Summertime Update - age-level promotion and more

On Sunday, June 7 we start our Launch! summer ministry season. All children, birth-5th grade, will continue to have relevant and creative Bible teaching throughout the summer.

During both services, the 1st & 2nd graders will meet in room 110/111 and 3rd-5th graders will meet together in the Launch Pad.

Promotion to the next grade level will begin June 28, the Sunday after Kids’ Camp.

· 5th graders moving up to 6th grade will move over to Student Ministries June 28.

· Kindergarteners will move to 1st grade June 28.

· Until the 28th, children will be with the same grade level they were for the ‘08-’09 school year.

· Preschool age children will promote to the next age-level rooms in September.

All of our 30 or so every-week, fully committed, school-year volunteers will be taking the summer off to refresh and recharge. Please tell them “thank you” for their dedicated and extraordinary service.

Arvada Covenant Church Health Reminder

We often teach children to treat others the way they want to be treated, or, to love your neighbor as yourself. With that in mind, spread the love but do your part to stop the spread of cold and flu. If your child is sick, please keep them at home.

As always, if your child has a fever, diarrhea, vomiting, discharge around the eyes, green or yellow runny nose, excessive coughing or any communicable disease, please keep them at home.

These are important guidelines to which we will adhere for the health and safety of everyone.

Thanks for your help. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact John Mullis, Children’s Ministry Director, at 303-422-1235.

Kid's Camp 2009 - Wildwood Forest

Kids' Camp runs from June 22-26; 9 am - Noon for children 5 years old through 5th grade. The cost is $25 per child.

For complete information on Kids' Camp 2009, registration dates and forms, visit the Arvada Covenant Church website.

Obedience - 1st-5th Grade Virtue for May

Street Smart
Stop! Have you given much thought to the fact that obedience, which is trusting those who lead you by doing what you're asked to do, is one of those "different" virtues? God is God; He is the ultimate Authority. No one outranks Him. So He doesn't obey anyone, right? However, Jesus obeyed His Father (John 9:4), and it's certainly a proper response from us toward God. In fact, "this is love for God: to obey his commands" (1 John 5:3, NIV). What a premium God places on obedience! He would rather have our obedience than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22).
But, oh my, what a difficult time we have obeying. And that difficulty is not limited to childhood. (How many traffic laws have YOU broken, for instance, in your driving career?) So of course the Bible is full of examples of people obeying (and disobeying) God and the consequences thereof. Remember Jonah? Could there be many more vivid examples of what happens when we obey God? Or the fact that there are consequences when we don't? It's a good thing God is patient and forgiving and the God of second chances.
So this month we're focusing on the who and the why and the how of obedience. Not because God is waiting to zap us when we cross the line (like a traffic cop lying in wait with his radar gun), but because He cares for us. He wants a relationship with us and for us to have a part in His big plan, so He wants to help us avoid breakdowns, dead ends, and even the minor potholes along the way. So here's the lineup for the month:

Week 1: It's always better to do what God says the first time.  (The story of Jonah; Jonah 1-3) 
Week 2: How I obey my parents shows what I think about God.  (Children, obey your parents; Ephesians 6:1-3) 
Week 3: Obeying your leaders can help you know God. (The Lord calls Samuel; 1 Samuel 3:1-19) 
Week 4: It's right to listen to God because He is GOD. (Adam and Eve disobey; Genesis 3:1-24)
Week 5: 5th Week Special Edition: How can you know what to do if you don't know what God says? (the wise and foolish builders; Matthew 7:24-29)

Covenant Heights Summer Camps

Located at 9000 feet in the heart of the Rocky Mountains and at the foot of majestic Longs Peak, Covenant Heights Camp and Retreat Center is just minutes from Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park, Colorado and is a ministry of the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Many kids from Arvada Covenant Church spend a week up at Covenant Heights during the summer enjoying all that the camp experience has to offer and many of them come back changed forever in the best ways possible. Click here for the Summer Brochure and complete information on all of the summer opportunities available. Contact ACC's Children's Ministry Director, John Mullis, for more information.

John Mullis will be the camp speaker July 12-17.

Easter Sunday Service Times at Arvada Covenant Church - April 12

6:00 Sunrise Service

7:00-8:30 Pancake Breakfast

8:00 Worship Service - Blended music styles - no children's programming

9:30 Worship Service - Blended music styles - full children's programming

11:00 Worship Service - Contemporary music - full children's programming

Who will help you? Preschool teaching in March

Who will help you?

In our preschool rooms in March the Bottom Line for our teaching all month will be “Jesus will help me” and we’ll be focusing on the Basic Truth that “Jesus wants to be my friend forever.”

The Bible says in 1Peter 5:7: "He cares for you," (CEV). Jesus proves this over and over again throughout the gospels by performing healing miracles for those who need His help. He cares for us so much that He is preparing a place for us to be with Him for eternity. How amazing is His love for us!

March 1 We need Jesus to help us. Healing the Blind Man - John 9:1-7

March 8 Jesus wants to help everyone. Healing the Lepers - Luke 17:11-19

March 15 Jesus can help the people I care about. The Four Friends - Mark 2:1-12

March 22 Jesus can do anything! Healing the Deaf Man - Mark 7:32-37

March 29 Jesus wants to help us live with Him forever! A Place for Us - John 14:1-14

Hope - March's 1st-5th Grade virtue

Puzzled

H-O-P-E. We toss that little word around kind of carelessly, as if it merely meant "wish" or "want" or "dream." I hope you had a good day. I hope I get that for my birthday. I hope we get to do ____ next year. But it's actually a much bigger and consequential word than that. At least it is for people who put their hope in God. And it needs to be. Because let's face it: life can be hard. As the kids in your ministry grow, they're going to face all sorts of challenges and heartaches. Whether it's as life-altering as the loss of a parent or something on a smaller scale, like not making the team, tragedy can take many forms in a child's life. When it seems like everything is going wrong, that's when it's critical to have hope--believing that something good can come out of something bad. That's when we need to understand that H-O-P-E, in its most significant sense and when it's based on God, is really a synonym for firm belief, absolute trust, and in-my-gut knowing:
* "Our Hope is certain. It is something for the soul to hold on to. It is strong and secure."
(Hebrews 6:19, NIrV)
* "I will find my rest in God alone. He is the One who gives me hope."
(Psalm 62:5, NIrV)
* "'I know the Plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
(Jeremiah 29:11, NIV)
* "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have Eternal life."
(1 John 5:13, NIV)
Our hope may be certain when it's placed in the all-powerful God of the universe, who makes good plans for us, not the least of which is eternal life with Him. But no one ever said hope is easy. So, when we're puzzled by life, pained by it, frustrated by it, angry at it, or can't see how in the world our situation could possibly fit in God's big plan (His giant jigsaw puzzle) we have a couple of choices: we can choose to get and stay mad about the puzzle pieces we're holding, or we can choose to trust God and let Him put the pieces in place. To trust that He not only has the big picture in mind, but that He's up to something bigger than just our few little pieces of the puzzle. Realizing that we can't see the big picture but that He can and He's in charge gives us hope. So in March, we'll start focusing on the Easter story through the lens of hope:

Week 1: Whatever happens, remember God has a plan.
(Paul is shipwrecked - Acts 27; 28)
Week 2: Whatever happens, remember how powerful God is.
(Lazarus is raised from the dead - John 11)
Week 3: Whatever happens, remember what Jesus did for you.
(Jesus' last supper with the disciples - Luke 22; John 13)
Week 4: Whatever happens, remember what Jesus promised.
(Jesus promises heaven - John 14)
Week 5: 5th Week Special Edition: Who is Jesus?
(Peter says Jesus is the Christ - Matthew 16)

We hope you have a great time helping your children learn this virtue in March.

Serving Spots - opportunities to make a difference

Christmas Eve family service videos

Kids are great.  The videos featured at the Christmas Eve Family Service of children telling what they know about the Christmas Story are  posted on the Arvada Covenant Church website.    Christmas Story videos

Now what exactly happened to the frankincense?

Kids' Camp 2009 - save the dates!

Fairness - February's 1st-5th grade virtue

Virtue video – select video #2 on the media player at www.252basics.org

Fair Grounds

"That's not fair!" Who among us has never put his hands on his hips and cried those words? Most of us have built-in fairness radar--at least when it comes to how we're treated. But of course fairness is a two-way street. More on that in a minute.
Let's get something else out of the way first: the words SAME and EQUAL. Sometimes SAME = EQUAL. Sometimes it does not--which is how we're approaching the virtue of fairness. Think about it this way: fairness is NOT about treating people THE SAME. Because God created us in His image (Genesis 1:27), we are alike in some ways, but different in others. Apart from obvious physical differences, we have different personalities, skills and talents, likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. Because we're different, we have different NEEDS. And because we have different needs, we don't all necessarily need to be treated the same. (Example: I bet you and your siblings are not all the same. You are different in some ways. Which means your parents needed to do some things differently for each of you in order to parent you in the way you needed. Right?) So, fairness is not about treating people the same. Instead, fairness IS about treating people EQUALLY. Because God created us, He loves each of us--dearly and without favoritism. So much so that He sent His one and only Son to die for us (John 3:16), regardless of our sex, age, race, ethnicity, or nationality. As Peter said, "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right" (Acts 10:34-35, NIV). Thank goodness God is fair!

Back to that two-way street thing: As dearly loved children of God, He wants us to be imitators of Him (Ephesians 5:1). "As believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism" (James 2:1, NIV). In other words, don't unfairly favor one person OR unfairly "disfavor" another. So this month, we'll be going to the "Fair Grounds," where everyone is treated with respect.

• Week 1: Treat everyone fairly because everyone's important to God.
  (The principle of fairness, James 2)
• Week 2: Treat everyone fairly--even those who are different.
  (The parable of the good Samaritan, Luke 10)
• Week 3: Treat everyone fairly--even your enemies.
  (Saul and Ananias, Acts 9)
• Week 4: Show God's love to everyone because He wants everyone to know Him.
  (Jesus' last orders to the disciples, Matthew 28; Acts 1)

God bless you as you teach your child.