The Sunday School Teacher's Network Newsletter - Great ideas for children's ministry!


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Issue #10 - March 13, 2008 Previous issues can be found in the Archives.	Home \| Search \| Support SSTN
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"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." -- Jesus
Scroll down the page to view articles. 1) Creative Lesson Ideas 2) Encouraging Good Behavior 3) Sermon Outlines 4) Goals for Sunday School? *Your participation makes SSTN a success!* 5) Casting Crowns Video 6) Discovering God's Plan 7) Godspell in Sunday School? 8) "Spring Cleaning" theme? 9) Palm branches & Eggs?	*Your entire class can make* *their own set for one low price!*
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1) Creative Lesson Ideas You could write some short skits of a Bible story and let some kids (we've used adults too) act it out for the others. Like for the stoning of Stephen cut up some foam rubber and spray paint brown to resemble rocks and let them act out story and stone him. For Ten Commandments make 2 sets of the commandments from plaster of paris. One to break and another to use to replace. Let Moses come out from behind a cardboard rock. Set it up so you can see some of his head as he climbs down from different heights to give the impression of descending. The Good Samaritan, if you can borrow a donkey to put the wounded man on is really impressive. We wrote our own skits and made some of our props. Good luck. Lodiejlcjjmh@charter.net

2) Encouraging Good Behavior > In what ways do you encourage good behavior during class time? I tried something new this past week during class. Maybe you've already tried it too. I have a round badge that reads "Super Kid" on it (looks like the Super Man design). At the beginning of class I pay attention to the children who are behaving well and pin the badge on one of them. And at the same time I'll make a big deal about how good he or she is behaving (also recognizing that this time he or she is getting the badge, but some of the others are equally worthy and will soon get to wear it too). I allow the child to wear it for a while, then pin it on another well-behaved child during another session of the lesson. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Sarah K

3) Sermon Outlines Greetings in the name of our wonderful Saviour.I just want to thank you from the bottomof my heart for the wonderful sermon outlines.I teach in a multicultural school and the sermon on"GOD DOESN'T HAVE FAVOURITES" was a real blessing as i shared it in the assembly Thanks a ton May God bless you richly manju --from SSTN: you are very welcome! For those of you who are interested in our sermons, scroll to the top of this newsletter and click the "Object Talks" link.

4) Goals for Sunday School? How (do I) set up sunday school and get children to come?

5) Casting Crowns Video This is so cool! Check it out: http://www.mychurch.org/blog/30635/coolest-video-ever

6) Discovering God's Plan The Beatitudes can help you discover God's purpose and plan for your life! Learn more by reading chapter one from "The BE-Attitudes". Go to the following link: http://www.sundayschoolnetwork.com/curriculum_beatitudes_intro.htm

7) Godspell in Sunday School? Has anyone ever taught a Sunday School lesson based on the musical Godspell? I began showing the movie today to a group of High School students and young adults in Sunday. We have been reading the gospels for the previous few Sundays. After the movie is over, I want to follow up with some critique of the movie and comparison to the gospel of Matthew. Any suggestions on how to structure my lesson? Thank you, Amy Frederick, Maryland

8) "Spring Cleaning" theme? At the end of every month, I teach a combined ages class. I have found many good lessons on this site. But for this month, I want to do a lesson on spring cleaning (cleaning up our hearts, minds, environments, etc). I thought of a few cleaning products to use in the object lesson. Shout (laundry detergent), Joy (dishwashing soap), Pledge, etc. I wondered if any of you can help me think of some others. Thanks!!

9) Palm branches & Eggs? Hi, I am teaching sunday school on Palm Sunday. I would like to know if anyone knows why we use palm branches, or why we die the eggs for Easter. I would like to incorporate either one of those traditions for a lesson. Thanks Kali Ploucher in NJ --from SSTN: Hi Kali, As Jesus made his way into Jerusalem right before the Passover Feast, the crowds waved palm branches and shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" See John 12:12 and following. Waving palm branches was a celebration of victory and the words spoken by the people reflected Jesus' royalty. It is no accident that Jesus entered Jerusalem during Passover, because he became our Passover lamb (see 1 Corinthians 5:7). What is sad is that in one week's time, the crowd's cheers turned into jeers demanding his execution! For an activity using Palms, check out the Palm Cross at: http://www.sundayschoolnetwork.com/crafts-holidays.html As to the eggs, there is a good explanation found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_egg My thought on this, and I hope I do not get too many negative remarks...so please hear me out, is even if the eggs were once related to a pagan rite, the fact is that before any of us believed in Jesus we were ALL considered enemies of God (Colossians 1:21), but now "In Christ", we have been redeemed, (bought back, made new, set free, delivered). So in the same way, all the objects that were relegated to evil, "In Christ", have also been redeemed. "Eggs" which are God's creation (Satan doesn't own them), and if the tradition is true, were used for evil, are redeemed by Christ's work on the cross! Praise be to God!

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