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!

Our Sports Fandom and Our Walk with Christ

As a sports fan you experience a vast array of emotions cheering for your favorite team. You love your team dearly and always stand up for them. Through the good times when they’re competing for a championship and the bad times when you’re hope to just win a couple games, you love them. You learn to forget about the tough losses and the heartbreaks and hold onto the small moments or games when they made your proud. For us living in Iowa, it doesn’t matter if the Hawkeyes or the Cyclones lose every game as long as they beat the other team. In the midst of a bad season, you still claim them as your own and protect their name from everybody who badmouths them. You stay loyal to them through and through. Maybe you stay loyal because you really do love them unconditionally or maybe it’s because you’ve never been anything but a Yankee fan so how could you leave them. You’ve invested so much of your time, life, energy, and emotion into cheering for this team and staying up-to-date on whose on it you really couldn’t imagine your life without them. We become passionate about our team and ability to build relationships out of mutual love with other fans. Our passion leads to enthusiasm and often times we can be seen yelling at the tv in frustration or imagining what the team would look like if we were the GM (or coach) and in control of their destiny. It’s a wonderful roller coaster ride, but I wouldn’t trade it. There are somethings to be learned from our fandom though.

Passion

We as sports fans can be so passionate and obsessive it can be kind of uncomfortable for those around us. Passion is a beautiful thing in life and God gave us passions, but we also need to be cautious about our passions. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Sometimes we put such a huge emphasis on sports in our lives and on our sports teams that the beautiful passion God gave us turns into idolatry. We need to be careful where we are investing our time into because that’s where the essence of our heart appears. We have an uncanny ability to be passionate about a team of team of players who will never know our name or anything about us defending these people to the death if someone says something ill about them but what about Jesus. Why are we more inclined to defend a quarterback for our team caught in the wrong than defend the one who died for us so that we might truly be a live and live in freedom. It begs the question, are we passionate about Jesus? Do we see going to church as a chore? Do we see reading the Bible as a hassle? Do we try to get out of having family devotions or neglect them fully? Would we rather go to a ball game or sit back in our La-Z-Boy and watch our team over build our relationship with Christ?

Are we capable of reaching out and building relationships on our love for the Minnesota Vikings, but spur away from fellowship with the body of Christ? I think it’s great to be passionate about sports but that can’t be the biggest passions in our life, not even close. We need to be passionate about our families, our children, our church, and Jesus. If you believe that it’s easy to be passionate about sports because they’re more fun than Jesus than you haven’t experienced the insurmountable joy that comes from being fully accepted, forgiven, and heart set on fire for the King of the Universe who transcended down into our lands to live amongst us, teach us, and die for us. There is no greater joy than calling His name.

Loyalty

The last thing that we can learn and more so be challenged by through our fandom is our loyalty. We as fans endure through the good times and the hard times. There are times when supporting and claiming a team is tough and whether it’s through a bad season, a scandal, drug charges or player conduct we endure and hold onto the hope that it will fade. I think that that long lasting enduring loyalty is a pretty special and uncommon trait amongst people who now a days tend to look after themselves. However, we should be challenged in why we will endure things like bad seasons but often run when it comes to things that matter in life. Whether it’s running or keeping our distance from the church or marital problems.

There are husbands and wives who can stay loyal to their sports team their whole life, but when a problem occurs in their marriage whether it’s financial problems, personality conflicts, illness, infidelity, will decide that it’s not worth staying there. That’s a hard thing to witness and for children to grow up believe it was easier for his parents to love a sports team than their spouse, but that’s the world we live in. There is grace in that moment, but what would our lives look like, our marriages look like, our churches look like if we decided to be loyal and stick it out through and through with them with the same fire and passion that we show for our precious Red Sox, Crimson Tide, or Wolves. They would look eternally different.

Sports and Jesus

I have personally always loved sports and have learned more about myself from sports than anything I learned in my formal education, but sports can’t be our lives. We need to be passionate about building our families and our relationship with Christ. We need to be passionate about being a part of our own team, the body of Christ and play our role. We need to be committed to our families and our God and put them as top priorities in our lives. We can love sports but we can’t worship sports, that’s what Jesus is for.

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!

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!

An Encouraging Partnership

^{11 “}I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— ¹² that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” – Romans 1:11-12

Changing Perceptions

As I grew up I was surrounded by relationships and my confidence grew that I knew how every relationship should work. My own relationships were skewed due to the nature of sin and I saw a lot of confrontation. I soon thought every relationship was one big argument that never stopped. The day I realized that wasn’t true was a big day for me. Everything I had thought before was gone, relationships gained a whole new meaning and the possibilities of teamwork became endless.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever felt that way before, I hope not, but knowing the broken world we live in I’m guessing you have. I think we have that misperception with ministry partnership all the time. To often people in ministry try to shoulder the load of discipling the nations and to often congregations let it happen. A new light dawns now though, we can have clarity that maybe that isn’t the best way to raise our children into followers of Christ. So how should we interact together?

The Partnership

Romans 1:12 is a favorite verse of mine and my goal for every relationship I’m in: friends, coworkers, parents or significant others. Our relationships should be mutually encouraging! We should be building each other up, supporting one another, equipping one another, praying for one another, and standing by one another. We have the same goal and the reality is we need each other.

We need you as parents to be the spiritually leaders of your household because you can do so much more than we can. The time and relationship you have with your child is something we can never replicate and makes you the biggest influencer in their lives. However, you need us as a church to equip you and give your students and children the experience of fellowship and love. We are the Body of Christ and we need every member to play their part to push the Gospel forward.

What Does This Look Like?

I think being mutually encouraging starts by working together on tangible levels. I think an easy way to show this is by constantly asking about the other side of the partnership to the children. For example, after Sunday School or Youth Group after we have challenged and taught the children you can follow up with an intentional conversation at home after to help them digest and reflect upon it better. We can then be intentional with our time about asking about what’s going on in their lives to to reinforce everything you do as a family as well. Another big way I think we can work together is by being seen at each others playing fields. You need to be seen in the church working, whether as a small group leaders, a greeter, anything; we need to be seen outside the church going to children’s activities, games, recitals, anything! This helps show the importance and cooperation we have for one another and how church isn’t a segment of life. Rather it paints the picture that church and life go together like peanut butter and jelly!

If you are looking for an easy check-list of things you can be doing in our partnership, here’s a start!

• Pray for us and our ministry every night (This is even better if done as a family before meals!)
• Be intentional with your children! It’s easy after a long day to turn your mind off, take 15 minutes with your children to really inquire about what’s going on in their lives.
• Challenge your children. Don’t be afraid to ask them about their spiritual life. If they have hard questions try to answer them or work them out together, or let us know and we can help you answer them!
• Take time on a Sunday night to do a family devotion together or take time around the supper table to share how you’ve seen God work this week.
• Comment any other easy ways your family does this!

Those are just a couple of easy ideas that could change the dynamic of the house and show how important Christ is. As far as us, we will be trying to do our part.

• Teaching your children biblical truths to live by.
• Loving them and making our time together an environment where they can feel God’s love.
• Building Christ-centered relationships with the children.
• Giving you as parents, information that will encourage, support, and equip you.
• Feel free to comment any other ways that we can guide you!

So there you have it! A mutually encouraged relationship that’s been there all along, even though we might not have seen it. I look forward to encouraging each and every one of you in your families walk with Christ and I look forward to being encouraged by your faithfulness.