Some of the MillsKIDS parents and volunteer teachers for the past couple of years have been in conversation about how to teach our kids about tithes and offerings. And how can our practices on Sunday mornings line up with God's command to bring our tithes and offerings into God's house? How do we practice bringing both the tithe and the offerings?
This year in our MillsKIDS Sunday Schools of Discipleship, a way to teach and demonstrate this has become clearer.
First, every Sunday, each class will have a basket which represents the tithe. Teachers will talk periodically about the fact that God calls his people to bring a tithe of ten percent of their earnings to the church. In our kindergarten and first grade class, we reinforced what this means with a visual. We held up popsicle sticks and pretended that this represented all the money we have. Then one popsicle stick would represent one tenth of what we had. We talked about how God wants us to bring one tenth of our money all through our lives to His church. We talked about how the money is used. But the main point is that bringing our tithes to God's church is an act of trust. It is saying to God, "I believe you and I trust that the rest is enough for me." We will continue this conversation about the tithe. As older kids begin receiving an allowance, they can set aside their tithe to bring to church. Or, your family may have another system of bringing your tithe to church.
Second, offerings are gifts beyond the regular tithe. We bring offerings when we see a need and God prompts our hearts to help to meet that need. In the Bible story, there were several times in the year where God would command His people to bring offerings above and beyond the regular tithe of ten percent. These were times of celebration of God's abundant provision or extra practices to help meet the needs of the poor and needy, a reminder that we are all poor and needy without God.
Along with the basket for the tithes, the MillsKIDS classes will periodically have an offering bin labeled with an opportunity for kids to bring objects of offering to help meet a particular need. This Sunday, Oct. 16, we will begin collecting small hygiene items, school supplies, and toys for Operation Christmas Child boxes. These items represent offerings, in addition to the tithe. On November 20th, we will package our boxes together to be sent overseas to children who would otherwise receive no gifts for Christmas. For more information about Samaritan's Purse and Operation Christmas Child, go to www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.
This practice of bringing tithes and offerings to church is intended to initiate conversations in your homes. My prayer is that your family will discover the joys of tithing and giving, and most importantly, that you will see God together through your acts of obedience.
Just this week in my own times with Jesus, I was reminded of God's constant care for His people as they follow His ways. Psalm 37:25 says, "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed."
I know this to be true and I have seen God's care for my family. Blessings to you and your families as you follow in the ways of Jesus together.
Jana Hoober
MillsKIDS Director
October 13, 2011
September 20, 2011
Fall KickOff
Welcome to fall! At the Mills Church, our MillsKIDS School of Discipleship is in full swing after a more laid-back summer schedule. Sunday mornings from 9-10 am, our team of teachers is dedicated to teaching God's Story. We worship, teach, respond to God, and engage kids in age-appropriate activities to enhance their knowledge of who God is, encourage them to love Him and decide to live for Him. It has been an active and exciting start, to say the least! Our goal is to come alongside and encourage parents as we raise our kids to know and follow Jesus. We start with knowing His Story.
For further information about the vision of our MillsKids Sunday School of Discipleship and the specific Sunday morning locations, go to www.millschurch.org/community-life, click on the MillsKIDS homepage and programs page. You also might want to check out the "Meet Our Team" page where each School of Discipleship teacher is introduced.
Remember and Celebrate Sundays for 2nd-5th graders and parents!
Our 2nd-5th graders are being taught The Big God Story with the help of TruStory curriculum. Check out the Tru page for more information about this great resource. TruStory is a curriculum with intentional partnership built in between the church and home.
This year, once every 6 weeks, parents are invited to join their kids in Sunday school for Remember and Celebrate Sundays. These five Sundays will have a different format. Parents and kids start by reviewing their Bible Basics memory verses at the Bible Basics station. They receive information at the Tithes and Offerings station about the new giving project. They worship together with mom and son worship team, Christine and Caden LeVahn. Then they review the completed unit of study with a short teaching, led by large group teacher, Kathy Shapiro. This all happens from 9-9:30. At 9:30 parents break off into a prayer group led by Sunday school teacher, Scott Groff, while the kids participate together in active Bible unit review games.
This years' Remember and Celebrate Sundays are scheduled for:
October 16, December 4, January 29, March 18, and May 6
Mark your calendars for these special Sundays!
Bible Basics
The Bible Basics have begun. Kindergarten-1st graders learn the books of the Bible and nine key scripture passages, one for each month, that coordinate with each unit of study. Each Bible Basic is practiced during the worship time through song. This is a fun and easy way for kids to remember key verses. At the completion of each memorized Bible passage, kids receive a medal for the first year, and a pin to attach to the ribbon on their medal for the second year of memory.
The 2nd-5th graders ramp up their scripture memory with Bible Basics that include the books of the Bible, The Lord's Prayer, The Ten Commandments, Psalm 23, and Ten Key Verses that coordinate with each unit of Bible study.
For updated 2011-2012 Bible Basics lists go to the Bible Basics page. Or there are Bible Basics brochures available on the MillsKIDS ministry table by the nursery or in each area of Sunday School of Discipleship.
As a teaching team, our prayer is that our kids will grow in their knowledge and love for Jesus and that they would choose to live their lives fully devoted to Him.
Jana Hoober
MillsKIDS Director
For further information about the vision of our MillsKids Sunday School of Discipleship and the specific Sunday morning locations, go to www.millschurch.org/community-life, click on the MillsKIDS homepage and programs page. You also might want to check out the "Meet Our Team" page where each School of Discipleship teacher is introduced.
Remember and Celebrate Sundays for 2nd-5th graders and parents!
Our 2nd-5th graders are being taught The Big God Story with the help of TruStory curriculum. Check out the Tru page for more information about this great resource. TruStory is a curriculum with intentional partnership built in between the church and home.
This year, once every 6 weeks, parents are invited to join their kids in Sunday school for Remember and Celebrate Sundays. These five Sundays will have a different format. Parents and kids start by reviewing their Bible Basics memory verses at the Bible Basics station. They receive information at the Tithes and Offerings station about the new giving project. They worship together with mom and son worship team, Christine and Caden LeVahn. Then they review the completed unit of study with a short teaching, led by large group teacher, Kathy Shapiro. This all happens from 9-9:30. At 9:30 parents break off into a prayer group led by Sunday school teacher, Scott Groff, while the kids participate together in active Bible unit review games.
This years' Remember and Celebrate Sundays are scheduled for:
October 16, December 4, January 29, March 18, and May 6
Mark your calendars for these special Sundays!
Bible Basics
The Bible Basics have begun. Kindergarten-1st graders learn the books of the Bible and nine key scripture passages, one for each month, that coordinate with each unit of study. Each Bible Basic is practiced during the worship time through song. This is a fun and easy way for kids to remember key verses. At the completion of each memorized Bible passage, kids receive a medal for the first year, and a pin to attach to the ribbon on their medal for the second year of memory.
The 2nd-5th graders ramp up their scripture memory with Bible Basics that include the books of the Bible, The Lord's Prayer, The Ten Commandments, Psalm 23, and Ten Key Verses that coordinate with each unit of Bible study.
For updated 2011-2012 Bible Basics lists go to the Bible Basics page. Or there are Bible Basics brochures available on the MillsKIDS ministry table by the nursery or in each area of Sunday School of Discipleship.
As a teaching team, our prayer is that our kids will grow in their knowledge and love for Jesus and that they would choose to live their lives fully devoted to Him.
Jana Hoober
MillsKIDS Director
May 11, 2011
From Now Till Summer!
The summer is upon us! During the summer, the MillsKIDS have a different routine on Sunday mornings. Starting on Sunday, June 12, there will be no 9 am Sunday School of Discipleship classes. MillsKIDS begin the morning with their parents in the worship service beginning at 10:30 am. After the worship set all MillsKIDS ages 4-3rd grade are invited to Kids Community. They will be led out of the service by our Kids Community teachers. They will be returned to their parents for the closing song at the end of the service.
MillsKIDS Garden Ministry!
We are also gearing up for our expanded garden ministry. The Kids Community kids have already planted many vegetables and flowers which are rapidly growing under grow lights in the kids ministry area. For six Sundays, kids ages 2nd-5th grade will be dismissed from the worship service to go to the MillsKIDS garden instead of Kids Community. On these Sundays, kids ages 4-1st grade will attend the regular Kids Community time. Please note that 4th and 5th graders are only released from the worship service during garden ministry Sundays. On these Sundays, parents will pick up all kids ages 4-5th grade at the garden after the worship service. The 4 year olds-1st graders will go to the garden at the end of their Kids Community time. The garden ministry will be led by Dan McCarthy, Adam and Heidi White, and Grace Hoober. The planned garden ministry Sundays are: (weather dependent)
June 5 Planting Day!
June 26
July 10
July 24
Aug 14
Aug 28
We look forward to cultivating fresh vegetables to donate to the ICA Foodshelf. The kids will have a short Bible lesson each week and spend time praying that God would bless their work.
40 Bags for 40 Years!
The MillsKIDS last giving project of the year is to join our church in helping to donate 40 bags of food to help the ICA Foodshelf celebrate 40 years of service. If your child attended Sunday School of Discipleship last Sunday, they brought home a paper bag with a flyer attached with instructions. Instead of bringing money for our offering time, the kids are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items. If your child did not attend Sunday school, there are more paper bags in the kids ministry area. Paper bags will also be distributed this Sunday during Kids Community.
Homefront Monthly for 2nd-5th Grade Families
Communion Sunday/Memorial Day/Celebration Sunday
Our
On Memorial Day weekend, May 29, there will be no 9 am Sunday School of Discipleship. There will be Kids Community for the 4 year olds-3rd graders during the worship service.
Celebration Sunday is on Sunday, June 5. This will be our last Sunday of 9 am
Have a beautiful Spring. It is a blessing to serve you and your kids.
Grace and peace,
Jana Hoober
MillsKIDS Director
April 22, 2011
Living the Resurrection
- actually was persuaded to read,
no, honestly told, “you need to read this book”-
a tiny book called “The School of Christ.” I have read only one page and I am challenged. Is my walk with Jesus objective or subjective? That’s my first question. Let me explain.
T. Austin-Sparks says, “A kind of objective imitation of Jesus gets us nowhere, rather the subjective learning Jesus get us everywhere.”
The little word “of” makes all the difference here. To learn of Christ and to learn Christ are both necessary. But to learn of Christ is like elementary school. It is necessary. We all need it but we can’t stay there and mature. Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you. Learn of me, for I am humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.” Learn of
Discipleship is to come under discipline. It is useful, good, and necessary. But it is not the desired end in living the resurrected life. “Before we can be apostles, or sent ones, we must come under discipline to be disciples, to be taught ones, in that inward way.” Jesus was saying, "Take My way and be taught by Me." Yet, if we stop at objective imitation of Jesus we stop growing. Somewhere along the way the objective learning must turn to subjective following in order to be conformed into the likeness of God's Son. Have you ever thought, “I have been trying and working so hard to do what is right, to follow Jesus well…” yet there is this growing lack, a disillusioned awakening of something missing? This is the discontent with my objective relationship with Christ, which seems to be characterized by so much trying.
To Learn Christ
The apostle Paul says, “I want to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering.” So far, from my first page in “The School of Christ” my journal pages state:
Learn Christ, in hourly living and trusting.
Learn Christ, in waiting for His answer.
Learn Christ, in dying to my way.
Learn Christ, when I don't know what to do.
My kids are almost all teens, my oldest about to be twenty. Now that they have learned of Christ, I pray that they learn Christ, that they experience living the resurrected life and that they become His “sent ones.” I pray that in each season and with every struggle they may know Him, not only know of Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His suffering. That’s a tough thing for a parent to say, but that is what I really want.
My husband is the one who “recommended” this book to me. He knows my struggles in learning Christ, in letting go and actively trusting. He gently hands this little book to me in the morning and says, “Don’t forget to go to school today.”
My prayer is that at the Mills Church we become a reflection of His resurrected life, that we become a community of parents leading our kids beyond knowing of Christ, but to know Christ.
Happy Easter!
Jana Hoober
MillsKIDS Director
The
April 12, 2011
Preparing for Easter!
At the Mills Church we are preparing for the celebration of Easter. Here are some events to be aware of:Good Friday Service…….April 22, 7 pm…...nursery provided
Easter Celebration……....April 24
The Easter worship service is a community celebration for all ages. There will be regular 9 am Sunday school classes with coffee time from 10-10:30. Then at 10:30, our Easter worship celebration begins. There will be no Kids Community this week. Nursery is provided and the 2s and 3s class will welcome 4 year olds if that is helpful to some families. We encourage families to join the celebration and worship together. It may be helpful to have a conversation with your kids before this special service so that they know what to expect and that they are a welcome addition to the celebration.
Check out the two websites for Lent/Easter celebration ideas for your families. I love the photos and ideas at the holy experience website and "iseeme" is a collection of books written right here in Plymouth. These would make great Easter basket gifts. Thanks to our Mills parents for sharing your findings!
For 2nd-5th grade MillsKIDS Parents
For the next four weeks in the Sunday School of Discipleship, the lessons will focus on the environment of Serving. This month's Homefront Monthly provides support and encouragement for parents in developing an environment of serving in the home. Check out this month's publication at:
Grace and peace to you and your family,
Jana Hoober, MillsKIDS Director
March 22, 2011
Communion Sunday and Legos
This Sunday, March 27, our community at the Mills Church will celebrate communion at the closing of the worship service. We invite all kids to join their families at the communion table. Kids will return to the service from Kids Community. Parents, this is a great week, especially during Lent, to revisit the reason we celebrate communion, to re-tell the story of Jesus and his disciples at the Last Supper and to explain to our kids that each time we partake in communion we remember Christ's death and His sacrifice. Because of Jesus, we see God more clearly and know more intimately what He is like.
The MillsKIDS invite you and anyone you know to join us in collecting Legos for Lent. Any collected Legos will be sent to the Czech Republic to facilitate a kids ministry in a new church plant. This ministry is led by Mills Church missionaries, Mark and Gretchen Potma and their four children. Plastic bins labeled "Legos for Lent" are located near the nursery door and in the foyer.
Grace and peace to you and your family, and I hope you see God today!
Jana Hoober
MillsKIDS Director
The MillsKIDS invite you and anyone you know to join us in collecting Legos for Lent. Any collected Legos will be sent to the Czech Republic to facilitate a kids ministry in a new church plant. This ministry is led by Mills Church missionaries, Mark and Gretchen Potma and their four children. Plastic bins labeled "Legos for Lent" are located near the nursery door and in the foyer.
Grace and peace to you and your family, and I hope you see God today!
Jana Hoober
MillsKIDS Director
March 4, 2011
Season of Lent
This Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, marks a new season of time, the season of Lent. For me, celebrating Lent is fairly new. As a child, my church maybe mentioned what Lent was a few times and I remember the Catholic kids coming to school with a curious gray spot on their forehead once a year.
Over that past few years, I have learned so much about the Christian calendar, but not only the calendar, the routines, feasts, celebrations, and fasts that the Lord commanded the Israelites way back in the Old Testament to follow. God brilliantly implemented a yearly rhythm, a rhythm that would continually point his people back to Him. It reminded them of who they were, who God is, and all that He had done for them.
Today, I look forward to Lent. It is a time of solemn remembrance. It is a time of de-cluttering my habits, refocusing my priorities, and eliminating one thing that I particularly enjoy but don’t need. During Lent, I remind myself that God is truly all I need. He is my Source.
To our MillsKIDS families: I encourage you to lead your children in entering in this season of Lent together. If you have never celebrated Lent before, that’s okay! Many of us are new at it. My kids are all teens and we are just starting! Here are some suggestions to get you started:
- Have a conversation this weekend in your family of one thing you could give up together for this span of 40 days leading up to Easter.
- Come together to the special Lent service this Wed, March 9th at noon in the
- For less than $20, I bought a little Lenten devotional, called Devotions for Lent, and a candle with a cross that I found on Amazon.com. Our family is going to begin a dinnertime routine on Wednesday evening of eating by the light of our new cross candle, reading from our Lenten devotional book, and memorizing together one passage of scripture during this season.
- Talk to some other Mills Church families about how they celebrate Lent. There are some great ideas out there and mine are usually not original.
My prayer is that as a family, you grasp this season. Start simply if you have not participated in Lent before and watch and pray for God to show Himself in new and profound ways to you and your kids.
Grace and peace to you and your family!
Jana Hoober
MillsKIDS Director
February 21, 2011
2011-Looking Ahead
On January 1st I wrote...
Jana Hoober
MillsKIDS Director
Lately I have been reading the Bible cover to cover as one continuous story to see what stands out. (I have successfully made it through Leviticus and Numbers…..yeah for me!) Today I’m in Deuteronomy 4 and verses 32-33 caught my attention. “Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?” Then verse 35 says, “You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other.”
Orphan or Child?
These verses cause me to take a look at myself and then my gaze falls on my kids. What does their future hold? Am I encouraging them to see God as their Source, find their identity in Christ alone? Do they know that they are a part of God’s grand narrative, His story? Do they know they are created in His image to show what He is like to those around them? If my kids know who they are, then they are free from the worries of this world. They are free to trust God for their needs, and then free to look around them and be ministers to others. Like me, in some ways they are living as children and then in some ways they are living as orphans. It is the struggle of trusting that God is who He says He is.
I see my teens and others in our church and school community living as children of the King. This past year over 40 kids at our high school led prayer at “See You at the Pole.” A group of 20+ high schoolers meet every Monday morning at 7 am in the Biology teacher’s classroom to pray for each other and their school. This small band of kids is living in the world but not of the world. They know they are a part of a bigger picture. These kids are in band, orchestra, choir and theater. They are scattered throughout the cross-country, track, basketball, swimming, and volleyball teams. They sit at different lunch tables and are friends with Muslims, adopted orphans, atheists, and bored church attenders. Some of their friends are becoming curious so they end up at The Mills Church's Wednesday night youth group. One friend told my daughter recently, “I didn’t know church could be this way!”
Yet, as I, they still struggle with the tendency to live as orphans. We know that we know that we know who God says we are, but sometimes the voices of this world are so loud and overwhelming. The world tells us we must do more to be more to get more. The result is disillusionment and frustration with a keen sense of “lostness.” Our only hope and our kids’ only hope is to be continually reminded of who God is and who He says we are. Deuteronomy 4 reminded me today that the “Lord is God; besides him there is no other.”
Identity Crisis
How do we help ourselves and our kids with the real tension to either live like children or orphans? I can’t think of any other way to win this identity crisis than immersing ourselves in God’s Word, telling and re-telling His story, remembering who God is and who He says we are. We can’t do the transforming work in our kids’ hearts and lives. That is God’s job. But we can tell His story, give our kids to Him, and trust Him. This is our work, and it is hard.
Just One Thing
I usually do not make New Year’s resolutions. For me, they are a sure plan to feel like a failure. As a parent, I really don’t need more of that feeling! But as I read this passage of scripture today from Deuteronomy 4, I am motivated. I want more than anything for my kids to know God’s story, not so they look like super-Christians who can perform a recited scripture passage, but so that they know who they are! I just feel that God keeps trying to get this message across, over and over again. If my kids know that they are God’s child and that He is with them, looking out for them day in and day out, they are free to live the way He created them to live. In Deuteronomy 4, God tells us to “ask now about the former days, long before our time, from the day God created man on the earth.” He wants us and our kids to hear about His marvelous works so that we might know and never forget that the Lord is God.
So, in 2011 I am going to keep telling my kids God’s story. Will you join me? I want to read the Bible as a story to my kids out loud three times a week. I know I will fail at times. The schedules will cramp it out, the homework will pile up, but that doesn’t matter. God is not keeping score. I wonder what would happen if families joined together and committed to read His Word just three times a week. The key is to read it out loud so that we hear and are reminded too. Somehow, I think God will amaze us. He tends to be that way.
Finally, Deuteronomy 4:39-40 says, “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.”
Orphan or Child?
These verses cause me to take a look at myself and then my gaze falls on my kids. What does their future hold? Am I encouraging them to see God as their Source, find their identity in Christ alone? Do they know that they are a part of God’s grand narrative, His story? Do they know they are created in His image to show what He is like to those around them? If my kids know who they are, then they are free from the worries of this world. They are free to trust God for their needs, and then free to look around them and be ministers to others. Like me, in some ways they are living as children and then in some ways they are living as orphans. It is the struggle of trusting that God is who He says He is.
I see my teens and others in our church and school community living as children of the King. This past year over 40 kids at our high school led prayer at “See You at the Pole.” A group of 20+ high schoolers meet every Monday morning at 7 am in the Biology teacher’s classroom to pray for each other and their school. This small band of kids is living in the world but not of the world. They know they are a part of a bigger picture. These kids are in band, orchestra, choir and theater. They are scattered throughout the cross-country, track, basketball, swimming, and volleyball teams. They sit at different lunch tables and are friends with Muslims, adopted orphans, atheists, and bored church attenders. Some of their friends are becoming curious so they end up at The Mills Church's Wednesday night youth group. One friend told my daughter recently, “I didn’t know church could be this way!”
Yet, as I, they still struggle with the tendency to live as orphans. We know that we know that we know who God says we are, but sometimes the voices of this world are so loud and overwhelming. The world tells us we must do more to be more to get more. The result is disillusionment and frustration with a keen sense of “lostness.” Our only hope and our kids’ only hope is to be continually reminded of who God is and who He says we are. Deuteronomy 4 reminded me today that the “Lord is God; besides him there is no other.”
Identity Crisis
How do we help ourselves and our kids with the real tension to either live like children or orphans? I can’t think of any other way to win this identity crisis than immersing ourselves in God’s Word, telling and re-telling His story, remembering who God is and who He says we are. We can’t do the transforming work in our kids’ hearts and lives. That is God’s job. But we can tell His story, give our kids to Him, and trust Him. This is our work, and it is hard.
Just One Thing
I usually do not make New Year’s resolutions. For me, they are a sure plan to feel like a failure. As a parent, I really don’t need more of that feeling! But as I read this passage of scripture today from Deuteronomy 4, I am motivated. I want more than anything for my kids to know God’s story, not so they look like super-Christians who can perform a recited scripture passage, but so that they know who they are! I just feel that God keeps trying to get this message across, over and over again. If my kids know that they are God’s child and that He is with them, looking out for them day in and day out, they are free to live the way He created them to live. In Deuteronomy 4, God tells us to “ask now about the former days, long before our time, from the day God created man on the earth.” He wants us and our kids to hear about His marvelous works so that we might know and never forget that the Lord is God.
So, in 2011 I am going to keep telling my kids God’s story. Will you join me? I want to read the Bible as a story to my kids out loud three times a week. I know I will fail at times. The schedules will cramp it out, the homework will pile up, but that doesn’t matter. God is not keeping score. I wonder what would happen if families joined together and committed to read His Word just three times a week. The key is to read it out loud so that we hear and are reminded too. Somehow, I think God will amaze us. He tends to be that way.
Finally, Deuteronomy 4:39-40 says, “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.”
Jana Hoober
MillsKIDS Director
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