His servant was paralyzed. He knew that if anyone could heal his servant, it was Jesus. Jesus offered to come to his house and heal him, but the man knew he was unworthy of having Jesus come to his house. He knew that if Jesus just spoke, his servant would be healed. Jesus was amazed at his faith and said, “I have not found anyone in Israel with such faith. Go and it will be just as you believed.”

What faith this man had! The centurion was an officer, and he had authority given to him by man. He knew that if he gave an order, it would be done. He also knew that Jesus had authority, but His authority came from God. He knew that all Jesus had to do was speak and his servant would be healed.

Sometimes we forget that Jesus has authority. We forget that there is nothing too big for Him. He has the ability to heal us – not just our physical ailments, but our broken lives, too. He has the authority to forgive whatever mess we have gotten ourselves into. All we have to do is believe. So my question for you as a parent is, “What kind of faith do you have?”

This week’s lesson comes from Matthew 8:5-13. Take a few minutes to read it with your kids this week.

See you all Sunday.

Cars are not forever, but somehow we forget that. We forget that things are not forever all the time. We seem to rely on not just our cars, but our jobs, money, friends, family and assume those things will never goaway. We are quickly disappointed when those things are gone, and we ask God, why? We get angry and blame him and feel he owes us an explanation. God never promised us that these things would last forever, so why do we have these expectations?

This is an important lesson that we will be focusing on this Sunday. Our kids will learn where God is faithful and the promises that he has made to us. Make sure you go over the memory verse with your kid this week!

I will sing of the tender mercies of the Lord forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness.
Psalm 89:1

I can’t count how many times that I have said or done something stupid that hurt someone else. It is the worst feeling in the world. I will lose sleep, won’t eat, and feel physically ill from guilt. It even affects my prayer life and relationship with Christ. The Bible talks about what to do when we have done wrong to our brother. It says we need to reconcile and make things right with that person first. If you read in Matthew 5:23, the verse right before our memory verse, it goes along with what we will be learning about this week:

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you. Leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.
Matthew 5:23-24

Our kids are watching every move that we make. Is there someone that we need to forgive or apologize to? How cool would it be to show our kids what it means to ask for forgiveness? Or to forgive someone that has hurt us deeply. If we would just let go of our pride and stop retaliating, what an example.

See you Sunday.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”

God gives us the freedom to not worry, yet we insist on making ourselves miserable when there is, at times, absolutely nothing we can do. This will be a great lesson for our kids this week, and for us adults as well. Make sure you ask your kids about what they’ve learned this Sunday.

I’m feeling pretty blessed to be a part of something this BIG. I have some exciting things planned for this ministry, and I can’t wait to see how God is going to move!

The Bible has plenty of examples of life not being fair. This week, we’ll be teaching the kids about about Jacob’s story. Jacob worked seven years for Rachel’s father in return for her hand in marriage, only to learn that her father had tricked him and instead Jacob married her sister, Leah. Then Jacob had to work an additional seven years to have Rachel for his wife.

Life was not fair for Jacob. Our kids won’t have to worry about being tricked into marrying the wrong person, but they will go through life with unfair outcomes. We want to remind them this Sunday that while life may not be fair, sometimes that isn’t a bad thing. It helps us grow, it keeps us humble, and it teaches us that we are not in control. Thankfully, Jesus didn’t say, “This isn’t fair” from the cross. He had every right to be angry, to leave us in our sinful ways, and to not die for us. This should be our motivation to never give up even when times are tough.

Our memory verse for this week emphasizes that point:

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Galatians 6:9

See you Sunday!

Now that Sports Camp is over, look for some more updates to the KidZone website in the coming weeks and months. There will be info on what the kids are learning every week, notes to the parents, and lots of other great stuff.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. See you all at Amelia KidZone!

Safari Park will be detecting what it means to be a good friend!  Grab your spyglass and your detective kit and meet us at 11:00 at Amelia KidZone!

2010 Vision Update

We learned that NOTHING is impossible for Jesus!  Jesus can do anything! Jesus’ friends were out in a boat in the middle of the storm.  They look out and notice that someone is walking out to them…on the water!  Jesus walked right up to their boat! Not only did he walk on water but He then calmed the winds and the rain.

Today’s lesson was probably one of the most important lessons we will ever hear! We continued studying the parables, today’s being the parable of the lost son found in Luke 15. Through this parable, we learned that God is a loving and faithful Father to his sons and daughters.  He never gives up on us even though we may stray! God never stops loving me no matter what!