Children's Ministry Message from Lori Herson, March 29, 2020

Hi Goshen Families,

I don't know about you, but I seem to be losing track of the days of the week! It's easy to let the hours and days roll by without noticing the new opportunities that God is giving to us with our family during this very different and in many ways difficult time. I would encourage you to keep your family connected to our church by sharing with your children the different lessons, songs, posts, and activities that we are sending out. We want to keep you all connected to the life of our church and your children need you to help them make that happen!

We'd love to hear from you as well! One way that we can all connect together is to have all of our families participate in a special Palm Sunday video project. Palm Sunday has always been a special Sunday for our children as they have had the opportunity to participate in the service and help usher in this very special Easter season. Since we won't be able to gather at church on Palm Sunday, we'd love for you to take a few minutes this week to make a family video reciting Matthew 21:9b. You can be creative with this 10-20 second video, but we are asking you to send it to me (lori@goshenbaptist.org) by Thursday evening next week. We'll try to compile all the videos that are sent in and make a Palm Sunday video montage for our service on April 5th! A fun idea would be to have your kids make their own paper palm branches and wave them while you recite the verse together!

Here are a few tips that will help us pull off this Palm Sunday video:

• Set your camera settings to 720p at 30 fps
• On iPhone, go to Settings>Camera>Record Video>720p HD at 30 fps (see attached picture)
• Put your camera sideways so you are recording in landscape view. Please no vertical videos
• Keep the camera at face height, if possible
• Have some “dead air” at the beginning and the end of your video so we can buffer the videos

And that's it! We can't wait to see you and your children as we participate in our very first Palm Sunday video!

SUNDAY, MARCH 29th:

Below are some resources you can use with your children for this coming Sunday, March 29th. Be sure to listen and watch our online service this Sunday as we will be making our big VBS theme reveal!

• Here are 2 links for our new VBS music! Your kids will love it!!!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xS48-KihC0
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNEAtmq6oTE
• Here is a link where you can access a worksheet to accompany the lesson for this Sunday:   https://sharesync.serverdata.net/us/s/zoqnllTylA8ixwW8oTQj1D003d1554
• Here is a link for the video of the lesson for Sunday (please note - due to some technical difficulties our normal curriculum video is unavailable; however, this link covers the lesson content for this week): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho_3gvIWzbw
• Here is some text for the lesson that you can read with your family:                        Jesus as a Child

The Gospel of Luke records just two narratives about Jesus’ childhood: His dedication (Luke 2:21-40) and His visit to the temple when He was 12 years old (Luke 2:41-52). The Gospel of Matthew includes another story: a visit from some wise men. These stories of Jesus as a child set the stage for Jesus’ ministry as an adult.

After Jesus was born, God put a star in the sky as a sign. Wise men from the east followed the star to Jerusalem, looking for a new king. They found Jesus, who was probably 1 or 2 years old, in Bethlehem and they worshiped Him as King. Later, Jesus and His family settled in Nazareth, where Jesus grew up.

In Bible times, a Jewish boy became a man at 13. His father would train him to take on all the responsibilities of adulthood—social and spiritual. Joseph was a carpenter, and he likely trained Jesus in his trade. When Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, Joseph might have taken Jesus, who was about 12, around the city to teach Him the significance of the temple and to explain the purpose of the Passover feast.

Jesus’ parents headed home after the feast. They assumed Jesus was among their traveling companions, but He wasn’t. Jesus had stayed behind at the temple. A full day passed before Mary and Joseph noticed Jesus was missing. They hurried back to Jerusalem and finally found Him at the temple. Jesus asked His mother, “Didn’t you know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” Mary and Joseph did not understand. But Jesus is God’s Son, and it was necessary that He honor His true Father. In all this, Jesus did not sin.

The Bible does not give many details about Jesus’ childhood, but we know that as Jesus got older, He grew “in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people” (Luke 2:52). Jesus carried out God’s plan to reconcile the world to Himself. (2 Cor. 5:19)

God sent Jesus to earth with a purpose. Even as a child, Jesus wanted to honor God. God blessed Jesus as He got ready to follow His Father’s plan: to die on the cross and rescue people from sin.

We hope you have a great time of worship together as a family this Sunday!

Lori Herson

Director of Children's Ministry, Goshen Baptist Church

lori@goshenbaptist.org

610-696-3188