9 Advent Attitudes
Advent

9 Advent Attitudes – #8: Remaining Even-Keeled

Advent is, above all else, a season of hope—a virtue that is all too rare in our world. To live as a person of hope is to behave in such a manner as to draw suspicion that we are behaving somewhat erratically as far as worldly norms go. This new type of behavior—what some may even call erratic behavior (the behavior that led people to conclude that the Apostles were “under the influence” on Pentecost)—is […]

9 Advent Attitudes
Advent

9 Advent Attitudes – #7: Staying on Message

Advent is, above all else, a season of hope – a virtue that is all too rare in our world. To live as a person of hope is to behave in such a manner as to draw suspicion that we are behaving somewhat erratically as far as worldly norms go. This new type of behavior – what some may even call erratic behavior (the behavior that led people to conclude that the Apostles were “under […]

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Scripture

Session 12 (Dec. 10, 2013) – God Leads His People from Slavery in Egypt to Freedom (part 2)

For this week’s session, we will finish our exploration of the great Exodus story! BIG IDEA: God Leads His People from Slavery in Egypt to Freedom PRELIMINARY (15 mins) Begin with opening procession to O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Aaron Shust). Opening prayer ritual Quiz on the first 3 Commandments (Commandments Quiz 1 to 3) ENGAGE (10 mins) Review questions 1 through 8 on the Prince of Egypt Video Discussion Guide Pick up discussion of […]

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Intermediate Grades

A Mixed Bag

Last evening’s session went well for the most part but was a mixed bag. Here’s what I’m talking about: Because of frigid wind chills, I expected low attendance. Instead, I had perfect attendance! While it’s great that they all showed up, I was thrown off…but that’s my own fault for having low expectations. Whenever I have low expectations, the adrenalin isn’t flowin’ so I felt like I was just not hitting the nail on the […]

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Advent

Advent Hope

Tonight is an opportunity to spend some time with the young people focusing on the notion of HOPE as we proceed through this first week of Advent. I picked up a few copies of the daily newspapers and will distribute sections to each of the young people, asking them to find a “bad news” story and to tear it out and prepare to describe it to the group. We’ll collect these stories on the table […]