JOY!

We had a "JOYFUL" time in kids church today! Again that is our theme for the month "JOY!"

You know We have lots of reasons to be jumping for joy today.  Psalm 139:13-14 says, 
"You created the deepest parts of my being. You put me together inside my mother’s body. How you made me is amazing and wonderful. I praise you for that."  God is our Creator. He created you and me … and that’s one big reason I know that "I can trust God no matter what!"  We worshiped our God today with lots of JOY!  We sang and jumped and did motions to "I Got the Joy Joy Joy Joy Down in My Heart!" and then "Joy to The World!"  Then Our new Kids Volunteer Ms Marcia told us a Bible story! We had two kids help act out the story with todays vernacular!  Isaac played the part of Gabriel and Kira played the part of Mary. They both did an amazing job!  

A Snapshot of the Story:  One day Mary was doing her normal, daily stuff… and then an angel suddenly appeared!  Gabriel said, "Hello, I'm Gabriel, God has given you special favor." .... Mary was stunned, she had never seen an angel before!  He told her not to be afraid, and went on to tell her some really important things that were going to happen!  He told her she was going to have a son, and that God wanted her to name Him Jesus and that He is going to be Savior of the World!  Mary was afraid and confused and had a hundred questions!  One she asked was "How is this going to happen since I'm not married to Joseph yet?"  Gabriel answered her question by telling her about her relative Elizabeth having a baby, even though she was old, and no one that she would have children. But God will make it happen!  YOU SEE ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE WITH GOD!  Mary believed Gabriel and she was thrilled, about all this incredible news! and Mary said “Whatever God wants, I’ll do it!”  You can read all about it in your own Bible in the book of LUKE 1:26

“I know it can be hard to have joy when things don’t happen the way you expect them to. Think about the things Mary didn’t expect . . .  we may feel a little like Mary sometimes, too.  Especially when something unexpected happens, we may feel surprised or confused or even afraid, especially if we don’t really understand what’s happening.  BUT we can also choose to react the way Mary did: we can choose to trust God, even when unexpected things happen. We can choose to be happy even when things aren’t going our way.  We can choose to say, ‘Whatever God wants, I’ll do it!’ just like Mary did.

You can have joy because anything is possible with God.

Today we also talked about prayer. And reminded the kids that they can always "talk" to God but they can also "write" their prayers down and tell God about their thoughts and concerns.  So that's what we did, we had them take some time to write down their thoughts and concerns that they have.  I asked the kids if anyone would like to read their prayer out loud. There were several kids that chose to do so. Let me tell you,  I had to fight back the tears as I sat and listened to their prayer needs and concerns that were on their little hearts!  

One precious little girl in the 4th grade was really concerned about passing the FCAT and if she would ever be able to go to college!  Another boy was very concerned about the economic condition of their family and others!  My Heart was touched!  Parents our kids our watching you!  Please remember to take the time to listen to what is on their hearts and take the opportunity to have some "GOD TIME" with your kids each week!  Believe me you will be helping your child but you will be blessed as well!

Each of of face situations that seem impossible. And there are problems in the big world that seem impossible. BUT God is so powerful that nothing is impossible for Him! God loves you (parents and kids) and wants to help us choose joy even in impossible situations.”  So choose JOY this Week!

See you all Next Week the Best-Ever Birthday Party . . . For Jesus! Also remember that it is also BGMC Sunday so remember to bring your Buddy Barrels so we can continue to spread JOY TO THE WORLD!