Categories: Leadership

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]At our church, we practice full immersion baptism, so we dunk you. You go all the way in and come all the way out. We bring the children into the service for baptisms so they can see their friends and other church members get baptized.  A few years ago, we were having a baptism day, and my children's pastor asked me to hang close to one of our first-grade girls. She was a foster child with a very tough story, and she had a hard time focusing, sitting still, and engaging. She was also a runner - you know the kind - so my children's pastor asked me to sit with her during the baptisms. This was the first time she had seen a baptism, and she was very concerned about the people who were getting baptized. She had lots of questions: "Do they have to put their head underwater too?" "Yes, they will go all the...

"Monday Thursday?! No, Ms. Brittany." *sigh* "It goes Monday, TUESday!" a 2nd grader in my small group corrected me. She thought I was naming the days of the week all out of order and was appalled at my lack of common sense knowledge. I promise: I do know the order of the days of the week. We were talking about Holy Week, and I referenced Maundy Thursday (which does kind of sound like "Monday Thursday" honestly). Her exasperated correction led to a short but insightful conversation for our small group about Maundy Thursday: what it means, why we celebrate it, and even why it's called "Maundy." I have to admit: I didn't know all the answers to their questions. There were times I had to say "I don't know, but I'll look it up and get back to you next week." I knew the basics but wanted to know more, so I did some research and dove headfirst...

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of our Savior this Easter with these awesome resources!  If you'd like a more visual version of this list, find that here.[/vc_column_text][vc_toggle title="New for 2022" custom_font_container="tag:h2|text_align:left|color:%233ac1e1" custom_use_theme_fonts="yes" use_custom_heading="true"]Easter Egg-stravaganza - A gospel-centered egg hunt that can be hosted at church or home. What makes Easter Egg-stravaganza different than your typical egg hunt? While some eggs have candy or treats, some eggs have Easter story pictures from the Bible. Kids hunt for the eggs, then help you tell the Easter story by putting the pictures in order! As the eggs are recovered, the good news is discovered—Jesus is alive! Learn more here. Egg Hunt Event Guide - Is this your first...

Last year, the Lent season began around the 1-year-anniversary of the onset of a global pandemic. This year, the Lent season begins alongside an eruption of violence and chaos in the country of Ukraine that has ripple effects worldwide. Both situations (and all of the others that have happened in between) pull us out of our normal routines and force us to look both inward and outward. Janel Cubbage, a psychotherapist and Bloomberg Fellow with Johns Hopkins, recently tweeted: Respectfully, after the last two years I think we’re beyond the “is anyone else having trouble concentrating with everything going on” phase and need to be asking why we’re upholding a culture that expects us to carry on business as usual. Lent is historically a season to focus on suffering, confession, fasting, and prayer. It's a season when we're supposed to...

Vanessa Myers always finds ways to help kids connect with God's Word, and The Bible Food Truck does exactly that! I love this food-truck-themed devotion for kids that invites them to dig into the Bible. There are 75 devotions total that focus on Bible verses that talk about food, drink, or fasting, starting in Genesis and working through both the Old and New Testaments. Each devotion is straightforward and simple enough for kids to digest, but also deep enough to give them something to chew on and apply. The action steps at the end of each devotional help kids take their faith to go and make it applicable in their everyday lives. These ideas help kids not just read Scripture but put it into action too. The overarching project of creating your own food truck is such a fun way to tie all of the devotions together, and what a great goal for kids to...

I don't know about you, but we love board games at our house! I'm always on the lookout for fun and new games, and when I heard about Bible Games Central's latest games, the biblical themes and focus were a major bonus! Here are 3 new games from Bible Games Central we are loving: Bible Match It Link It - This game is like the Bible version of Spot It, which has been my niece's favorite game to play since she was little. Bible Match It Link It is a fast-paced game played with 57 unique octagonal tiles. Each tile has eight images, one on each edge of the octagon. On any 2 Bible Match It Link It tiles, there is always 1 (and only 1) matching image. I can't wait to try out this Bible version with her this holiday season! I can already imagine the conversations it will spark as we explore the 4 different ways to play and read through the accompanying...