Christian Educ

Help your junior high and high school students see how the entire Bible works together to create a perfect picture of God's loving character and his plan for redemption. They'll be on the edge of their seats as their eyes are opened to truths they've yet to discover. These 13 intentionally selected lessons build anticipation for Jesus' impending arrival through surprising stories packed with valuable wisdom.

All 13 lessons include...
- Brief overviews designed to help you prepare
- Primary and secondary Scripture references
- Open-ended questions for authentic discussions
- Objectives to help drive home what, why, and how
- Flexible guidelines with opportunities to go deeper

13 Essential Lessons From the Old Testament equips you to invite students on an exciting journey that increases their desire to go deeper with Jesus.

Sections cover:

Youth workers always need three things: prayer, ideas, and inspiration. And maybe a case of Red Bull. In this easy-to-read book, author and high school pastor Josh Griffin sifts through years of little sleep working in the trenches of youth ministry to share his personal reflections. The result is a resource packed with practical advice and useable ideas on every page that will help make your work simpler and your ministry more successful. Get a caffeine fix and step into Josh’s world.

Sections cover:

Vision & Leadership
Programs & People
Small Groups & Events
Everyday Ministry

All-in-One is a best-selling Sunday school lesson series that children love--and you will, too! Each volume offers 13 fun Bible lessons that help kids grow closer to Jesus. Just gather a few common, inexpensive items, photocopy the handouts, and you're ready to teach creative Bible lessons your kids will love! These lessons are specially designed for children's ministries with mixed-age classes for ages 4 through 12. Teachers and volunteers will love that these Sunday school lessons offer easy-prep and lasting impact!

Each Sunday school lesson comes complete with:

- Active-learning experiences: Catch kids' interest and teaches them lessons they'll remember
- Interactive Bible stories: Helps even the youngest kids grasp the real meaning of Scripture
- Life applications: Encourages children to use what they've learned
- Take-home handouts: Make it easy for children to share what they've learned with their family
- And more: Tips to help you better understand kids

BONUS: When you use All-in-One Sunday School: Volume 1, you'll also discover how to help kids of multiple ages work together as a team, learn what to expect from different age groups, and be able to give young children the extra attention they crave, while helping older children feel special as they help younger children learn.

The All-in-One Sunday School Series offers four volumes, one for each season of the year beginning with fall:

-All-in-One Sunday School Volume 1: Fall (9780764449444)
- All-in-One Sunday School Volume 2: Winter (9780764449451)
- All-in-One Sunday School Volume 3: Spring (9780764449468)
- All-in-One Sunday School Volume 4: Summer(9780764449475)

Each Sunday school lesson comes complete with:

- Active-learning experiences: Catch kids' interest and teaches them lessons they'll remember
- Interactive Bible stories: Helps even the youngest kids grasp the real meaning of Scripture
- Life applications: Encourages children to use what they've learned
- Take-home handouts: Make it easy for children to share what they've learned with their family
- And more: Tips to help you better understand kids

BONUS: You'll also discover how to help kids of multiple ages work together as a team...learn what to expect from different age groups...and be able to give young children the extra attention they crave while helping older children feel special as they help younger children learn.

The All-in-One Sunday School Series: Volume 3 offers four volumes, one for each season of the year beginning with fall:

-All-in-One Sunday School Volume 1: Fall(9780764449444)
-All-in-One Sunday School Volume 2: Winter (9780764449451)
-All-in-One Sunday School Volume 3: Spring (9780764449468)
-All-in-One Sunday School Volume 4: Summer (9780764449475)

In Soul Searching, Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton found that American teenagers have embraced a "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism"--a hodgepodge of banal, self-serving, feel-good beliefs that bears little resemblance to traditional Christianity. But far from faulting teens, Dean places the blame for this theological watering down squarely on the churches themselves. Instead of proclaiming a God who calls believers to lives of love, service and sacrifice, churches offer instead a bargain religion, easy to use, easy to forget, offering little and demanding less. But what is to be done? In order to produce ardent young Christians, Dean argues, churches must rediscover their sense of mission and model an understanding of being Christian as not something you do for yourself, but something that calls you to share God's love, in word and deed, with others. Dean found that the most committed young Christians shared four important traits: they could tell a personal and powerful story about God; they belonged to a significant faith community; they exhibited a sense of vocation; and they possessed a profound sense of hope. Based on these findings, Dean proposes an approach to Christian education that places the idea of mission at its core and offers a wealth of concrete suggestions for inspiring teens to live more authentically engaged Christian lives.

Persuasively and accessibly written, Almost Christian is a wake up call no one concerned about the future of Christianity in America can afford to ignore.

Recent surveys reveal that few adults have a proficient knowledge of the Bible. This curriculum helps familiarize children with the Bible, giving them a solid biblical foundation for a lifetime of faith.

• Offers up to nine months of material, ideal for using during a school year
• Each month features a different color belt that focuses on one main passage of Scripture:
  • how to use the Bible and the Torah
  • Explore more of the Old Testament and how to find Scripture
  • New Testament books
  • The Ten Commandments
  • The Lord's Prayer
  • The 23rd Psalm
  • The Beatitudes
  • The Parables
• Includes "Words of Celebration" (Psalms), "Words of Comfort," "Words of Wisdom" (Proverbs), and "Words of Jesus" throughout the curriculum
• Every passage of Scripture features its own unique activity including games, reflection, movement, and rhythm
• Ideal for use as part of a regular Sunday school class, Wednesday evening, choir, spring break, or summer program
• For ages 5-12

Brain research tells us that a child who has never known love, cannot love. Likewise, faith cannot be taught, it has to be "caught." In order for a child to have faith, he or she must see that faith modeled. Modeling faith includes both words and actions. Children must hear faith stories and see how faith impacts their lives. Children must see faith in action.

This book by Marjorie Suchocki provides teachers and parents with the appropriate words to talk about God and about Jesus in language that the children (and adults) can easily understand:
- God is the Creator.
- God is with us in good times and bad times.
- God's presence is spiritual and we see God though the effects that God has on the world.
- God transforms us and because of this transformation, we can be agents of transformation in others.
- God wants us to be in relationship and we do this through prayer.
- Through the Bible we discover who God is and how God wants us to live.
- We see God through Jesus.

Read a review of this product.

Equip kids with the character qualities they need to each become the person God created them to be.

Character by God's Design: Volume 1 is full of exciting, hands-on Bible lessons that explore the three character qualities of diligence, faithfulness, and gratitude. Kids will explore each character quality in memorable lessons that are rooted in Scripture and reinforce God's foundational plan for a fruitful Christian life.

Character by God's Design: Volume 1 introduces kids of all ages to:
- Diligence--Focusing on the work God has given me
- Faithfulness--Staying true to God and his purpose for me
- Gratitude--Expressing thanks no matter how I feel

This lesson book is volume 1 of 4 total volumes:
- Character by God's Design: Volume 2(9781470742171)
- Character by God's Design: Volume 3(9781470744809)
- Character by God's Design: Volume 4(9781470744816)

Equipping Children's Ministry Volunteers

Whether you are part of your church's children's ministry, or thinking about serving in children's ministry, the Children's Ministry Volunteer Handbook is for you!

Too often, people view children's ministry as a place to drop off the kids so the adults can listen to the sermon, uninterrupted. They fail to see the power and potential of children's ministry.

In Matthew 19:13-14, Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." While we may see the naivete of children as a detriment, Jesus sees it as a strength--there is beauty in the simplicity of the gospel. Investing in children's ministry is a worthwhile and crucial part of the church.

This practical handbook features insights from six authors, all experts in the field of children's ministry, with over 100 years of combined experience. They will help guide you through the challenges and joys of children's ministry--and how it is vital to the Kingdom of God.

Each chapter includes:
Real Life Narrative - Learn from someone who has been there
Care and Counseling Tips - Practical ideas to personally reach out in love
Tips for your entire youth group - Great ways your group can offer support
What to say and what not to say - Positive encouragement to help the hurting and advice on what not to say
You'll also find Scripture connections, guidelines for referring your friend to a professional counselor, additional resources, and ways your group can stand by your friend in need.

In just four short years, high school students develop friendships and habits that affect them for the rest of their lives. They need to be inspired through strong role models who embody Christian values. Where better to look for these influences than in the godly heroes of the Bible? The Talksheets series returns with another year of thought-provoking stories from the Old Testament to discuss with your youth group or bible studies. David Lynn shares discussion topics and questions written specifically with high school students in mind, promoting meaningful and thought-provoking conversations. The stories in these pages highlight pure moral principles and practices for teenagers to learn about and emulate. Each of the 52 epic bible stories is easy to use and fit to your lesson plan, including hints and tips to facilitate conversation. These lessons also include optional activities, giving teenagers to actively participate and have fun while they learn.

Jesus left no doubt that being a Christian can be hard, but because of God's promises each of us can experience his blessings. In the 13 Sunday school lessons in Kid's Travel Guide to the Beatitudes kids discover a wealth of wisdom about how to live a life full of blessings--even when things get tough. And they'll learn firsthand about all the wonderful ways God shows his love in their lives, no matter the circumstances.

Additional Features include:

Parables are powerful tools for teaching, and Jesus knew this. Conveying the meanings of biblical parables to young people today can be difficult, but Kids' Travel Guide to the Parables makes it easy. Bring Kindergarten to 5th Grade students on this 13-week journey through Jesus' parables, including lessons on yeast, the sower, lost sheep, a mustard seed, the unmerciful servant, the good Samaritan and more.

Additional Features include:

Learning to Study the Bible guides your tween students through eight weeks of Bible discovery. They'll explore the wonders of biblical geography and archaeology. They'll compare and contrast biblical genres. They'll learn the history of biblical interpretation, and discover that they are Bible interpreters too! Students will become familiar with Bible dictionaries, commentaries, concordances, maps, and more. Best of all, they'll practice sharing their Bible knowledge with others each week.

Session Outline and Learning Goals:

1. Who? Author and Audience
2. Spark curiosity about the authors and original audiences of the Bible
3. Introduce and use Bible dictionaries and commentaries
4. Sharpen deductive reasoning skills in biblical interpretation
5. What? Genre
6. Introduce and explore biblical genres
7. Learn to use Bible commentaries and apps to identify possible genres of texts
8. Explore the significance of genre for biblical interpretation
9. When? Context
10. Investigate the connection between context and meaning
11. Spark curiosity about biblical and modern cultural contexts
12. Use Bible dictionaries, commentaries, and handbooks to research biblical context
13. Where? Geography
14. Spark curiosity about the biblical landscape
15. Prompt reflection on the relationship between land and daily life
16. Use biblical maps and archaeological research to explore biblical geography
17. Why? Interpretation
18. Create awareness of interpretive lenses and layers
19. Spark curiosity about our own and others' interpretive lenses
20. Use a concordance and various translations to compare meanings
21. How? Read Closely
22. Cultivate appreciation for the way our ancestors preserved the biblical text
23. Practice reading carefully and paying attention
24. Discover the four meanings of Scripture and practice interpreting them
25. How? Reread
26. Create awareness of our own role in making meaning
27. Prompt reflection on the nature of Scripture as the "living word of God"
28. Practice the ancient tradition of divine reading
29. How? Read Together
30. Create awareness of the diversity of voices within the canon
31. Inspire students to enter into the centuries-long biblical conversation
32. Practice reading the Bible inter-canonically

Here are just a few of the 54 clever ideas included in this book:

- a healing care package to learn that Jesus heals us
- teddy bears to show that Jesus-followers care for others
- a piggy bank to remind kids of the prodigal son and that Jesus loves us no matter what
- a bandage ball to demonstrate that Jesus understands suffering

These crafts use simple supplies you can find at your local Walmart...or in your supply closet...or even in your trash! The Scripture and topical indexes make it easy to find a craft that goes with your Bible lesson.

Even your non-artistic kids will have a blast making these fun crafts--and then taking them home to put them to use! No more crafts left behind in the classroom or discarded on the floor of the car. No more 2-dimensional art for parents to clutter their fridge. Get kids making things they'll want to keep!

This book includes reproducible pages.