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.

It seems that back-to-school comes earlier every year. The weather isn’t yet cool–at least in most places. But the days get busier and stress mounts for children and parents alike. As a reminder that Jesus is our source of guidance, love, and protection during the school year, many churches set aside one Sunday before school begins to “bless the backpacks.” 

St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Walled Lake, Michigan, has a “Blessing of the Backpacks” each year on the last Sunday in August. Children in 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grades are invited to bring their backpacks with them to church that Sunday. During the children’s message, they take their backpacks to the altar for a special blessing. The pastor prays for learning, safety, and guidance for the children. After the service, each child is given a gift to attach to their backpacks. 

“Two years ago, we used CTA’s GLOW bookmark to remind the children that ‘God Lights Our Way,’” said Linda Willmann, a member of the youth and family life staff at St. Matthew. “Last year, we passed out CTA’s The J Team ID tag. CTA always provides items that are inexpensive, but are still a big hit with the children and their parents!” 

The First United Methodist Church in Decatur, Alabama, includes the parents in its “Blessing of the Kindergarten and Elementary Children.” A two-week prayer vigil is held for the children before the school year begins. Each child’s name is posted in the church’s prayer room, and members of the congregation are invited to come there to pray for the children, as well as praying at home. 

During the service on the Sunday before school starts, Pastor Greer calls all kindergarten children and their parents up to the altar. Pastor and congregation pray a responsive prayer, asking God for strength, peace, comfort, and love for all the children. The 1^st through 5^th graders come up after the prayer, and every child receives CTA’s Gospel Cross Cloth Keychain to attach to their backpack zippers. 

“The service helps children and parents both feel special and reminds them that a community of people is praying for them,” said Director of Children’s Ministry Ann Crabbe. “The crosses remind the children of who they are in Christ and encourage them to be mindful of God in the choices they make.”

How will you send the children of your church off to school with a blessing this fall?

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 #072810 © 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.

Which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Luke 14: 28

• Jesus often spoke about the cost of discipleship. How often do I add up those costs? How would I sum them up?   
• When does my service feel more like a “cost” than a “benefit”? When am I most aware of the “benefits”? What might my Lord want to teach me about that?

Lord Jesus, as I share your Word and especially your love in any way, you build your kingdom.  What a privilege! Work in me a firm  . . .

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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.

Devotion used with permission grant #072610 © 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.

Here are six helpful steps:

1. Revisit your mission statement and ministry goals. Ask Jesus to guide your planning and bless your efforts.

2. Brainstorm ideas. Let them flow. Don’t consider cost, space or the need for volunteers. Just dream! What might be possible?

3. Review last year. Ask questions like these:

• What went well? How could we repeat, extend, and/or expand it?
• What specific improvements could we try?
• What should we drop?
• What new options (from step #2) seem promising?

 4. Forage for ideas. Check creative websites, blogs, friends, colleagues, bookstores. You might not duplicate someone else’s approach, but their stories may trigger other, workable ideas.

 5. Calendar the events you choose to do. Coordinate with other leaders in your church. By starting early, you’ll make negotiation easier.

 6. Explore your church directory, asking God to open your eyes to potential volunteers. Before you pick up the phone, plan a recruitment strategy. Have in mind a compelling picture of your dream. Then make contact with potential workers, assuring them that since you’ve begun early, there will be plenty of time to organize and execute your plans.

Make the most of the hazy, lazy days of June to plan for the craziness of September and beyond. You’ll be glad you did!

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 #062310. © 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.

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.

We learn from students of archaeology, history, and theology that in Jesus’ time tombs, especially those of the rich (like Joseph of Arimathea—Matthew 27:57–61), usually consisted of two chambers hewn into rock. Family and friends laid the body of the deceased in the first chamber as they prepared it for burial. The second, inner chamber then provided the final resting place.

Shortly after Jesus died on the cross, a burial chamber hewn out of rock contained the body of the Rock of all ages. Because our Lord lay in a chamber cut into the heart of the earth and then rose to life again, the chamber of your heart can carry the certain hope of life now and life forever.

What did heaven’s music sound like as Jesus’ body lay in that tomb? Were its instruments and voices silenced? Or did a message of hope echo off the chamber walls to fill heaven’s halls?

Chamber music. That’s what I think it sounded like. Chamber music filled the chambers of Christ’s tomb and still plays on in the chambers of each believer’s heart. Traditionally, chamber music was written for performance in a small concert hall inside a palace; it was written for performance in a private room or small chamber inside the palace of a king or noble family. A chamber orchestra included only a few musicians, a trio or quartet, one player for each part.

Music played in the chamber of a palace? Music appropriate for the palace of the King? Without question, Easter’s eternal song fits that description, wouldn’t you say? A trio of players, one for each part? Of course! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! The Father sent Jesus into our sin-sick world to be our Savior. The Son willingly came in love to die for us. The Holy Spirit has led us to believe in this Savior and continually encourages us with the hope Jesus’ love has made possible.

Play on, song of grace! Continually fill the chambers of our hearts with the joyous music of triumph, of Jesus’ Easter victory! As Easter people we applaud heaven’s chamber music throughout the year! But Resurrection Day gives us a special reason for praise, celebration, and thanksgiving.

As our Savior’s life flows through the chambers of our hearts, we joyfully give thanks for Jesus’ life and for the lives of those who walk through life here on earth with us.

Play on, song of grace! Play on . . . until the chambers of every heart know heaven’s graceful tune of life!

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 #041008. © 2008 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 Lent, I also like to do an activity with the Jelly Bean Prayer because the children relate to it so well.  They love the use of the colors and relating these colors to the candies they see at Easter. I also like reading the Jelly Bean Prayer book to my class.

Here are two of my favorite craft ideas related to the Jelly Bean Prayer:

• Prayer beads.  These can be made inexpensively by purchasing stringing beads and nylon cording, both available at any craft store. Give each child one of the Jelly Bean Prayer bookmarks. Talk about each line of the poem; then have the children string one or two beads of each color onto the  cording.  Have the children cut a cross from craft foam and add that to the string of beads, too.

•  Baby food jar craft.  Give each child one of the Jelly Bean Prayer bookmarks  and a baby food jar. Cover the lid with fabric, gluing it down. Then tie a ribbon around the jar. Let the children put one jellybean of each color into their jar. (If you let them make two or three jars, they can keep one and give the others away as a witnessing tool. Be sure the children take a bookmark to give to each friend who will receive a baby food jar.)

Enjoy preparing for Easter with the children in your life!

Honoring members in this way is a good idea. But how could you step the value up from merely good to great, maximizing the assimilation value and encouraging true Christian fellowship?

 Here are four ideas:

1.  Get a group of friendly and established members to introduce people to one another. 
2. Provide name tags. Just because you know everyone doesn’t mean long-term members know newcomers or vice versa.  
3. Put sheets of ice breaker questions at each table. Include silly or serious questions. Ask people to name their favorite _______ (fill in the blank). Have everyone describe their best Easter/graduation/Mother’s Day of all time. Open ended questions like these can get everyone sharing in a way that feels safe and fun.  
4. Provide pencils and note cards and encourage everyone sitting at each table to exchange  prayer requests for the upcoming week. If they share phone numbers or E-mail addresses so they can stay in touch. Encourage them to contact each other at least once before next Sunday.

 Do you want to help worshipers break the every Sunday “hit and run” habit? Proactively leverage spring events to deepen relationships!

Short. To the point. Powerful in its simplicity. First John 4:19 is all that and more. I call attention to this verse as I work with my kindergarten students and as I talk with my own children each year whenever we focus on Valentine’s Day. 

Looking around at the flowers, hearts, cupids and candy that overflow from store shelves this time of year, I know I can feel overcome by the commercialism of it all. That’s when it helps me to focus attention God’s love for us. And that’s the message I work to communicate to all the children in my care every day.

This year, Ash Wednesday comes just three days after Valentine’s Day. As Christians observe both, our Savior reminds us of his love for us, despite our sins. In the weeks of Lent ahead, as we prepare our hearts for Easter, we will think often about the mercy and compassion of our Lord Jesus who died on the cross because He loved us so much.

God himself is the source of all love. He is the essence and definition of the word love. In response to all he has done and all he will do for us, both now and throughout eternity, we actively look for ways to demonstrate his love by serving others.

Check out the CTA website for some great ideas about keeping children (and adults, too) connected to their Savior throughout the Lenten/Easter season. You will find many products and projects there that will make the all-important truth of God’s love a fun and easy one for your children to learn. Now that’s something to celebrate!

Recently, a popular cable television channel began airing a series based on what happens to animals in utero. Week by week we watch as baby dolphins, baby elephants, and baby puppies develop, computer graphics and 4-D ultrasound imagery taking us inside the womb to watch the growth process day by day. Fascinating stuff!

It makes me wonder what it might be like to use the same state-of-the-art graphics to explore the process human babies undergo as they develop in their mother’s womb. Awe-inspiring, no doubt! I’m confident the experience would movingly illustrate the words of Psalm 139:13.

For you created my inmost being;
       you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Thinking about all this, I must admit that too often I take God’s gifts for granted. You, too? This verse points that out as it describes the intimate care our Creator used as he brought each one of us to life. The slope of your nose. The shape of my ear lobes. The blood vessels of our heart, our lungs. The cells that make up our spleen and kidneys—and all those other organs we so seldom think about.

All of these drew God’s close, personal attention. My chin is not an accident. Your hair color isn’t either. Our lips and eyes, our mouths and foreheads, our biceps and big toes all brought a smile of approval to our Father God’s face—even before we fought our way through the birth canal and took our first big breath.

You and I were uniquely formed, “knitted together” as the psalmist puts it, in our mother’s womb.

That implies a lot! For example, when we fret about being too tall or too short, we insult the divine Artist who made us just so. When we neglect the bodies God has given, failing to get enough rest, eating too much of the wrong foods, neglecting the exercise that would keep us strong and vibrant—these are sins. When we fail to care for the hungry, to honor the elderly, to protect the innocent (yes, even the innocent in the womb), or to respect individuals who are different from us, we offend the one who made us all.

When we consider all this, we can draw only one conclusion. We’re all guilty before God. It’s bad news. Worse, we deserve eternal death because of it.

The good news, though, is that our Creator willingly became our Redeemer. Our Judge is also our Brother. Jesus heals and forgives. He really does! Calvary’s cross proves it. That cross is the ultimate irony—an instrument designed to bring the cruelest death imaginable has brought life, eternal life. It’s the life Christians celebrate most of all. It’s the life we will celebrate forever. All because of what Jesus did for us.

So now, today, what are you going to do with the life your Creator-Redeemer has give you?

Need a free PowerPoint slide to use as you present this devotion? CTA has developed one for you! Check out our website for resources you can use year-round in your sanctity of life efforts.