April 6, 2025
Bible Story
Gideon and the tiny weaponless army (Judges 6 and 7)
Main idea:
Does God only help when we deserve it? Is God really with us when things are hard? How do we know God has asked us to do something, and what if we’re not sure? The story of Gideon helps us explore these questions. We’ll focus on how God is with us and God is our help most of all this time.
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We played a “shrinking army” elimination game.
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We played a game to see who could drink the most water without using hands!
- We responded in worship with an optional word search, coloring sheet, and a 3-D coloring craft.
Church to home connection:
Listen to Gideon and the Tiny Weaponless Army on the Ask Away Podcast with your kids!
Mar. 30, 2025
Bible Story
Rahab and the Spies (Joshua 2)
Main idea:
The story of Rahab is about a person who might seem to be about as far from a “good child of God” as you could imagine. If Israel is looking for recruits, she’d be no one’s first choice. And yet, all that matters is her unqualified trust in Yahweh. She and her family are accepted, no further questions asked. This is one of many stories in the Bible that remind us that however much people try to barricade the doors, God’s table is for whoever wants to pull up a chair.
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We played a “spy the picture” guessing game
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We learned about the Lord’s Prayer an activity to put the phrases in order
- We responded in worship with an optional word search, maze, and a 3-D coloring craft.
Church to home connection:
Listen to the Rahab and the Spies Podcast with your kids!
Mar. 23, 2025
Bible Story
The Law, Part 2: Sabbath, Festivals, and Jubilee (Deuteronomy 5 and 6)
Main idea:
Within the Torah we find numerous references to rhythms of rest and celebration. God commands them to keep Sabbath, observe festivals, and hold a Jubilee year--all of which would cultivate joy, generosity, rest and justice in incredibly important ways. It’s a beautiful picture of what God was inviting the people to be together, and so this stori-fied version of that part of the law invites kids to explore the ‘why’ of these 3 commands.
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We played “Tic Tac Flip”
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We learned about the Lord’s Prayer and responded with art.
- We responded in worship with an optional word search, maze, and a door-hanger craft.
Church to home connection:
Listen to the Ask Away Podcast: God Says Rest, Play, Remember with your kids!
Mar. 16, 2025
Bible Story
God Reshapes the People - The Law (Deuteronomy 5 and 6)
Main idea:
The starting place for understanding the law is relationship. It is a reflection of a relationship between Yahweh God and the newly freed and reshaping Israel, all oriented around the purpose of loving one another. In our story then, we don’t talk much about specific refrains, but rather save that for the wonder time.
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We played “Mother, May I?”.
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We played a tent-building game
- We learned about the Lord’s Prayer
- We responded in worship with an optional word search, coloring page, and 10 commandments pop-up card.
Church to home connection:
Listen to the Ask Away Podcast: Love God Love Neighbor with your kids!
Mar. 9, 2025
Bible Story
Manna in the Wilderness (Exodus 16)
Main idea:
These stories give us a vivid picture of God’s goodness not in some abstract, theological way, but in the very concrete act of providing for people’s everyday needs. The people have just come from a place, in Egypt, where food and water were earned in exchange for backbreaking work. No work, no bread.
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We played follow the leader.
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We played a “Manna pickup” game
- We responded in worship with an optional word search, coloring page, and “Manna” basket craft.
Church to home connection:
Listen to the Ask Away Podcast: Manna and Water in the Wilderness with your kids!
Mar. 2, 2025
Bible Story
God frees (a paraphrase of Exodus 5-15)
Main idea:
The Exodus is a massive and detailed story. This time, we’re looking at how the confrontation with Pharaoh is a contest, designed to help the people see and know who is really God.
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We played “Pharaoh Says” (a version of Simon Says)
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We played Exodus pictionary
- We responded in worship with an optional word search, and Red Sea crossing craft activity.
Church to home connection:
Listen to the Ask Away Podcast: The Great Exit with your kids!
Feb. 23, 2025
Bible Story
Moses & the Burning Bush (Exodus 3-4)
Main idea:
The Exodus is a massive and detailed story, so we will intentionally do some sections, leaving others for a future time. In this case, we’re starting at the burning bush. This time, we’re especially highlighting God’s name being given for the first time, because a god’s name reveals their character. Yahweh God is not like Egypt’s gods in so many ways. Not only does God free, but we also see God listen to Moses’ concerns, God with us, God cares about injustice, and more.
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We played “guess the message” with different modes of communication.
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We played a burning bush freeze dance.
- We responded in worship with an optional coloring sheet, maze, and burning bush craft activity.
Church to home connection:
Listen to the Ask Away Podcast: This Bush is on FIYEERR with your kids!
Feb. 16, 2025
Bible Story
God is with us: the story of Joseph (Genesis 37-45)
Main idea:
Joseph’s story is one example of a consistent theme in the Bible--the writers expect that life will be hard and have bad things happen, and then they are exploring, what can we expect of God in light of that fact? They do not seem to think God will prevent bad things, but rather that God is present within them, and working still. This is a great story to help kids explore where God is when things are hard, as well as to affirm this important fact: just because God is with us, it does not change that the bad things are bad.
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We played a version of “hot potato” called “pass the coat.”
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We played “Joseph’s Journey,” a relay race with a colorful scarf and obstacles.
- We responded in worship with an optional word search, maze, and Joseph’s coat craft activity.
Church to home connection:
Listen to the Ask Away Podcast: Bad, Better, Bad Again, Better Again with your kids!
Feb. 9, 2025
Bible Story
God keeps promises; the story of baby Isaac (Genesis 15)
Main idea:
Abram and Sarai’s experience of God picking them (for basically no reason), promising them, and keeping that promise is a hugely important experience for understanding God’s character and action. This will be a repeated pattern in the story of the Bible--God comes, God promises, God keeps their promise. And we, like them, can be honest about how that process can be hard, even if the promises are good.
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We played a relay race with plastic spoons.
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We went on a star hunt, trying to find all the hidden stars in the room.
- We responded in worship with an optional word search, a star painting activity, and a “star promise” bracelet.
Church to home connection:
Listen to the Ask Away Podcast: Abram gets real with God with your kids!
Feb. 2, 2025
Bible Story
We’re moving! God calls Abram and Sarai (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:5-6)
Main idea:
God wants to team up with people; and mutuality, partnership, and power-sharing are a big piece of who God is and how God gets things done. The story of calling Abram and Sarai is the second major Old Testament story to highlight this (the first being creation.) This time, we’re going to focus on God’s promise--I’ll give you a family--and purpose--you’ll be a blessing.
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We played a game of follow the leader.
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We took turns praying by drawing a picture of the places we go.
- We did a blindfolded obstacle course activity where we had to listen for our partner’s directions
- We responded in worship with an optional word scramble, coloring sheet, and a footprint craft.
Church to home connection:
Listen to the Ask Away Podcast: We’re Moving (But Don’t Know Where) with your kids!
Jan. 26, 2025
Bible Story
Conversation Gets Confusing: The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11)
Main idea:
Babel holds some interesting contrasts, especially between God commissioning people to ‘fill the earth’ and this group staying put. Had they succeeded, God’s dream dies there. So God gets involved to keep things moving. We end the story with a nod to Abraham, who’s ‘yes’ is the catalyst for God’s dream for a blessed world to be realized.
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We played a game of giant Jenga, with friendly dares on each block.
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We took turns praying by naming our favorite attribute of God.
- We played a made-up word game where we guessed the meaning by drawing a picture.
- We responded in worship with an optional word search, cup tower, and a 3-D coloring page.
Church to home connection:
Listen to the Ask Away Podcast: Conversation Get Confusing with your kids!
Jan. 19, 2025
Bible Story
God loves us no matter what (Genesis 3)
Main idea:
This is a story that speaks to the questions about how the world is versus how we know it should be. Because God shares power, people make real choices about whether to trust (or not) and those choices have real consequences. Regardless, God always loves us, no matter what, which is where the story ends and a key takeaway for kids.
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We got in a circle and created a human knot. We tried to untangle ourselves without letting go, to illustrate that our actions and choices connect us!
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We took turns praying in a “call and response” format.
- We played a Robot remote control game and pretended to control our partner to illustrate that we are not God’s robots, we were made in God’s image so that we can create!
- We responded in worship with an optional coloring sheet, word search, and paper plate snake.
Church to home connection:
Listen to the Ask Away Podcast: God’s Dream Gets Disrupted with your kids!
Jan. 12, 2025
Bible Story
The dream made real: creation (Genesis 1)
Main idea:
WHO: Yahweh God made this world, not the gods of the other nations.
HOW: God made it by only speaking, not through violence, and in a way that made things ordered instead of chaotic.
WHY: God made the world to be a place that works in ways that match God--full of love, joy, justice, and goodness.
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We played an “animal, plant, people” guessing game.
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We took turns praying, thanking God for one part of God’s creation that we really like.
- We created crazy hybrid animals as a group (9 AM service only)
- We responded in worship by making an optional creation bracelet, decorating a moon ornament, doing a creation-themed word search and coloring sheet.
Church to home connection:
Listen to the Ask Away Podcast: In the Beginning with your kids!
Jan. 5, 2025
Bible Story
What is the Bible?
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We watched a 5 minute video about the overview of the Bible (you can watch it again here!)
- We played a short scavenger hunt using our Bibles.
- We played a clothespin game where we tried to get all of the books of the Bible in order.
- We responded in worship with an optional coloring page, word search, and Bible bookmark craft.
Church to home connection:
Show your kids the different Bibles you have in the house, both kid and adult versions (even if you use an app on your phone!) Encourage them to explore for themselves. Share about your favorite book of the Bible.
Dec. 29, 2024
Bible Story
Wise Men (Matthew 2:1-12)
Monthly Memory Verse:
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We did a calendar activity with dot stickers.
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We played a few rounds of freeze dance and talked about celebrating Jesus all year long.
- We responded in worship with an optional Wise Men hidden picture coloring page, a Wise Men maze, or a star craft.
Dec. 22, 2024
Bible Story
Shepherds and Angels (Luke 2:8-20)
Monthly Memory Verse:
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We used picture clues to guess the Christmas song.
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We played a guessing game in teams to either act out or draw parts of the Bible story.
- We responded in worship with an optional Nativity crossword puzzle, an angel craft, and a color-by-number.
Dec. 15, 2024
Bible Story
Jesus Is Born (Luke 2:1-7)
Monthly Memory Verse:
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[a] because he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We played a few rounds of Christmas Bingo
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We played a round of “prize balloons” and put the nativity story in order (2nd service only)
- We responded in worship with an optional nativity word search, Joy ornament, and baby Jesus paper plate craft.
Church to home connection:
Read Luke 2:6-7 Grab a piece of paper and pretend for a second that you are the king of a very large kingdom. What would your throne room, or royal playroom, look like? Draw it on the page.
Do you have a nativity set at home? If so, hold up the picture you drew next to your nativity. Spot any differences? When Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem, they couldn’t find a place stay, so they ended up rooming with animals. And it was there that Jesus, our Savior, was born. The surroundings were so humble that the King of all Kings wasn’t placed in a beautifully carved crib. Instead, this precious gift to the whole world was placed into a feeding box.
Jesus didn’t come as a king to rule over us. Jesus came as one of us so that He could save us. Set the baby Jesus from your nativity on top of your drawing. Then spend a few minutes thanking God for loving you enough to send Jesus to save you.
Dec. 8, 2024
Bible Story
An Angel Appears to Mary and Joseph (Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:18-25)
Monthly Memory Verse:
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[a] because he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We ranked pretend “good news” headlines from best to worst.
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We played a version of duck-duck-goose where the “angel” tapped you on the shoulder with good news.
- We responded in worship with an optional coloring sheet, word search, and angel clothespin craft.
*Kids at the 10:30 services had a shortened version of these activities so that we could watch the baptism in the main church service.
Dec. 1, 2024
Bible Story
In the Beginning Was the Word (John 1:1-5, 14)
Monthly Memory Verse:
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[a] because he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)
Ask your kids about these activities:
- We talked about the liturgical calender and lit the first candle of Advent.
- We voted on our favorite Christmas songs and created mini musical instruments.
- We listened to the Bible story and asked wondering questions.
- We played a freeze game with our musical instruments and Christmas music: even though the music stops, God’s plan could not be stopped!
- We responded in worship by creating a Christmas countdown chain, coloring “God’s greatest gift” picture, or doing an optional word search.