Calendar – Page 3 – Family Faith Companion

Are you ready to review for the Big Game?

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Carol Hulbert

This Sunday at the downtown location, it’s time for the Big Game! Also known as Are You Smarter Than a Sixth Grader?

We’ll be playing a large group game to review Bible stories we’ve covered since September. It will be sort of like the old TV show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

This game is always loads of fun. We treat it as an end of school year celebration! (But Sunday’s Cool will continue during the summer.)

Big Game 2015 - 5th grade confiring on an answer

Class Teams work together closely. And checking the Bible for an answer is allowed (but you’d better be fast!)

The Big Game- a group huddle in 2011 The Big Game 2014 - checking the Bible for an answer

And, NEW this year! All parents are welcome to join the Parent Team to test their Bible knowledge against the 1st – 6th graders.

big game 2014 - Final score In prior years the score has been close!

How will you prepare?

Review these stories: (And perhaps look at past review techniques I’ve suggested? Also here!)

The Parable of the Good Samaritan. Luke 10:25-37. I’m certain that at the very least you’ll want to remember what is a “parable.”
The Parable of the Talents. Matthew 25:14-28.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son. Luke 15:1-3, 11-32. These parables all have a hidden meaning. Do you recall the hidden lesson from this parable?
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Matthew 26:36-56.
The Feeding of the 5,000+ found in John 6:1-14. You could watch quick videos to review this one, found at the end of this post.

See you at the Big Game!

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Photo credits:
Photos are from my archives.

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What motivates you to get up every morning?

Posted on April 20, 2016April 24, 2017 by Carol Hulbert

Youth Worship logo 2016 Surely you’ve seen those on-line tests which reveal the Disney Character you are? (Or which Super Hero, or which Disney Princess?) These quizzes can be fun but if you are ranked as Belle, or Mulan, or Prince Charming, does that help you to know who you truly are? Does it push you to get out of bed in the morning?

What is your identity?

Identity is our sense of who we are in relationship to other people. Various elements affect our description of ourselves, including biological, cultural, psychological, and social.

Is there a spiritual side to our identity?

You bet there is!

Did you know that you were born a spiritual person?

(It’s the way God made us.)

some of our youth, 2015 — Some of our youth gather in a heart shape!

Join us this weekend as we explore this topic in Youth-led worship at FUMC. We will not be holding any Cool Disciple workshops on Saturday at Green Wood or downtown on Sunday, for grades 1st – 6th, so plan on attending this service!

How about a little pre-worship preparation? Around the family dinner table? (Or wherever your family is gathered together.) And de-brief afterwards!

Here are some potential discussion points/activities:

Play a dinner table game of Twenty-Questions, focusing on identifying people.

Ask your table guests: What words would describe who you are?

What if we describe ourselves as a violin player, but then, later on, we can no longer afford to play violin? Or what if we say that we are an athlete, but when we get older, we may no longer be able to participate in sports? How can it help to broaden our focus in thinking about who we are — to think beyond what we do, or what we look like?

What words do you suppose Jesus would use to describe you? (Acknowledge the feelings expressed.)

I’m thinking that when we allow Jesus to define who we are, we get a much fuller picture!

open bible Here is one way that is appropriate to see ourselves… Get out a Bible and read this verse from 1 John 3:1:

See what amazing love the Father has given us! Because of it, we are called children of God. And that’s what we really are!

How does it feel to know that you are a “child of God” – something that you never have to worry about growing out of?

“wise For older kids: How can we use the notion of being a child of God to protect us from society’s push to own the next best thing or to be the biggest money-maker?

“icon Here’s a potential “Write it on the fridge” project… Write on the top of a piece of paper “What I Want To Do In My Lifetime.” Allow family members and household guests to add their ideas.

Reflections from SoulFull Retreat — On the SoulFull Retreat this spring, youth answered a different sort of question.

I’m looking forward to hearing what the youth have to tell us about their identity!

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Photo credits:
Youth photos used by permission; rest of photos from my archives. Clip art from http://www.wpclipart.com/

How quiet contemplation revealed a hidden need?

Posted on February 11, 2016April 9, 2022 by Carol Hulbert

With the start of the season of Lent, a sharp-eyed churchgoer/church on-line watcher will spot changes in the Sanctuary. Ask your family members what they notice. First up, the colors have switched! The purple paraments are back. (Paraments are the hangings that adorn the pulpit, or the extra “garments,” the stoles the clergy wear. Did you know that each season of the Church Year has a different color?)

Wonder with your family: why purple for Lent?

cross in the sanctuary on Ash Wednesday And secondly, the empty, “old rugged cross” is back… watch it progress slowly—week to week—on it’s Lenten journey from the back of the church all the way to the front.

Do you wonder what if it blocks your view in church?

Discuss with your family what the recurrence of this on-the-move cross says to you.

Both of these alterations are relatively innocuous.

Or are they signals of something bigger? Something like…

Hey, it’s Lent! It’s time to intentionally put God at the center of your life.

But how is that suppose to happen?

Going into Lent I was conflicted. I knew that I needed/wanted to “do” something specific to mark my travel through Lent, to turn my thoughts toward the reason why Easter is important… but I wasn’t sure what to do. Give something up? Take something on? Then I got my answer at last night’s Ash Wednesday worship service.

It was a Taizé style service, consisting of meditative, repeated songs and scripture interspersed with periods of silent contemplation.

And in that quiet… I found peace.

Ah ha! I needed an injection of peace—some sacred time.

I needed to pull back from my day-to-day stuff and experience the divine.

imparting ashes on Ash Wednesday At this service there were the sacred rituals of the sharing of bread and juice in Holy Communion, and the imposition of ashes—the part where “dust” gets etched onto our foreheads with the words, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return. Repent and believe.”

Lent begins with this sign—ashes. The ashes are symbolic of death. I need to let my old ways die. I need to try something new.

So I went home and created an “altar.” On an old board I placed a few “special” rocks, a sprig of fake flowers, a pinch pot made by my son when he was 5 years old… It is a place for me to linger, to allow my soul to be in quiet contemplation.

I plan to add and subtract from my holy space as I feel the whim. I plan to “visit” every day.

Lenten altar

How will you create your sacred Lenten space?

Photo credits:
Copyright photos from my archives.

Should Epiphany only be celebrated in the dark?

Posted on January 6, 2016February 25, 2022 by Carol Hulbert

A beautiful blue sky day in winter

Happy Epiphany! Such a bright, sunny day—how rare for these parts in winter! How do you plan to celebrate Epiphany?

On Epiphany we remember wandering “wise men” who tracked a star and “followed its glisten and gleam all this way to worship him” (Matthew 2:2, The Voice).

Did you know that the stars are always shining, even in the daytime? It’s easy to forget isn’t it? We need a total solar eclipse to be able to see them, but they are there! Epiphany, with it’s focus on stars, do we have to wait until dark to celebrate?

The word Epiphany literally means to show or to make known or to reveal. It gets this name because the magi had finally reached their long-traveled destination. They were searching for a child, born to be God among us, and they had finally found him! They worshiped Jesus, presented gifts suitable for royalty, and thus revealed to the world that Jesus was a king.

If they were focused on a star, I wonder how the magi navigated during the daylight hours?

Was the star bright enough during the day? Or did they only travel at night? (The Bible doesn’t tell us.)

Was their arrival at our Savior’s doorstep a dark-night happening?

We think of daylight as a time when it is easier to see; to find our way. We label “darkness” as scary and to be avoided.

Can we find comfort in our darkness — the kind that occurs in broad daylight — knowing that the stars are always there?

Light a candle at the dinner table tonight. Think about and discuss ways we can be God’s light helping others along the journey.

Photo credits:
Bright, daylight photo, copyright, from my archives.
A Star in the East, a painting by W. L. Taylor, 1900, in the Public Domain.

Are we there yet? Helpful Christmas activities will get you through!

Posted on December 23, 2015October 24, 2016 by Carol Hulbert

School is out for “Winter Break.” Are your kiddos busy or bored?

Looking for something for your family or your kids to do, that’s related to Christmas? Choose from these activities…

To do as a family…

Throw a birthday party for Jesus! Bake a cake together.
Read the Christmas story while it bakes. Be sure to decorate your cake! And sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus!
Play a version of the game hot/cold. Choose one person (“it”) to leave the room while someone hides the baby Jesus from your nativity set. “It” then looks for the hidden Jesus, while everyone else sings a Christmas song – louder if “it” is close to the babe, or softer if he/she moves further away. Take this opportunity to discuss how Jesus is always close to us.
Watch some fun, short videos together (each about 1 minute). Produced by Veggie Tale creator Phil Vischer, these are a series of 12 videos called “Clive and Ian’s 12 Questions of Christmas.” Clive and Ian are puppets. Ian asks Clive questions such as “Was Jesus born on Christmas?” and “Who is Emmanuel?” Watch all 12 of them (one at a time) here.

For kids to do on their own (or with your help)…

Listen and read along as the nativity story is told, complete with appropriate Christmas Carols. It’s an on-line sing along! Click here.
Listen to the story of Jesus’ birth while you put together a puzzle showing the shepherds visiting the Christ child. Two different levels of puzzles here.
There are lots of other puzzles and games at this site. Some for older kids, ages 8-10.

Have the kids take photos which represent the words of Advent.

Check out my interpretation of these words.

Share your ideas for Christmasey entertainment.

Photo credits:
Birthday Cake by Will Clayton, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

Why you need a thanksgiving chair

Posted on November 26, 2015June 1, 2016 by Carol Hulbert

This Thanksgiving as you gather ’round the table, I’ll bet there will be a time for reviewing your gratitude. There likely will be lists. Every year we write ours on the table cloth.

There are the usual entries: Our health, our families, our friends, our homes, our stuff. Do we remember to add our skills and abilities; our talents?

Everything is a gift.

Yes, everything.

Even the hard things.

I wonder how the third servant in the Parable of the Talents felt, after he’d been lambasted by his master? Did he consider that a gift?

I wonder how our experience of misfortune can be changed if we consider it a gift?

Watch this short video. It’s powerful. It’s a reminder to always give thanks, for everything.

And to teach our children to do likewise.

(If reading this in an email, you can watch this video on YouTube.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Some of you have seen this before. Is it okay if I do a repeat? I’m using parts of a post I published two years ago… but this one is good. It’s worth the re-exposing. Thanks for grace.

~~ Carol

Video produced by Shift Worship.

Why did Ruth make a startling (crazy?) choice?

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

Have you ever admired something in someone, causing you to wonder: What makes them tick?

I’m not talking about wonderment in a swooning sort of way — more wanting to know what it is that motivates a person. What is their driving force?

The Bible doesn’t give us many clues but Naomi must have exhibited behaviors that Ruth applauded, eliciting a, “Hey, I want to be like her” response in Ruth.

This coming Sunday kids will be in worship as we celebrate All Saints Day, a time when we commemorate the lives of those who have shown us a picture of faith. Though this is a day set-aside to remember faith-warriors who have died in the last year, we can stretch our definition of a saint to someone who is living; someone who wears their faith on their sleeve.

Naomi must have worn her faith on her sleeve.

Ruth acted on her admiration for her mother-in-law Naomi. She made a startling choice:

Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. Ruth 1:16b,c

Time Out. Talk about… speech bubble
Ask these questions at the family dinner table. (Or wherever your family is gathered together.)

What could have made Ruth decide to follow Naomi’s God?
Who to you seems like they are close to God?
Have you ever thought about asking them how they got connected to God?
Identify people you know who seem to be “God followers.” Make a plan to ask them about their faith.
What is it about YOUR faith that might make other’s think: “how can I be like them?”

How are you wearing your faith on your sleeve?

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Photo credits:
A thoughtful child by Ryse Lawrence, in the Public Domain, offered at Pixabay.com.

Does your crammed calendar announce commitment to church?

Posted on September 3, 2015October 1, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

I have always considered that September trumps January in the “starting-anew” arena. September means a multitude of fresh possibilities!

Here’s something that may be new to you: Adding “church” to your family calendar.

Here is how my Sundays look:
(It may be how your Saturday looks if you attend at Green Wood)

Is church on your calendar Have you considered the life-giving reasons why “church” should be on your calendar?

(a) Because research shows that active involvement in a faith community is a important factor in children becoming happy, healthy adults. (Want even more statistics? Here are 52 reasons to go to church — one for every week!)

(b) Because church provides folks with a built-in extended family of positive role models.

Get started with purposeful participation: delegate a block of time on your calendar for church!

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On another chronological note, we’ll be restarting the Workshop Rotation Model soon, after a break featuring our summer movie series.

Our first story of the new year will be The Parable of the Good Samaritan. Read about our story in Luke 10:25-37. (To see a growing list of opportunities to foster faith learning at home for this month’s story, click here.)

On Sundays, at the downtown location, here is the schedule….

Date	Activities for 1st through 6th graders
9/6	Worship with your family. Read ahead of time, the scripture Nancy Lynn will be using: Luke 10:38-42 and James 2:14-17. Last week’s sermon was part one. Listen if you missed it.
9/13	Everyone participates in a Video Workshop in the Social Hall. What a great way for all to be introduced to our story!

For the rest of the month, the 6th graders will do things a bit differently… (including special projects around our current Rotation). On 9/27 they will videotape a puppet show of the story that will be shown to the preschool and K’s on 10/4.

Date	Activities for 1st through 5th graders
	Cooking	Cooking	Art	Art
	Social Hall A	Social Hall B	Room 211	Room 212
9/20	3rd grade	4th grade	1st grade	2nd grade	5th grade will also do Art in Room 215
9/27	1st grade	2nd grade	4th grade	5th grade	3rd grade will have a special Bible presentation class in the Wesley Lounge.
10/4	Worship with your family. It is World Communion Sunday. Read ahead of time, the scripture: Acts 11:1-9. I’m wondering what this will teach us about what it means to live out “Disruptive Christianity.”

And on Saturdays evenings, at the Green Wood location, here is the schedule…

Date	Activity
9/5	Wrap up the summer movie series and find answers to the question: How can we show respect to God through our actions? See here for your family discussion guide.
9/12	The Good Samaritan Video Workshop.
9/19	Worship with your family. Read the scripture ahead of time: Matthew 20:20-28.
9/26	Worship with your family. Read the scripture ahead of time: John 8:2-11. (How do you explain adultery? For young children: A broken promise made between a husband and a wife. For older kids: Adults who did not stay faithful to their husband or their wife.)
10/3	The Good Samaritan Art Workshop.

What’s happening in each workshop?

In the Video Workshop students will watch portions of the animated Veggie Tales video Are You My Neighbor? They will also participate in a “Golden Rule” activity.
In the Art Workshop students will decorate cards for the visitation team to distribute to our home-bound neighbors.
In the Cooking Workshop students will create homemade granola bars to distribute to a “neighbor.” Includes coming up with a broad definition of “neighbor.”

On Saturday nights and on Sunday mornings at FUMC our Cool Disciples experience Rotation Model Christian education, as they learn about Bible stories and concepts through kid-friendly multimedia workshops. If you are in the area please join us for the fun learning at First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, MI.