Sunday when we told the kids we were going to talk about Daniel, the kids got very excited and Remi told us about Daniel before Miss Vickie could start the story! The Hebrews were living in a foreign land, surrounded by people who worshiped different gods. These circumstances made remaining faithful to the Living God a challenge.

Some of the king’s advisors were jealous of Daniel and went to King Darius and tricked him into making a law that people should worship him and nobody else. King Darius agreed to their suggestion that anyone that broke the law should be fed to the lions. So, the trap was set! Daniel makes a courageous choice to continue praying to God three times a day in front of an open window just like he had always done. Daniel is reported to the king by his advisors, and even though he tries to find a way out, the king must order Daniel to be thrown into the lion’s den. However, Daniel’s faithfulness is rewarded when God sends an angel to close the mouths of the lions and Daniel escapes harm. The king is so impressed by this demonstration of God’s power that he begins to worship God also and sends out a decree that everyone in the kingdom should worship God. By choosing to be faithful to God and not hide his faith, Daniel set an example for the king and others in the kingdom.

Our Back-to-School Bash is this Friday. We will have a movie and dinner for all our kids starting at 6:00. This includes all our kids—grade school, high school, or college!! Come see us for dinner, movie, and a prize! See you on Friday and again on Sunday for church!

Blessings, Mrs. Sur, and Mrs. Vickie

We were talking about King Nebuchadnezzar this week. The King was insisting that when music played all people were to stop what they were doing and fall down and worship him. He went so far as to make a gold statue of himself that was 90 foot tall and 9 feet wide. Sort of what we would call a totem pole. Now the king insisted that at the sound of music, everyone was to stop what they were doing and fall down and worship the statue. Anyone not bowing to the statue would be thrown into a fiery furnace.

As Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego followed God’s laws. They were to worship God and not worship an idol. Therefore, they refused to bow down before the statue. When King Nebuchadnezzar found out, he gave them one last chance. They told the king, “If our God can save us, God will save us. But even if God doesn’t save us, we will never bow down to your statue.” What an act of courage! Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego believe in God so much they are willing to risk dying in the fiery furnace. As he promised, the king had the furnace fired up extra hot, and he had his men throw the three men into the furnace. As the three were thrown into the furnace, a fourth person appeared with them!

God did save the three men from the furnace, and the king was so impressed that he made a new decree. Everyone was to worship the one true God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. This is a wonderful example of the bravery of these three men to stand up for their beliefs. What would we do? Fortunately, we are not tested to this degree, but we have daily opportunities to share our faith. We pray to see our kids in Sunday school this week! Blessings.

We had an interesting lesson about King Nebuchadnezzar. The king commanded his palace master to bring in some young Jewish men to be trained to serve in the King’s palace. This may have been an attempt on the king’s part to win over the Jews. if these young men learned the Babylonian language and culture, they were assigned to work in the King’s palace. The King thought it might encourage all Jewish people to be loyal to Babylon.

As part of the training program, Nebuchadnezzar fed the Jewish men food from his own kingly menu. Think of the food you would eat every day if you were the king: this might have been the richest, most decadent food in all of Babylon, and these Jewish men would be able to eat it simply because the king allowed it. Daniel, however, knew that his food was more than a gift from the king—it was a gift from God. And to show that he was grateful to God for his food, Daniel declined to eat the king’s food. The chief official told Daniel that eating the king’s food was a requirement. For ten days Daniel arranged a test; for ten days Daniel and his friends ate vegetables and drank water. Mosaic Law allowed the Jews to eat more than vegetables and water, but Daniel thought that the meat and wine may have been given as a sacrifice to Babylonian gods, and he wanted to honor God in all his choices. God rewarded Daniel for his faithfulness.

We had a wonderful class of 6 youngsters that got to experiment with a different type of painting! I can’t say enough about these well-behaved youngsters! See you in church Sunday. Blessings!

This week we had another very interesting lesson. We had a problem though—No kids! They must all be out of town on vacation. We may have to go over this lesson again next week. The Lord came to Jonah and asked him to go to Nineveh and warn the inhabitants to repent. Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, an enemy of the Israelites. The Assyrians attacked Israel in 772 BC and destroyed many of the Israelites and their homes. Jonah does not want to preach to Israel’s enemy. So, Jonah runs away.

Jonah gets on a boat heading away from Nineveh. God sends a storm. The sailors throw Jonah overboard to save themselves. God sends a big fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah prays to God and apologizes from the belly of the fish. Jonah was in the belly of the fish for 3 days and 3 nights. God had the big fish vomit Jonah onto dry land, now we are back to where we started. God told Noah to go to Nineveh and warn the people to repent. Jonah was still not happy to go to Nineveh, so he didn’t put much energy into it. He walked through the streets for 3 days hollering that in 40 days God is going to destroy the city. Despite his poor efforts, the Ninevites did repent, and God spares them. Whether this story is true or not, it is important to follow God’s call. God is merciful and allows second chances. These people experienced God’s mercifulness. See you next Sunday to share another lesson on God’s love.

Blessings, Mrs. Sue, Mrs. Vickie

This July 4th holiday was hard on our attendance! But Julie Ann was right there with me so we could talk about Noah and the ark. We always talk about 40 days and 40 nights on the ark with all those animals. Before the rain started, God assured Noah that it would not last forever. When God told Noah to load the animals on the ark, He said the rain would begin in 7 days and would last for 40 days and 40 nights. However, Noah’s family spent more than 40 days and 40 nights on the ark. Noah and his family were on the ark for about a year! Noah had to trust God during this time. Can you imagine being shut up on this ark for a year? God remembered Noah and made a wind pass over the earth, and the water lowered. The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. After 40 days, Noah opened a window and sent out a dove, which returned to him because there was no place to rest. He waited for 7 more days.

Again Noah sent out the dove, this time it returned with an olive branch in his mouth. Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that the earth was dry. Noah and his sons could let all the animals go.

God told them to go forth and multiply. It is always wonderful to hear our kids tell these stories back to us! Julie Ann knew all the answers this week! See you in church Sunday. Blessings.