Lesson Goal: Children will learn they need to do what is right no matter what the outcome or consequences are.

Main Point: Heroes Stand Up For What is Right!

Bible Verse: Be on guard. Stand Firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. 1 Corinthians 13:16 (NLT)

During the large group portion of today's lesson, Pow and Kabaam were faced with a dilemma. A squad of superheroes had been picking on a bunch of sidekicks. Pow said they should confront these bullies so they could be popular and respected among the sidekicks. Kabaam insisted that confronting the bullies would result in them becoming the new targets for abuse. The hero instructor, Captain Courage, explained that they shouldn't make the decision based on what may happen. They should stand up for what is right no matter what. He went on to give Biblical examples of people who courageously stood up for what was right.

In Daniel chapter 3 a king named Nebudchadnezzar forced everyone in the kingdom to bow down to a statue he'd made. If someone refused to bow down, they would be thrown into the furnace and killed. Three men refused to bow. Their names were Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. They knew it was wrong to bow to anyone or anything other than God. In Daniel chapter 6, a king named Darius signed a law that said people could only pray to him. Daniel knew it was wrong to pray to someone other than God, so he boldly kept praying to God no matter what could happen. In Acts chapter 6 and 7 we heard a story about a man named Stephen. Stephen was arrested for telling people about Jesus. At his trial, even though he knew he was in trouble, Stephen boldly spoke to the Jewish leaders about God and Jesus. In all three of these stories people stood up for the right thing even though they didn't know what would happen.

Pastor Chris' Mega Nuggets

1) Focus your praise on God

2) Invest time in prayer

3) Read God's word

4) March to God's beat...listen to Him and not the world

Lesson Goal: The children will learn that God wants them to do what they say they will do.

Main Point: Heroes Do What They Say They Will Do.

Bible Verse: But if you fail to keep your word, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out. Numbers 32:23 (NLT)

Pow and Kabaam had their work cut out for them this week. Kabaam volunteered to go into the sewers to face the threat of two villains: Ratboy and The Sludge. Pow volunteered to help. However, on three seperate occasions, Pow failed to follow Kabaam into the sewer to help. As a result, Kabaam got beat up and eventually got captured. The hero instructor, Ol' Reliable, a famous superhero sidekick, explained to Pow the importance of always doing what you say you are going to do. He went on to explain this point through a Bible story about a young woman named Ruth. Ruth was the daughter-in-law of a woman named Naomi. Ruth's husband died and Naomi was going to travel back to her homeland alone. Ruth vowed to stay with Naomi and to take care of her even though that meant traveling far away from her home. It wasn't easy and Ruth had to work very hard, but because Ruth was dependable Naomi was taken care of. Eventually a man named Boaz noticed Ruth and how hard she worked to help Naomi. He married her and the family was able to continue.

Dependability is an important quality for your children to possess. It was our desire to make sure that your child left today knowing how important it is to always do what you say you're going to do.


Pastor Chris' Mega Nuggets

1) Think (Think before you open your mouth and commit to do something)

2) Blink (Don't waste time...get started with what you say you will do in a "blink" of the eye)

3) Shrink (Don't let your commitment "shrink" by slowing down or stopping when things get hard)

Heroes of Mega City Week # 3

Lesson Goal:  The children learned that God wants them to be generous.

Main Point:  Heroes are Generous!

Bible Verse:  “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” 2 Corinthians 9:7c (NLT)

Our goal this week was for your child to know that, just like the people in the Bible they learned about, they can choose to be generous in some way, every day. It may be with their belongings, time or effort. Generosity is one way that your children can be God’s super heroes.

On stage, we told the stories of Abraham letting Lot have his choice of land, the child who gave Jesus the small amount of food that ended up feeding a gathering of five thousand people, and a widow who gave all she had to the Temple. In each story we talked about how the person gave their best, they trusted that God could do more with their gift than they could do on their own, and their attitude in giving was more important than the size of the gift.

During our large group skit, your children continued the story of Kabaam and Pow and their attempt to make it through Super Hero Training. This week, Kabaam was given the opportunity to graduate early and was given some special abilities. Pow was given another challenge that was more than overwhelming. In the end, Kabaam gave up the special ability to Pow, forfeiting the chance to graduate early, so that Pow could succeed in the challenge. By using that generous give, Pow was able to win the challenge for both trainees.

We want your children to view their day-to-day lives the same way. We know that it is hard to be as generous as we should be , but we should all strive to be someone who chooses to be generous with the best of their time, belongings, and effort.

Our Bible stories, skit, and small group activities today focused on showing your child that God thinks it is important to have the character trait of generosity. One activity you can participate in with your child is to take a grocery bag and fill it up with clothes, toiletries, or non-perishable food items to bring back next week.

This is a great opportunity for you to encourage your child in the character trait of generosity. Please help your child to fill up their bag, and bring it back next time. Our goal is to collect bags from each child so that they can see how their gift really does turn into a bigger gift when they obey God’s desire for them to be generous.

As a church, we will be giving the gifts to people in the area who are in genuine need of the items. Thank you in advance for you generosity and participation in this part of your child’s spiritual growth.

Heroes of Mega City Week # 2

Lesson Goal:  Children will learn that God wants them to tell the truth.

Main Point:  Heroes Tell the Truth!

Bible Verse:  “Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ. Ephesians 4:15a (NLT)

Our goal this week was for your child to know that, just like the people in this week’s Bible stories, they can choose every day to tell the truth even if sometimes it’s hard for them. Telling the truth is one way that they can be one of God’s super heroes.

On stage, we told the stories of David and the prophet Nathan, Balaam and his refusal to curse the Israelites, and the prophet Micaiah who told the truth to King Ahab. In each story we talked about how each person had to overcome the fear of confronting someone with the truth and, though it didn’t always end well, it was still something that God wanted them to do.

During our large group skit, your children continued the story of Kabaam and Pow and their attempt to make it through Hero Training to become super heroes. This week, Kabaam and Pow were given the task of cleaning a room. Along the way, they dropped a box marked “Fragile” and broke what was inside. Knowing they would get in trouble if they were caught, Pow toyed with the idea of lying to stay out of trouble. In the end, Kabaam decided to tell the truth and passed the challenge of honesty. Pow did not pass the challenge because he wanted to lie. We want your children to grow in the character trait of honesty.

Our Bible stories, skit and small group activities were geared toward showing your child that God thinks it is important for His children to have the character trait of telling the truth.

Main Point: Heroes never give up doing good!

Memory Verse: And I say to the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.
2 Thessalonians 3:13

This week your children met a couple of bumbling heroes-in-training named Pow and Kabaam. Their 1st hero-training task was to deliver bags of toys to orphanages around the city. They faced several obstacles and considered giving up many times. But in the end they completed their task. Their hero instructer, Admiral Endurance, explained the importance of not giving up. He used three Bible stories as examples. The first story, in Mark 2:1-12, tells of four men who carried their cripples friend to see Jesus. Though it was hard for them to reach Jesus, they never gave up and their friend has healed as a result. The next story was from Genesis 6 and it was about Noah. God gave Noah a huge job when he asked him to build the ark. Even though it took him 120 years to build it, Noah never gave up. The final story was from the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah wanted to go help his home town rebuild the city wall. It was a hard job with many obstacles, but Nehemiah didn't give up until the job was done.

The games, activities, skit, and Bible story were all a part of teaching your children that real heroes never give up doing good. This week, go over the Bible stories with your children and encourage them to never give up doing good.

Lesson Goal: The children learned that it is important to take breaks from their tasks in order to spend time with others.

Main Point: Disciples of Jesus are Never Too Busy for People!

Memory Verse: "Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too." Philippians 2:4

In this week's Bible stories, Jesus showed us how important it is to make time for people who need us.  In John, chapter 3, Jesus made time to meet with a man named Nicodemus. It was late at night and Jesus was probably tired, but He also knew that Nicodemus needed his questions answered. Jesus didn't send him away, instead He took time to explain salvation to Nicodemus. Later, in John chapter 4, Jesus took time to speak with a woman even though she had a bad reputation around town. She was also a Samaritan. Jews weren't expected to speak to Samaritans, but Jesus did anyway. In Mark, chapter 10, some parents brought their children to be blessed by Jesus. The disciples thought Jesus was too busy to be bothered by children and tried to send them away. Jesus scolded His disciples and made it a point to spend time with the children and bless them. Jesus never became too busy with tasks to spend time with people who needed Him.

On video, Scooter had a problem with being too busy. Now that Team Steadfast is in first place, Scooter had to work on a book, practice for TV interviews and review product endorsements. Scooter just didn't have time for fans or even for his teammate: Rock Steadfast. Rock needed Scooter's help for an upcoming event but Scooter refused to help and said, "I'm just too busy, I don't have time." Well, Rock lost the event and Scooter learned that not making time for people can do a lot more damage than we know. At the close of the skit, Team Steadfast was in 2nd place with just one more week to go in the competition. We'll see next week if they can regain 1st place and take home the trophy.

Everyone gets busy performing tasks. Many times these tasks are important. However, we need to always be aware of the people around us that need our help, and be ready to stop what we're working on and help them. Remind your children this week to stop and spend time with others.

Pastor Chris' Extreme Nuggets:

Nugget #1 Me (I need to remember it's not all about me...I need to put others 1st and be a servant)

Nugget #2 Myself (I need to put myself in other people's shoes and think about how other people feel)

Nugget #3 I (I need to keep my eye on Jesus...To do that I need to set time aside to spend with Him everyday.)

Lesson Goal: The children learned that God has given us gifts. They also learned that we should use those gifts to help others, that no gift is too small and that when we use our gifts to help others God will bless us even more.

Main Point: "Disciples of Jesus Use Their Gifts To Help Others!"

Memory Verse: Romans 12:6a (NLT) "In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well."

Pastor Chris' Extreme P's: 1) Purpose (God has made everyone with a purpose in mind)
                                          2) Present (We are a gift from God to the world)
                                          3) Presence (When we use the gifts God has given us his presence touches others)

Everyone has a gift. God wants us to use our talents and gifts to help other people. Jesus told a parable about using our gifts in Matthew chapter 25. A rich man was about to leave on a long journey. Before leaving, he entrusted his money to three of his servants. To the first servant, he gave five bags of silver. To the second, he gave two bags of silver. To the final servant, he gave one bag of silver. The rich man left and the first servant used the five bags of silver and was able to double the amount by earning five more. The second servant used the two bags of silver and was also able to double the amount by earning two more. However, the third servant buried the one bag of silver in the ground. When the rich man returned, he was very pleased with the first two servants and vowed to give them even more. However, he was furious with the servant who buried the money in the ground and didn't use it. The one bag was taken away from the third servant and given to the first servant. God wants us to use our gifts. If we are faithful and use the gifts God gives us, we will receive even more. However, if we do not use our gifts, they can be taken away.

During the skit, Rock and Scooter had a chance to get in first place in the overall competition. The event they had to win is "curling". Curling is a sport that involves one person sliding a stone across the ice, towards a target while a second person sweeps the ice in front of the stone. Scooter didn't know much about curling, but Scooter does have a gift for sweeping. Scooter didn't think that sweeping was much of a gift. However, during the event, Rock slid the stone and Scooter's gift for sweeping gave them a perfect score launching team steadfast into first place.

No talent is too small or too strange for God to use. Remind your children that, to be disciples of Jesus, they need to use the gifts God has blessed them with.

Small talk:

Here are some ideas and questions you can ask your child to open up communication about the lesson.

1) What happened to Scooter and Rock this week? Are they still in last place?

2) I noticed that this week's lesson was about gifts. What was Scooter's gift? How did he use it?

3) Sweeping didn't seem like a very good gift to have but it turned out to be a great one for Scooter? Do you
have any gifts that you think are small or not that important?

4) What are some things that you like to do? What are some things that you are good at or that are easy for you to do?

5) It would have been bad if Scooter had chose to hide his gift and not share it. Is there a bible story that talks about what happens when people don't use their gifts? Tell me about it.

6) These are some things I see that you do really well _____, _______, _______. Do you like doing these things? How do you think they can be used to bless others?

Hi Guys,

Everyone likes a good deal...so...I have one for you.

Simply subscribe to this blog and leave a comment on this post with your child or children's first initial and last name and age before April 2nd and receive a $5 discount on Parent's Night Out. That's right you pay only $15 for your family to have an outstanding start to the weekend!!!

Invite some friends with kids to go out with you...This is an outstanding way to reach the unchurched.

Have a blessed day!

PC

Howdy everybody,

Welcome to our 1st weekly blog version of our parent's flyer...Wow that's a mouthful...Anyway I hope this will help some of you guys to reinforce what was taught during our G-Force service on Sunday...In fact if it's easier for you and your child just comment on this blog that you've went over the lesson with your child and they will not have to bring the Parent Flyer with them every Sunday. As a side note, all of our scriptures for this series are from the (NLT) version of the Bible.

Lesson Goal: The children learned that it is better to show mercy than to make people suffer the consequences of their action.

Main Point: Disciples of Jesus Show Mercy!

Memory Verse: "Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." Colossians 3:12

Our bible story this week was taken from Matthew, chapter 18. In this story, Jesus told a parable about a servant who borrowed the equivalent of millions of dollars from the king. One day the king called in the debt and the servant had to pay back the full amount, or be thrown in jail. The servant pleaded with the king and the king wiped away the servant's debt and let him go. The servant then went and found a man who owed him the equivalent of thousands of dollars. He grabbed this man by the throat and demanded immediate payment. The man couldn't pay back what he owed, so the servant had the man thrown in prison. When the king, who had forgiven the servant millions, found out how the servant had refused to show mercy, he became furious. He brought the servant before him and accused him of being evil for not showing a small amount of mercy after he had been shown a great deal of mercy. The king then had the first servant thrown into prison until the debt could be paid. Just like the king in the story, God shows mercy to us and expects us to show mercy to each other as well.

On stage, despite recent victories, Rock and Scooter were still in last place in the overall competition at the X-Factor games. Normally, the last place team is eliminated halfway through the competition. However, the officials decided to show mercy and allow Rock and Scooter to stay in the competition. During the snowboard race, another racer accidentally bumped into Scooter and Scooter decided to have the guy kicked out of the X-Factor games. Rock convinced Scooter to show mercy because they had been shown mercy by the officials.

Showing mercy isn't always easy. This week we wanted to remind your children that we are expected to show mercy because God has already shown us a great deal of mercy by sending His Son who gives us forgiveness and takes our sin away. Remind your children that true disciples of Jesus show mercy.

I will weekly post the Parent Flyer Handout along with some additional nuggets and questions from our weekly lesson. I will also share some thoughts and ideas that may assist you in the discipleship of your child.

I welcome and encourage you to share your comments, questions, concerns, and testimonies with other parents as we partner together in raising up a chosen generation. Please don’t forget to subscribe to the blog which will enable you to be automatically updated when a new post or comment is made.