Then consider CTA’s new fall festival theme: Light the Night with Jesus! And check out the new event planning guide that accompanies that theme–it’s free, downloadable, and fun!

If you’ve never sponsored a fall festival before, you may find our free Trunk or Treat Planning Guide and the free Fall Festival Planning Manual helpful, too. Both are downloadable.

Across the nation, year by year, more and more churches are finding ways to leverage Halloween alternative events as opportunities to share Jesus with children and their families. How will your children’s ministry capitalize on this trend in 2010?

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include the copyright lines below and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Article with permission grant #081810 © 2010 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026. www.CTAinc.com.

Every parent will recognize the morning I had. Even if you’re not a parent, you will relate to the feelings I experienced as I was planning for a regular school day. 

I was trying to get the children ready for school and out of the house, and it wasn’t working. I cleaned up the kitchen and was ready to leave, only to find that nobody had fed the bird and one child was still in the bathroom. While I was pouring out birdseed into the cage, I dropped the dish and had to sweep up the mess, delaying our departure by precious minutes.

Finally we were on our way. A block from home, one of my sons realized he’d forgotten to pack his pajamas for that evening’s sleepover. We turned back to get them.

A few minutes later we started off again, only to find that the road we usually take to school was closed. There had been a head-on car crash minutes before. The emergency vehicles had just arrived.

Had our morning gone smoothly, without all the delays . . . well, I don’t know what would have happened, but it’s possible we’d have been in that accident.

The incident, or rather the lack of incident, reminded me of two things. First, our lives are so fragile. They can be snuffed out so suddenly, just like a candle being extinguished in an instant. Second, our God is so wise and mighty and constant. He created each of us, and his direction for our lives is so much better than what we imagine, so much better than we can imagine! The one who planned our salvation and brought that plan into being will not leave us to drown in the drama and details of our everyday lives!

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

I’d expected my morning that day to look and feel like any school morning. I expected my day to be the same as any other day. The victims of 9/11 no doubt expected that morning to be the same as any other workday morning, but it definitely was not! The victims of Katrina expected the same challenges every other Category 3 hurricane brought, except Katrina turned out to be a Category 4 storm, bordering on a Category 5. The list of unexpected disasters grows longer with every passing year.

No one plans for earth-shattering events to land with both feet in their lives. On the morning I describe above, nothing terrible happened to me or to my family. But the experience made me think.

It reminded me that there were people just like me who were delayed on their way to work in the World Trade Center on 9/11. Some residents of New Orleans were out of town when the hurricane hit. Who knows how many disastrous circumstances each of us has avoided in life, even though much of the time we don’t even realize it.

But mine isn’t an “I’m glad it was him and not me” story. Rather, it’s a recognition of God’s protection for me and my dear children, and an acknowledgment that our Lord sometimes does allow earth-shattering events in our lives; he can even use those events to call us home to himself at any time.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Truthfully, we can’t count on the predictability of things, not here on earth. At some point, even the sun will stop rising and setting. Nothing stays the same—except our Savior.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

This truth remains. This is our stability. And it is the hope we bring to those around us. Jesus, our Savior, our Friend—he’s the same. He’s the one we can count on—no matter what changes in the circumstances around us. This is our hope. And it’s the message we share, an urgently important message, a message for everyone.

Whom will you tell today?

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

You are welcome to copy this devotion for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include this copyright line and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Used with permission grant #083010. © 2006 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this devotion is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026. www.CTAinc.com.

If you teach a children’s Sunday school or CCD class, if you lead a midweek Bible club or AWANA group, think about ways you might connect your students with faith-filled older adults. Find or make an opportunity to share faith stories.

If you host an adult Bible study in your home or facilitate such a study at church, consider ways you might use the free resources CTA provides (e.g., devotion, PowerPoint, responsive prayer) to help participants pray and think about the legacy they are building–not just in their own families, but in every place they contribute something of themselves in service.

Encourage all those you lead to remember and honor those whose lives have touched theirs. And encourage them, too, to look for ways Jesus might use them to make a difference in someone else’s life. As Scripture reminds us, “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts” (Psalm 145:4 KJV).

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include the copyright line below and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Article used with permission grant #081810 © 2010 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026. www.CTAinc.com.

For example, take the young mom who picks her children up from VBS a few minutes late. How tempting it can be to reiterate the correct pick up times. But doing so could easily erect a roadblock—particularly if we take an impatient tone. A minor inconvenience for us could morph into a comment that further tears down the morale of a discouraged, harried parent.  

 As I work with young families in our Christian preschool, I am constantly reminded that for many, this is their first experience with the church. In whatever program we serve, we need to remind each other that we get to be the hands and feet of Jesus as we greet and welcome new and returning families to the family of God.

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include this copyright line and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Used with permission grant #063010 © 2010 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026. www.CTAinc.com.

 With each step I take, I see possibilities for meeting more people with whom I can share Christ. Many ask, “What do you do?” or “What brings you out this way?”

 Then I can talk about measuring my steps and the prayer walk I’m taking. I show them the pedometer I wear and the book that comes with it.

 Many ask, “Where do you buy these?” This happens so often that I now carry contact cards and an ink pen with me. My new acquaintance has CTA’s website address to take home with them. And I go home with a smile on my face, knowing that I’m “making every day count”!

Editor’s note: Making Every Day Count comes in two versions, one for men and one for women. Consider buying several—one for yourself and a few to keep in your pocket or fanny pack when you walk. That way, when someone asks about your pedometer, you can give them one—along with a copy of the devotion booklet that accompanies it. The devotion booklets are available in Spanish, too!

Read Acts 1:1–11.

This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven (v. 11).

______________________________________________

Lord Jesus, you suffered and died on the cross, but when your humiliation ended, you emerged from the grave radiant in glory. We do not see that glory today with our physical eyes, but we know you as glorious and magnificent, and we worship you with all our hearts.

Someday you will return in judgment, and the whole earth will see your splendor. How we wait for that day!

While we do not know the time of your return, we do know you have given us wonderful, rewarding work to do while we wait. May the Holy Spirit descend into our hearts with power, moving us to care for those in need.

Most of all may he empower us to share your saving message, filling others with the same eager expectation that encourages us.

In mercy, Lord, hear our prayer. Amen.

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include this copyright line and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Used with permission grant #051010. © 2010 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026-1205. www.CTAinc.com.

We have been sending teens on mission trips for decades at our church.  It is always amazing to hear the stories and see how youth have grown through these experiences.  This Mission Trip Journal will help teens better experience these trips as they provide scripture and reflection during the event, and as they look back and review their journal in days and years following their mission trip. 

I really appreciate the questions to ponder and Bible verses provided to help those going on mission trips prepare for what God might be calling them to do. 

I can see us using the Mission Trip Journal and  [the online] devotions as tools to use on all of our mission trips.  It is a great tool to help mission trip participants understand how God can and will use them in unique and amazing circumstances.

The only agenda? Spending time together. We would enjoy wonderful dinners, home-made goodies for breakfast, and lunches out on the town—during shopping adventures. What else would 16 women do in an afternoon? 

I’m so glad I went! We shared stories, pictures, and information about each of our families. We all wrote individual prayer requests in a book so that my aunt of 83 years, a real prayer warrior, could pray for each of our needs or concerns. There were copies of her favorite prayers and poems, collected over the years and now available for us to read and take home.

All of us have a biological family, but being able to put a face with a name and a prayer creates a much greater sense of family. Aunt Irene’s legacy can and will continue with my family. I am looking forward to next year when I can bring my three daughter-in-laws to share in this weekend and the legacy.

Editor’s note: As you plan for your family reunion this summer, consider using some of CTA’s Living a Legacy materials as mementos of the event.  

Read Matthew 28:1–15 and focus on the angel’s words in verse 6: “He is risen, just as he said.”

Prayer:

Almighty Christ, death could not hold you! The Father accepted your holy sacrifice—your innocent suffering and death—for the forgiveness of all our sins. Once that occurred, the grave had to release you. Your body would not see decay.

Today we celebrate your rising from the dead. The angels rolled away the stone, not to release you from the tomb, but to reveal to your disciples—and to us—the miracle that had taken place. 

You did what you had promised to do—you defeated death itself! In your resurrection, we see our own. You have brought us unimaginable joy and peace. 

Make this a glad day for all hurting people as you encourage them in the truth that you are their Mighty God and Everlasting King! Give us courage to share our Easter joy with others.

 We ask it all in your glorious name. Amen.

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include this copyright line and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Used with permission grant #050310. © 2010 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026-1205. www.CTAinc.com.

A financial crisis can create tremendous pressure. Bills mount to the point that it’s impossible to keep up. The longer it goes on, the further behind we fall. As the mail arrives each day, our anxiety increases. “Now what?” we wonder, “What new and unwelcome surprises will fall out of the three envelopes that just arrived?”

It is like that with our sins, too. They have a way of mounting up, of accumulating—building one on top of the other. No matter how hard we try, we just cannot be good enough to make up for the harm we’ve already caused. We cannot level the mountain. Our guilt mounts as our sense of unworthiness deepens.

If you know this feeling, then you need to have a word on the tip of your tongue and more importantly in the center of your heart. That word is Tetelestai. Jesus spoke seven times from the cross. His final statement included just this one word. We have translated it into English as “It is finished.”

Bible scholars tell us that Tetelestai means “brought to completion” or, if you will, “paid in full.” At the time of Christ, creditors wrote this word across invoices to indicate that the bill had been fully discharged. Nothing further was owed.

The debt we owed to God because of our sin has been dissolved, discharged. It can no longer impact us. Jesus’ empty tomb proves it and the Bible promises, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Does your sin cause you great heartache? Does your pride, your anger, or some other, secret sin create the agony of guilt in your heart? Then name it out loud right now and say, “Dissolved!”

There is no middle ground. Either Jesus spoke the truth or not. If your debt is paid in full, your worry is over. In fact, if you try to pay the debt a second time, you will only insult your Savior by failing to take him at his Word. Tetelestai! The debt is dissolved!

Prayer starter: Lord Jesus, assure me once again today that my guilt is gone, my sin removed . . .