Our story this Sunday was very interesting. Jesus had been traveling through Samaria with his disciples. It was around noon and Jesus was hot and tired. He sat down by a well to rest and hoped for a drink of water.

Soon, a Samaritan woman came to the well for water. Usually, no one came to the well at noon because it was the hottest part of the day. She did not want her neighbors to see her, because they were unkind to her. Jesus spoke to the woman. She was surprised because Jews and Samaritans did not speak to one another.

Jesus said to her, “Give me to drink”.

Then the woman said, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?”

Jesus answered, “If you knew who saith to you “Give me to drink” thou would have asked him, and he would give you living water.”

Jesus talked with this woman for some time and told her all that he knew about her life. Jesus revealed to her that he was the Messiah she had heard about. The woman’s faith was so great that she ran into the city to tell people to come and hear what Jesus had to teach. Many believed because of what the woman said.

The main takeaway of this story is that everyone is accepted by God, no matter who she or he is. With God, it doesn’t matter what you have done, where you are from, or how different you are from others; we can all find our spiritual gifts through Jesus.

See you in church.

This week, we met Mephibosheth. Do you remember him? He was the son of Jonathan, who was King Saul’s son.

Jonathan and David were best friends when they were young. Jonathan helped David escape when the king wanted to kill him. David and Jonathan made a promise that they would always protect each other’s families.

Many years later, after David is established as King, he sends for a man named Ziba, who had been a servant in King Saul’s household. Ziba asks if there are any survivors from Jonathan’s household. He learns that Jonathan has a son who is disabled. New kings often killed family members of the old king because they were afraid they would try to take the kingdom. Instead, David invites Mephibosheth to eat at his table each night, like a member of his family. David gives Mephibosheth the property that would have been his as Jonathan’s son.

We all need to know that we have a place to belong through God’s love. Because we want to show faithful love back to God, we must be like David and welcome and show love to those God loves.

See you in church on Sunday. Blessings

In our story today we learned that God created different languages and cultures. We learned that after the flood, all the people on earth were the “clans of Noah’s sons.”

They decided that they wanted to stay together and make a name for themselves, so they built a tower so tall that its top was in the sky. They built it for their glory to keep from being separated. They also built a city around the tower so they could all live together and stay together. But God wants the people to learn that they belong together even if they speak different languages and have different cultures and religions.

God mixed up their languages and sent them to all areas of earth, in hopes they would accept one another in all their differences. People tell of the mighty works of God in many different languages.

We are exploring belonging through spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are for building up the whole body of Christ. God gave each of us different spiritual gifts.

As we were painting “sun catchers,” we could hear you singing. Our sweet little 3 yr. old said “That is grandma singing. I know it is my grandma.”

Singing is a spiritual gift that can make others as happy as our little girl. What is your spiritual gift? The story of Babel teaches us that differences are good and God-given. We can use our differences for the benefit of the body of Christ, and our church!

See you Sunday!

The holidays are hard on our attendance for our kids. We had a wonderful lesson this week known as the Beatitudes; this is part of the Scripture called The Sermon on the Mount. As word of Jesus’ Ministry spreads, large crowds begin to follow him. The Sermon on the Mount is a series of teachings by Jesus that helps us know how God wants us to live.

The Beatitudes can take time to grasp fully. However, most children can comprehend being a peacemaker. We are not always happy, but we can spread God’s peace. We are called “God’s children” because we work for peace, just as God does. This practice brings joy and happiness. Praying you all had a wonderful and safe 4th of July and we will see you back in church Sunday. Blessings.

Our bible story for the week was about Esther, who lived with her older cousin, Mordecai. The King chooses Ester to be his new queen and brings her to the palace to live. Queen Esther is Jewish, but her husband the king does not know this. The king’s helper, Haman, doesn’t like the Jewish people. So he tricks the king into making a law that will have all the Jewish people killed.

Mordecai convinces Queen Esther to intervene with the King to save her people. Esther approaches the king and tells him that she is a Jew and that Haman wants to kill all her people. She begs the King not to allow this to happen. The King is upset with Haman. The King doesn’t want Esther or her people to be killed, so he makes a new law to keep Queen Esther and her people safe. As an elite woman, it would have been easy for Queen Esther to remain silent and allow her people to be killed, but Esther put her own life at risk to save and bring peace to the Jewish people. Sometimes it is hard to be a peacemaker in difficult circumstances; but with the help of God, we can all do this.

It was a little late for Father’s Day, but we took this opportunity to show Dad how much he is loved. Each one glued small stones around a heart made of wood and wrote “Dad, you rock!” on the heart.

Hope he loved it! See you in church on Sunday. Blessings