E-Town Parent Connect
December 2014
The season of Advent begins!!!
To help your family learn about and focus on the true meaning of the season, we are offering a "Family Devotions for the Christmas Season". Each day, from December 1st through December 25th, your family is invited to read the short devotion that focuses on one part of the Christmas narrative - starting all the way from creation to the birth of our Savior! And then your child is invited to add to draw/color the ornament that corresponds to the part of the story you read.
If your child was in E-Town this Sunday, they should have received one. If they were not, we will have them available at the E-Town info. table. Enjoy teaching your child the true meaning of Christmas through a few moments of special family time throughout the season!
What our Kindergarten through 3rd graders are learning...
With all the Christmas hoopla, it’s easier than ever to lose focus on why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. That’s why we want to spend this month talking about Generosity: making someone’s day by giving something away.
We hope kids get wrapped up in others as they show them how much God has been so generous toward us. There’s a danger in getting so wrapped up in ourselves or so wrapped up in our things that we miss the essence of this season. There’s just something about giving that reflects the character of God to those around us. Every good thing we have is a gift from Him. But we also know that God’s generosity has a purpose. God gives to us and expects us to do the same for others in return.
Generosity changes us when we learn how to give the way God gives. This month, we'll look at four great stories from the New Testament that help us understand God’s plan for generosity in our lives
What our SWAT kiddos are learning...
When we think of Christmas time, we think of Jesus being born in the manger. We sometimes forget that God had all of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus planned hundred of years before Mary, Joseph, The Wise Men, and even the manager.
During December, SWAT kiddos will look at The Story Before the Story. They will look at how God told his people all about the birth of Jesus long before it happened. As these 4th and 5th graders explore the prophets' teachings from Isaiah about Jesus' coming birth, they will learn about God's incredible power and knowledge. They will come to understand how things that seem impossible to us are completely possible with God, and that His knowledge and power exceeds anything we can imagine or know. By recognizing God's great power, we can take comfort that He can help with the seemingly impossible things we face in life.
Through games, video clips, Bible study, and discussion, the SWAT kids will look deeper into the Christmas narrative. They will see that an all-powerful, all-knowing, not-bound-by-time-or-space, GINORMOUS God is so loving and gracious that He would plan a seemingly impossible rescue of the human race from the power of sin and darkness. That He would let them know details about this plan hundreds of years before it happened and then bring it to fruition in His perfect way and in His perfect timing through a baby born in a place where animals are kept in a little nondescript town called Bethlehem under a brand new star...
Two Calendar Items:
2. Christmas Eve service will be at the Covington Campus at 5:00pm. It is shaping up to be a wonderful evening of worship and blessing! Can't wait!