First Grade Bible Presentation

Bible Presentation

Bibles will be presented to our rising First Graders during both worship services on Sunday, August 23rd. If you have a child that will be attending first grade this fall, please contact Sharon at sharon@fbchurch.com or call the church office at 252-638-5691. We want to be sure to have a Discoverer's Bible ready for your first grader!

Back to School Splash

Annual Back to School Splash

Saturday, August 22nd

6:00 - 8:00 pm

YMCA

Pizza, Drinks, Dessert and LOTS of Fun!

Sign up on the Breezeway Bulletin Board or email Sharon at sharon@fbchurch.com

Bring your family and a friend

Parents' Night Out

Friday Night - It's Parents' Night Out!

This Friday, May 8th from 5:30-7:30 PM our First Baptist kids are all set for a night of FRIENDS and FUN!

Babies and Toddlers will be cared for in the Fist Baptist Preschool area.

Preschoolers will gather in the Family Life Center for an evening of riding toys, games and snacks.

Kindergarten through Fourth Graders are off for a night of "Destination Unknown".
(We will be traveling by bus to a nearby stables to visit farm animals, including ten baby goats, and ride some friendly horses. This is a surprise for the kids so keep it on the DL :)

Register your child/children on the Breezeway Bulletin Board or text or email me by Thursday afternoon .

Hope to see your kids Friday.

Sharon
252-259-7771
sharon@fbchurch.com

Children's Day 2015

May 10th is Children's Day at First Baptist Church.

Orr Preschool and Children's Choirs will sing during the 8:45 Worship Service and our Children's Choir will sing during the 11:00 Worship. Preteens and Older Children will take part in leading in different aspects of the service.

We believe that Children's Day is a meaningful and important day in the life of our church. Children benefit because they sense they are valued. They are excited to have leadership in worship and feel a sense of accomplishment in their contribution. We hope parents are pleased to belong to a church that supports them as parents and believes children are a gift from God. The church family will be blessed to see that God is at work with First Baptist's next generation.

Rev. Templeton will be working with our choirs on Wednesday evening from 6:00 - 7:00 PM. We hope you child will be in attendance as we prepare for this special day.

Blessings,
Sharon

Palm Sunday

This Sunday, March 28th is Palm Sunday. Our preschoolers and children will meet in the Sanctuary at 8:30 am for a Children's Time and to rehearse for the Palm Processional that will happen at the beginning of the service. Following the processional the Children's Choir will share the song, "Sing, Hosanna."

We will follow the same routine at the second service meeting in the sanctuary at 10:45 am. Children will be dismissed following the processional if they attended the first service.

This is a wonderful tradition for our First Baptist family. We hope you will join us for this exciting event as we teach and prepare our children for Resurrection Sunday.

Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Egg Hunt Rescheduled

Due to the wet weather and cold temperatures we are rescheduling the Annual Easter Egg Hunt to Sunday afternoon at 3:30 pm. The Egg Hunt will be at Creekside Park, Congleton Shelter.

Children are encouraged to bring food items for the Kennedy Home Food Drive. Flyers with suggested items are available at church or online at http://www.bchfamily.org/foodroundup

The Hunt is for preschool through fourth grade. Preteens are invited to help hide the eggs at 2:30 pm and stay for the Egg Hunt and refreshments.

We look forward to seeing your family on Sunday!

Sunday, March 29

Preparing Our Kids for Easter

Last year I shared the following article in our April Newsletter. In preparing our kids for Easter 2015, I thought it was worth repeating. From "Sharing the Easter Faith with Children” by Carolyn C. Brown this article helps parents, grandparents, and children’s leaders better explain Easter to our children.

 A good starting point is to realize that Easter is bigger than any of us ever fully understand so we do not have to know all the answers. (big sigh of relief). NO one ever does. Easter is new life, an empty tomb, forgiveness, resurrection and more. That is not something to understand. It is a reality we have to grow in to. The truth is that we understand different aspects of Easter better at different times of our lives.

 Adults respond enthusiastically to the Easter claim and promise of victory over death because the reality, especially the finality of death. Children however, have a hard time grasping the reality, especially the finality of death. Even after attending Granddad’s funeral a young child will often ask, at unexpected times, when Granddad will be visiting. This natural inability to grasp the finality of death is supported by fairy tale princesses who awake after “sleeping” for years and cartoon characters who, flattened by steamrollers, peel themselves off the road. Given all this, it’s not surprising that children can’t get too excited by victory over death.

 Many books and people, and I’m afraid I must admit that I have tried to get around this by focusing on new life, paying attention to eggs, bulbs, and butterflies as new life symbols. I have found that while children are vaguely interested in these symbols, “New life” strikes few of them (for whom all of life is “New”) as particularly significant or exciting.

 What I have learned this year in preparing for Easter is that for younger children, the empty tomb is the ultimate victory of the good guys (God/Jesus) over  the bad guys (Judas, the priests, Pilate, the soldiers). On Good Friday the bad guys thought they had won. They killed Jesus and sealed His body into a guarded tomb. On Easter morning, God/Jesus blasted right out of that tomb and proved one and for all that God is more powerful than even the worst evil the worst bad guys can inflict. The natural response to such a victory is to yell “hooray for God and Jesus!” and to celebrate belonging to God who is the most powerful power there is in the universe!

 To older elementary children, who are focused on friendships and have clear expectations of “best friends,” the most significant resurrection story is the story of Peter’s breakfast conversation with Jesus (John 21:1-19). Peter had been Jesus’ best friend. He had promised to stick with Jesus no matter what. And he had been caught three times on the same night pretending he did not even know Jesus. As a betrayed “best friend,” Jesus would have been justified in ignoring or punishing Peter of his denials. But Jesus did not. For Peter, the resurrection happened when Jesus forgave him, welcomed him back as a friend, and put him to work building God’s Kingdom. For older children, Easter holds the promise that Jesus will forgive them and welcome them back when and if they betray their friendship with him. Such Easter forgiveness is worth celebrating!

 One final reminder – remember the starting point of this article – Easter is bigger than we can understand. We probably do the most harm when we fail to talk with our children about our Easter faith out of fear that we will not get it right."

 May we use the remaining days of March to prepare ourselves, our hearts, our homes, our church, and our children for the wonderful celebration of Easter.

Preparing Our Kids for Easter

Preparing Our Kids for Easter - Step Four

"Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is the one and only God.   Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your strength.   The commandments I give you today must be in your hearts.   Make sure your children learn them. Talk about them when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Speak about them when you go to bed. And speak about them when you get up." Deuteronomy 6: 4-7

4. Bedtime Blessing

The final time God specifies is “when you lie down.” Kids are fantastic stallers for bedtime. Wouldn’t it be great if you got them at their own game and turned their stall time into a time for discussion and blessing?

For young children, check out “The Jesus Storybook Bible” which tells the stories of Scripture in a unique way and points out where Jesus can be found in every story. For older kids, before they go to bed, simply ask them if anything is on their mind that they need to talk about before bed so they can sleep well. It will shock you what they are willing to share in that safe place with you. These moments will be the last thoughts before your cherub slips off to sleep; can you think of a better sendoff?

Once these four practices become habitual for you, you will find it much easier to put Christ in the center of your family activities. Your kids won’t think it’s “weird” when you take time to schedule a Family Faith Talk because you’ve already invited Jesus to the dinner table. It won’t feel difficult to turn to Scripture in everyday moments because you’ve been listening to it in the car and reading it before bed. And before you know it, your baby steps will become faith-forming strides as discipleship happens … at home.

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” Zechariah 4:10. In other words, God loves us and He loves our baby steps.

 

Preparing our Kids for Easter

Preparing Our Kids for Easter - Step Three

"Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is the one and only God.   Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your strength.   The commandments I give you today must be in your hearts.   Make sure your children learn them. Talk about them when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Speak about them when you go to bed. And speak about them when you get up." Deuteronomy 6: 4-7

3. Drive time

God tells parents to share with their kids as they “walk along the road.” This doesn’t happen as much as it did but we do drive along the road an awful lot. If you have to travel frequently, might I suggest downloading or purchasing some “Adventures in Odyssey” programs from Focus on the Family? These dramas provide a great platform for discussion with kids and they will love listening / watching them (you will too — they’re pretty great!) These episodes bring on many conversations with our children brought on by topics discussed in the episode and as an added bonus, the episodes all have Scriptures to go with them so you don’t have to figure it out yourself!

 

  

Wednesday Nights in March

Wednesday Nights @ First

During the month of March our Preteen, Youth, and Adults will meet in the sanctuary for Lenten Worship. The service will be from 6:00 -6:45pm. There will be a children's time for our first through fourth graders at the beginning of the service. Following, the children will be dismissed to Missions with their Mission Leaders. At 6:30 pm they will go to Children's Choir with Rev. Templeton.

Our Preschoolers will continue their regular Wednesday Night schedule with Mission Friends and Preschool Choir from 6:00 - 7:00 pm. As always, there is childcare for our babies and toddlers.

One special announcement - our Preschool Choir will lead in worship at the 8:45 Worship Service on Sunday, March 8th.

We hope to see you all Wednesday evening and Sunday morning.

Preparing Our Kids for Easter - Step Two

"Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is the one and only God.   Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your strength.   The commandments I give you today must be in your hearts.   Make sure your children learn them. Talk about them when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Speak about them when you go to bed. And speak about them when you get up." Deuteronomy 6: 4-7

Step 2

2. Dinner discussions

Another time God encourages us to engage with our kids is “when you sit.” It’s rare to have families in a place where they all sit down together, but sometimes dinner still gives us that opportunity. To center your conversation during those nights, consider asking four questions: What was your high today? What was your low? What mistake did you make? Where did you see God today? These questions lead to “teachable moments” at dinner and before you know it you may begin discussing something related to faith, God, family or church. And what’s great is that everyone, even Mom and Dad, gets to participate.

Preparing Our Kids for Easter - Step One

4 Steps to Discipleship at Home

As we prepare our children for the important celebration of Easter I thought you may like some simple ways to shape you child's faith formation. For the next several weeks there will be suggestions for ways you can implement discipleship in your home.

Step 1

in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, God tells parents to “impress” his commands on the children and provides four times in which to do that. One of those times is “when you rise.” Mornings can often be rushed, crazy times as everyone is trying to get shoes tied, hair brushed, coffee guzzled and breakfast consumed. In the middle of it all, take just 30 seconds to stop with each child and pray a simple blessing like, “Lord, be with Grace today. May she know that you are with her, that you love her and that you have called her by name and may she return home full of joy and wisdom.”

You will be setting the tone for the day with those simple words and reminding her just how much she is loved by you and by God.

 

Christmas Eve at First Baptist

Christmas Eve Services at First

4:00 PM Family Friendly Service with Live Nativity, Carols, Children's Time, Special Music by Children's and Preschool Choirs.

6:00 PM Candlelight and Communion Service with Special Pre-service music beginning at 5:30 PM

I recently read the following article about the reason that Children Need to Get to Church on Christmas Eve. I thought you may enjoy the author's thoughts...

In most families Christmas Eve and Day are busy, chaotic times.  It is not easy to get a family that includes overly-excited children to church.  But, it is worth the effort.  Children (and their parents) actually need it.  The church helps when it articulates for parents clear reasons to make the effort.  Here is my starter list of reasons. 

To hear the story read or told in an important way on the “night it happened” – Children like hearing the story of their birth on their birthday and celebrating other big events on “the very day it happened.”  So, the story which may have been acted out in a pageant and discussed in church school and read at home, feels more “real” when read on Christmas Eve or Day in the sanctuary.

 

To go to church at night – These days children are at church most often during the day.  To go at night to a decorated, even candle-lit church is almost magical.  When the family makes this an important part of Christmas – even in the middle of the chaos – just being there reminds children what is most important about Christmas.

 

To be with a crowd telling the  story – Joining church friends in a packed sanctuary reminds children that this story is something bigger than just their family traditions.  They are part of a huge family of families who celebrate Jesus’ birth.

 

To sing the carols at least one more time – Not many families sing together at home and not many children’s groups sing religious carols any more.  That means we need to be intentional about singing with the carols with the children.  And, who would want to miss singing “Silent Night” in the Christmas Eve sanctuary while hugging your child!

 

To create a context in which to discover the truth about Santa – If Santa is all there is to Christmas Eve once children learn “the truth,” Christmas is just a greedy gift grab.  But, if Christmas Eve has always circled around the story of Jesus told in the sanctuary, the truth about Santa can be fit into that context and the  Christmas celebration gets richer.

 

To create memories - Worshiping on Christmas Eve or Day as a family creates over the years a treasure trove of memories.  Some of them shine with wonder.  Others make for eye-rolling stories that are retold every Christmas.  These memories are precious for both the children as they mature and the parents as they age.

Parents' Night Out

It's the Final PNO for 2014

Hey First Kids -- It's time for another great night of fun with your friends at First Baptist.

Friday from 5:30 to 8:00 pm we will have childcare for our infants and toddlers, riding toys and games in the Family Life Center for our preschoolers and a field trip to Jump-N-Jax for our kindergarten through fourth grade students. Snacks will be provided for everyone.

If you would like to join us, have your parents register you on the breezeway bulletin board by Wednesday night. Or they can email Sharon. sharon@fbchurch.com

It's going to be a great night for kids and their parents! Hope you can join us.

Operation Christmas Child

First Baptist's Annual Family Ministry Event is Sunday, November 9th.

You and your child/children are invited to participate in Operation Christmas Child through First Baptist Children’s Ministry. This is an opportunity for you to share with your child/children the importance of missions through sharing with children around the world.

We see this as a two-step partnership ministry:

Step One: Your family purchases gifts to be included in Operation Christmas Child boxes. Please include your child in shopping - talking with him/her about this mission endeavor. We will provide the boxes.  You will need to include $7 per box for shipping costs or you may go to the OCC website at http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/followyourbox/ to make the donation and print out special EZ-Give boy/girl labels for your shoe box gifts. This will allow boxes to be tracked so you can find out the destination of your shoe box gifts. You may like to bring a picture of your child or family to include as well.

Step Two:  On Sunday, November 9th, we will meet in the Family Life Center during Sunday School (10:00 – 10:45).  We will watch a short video presentation and then prepare boxes for Operation Christmas Child. There will be stations for you to construct your boxes, write a letter to the child that will receive your box, and tables of items to fill your box. We will then take the boxes into the 11:00 Worship Service for dedication. This will be at the beginning of the service and you may leave following the dedication prayer (if you attended the 8:45 service).

 

We hope your family will plan to be with us. This event is our way of supporting you in encouraging your child’s heart for missions. If you need more information, please contact me at 252-259-7771.

I look forward to being on mission with your family,

Sharon Bender

Kids on MIssion

Wednesday Nights at First

On Wednesday, November 5th our Children in Action (Grades 1-4) will meet from 6:00 - 7:00 pm with their Mission Leaders. Children's Choir will resume the following Wednesday evening.






Our Preschoolers (Mission Friends) will be practicing on Wednesday night (6:00 - 7:00 pm) to lead in worship on Sunday, November 9th during the 8:45 worship service.






Our adults and youth are encouraged to join us in the sanctuary at 6:00 pm for a concert by our Community Gospel Choir led by Craig Little.

Hope to see you all on Wednesday at First!

Family Fun at First

Saturday is FAMILY FUN DAY at First Baptist.

From 4:00 until 6:00 pm there will be bounce houses and a slide and obstacle course and a train for all our little ones.

 

 

 

Make your plans to be with us and bring a friend to our first ever family fun afternoon!

Backpack Blessings Build

Come Build a Backpack with First Baptist

Our church family is invited to join our fellow churches to help feed hungry children in our community by participating in the 'Backpack Build" at Garber Methodist Church on Saturday, September 27.

First Baptist's focus session is from 1:00 - 3:30 pm. We hope to have lots of participants from our congregation. Older children are encouraged to attend with their parents.

Our Preteens are planning to serve together with their Sunday School teachers Anna Young and Carole Hart (read all about their plans in the previous post!)

We look forward to seeing you Saturday as work together to fight hunger in Craven County.

Feeding Hungry Children in Craven County

On Saturday, September 27 our pre-teen Sunday school class will head to Garber United Methodist Church to participate in a "backpack build" for Backpack Blessings.

 

Backpack Blessings is a local nonprofit committed to feeding hungry children in Craven County. The goal of Backpack Blessings is to provide a comprehensive program of raising money, identifying kids in need, purchasing food items, packing weekend food bags and distributing to kids in need in every elementary school.

 

Our class will meet in the church parking lot at 12:30pm on September 27 and travel as a group to Garber. The packing session will begin at 1:00pm. During the pack we will fill zip lock bags with non-perishable food items. These bags will be distributed among the elementary schools in Craven County and will be delivered to the schools on the following Monday. This is not a hard job but it is critical in allowing Backpack Blessings to fulfill its mission!

 

After the packing session, we will return to FBC and then share a treat at Cow Café. We estimate returning to the church at 4:00pm after our ice cream treats but we will have cell phones available for pre-teens to use should we return earlier.

 

If you are interested in your pre-teen being a part of this important day, please contact our pre-teen Sunday school teachers, Carole Hart (671-0464) or Anna Young (241-4540). There is a permission slip that needs to be filled out prior to departing the FBC parking lot.

 

This is something that makes a difference in our own community! As our scripture in Sunday school this month says, "Be kind and compassionate to one another" (Ephesians 4:32) and "Walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us" (Ephesians 5:2).

Sunday Morning Worship Bags

First Kids' Worship Bags are now even more FUN!

Beginning this Sunday, August 24th, our children can use their Worship Bulletin to access online games that reinforce the week's sermon lesson. There is a secret code on the bottom of each child's bulletin that is unique to our church and allows safe and secure access to the Children's Worship Bulletin @ Home link. Several games are rotated - Memory Match, Word Search, Gems of the Bible and Coloring Book - so each week kids will have something new to play. The games are geared toward all age levels so everyone can join in the fun!
                
Step 1: Your child picks up a bulletin with a secret code on the front.
                
Step 2: At home they enter the secret code at Games.ChildrensBulletins.com

I hope your family enjoys this new opportunity for Bible learning and discussion.

See you Sunday!
Sharon