This week, we are learning about God’s creation! For six days, God worked, using unique ways to make the world better and better. But it wasn’t just good—it was extremely good! On the sixth day, God created human beings in His own image.

Children might wonder if being created in the image of God means we physically look like Him. While that could be, it’s important to think beyond appearances. Being made in God’s image means we reflect His creativity and goodness in the world. Just like God is a creator, each of us carries a piece of that divine creativity.

Reflecting God’s goodness isn’t always easy, but remember—God sees you as supremely good. Keep that in mind as you share your creativity with the world.

See you in church on Sunday!
Blessings,

We’re starting a new study with the kids—”God Creates the Earth.” God’s first masterpiece is the Earth, and it’s far from simple or insignificant. Creating it took time and intention. For several days, God carefully crafted the world, making it better and better each day. You can almost sense a rhythm as the story unfolds. God’s creation wasn’t a one-time event but a process, with each day building on the work of the previous one. And most importantly, God took pride in His work, as the story reminds us, “God saw how good it was.”

God’s creativity is an inspiration to us all, reminding us that we can keep creating and that our creativity is always seen as good. There’s so much more to learn about God’s creation, and we can’t wait to explore it together. See you in church on Sunday!

Blessings

This week, we learned about one of my favorite ladies—Lydia! She was quite an unusual woman for her time. Lydia had her own business selling purple cloth, and she was the head of her household. Since purple cloth was expensive, she most likely sold it to wealthy people, making her a wealthy woman herself.

One day, as she was praying by the riverbank, Paul came by. Before meeting Paul, Lydia was not a follower of Jesus. However, she showed great courage by becoming a person of faith. Her heart opened to hearing Paul’s trusted words, and she even invited Paul to stay at her home. This was the beginning of Lydia’s journey in helping to spread the message of Jesus to her family and others.

Lydia started a small church in her home and likely used her status to offer leadership and gifts to the early church. Because of her courage to follow Jesus, the church grew, and many people became followers of Jesus.

It takes courage to try something new, just like Lydia did by following Jesus. It also takes courage to welcome new people into your circle. Can you be courageous like Lydia? Could you invite new people to church and make everyone feel welcome when they come to visit? See you in church on Sunday. Blessings!

This week, our story focused on Mary, who shows great courage. Jesus and his disciples traveled to Bethany, the home of his good friend Lazarus, and his sisters, Martha and Mary. They were to host a dinner for Jesus. While Martha served the meal to the guests, Mary took a large amount of expensive perfume and anointed Jesus’ feet. She then wiped his feet dry with her hair. The whole house was filled with the aroma of the perfume.

Mary’s actions in this story are deeply courageous. She used perfume that cost a year’s wages to anoint Jesus’ feet and lovingly rubbed it in. In Jewish culture, it was not customary for a woman to touch a man who was not her husband in public. After anointing his feet, Mary let down her hair to dry them, which was uncommon for women in public. Any of these acts could have been dangerous for her.

Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ disciples who often stole money, was angry that she was “wasting” the perfume. However, Mary’s loving act was a way of honoring Jesus, and Jesus acknowledged it. Courage can look different to various people, and we show courage when we follow God. Being faithful sometimes means doing the unexpected. Because Mary loved Jesus, she bravely anointed his feet, even though it was risky.

We would also like to extend a big “Thank you” to everyone who contributed with our kids to Heifer International. We will buy several animals to help those less fortunate live better lives. See you in church on Sunday!