Most children love mac and cheese!  Macaroni noodles remind me of a story in the Bible. It is the story of the prophet Ezekiel. God took Ezekiel and showed him a valley that was filled with dry bones. These bones were scattered all around and there was no life in them. God spoke to Ezekiel and asked him, "Can these bones live again?"
 
Initially, Ezekiel didn't know what to say.  Then he responded: "O LORD, only you know the answer to that."

God spoke to Ezekiel again and said, "Speak to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, listen to the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: Look! I will put breath into you and you will come to life.'"
 
When you look at uncooked macaroni -- it is dry, hard and not very appetizing at all. It looks like nothing can help it - nothing good can come of it. But don’t we know better? We know that if we boil macaroni for ten minutes and add some milk and cheese, we will have something very yummy.

That's the way it is when we face something that is very hard in our lives. Sometimes it is hard to think that anything good can happen.  That everything is like it was in the valley of dry bones and we are without hope. But just as those dry uncooked noodles can be turned into macaroni and cheese, we know that the hard things in our life can become a lot better. Just as God brought life to the valley of dry bones with the breath of his Holy Spirit, God can make bad things better in our lives too. He does this for us when we trust him.

Next time your family prepares mac and cheese ask your children to think about how dry, crunchy and bland uncooked noodles are. Then as your family is devouring the mac and cheese reflect on how things can transform to something yummy!  It’s important to remember that when we face hard things and life seems hopeless there is always something YUMMY for God’s people.

​That yummy ingredient is HOPE!

​This week’s Sunday School Lesson includes yummy mac and cheese cupcakes, skeleton puppets and many ways to label your skeleton!  But most of all it offers reminders that with God there is always hope!

How do you face your giant’s?  Run straight at them. Avoid them. Pray about them.

There’s a story about a boy named David and a giant man named Goliath. Goliath was a Philistine warrior who kept challenging the men of Israel’s army to come to fight him. But because he was so big – over nine feet tall – none of the Israelites would do it. Everyone was too afraid.

Until a young man named David had so much faith that he knew God would help him defeat the giant. Of course, David wasn’t a warrior. He wasn’t used to wearing armor or swinging a sword. So, instead, he went to the stream and found five stones. He was going to use those stones in his sling to swing them at Goliath.

But David had great faith in God and he didn’t need five stones. He ended up only needing one.
​
Now, I hope that none of us will ever be in a battle, but we might have other giants in our lives.  It could be a friend, school, sports, addictions or family member.  No one is void of struggles.  How we approach these challenges makes all the difference. Praying about them is important but truly having faith that God can support us during our struggle will help us conquer our giant!
 
Always remember that if God can help David defeat Goliath with only a single stone, He will walk with you on your journey with your giant.
 
This week’s Sunday School lesson encourages children to name their giant though children books and videos that allow children to reflect on fear.  We also have challenging games and crafts about faith.  

​Can you name the parts & elements that are used in a Worship service?
 
Customarily, there are slightly more than a dozen elements in a Methodist service.  At NSUMC, we traditionally open our worship service with a hymn, participate in the call to worship and then invite the children to the chancel area for a short children’s sermon.  We end Children's Moments  with the  Lord's Prayer.   Next our choir shares the  anthem (song); our pastor reads  scripture  and presents the sermon.  The sermon is followed the   offertory prayer    and singing praise to God after we have offered our gifts (Doxology) The service closes with a hymn, benediction and then an invitation to be in community with each other in the   fellowship hall.
 
During Sunday School we teach the children about the items on and near the chancel area.  These are items that are used prior-to or during the worship service.  We enter the church through our narthex (lobby).  Altar is a word that the children generally know but they think that the entire “stage” is the altar.  Actually, the entire “stage” area is called the Chancel area and the table in the middle is the altar.  We point out to the students that the Adult Chancel choir sits in the choir loft.  There is also a door at the northwest corner of our Chancel area.  That door leads to our   sacristy.  A sacristy can include the items needed for the worship service and the vestments that the pastors wear.  The  kneeling rail  is a place that we may go to after we have taken communion.  We may kneel there and offer our personal prayers to God.  We also have a   pulpit.  It is located in front of the organ and it is where pastors and the liturgist can stand to present the scriptures and sermons.
 
This summer we are offering online Sunday School lessons as well as “Busy Bags” for our children to use (and then take home).  These bags have activities for the children to use during the worship service.  Additionally, NSUMC is offering “Sermon Notes” to the youth (ages 10-18).  These notes are journal pages to be completed during the service.  These pages ask I wonder questions, favorite hymn, favorite bible passage, their most meaningful quote from the sermon, etc. All items are free and can be found on the counter in the lobby.

​Do you remember your last birthday party?  Did you have candles to light your cake?  Those candles can shine so brightly that they can light up the room.  We get to share the light of those candles with all of our friends  and family at the party!
 
God calls us to be the light.  This means that God wants us to tell people about Him, and share His grace with others. In the Bible verse for today, Jesus tells us to let our light shine so that more people can also experience His great light.
The good news of Jesus is so amazing that we don’t want to hide it. We want to share it with other people. We want to light up the whole world with God’s love!  But the “light” does not come from our own power.  We are not called to shine our own light; we are called to reflect His!
 
So how can we stay “lit,” like that joyous birthday candle, to reflect His light?  We can read the Bible.  We can discuss this verse with our family.  We can watch ONLINE church.  We can share our gifts and be a good example for our brothers, sisters and friends. 

We can also pray.  God always wants to hear from us.  When we pray we can ask Him to help us reflect His grace in all we do so we can be THAT sparkly birthday candle to everyone we meet!
​
Today’s Sunday School lesson includes light and salt experiments, shadow puppets, salt paintings, salt circuits, kaleidoscope and lantern DIY’s!  Your children can make one and share one!  Yes! You are invited to be THAT light!

St. Francis of Assisi enjoyed a very rich easy life growing up because of his father's wealth and the permissiveness of the times. He did poorly in school and was very rebellious. His rollercoaster life led him through extravagant times of chasing idols all the way to living on the streets.
​
In St. Francis' younger years he made a few mistakes.  Some say he sinned.  The Greek word for sin is hamartia.  But did you know that the word is derived from the  Greek     ἁμαρτία, from ἁμαρτάνειν hamartánein, which means "to miss the mark" or "to err."  It is so comforting to know that if we "miss the mark" we are still welcomed to make amends and join Jesus.  We are still loved and accepted.

St. Francis went on to do great things.  He ended up rebuilding a church and creating a religious order.  He was able to rebuild a healthier personal life as well and his love for creation blossomed.  His contemplative prayers helped him to share compassion with those of two and four legs!

His prayer is a comfort to many.  He just asks, "Lord make me an instrument of PEACE."
 
Our Sunday School lesson this week includes videos, crafts, games and snacks.  We have bird feeders to share compassion with the animals of the air; palm-frond animals to create; exercises incorporating animal sounds; and animal sandwiches for lunch fun!  We also share St. Francis’ wonderful prayer:

… Where there is hatred, let me sow love   💝🧡 💛💚💙💜