This week in CoaH Kids

ANNOUNCEMENTS

NEW! In the Pre-K -5th grade section of the blog, there is a suggestion for a family activity related to the lesson. This would be a great jumping off point to talk about the lesson from Sunday. 

CoaH Retreat: The CoaH Fall Retreat is October 28th - 30th. Located at Camp Monadnock in Jaffrey, NH. Families are welcome and will have private accommodations.  See the CoaH website for more details here. 

Family Worship Sunday: Mark your calendars, our next Family Worship Sunday is October 30th at the 11am service. On Family Worship Sundays your kids (Pre-K through 5th grade) will be taking a break from their regular CoaH Kids curriculum and joining everyone in the larger gathering for worship. 

We regularly have Family Worship Sunday to remind you as parents that you are the primary disciple-maker of your children. You have the opportunity to model worship for your kids as we do in the larger gathering. We also think this is a great opportunity for the larger church body to identify our families and celebrate our children as part of the church.  Read about Family Worship Sunday here.

NURSERY

9AM Nursery: Children ages 0 -1 yrs old are welcome to come play in the nursery at this service. There is a separate class for 2 - 3 yr olds during this service. We provide cheerios for children over age 1 (unless specified by parents) and we try to spend a little bit of time reading the Bible story books. 

11AM Nursery: Children ages 0-3 yrs old are welcome to come play in the nursery at this service. We provide cheerios during Bible story reading time for children 1 yr and older!

Please bring a labelled water cup for your child to use during the nursery. If you've forgotten a label, the check-in coordinator would be happy to print out a label for you!

 ***IMPORTANT*** We have severe allergies in our nursery-aged kids. We'll have a Cheerios snack (for ages 1 yrs old and up) during Bible story time, but please don't give your child a bagel or other snack when you are checking them in. We clean our toys regularly, but we don't like to take chances.

 

2 - 3 YEAR OLDS

October Memory Verse: Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

October Theme: Only God is Big - a story about sin in the garden from Genesis 3

From the parent take-home page: Remind your children that God said, "No. Do not eat this fruit." But the man and the woman ate the fruit. They did not obey God.

When you tell your child "no" and your child disobeys, make sure that your child understands that this is wrong. 

Ask your child, "Can you make a tree?" Then say "No, only God can make a tree."  

Throughout the week make statements like "Only God is sooooo big" or "Only God is sooooo strong." Then thank God that He is so big! (A Sure Foundation, 2005)

 

PRE-K - 5TH GRADE

Memory Verse: Romans 10:9 "...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

Bible Passages: Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30

This Week's Story: Thank you for continuing this journey of The Gospel Project® for Kids. This week, we focused on the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; and Luke 18:18-30. Jesus had set out on a journey with His disciples;they were likely heading to Jerusalem. (See Mark 10:32.) Suddenly, a man ran up to meet Jesus. The man knelt before Jesus and asked Him a question: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus reminded the rich young ruler of the commandments, but by asking him to give up his wealth, Jesus revealed the man’s failure to keep the first commandment—“Do not have other gods besides Me.” The man went away sad because his wealth was his god.

Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were surprised. Wasn’t wealth a sign of God’s favor? Wealthy people could freely give in the synagogue and make sacrifices. If a rich person could not enter God’s kingdom, who could?

Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” What was Jesus saying? Pushing a piece of thread through the eye of a needle is hard enough, but a several hundred-pound mammal? Impossible!

Being wealthy is certainly not a sin in itself; God often chooses to bless people with wealth. But as the rich young ruler shows, wealth can be a great hindrance when a person loves his wealth more than he loves the One who gave it to him. But Jesus pointed out that all things are possible with God. God has the power to change people’s hearts. Salvation comes by His grace, which enables sinners to repent and follow Jesus.

Then Peter said, “We have left everything and followed You.” The disciples sacrificed a lot to follow Jesus, but Jesus assured them that anything they left behind would pale in comparison to the fellowship of believers and the treasures that awaited them in heaven. Jesus is better than anything He asks us to give up to follow Him. Not only does He offer us Himself, He offers eternal life.

Christ Connection: The rich young ruler loved his things more than he loved Jesus. Jesus wants us to be happy to give up anything to follow Him. Jesus is better than any treasures on earth. When we trust Jesus, we get eternal life. 

Family Activity Suggestion: Hide a surprise for your children somewhere in your home. Give kids instructions to find the treasure. After kids have found the hidden item, read Matthew 19:16-30 together. Ask kids to tell you what the ruler treasured. Discuss some of the items your family treasures and remind kids that a relationship with Jesus and His gift of salvation are the greatest treasures we could ever have.

Younger Kids Review Questions

• What did the young man ask Jesus? (what he needed to do to live with God forever)
• What did Jesus tell the young man to sell? (everything)
• To whom did Jesus tell the young man to give his money? (to the poor)
• How did the man feel when Jesus told him to give everything away and follow Him? (very sad)
• BP Question: Why was the rich young ruler sad? He loved other things more than he loved Jesus. 

Older Kids Review Questions

• When Jesus reminded the young ruler about the commandments, what did the young ruler say? (He had kept all the commandments since he was a boy; Mark 10:20)
• What did Jesus tell the young man he was missing? (sell everything he had, give the money to the poor, and follow Jesus; Mark 10:21)
• How did the young ruler respond to Jesus' answer? (he went away sad; Mark 10:22)
• What did Jesus say is easier than a rich person entering God's kingdom? (a camel going through the eye of a needle; Mark 10:25)
• BP Question: Can a person earn his way into heaven by doing good deeds? No, salvation is a gift of God.