​When the day of Pentecost came, the apostles were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest above each of their heads.  The apostles went outside to see if others were having the same experience.  It was the week of the Jewish Festival of Shavuot. All of foreigners and locals congregating in the city of Jerusalem for this festival were speaking in their home language but miraculously they could understand each other.  They all became filled with the Holy Spirit.
 
This was an amazing turning point for those apostles.  Up to this moment they were hiding and living in fear that they would be killed because they were followers of Jesus.  Now in one afternoon a scant flame was placed above their head and they knew this mystery was real.  Their hearts were filled and so was their need to share this story with the world.
 
Remember that afternoon a couple of months ago when they said we were to “shelter in place.”  No school. No work. No playground. No church.  BUT did we manage to recreate a new version of school, work, play and church?  Was a flame placed above us (maybe behind us)?  Has your home life and the church life emerged from the flames to the internet?  Were we ever meant to be in a building?  Have we learned to be creative?  Is this our encouragement and affirmation to take it to the chat boxes, Skype, Google Classroom and ZOOM?
 
To some, this internet maybe a new language but together we are managing to conquer it.  What a resilient people we are!  Bless you and your family for hanging in there.  Creating a new way to do home, work, school and church.  We’re proud of your accomplishments!  It’s amazing what a little flame can do!
 
Our Sunday School lesson this week is about Pentecost.  We have flaming experiments (literally), fiery snacks, videos that will ignite learning, and red-hot crafts for your family.  What a great way to experience the holy spirit with your children, grandchildren and the greater community!  We’re praying for you and we know you’ve got this!

​Did you know that the bible has seven prophetesses?  According to Jewish tradition, Deborah, was one of "seven prophetesses" in the scriptures, with Sarah, Miriam, Hannah, Abigail and Esther. Historians say that Deborah was a judge for 40 years.  She helped lead a victory over the Canaanites. Her story can be found in the Book of Judges. Deborah gave her judgements under a palm tree and Psalms 92:7 says that “good people will flourish like a palm tree. Not like grass, as the wicked, which is weak and tender, and soon cut down; but like palm trees, that are firm and strong.”  Deborah, too, was a strong leader.
 
Have you ever read about the “Deborah Anointing?”  It offers blessings for females that although they may have been trapped in tradition and locked into captivity by cultural and gender prejudices, God is there to support them in breaking the cycle! God’s desire is for them to break through these barriers.  In biblical times, and today, God calls women to a purpose greater than themselves.

What a special and amazing message and gift to our girls!
 
This week’s Sunday School lesson is about Deborah.  We have many crafts and activities for the children.  One of the crafts teaches you how to make palm trees from all of our COVID paper towel tubes!  Another is to make a succulent planter from a date palm pod! Check out our KIDS website for more videos, crafts, snacks (date smoothies/date bars/bacon wrapped dates) and activities.

​Mother’s Day offers us another vantage point of both our life and our children’s.    Our inaugural Mother's Day began as an amazing and unbelievable gift from God.  We were blessed with a brand new little being that we were to nurture, love, guide, protect and support on a two decade journey.

Pregnancy brought such happiness, anticipation and maybe some morning sickness.  We couldn't wait to meet these little bundles of joy, experience their personalities, and hold them in our arms. Although once they were born, there were fleeting moments when we wished that we didn't have to hold them 24/7.  We reflected on how easy it was when they were in our tummy and we were able to use both arms concurrently. Then we looked at those beautiful eyes and angelic smiles.  Those Gerber baby faces made us want to hold and love them all the more.

As they took up residence, there were bottles, burps, cuddles, coos, diapers, hugs, and MORE diapers. Then, even with advanced warning, we welcomed the toddler stage at that point they had the ability to dart in and out of crowds and now running after them was a prerequisite. Next their cooing subsided and their verbal skills begin to emerge. First it was that word, “NO.” Then they began talking sometimes so much that there were those reoccurring fleeting moments (okay, sometimes they were extended moments) when you wished for quiet time.  Yet as you tucked them in at night, when all was silent and peaceful, you couldn’t help but love them even more.

The school years just flew by.  Sports. Music.  Scouting. Church camps. Vacation Bible School.  Oh, and yes, there was school and family life. It was a wonderful and busy time. Then the conversation turned more to their friends and driving allowed them the freedom of more choices. They began to move a little further from the nest but our love for them continued to blossom.
As their teen years culminated, they possessed a wealth of accomplishments.  They had blossomed into happy, healthy and wonderful young adults.  Mother's Day looked different again, yet it was still wonderful from that peak. 

Throughout those decades most mothers did not anticipate all of the emotions that could arise during this roller coaster ride, let alone the great range of emotions our children were capable of sharing with us on that ride (LOL).   Combined we had good days and not such good ones. We met challenges and welcomed successes. We all grew in God's grace.   AMEN, for God's grace!

For Mother's Day 2020, we wish all mothers a little down time if you are encountering the toddler years. Those years are hectic and exhausting days.  We wish mothers extra energy if you are experiencing the school years. There are so many things for your children to absorb and it is a blast to experience it with them.  We wish you peace during the empty nesting time, as your young adults journey the road of adulting.

Mother's Day is a time to be grateful for one of God's greatest blessings, CHILDREN, regardless of their stage of life or ours!
 
Our Sunday School lesson this week is from the book of Ruth (1:16–17).  It’s the story about Ruth’s love and compassion for Naomi.  Ruth wasn’t even Naomi’s daughter but they shared mutual respect and love for each other.  So much so, that Ruth took care of Naomi until her death.  We are so grateful to the ladies that chose to be mentors and inspirational support to lift each other up!  The lesson includes crafts, snacks, games, cards and scavenger hunts!

Have you ever felt like you were being attacked by lions?  You might have felt like you were in a lion’s den and you were surrounded by multiple obstacles that wanted to consume you.  Or was it more like you were in a fiery furnace and you didn’t have enough water to put out all of the fires at once.  There was not even enough water to wet your lips!
 
Well, there’s this prophet, which you might have heard of, named Daniel who has had a lot of experience with these matters.  Yet each time he was tested he came out without a blister or scratch.  What was his secret? How was he always able to stand up to the king and those enormous challenges? Daniel believed that he should worship and pray to the one true God.  He believed, beyond a doubt, that his prayers would be answered. What a prayer warrior he was!

Are we being tested a bit during this quarantine?  Is working at home challenging us to balance our careers, home chores and children’s school work within a very small confine?  Or maybe the opportunity to work has been taken from us, and we feel the pressure of not being able to make ends meet.  Or consider if we are that “essential worker” who was not given either of those options and we worry about keeping our family virus free.
 
We have all been handed our fiery furnaces but as Christians we have the hope that comes from the one true God.  I hope that you can carve out a little quite time to be with that one true God and share your concerns with Him.  He can take it and He wants to hear from you!
 
Our children’s Sunday School lesson this week is about Daniel.  We suggest that the children pray about their challenges and we remind them about the power of prayer.  Here is the link to the video, craftivities, snacks and games.

North Scottsdale United Methodist church will be offering Virtual Sunday School throughout the pandemic.  Weekly, we will send our families the link to the lesson.  Each link will offer your children a video of the scripture story and creative expressions to accompany the lesson.  If you would like to check out a different lesson, we have nearly four dozen lessons uploaded for your convenience. 

Here are the steps to log-on:

1. Type www.nsumckids.info into your browser
2. Place your curser over the MIND tab and you will see a drop-down
3. Slide your curser over “Sunday School Lessons for Godly Play” and you will see another drop down
4. The first drop down is “Godly Play Curriculum Map,”  that page lists the dates and names    of the weekly lessons. 
5. All the other tabs below include lessons posted in alphabetical order.  If you prefer a different lesson than what is scheduled, please help yourself to any other lesson of interest!

​Thank you to our parents for all you are doing to keep
your children connected to church & God!
You are amazing!
 
The lesson for Sunday, April 19th is Crosses.  Please click on this link to be taken to the video and activities to learn about the different cross styles thr

Easter 2020!  It will look different from our view of family, school, grocery store, hospital, the world and even church. It has absolutely become a viral Easter in more ways than one!

The COVID19 virus has changed how we see things literally and figuratively.  Visiting our extended family is now postponed so we can help keep our loved ones healthy. We are grateful for technology that still allows us to virtually visit them.

The schools are offering online classrooms to keep children learning.  This is education to K-12th grade students through a whole new virtual medium.  We are grateful to our educators who have quickly adapted to the new software and to our families who are now rockin’ homeschooling!

We know you have visited the inside of a grocery store!  Well, that has an all too eerie view.  We see aisles of empty shelves from the pandemic because some have lost their sense of proportion.  We are grateful to our grocers who continue to restock those shelves throughout the night.

The hospital emergency rooms have mask and glove wearing professionals whom are caring for our loved ones that have contracted COVID 19.  Again, gratefulness is offered to these medical teams that are sharing their gifts of nurturing wellness and being on the front line around the clock!

Globally, we have seen continents shaken by this pandemic.  Lives lost. Families changed forever. But did you notice…  The rivers of Venice are clear again.  The skies over in L.A. have less smog.  The view from NASA’s space stations shows reduced pollution over China.  Limiting our travels seem to be creating a healthier world! We are grateful for nature’s way of healing the environment.

And, then there’s our church view.  We won’t be sitting in the same pews, seeing the same altar, singing the familiar hymns, or shaking the hands of our compassionately caring friends.  We will have to joyously accept that the ZOOM links, Facebook LIVES and YouTube posts will allow us to still virtually share in the story of Easter.  Easter is a story of rebirth and new growth.  Kind of ironic isn’t it.  It’s a great reminder that God is still walking with us.  We sure hope that all those worship service posts go viral!
​
The Family Ministry team is praying for your families; prayers for good health and financial concerns. <><
 
We are also sharing our Easter Sunday School lesson link     for use at home.  If you have crescent rolls, marshmallows, butter, cinnamon and sugar, you can make some AMAZING RESURRECTION ROLLS!  This link also shares a video of the Easter story and many additional activities. We wish you a "simple but sweet" 2020 Easter!

As a Christian, when my days are uncertain, I know that I can always hold onto to hope.  But sometimes I feel like I use it as “only hope” – a safety net. 
 
“I hope I can homeschool my children effectively.”
“I hope I can manage working from home and balancing my children’s activities.”
“I hope my family will stay healthy.”
“I hope my company can recover from this shut down.”
“I hope I can handle this new way of life.”
“I hope that I can deal with this uncertainty.”
 
Remember those men in a boat that were afraid.  Jesus gave them peace in that storm.  He brought peace to their fears when they truly believed.  How about those Israelites who were afraid of the Roman soldiers?  They cheered triumphantly as Jesus, their King, entered Jerusalem on that little donkey. Their parade was followed by some very dark days but three days later they joined in a joyful celebration!

With all of the turmoil in these last few weeks, I have decided not to rely on just hope but to truly BELIEVE.  I believe that God invites me to enter into His rest. I believe that my strength comes from Him. So now when I reread those sentences of “hope” above and change the word from HOPE to BELIEVE, it gives me more spring to my step.  I hope, NO--  I BELEIVE, that our NSUMC families can rock this season of uncertainty!!!
​
If you need support sharing this week's scripture story with your family here are some links to contribute to your child’s understanding of Palm Sunday.  This is a link to Lauren Daigle;s rendition of  “We Believe.”  It’s another affirmation of believing in God the father.   Also, here is a link to our Sunday School Godly Play Lesson about Palm Sunday/Jesus is King.  That link will offer a video of the lesson, related crafts and activities to share with your family.

Have a peaceful Palm Sunday and know that we are here for you!
​<><

Dear families,
 
We believe in you and we are praying for you. We have faith that you are doing an amazing job parenting during this Covid-19 season but we are mostly excited that your kids get to be with YOU during this time!

While there are so many online resources available for home schooling, it’s okay if you don’t access all of them. Just being present with your children is the work of discipleship. If all you do is hug them, feed them, love them, and keep them healthy through this season, you are doing an amazing thing.

During this time we need to redefine what daily life looks like and Sunday looks like. Church isn’t the building. It isn’t the Sunday School classroom.  Church is anything that we do that helps someone, to follow Jesus.

For many of us, that’s going be a bedtime story, a math problem solved, a meal around the table, and a hug when someone is scared.
​
We have many Sunday School lessons posted on this website, BUT they are only here only to help you do the work that you are already doing with your family.  So there are no strings, no quizzes, no judgment, just a simple gift.  The Family Ministry team at NSUMC would like to praise our families for handling this unexpected valley like superheroes! We are so blessed to be walking  with you!

Grace & peace,
the family ministry team
Oh, ya…. and wash your hands, please    ;)

Life isn't perfect, but I look forward to this season that brings new life and new possibilities! Join our welcoming community as we discover the hope and love that surrounds us all!  We have three opportunities on Easter Sunday just for YOU and your family!

WE WILL ONLY HAVE ONE  ONLINE SERVICE 4/12/2020 @ 10AM
Please check out www.nsumc.com for the ZOOM LINK

​April 12th, 2020, 6:30a.m. --CANCELLED--
Sunrise Service at 6:30 a.m.

Come in your blue jeans and join us for the first service of Easter morning on the patio! There will be music, communion, coffee and sweets afterward! Come early and wake up with joy in the Son!


April 12th, 2020, 8:30 a.m.   --CANCELLED--
Worship Service with Communion at 8:30 a.m.

Join NSUMC as the Sanctuary bursts into the colors of spring and both of the choirs fill the Choir Loft with the music and accompanying trumpets. NSUMC will have Sunday School for children ages 3-12 years old in the Fellowship Hall during the service. Adults and children are encouraged to stop by the Fellowship Hall after service for coffee and sweets.


April 12th, 2020, 10:00 a.m. --ONLINE--
Traditional Worship Service

Adults may join NSUMC as the Sanctuary bursts into the colors of spring and the choir fills the choir loft with music.