NPM BLOG is here to share announcements, share what our little ones are learning, and share the Gospel each week. We get to connect with our NPM Team, NPM Families, and our little ones through our NPM Facebook Group & our NPM Instagram (new this 2023 - 2024 year!) Join us - Connect with us! COMING UP IN SEPTEMBER 2023 Our GHC Nursery & Preschool Ministry will be starting a NEW Curriculum on Sundays - Starting on September 3, 2023! Hyfi engages little ones with a fun high-energy experience created just for them! Trustworthy Bible teaching is wrapped in fun monthly themes. We know that fun and games always serve a deeper purpose—to connect our little ones to Jesus. When little ones learn to cheer for a team, work together playing a game, or learn alongside their friends, they begin to experience a sense of belonging, which opens their ears and hearts to listen to spiritual truths. Dear families,
Imagine this for a moment: It’s late Saturday night, and you’ve been out of the house all day. You’ve gone from place to place with more to do than seemed possible when you looked at all of it on the calendar. You’ve just returned home and sat down for dinner. Suddenly you remember that tomorrow is Sunday. You quickly recall that you are scheduled to serve with preschoolers tomorrow morning, your small group is having lunch together after church, and you are yet to plan out this upcoming week—which is just as packed as your weekend has been. The thought crosses your mind, What if I just sat this one out tomorrow? Does this scenario hit close to home? In Ezra 3, as the work had begun to rebuild the temple, there was an eager desire among God’s people, leading them to anticipate what that place would afford them upon its completion. As the people worked and waited, even in the midst of their exhaustion, they made time to worship. Read Ezra 3:6. Not only was the temple incomplete, but the first stage of the build was not yet done. Still, the laborers did not forget or fail to keep the purpose in front. The goal was not the temple; it was the Lord. We often find ourselves in scenarios like the one above, ready to make excuses to not do the things that matter most because we’ve misplaced our priorities—or at least lost sight of them in the whirlwind of life. Our decisions reflect what has the seat of greatest importance in our lives. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” Understanding Christ to be our greatest purpose and prize ought to direct our paths toward prioritizing our lives around Christ and His church. Not only will this be good for us, but it will be good for the rest of God’s children as well. When we are eager to be with the Lord and His people, not only will we be productive, but we will be truly satisfied. Check out The Gospel Project At Home for resources designed to help you lead a family worship experience as well as suggestions for morning and evening prayer times and family activities. FAMILY TALKING POINTS CHRIST CONNECTION This is the big idea of how this week’s Bible story points to Jesus.
BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER This is an important biblical truth that your child will encounter each week of this unit.
KEY PASSAGE This is a Bible verse that relates to what your child will encounter each week of this unit.
** Next week: God Can Always Be Trusted (Jeremiah 31)
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Sunday, August 13th – PARENT & CHILD DEDICATION SUNDAY This is a special celebration for parents to gather with family, friends, and church family, making a commitment to raise their child in a Christ-centered home. Celebrating with our GHC Family! This Sunday, August 13th Our NPM Team will be meeting for it's 1st Training Day of 2023-2024! Praying for a time to grow as a team, to prepare and plan for the new school year, and to PRAY for our NPM little ones, families, team, and ministry! CLICK HERE and See our 2023 -2024 NPM TEAM Training on our NPM Facebook Dear families,
Peace and security are words often heard in the whirlwind of our news cycles. They are used as ideas or desires that require work to achieve. They are used in the negative sense of not being a current reality. They are used as the aim, answer, or solution to the world’s problems. Though the idea of peace and security are not foreign to our vernacular, they are most certainly foreign to much of our world’s reality. It is hard to find a pocket of the earth that might be described with these terms. Rather, what is most found is chaos and fear. When we understand the true impact of sin on the world, this comes as no surprise. It’s not shocking to see the news of war and violence. It does not bring amazement to hear of murder and strife. There is no astonishment at the experience of disappointment or pain. Because we know that we live in a world riddled with sin and its implications. Read the words of Zechariah 14:11. What comes to mind? “People will live there, and never again will there be a curse of complete destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell in security.” Are you struck by the thought of such a place that could be described as secure? Are you left longing for that to be your reality? Are you doubtful that this could ever be a reality? Ultimately, this is a promise that is sure to happen. This promise is reiterated in Deuteronomy 7:7-9: “The LORD had his heart set on you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors, he brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commands.” This promise was for God’s people then, and it is for all who follow Jesus today as well. This peace and security is ours in Christ. As sure as Christ has come, lived, died, and risen, so can we find rest that this promise is true and this day will come. Check out The Gospel Project At Home for resources designed to help you lead a family worship experience as well as suggestions for morning and evening prayer times and family activities. FAMILY TALKING POINTS CHRIST CONNECTION This is the big idea of how this week’s Bible story points to Jesus.
BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER This is an important biblical truth that your child will encounter each week of this unit.
KEY PASSAGE This is a Bible verse that relates to what your child will encounter each week of this unit.
** Next week: The People Rebuilt the Temple (Ezra 2–6) Excited to see everyone for PROMOTION SUNDAY! NPM Team is ready! Classrooms are ready! Our little ones are registered and ready! Can't wait to see you all this Sunday, August 6th! August 13th – PARENT & CHILD DEDICATION SUNDAY This is a special celebration for parents to gather with family, friends, and church family, making a commitment to raise their child in a Christ-centered home. Next Sunday, we get to celebrate and come along beside our parents and little ones. We get to conduct two Parent& Child Dedications each year. Looking forward to this special milestone event. Dear families,
Rest. It’s a word that conjures up different thoughts in different people from different circumstances. For some, rest brings to mind a desire to momentarily break from the chaos of life to sleep, relax, and even recover. For others, rest is an unrealistic hope as they navigate a non-stop schedule of busyness. Yet for others, the word rest suggests an uneventful, quiet life of the mundane. Whether it’s a nap, a vacation, or boredom that comes to mind when you think of rest, it is likely a word that triggers some desire or response. And almost universally, the thought of rest is primarily physical. The Bible teaches that rhythms of rest are good and even necessary for us; however, the Bible’s primary teaching on rest refers to the spiritual. In Ezra 1, God’s remnant is instructed to recover from their exile with … work. This work would be costly, demanding, and long; but this work actually aimed to bring rest. How could this be so? Because their work was to build the place where they would encounter the living God, the One who gives true rest to the soul. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Though God clearly teaches us the benefits of a rhythm of physical rest—Sabbath—He ultimately uses physical rest to teach us of our need for a greater spiritual rest—a rest for our soul, a rest that comes in understanding that we cannot save ourselves, but God has done everything necessary through Christ to save us. We are invited into this rest through the substitutionary atonement of Jesus. The people of God are instructed in Ezra 1 to begin the arduous work of building God’s dwelling place. But this work would ultimately lead to their place of rest—in God’s presence. We too may find ourselves physically exhausted from the demanding work of faithfully following the Lord in the context He has placed us. But take heart, there is rest for your soul in the presence of God and the person of Christ. Check out The Gospel Project At Home for resources designed to help you lead a family worship experience as well as suggestions for morning and evening prayer times and family activities. FAMILY TALKING POINTS CHRIST CONNECTION This is the big idea of how this week’s Bible story points to Jesus.
BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER This is an important biblical truth that your child will encounter each week of this unit.
KEY PASSAGE This is a Bible verse that relates to what your child will encounter each week of this unit.
** Next week: Zechariah Gave Hope (Zechariah 13–14) |
GHC NPMPARTNERING WITH PARENTS Archives
August 2023
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