Have you ever seen a mustard seed? The mustard seed is one of the smallest of all seeds. The mustard seed is so small that you can hardly even see it. Some people have necklaces that have one of these tiny mustard seeds inside of a piece of glass. They wear this necklace as a symbol of their faith in God. Do you know why the mustard seed is considered a symbol of faith?

One day, Jesus was talking to his disciples when one of them turned to him and said, "Lord, increase our faith." Jesus answered and said, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you." Can you imagine what it would be like to have that kind of faith?

There is a story about a man who read this verse in the Bible and decided to put it to the test. He had a large tree in his front yard, so he went out to that tree and said, "In the morning when I wake up from my sleep, I want you to be gone." That night the man went to bed. When he woke up the next morning, he went to front door, opened it, and looked out into his front yard. "Just as I thought!" the man said. "It's still there."

The man didn't have mustard seed sized faith, did he? In fact, he didn't have any faith at all. When he told the tree to be moved, he never expected it to happen. The man  misunderstood what Jesus was trying to teach his disciples.

Jesus was not suggesting that you go around trying to move trees just to prove that we have faith. What Jesus was trying to teach his disciples -- and what he wants us to learn -- is that it doesn't take a great faith to produce great results. Why? Because the results don't depend on us, they depend on God, and the size of our faith.
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This week’s Sunday School Lesson is about stepping out in faith.  Faith that can begin as a tiny mustard seed yet can grow exponentially.  Let the mustard seed remind us to never doubt the mighty power of God.   

The Parable of the Leaven, Sunday School Lesson 1/30/2021
Jesus presented some of His most memorable lessons as parables.  Parables are gifts we have received from God through Jesus’s walk on earth.  The Parable of the Leaven is a short but profound parable.

"Again He asked, 'What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough'" (Luke 13:20–21, NIV)

What is leaven?
When someone was making bread in the first century, they'd throw in a little piece of dough that was held over from the last time they made bread. By this time that dough would have fermented and become leaven. When leaven was added to a new batch of bread, it would act like yeast, causing the bread to rise.

Leaven provided a perfect image of the kingdom of God. Here are three points that Jesus intends for us to take away from this parable.

1. Jesus’ Ministry started humbly
Like leaven, God’s kingdom would transform everything it touched, eventually changing the character of every culture.

2. Jesus’ Ministry wasn’t understood
The leaven works in secret, transforming people from the inside.
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3. Jesus’ Ministry still transforms lives
Bread cannot leaven itself. In the same way, humanity was unable to manufacture the kind of changes required to reconcile with God. Through Jesus' ministry, death, and resurrection, the leaven of the kingdom was kneaded into humanity—and through the Holy Spirit's arrival at Pentecost, it was activated.

This week our Sunday School lesson offers gives children and families ways to bake some homemade goodness!  We have yeast and unleavened bread recipes.  Yeast experiments that let children blow-up balloons and create a geyser.  Just like the yeast in bread, the grace that God has given us allows us to grow… in love, acceptance and forgiveness to all!

​T​here was once someone who said such amazing things and did such wonderful things that people followed him. They couldn’t help it. They wanted to know who he was, so they just had to ask him. 

So begins the beloved Parable of the Good Shepherd in the Godly Play repertoire.    As we approach Good Shepherd Sunday, this story    invites the children to    come closer. Children are invited to lean into the circle as the lid comes off the golden parable box, so they can wonder and learn about the parable inside.

A parable is a story that Jesus told to explain a concept.  It may reveal multiple lessons to you over your lifetime.   The different stages of our life help put a spot light on the different outlook that is possible from parables.

In the story of the Good Shepherd, the storyteller explains about the cool clear waters of life that nurture growth, dark moments shadowed by rocks and how the Good Shepherd is with us in both of those times.    Often when the storyteller asks the children about this story, a child will say, “I wonder if I’m the sheep who was lost in the dangerous place. And the good shepherd is God, coming to help me.” 

This week’s   Sunday School lesson about the Good Shepherd  www.nsumckids.info/parable-of-the-good-shepherd.htmlincludes Cheerios and Oreo sheep treats, puppet crafts and dot-to-dot sheep pages.  Good news is that the Good Shepherd includes everyone at the table of the great banquet! No one is left out and all are invited into His grace! 

​This parable is found in both Godly Play and Young Children and Worship books.  It's meaning is also found in the 23rd Psalm

​The Bible is so big.  There are so many pages and so many different authors. Did you know that it actually began as bunch of books and then during the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. the delegates combined the stories into one big book?  Today that is the book we call the Bible.  Our Protestant bible has 66 books. These books share history, poetry, law, prophecy, gospels, parables, letters of the prophets and Revelation.
 
We can separate the Bible into the Old Testament (stories before Jesus and the stories from the Torah) and New Testament (stories about Jesus and his followers). We can also examine the different writing styles and authors. These steps can help enlighten us to the wonderful messages in the Bible.
 
When we are in our Godly Play atriums at NSUMC, we show the relationship to the stories on the shelves and their location in the Bible.  The Godly Play manipulatives offer a great visual representation of the Bible scriptures.  NSUMC was blessed to have so many members create these supplies for our children!
 
As Christians we have a rich history that teaches us how to offer extravagant hospitality, extend grace, and share compassion.  This week’s Sunday School lesson will share many ways that students can learn about the different books of the Bible through game!  We have Jenga, Legos, Duplos, golf balls, hopscotch, clothes pins, bingo cards, Jeopardy, Minute-to-Win-It and cups!  Come play games and learn about the B.I.B.L.E.!

​When a baby is baptized, the parents and everyone in the congregation promise to love and nurture the child, teaching him or her about Jesus so that she or he will grow up knowing God's love.  Baptism is a way for parents to say, "I believe in the promises God has made in the Bible to love and care for my child, and I want my child to walk in that love."  Baptism is also a way of saying, "Yes!" to God's invitation to enter the community of faith.
 
The Godly Play baptism story allows us to weave in the trinity (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), the light through candles and the blessing using water.  It also grants us the opportunity to present the importance of each child and the name that they were given. This is a great opportunity for the children to recount their baptism and to review Jesus' baptism.
 
As our story tellers retell the story, they help us remember our Baptism, recreate the light of God and then, when the lesson ends, the children can take that light of God into the world to share it with their family, friends and neighbors.
 
For this week’s Sunday School lesson, we invite families to upcycle their old candles, crayons, jars, milk cartons and shells to recreate a new candle for 2021 as a reminder that YOU are loved by God!