Here are a bunch of pictures from today's main event...OMC! Enjoy!

We will be leaving out tomorrow morning around 9:30CST. Around the halfway point we will stop at a Kentucky State Park to have a picnic lunch and let the kids stretch their legs. We will call when we are an hour or so away. See you tomorrow!

Day 3 at camp

Sorry I'm a little late getting this out. I had some responsibilities that had to get done last night.

Here is a recap from yesterday...




The girls making up and singing songs. This is still happening at breakfast as we speak.




Cameron Croney being a "ninja".




Ben Ferguson on stage playing a game.



Josh Ferguson on stage peeling a banana with his feet.




Hope Davidson blindfolded and getting ready to play a game.




Adrianna and Logan cutting up before the party last night.




Nic Weir showing off his dance moves. I think he has danced all week so far.

Worship was great last night. We focused on "taking a stand" in life. In other words, God has called each of us to take a stand in life. Whether it be for the first time (trusting Jesus as Savior) or another time (standing up for what is right).

Today is the pinnacle of camp for the kids...it's OMC. They literally paint themselves up for this massive game. Be sure to check back later or check Jesse McKay's Facebook for pics of OMC.

Day 2 of camp is done!

Day 2 of camp is done and it was a great one.

Your kids are hilarious! We have laughed and laughed as they have started to come out of their shells.

We started the day together as a group. Then your kids parted ways by their grade level for bible study and rec. By the time that was over it was time for lunch, then their track times. It was a scorcher, but we have a rule at camp that you must drink one entire glass of water before you can have any soda. A couple of years ago I passed out at camp due to the combination of a sprained ankle and dehydration. It's a funny story that you will have to ask my wife to tell you. All that to say I am very sensitive to keeping your kids hydrated.

Worship tonight was great, but church group is where we saw God move. We broke the kids up into small groups to get them to talk more and it worked! I personally had a great conversation with one of our boys about sin and it's consequences and God fixed that through Jesus. It was at least a 20 min conversation. Keep praying for the kids. This is one of the best groups of kids I have ever brought to camp.

I will leave you with a couple of pictures for the road. Please check Jesse McKay's (he is one of our group leaders) Facebook for tons of other pictures.



Ben Ferguson eating his 5th roll.




Connor Ross on stage playing a game during our party. We had only a couple of our kids onstage but a ton of our group leaders got called up.

Check back tomorrow night!

FAMILY PLUS Children's - June 22

Hey Everyone!

Technically, we just started Summer, but realistically we are right in the middle of all our Summer activities. We just completed our best Summer Jam to date in the history of this church! It was an incredible experience. God blessed all our changes this year. Some key components to celebrate are..

- we were up approx 14% in attendance from last year.

- our 4th and 5th grade attendance was up approx 40% from last year (not typical in most churches).

We were able to have some significant conversations with kids this year. One conversation happened late Friday afternoon during the clean up process. A child asked me about baptism, so we sat down on some steps and talked about it. At the end I mentioned that Jesus one day would return and "get us". He said, "what do you mean?" I went on to explain that Jesus would return to collect those who believe in his substitionary death and resurrection (I didn't say it with those big words) and take them to Heaven to live forever with God. The child was so caught up in this truth that he yelled, "AWESOME!"  

I pray that the truth of God will captivate your child's heart too. One way God will use you to do this is through your conversations with your kids. Talk to them about what they are learning!

Here is what your kids will be learning about this Sunday...

Scripture: Luke 15 (Three Parables)

Life Application:  I can know God loves and cares for me.

Memory Verse: Philippians 4:19 "And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." 

Prayer for the Nations: South Africa

Pray for us! We leave to take 30 3rd-5th graders to Kentucky for camp Saturday afternoon. 

Also, Don't forget to sign up for KidzDays camp and Preschool Day Camp (July 9-13, 9am-3pm).

Jared Norris
Children's Minister
The Glade Church

FAMILY PLUS Children's - June 8

Hey everyone!

It's Friday and we are in full Summer Jam mode around here. Today's to-do list has all kinds of final decorating stuff going on, and we will be working on worship preparation too. This year's worship is going to have a completely different feel. I am soooooo excited for Summer Jam to happen. I can't wait for the kids to start rolling in on Monday at 9am. Please be praying for Summer Jam. There is a lot new things happening this year. If you haven't registered your kids yet, you can do so on Sunday.

Here is what your kids will be learning about this Sunday...

Scripture: John 6:1-15 (Jesus fed Five Thousand)

Life Application:  I can trust God to provide for my needs.

Memory Verse: Philippians 4:19 "And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." 

Prayer for the Nations: South Africa

This Sunday I'm going to ask one of your kids to recreate the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. I will give them 5 slices of bread and 2 goldfish crackers and see if they are able to have the same results that Jesus had. Of course, they won't be able, but that's the point. We are not divine like Jesus; we have fallen short (Rom 3:23). Therefore, we need help. We need help on a spiritual level (salvation), and we need help on a physical level (food, clothes, etc.). This is why Jesus went around preaching AND healing. Our sin has put us in the place where we need help, and Jesus is there to provide help spiritually and physically.

This week's parent challenge is simple. Ask them these questions....

1) What is an example of something that you can't do?

2) Why can't you do it?

3) Does that mean that you need help doing some things in life?

4) Talk about things in your life that you need help with, and relate that back to Jesus being the ultimate provider of everything, even help!

FAMILY PLUS Children's - June 3

Hey everyone!

 We are gearing up for Summer Jam around here. I hope you are too. We have a few more details to take care of and a couple more leaders to recruit, and then we will be ready for your kids. I'm pretty excited about all the new things that your kids will experience this year! Make sure they are apart of what God is doing June 11-15 from 9am-12:30pm!

Details for this Sunday:

Scripture:  Mark 4:35-41 (Jesus calmed the storm)

Life Application:  I can trust God to help me.

Memory Verse: Philippians 4:19 "And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." 

Prayer for the Nations: South Africa

Last week I felt led to tell them that just like Jesus called his disciples, he wants to call your children to that kind of life. A life that is wholly devoted to God. This week we will try to put to rest the fears that our kids may have by talking about trusting God. Don't tell your kids this, but they will get a little wet this week when we talk about Jesus calming the storm. I'm going to have our leaders mist them with water when I get into describing the storm. I am simply using this for effect. What techniques do you use for effect in your child's life? How do you emphasize something for them? And most importantly, what kind of things do you emphasize?

Do you emphasize their walk with Christ? I believe I need to confess a moment. That last question pierced my soul a bit. It's tough balancing all the things we do as parents. You want to be great at your job and provide for your family, so you work hard and long hours to get it done just right. You want to have a social life, so you make sure you get time in with your friends. Then there are the countless other things that we value and want to get done sometime in our life. These are short-term and long-term things. These are the things we emphasize often, and these short-term and long-term things don't stand up to the eternal things that we need to emphasize. 

Emphasize something worthy of time and energy being put into this weekend. Emphasize something eternal this weekend.

Prayer for you: Father, may the families at The Glade Church seek first Your kingdom and emphasize You alone this weekend. Let this be done for the sake of the new generation coming after us!

Jared Norris

Children's Minister

The Glade Church