This Sunday night we have our monthly IMPACT service. I (Pastor Dave) have the opportunity and privilege of sharing the devotional before communion. With that being said I want to encourage families with children to come out Sunday night for this meeting which includes baptisms, communion and some important church business matters. For children kindergarten and under - there will be child care. For older children - It would be great to have them see the baptism, hear the testimonies and learn more about and possibly take communion with the church. I want to use the rest of this blog to explain the "learn more about and possibly celebrate communion." During the devotional time I am planning to share about the seriousness and the symbolism of baptism and communion. My goal is to prayerfully plan the teaching to help you have Gospel talking points with your child. I also am going to share how God used communion to save me. You will have to come and here about that. It is not what you think! Here is a video that explains communion using Passover, which was last week's lesson.
In the Bible, there is no age of accountability or prescribed requirement. The only prerequisite is that the participant be a follower of Jesus Christ.
Never rush communion. It's not magical so taking it sooner than later will not keep your kids from sin or earn them extra favor with God.
Communion requires proper mental understanding and meaning spiritual reflection to hold significance.
No one knows your child better than you and when it comes to a decision like this, trust the Lord's guidance and your discernment as a parent.
Be prayerful about the matter.
Some questions to ask yourself
Have they given a convincing profession of faith in Jesus?
Are they showing fruit and evidence of conversion through obedience to and love for Jesus?
Do they understand and can they articulate the significance of communion?
Some questions to talk with your child about
What is Communion?
Make sure they understand what communion is and what communion isn’t. I recommend starting with Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper inLuke 22. Talk about what Jesus was teaching when He spoke to His disciples and how we continue to remember Jesus broken body and shed blood. Be sure to explain that what we are doing is symbolic and not literal. We are not literally drinking Jesus’ blood and eating His body. Communion is not magical.
Why Do We Take Communion?
Teach your child that we take communion because Jesus instructed us to and as a way of remembering and celebrating what He did for us.1 Corinthians 11:26tells us that as often as we eat of the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes again.
How Do We Take Communion?
Coach your child through the logistics and the spirit of taking communion. Communion is done differently at every church, so coach them on the proper way to receive and the proper time to partake of the bread and juice. Also, help and encourage them to be in the right mindset. 1 Corinthians 11 gives personal instructions for taking communion and tells a believer to “examine himself” before eating and drinking.
This Sunday Fred Whitman, our missionary in Italy, will be preaching. I emailed him about having the kids in the service. Here is the email he sent to me.
I am looking forward to being with you at Toledo. I would
LOVE the kids to be there when I share. I will be bringing my
"funnel horn" and it would give me a great time to play it and make a
great application that they will never forget. Thanks for giving me that
opportunity!
By the way, I was 5 when God called me to Himself in salvation and 12 when the
Lord called me to missionary service! God bless.
Yours for Christ in Italy,
Fred Whitman
Here are some ideas to make your day a missions minded day.
Get a good night of rest. Go to bed early.
Plan to come to the 9:00 AM hour and 10:30 AM. Remember 1st - 3rd graders are in church.
For dinner ...
Pray for the Whitman's and any specific prayer requests mentioned in the service.
Have an Italian meal. Spaghetti or pizza or some other family favorite.
Share your testimony of salvation with kids. REMEMBER your testimony is about what God has done not what you did.
After dinner ideas...
Lupo delle ore
This game requires a minimum of 3 players, although groups of 7 players are ideal. One player is the "lupo" ("wolf"), and stands with his back to the others, who form a line at a designated distance from him. They players call out "Lupo che ore sono?" ("Wolf, what time is it?"), and the wolf answers with a number. The players can then take that many steps toward him, and ask again. If, instead of a number, the wolf responds with "Ho fame!" ("I'm hungry!"), he can turn around and try to tag as many of the children as he can before they make it safely back to the starting line.
Check online for other game ideas.
Find a map of Italy online and do some different activities. Some examples include drawing what the country looks like and identifying places on the map.
Bedtime
Go to http://www.operationworld.org/ital and pray for the people of Italy.
Pray for the Whitmans.
REMINDER: Fred has a special presentation Sunday night but there is no child care during this. It will be streamed back to the nurseries.
Here is the Day 5 - Jesus is the Passover Lamb for believers. 1 Corinthians 5:6 - 8.
Activity idea: SHADOWS!!
The Old Testament Passover is a shadow of something so much better.
Do some shadow activities with a flash light.
Talk about what a shadow is.
Tonight, we had a China themed movie night!
Starting with Dispatches from the Right No Regrets! No Retreat!
For the last half of the evening, the kids were able to watch The Gladys Aylward Story.
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Click HERE for a pdf book of Gladys Aylward activity sheets.
Don't forget to pick up a missionary book from the Gathering Area.
One of the quotes from a Chinese leader in the movie is...
"It is not a small woman I am sending! It is a small woman with a big God!"
This connects well with this mornings lesson.
God used a humble man to lead Israel out of Egypt.
God used a humble woman to lead the orphans out of China.
Day 5 of each week is a New Testament/Gospel Connection
to the lesson. Here is a reading activity we did in the 1st - 3rd grade 10:30 class that you can do with your wife. Listen to Exodus 3:11-4:17 on a website or app. Note the 5 different times Moses questioned God. Discuss how God answered each of Moses' objections. Think about how you can pray for your family and our missionaries to make an impact for God and His glory.
We want to let you know what is happening for families with kids this upcoming Sunday night!
We will have child care up through kindergarten.
We also have several options for kids 1st through 5th grade.
In the chapel, we are showing the eighth episode of Dispatches from the Front.
The focus of this video is God's work in the country of China.
Click HERE for a review of the book and the video.
It is 72 minutes long.
We want to encourage you to watch at least part of the Dispatches of the Front with your families
Here is a preview! There is nothing inappropriate in this video. At the same time it does not have a lot of attention grabbing action. The video is filled with some amazing scenes, word pictures and Biblical truth.
At the same time the Dispatches from the Front video is going we are going to be showing
one Torchlighter video from 6:00 to 6:35
and another from 6:40 to 7:10.
Whichever option you choose for your child, we want you to watch the videos with your 1st - 5th graders.
Some Torchlighter activity sheets and discussion guides will be provided.
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