GrowPoint’s call to prayer

Good Morning GrowPoint,

The cursor flashed on my screen for a good hour as I waited for God to direct my words for this email. I’ve been reading news updates regarding the tragedy in Minneapolis, along with viewing the aftermath that has occurred over the weekend. Every aspect of these events is heart-wrenching as the depth of humanity’s brokenness and pain continues to be revealed.

GrowPoint, what are we called to? What is our part in the face of these realities? We will continue to be a community compelled by grace to grow. We will continue to speak the truth in love so that we will grow IN EVERY WAY into Jesus. We will also be serious and disciplined for prayer. We will maintain an intense love for EVERYONE. We will be generous and gracious with everyone. We will serve everyone through our God-given gifts. (Ephesians 4:15; 2 Peter 4:1-11)

I believe 2 Chronicles 7:14 provides a framework for us where God says, “When My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.” 

This verse calls us to action in four specific ways: Humble ourselves. Pray. Seek His face. Turn from evil.

God will respond.
God will listen from heaven.
God will forgive sin. 
God will heal our land.

GrowPoint, we are God’s messengers of hope and peace. We are charged in Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, humankind, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

GrowPoint, God has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). We are unifiers. We are bridge-builders. We are ambassadors of God’s love. 

All of these verses serve as God’s prescription for our life, character and action. Though we are not together physically, we are calling us to unite as a community and pray. As your pastors, we want to encourage you to call someone today for the purpose of praying together. Don’t simply pray alone. 

Pray for justice. 
Pray for families of victims.
Pray for our nation.
Pray for our neighbors.
Pray for unity.
Pray for healing.
Pray for peace.
Pray.

God Bless each of you!
Pastors Josh & Sumer

Early Childhood | Week of May 31

Hey Grow Kids! As May comes to an end and we finish our GO series, we are excited for a new series and what we will be covering this summer. Today’s lesson is about Peter’s Miraculous Escape.

Bible Story

  • Peter was telling people about Jesus, which was a good thing to do. But some people did not like that. They put Peter in jail.
  • Peter’s friends didn’t know how to help. So they gathered together and prayed.
  • God heard their prayers and sent an angel to set Peter free! Everyone was so happy that God answered their prayer!
  • When we pray, we talk to God. The Bible tells us to pray, asking Jesus to help us and to help other people.
  • You can ask Jesus to help someone who is sick. (Hold your stomach)
  • You can ask Jesus to help someone who is sad. (Rub your eyes)
  • You can ask Jesus to help someone get the food they need. (Pretend to eat from a plate)
  • You can help others when you pray.

Prayer

Pray this Prayer: Jesus, we want to pray for each other. We want to learn how to help others when we pray.

Activities

Activity: ON THE GO PRAYERS

  • Give the kids toy cars and blocks to play with. Help the kids build a church building and a house with the blocks.
  • You can pray wherever you go. You can even pray when you are in the car. God wants us to pray everywhere we go.

Activity: CATCH A PRAYER

  • Take turns tossing a ball. When each person catches the ball, they can name someone who they can tell God thank you for.
  • Thank You, God, for [name]. (Toss the ball to [next person’s name])

TODDLER HACK: Hold a kid in your lap as your rock together. Say a simple prayer like, “God, we love you. We like to pray to you.”

Activity: PRAY LIKE THIS

  • Let’s stand up and raise our arms up to the sky.
    • We can pray like this, with our arms up high. What is prayer? (Prayer is talking to God)
  • Now let’s sit down and hold our hands out.
    • We can pray like this when we hold our hands out. Who can you pray for? (Mom, dad, someone who is sick, etc.)
  • Now let’s kneel on the floor and put our hands together.
    • We can pray like this when we kneel down low. Will God help people when we pray for them? (Yes, God will)

Activity: HOLD MY HANDS IN PRAYER

  • Fold a sheet of paper in half and trace the kid’s hand on the front of the paper. Cut out the hand shape so you have a card with two hands that fold together. Let the kids color their hands.
  • You can hold your hands together when you are praying. When you open and close your card, you can remember to pray.

TODDLER HACK: Trace each kid’s hand and let them color it in. Tell the kids that we can hold our hands when we pray. Give the kids a high five and then give the kid’s picture a high five.

Activity: HOPPING PRAYERS

  • Put four hula hoops on the floor in a row or make four masking tape squares on the floor in a row. Show the kids how to hop in each space as you say each prayer.
  • God, please help (kid’s name) to be happy.
  • God, please help (kid’s name) to get better when they are sick.
  • God, please help (kid’s name) to have the food they need.
  • God, please help (kid’s name) to love Jesus, too.

Activity: SNUGGLE PRAYERS

  • Hold a stuffed animal or baby doll close to you and snuggle it. Then give the stuffed animal or doll to the kids to snuggle while you pray with them.
  • We can pray to God when we need to feel safe and loved.

Snack Time

Snack Time: DO-NUT STOP PRAYING

  • Give the kids small powdered sugar donuts for a snack.
  • This doughnut is a circle shape. A circle doesn’t stop going around and around. We can keep our prayers going all the time.

Connect with Us!

We want to hear from you!

Who are you praying for this week? Do you have a family member or a friend who is sick? Is there something we can pray for?

Elementary | Week of May 31

Welcome to Grow Kids Online! Let’s dive into God’s Word together this morning and discover how our prayers help us grow!

DISCUSSION : Peter’s Miraculous Escape
Read : Acts 12:1-17

  • What did the believers do when Peter was put in prison?
  • How did Peter escape?
  • What were the people doing when Peter arrived at the house everyone was gathered at?
  • Let’s think about John 14:13-14. Why do you think we have to pray in Jesus’ name?
  • Why do you think God wants us to pray for others?
  • Has there ever been a time you prayed for someone and you saw how God answer that prayer?
  • Why do you think sometimes God’s answer is “No” or “Not yet?”

ACTIVITIES

MEMORY VERSE | Memory Verse Relay
INSTRUCTIONS: Write the memory verse (Matthew 5:16, NIV) on Post-It Notes. Divide the cards and place them on opposite sides of the room. Choose a motion to get you from one side of the room to the other. Grab one piece of the memory verse at a time and then piece it together in the correct order!

CREATE | Prayer Journal
Find a blank journal around the house, if you don’t have one you can take a few pieces of construction or notebook paper and fold them in half. Staple along the folded edge to create a journal.

On the front cover, write “Prayer Journal” and decorate it! You now have a journal to collect your thoughts and prayers. It is important that we write down our prayers so that when God answers we can see how He heard our prayers.

Open to the front page and write the today’s date. Think of something you need to talk to God about. Maybe it’s that you miss your grandma, or your teachers. Maybe you want to pray to ask God for sunshine. Or pray that God would give your parents rest. What do you need to talk to God about? Write it down and watch God go to work!

ACTIVITY | A-maze-ing Prayers
INSTRUCTIONS: Print out this week’s printable and a complete the maze. While you do this activity, think about the people you want to pray for this week. Write their names along the edges of your maze.

PRAYER

Let’s pray for the person you thought of now. Ask God to help them with whatever it is they are facing. And remember, there are no right or wrong words to use when we pray. Just tell God what you need!

We love learning about Jesus with you, Grow Kids!

Hey, parents! Use social media to stay connected – share your discussion conversations, completed crafts or coloring sheets, or snap a pic of your family dancing to this month’s worship song and tag Grow Kids!

Eat Less Cake 🎂

Question 1: What’s your own personal version of the prescription, “no more cake.”  

Question 2: What area of life can you identify that needs serious and disciplined prayer?

Question 3:  How are you living out intense love with others?

Question 4: Can you identify a moment in your life where the love of another truly was a covering for you (love covers a multitude of sins). If so, please share.  

Question 5: To be hospitable means to be generous to your guest. We are going to broaden this concept a little bit. How might you live out hospitality/generosity outside of your home? How might you be hospitable at your work place, grocery store, park, neighborhood? Pick one of these areas and commit this next week to intentionally be hospitable.

Question 6: What is God personally prescribing for you this week?

Early Childhood | Week of May 24

Hey Grow Kids! We hope you’ve been enjoying the nice weather and being done with school work at home for the year! Let’s dive in to our lesson today on protecting our heart and mind!

Bible Story

https://youtu.be/yIgxB55pBto
  • Paul was a special man who helped tell people about Jesus. Paul was put in jail because the leaders did not want Paul to talk about Jesus. Even when he was in jail, Paul would sing happy songs to Jesus.
  • Paul told us to be happy with God all the time. Can you show me your happy face?
  • We can show God we are happy when we trust God to take care of us. We don’t have to worry about anything because we can talk to God. Can you hold your hands like you are praying? (Hold your hands together.)
  • We can read in the Bible how God will give us peace and joy when we trust in God. Can you hold your hands out like this? (Hold your hands like your are opening a Bible)
  • Read Philippians 4:6-7. If possible, try reading the NIRV translation so that it’s easier for younger children to understand.
  • I know God will protect my heart and help me be happy.
  • I know God will protect my mind and help me not to worry.
  • God will protect my heart and mind.

Prayer

Pray this Prayer: God, You can help protect my heart when You help me to be happy. God, You can help protect my mind when You help me not to worry.

Activities

Activity: PUPPET PAUL

Puppet PaulDownload
  • Print and cut out Puppet Paul. Help kids arrange and glue a face onto a brown paper bag to make a puppet.
  • We can pretend our puppet is Paul from our Bible story.
  • Hide your Paul puppet behind your fingers and pretend he is in prison.
  • Did God help Paul be happy in jail? Yes! Paul was even able to sing happy songs to God when he was in prison.
  • You can wave your happy Paul puppet back and forth to show he is happy.
  • Can we pray when we are worried? Yes, we can talk to God when we are worried!
  • Hold your Paul puppet face down. Pretend your Paul puppet is praying. Can we have a dance party with our Paul puppets? Yeah, we can!
  • Wave your Paul puppet in the air!

Activity: PAPER CHAINS

  • Create a long line of black paper chains using construction paper.
  • What do these chains remind you of? They remind me of the chains Paul was in when he was in jail.
  • But God told us instead of being sad we should pray to God. So, instead, I am going to say these chains show me that we are connected to God!
  • Each link in this chain is going to remind me of how much God loves me and you. Look how many there are! God loves us SO much that we don’t have to worry about anything!

Activity: REJOICE AND MOVE

  • Worship together as a family. Remind your kids of verse 13 from our Bible story today (Philippians 4:13)

Activity: BUILD A PRISON

  • Give the kids blocks and cardboard pieces to build a prison building. Offer people figures to put inside the prison.
  • I don’t like time out. It would not be fun to be stuck inside this jail all the time. It would be hard to sing happy songs to God if I was stuck in the prison, but that is just what Paul did. God helped Paul by protecting his heart and mind. God will protect your heart and mind, too.

TODDLER HACK: Use a big box or pop-up tent for the kids to crawl in and out of of. Tell the kids how Paul was in prison, but he sang happy songs to God. Have kids sing or hum a tune while inside the “prison.”

Snack Time

Snack Time: PRISON BARS

  • Give the kids pretzel sticks as a snack and show them how to line up the sticks in a row like the bars on a jail cell. Retell the Bible story as they eat their snack.

Connect with Us!

We want to hear from you!

We look forward to seeing you all again in person! In the meantime, share with us ways you have been finding joy!

Elementary | Week of May 24

Welcome to Grow Kids Online! Let’s dive into God’s Word together this morning so we can grow in every way!

DISCUSSION : Joy and Peace
Read : Philippians 4:4-9,11-13

  • In today’s Bible passage, what is the first thing Paul says for us to do?
  • How do you think Paul was able to stay joyful even while in jail?
  • Philippians 4:13 says we can do all things through God. What do you think that means?
  • What are some things in your life that might cause you to worry?
  • What does it mean that God protects our heart and mind?
  • Has God ever helped you through something difficult?

ACTIVITIES

MEMORY VERSE | Red Light, Green Light
INSTRUCTIONS: In this modified version of “Red Light, Green Light,” one person is “it.” They will face a wall while the the others line up horizontally opposite of them. Have them start by saying the memory verse facing the wall while others slowly make their way toward you. As soon as you stop and turn around, the kids have to freeze and say the word that comes next (e.g.,You: “Let your light–” Kids:”Shine!” You: “before others that they may–” Kids:”See!” and so on.) First one to the other side of the wall wins!

THINK ABOUT IT | Where Was Paul?
Did you notice in verse 4 Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” He even says it a second time! Do you know what “rejoice” means? Rejoice means to feel or show joy.
Here’s a question for you: Where do you think Paul was when we wrote this letter?
It wasn’t his house or even his school! Paul wrote the letter of Philippians when he was in jail! He was in jail for telling people about Jesus, and a lot of people weren’t too happy about that back in those days. We can see how God protected Paul’s mind and heart, even during a very hard time!

CREATE | Create a Superhero
What are some things superheroes do? Some superheroes have the power of invisibility. Others have super strength or super speed. One thing most superheroes have in common, though, is that they have one main job: to protect. Batman protects the people of Gotham City. Superman protects the people of Metropolis. The Avengers protect the world, basically. Superheroes protect people. That’s what they do!
But we know that Jesus is better than any superhero! That means Jesus will protect us way more than a superhero could! God will protect our hearts and minds!

Using a toilet paper tube, markers and googley eyes – create your own superhero!
INSTRUCTIONS: Create your own superhero! Think about what powers do your superheroes have? But don’t forget the greatest superpower there is–God, who protects our hearts and minds!

PRAYER

For a few moments, I want you to pray and ask God to protect your heart and mind, whatever you might be going through. If you feel like you need to talk to someone, talk to your parent and ask them help you and pray with you.

We love learning about Jesus with you, Grow Kids! We love you and we can’t wait to see you again soon!
Use social media to stay connected – share your discussion conversations, completed crafts or coloring sheets, or snap a pic of your family dancing to this month’s worship song and tag Grow Kids!

Early Childhood | Week of May 17

Hey Grow Kids! We hope you have had an awesome week celebrating your moms for Mothers Day! This week, in our GO series, we are talking about the Armor of God. Let’s dive in!

Bible Story

Soldier in ArmorDownload
  • Is the Bible something we need? Yes! We need the Bible every day.
  • Today’s Bible story is about how God gives us everything we need. The Bible tells us God wants us to trust and obey Jesus so we can be strong and face any hard thing that comes our way (Show your muscles).
  • (Show this week’s printable, a picture of a soldier in armor.) This picture shows us the kind of armor God wants to give us.
  • The belt is like God’s truth.
  • The breastplate is like God’s righteousness.
  • The shoes help us remember to tell people about Jesus.
  • Who can find the shield on this picture? You found it!
  • The shield is our faith in Jesus to take care of us. The shield keeps us safe.
  • This soldier has a helmet. (Pat your head.) The helmet helps us remember Jesus saved and forgave us for our sins.
  • The last thing in the picture is the sword. The Bible is our sword. We learn from the Bible so can strong when times are hard. This soldier has everything he needs.
  • God gives us everything we need.

TODDLER HACK: Trace the outline of your child with sidewalk chalk outdoors. Tell the kids that God will take care of their whole body from head to toe.

Prayer

Pray this Prayer: God, we are glad You give us everything we need. Thank You, God, for keeping us safe.

Activities

Activity: HEADS, SHOULDERS, KNEES AND TOES

  • Sing the song, “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” with the kids and do the motions together. Try adding the phrase, “God loves my…” at the beginning of the song.
  • God wants to keep all of you safe from the top of your head all the way down to your toes. God gives us everything we need.

Activity: ARMOR PUZZLE

Armor PuzzleDownload
  • Print out the armor puzzle printable (one for each kid) and cut each paper into five pieces following the cutting guides.
  • Work together to put the puzzle together. For older kids, you can have them use kid-safe scissors and cut their own puzzle, then solve it again.
  • You have all the pieces put together. Can you help me find the soldier’s helmet?
  • What part of the soldier is safe when he wears his helmet? (Yes, his helmet keeps his head safe.)
  • The soldier has a special kind of shoes. What part of the soldier is safe when he has his shoes on?(His feet.)
  • We know the soldier needs special clothes to keep him safe.
  • The soldier also has a shield. Where is his shield? (Good job! You found the shield the soldier can use to keep him safe.)
  • This soldier has everything he needs. I am so glad God gives us everything we need

Activity: FLAME TOSS

  • Make a simple shield from cardboard or poster board.
  • Get the kids to help you wad up balls of red and orange tissue paper to toss at the shield. A shield will help keep you safe.
  • This shield stopped the pretend flames we tossed at it. The Bible tells us God will keep us safe. God gives us everything we need

Activity: MAKE A BREASTPLATE

  • Cut large paper grocery bags into vests for the kids (something like this). Give the paper bag to your child to color on with markers.
  • Put their paper bag vest on backward so it looks like a breastplate.
  • This is like a piece of armor that a soldier wears to keep them safe. You look like a soldier in your armor.

Activity: TIN FOIL PLAY

  • Give your child a piece of tin foil to play with. Talk about how the soldier’s armor can be metal and shiny like this tin foil.
  • We can show where the soldier’s armor goes with our piece of tin foil. Where would your helmet be? (Hold your tin foil on your head.)
  • Where would your belt be? (Hold your tin foil at your waist.)
  • Where would your breastplate be? (Hold your tin foil on your chest.)
  • Can you pretend your tin foil is a shield?
  • We can pretend with our tin foil and put on every piece of a soldier’s armor.
  • God wants to cover every part of you and keep you safe. When you learn from the Bible and you learn to trust and love Jesus, you are starting to put on a special kind of armor.

Activity: CASTLE PLAY

  • Give the kids a toy play castle or some blocks and cardboard tubes to build with.
  • Show the kids how the soldiers would go inside the castle to keep safe.
  • God gives you a home to live in just like the soldiers live in the castle. God gives you everything you need.

Activity: GROWN-UP SHOES

  • Put out some adult-sized work shoes, tennis shoes, and sandals. Give the kids a chance to try to walk around in the different types of shoes.
  • When you have shoes on, you are ready to go. You can wear work shoes to do hard jobs or sandals to walk in the park. Shoes help you be ready. God wants us to be ready to tell people about Jesus.

Snack Time

Snack Time: SHIELD SNACK

  • Cut the bottoms of graham crackers into points to make them look like shields.
  • As the kids eat their snacks, review the Bible story and point out how the shield of faith in Jesus can keep you safe

Connect with Us!

We want to hear from you!

We miss seeing you on Sundays and we can’t wait until we can get together again!