Advent Conspiracy Family Curriculum

It is here! Family curriculum to take your child through the story of Christ's birth as well as the Advent Conspiracy themes. Simpler ideas for younger children are at the back of each section. Blessings upon you as you lead your family through Advent. See link below.

~Karen


Advent Conspiracy Family Curriculum

Imago Dei announcements are online!

All Imago Dei announcements are online now - and in video! :) Check it out so you are in the know...

http://www.imagodeicommunity.com/article/spotlight/

Baby Dedication next Sunday!

Baby Dedication Sunday is just around the corner! October 25th during all services.

Dedicating your child to God is a public sign that you are seeking to raise your children in the ways of Christ. There is a preparatory class the Sunday before (this Sunday, the 18th! 9am service in rm 150 near the auditorium) to explain what baby dedication is and is not. All involved parents or guardians are asked to be present.

RSVP to Neisha (neisha@imagodeicommunity.com) if you’d like to participate!

Early Childhood curriculum snapshot

The preschool & 2's teachers got together last night to plan out the next 2 months of curriculum. We provide curriculum so it's not that they were working from scratch. But what they did is added to it and reworked it so that it reflected more of who we are as creative people made in the image of God and who response to God. Here is what they came up with. Here is what my 4 year old will be gleaning from the next 2 months. Thank you God for these people who care about the little things for little kids. There's nothing like young children "getting it" (learning about God) for the first time.

october



wk 1

Creation Day 1: Light & Dark Gen 1:1-5

Activity/Movement area: Blob

sensory: shadow play

Art: Light & Dark Painting

Need: black construction paper 8x11 & white paint (sponges for the 2's class)

Key Verse: Gen 1:3 God said, "Let there be light."



wk 2

Creation Day 2 Sky & Water Gen 1:6-8

Activity/Movement area: catching clouds with parachute/ bubbles

sensory: water

Art: Sky Collage

Need: blue construction paper

Key verse: Gen 1: 6-8 "God made the sky and water."



wk 3

Creation Day 3 Land, Plants and Sea Gen 1:9-13

Art: leaf rubs

Sensory: potting soil

Playdough - create things on land

Need: potting soil, printer paper,and coffee filters

Key Verse: Gen 1: 9-13 "God made the land, sea, and plants."



wk 4

Creation Day 4 Sun, Moon and Stars Gen 1:14-19

Movement: Moving Moons

Art: Sun & Moon Foam Balls

sensory: tin foil strips

Need: foam balls (talk to Jen about oriental trading), glitter, silver & yellow paint, flat pushpins, tissue paper- red , orange, & yellow

Key Verse: Gen. 1:16 "God made two great lights."



November

wk 1

Creation Day 5 Fish and Birds Gen 1:20-23

Movement: Bird walk

Dramatic Play: Bird Nests

Sensory Table: Eggs, worms

Art: Rainbow fish

Need: plastic eggs, packing strips paper, tissue paper white, blue construction paper in shape of a fish

Key Verse: Gen 1:20 "Let the water have fish and the sky have birds."



wk 2

Creation Day 6 Animals

Movement: Surprise

Dress up: Pet Vet

Art: Masks

Need: paper plates, construction paper brown, orange, and yellow

Key Verse: Gen 1: 24-25 " God made all animals"



wk 3

God made people so we can know Him/ Adam & Eve Gen 2:7, 20-23, 3:8

Movement: My Name

Art: Body Maps

Sensory: People

Need: butcher paper, crayons & markers, rubber bands

Key Verse: Gen 1:27 " God created man and women in His own image."



wk 4

God provides for us / The Garden Gen 2:8-15

water works

Art: My garden

Garden Scents

Need: koolaid (without sugar), & white card stock

Key Verse: Gen 2:15 "God put man in the garden to care for it."



wk 5-

Creation Celebration Gen 2:1-3

Art: Mural of Creation

Need: 11x17 white paper, Blue Paint

Key Verse: Gen 2:1 " The heavens and the earth were completed."

End of Summer Announcements!

• Today (Aug 30) is the last day of Summer Electives! It’s been one of our best summer’s ever as far as quality in teaching, line up/variety of classes, and involvement from staff, pastors and mature adults in our community. Kids have gotten a great view of the bigness of God and how He is at work in all aspects of life.
  

• Next Sunday (Sept 6) all elementary kids will be IN SERVICES with their parents. We will not have elementary ministry going on. Have fun worshipping together before back to school craziness begins.

• Regular Imago Dei Kids elementary ministry starts Sept 13th. 10 returning teachers are excited to serve and know your children this fall. Please take some time on the 13th to meet your child's teacher!!! Would be great to have a few more teachers to lead small groups or people that are great at leading all group games or being part of worship. Let Karen know if you are available. karen@imagodeicommunity.com

• Parent subs needed throughout the year. We are gathering a list of parents who can sub in for teachers throughout the year. If you are not able to be on a regular Imago Dei Kids rotation but could sub in from time to time to cover a teacher who needs a week off, please let us know. Jen@imagodeicommunity.com
  

• Sunday Sept 27th is our Fall Elementary Parent Meeting!!! It is during the 11am service in the Library. Please make this a priority to come and be together as parents and hear the vision of Imago Dei Kids and what we are teaching your child this year.

Camp

A couple weeks ago I was asked to be the camp speaker for a week at Camp Tadmor. It was for Jr Camp so it was 220 3rd-6th graders. None of which I knew. I had never been to a week long camp before nor had I ever spoken that many times in a row for that many kids in that age group. I'm more familiar with Sunday to Sunday. Or a one time, evening/Saturday deal. As many years as I've worked with kids and parents I felt suddenly very out of my element. I was pretty nervous - panicked as it were.

The first night I got introduced as a "he" only because the program staff hadn't met me yet and assumed I was a male speaker. So my nerves were pretty thrown and I did my best to recover and get the kids excited about having a woman speaker. But I came back to the lake house that night (where my husband, son and I were staying) and was about in tears regardless. I was up till 1:30am planning my talk for the next night and was pretty sure I was invisible and was going to SUCK at speaking.

But God surprised me as He often does. At my low points I was on my knees exasperated with planning and worrying and told Him it was a mistake that I was there and somebody else should come or at the very least I should go home. So God came and did what I could not. Be Himself in the midst of counselors, kids and staff.

On the 2nd night I spoke about Sin and how we aren't perfect. 3rd night was all about Jesus and who He is and how much he LOVES us. Loves you. Loves me. I was starting to love speaking to this group of kids but was concerned that their hearts weren't engaging. By the eve of the 4th night I asked counselors what God was doing in their cabins (as I had every night but only general comments had come thus far) and expected more of the same as in nights past (general niceties). But suddenly hands were raising and counselors were all chiming in passionately. A child had received Christ the night before! 3 kids in another cabin. An entire cabin received Christ and danced around saying they wondered if the angels were dancing with them! Another gal told her church counselor that because I spoke she learned that Jesus is for everyone...she always thought He was just for Christians. She received Him and told her counselor the next morning she felt "new". An hour or so later I was to speak on new life and how it changes everything.

I was in tears at the counselor meeting and couldn't hide my surprise at the kids response. Together with the counselors we celebrated and talked about allowing God to speak to the kids and not get in the way with ourselves. Suddenly speaking wasn't scary and I was getting to know the kids and it was an absolute privilege to be sharing the gospel with them all.

After that it felt to me all mayhem ensued in the realm of what God was doing in kids and counselors hearts. We had a worship night that night and the kids were way into it and praising like I'd never seen a group worship. We shot up colored/silver butterflies over the kids symbolizing life, had ballons bouncing everywhere and just celebrated. The last night I spoke on loving others and we talked a lot about when our heart breaks for someone and when the moments are that we most feel loved. By the time the week was over I estimated 40-50 kids had received Christ or rededicated their lives! I've never seen anything like it. It changed me in many ways and gave me much more confidence to speak again. But more it re inspired me to come home and be with our local church to be in the lives of our kids who are growing up here.

For sure I'm taking our kids to camp next year. And for sure I'm coming home again refreshed and excited to be part of what the day in and day out life in Christ looks like with them. Thanks Camp Tadmor for a chance to speak and see God work.

Beautification!

One of the summer elective classes for this Sunday - awesome idea!

Elective Class Name: Beautification

Class Limit: (girls only)

Opening Activity: Soaking fingers in Palmolive!

Elective Course:
We ladies are going to push back our cuticles, file down our rough edges and paint our nails! We are also going to make a natural face scrub to take home with us.

Truth Piece:
Scripture:
Ps 139.13-14 I am God's work, and His works are wonderful!
Luke 12.7 God knows everything about me, and still, I have so much worth to Him!
Ps 45.11 The King is enthralled by my beauty, so I will honor him because he is my lord.
God uses the bible to talk a lot about what He values as beautiful in us. Dive in and find out how you can please our Lord with your beauty!
I Peter 3.3,4 [your beauty] should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

Main Theme/Character attribute:
God loves us and thinks we are beautiful! The beauty that God sees in us is unconditional, and is far greater than anything beautiful we can create. The value of beauty that is ascribed to us by God, being His creation, is far greater than the world's value of beauty. To know and believe God is to know and believe that we are beautiful to Him...not because of how we look or what we wear or what gifts and talents we have. We are valuable to Him and beautiful because we are HIS, and His creation.

Parent Handout for at home conversation:

Portland is a city full of opportunities to think and talk about what BEAUTY really is. Look around and you’ll see many examples of a false, short-lived, dead-end kind of beauty authored by the World. Talk about where the world’s beauty falls short in fulfilling our deepest desire to know and believe God, and then talk about the true beauty that comes only from God, and feeds our hearts and draws us closer to Him…