Children’s Ministry

May 2015

Let Honor and Respect Reign

Upcoming holidays encourage us to honor other people—

especially those who make sacrifices for us. Mother’s Day

and Father’s Day offer reminders of God’s commandment to

honor our parents. Memorial Day is an opportunity to

remember people who’ve laid down their lives for our safety

and freedom.

Use those holidays as springboards for family discussions

about honor, respect, and sacrifice—concepts that aren’t

very popular in today’s society. These days, children may

lack respect for adults, property, one another, and even

themselves. Part of the blame for that falls on popular culture,

which rarely fosters an attitude of respect. But you can build

an atmosphere of honor and respect in your home.

Here are some tips for raising up “honor”able kids:

• Offer praise when you notice displays of respect—at home

or elsewhere.

• Honor your kids by reminding them of their God-given value

and worth.

• Don’t let disrespect slide by without correction.

• Talk to your kids in a kind tone, even when disciplining

them. Instead of shaming them, communicate with grace.

• Provide opportunities for children to honor others through

service and acts of kindness.

POWERSOURCE

Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not brag. It is not proud. It does not dishonor other people. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people’s wrongs. Love is not happy with evil. But it is full of joy when the truth is spoken. It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It never gives up.

~ 1 Corinthians 13:4 – 7 God is love. This verse is who God is. He asks this of us because we are to be more like Him. This is His character – He is patient with us. His compassion toward us is greater than His anger. He does not keep track of our wrongs, but with grace He quickly forgives and remembers them no more. He hopes for truth and fights for us. He never gives up. His love is unfailing. This is our God. Jesus came to model the very character of God for us. Yet even to this day, we often reject His teaching – maybe we don’t do it intentionally, but far too often we don’t follow Him. We want to be like Christ. We want to show love to others, but doing life with people who are just as sinful and messed up as we are gets hard. It isn’t easy. It is easier to put yourself first and focus on what you need. In the moments when people are being unfair and disrespectful – it is easy to raise your voice and fight back. Jesus teaches us that love means fighting FOR the other person. He teaches us that love means to lay down your life and serve one another, even at your expense. We all want better relationships. We long for our families to love God and love one another. We want a household that demonstrates this Bible verse – that reflects the very character of God. And it starts with love. Real love. It means to reflect Christ. The only way to do this is to know Him. Make the time to know Him more and you will bear His reflection and you will be able to show true, real love. When you do this as a leader in your home, your family will respect you.

FRIDAY NIGHT MOVIES

SNACKS, MOVIES & FUN

FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

Finding Nemo May 8

The Incredibles May 15

Cinderella May 22

The Lion King May 29

Frozen June 5

Wreck It Ralph June 12

TEACHABLE MOMENTS

In With the Good

Give each family member a card with

Philippians 4:8 printed on it. Read the

verse aloud.

Say: Think about an activity you do

a lot. It might be listening to music,

watching TV, playing video games,

reading, or something else.

Ask: What are some good and

honorable things about your activity?

How can it honor God? How can it

honor other people?

Say: Take a minute to put your card

on the object or in the area where you

do that activity. (Allow time.) Whenever

you see the card, remember to act with

honor.

Close in prayer: Dear God, thanks

for all the opportunities we have to

honor you and others. Help us stay

focused on goodness and honor each

day.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. …

Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight

in honoring each other.”

- Romans 12:9-10

Respect Begins at Home

When it comes to teaching children to honor God and other people, it’s

tempting to relegate that task to church and Sunday school. But like most

qualities, respect begins at home. As parents, you have the greatest spiritual and

emotional influence on your kids. The good news is that instilling honor and re-

spect doesn’t take a lot of extra effort. In fact, the best “lessons” come through

your everyday examples. Children notice how you treat them. They notice how

you treat the other people you come into contact with, too. Below are a variety of

ways to remind kids about the importance of honoring God and one another.

Choose a few that are age-appropriate for your children.

Super Self-Sacrifice—Brainstorm one thing each of you can give up during

the week in order to help someone else. For example, give up a TV program

to help a sibling with homework, or sacrifice Xbox time to set the table without

being asked. Then discuss the impact of making those small sacrifices.

Instrument of Honor—Provide old jars or vases that kids can decorate with

stickers, tissue paper, and other craft items. Read 2 Timothy 2:21, and

discuss ways we can be available for “honorable use.” Encourage children to

fill a vase with flowers and give it to someone as an act of honor.

On the Mend—Go on a hunt throughout the house to find items that need to

be mended. Talk about why each item needs repair. Then challenge family

members to think of a relationship they need to mend and why they need to

mend it. Read Matthew 5:23-24, and discuss ways to bring forgiveness,

peace, healing, and honor to your relationships.

Lives of Honor—With older kids, visit and tend to the graves of loved ones.

Discuss ways to honor people’s memories and follow their examples of

sacrifice and heroism.

Start With Jesus—As a family, choose one morning a week to pray together

or do one thing that honors Jesus before you do anything else. Talk about

how those days are different from other days—and how honoring Jesus helps

you remember to honor other people. Gradually extend the Jesus-honoring

habit to other mornings in the week.

Build-Up Buddies—Have one family member put on an extra-large men’s

sweatshirt. Then have other family members take turns stuffing that shirt with

filled balloons while saying one thing to honor the shirt-wearer. Take turns

being the stuffee. Afterward, discuss what happens when we fill people up

with kind, honoring words and actions.

Cross Challenge—During the week, play an ongoing seek-and-find game.

The objective is to find as many crosses hidden in everyday life as possible.

(Think telephone poles, signposts, etc.) Whenever you see a cross, remember

the sacrifice Jesus made for you (see Hebrews 12:2), and think about how

you can make sacrifices for other people. Take turns sharing your findings

each evening at dinner.

MEDIA MADNESS

MOVIE Title: Tomorrowland

Genre: Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Rating: PG

Cast: George Clooney, Hugh Laurie,

Britt Robertson, Tim McGraw

Synopsis: This film, which has been

shrouded in secrecy, is directed by The

Incredibles’ Brad Bird. A jaded, former

boy-genius and a bright, optimistic teen

embark on a dangerous mission to

unlock secrets of a mysterious place.

Our Take: With its futuristic look

and a theme based on imagination,

this movie will appeal to older kids.

After seeing it together, use the film to

discuss why imagination is important

and what it can achieve. You can also

use it to talk about different ways you

can change the world, no matter your

age or circumstances.

MUSIC Title: Handwritten Artist: Shawn Mendes

Synopsis: Mendes, a 16-year-old

singer-songwriter from Canada, gained

fame after posting cover videos on the

social-media site Vine. His debut song

“Life of the Party” (from his self-titled

EP) has received a lot of acclaim and

radio play. Mendes has also won a

Teen Choice award for Web Star in

Music.

Our Take: Mendes’ good looks and

emotion-filled lyrics have been making

young fans swoon. But many reviewers

agree he also exudes natural talent.

Mendes’ fan base is sure to grow this

year, with his first full-length album

release. Plus, Taylor Swift selected

him to sing on portions of her hot-ticket

1989 tour.

Games, Sites & Apps

Splatoon

This Nintendo Wii U

game is being described

as the “ultimate mess-

fest.” In online play,

teams battle as squid-like

Inklings, using various

ink-related “weapons.”

An on-screen map

displays the entire arena

at a glance for the messy

turf wars.

Kindness Counts

Sponsored by preschool

TV network Sprout,

www.sproutonline.com/

kindness-counts

encourages kids to

perform thoughtful

actions for one another. It

offers suggestions of kind

acts and allows parents

to add kids’ good deeds

to a “kindness gallery.”

YouTube Kids

Google recently released

an app that plays only

age-appropriate videos.

The app is for watching

only, so users can’t

upload content, share

videos, or make

comments. It also has a

design that non-readers

can navigate by speaking

in search terms rather

than typing them.

CULTURE & TRENDS

Me, Myself, and I—Researchers have found that kids whose parents overvalue them are more likely to develop narcissistic traits, such as a sense of superiority. The findings suggest that showing “parental warmth” and offering kids encouragement is better than simply telling kids they’re special. (theguardian.com)

QUICK STATS Do You Read Me?—In a recent UCLA study, sixth-graders who were away from electronic media for just five days were better able to read nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions, than those who continued to have access to digital devices. Kids went from 14.02 mistakes in identifying emotions at the beginning of the study, to 9.41 mistakes at the end—a significant im-provement according to the study’s senior author. (newsroom.ucla.edu)

Happy Mother’s Day!

God made a wonderful mother

Who never grows old

With a smile of sunshine

A heart of pure gold

In her cheeks he placed fair roses

In her eyes shining stars

God made a wonderful mother

And that wonderful mother is mine!

Through the month of May, we will be collecting:

New Large - X-Large T-shirts Large Bottles of Shampoo

Bar Soap

Please place in the cabinet at the Gym Reception Area marked Charlotte Rescue Mission. Thank you for your support.

VBS 2015 - June 22 – 26 We are so excited about this year’s Vacation Bible School!

Thank you to all our VBS volunteers, we greatly appreciate each of you! If you

have not signed up to volunteer and you’re interested in serving in this wonderful

ministry, we have a few super fun spots available for volunteers! We need:

Elementary Crew leaders

Preschool Co-leaders

Location Leaders

Craft Helpers

We know many others would like to help, but are not available to give of their time.

If you would like to serve through giving, we are in need of these particular items:

Oreos, Goldfish crackers Mini pretzels, Plain cheerios

Raisins Cans of strawberry frosting.

Baby wipes

Sharpies

Ziploc Sandwich Bags

Ziploc Snack Bags

Please drop any of these items off in the tub across from Noah’s Ark desk.

Thank you so much!

May 10, 2015 Hey!! That’s

Mother’s Day!

#Godissovereign

#Godisfullofmercy

#Godisrelentless

#Godisjealousforus

#Godiswithus

#Godseeyourbest

#Godshowsreallove

#Jesusiswaitingforyou

#Godisthreeinone

WOW!!! All those hashtags that teach

us about God!!! Soooo cool!

This month, our new one

is: #Godisbigger

God is bigger than WHAT?

Come and see as we help Nemo

discover that God loves us, and wants

to bring his lost children home….

We just have to surrender our will to

let God have control!

It’s gonna’ be a GREAT week in

worship with Nemo…and,

celebrating our Mother’s!!

Hope we will see you there…and,

bring a Mom who hasn’t come before

and her children to join us!

See you then!!

Family

Worship

Flurries of

God's love are going to be

falling all over MUMC in June!

Vacation Bible School is coming soon and we need your help. We are in need of

hundreds of paper snowflakes. If you have some time, please consider making

some snowflakes of varying shapes and sizes. Paper is available in the children's

wing if you need it. Please return the snowflakes to the Noah's Ark desk in the

children's wing no later than Sunday, June 14. Thank you so much for helping us

share God's amazing love with these precious children.

DONATIONS NEEDED FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL VBS DECORATIONS

Things to borrow which will be returned at the end of VBS: Mountain climbing boots with metal spikes bungee cords, rock climbing rope or nylon cord carabiners winter gloves ski goggles or adventure/sporting type sunglasses pick axe small dome tents (2-3), brightly colored would be ideal Things that will not be returned: large white hard Styrofoam sheets and variety of smaller sizes (any size) White Fiber fill (or poly fill) Please drop any of these items in the tub across from Noah’s Ark labeled Middle School VBS.