Listening to God’s Voice

God speaks to us in an infinite number of ways. Many times it’s through prayer and reading His Word or from His children who shed light and help us see what we can’t. For me, one of the ways God speaks to me is through creation.

As I sat on a dock this past weekend late at night pondering the glory and majesty of God I was reminded of His divine beauty and power. As the light from the stars and moon shined down reflecting against the water of the lake I was humbled that God would create this for us. I was humbled knowing that I can never grasp how vastly large and wide this galaxy we live in is and how God created it by speaking. I was in awe of the beauty of the stars and moon. How lights that were thousands and thousands mile away we allowing me to see in the darkness of night. I was reminded of so many things in that moment about God.

1. Light casts out darkness. I don’t know about you but I overlook this simple truth time and time again. The light that allows us to see every day is just short of 93 million miles away meaning that the light from the sun travels through 93 million miles of darkness. Light no matter how big or small can always be seen through the darkness. What a huge reminder to me no matter where I am that I can be a light to any number of people and will not be consumed or put out. I will shine with Christ.
2. God is beautiful. All it takes is a quick look around us to see the beauty and power God displays through His creation. There is beauty all around us at all times we just have to see it with the right eyes. Whether it’s mountains, oceans, forests, stars, moon, lake, pond, corn field, a rolling pasture, or a rocky cliff, there is so much beauty out there that God has so graciously given us. Wherever you are, take a moment to appreciate the beauty and wonder that God has granted us to see.
3. I am small. This is a humbling fact to be reminded of and one that more often than not escapes. In the chaos and busyness of life I forget that my life isn’t all about me. I forget that I’m not the main person in this story of life. As I look into the sky and thought about the vastness of creation in the galaxy I’m reminded that this is God’s story and I’m just a secondary character trying to further His story of unfailing love through Christ. This fact is actually very refreshing knowing that God is in control. He was sovereign as He created the galaxy as He spoke it to be. He was sovereign when He created the earth and everything in it by speaking it to be and He is sovereign as He lavishes love and grace and protection on His children every single day.

God speaks to us all the time so I urge you to take time time to listen to what God’s telling you. It could be so simple as a look into the sky but as you hear God’s voice speaking to you make sure you take time to share it with your families. In doing so you will teach your children to look and listen and seek God with all their hearts even in the busyness of life.

Summer Recap!

Morningside Children’s Ministry has had an incredible summer. If you haven’t been able to tell by the gap in blog posts allow me to shed some light in all that’s going on in Children’s Ministry at Morningside Lutheran Church this summer and moving forward!

So what’s been going on this summer?

Our summer Worship at the River has included activity bags with drinks, snacks, and coloring pages to help keep the children active during the sermon. We’ve also enjoyed keeping them active by playing catch before church started. Those kids didn’t care if it was 60 degrees outside or 95 degrees they still ran around, got sweaty, had fun, and killed some energy before praising Jesus with their families. It was always a blast.

Our VBS/Day Camp week was July 20 – July 23 this summer and we had just under 100 children running around the church. We as a team spent many hours, days, and weeks of the summer prepping for this week and it did not disappoint. There was an unmatched energy in the church all week. We played games (Samari, Ninja, Tag, and countless others) had snacks, sang too many worship songs to count, and did crafts ranging from paints, to tool belts, and key chains. We built forts with PVC pipe and blankets, did some science experiments and had some great small group and bible study times. We had lunch outside in the shade of the trees which the kids and leaders both loved equally. We raised enough money and food for the food pantry to pie three of our favorite counselors throughout the week and even surprised the director with a pie to the face from his fiancee. We had a program to share all our songs with our parents and got to watch skits with Storm Troopers, Luke Skywalker, and Darth Vader (including an epic lightsaber battle the last day). We learned lots about Jesus through our rotations and our small group time (Built on Jesus, Built on God’s Instructions, Built to Rise Up, Built to Go). It was a great week for all of the leaders and all of the children. Check our instagram for more pictures of the fun we had!

We finished the week off with a Pool Party at Lewis Pool. We had about 70 people there and it was a wonderful day for families to have fun together. Whether it was playing catch in the kid’s pool, going down the slides together, swimming, splashing, or being a part of our Cannonball Contest (an instant favorite with the children) that went on for about an hour. It was a great day and we will be sure to be doing that again!

What can I expect this Fall?

We are having a MASSIVE “End of the Summer Bash” August 30 at the Anderson Pavilion where our Worship at the River Services are held. It will be from 12 pm to 4 pm and will have food, inflatables, music, face painting, and games! It will be a great party for the whole family and you will have the opportunity to sign-up and register for Sunday School and KidFriendly.

Rally Day this year will be the first day of Sunday School which will be held on September 13. This years curriculum will be aimed at believing, behaving, and becoming more like Christ. Each lesson ties an old testament story together with a new testament story through Christ, I am thrilled for this curriculum and we are going through it as a church show everyone in the family will be going through it together making discussion and teachings at home easier.

In hopes of enhancing our communication with parents we’ll have our own Morningside Lutheran Children’s Ministry page that you’ll be able to follow in the future which will have pictures on it as well as insights on what’s going on in the future!

We are also trying to bump our Parent’s Ministry so be anticipating changes being made in how we interact with you so that we may build you as parents up more effectively and encourage you better. We will be having resource sheets available come the beginning of the year that you can so know where you can locate the best magazine, books, websites, apps, and devotions to help lead your family more efficiently.

We are have excited for this new year and hope you are too!

The Fruit of The Spirit: Kindness

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

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Stretching, Laughter, and Kindness

Some things in life just seem to be more contagious than others and I’m thankful for that. As I look back on my time as a competitive runner I remember stretching in a large group before runs and how contagious stretching was. I would be standing there stretching my arms and reaching out as far as I could thinking well I think this is all I need to do, just then I’d look up and see someone doing some lunges and I would quickly realize I hadn’t done those yet and kneel down to start doing my own. Mid-way through a lunge, I’d look over at someone else doing a butterfly stretch and I would then drop to my butt to stretch groin with the butterfly and then everyone around me would be doing the butterfly. I’ve experienced the same thing while watching comedies. I may not laugh much on my own but if the person I’m watching with laughs there’s a greater chance that I will laugh too.

I’m thankful that kindness has that same affect on us.

Kindness in the Gospel

As we look at the life and times of Jesus we see the path He walked was founded on kindness (and all the other Fruit of the Spirit that work together in unison) which changed the lives of everyone He came across. Whether He was giving redemption and a second chance to Zacchaeus, the woman at the well, the adulteress woman, or any number of His disciples who would later reject Him.There was love, there was grace, and there was kindness, and that’s because they all work together so beautifully. We demonstrate kindness to those who we love, Jesus did the same, only His capacity to love was infinite.

Christ, in His time on earth loved the rich, poor, man, woman, father, child, prostitute, thief, liar, and alike. Which made every action He had with everyone one that showed His wonderful kindness. The whole point of the Gospel is displaying God’s love for us by having Christ willingly take our wicked punishment for our sins on His shoulders til the point where He sacrificed His life. An act of love that demonstrates His kindness and how much He cares about us. That act changes us from the inside out, just as it did His disciples, they wanted to show that same love, grace, and kindness to everyone around them. It was contagious when they experienced and it’s contagious today.

Kindness in Our Lives

It’s important to know what’s contagious in life because people who are around us will rub off on us and we will rub off on them. This is key when realizing the impact our lives have on our children. How we uphold our selves, treat those around us, talk about those present and absent, is subconsciously telling our children how they should behave. You are your children’s superhero. You are the one they want to be like. They want to have your job, like the things you like, eat the foods you eat so they can be strong like you are. Your children will mimic your words, your mannerisms, your actions, and that is precisely why it’s important we think about them. It can be overwhelming. Luckily Christ is with us each step of the way, because in the end it’s not our kindness that we want to show to the world, it’s His; and in the end it is His grace extended to us that lets us breath a sigh of relief when we fall short. It is His love, grace, and kindness that we want our children to cling too and it is His Fruit of the Spirit that can be seen in us when we follow His steps and let Him guide us.

The point isn’t to focus on being kind or perfect; the point is to focus on Christ. It is only through Him that we can demonstrate who He is. We are the only Jesus that many people encounter and the biggest influencers in our children’s lives. Follow Christ then because it’s the most important thing we can do for our children; follow His love, grace, joy, peace, and kindness with all that you have and let His Fruit and His kindness be displayed through you.

Fruit of the Spirit: Patience

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control.” – Galatians 5:22-23a

Patience on the Golf Course

I spent a large portion of my life trying to prove myself as an athlete. I grabbed a hold of any sport I could get my hands on to see if I could prove myself great in the eyes of my peers. Many sports were abandon immediately for lack of skill or better yet a lack of body size (turns out my middle school football team had no place a 5′ slow wide receiver who weighted 80 pounds.) I was doomed from the start. However, one particular sport was tried and tried and tried again until ultimately my frustration decided to throw the towel in once and for all. Golf. A sport of precision, mental fortitude, and what I lacked above all patience.

I determined I was a terrible golfer from the first tee box but I tried to enjoy it none-the-less. My attitude would not let me however, I couldn’t get past how awful I was. I knew if I put the work in and stayed with it eventually it’d pay off but I couldn’t get myself to do it. Bad shot after bad shot after bad shot my patience run low. I decided it was time to put the clubs in the shed and find a new sport to try.

In hindsight, a lot of great family memories occurred on the same courses that frustrated me into agony. When I was younger, my attitude dictated much of my life. My lack of patience made many things impossible for me. I was always told “Patience is a virtue” but there has to be a way that this behavior manifests itself in our lives right? There has to be a way we can continue to grow in our ability to hold it right?

Patience in the Gospel

The Gospel so beautifully illustrates patience in a way that nothing else can. As we examine the history of God’s story we see His perfect patience seen time and time again. As He created the world and us, everything is good, everything is perfect. Yet, as sin lurks in the shadows and is born into Adam and Eve, God’s patience is first seen. While they rebelled and disobeyed still God is seen tending to them, caring for them, and creating a plan for restoration for the sin that has come into the world. Flash forward to God’s chosen people Israel as they live through the sacrificial system of offerings God has created to continually remind them of their dependence and how they will need an all-atoning sacrifice once and for all we see them fall away. They disobey God, their hearts grow cold, they become distant, God ushers them back into His arm, they stay there momentary and fall away and the endless cycle continues. God’s patience was working perfectly as He continued to love them, guide them, and bring them back into His loving arms time after time. Flash forward to Jesus, walking around the earth teaching His disciples and His lost sheep. As He lie in the Garden of Gethsemane telling His disciples that they would turn away from Him, His patience was at work. The Gospel at every level demonstrates (especially through the life of Christ) what it looks like to be patient. As Jesus lived His life, He was patient and loving. While He lived, as He taught, He knew as the all-knowing God that He was knew who would turn away from Him, who would reject Him, who would betray Him, who would crucify Him, yet He remained patient with everyone around Him. He remained loving because of this patience.

Patience in our Lives

As Followers of Christ, the Gospel comes to life in us. As Jesus died on the cross crushing sin, His Spirit would be given to all believers as a gift, a deposit of Him in us. We are able to be made more Christ-like because of this then. We can look toward Christ and His Spirit to be our patience. As our tempers falls we can start to see things as Christ sees them if we renew our mind to be like His. We can regain our focus and composure for our co-workers who run our patience low by seeing them as Christ sees them. They are loved, they are desired and wanted, they are broken and in need of the same Savior we desperately cling too for our hope.  We can see our child who continually disobeys us and is out of control as the same lost sheep that “The Great Shepherd” looked up and down through the meadow to find. Through this love our patience will shine through again, because of His patience. We just need to continually look to Christ to fill us with His Spirit; it may not solve our golf game problems, but it will solve our inability to show patience and love to those around us.

Summer Bathtubs and Summer Oceans

“If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” – Colossians 3:1-2

Summer is a wonderful time. Most students begin the countdown to when summer starts at approximately the exact same moment that they realized t’s over. Needless to say summer is very refreshing for all of us after a busy year (especially students). Summer gives us a chance for nice weather and being outside. It gives us the chance to lounge around just a little bit more. For students and children it’s all about staying up late, sleeping in later, and doing nothing they don’t want to do for three whole months. It relaxes and calms us in a way that only time away from our busy schedules does. However, this momentary breath of fresh air is only that, a moment.

Summer is a bathtub of grace, joy and peace. We have the ability to soak in it for a while and it feels great! We look forward to it, it relaxes us and takes our mind off our problems and allows us to escape ourselves. Unfortunately, after a while the hot water turns lukewarm and suddenly it’s not as relaxing. It’s not as fun. It’s not our escape. If you fight through that period of lukewarmness and try to continue to live in that moment, eventually the water will become cold and suddenly you realize you are lying in your own filth. Our paradise at first has slowly transformed into a prison. That’s because bathtubs aren’t meant to be lived in. They’re not suppose to be our main source of joy and our well for hope.

Summer allows us freedom and fun, but if we prioritize summer above God and use that freedom to self-indulge in ourselves we will never be truly refreshed. If we fall into the logic that summer is our well for hope and joy we will let summer consume us more and more and God less and less. We’ll start to get skimpy with our prayer life and neglect the Word of God and think it’s for our benefit after all what’s more refreshing reading the Bible or laying poolside? However, we will soon start to pay for our negligence to Christ through: shallowness, powerlessness, vulnerability to sin, preoccupation with trifles, superficial relationships, and a frightening loss of interest in worship and the things of the Spirit. Summer is a foretaste of heaven, but it will never and could never be a substitute for heaven.

Summer is a bathtub. Jesus is an ocean.  Jesus is an ocean of grace, joy, and peace that never runs dry and always overflows. He is at the center of all things, created all things, and sustains all things. It is He who calls out to us “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” It is Him who can give us true rest and remove our burdens. It is Christ who faithfully and sacrificially laid His life down as a blameless, pure, and holy being through death by crucifixion so that we could freely accept the only grace and love that fills us. He is our ocean.

As we live in the moments of summer seeking refuge from the craziness that surrounds us, it’s vital to remember summer isn’t the freedom, it is Christ. Prioritizing time for Christ throughout summer will allow us true rest because we are using a glimpse of heaven with the power and love of giving Christ everything that takes us away from Him. Therefore if we look at the words of Colossians we can see the power of that mindset in summer. The mindset of remembering our prioritizes and not falling into the idolatry that summer is our hope and joy, because that will only lead to disappointment and emptiness. Putting our hope, anxieties, and faith in Christ and dwelling with Christ and seeking Christ is where we will find rest. We won’t find true rest by concentrating on the things of this world ever. It’s a valuable lesson we need to teach our children so they don’t fall in the empty patterns of the rest of the world. Because one thing is for sure, while we cannot live in the summer, we can live in Jesus.

Wait…Is Sunday School Over?

As the school year comes to a close so does our Children’s Ministry, or so at least it seems, right? Sunday School is on pause for the summer. Activities are slowing in the church and the summer festivals are starting to begin. The kids are excited for their favorite time of year. Summer break. Two and a half months of no learning, no school, and no classrooms. So as the school year comes to a close and students get a break from the routine of teachers and classrooms, ministry comes to a close for the year too right?

While it might appear like it’s the off-season, ministry never actually stops because we are always living life.  There is always something that needs to be done in our children’s lives. That’s why the summer is less of an off-season and more of a grand transition for us around the church. A grand transition because while we are preparing for the upcoming year and summer events, refocusing, recharging, and evaluating what we can improve on, ministry still needs to be done. Children are still growing up and they can’t afford to take an eighty day break from learning about Jesus.

An easy tendency and problem to fall into is believing that the primary and focal point of growing and learning about Christ happens in church.  As we fall into that thinking we believe that our children get their “fill” for Christ at church on Sundays and our children believe that the only time they grow is in the two hours (if that) that they are here. Unfortunately that leaves 166 hours a week where they don’t think they can grow or know Christ better. This is the transition, this is the great exchange where our children realize that they can learn, should learn, and will learn (and grow) in Christ outside of church.

Sunday School may be on pause but your child is still growing and we can work together during these transitions to help ensue that your child continue to grow in their relationship with Christ. Our goal is to empower you and guide you to take the reigns to lead and love just as Christ does for us. Here are some simple yet impactful ways to share Christ with your children during summer and then after the habit is made all year long.

1. Family Devotions – This is a great way to get the family involved in learning about Christ. You can do devotions every night before bed or start small by going once a week at a certain time. It will show your children how important it is that it’s a priority in your house as well as bonding the family together!

2. Praying before Dinner  – In today’s society it’s more common to get the food and split up and everyone eats individual or in front of the tv. Take time and eat together as a family and share your days together, before you do take turns praying to God. It’s a great way to empower children as they pray out loud at home they will begin to gain confidence to pray out loud in groups and more importantly giving thanks to God for providing.

3. Reading together – Find a time daily or weekly to sit down as a family and simply read your bibles together. What better way for our children to see and feel the importance of scripture than to see their parents reading scripture and talking about what they read? They will grow a lot by this simple act and it will subtly help encourage a generation who reads less and less to pick up their bibles and read them!

There are tons of simple ways to engage your child’s faith and we hope that this summer you will take advantage of the opportunity to really pour into your children as we prepare for the upcoming events. We are a tool at your disposal. We want to encourage and equip you anyway we can, so if you ever have a question or need a resource let us know. We are here to help you lead well!

Fruit of the Spirit: Joy

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” – Galatians 5:22-23a

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The second Fruit of the Spirit is joy. There are many things that bring us joy aren’t there? Things that range from our families and hobbies to sitting in our new car; we can all find joy in these things from from time-to-time. Maybe there’s a little disconnect though because aren’t those things what brings us happiness? Are joy and happiness the same thing? Is one better than another or more important than the other? How do we know which is which?

The Difference

In my eyes there is a distinct difference when I think about what makes me happy and what makes me joyful. Happiness in my eyes is a fleeting emotion. Many things bring us happiness while we are on earth, but all those things that bring us happiness will fade in time.

Joy on the other hand is a more eternal emotion. Joy is being truly satisfied and content with where you are regardless of your circumstances. Joy is being filled with Christ and knowing His love is enough to complete you and bring you comfort and delight no matter how your day.

Joy in the Lord is saying His love in our darkest days still outshines the happiness we get from the world in our greatest days. Not only does it outshine, but it’s not even close, it’s a no contest. Joy fulfills us while happiness is here today and gone tomorrow leaving us still searching for what will fill the whole in our heart.

New Life of Desire

If we truly believe in Christ it changes our worlds and gives us new life. How we live and what we desire changes and shapes us towards Christ and away from the world. This changes our relationships and every interaction we have after and our family is no exception, the whole dynamic takes a new form. The emphasis you put on your family changes because you want them to true authentic joy and not just happiness and your eyes have been open to put the emphasis on that as well. Here’s some ways that we can practice showing joy in our families.

1. Sports are about more than winning, sports are about growing. The amount of time I’ve seen parents or other fans losing perspective of the game is almost every time I’m watching. You see them in high school gym cursing at teenagers who travel or miss a tackle. You see them telling their child that they’ll have to tell the parent who missed that they’re a loser. Our joy isn’t in the achievement it’s in the child. It’s imperative that we understand that so that we can encourage and support our child and shepherd them. Sports are great, but they are just sports.

2. On our hardest days praise God. Our children are watching us and following us and we need to always remember that. We are the greatest influencers in their lives. If life 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react then we need to making the most of how we react and respond to life. As we begin to praise God and thank God on the hardest days whether through a loss of a job, divorce, sickness, financial distress, we are putting a foundation of joy and gratitude into our children’s lives as well.

3. Smile. It’s a pretty simple one isn’t it? Smile. What other way can we show this joy that overwhelms and gets us through every day. We are handcrafted by the God of the Universe, who died for us to free us from our sins so that we can one day live in paradise with Him. His walks besides us to guide us, in from of us to protect and comfort us and behind us. The joy we receive from Him is more than enough to smile and say “My God is a mighty God.”

Whenever you’re feeling low look towards God’s love to get you through the day and not just to survive but to thrive. The joy you receive will encourage others to know Him as well. You are a beacon of light so be joyful in the love you have!

Fruit of the Spirit: Love

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” – Galatians 5:22-23a

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It’s only fitting that the Fruit of the Spirit start with love. Love, the increasingly overused word to express how we feel about anything ranging from: our spouses and children, our favorite sports team, Starbucks, our car, our family pet, various foods and drinks, and tv. What does our wide range of the word show us? Our understanding often becomes watered down in comparison to God’s.

God’s love is much deeper than ours and in this context He desires for it to be used in our lives in a completely different way. We often think of love as a noun, a word to show our affection for something. God desires love to be a characteristic that blossoms in us as believers in Him, transforming our noun into a verb.

The Love that Started it All

It’s only fitting that this topic be brought up shortly after Easter in which Christ love was beautifully and perfectly displayed. True love is laying your life down for a friends (paraphrased from John 15:13) which is exactly what Christ did for us. Setting us free from sin and purifying us. This is vital to remember in our culture, when you compare this love to all other “loves” that we feel they are quickly put into perspective.

Christ’s love helps bring clarity on what our love should look like for those around us, especially towards our family. Christ’s life was bringing alive love not as a noun, but demonstrating to all what it looks like to have love be a characteristic and using it as a verb.

Christ’s Life of Love

As we grow further into our walk and relationship with Christ His fruit will be seen in us. Christ lived a life full of love. Whether it was taking time to talk, listen and bless the “unimportant” children or going out of the city to be with the lepers and other outcast, He put love into action. He walked around meeting with everyone it didn’t matter if they were: religious leader, poor, rich, prostitute, tax collector, children, parents, or sick. Jesus took the affection He had and went to them. Love wasn’t merely a feeling for Jesus, it was the entity of who He was and because of that reason He demonstrated it in all He did.

Applying the Love

How do we show this same love to those around us? Here are a couple simple ways you can bear the fruit of love in your lives.

1. Take time to listen. Show how much you care to your spouse and your children by listening to their day and what’s going on in their lives.

2. Be intentional with those around you. Take time to be in the present. Put down your phone and get to know people’s stories around you so that Christ can shine.

3. Sacrifice. If you see a need in someone’s life or someone struggling, lend a helping hand. Sacrificing your own needs or possessions to help those around is shows our trust, dependency, and love for God and His children.

4. Forgive as Christ forgives. Bitterness and resentment kill joy and relationships, don’t let hate bring you down. Remember that you wrong just as you have been wrong and seek Christ to allow the hardness of your heart to be soften so that you can forgive and love.

Those are just a couple ways to show the fruit of love. It takes humbling ourselves and seeing others as more important than ourselves and our need just as Christ showed us. I pray you can look to Him and be filled and from there that you would be able to love those around you in a way you never have before.

Palm Sunday Procession (Recap)

One of the most beautiful things about working with children is seeing their joy in the simple things and eagerness to be a part of something. We as a church got to see this this past Sunday during the Procession and it was a beautiful beautiful thing.

As they walked through the doors they were excited to grab ahold of a palm branch. They were smiling and having a great time. The real party started when the procession and march began though. The shy children waited patiently for us to come around to them so they could join in while the more rambunctious ones could been seen running down the isle saying “Watch out, I’m coming through!”

As we trotted around the church several times the children were loving life and being the center of attention. It was a blast. They waved their palm branches fearlessly in the air like they were Braveheart riding into battle. It was a very simple yet joy-filled moment that I believe really showed to an extent the celebration that was felt the first Palm Sunday. That Sunday was a marvelous celebration of Jesus arriving in Jerusalem.

The children were able to replicate it because of their childlike joy and that’s the beauty of children’s ministry. Their spirits are high, they are joyful, they are not afraid of acting crazy, they are not public trained yet, so their ability to cut-loose and recklessly worship Jesus is something that can inspire us. As they funneled into our line and followed us around the sanctuary going up-down-and-all-around they waved they waved their branches, smiles, laughed, waved at mom and dad, and got lost in the moment of what we were doing. We can learn a lot from worship by watching children dance and cut-loose. We forget that from time to time but I hope we can remember and learn from them.

We hope you all enjoyed our Palm Sunday Procession and look forward to celebrating Easter with everybody this weekend! Have a blessed week!