A BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR JESUS! - December 21, 2008

In spite of a snowy weekend and a wet Sunday morning, we had a total of 53 kids come to our very first birthday party for Jesus at Kidz for Christ on Sunday morning December 21st. Between two services we had object lessons, a bible lesson all about the birth of our Savior as well as a party game, cake (yes, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus), balloons, decorations, hats...the works. The kids had a blast and we are looking to start a new tradition here at SGT every December!

PRE-TEEN CHALLENGE - "MEDICAL MADNESS" - December 6, 2008

While many Long Islanders may have been in the Smithhaven Mall shopping for Christmas presents on a cold Saturday in December, the Pre-teens of Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle had other ideas. 15 of them all joined together in the Auditorium as we resurrected The Preteen Challenge after a 4 year absence.

The Preteen Challenge was developed in 1995 for one single purpose...so the 5th and 6th graders coyuld have a blast, get messy and have fun! If you take Double Dare, Dress for the Mess and SlimeTime Live and make it a game show all in one with a theme...you have the Preteen Challenge! Our theme for December 6th was "MEDICAL MADNESS." Here are some of the games that we played all in pictures!

MUMMY WRAP

WHEEL CHAIR/ WALKER RELAY RACE

IV DRINK

Many of the 15 kids came for one reason! TO GET SLIMED!

Check out below our SLIME WALL OF FAME and yes, we did use Red slime to get the Preteens in the Christmas Spirit

CHECK OUT THE HUGE SMILES!

MIDDLERS MID-WEEK MAYHEM (a good mahyem by the way!) - December 3, 2008

The Middlers ministry began in January 2000 mainly because we had a lot of 3rd and 4th graders trying to sneak into Pre-teens. Instead of sending them off to the church Parking Lot (ha ha) we decided to begin a program just for them and I'm glad we did! Last night I had the privilege of filling in for the director Eric Karminski. The Middlers is made up of 2nd, 3rd & 4th graders, all who have tons of energy from 7:30 to 9:15, 9:20, 9:25, 9:30 ...you get the point!

After some "free time" we sat down and took prayer requests...some that would break your heart when you hear about what these kids are going through. I did a lesson on being thankful by sharing my story about a homeless punk rocker I met in New York City who sleeps on a city stairwell. I then used that to go right into the bible lesson which was from Luke 17:11 - 19. It's the story of the 10 lepers who were healed by Jesus yet only 1 came back to give thanks. After the lesson, some of the kids played their all time favorite game...DODGEBALL...and the others worked on a Christmas card craft. All in all it was a great night and we thank God for these young lives who are being impacted every Wednesday evening!

MISSIONETTES STARS CLASS - November 21, 2008

On Friday, November 21st I had the privilege of teaching the Stars class (a part of our Friday Missionettes program) how to minister by way of puppets. These 8 girls, with the help of their teacher Yvonne Spreckels are planning on earning their puppetry badge by doing a puppet program for the Rainbows on Friday, December 19th. It was so awesome to see the enthusiasm they have for ministry. Many people think puppet ministry is easy. Try holding up your arm for 5 minutes without complaining! It hurts!! It was great spending the evening teaching these girls about puppets but most of all seeing the love they have for serving Jesus!

RAINBOWS - November 14, 2008

Last Friday, November 14th, I had the privilege of visiting with our Rainbows ministy. Rainbows meets every Friday evening in the "E" Building. Aia Samuel and Ellen Bartlett are doin an awesome job leading these 3 & 4 year olds! They were very busy last Friday doing a craft and I hated to disturb them. I did get a chance to take their picture. If you have children who are 3 or 4 and want to bring them to a fun program where, most of all they are learning about Jesus, come on down to Rainbows! They and you will NOT be disappointed!

PRETEENS

One goal that we set for the fall of 2008 was to make adjustments and improvements with our Preteen ministry. This is not only a difficult age group but a very energetic one as well. One of the first things we did was to give our ministry a theme for the school year. After much prayer, speaking with experts in this field, more prayer, some research and yes...more prayer we came up with an acronym for Aliens. 1 Peter 2:11 tells us "I urge you as aliens, and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires." The acronym for aliens is

A - Attitudes pleasing to God

L - Living our lives 100% for Jesus

I - Into God's Word

E - Encouraging others

N - Not of this world

S - Supernatural Power of God

If you are a parent of a preteen (Grades 5 & 6), I want to encourage you to bring your friends. If you are a preteen, hey, what are you waiting for? The first 15 minutes is free time, then we play a fun game together. We then dive into our lesson of the week and end with another fun game. Before you know it, parents are at the door waiting to pick up ther kids. It is a fun night! Check it out!

GRANDPA LOU GETS DETENTION AT SMITHTOWN CHRISTIAN SCHOOL!

While Pastor Dave shared a message at the Smithtown Christian school chapel on Grandparents day on October 29th, Mrs. Jill Golden, the elementary administrator handed Grandpa Lou an after school detention slip for carrying a cell phone and for bringing food into the sanctuary.

Grandpa Lou had to report to detention in the school auditorium. He sat quietly in his seat and read his bible like he was told (Maybe Numbers chapters 1 - 10?).

After his experience, Grandpa Lou had one thing to say to Mrs. Golden

"I'm not afraid of Mrs. Golden anymore!!"

FALL FUN FEST - OCTOBER 31, 2008

On Friday, October 31st, our Fellowship Center was filled with children, parents, grandparents and friends. Inflatable rides, games, food, face painting and the smell of popcorn and cotton candy filled the air as well as the sound of kids having a blast! Door prizes were given away throughout the evening. This awesome event ended with a puppet musical entitled "Craetion Investigation." Thanks everyone for coming and supporting this great event. In 2009, the fall Fun

Fest is on a Saturday!

WELCOME!

In the age we live in today with the internet, computers, blackberry's and every possible electronic device known to man, we thought it would be a great idea to create a blog that would share updates about the Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle's Children's Ministries which include Children's Sunday school, Kidz for Christ, Preteens, Middlers, Missionettes, Royal Rangers, Rainbows, Vacation Bible school, Missions camp...the list goes on (Kids in Missions has their own blog which is http://kidsinmissions.blogspot.com/. Check it out!) Enjoy reading and post a comment if you would like to. Also look at some pictures and let us know what you think!

Pastor Dave Harff & the Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle Children's Ministries team