Today's special day celebrates something that we all enjoy -- beverages. What's your favorite? milk? pop or soda? juice? iced tea? water? lemonade? Do you have other ideas? Sometimes we even put special things in our beverages to make them even better, like ice cream in our root beer or lemon in our water. On a warm day or after playing outdoors it is very refreshing to get a tall glass of something, maybe with some ice, and just sit and sip! One time Jesus was looking for a cool beverage after a long walk. He sat down by a well and asked a woman there to help him get a drink with her water jug. They struck up a conversation and pretty soon they were talking about living water that Jesus could offer that would quench a thirst forever. The woman sure didn't understand that! Jesus was talking about himself -- He was "water" that could help her forever. He said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water that I give them will never thirst." (John 4:13) Go look in the refrigerator -- make a list of all the different things in there to drink. Thank Jesus for being the living water and his promise to help you forever.
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A pearl is used in many different kinds of jewelry. Your mom might have a pearl necklace, earrings, or a pearl ring. They come in lots of different sizes, shapes, and color but all real pearls come from oysters. The largest type of oysters can get as big as a dinner plate! An oyster is a shellfish that lives in salt water or fresh water. It sifts through its food from the water where it lives. But sometimes a piece of sand gets stuck in the oyster's sifting system. When that happens the oyster covers that little piece of "trouble" with a special substance. Layer after layer of it covers the sand and over time it becomes a pearl. People harvest oysters for food and sometimes they find this little oyster has a pearl inside. That is a treasure and can be very valuable for jewelry. What starts out as a little problem in the oyster's search for food turns into something valuable. Oh, does that remind you of a Bible story. Here's a hint: there was a old testament story of a real person who had lots of trouble with his brothers. They tried to kill him and evidently sold him as a slave! Many years later when the brothers got together again, the slave-brother said, "what you meant for evil, God used for good." (Genesis 50:20) Can you name the Bible character? Did you say Joseph?! If you did, you were right. God turned that bad thing (like the sand for the oyster) into something that brought good for the whole nation. Ask you mom if she has any pearls? She might have some imitation pearls or real pearls. Either kind can help you remember that God has the power to turn your bad things into good things! There really are at least three days in the year that celebrate, this one is just called "Bird Day". It was established in 1894 at a school in Pennsylvania as a special day to watch birds, all birds. Did you know there are about 10,000 different species of birds in the world, and only about 1,100 live in the United States. And the researchers say that only a few over 400 live in Minnesota. Have you ever got up early in the morning and listened to the birds? It is so pretty to hear them sing in the morning. Do you think they are talking to each other? What are they saying? Do you think they care about you watching them? Can you guess what the most common Minnesota bird is? You could look that up on your computer. Even though there are only 400+ kinds of birds in Minnesota, there are thousands of many of them. I don't know if anyone has a count on how many total birds there are in Minnesota. I can't even begin to guess, can you? One place I read said that the second most common bird in June to July in Minnesota is the Song Sparrow. Jesus know how many birds there are in Minnesota. He watches every one of them. Jesus said in the Bible in Luke 12:6-7, "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God." Jesus is telling the people that sparrows are important to him, but then he goes on to say, "Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows." When we think about how God specially designed these little birds to know how to sing in the morning, how to fly south in the winter, and how to make a nest out of sticks -- that's pretty amazing. But God made you even more special than that, he know how many hairs on your head -- and you are so valuable. Today -- spend some time counting birds and thank God for watching over you! Sometimes we accidentally put on two different shoes, but today is the day you should do it on purpose. They don't even have to be the same style! I wonder how many people will notice your shoes. It will be pretty hard to wear them very long if they have a different heel. That would probably make you walk funny, but it would be a fun way to celebrate this funny day. This almost sounds like a made up "national day", but it really was invented by Dr. Arlene Kaiser and really has its own website! It is supposed to remind us about how diverse and different we are. It reminds me of that old Sunday School song that "Jesus Loves the little children. All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white. They are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world." It doesn't matter to Jesus what we look like. It doesn't matter how smart or tall we are. It doesn't matter if we have curly hair or freckles, or if we have a smart phone or not. Jesus loves us all and we are all partners in his church. We need to work together with other people -- who might not be like us -- and care for each other. John 13:34-35 says, "Love one another as I have loved you." So, today, when you are wearing your two different shoes and someone asks you why, tell them that you are thinking about loving other people who are different than you, just like Jesus does! I know you have heard of Mother's Day and Father's Day. You have probably heard of Grandparent's Day and you've maybe heard of Baby Day (which is also today), but today is Brother and Sister Day. This is the day we celebrate YOU. We're not really sure how this special holiday got started but it always celebrated on May 2, no matter what day of the week it is on. Most of you probably have a brother or sister, but even if you don't you are part of God's big family so we are brothers and sisters together. So what should we do to celebrate our siblings? Clean their room, nah. Should we let them have the biggest piece of cake? Well, should the brother or sister get the biggest? That seems like could start another family fight. How about thinking of something that would be special, something that no one else would think about. Think hard, you have all day, but make sure you come up with something to let them know that today we are celebrating them! Your family was put together by God, and your parents were so excited as you and your siblings joined the family. They love you very much and even though you might not want to admit it, you love your siblings very much. So celebrate today and thank God for each one of them. The first day of May has been celebrated as "May Day" for many, many years but it becoming a forgotten occasion. The day is a celebration that is about half way between the start of spring and the start of summer. When your parents and grandparents were kids, they would make a little basket filled with candy or flowers and secretly delivery it to a friend's door. After knocking and yelling "May Basket", they would run and hide. If they were caught they would get kissed! May Day is really just a way to celebrate summer and friendships and flowers and surprise! All of those things wrapped into one little basket dropped on a door step. It might be a fun little tradition for your family to do, starting with today! You can make a basket out of just about anything, fill it with flowers or candy, and surprise a friend or neighbor. You could even drop it off at your own house for your mom. That would really surprise her! Seeing the flowers in the spring always makes people smile. It confirms that the cold of winter is finally over and the new life of spring is here. The Bible says, "Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come!" (SofS 2:12) So, let's celebrate May Day with this fun little surprise and enjoy the "season of singing"! What happens when Pinocchio doesn't tell the truth? If you don't know, you should find out. The truth is, it's not good! It's always better to tell the truth. M. Hirsch Goldberg, in the early 1990's invented this day of honesty. He thought that since we start the month with April Fool's Day that is filled with tricks and lies, that we should end the month with Honesty Day. That's pretty good thinking, Mr. Goldberg. Tricks and lies, like on April Fool's Day can sometimes be silly if it's just for fun. But dishonesty usually hurts people and relationships. Not telling the truth is against God's plan for us because He knows the damage that can be done with lies! In Ephesians 6:14, Paul writes that we should wear the BELT of truth. Have you ever forgotten to put your belt on when your pants are just a little bit too big. Now that's big trouble, especially if you have to run in PE! A belt is pretty important to hold everything together. Have you ever seen a construction belt full of tools. That's another important use for a belt -- to hold your tools. Ephesians 6 tells us about some of the other tools that we need to stand strong as a Christian: helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, sword of the Spirit -- but he mentions the belt first. I guess TRUTH is pretty important.
In the United States, Tell A Story Day is always on April 27. Lots of libraries have a storytelling hour on this day. Our lives are full of stories! Do you tell your families the story of your day at supper? Do you ever tell funny stories, scary stories, or your favorite memory stories? That is a fun way to get to know people, by listening to their stories. Sometimes stories are true and sometimes they are made up. Can you tell the difference? What about the stories in the Bible. Do you think they are true or made up? Well, we know that all of the Bible is true. That's been proven through lots of years of study. The Bible does include some stories that Jesus told that are parables. That means they were made up stories to teach a lesson. But we can tell the difference between those parables and the true stories of the Bible. Some stories seem like they are made up -- like Jonah getting swallowed by a whale or the story of 3 guys getting thrown into a fire and not even getting burned. But all of those hard-to-believe stories are real and show how much power God has! What about you? Have you ever told a true story to a friend that show God's power? Can you think of something that God has done for you that maybe you should share with a friend or with your family? Today, on Tell a Story Day, would be a great day to tell a Jesus story! |
AuthorWriten by Sue Van Hal, Children's Church Leader Archives
July 2020
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