Kidstuff 2:52… Heritage Style

Written By: Michelle Fairchild

"Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men" (Luke 2:52, NIV).

It is built around three Basic Truths every child should embrace according to what Jesus modeled in Luke 2:52.

I need to make the wise choice. I can trust God no matter what.  I should treat others the way I want to be treated.

Each Basic Truth is amplified by a weekly key concept and systematically taught over a three-year track. The curriculum includes 150 Bible stories and is based on a Core Virtue and Memory Verse as the framework for each month.

The last Sunday of each month we have Family Worship in the Sanctuary at 6:30 p.m.  This is an introduction to the Virtue for that month and is a glimpse of what they will be learning through skits, story time, music, and prayer.

Here at Heritage the learning really begins at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings during the Sunday school hour.  The children are introduced to the concept for the week that supports the virtue and do an activity to prepare them for what they are about to learn.

At 10:30 during the church hour the children are invited to the loft for their own worship service.  Just like in the sanctuary we have music, prayer requests, offering, and of course a bible based message.  The message for the week is an overview of the concept of the week along with a bible story that reinforces and illustrates the concept.  The children are asked questions as to how they can apply what they have learned in class to their every day lives.  This is where the bible comes alive to the children as they see what God’s grace can do in their lives if they just trust in HIM and make wise choices.

On Wednesday nights at 7:00 p.m. the learning continues with a more in depth look at the concept for the week.  At this point the children are encouraged to share how the concept for that week has changed how they deal with people and situations in a more biblical way.  Seeing the changes in their own lives helps them to gain confidence to share the gospel with their friends and family and to turn to the bible instead of the world for the answers to life’s questions.

Vacation Bible School
Backpack Blessing

Director: Gloria Estell

Vacation Bible School is held the last week of July from 6:30-8:30pm.  Every year we pick a different theme which provides the kids a fun-filled opportunity to learn about God and many other biblical characters.  The kids go from station to station where they have story time, sing praise songs, make crafts, play games, and of course have snacks.  The whole church is decorated to go along with the theme. On the Sunday following VBS the kids invite their parents to church and sing some of the songs they learned during the week.  We also have Backpack of Blessings that Sunday.  The students bring their empty backpacks to church, we fill them with school supplies, and then Pastor prays over the students and their backpacks.