Dedication Sunday for Operation Christmas Child - Children's Sermon

Please join me today in praying over the 1,000's of shoeboxes that are being sent around the world in the name of Jesus Christ.




I will be giving the children's sermon today for the dedication. If you are interested, here is what I will be saying:

Welcome. I am so happy to see you all again. I want to read a story to you today based on Luke18:35-43. It is about a blind man who gets his sight back

“35As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."

38He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

39Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

40Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41"What do you want me to do for you?"

"Lord, I want to see," he replied.

42Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you." 43Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.”

How many of you think that this was a miracle?
How many think that God has worked through you to achieve a similar miracle?

Well, today you are in the process of making a miracle. You are about to make, not one blind man see, but many people see. I believe that many of you brought in items for Operation Christmas Child and almost all of you made notes or pictures to pack with our boxes. Today we are going to bless them and send them on their way.

You are probably saying that is not a miracle. We can’t make someone see with a Christmas present. But I am here to tell you that you are part of God’s miracle and indeed you are opening eyes.

If there was a solid wood wall with a door between you and I, would you be able to see me? If then I opened the door, could you see me then? Doesn’t that mean that you couldn’t see me, but now you can? It is kind of like be blind but then having site.

These boxes that we are shipping all over the world are going to people that may know nothing about Jesus Christ or God. They can’t see him. They’ve never been introduced to Him. It is as if no one has opened the door to let him in, but now you are. You are opening the door and introducing these children to God. You are opening their eyes. You are letting them see God for the very first time. You are creating a miracle.

I want to thank all of you that brought in items, all of you that wrote notes, all of you that will help me after coffee hour wrap our boxes. Because of your efforts, we will be sending at least 20 boxes with the word of God. With your help now, I would like to add the most important ingredient to those boxes:

Before my words of prayer are said, I fold my hands and bow my head:

Dear God: Thank you for working through us to create a miracle. We pray that these boxes travel safely around the world and find just the right hands that you mean to receive each box. We pray that that child might receive the gift of your word and open their heart to all the wonders of Your love. We pray that you comfort them in their pain, support them in their troubles, and that through You they may find Everlasting Life and Love.
Amen

Mission Monday - Knit One, Save One

Here is a terrific opportunity to help the world with a small action. Knit One, Save One is run by Save the Children. The program is requesting us to knit or crochet hats for infants (plans are in their booklet) and to send a note to our new President to make sure that he knows infant health care is our priority and should be his. I encourage all of us to participate in this program. I think DD and I will try to crochet at least one hat. I hope that you will too.

Mission Mondays - The Hunger Site

Apparently, I should not have called this post Mission Mondays because I don't seem to make the posts on Mondays and when I find something I want to share, I don't want to wait.

Another way to help without spending a penny. It costs you just the time it takes you to go to this site and click. While you are there check out their other click to help sites.

mission Monday - HELO, Inc

At our Girl Scouts meeting last night, one of the girls invited Elisabeth Kennedy to speak to our girls about her mission. The girls have been working on their Global Girls interest project and have been learning about many of the issues that affect women and children around the world. After doing several other activities, the girls created a display about women and children's at our local library. This reminded one of the girls about a speaker that she had heard and so she asked if we would be interested in having her speak to us, thus last night Elisabeth spoke to us about her experiences. After 9/11, Elisabeth began her trips to Haiti. She was so touched and tortured by what she found, she has committed herself to making a change. Through a series of unexpected events and a bit of grace, last year she opened an orphanage in les Cayes, Haiti. Her orphanage currently cares for 13 children, who without her intervention would be left to their own devices and possibly not survive. Her orphanage brings hope and opportunity to these children and hopefully many more to come. She named her program HELO, Inc. HELO stands for Home, Education, Love, and Opportunity. Elisabeth says that she has learned to take small steps but in the course of a year, she has already rented a house for the children, hired caretaker, and begun the kid’s education, but her dreams are larger. She would like to care for my children. She would like to own a campus where a church, school, and home can all be developed for the children. It is important to her that the children have a skill that can carry them on after they leave the care of the Centre Fe Formation Juvenil Bethestda.

We can help in this mission by:
-Becoming more educated about the situation in Haiti and educating others.
-Praying for this mission.
-Donating money (If you are interested in this option, HELO is a non-profit agency. The address for donations is HELO, Inc, 43 Lake Shore Dr., Middlefield, CT 06455. If you would like to specify usage for your money, please choose one of the following categories: Shelter, Food, Education, School Supplies, Clothing, Building Fund, or you can sponsor an individual child for $75 per month. Include your name and address so that a receipt can be returned to you).

The entire meeting left me thinking of the amazing power of One. Elisabeth had felt the calling and she acted. It is quite an amazing story.

PS. I know that it is not Monday, but this infomation couldn't wait.

Operation Christmas Child - All Sunday School Program - Final Plan

Whole Group –
Prayer:

Dear God:
Thank you for bringing us all here today.
Please assist us as we undertake Operation Christmas Child again this year.
You have given to us and we understand our obligation to give to others.
We look forward to passing on our blessings like clothes, toys, and school supplies, but most importantly passing on your love and your word.
Please be with us as we fill our shoeboxes and shower your love on those who receive them.
Amen

We have participated in Operation Christmas Child for several years now. Can anyone explain about this project to someone who is new?

Here is a quick quiz for everyone:
How many different countries received gifts through Operation Christmas Child in 2007? 10, 50, or 100
How many shoe boxes were sent in 2007? 700,000; 1,000,000; 7.6 million

The journey of these boxes is very much like the delivery of gifts many years ago. Can anyone think of gifts that were delivered a long time ago?

You know, I think those bearers of gifts are here today (in walk three kings).
King 1: We are the three Kings
King 2: We have traveled a long way to worship the king of the kings.
King 3: We come bearing gifts.
King 1: I have gold fit for a king.
King 2: I have frankincense for a priest.
King 3: I have myrrh to symbolize that his death will be as important as his birth.

(kings will stand frozen while the scripture is read)

Matthew 2:1-12 (New International Version)
The Visit of the Magi
1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magifrom the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"
7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.



Today we are going to begin thinking about our gifts. Gifts that will not be going to Jesus, but instead going in his name. From now until November 9th, we ask that you bring donations for us to fill shoeboxes. I will pass out fliers with information to each of you, but don’t feel that you have to put together a whole box yourself. If you bring in items we will combine them into boxes from all of us. To that end, we are going to begin our journey today with a few fun activities. I’m going to break you up into three groups pre-K -2nd; 3-5; 6-8.

Break kids into smaller groups as described below:

Group 1: PRE-K to 2nd (four older children to facilitate)
Create the star that the Magi saw – Have star cutouts available. Let kids use glue and glitter to decorate. Let the kids know that they should take this star home to remind them to bring their gifts in, just like the Wise Men did when they saw the star.
Take picture of group.
Have kids decorate Gingerbread Cookies to serve at coffee hour. Explain to them that this is how we are going to let the adults know that we are kicking off Operation Christmas Child.

Group 2: 3 to 5(Two older kids)
Take picture of group.
Brainstorm and write down ideas on a board about what God expects of us and why we do missions. After several ideas are written down, ask kids how do these ideas fit into how they behave and act. Do they need to change to better reflect these ideas?
Decorate wrapping paper. Explain that we would like to wrap the gifts with their love. Ask them to use symbols of God and Christmas to decorate the paper.
When they are done, fill in “about me” paper.

Group 3: 6-8 (2 adult)
Explain that part of the mission of these boxes is to convert people to Christianity. Many of the people that get these boxes may never have heard about God’s love. This box may be their first contact with God.

Ask them to write a letter / note to the recipients about how Jesus & God has affected their lives and why they should received God into their lives.
Challenge them to think about how we could expand this program to include our community.
Give them materials to create posters for town wide collection or pen and paper for a letter to the editor.

Dismiss as needed.

If extra time, come back together as group and do Pass the Prayer Parcel(copied from http://www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk/files/file/OCCCelebrationGuide.pdf ).
Hand out boxes to groups. Explain that, in the manner of ‘Pass the Parcel’, you will play some music during which each small group passes the box round. When the music stops, the person holding the box takes out a slip of paper containing a prayer and reads it out. When the room goes quiet, start the music again and continue.

[Picture: Exercise booksandpens]
God, our maker,
Everyone needs to learn.
We pray that our gifts will help children to
enjoy learning at school.

[Picture: Woollyhat]
God, our maker,
Everyone needs clothes.
We pray that our gifts will help children to
keep warm, day and night.

[Picture: Toothbrush]
God, our maker,
Everyone needs to keep clean,
We pray that our gifts will help children to
enjoy looking after themselves.

[Picture: Teddybear]
God, our maker,
Everyone needs to be loved.
We pray that our gifts will help children to
know that someone cares for them.


When you think everyone is finished, bring the music to an end and conclude with the following prayer:

Leader: God, our maker,
we are all your children,
and we all need your help.
We thank you for giving us Jesus,
because he shows us
how much you want to help us in our lives.
Amen
(copied from http://www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk/files/file/OCCCelebrationGuide.pdf )

Mission Mondays - Box Tops for Education

In these tough economic times, it is always helpful to find ways to help that don’t cost you more money. Certainly you can always offer sweat equity, but here are two related ideas that build on actions you already take. Most people are already familiar with the traditional Box Tops for Education: clip, collect and send in those little boxtop coupons found on our food packages . However, some people may not realize that if your school is not already listed, you can add it in. This is not just true for public schools but also for private schools and homeschool organizations. Also, the program does not end with boxtops. Since all of us need to shop, if you do so through their online corridor, you will not only buy what you need, but also will be adding a donation to your chosen school without spending a cent yourself. BoxTops has partnered up with companies like JcPenney, Staples, Barnes & Nobles, and many, many more. Donations for your purchases range from .5 - 22.5% depending on the store's particular arrangements. Both of these programs are terrific opportunities to help out, without cutting into your already tight budget.

Missions Mondays – CROP walk

Have you ever participated in a CROP walk? Our family has done many. I actually walked with the children before they could walk themselves. Our church works with three other nearby church to host the annual walk which is usually in late October. We have walked in shorts, raincoats, and parkas. One year it actually snowed. CROP walks are a great way to get exercise, spend time with the family, and raise money to end hunger around the world. Fortunately our organizers usually plan a long and short route in an attempt to be as inclusive as possible. I am posting about this now in case you are so inspired that you wish to set up a walk for your local community. To see a listing of walks that are already scheduled, go here.

CROP walks are one of the many great works performed by Church World Services. Checkout their website to find out more about their programs.

UPS Brough Packages of Hope

I have gotten two deliveries this week: one, my package from Operation Christmas Child with all the materials for our church’s kickoff and two, a package from PRAY publication for my husband’s program on God & Me.

Operation Christmas Child as I mentioned on August 26th is a program run by Samaritans’ Purse that delivers the word of God with shoeboxes filled with toys for children around the world. In an effort to assist those spearheading the program at their church, Operation Christmas Child provides organizations with prayer cards, DVD’s, bulletin inserts, and more. This will help me put the program together properly for a great kickoff and continued reminders during the weeks of the collection. Our final collection day (shh! Don’t tell anyone. It is a collection day only for those that “forget” the week before. Experience has taught me well) and wrapping day, November 16th is also OCC’s Shoebox Dedication Day so I will be giving the Children’s Sermon. As I’ve been mulling over how I may do the sermon this year, I have decided that I may work with the children to create a Mad Libs type prayer - not to be funny, but to include their ideas in the final prayer. Our church is familiar with the program and knows the concept from my previous year’s presentations.

The PRAY publication box held the God & Church and God & Life student workbooks, mentor workbooks, and counselor workbooks. As part of my husband’s wood badge, he made it a goal to plan, promote, and execute a God & ME Protestant program through our church. As Boy Scouts only affects the two oldest segments, those are the segments we are going to make sure are run. If others want to include the younger two segments, we will happily assist them, but it is not absolutely necessary to run this lower section of the program. I worked on this program 4 or 5 years ago when our children were in the younger levels and was very impressed. And for those of you that know my husband’s propensity to assign me extra work, as you expect, I will be running one of the levels. Fortunately, the break will allow DS to take one level and DD to take the other. We will be promoting the Protestant version, but there are religious awards for almost every religion under the son. I’m sure as I work through teaching this program you will hear more about it.

These two boxes will certainly bring us plenty of work but also the joy that the work of the Lord can bring.

Mission Mondays - Free Rice

What if feeding the world was as easy as playing a game? I am always looking for ways to help that allow me to do more with what I have i.e. boxtops for education, ink cartridge and bottle recycling for a cause. My family gives finacial and physically. Those areas are tapped, but sometimes helping can be as simple as doing things we do anyway but in a new way. Today I found Free Rice. I have added a widget below so that you can play any day. The interesting thing about free rice is that you can advance your vocabulary or try one of there other subjects grammar, foriegn language, world capitals, art. I encourage you all to try it. Certainly this is an easy and fun way to help the world.



As always, if you have a mission that you would like to have promoted, please email me.

Mission Mondays - Operation Christmas Child

Ok, I realize it is not Monday today but Tuesday, but I have decided to add a new weekly entry: Mission Mondays. If you have any mission ideas that you would like me to add, please let me know.

Let me introduce you to a mission project that I have been involved with for the past couple of years – Operation Christmas Child. Our church has collected boxes for several years, but it wasn’t until about three years ago when I took over facilitating the program at our church did I fully understand the focus of the program. OCC had always been promoted in our church as a collection of toys for those at need during the Christmas season. And while this is indeed the action of what you are doing, it is not the purpose.


"Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.” " Matthew 19: 13-15

But how can the children know of Jesus, if they are never introduced. This is the true mission of operation Christmas Child. Although giving to those in need is worthy, this additional insight for me made this program even more worthwhile. Now in our church, we have included a children’s sermon about OCC, we pray over the boxes that we send, and have whole church activities to emphasize the sending of God’s message.

OCC was founded by Samaritan’s Purse and is run by Rev. Billy Graham’s son, Franklin Graham. I encourage you to checkout their website and if your church is not already involved in a collection for this program to start. There are plenty of materials on the website and that can be ordered to help you along the way. Collection week this year is November 17-24. Our plan will be to kick off the collection on October 5th, announce that collection will end on November 9th (we’ve learned that you get a lot of “oh, I left it at home by mistake” and this gives them an extra week to get it in), and plan a packing party on November 16th. The completed boxes are then delivered to a local coordination office (there is more information on this on the website. As collecting time comes closer they will post collection sites in each state). If you are lucky enough to live near one of their regional offices you may want to sign up to volunteer there.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28: 19-20