Not just any wine...

The take away thought for this week was "If it's important to you...it's important to God". In our story this week, He turned water into wine to help a bride and groom avoid the disgrace of running out of wine for their guests. Even though it looks different in our life today - He still wants us to trust Him to provide our every need. But in order for that to happen...He has to be present in our lives - and not just every now and then, but every single day. God wants to be a major part of our life, not just a helpline when something goes wrong!

Challenge of the week: A Review Game!
Kids...follow the link below and play a books of the Bible game for $5 KB cash!
http://www.quia.com/pp/259326.html


Head's up for Next Sunday: April 17th, 2011 (Palm Sunday)
We are starting a special 2 week study for Easter...so it's a great time to bring a friend!
*Memory Verse: John 12:13 - They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the King of Israel!"
*Crazy dress up day - NERD DAY!

Under the Fig Tree...

Jesus did some pretty miraculous things while He was on this earth. He turned water to wine, healed the lame, gave a blind man sight and even raised a man from the dead. But Jesus on countless other occasions showed us that He cares about the little things in our life too. This past Sunday, we looked at the story of Jesus meeting Nathaniel for the first time. Jesus told Nathanial that He had seen him earlier sitting under a fig tree, but we know (and Nathaniel knew) that Jesus wasn't there with him. So how did Jesus see Nathaniel? Well...it's Jesus, of course, and it's a miracle, but it's a personal miracle unlike most of the big ones. He wasn't healing a disease or curing a sickness...He was just keeping an eye on someone He was interested in. We don't know exactly why Jesus mentioned this to Nathaniel, but it could have been to illustrate His attention to the seemingly insignificant aspects of our everyday life. We may think that Jesus is too busy taking care of the world and other people, but He wants us to know that He cares about every little detail of our lives!

Challenge of the week: Books of the Bible Quiz for $10 KB cash!!
It's the kids turn to take a quiz! We want every kid to learn more about their Bible and all of the books that are in it. So follow the link below and make sure they sign in so I'll know who participated!!
KIDS...try not to use your Bible...challenge yourself to see how much you know! This will help you become more familiar with your Bible!
http://www.quia.com/quiz/3103834.html

Heads up for Next Sunday: April 10th
*Memory Verse - "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:19
*April 17th - Crazy Dress up Day - NERD DAY!!
*Work on the books of the Bible and Psalms 23. It's the best way to earn lots of cash!
If you need help learning...scroll down to last weeks blog. There are URL links that will take you to Youtube videos of songs that will help your child learn the books of the Bible!

The Rock!

The very first time that Jesus was introduced to Simon...He changed his name to Cephas (translated Peter) and it means "rock". What's interesting about this is that up to this point in Peter's life - he hadn't lived up to that name. In fact it took Peter a long time to be worthy of that name. But Jesus saw greatness in Simon Peter long before Peter did...and in our lives today it usually works the same way.
We talked this week about understanding how valuable we are to Jesus and the work He is doing in this world. He sees greatness in us even before we are worthy of it...it's just up to us to live our lives in such a way that shows it to others!

Challenge of the week: Ok Parents...we had such a good response last week to the parent quiz that we decided to add a part 2!
So follow this link below and sign in with your CHILD'S FIRST and LAST NAME! That helps me know who has participated! Also...become a follower of this blog so you can be notified each week when we've updated with a new post!
http://www.quia.com/quiz/3094531.html

Heads up for next week: Sunday, April 3rd
*MV - Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
*Crazy Dress up day...April 17th - Nerd Day
*In case you missed these links from the last blog...they are youtube videos of songs that will help you learn the books of the bible! Check them out! It's a great way to earn lots of cash!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixMvFdeo-F0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrA1JQqoACI

Fight the fight with scripture...

When Jesus was tempted in the desert...he fought off Satan with the Word of God. And from that experience we have one of the most popular verses in the Bible, "...Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
God's word to us is like fuel for a car...we NEED it! We need to understand that if we start memorizing verses in the Bible - we can use those verses to help us fight off the temptation to do something wrong!

SPECIAL CHALLENGE...FOR THE PARENTS!!! :)
Test your Old Testament Bible knowledge!!
Follow this link and take the quiz so your kids will receive $5 KB cash!!
All you have to do is enter your child's first and last name and I'll know you've participated!!
http://www.quia.com/quiz/3083391.html

Heads up for next week: Sunday, March 27th
*MV - Romans 8:31b: If God is for us, who can be against us?
**The Kidz Blitz store was last week and some kids realized they didn't have enough money to get the things they wanted! The only way to remedy that is to help them memorize the books of the Bible and Psalms 23. Our next store will be on May 22nd!
Here are 2 youtube links with different styles that they can watch to help them memorize the books of the Bible!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixMvFdeo-F0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrA1JQqoACI

REVIEW WEEK!!!

This past Sunday was a review day for us! Every so often we like to go back and remind the kids what we've learned and then play a fun game to see if they can remember!
And...since it was a review week - all we have today is a fun challenge and some reminders for next Sunday!

Challenge of the week: See if you can answer correctly and sink the battleship!
When you win you will see a message...write it down and bring it to Kidz Blitz for $3 bucks!
http://www.quia.com/ba/490987.html

Head's up for next Sunday: March 20th
*MV - Matthew 4:4 "Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
*Crazy Dress up Day - "Twins" Day
Pair up with someone or dress like your small group and get $5 KB cash!
*KB Store - this is the first time your kids will have a chance to cash in the money they've earned!

The Bug man...

John the Baptist wasn't your typical kind of guy...in fact - he lived in the desert, ate locusts and wild honey and wore animal skin clothing, but he did get one thing right. He understood his purpose in life. He was supposed to prepare everyone for Jesus, and point them away from the darkness of sin and towards the "Light of the World". In fact...he told people that Jesus was "...the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."

Wouldn't it be really cool if we all knew exactly what God wanted us to do? Well...even though I do believe we all have a unique purpose, I think there are also some things we can be doing in the meantime until we figure out what God's purpose for us is. And what exactly is that? The same thing John the Baptist was doing...loving God, loving others and pointing them to Christ!

Challenge of the week:
Follow the link below and finish the puzzle challenge.
If you get it right - a picture will pop up. Tell a Discovery Street leader at KB what the picture is for $3 KB cash!
Link:
http://www.quia.com/pp/256012.html

Heads up for next week: March 13th
*MV - NO NEW MEMORY VERSE...IT'S REVIEW WEEK!!
*Crazy Dress up day coming up on March 20th!!
*KB Store coming up on March 20th!!

Young at Heart...

Does God only use adults to do His work? Absolutely NOT!! Jesus showed particular interest and patience with children in the bible because they were and are important to His ministry.

This week we looked at the story of Jesus visiting the temple for the first time. Even at a young age He was ready to do God's work, and our children can and should have the same attitude. How, you ask? By inviting their friends to church, by setting an example of obedience - to their parents, teachers and anyone else who is in a position of authority over them, and by being a good helper when there is work to be done. Cleaning isn't fun for anyone, but children that have a good attitude when they are asked to help sets a huge example for others!

Don't let anyone tell you that you are too young to make a difference for God!

Things to think about:
Parents...have your kids think about how they can be more helpful at home and post your ideas in the comment box for $3 KB cash. Is it less whining when asked to do chores? Or is it taking the initiative to clean your room without being asked? There are lots of ways to make a difference!
For an extra KB buck...list the name of one friend you could invite to come to Kidz Blitz!

Challenge of the week: "Who am I" mystery...
My name means "the Rock", and I have a particular hatred for roosters!
I don't deny that I love Jesus...but sometimes need a little help admitting it!
Write your answer on a piece of paper and bring it in to KB for $3!!

Heads up for next week: March 6th
MV - John 1:29: "Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world"
Yes - we've had this verse before...so it should be an easy $5!

March 20th - is our KB store where the kids get to cash in their money! You won't want
to miss that day!
March 20th - Dress up day...Twin day - dress up like everyone in your small group for extra KB cash!! p.s. small group leaders will discuss this for the next two weeks!

Seek Me...Find Me...

You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart...Jeremiah 29:13.
What an amazing promise...

We continued this week on our journey of the life of Jesus...stopping at the story of the wise men and their journey to Bethlehem to find the King of the Jews and worship Him. These men were wise enough to understand that the star God had sent them was leading them to someone very special and they even knew this baby deserved their worship and gifts!
Not only were they smart to seek Jesus, but they also listened to the wise words of the angel sent by God. They were not afraid to defy a strong king like Herod. Instead they were wise enough to know who held the real power...Jesus!

Challenge of the week: See if you can find all 12 words in the puzzle below!
If you find all 12...bring your answers for $5 KB cash!

Make Your Own Word Search

Heads up for next week, February 27th:
*SMALL GROUP WEEK!!
*Memory Verse - Jeremiah 1:7-8
But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord.
*Work on memorizing your books of the Bible
*Work on memorizing Psalms 23

Jesus - the REAL Passover Lamb!!

I think there is something to be said for effort, right? There is even a saying, right? A for effort?
Anyway...chalk up week 5 as a loss because of extraneous circumstances! I was not able to get this blog post done last week like I was supposed to...but in case some parents still wanted to know what we talked about I decided to play catch up.
There won't be any KB cash offered in this post...just a quick recap.

When you study passages in the New Testament that talk about the Jewish festival of Passover (and believe me - there are a lot)...you need to know the background of the festival to truly understand it's importance to us today. With that in mind - we deviated a bit from the life of Jesus on February 13th to delve into Exodus chapter 12 and the origin of Passover.
Now - I did say this would be a quick recap, so I won't be able to cover everything, but I'll just sum up the bottom line.
Everyone has heard the story of the 10 plagues, but sometimes all we hear about is that all the Egyptians lost their firstborn child and animal. What we don't always hear is what the Israelites' were told to do in order to be spared.
On the night of the 10th plague, which was also the 14th day of the month, the people of Israel were told to kill a lamb at the hour of twilight, and mark their doorposts with it's blood. If they did this - the destroyer angel would "pass over" their house and spare their firstborn child. Hence the name passover.
From that point forward - we know what happened...Pharaoh let the Israelite's leave Egypt and head back to their land. The festival of passover started the very next year. In the first month of every year, on the 14th day at twilight - the Israelites' would sacrifice a lamb and celebrate the fact that God rescued them from slavery.

But - what does this have to do with us today?

If you fast forward to the last week of Jesus' life and pay attention to when Jesus enters Jerusalem (the first month of the year - the week of the festival of Passover) and what day He died (the 14th day @ twilight)...we start to see that Jesus was the final piece of the Passover puzzle. You see, even John the baptist called Jesus "...the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world."
We are all slaves to sin according to Romans chapter 6 - and we all need a blood sacrifice to free us from our slavery, and Jesus did just that when He died on the cross for our sins!
Jesus was the REAL passover lamb...and He is the ONLY way to be made right with God and receive eternal life in heaven with Him!

Delight yourself in the Lord...

...and He will give you the desires of your heart. Does that mean that God is like a genie in a bottle? Do we simply "rub him" with our prayers and expect Him to give us a brand new _____ (you can fill in the blank with whatever you want). May it never be!!...as the apostle Paul so often says.

This week we focused on 2 people who desperately desired to see Jesus before they died. One of the two people was Simeon, and according to Luke 2:26, "It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ." When Simeon saw baby Jesus, he knew that Jesus was the Messiah that God had sent to save the world. He said a prayer of Thanksgiving to God for giving him the desire of his heart - which was to see Jesus before he died.

You see...when we are delighting ourselves in the Lord...our desires will be for the same things that God wants for us. Our desires will be to obey, to have wisdom, to have a spirit of kindness, and to share the love of Jesus with others...and that is just naming a few. But in order to want the same things God wants for us, we have to first delight ourselves in Him.

Things to think about:
Parents...talk to your kids about what it means to "delight yourself in the Lord...". The definition of "delight" is to be happy about. As you work through that - find a verse in the Bible that talks about what makes God happy. Post what you find in the comment box below for $3 KB cash!

Challenge of the week: Unscramble the phrase below and tell a
Disc St leader on Sunday for $3 KB cash
vltsnoaai si orf lla eplpoe

Heads up for next Sunday - February 13th:
Crazy dress up day: RED and PINK
Bible verse - we have 2 verses to learn this week so each person has the chance to earn $10 KB cash just by learning these two verses!
John 1:29b - "Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world"
I Cor. 5:7b - "For Christ, our passover lamb, has been sacrificed"

Last but not least - don't forget to work on learning the books of the Bible or Psalms 23!!!

Good News!!

There is always excitement in the air when a baby is born. It is a new life and with that new life comes celebration and joy! It was a little different when Jesus was born though, because not a lot of people knew. That's probably why the angels were sent to tell the shepherds...so they could spread the word. But listen to the message the angels gave the shepherds, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord."

Our focus this past Sunday was the good news that came to us through Jesus Christ. You see...a lot of times we only read these passages at Christmas time - but the excitement and importance of the good news is not limited to only one month of the year. The good news of Jesus Christ should be something we are sharing all year long with everyone we know!

Things to think about:
Parents...discuss with your kid(s) why the news of Jesus Christ is good for us today. Then work together to find a verse in the Bible that talks about the good news of Jesus Christ. Remember..."good news" is a simple definition for the word gospel...so any verse that talks about the gospel of Jesus Christ will work. For example...Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Post what you find as a comment under this blog post for $3 Kidz Blitz cash!

Challenge of the week: WHO AM I?
Bring the answer in next Sunday and tell Adam for $3 KB cash!
I was a VERY old father. I love my nephew a "Lot". I live in the first book of the Bible. The Covenant God made with me involved a lot of blood. I love counting the "stars" in the sky!

Heads up for next Sunday - February 6th!
Memory Verse -
Psalms 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."
It's Superbowl Sunday...so we're definitely gonna have some football related games!
Bring back your facts and puzzles sheets!!!
Our first Kidz Blitz store where the kids can cash in their money is only a few weeks away...so help your kids earn the BIG BUCKS! HOW, YOU ASK?
Memorize the books of the Bible for $135 KB cash!!!
If you have already done that...work on memorizing Psalm 23!

Luke 1:37 Nothing is impossible with God

For many young couples...finding out you are going to have a baby is a wonderful occasion! But when the angel Gabriel told Mary she would be the mother of Jesus, she was understandably confused. Of course, her circumstances were definitely not normal. It's not surprising that Mary was confused, considering she wasn't even married to Joseph yet. But despite how unbelievable it seemed to Mary - she believed what God had sent the angel to tell her.

Things to think about:
You know, I think we can all relate to Mary. It was hard for her to believe that she would be the mother of the Son of God. Some of God’s promises do seem unbelievable, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t true. We have been talking for 2 weeks now about believing something even when it doesn't make sense to us. Last week, we saw that Zachariah had a hard time believing. Hopefully we can work on becoming like Mary who chose to believe even when she didn't understand.

Challenge of the week:
Unscramble this phrase and tell a leader NEXT SUNDAY for $3 KB cash!
ETH NEGLA LGIBARE

HEAD'S UP: January 30th
Memory Verse - Luke 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace good will towards men" (KJV)
Work on your books of the Bible!
If you have already said the books of the Bible...work on Psalms 23!!

God is capable of doing anything!

Our theme from this past Sunday was "Don't doubt what God can do".
We talked about Zachariah and Elizabeth from Luke chapter 1. Zachariah was told by the angel Gabriel that they would have a baby and they were to name him John. Zachariah had a hard time believing Gabriel because he and Elizabeth were old and past child-bearing years. The consequence for his disbelief was that he wasn't able to talk until the baby was born.

We don't have angels dropping in to give us messages anymore - but we do have a message from God...and that is the Bible. Our memory verse for the week is 2 Timothy 3:16, and the first part says that "All scripture is God-breathed". That means that God used ordinary men to write down what He wanted to say to us...He really is capable of anything!

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:
This week, parents - pick something in the Bible that is difficult to believe and talk with your kids about it. Work together to find a verse in the Bible that talks about it, and write down what you find out in a "comment" underneath this blog post for $3 Kidz Blitz Cash!

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:
Who is this person? Find the answer and receive $3 Kidz Blitz Cash!
I am over 9 feet tall. I am not an Israelite - I am a Philistine. My weakness is small rocks.

HEAD'S UP: January 23rd
Memory Verse - Luke 1:37 "For nothing is impossible with God"
Crazy Dress up day - WACKY TACKY DAY
If you haven't done the books of the Bible...work on the first 10 books!
If you HAVE done the BOB...work on the first verse in Psalms 23!