Sunday School
For the next few weeks, the children will be preparing to present our annual Christmas Pageant, which will be held on Sunday, December 21, during the regular worship service. A cookies and punch reception will be held afterwards.
Please plan on joining us for “The Really, Really, Really Holy Night.”
All the children in Sunday school are being asked to participate in some way. They do not have to be an actor. We will have stage decorations that need to be made, we need a full and mixed-age choir, we need assistance with the smaller children, etc. Basically, I will find a job for them! Please encourage them to actively participate and enjoy this opportunity to experience the miracle of Christmas.
A dress rehearsal will be held at 8:45 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 21 (the day of the pageant). We will be practicing during Sunday school in the weeks prior to the pageant.
If you, or anyone you know, will be receiving any new appliances over the coming weeks, may we please have the box? They are needed as part of the stage decorations. Thanks!
On Nov. 30, we began the third unit in our Sunday school curriculum. At Home Leaflets should have come home with your youngest child. If you did not receive one, please let me know and I will be pleased to give you a copy. The title of this new unit is “Preparing and Celebrating.”
If your house is like mine, these coming weeks are filled with to-do lists and very excited children. In all the joyful hustle and bustle this time of year brings, it is our job as parents to help our children focus on the pure and gentle Prince of Peace. Santa is a tough competitor for our children’s attention, especially today when it is harder and harder to find a manger scene in any public places or stores.
So what is a parent to do? Lead by example. Children learn so much more from the things we DO than from the things we SAY. May I humbly suggest you take a moment as you sit down to dinner, or perhaps as you tuck your kids in at night, or even as you’re traveling in the car, and talk with your children about the true meaning of Christmas.
This Advent season, our church family is focusing on praying for peace. As we go through this exercise together, include your children. Even the youngest can feel and comprehend the difference between peace and chaos, between peace and fighting (war), between peace and sorrow. Help them to prepare for Christ’s birthday by talking about what it all means. And then on Christmas morning, celebrate with your family filled with the joy and peace of Christmas. May God richly bless you and your loved ones during this most holy season.
Deb Cullen
Our Sunday school is up and running! It is a great pleasure to welcome and thank our teachers for the fall term:
Pre-K Mark Swihart
K–1 Gwen Thomas
2–4 Katie Lam
5–7 Julie Coe
8-9 Linda Kaczor
Sr. High Stacy Nichols and Shelley Coppola
The lower grades are using the curriculum called Whole People of God. I encourage you to take a look at the Web site www.wholepeopleofGod.com.
The 5-7 graders will be exploring famous theologians.
We are almost midway through the second unit of our curriculum. I hope you children are sharing with you the good things they are doing in Sunday school.
For those folks with children who don't share what they are learning, and for those who don't have children in Sunday school, I thought this would be an appropriate place to learn what they are larning!
The goal this week is to examine wht happens whe our actions don't match our words. Examine Matthew 23:1-12. "It speaks of how our actions must match our words adn how our actions should be done for the right reasons, not todraw attention to ourselves or to achieve respect and status. It isGod, at work in us, that the world should see and celebrate." (At HomeLeaflet No. 2) A good lesson for us all.
Linda Kaczor and Pastor Scott will be working together to create a year-long confirmation preparation class for our 8th and 9th graders, culminating in their confirmation in the spring. This offers a unique opportunity to our potential confirmands to explore their faith and carefully consider the step they are about to take. Watch here for information, and encourage our young people, as well as Linda and Pastor Scott, as they embark on this important journey.
Amherst Community Church