Sunday School Recap 04/06/25

Today we started learning about the events of Holy Week, as told in chapter 21 of Matthew. We focused on what happened on the different days of that week, and we will continue next Sunday by celebrating and learning more about Palm Sunday as Holy Week actually begins.

The older grades played a game in which they formed teams and then raced each other to put cards with different Holy Week events in chronological order. Younger grades colored different pictures about the different days of the week. We also used Play-Doh to make bread and a chalice like what was likely used after the Last Supper by Jesus, along with what our favorite foods are. The goal was to gain a better understanding of (and help remember) the events of Holy Week.

Sunday School Recap 03/30/25

We learned more about Paul today from Romans 1:1:17, about how he wrote letters to tell people about Jesus. The older grades then wrote their own letters, to each other and we actually mailed them. The Pre-K class created letters to Jesus, but didn't send each other letters, so the students in Grades 3-5 wrote letters to them so they will get mail this week too!

In the Grade 3-5 classroom, the students who will be making their First Communion this year also glazed their chalices today. This is another step in the process, and the chalices will be fired in the next couple of weeks so they will be ready in time for First Communion Sunday.

Sunday School Recap 03/23/25

Our story today was from Acts chapter 9, about the time when Saul was persecuting Christians. On the road to Damascus, he saw a bright light and was asked by Jesus, "Why do you persecute me?" He then lost his sight, but regained it after 3 days when he encountered a man named Ananias in Damascus. He was a changed man, but not only because he stopped persecuting Christians and began telling people about Jesus, but also because his name was changed to Paul.

The older grades did some activity sheets to help them remember the story, and made a picture with sparkly paper pieces that represented the bright light that Saul saw on the road to Damascus. They also played a game where we chose the name of a Biblical character from a basket and talked about how that person went through a change, just like Saul. 

The kids in Grades 1 and 2 made special sunglasses that blocked their sight, but had fold-up flaps that let them see again, like when the scales fell from Saul's eyes just as he regained his sight.

Sunday School Recap 03/16/25

Our lesson today was about the Greatest Commandment, from Matthew 22:34-39.  When the Pharisees asked Jesus "What is the greatest commandment?" he answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."

We talked about what this means, and then made crafts to help us remember these words. The older grades made a "fortune teller" which contained questions about this Bible story, like, "What is the name of one of your neighbors?" or "How can you show that you love God?" After we made them we had fun taking turns choosing colors and numbers while the person who made the fortune teller counted and led us through the process until it was time to answer the question.

Today children also received their Peter Pebble assignments. It's that time again! Kids have until May to earn a Peter Pebble. Click here for more information on Peter Pebbles.

Sunday School Recap 03/09/25

Today we heard the story from John 6:1-14 about the time when Jesus used a boy's lunch of five loaves of bread and two fish to feed 5,000 people! For our crafts, the younger grades made a paper basket with pipe cleaner handle and filled it with paper fish and bread. The older grades also made a basket out of paper, but it was three dimensional and they filled it with real food - Swedish fish, Goldfish Crackers, mini donuts or bread. 

Sunday School Recap 03/02/25

On Transfiguration Sunday we read the story from Matthew 17:1-9 and then made a few crafts to help us remember the story. The younger grades made a Light Catcher that, when held up to the window or a light, makes Jesus appear to be glowing brightly, just like in the story. The older grades made a similar craft, with a built-in battery-operated tea light that had the same effect.

Sunday School Recap 02/23/25

This week we heard.the parable of the Wedding Banquet from Matthew 22:1-14, in which a King invited people to a banquet for his son, but no one came. He then sent his servants out to invite everyone in the town instead. The lesson we learned is that God invites all of us to be in his kingdom, but not everyone accepts that invitation. By coming to church, reading our Bibles and coming to Sunday School, we are saying "Yes!" we want to accept God's invitation and be part of His kingdom.

Grades 3-5 played a "Will you accept the invitation?" beanbag toss game and earned more points if the beanbag landed in the "Yes" bins vs. the "No" bin. They got an extra point if they said, "Yes, and I'll bring a friend!" Grades 1 and 2 made kazoos and tambourines that they could play at the wedding feast. And the Pre-K group drew pictures of the types of foods they would want to eat at a wedding banquet.

Sunday School Recap 02/16/25

Today we heard the story from Matthew 8:23-27 about a time when Jesus was on a boat with His Disciples and there was a big storm. The Disciples were afraid and asked Jesus to help them, and He calmed the storm.  We learned that we, too,  can trust Jesus to help us in times of trouble in our lives. 
For our craft we created chalk drawings of a storm.

Sunday School Recap 02/05

Today we all worked together to create Valentines using construction paper, stickers, markers, and other craft supplies. They are for the residents at the Senior Living homes that Pastor Nancy visits regularly. This week she will deliver the Valentines on behalf of the Sunday School kids during her visits. 

Sunday School Recap 02/02/25

We heard the story today from John 4:6-42 about a Samaritan woman who was surprised to find Jesus at the well she was visiting to collect water. Jesus offered her Living Water instead, which changes her life. She then tells many others about Jesus. Our crafts focused on water...we cut out droplets with the words "He who believes in me will never be thirsty" and also worked on homemade puzzles that featured a drawing of Jesus with a similar verse.

Sunday School Recap 01/26/25

This week our lesson was about The Lord's Prayer. After looking it up in Matthew Chapter 6, we talked about prayer in general, then the kids in grades 3-5 went down to the St. James kitchen to make some biscuits. We decorated baskets with the verse 11 in chapter 6 of Matthew:  "Give us today our daily bread." We made enough for the kids in our class, then we decorated and filled baskets for the rest of the kids in Sunday School. We delivered the baskets to everyone and they enjoyed the warm, yummy biscuits after they finished with the lessons in their own classrooms. 

For our closing prayer, we all said The Lord's Prayer together. Some of the older kids already knew it pretty well because they memorized it to earn their Peter Pebble in second grade!

Sunday School Recap 01/19/25

Today we heard from Matthew 4:18-22 about when Jesus called his first Disciples. The older grades solved a Word Find puzzle with all of the names of the Disciples, then created sticker pictures with fish on them, like the ones some of the Disciples were fishing for in our story. The younger grades made a picture with a boat, fish net and fish stickers.

Sunday School Recap 01/12/25

The first thing we did today was find our where our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes were delivered! 
We packed 10 shoeboxes last November, and they all went to Africa - 7 to The Republic of the Congo, 2 to Malawi and 1 to Zambia. We found those countries on our map and added stickers to it for each country.

Our Bible story for today was from Luke 3:15-22 about how John baptized Jesus, and the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove. For our craft we made different types of doves. The youngest grades made watercolor paintings and the older grades made a felt dove and an origami dove.

Sunday School Recap 12/15/24

Today's story was about Jonah, which is one of the shortest books in the Bible - only 3 pages! Jonah tried to hide from God, so Grades 1-2 made a craft that helped them look for Jonah. The oldest grades spent a lot of time with their Bibles, looking up the different verses to help solve a word find puzzle in their leaflets. 

We also practiced our songs for next week today. The kids are looking forward to participating in the Christmas concert/worship!

Sunday School Recap 12/08/24

We started our morning by gathering around the piano in the sanctuary to practice the songs we'll be singing on December 22. 

Our story today was from 1Kings 17:8-18, about Elijah and how he helped a widow and her son, with the help of God. The lesson we learned is that we can trust God to help and provide for us.

Using the leaflets provided as part of the curriculum, we did a couple of puzzles and then used our Bibles to look up verses in the story to get ideas of how to illustrate story wheels that will help us remember what happened. The youngest grades used Play-Doh to make "bread" like the widow in the story as part of their lesson.

Sunday School Recap 12/01/24

This week we learned more about Advent and how it is a time of waiting. Then each grade made a different version of an Advent wreath. The youngest grades made one with a paper plate and Grades 1-2 made one out of pipe cleaners. The oldest grades worked together to make one big wreath for our classroom using construction paper, tissue paper pieces, toilet paper tubes and pipe cleaner “flames”! We will “light” another candle on that wreath each week. The students had fun learning and explaining what each candle means and when to light each one during Advent.

All students also received an Advent calendar they can use to countdown the days until Christmas. Printed behind each window is a small segment of the story from Luke 2. By the time Christmas arrives they will have read the entire story!

Sunday School Recap 11/24/24

Today's story was from 1Samuel 17 about David and Goliath. We saw how David was not afraid because he knew God would be with him, and learned that God is always with us too. 

After we had some fun with puzzles and games about the story in the Spark leaflets, we spent the rest of the Sunday School hour making Thanksgiving cards for the residents at Senior Living, so Pastor Nancy can deliver them this week.

Sunday School Recap 11/17/24

All grades got together today to pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, the ministry run by Samaritan's Purse. We first watched a video showing how the shoeboxes are delivered by truck,  boat, motorbike, donkey, or even camel! We saw how excited the kids in other countries are when they receive their shoeboxes.

The kids then filled shoeboxes with essential items (like a toothbrush, washcloth and soap), school supplies and toys. After we filled the boxes the kids wrote letters to the children to include in the boxes and we the prayed together over the entire stack of shoeboxes, asking God to help get them safely to where they need to go and to bless the kids who will receive them. The kids were  so excited to choose the items for "their" child and pack those shoeboxes nice and full! 

Sunday School Recap 11/10/24

Our story today was from Joshua 6:1-20, which is a continuation of the story of the Israelites who escaped from Egypt. Joshua led them to the city of Jericho where, with God's help, they caused the walls of the city to collapse by marching around the city making noise and blowing trumpets. 

The first and second graders led their own march through St. James and did the same as the Israelites, blowing trumpets and eventually knocking down a wall of cardboard boxes! The older students read the story from their Bibles, solved puzzles in their leaflets, and made trumpets from cardboard tubes. When they heard the commotion of the younger grades marching by with their trumpets, they were curious to see what was happening so we also went to "Jericho" to check out the wall they had knocked down earlier!

Sunday School Recap 11/03/24

Today we watched a movie about Moses, to recap the lessons we've had in the past couple of weeks. In the movie we saw Moses get the message from God in the burning bush, the ten plagues, and the escape from Egypt, including the parting of the Red Sea. 

Kids learn in different ways, so we have approached the story of Moses in multiple formats. We have read about it from the book of Exodus in the Bible, created a puppet show and watched a movie, so the students will have a better chance of remembering the details of the story.