Posts Tagged ‘Bible’

Posted on December 1, 2009 - by edoyle

Look what we’re serving up

Today is a big day for the KidzMatter staffers here in Indiana. We are launching a new product called The Kitchen.

The Kitchen is a quarterly kid’s church curriculum that is Bible-based, teacher-driven, video-supported, and has tons of extras. I do mean tons of extras. When you download a sample lesson and check it out for yourself, you’ll see what I’m talking about! We hope you’ll be bummed that you didn’t get to everything you wanted to at the end of kid’s church.

The Kitchen is a dream come true – and not just for me. Last summer (2008) on our strategic planning day I announced to our staff that I wanted to start publishing curriculum. We decided we would start with elementary kids’ church.

Earlier this year (in May) I called Tina Houser on the phone and shared my vision with her for the curriculum. Tina was a full-time children’s pastor at the time where she had been serving for 17 years. I made the big ask and asked her to pray about joining my staff where she could focus her attention on making this curriculum a reality. It didn’t take long for her to say yes.

Bill Hybels talks a lot about hiring “tens.” When we got Tina, we got a ten. Tina has jumped in the driver’s seat and has pushed hard since July on The Kitchen. She has been writing like mad, hired a branding company, hired an animation studio to help with the videos, developed a great marketing strategy, and so much more.

Enough of the story, let me tell you what it so great about the curriculum. I’ll use bullet points to keep it simple.

• Teacher-driven. We know that most of you do kids’ church the traditional way with a teacher up front leading the action. We like that.
• Bible-based. This curriculum is not virtue or character-trait based. We figure as important as character traits are, kids learn those at school. This curriculum is about building a solid Biblical foundation in kids’ lives.
• Video-supported. We know today’s kids connect with videos and media. The Kitchen is video-supported, not video-driven. Each week you get a fun video to support your lesson.
• Extra galore! I’m talking puppet skits, games, object lessons, science experiments, Bible verses, take-home ideas, worship videos, PowerPoint slides, blessings, plus more! There’s plenty to pick and choose from.
• Subscription-based. Buy it by the quarter or by the year – it’s up to you.
• Electronic. Sorry, no thick notebooks or teacher manuals coming to you in the mail. Everything is downloadable.
• Affordable. All of this costs less than 10 bucks a Sunday.

Get to the website and learn more about The Kitchen for yourself. I can’t wait to start using it myself the first Sunday in January! You’re going to love it too! Be sure and let me know what you think.

Posted on June 3, 2009 - by rfrank

What is life?

The past few days have been long and hard for a few of our best friends at church. Their sister-in-law was tragically killed in an auto accident on Sunday afternoon when a teenager  blew through a stop sign and hit their van (read the story here). It threw both cars into a house where the house and vehicles both caught fire. The children are all okay, but their mom is in heaven with Jesus.

James had the right perspective on life when he said, “You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (4:14).

Place a tea kettle of water on the stove. As it heats to the boiling point the water turns to steam, but that steam doesn’t fill the kitchen; it disappears about a foot above the kettle. God tells us that our lives are like a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

Life is short! The older I get the shorter it seems! Each one of us have a “window of opportunity” today. Don’t neglect the important things in life. We aren’t guarenteed of tomorrow.