Our story today comes from Acts 6-7.

So before we learned that all the followers of Jesus were living together, sharing everything they had and spending their time taking care of one another and telling people about Jesus. But…it was a BIG JOB! So they needed more helpers. The main disciples chose 7 extra helpers–one was named Stephen.

Stephen loved to tell people about Jesus…but the leaders were not happy about it (AGAIN!) So they told people to lie about Stephen and say he was making bad choices…but he was just telling them about Jesus.

They captured him and then God helped Stephen tell all the people the story of the whole Bible. He told them about Abraham and Moses, about David and about Jesus. He reminded them of our sins and that we need a way to be able to be close to God because our sin keeps us from God…and that Jesus is that way. He was so filled with God’s power that his face even glowed!

But the leaders and some others were NOT happy and they took Stephen outside and started throwing rocks at him! They took off their coats and put them down next to man named Saul. Saul was happy that they were hurting Stephen.

Even though it was very scary and painful for Stephen, he prayed and asked God to forgive the people for this bad choice. Then…they threw so many rocks at him that he died.

Sometimes people will not trust in Jesus. And sometimes they will be mean to us. BUT, like Stephen, it’s important for us to remember that God loves them and to forgive people…even if they hurt us.

(And we will learn more about Saul next time!)

For our activity, we made a small diorama as we told the story.

Our story box has Saul holding everyone’s coats and a sad Stephen. The kids took turns throwing the rocks and we talked about the story.

Join us next time as we learn more about Saul…love to you all!

Hi all. Hope you are having a good day.

I love Bible time with my kids…although that seems to be when i feel opposition the most. Below are some of the ideas we incorporate to help Bible time move smoothly at our house.

1. Keep it short

Small people have small attention spans. A 5-10 minute story and a 5-10 minute craft. Repetition brings it home though. Throughout the week we generally do 2-4 Bible stories (except for December and Easter week where we do every day.) We talk about the stories again in the car, while waiting at restaurants or whenever a life situation can bring us back around to the Biblical truths. We also have a verse each week and it’s an easy idea to say it before each meal or at bedtime each day to help keep the Word fresh in their heads.

2. Use snacks

My kids seem to listen best (and sit still) when presented with food. So we usually do Bible time during our afternoon snack. I read or tell the story while they eat and then we do our craft or activity together.

3. Don’t be afraid of media

Youtube has a plethora of veggie tales, beginner Bible stories and Bible songs available. We also use worship and Bible verse CDs. The purpose of Bible time is to our lead our kids to Christ…so do that however you feel led! (I’ll be sure to link to videos when we use them).

4. Don’t be afraid to be silly

Kids learn best through play. Any story that can be filled with silly antics, voices or play is sure to stick with your child.

5. Model what you preach

Isn’t this the hardest? I often have to ask my children for forgiveness, BUT, our kids will never accept God if we are hypocrites. We don’t have to put on a show, or a perfect persona, but we DO need to be honest with them and TRY to live as God would have us live. We need to show our children what it means to love and serve God and to seek Him always…even and especially when we fall short.

6. Trust God

When we first began Bible time, i felt a real sense of urgency. I was anxious to portray what i wanted to say and anxious for my children to soak it up. But here’s the thing…they are kids. They have simple understanding, but an amazing capacity for faith.

I had an epiphany (or rather, a gentle reminder from the Lord), that my job is to present the Word and it is His job to work in their hearts and truly bring them to Him. I don’t know about you, but that brings me a lot of peace. It’s not all on me. I share the gospel with them and trust God to lead their hearts. He loves our children even more than we do (somehow?! :0D) and has only entrusted them to us for a short while, we must trust Him to capture their hearts.

So there you have it. Please feel free to leave a comment about what YOU do to help facilitate Bible time at your house. I am always up for suggestions. Love to you all!

This is something I wrote last year when my littles were 2.5. I couldn’t really find what i was looking for in describing Easter to my kids…so I prepared 6 days worth of explanation and activities.

Day 1: Choices and Consequences
We make choices all the time. What do you want for dinner? Or which movie do you want to watch? And all of our choices have consequences. Consequences are what happen after we make our choice.
Good choices have good consequences and bad choices have sad consequences. A good choice/consequence are: if you eat all your supper you might get dessert. A bad choice/consequence are: if you hit someone, you have to sit in time out. When we make a choice to behave badly (do something God, our mom or dad tell us not to), that’s called sin. The Bible tells us everybody sins…even mommies and daddies. (Romans 3:23)

Verse: Romans 3:23
Discussion: Make a chart of choices: what are some good choices and their consequences? What are some bad choices and their consequences? Can you think of any sins? How does it make you feel when there are bad consequences? How does it make mommy/daddy/God feel when we make bad choices? Mommy/Daddy/God love you so much, they want you to experience good consequences for good choices, and not have to have bad consequences for bad choices.

Day 2: Sin, Life, and Death
Yesterday we talked about our choices and about sin. The Bible tells us the consequence for our sins (all the wrong choices we make) is death. (Romans 6:23) Death is when someone is not alive anymore.
They don’t breathe, or talk, or eat, or sleep, or wake up…their body stops working. Since everybody sins…everybody has to die someday. But the Bible also tells us that when someone’s body dies, their spirit still lives. They can live in heaven with God or in hell without God. Heaven is a good place, because God is there.
Hell is a very sad place, because God is not there. The Bible tells us God is love (1 John 4:8) and if God is not in hell, then there is no love there, and there is nothing good in hell…only sad things.
The Bible tells us that if we love God and believe in Him, that when our body dies, our spirit will still live with Him forever in heaven. If we choose not to love God, then our spirit will live forever in hell…without the love and goodness of God.

Verse: Romans 6:23
Discussion: What do you think heaven is like? What about hell?
Craft: draw a picture of what you think each might look like
Day 3: Sacrifice
We have been learning about our choices and about sin…and about the consequences of sin (which is death). Before Jesus came, people made sacrifices for their sin. A sacrifice is something you want to keep, but you give it up for someone or something else. In the early Bible days, most people lived on farms and had sheep and other animals that they got their food and clothes from. Because God said the consequence for sin is death, the people would sacrifice (give up) one of their best sheep as an offering (a gift) to God to show Him that they were sorry for their sins and He would forgive them for their bad choices.
The people had to give lots of sacrifices for all of their sins. God accepted the gift of their sheep in place of the people having to die every time they made bad choices (sins).

Verse: John 1:29
Craft: Cut out a sheep shape and glue on cotton balls. Talk about sacrifice (Anna’s sacrifice in Frozen?) And how sheep were just a temporary covering for sins. We all needed a permanent sacrifice or we would die forever away from God’s love.
Day 4: Jesus
Jesus is God’s son. Jesus was a real person, who walked on this earth and loved people, and hugged them, and ate food with them and laughed and danced. He had a mommy and a daddy. But He was also God’s son, a part of God…perfect just like God is perfect. (And nobody is perfect except for God).
But the Bible says only perfect things can live in heaven. God loves us so much. He didn’t want us to have to die and live apart from Him in hell forever. So He sent His only son, who He loved very much, Jesus to be a sacrifice in our place. He died one time for everybody’s sins. If we believe in Jesus, then when God looks at us, He doesn’t see our sin, He sees Jesus. If we believe that He died for our sins and ask God to forgive us for all of our sins, then the Bible says “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) That means He will forgive us. Forgive means He won’t see our sin anymore. He will not be angry or sad with us anymore. There is nothing you can do that is too bad for God to forgive you. There is nothing you can do that will make Him love you any less.
No person is good enough to get to heaven by themselves. We can only spend eternity (forever) with God, if we love Jesus and accept His forgiveness.
Verse: John 14:6
Craft: Get a white carnation—cut it very short. Place it in a cup of water and add a LOT of red food coloring. Watch the carnation suck up the red dye. This is perfect, pure, white Jesus taking on our sins. Talk about how when God sees us, He doesn’t see the yucky red sin, He sees Jesus’ sacrifice and He forgives us.

OR: Fill a jar ½ full of water…add a couple drops of red food coloring. This is our sin. Then add drops of bleach until the red disappears. This is how God sees us, after Jesus takes on our sin. We are clean again in God’s sight.
Day 5: Jesus’ Death
When Jesus was here on earth, He taught all the people about God. Some people loved Jesus and some people did not, just like today. Some of your friends probably love Jesus…some of them may not. The people who did not like Jesus, killed him on a cross. (Show a cross) They were very mean to Jesus and made Him hang on the cross (go into as much or little detail as you feel appropriate) until He died. Jesus was willing to die for us because He loves us. So he let them kill Him. It was very sad.
When Jesus was on the cross, He took everybody’s sins on Himself. He said that instead of us having to die for our sins, HE would die in our place (just like the lambs they used to sacrifice)(John 1:29) But since Jesus was God’s perfect son, God said…”no more sacrificing animals.
My son has died for everyone, once and for all. Every sin that anyone has ever done is now forgiven. Any sin that you (insert child’s name) will ever make, has already been forgiven by Jesus dying on the cross.” All you have to do is believe that that is true and ask Him to forgive you. If you believe and ask Him to forgive you, then you will be forgiven and when your body dies, your
spirit will live in heaven with God forever.

Verse: Romans 5:8
Craft: Get two popsicle sticks, glue them together and write child’s name on them. Jesus died for you.

Cut a cross out of the center of a piece of paper and lay the outline on a piece of contact paper. Add bits of tissue paper to sticky contact paper. Place another sheet over the top when child is done and hold up to window for a “stained-glass” cross.

Use painter’s tape to form a cross on a canvas or heavy paper. Have child paint the paper. Remove the tape to reveal a cross.

Day 6: Jesus’ Resurrection
BUT the story doesn’t end with Jesus dying. 3 days later, some women went to the place where Jesus’ body was, but when they got there, His body wasn’t there. He was ALIVE. (Matthew 28:6) God showed us that He has power over death. God has power over everything and He made everything (John 1:3). God is perfect. He is Life and He is perfect Love. If we believe in Him, we will have LIFE forever in heaven with Him.
THAT is what Easter is about. We celebrate God’s love for us. We celebrate Jesus’ sacrifice for us. We celebrate Jesus/death and resurrection (coming back to life). And we celebrate the forever
life we can have with Him if we believe in Him.

Verse: John 3:16

Have one empty egg in your child’s Easter basket to
symbolize the empty tomb

Check pinterest for resurrection rolls recipe
Discussion: Talk with your child about why Jesus died and what that means for them. Ask your child if he/she would like to accept Jesus’ forgiveness.

Thanks all and stay tuned for a different variation of the Easter discussion. (Where our focus will be on the Easter story more than the Easter truths).

Hi all! Welcome to what (i hope) will be an encouragement and tool to help you teach your little ones about Jesus and His word. I will start with an outline of our year through the Bible. We use the Bible and The Jesus Calling Bible Storybook by Sarah Young for most of our stories. You can find it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Calling-Bible-Storybook-Sarah/dp/140032033X/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427816871&sr=1-7&keywords=jesus+calling+-+sarah+young

So…Our year looks like this:

July: Genesis/Exodus

August: Leviticus-Ruth

September: the Kings

October: the songs and prayers

November: the Prophets

December: review of old testament as a leading up to advent and Jesus’ birth

January: Jesus’ life

February: Jesus’ teachings

March: Jesus’ miracles

April: Easter/Jesus’ time on earth after the resurrection

May: life and the Word after Jesus

June: living a Godly life

So as the year progresses…i will share our lessons (a story, craft or activity and applications to go with it). The stories and activities are mainly aimed at toddlers-young elementary…providing a foundation for our children to come to know God and to begin growing in the knowledge of Him. Thanks for journeying with us!