Fuel is our 4th, 5th, and 6th grade ministry. A lot of the kids who attend are unchurched and newly saved; so we have been doing a lot of sermons on prayer and on the life of Jesus. We have also been trying to make these services very engaging. Our Fuel Director, Amber Thornbrough came up with a very cool way to teach about Jesus healing the leper in Luke 5:12-15. While she was preaching we pulled two kids out of the audience and dressed them up as a leper which ended up looking like zombies.  Needless to say this sermon was a home run and so I wanted to share it with you.  Below is the sermon, pictures of the object lesson, and the how to video of basic zombie makeup.  I thank God for my great volunteers who provide so many creative ideas.

Sermon: Jesus heals physically, emotionally and spiritually.

-How many of you have a favorite story/book with a raising of your hands.
Well tonight I think it is extremely important to learn about the person who, most of you just gave your life to…we sing about him, we talk about him, we pray to him…but who is Jesus. WHAT MAKES HIM SO IMPORTANT
a brief history we know that Jesus is Immanuel, he is the son of God that came to earth…but what about his time on earth? Some of us may have heard some sunday school stories about what he did, others might not have..so I’m going to share with you…my favorite story of my Jesus.

But before I read from the word of God, the bible, I want to give you a brief education on the man I’m about to tell you about. Tonight we’re going to be talking about a leper. A leper is someone who suffered from a disease called Leprosy, to give you a better graphic image of what leprosy is…I figured as a visual culture we all live in…It’d be better to show you. <SHOW IMAGE> leprosy covers the body in forms of lesions and or/open sores. It is a very stinky disease do the wounds. at times the mucus membranes in the eye socket would become so broken down from the disease that eyes would either go blind..or worse…fall out. the nerve endings in the body would become damaged and feeling in the fingers and toes would end…they wouldn’t be able to feel anything, they wouldn’t feel if they burned themselves…they couldn’t feel pain…well let me rephrase that…they couldn’t feel physical pain. EMOTIONAL PAIN…they could feel. In biblical times I’d like to read to you what the bible says about leprosy.. in Leviticus 13:45-46<READ>If pictures were not good enough for you…I’m going to ask my helper (kids from audience) to come up here to give you more of a visual image(…put lesions on..put wig on….rip his shirt…and put face mask from surgery on..tell him that he has to go due to his uncleanness…) you can exit stage now but you must let everyone in the crowd know that you are unclean. I know that this is all fun and jokes…but in all seriousness…people in that era thought that you received leprosy from sinning. Last week if you were here we learned about sin…our baggage…lying, stealing, rage…which were all sin. They thought that if you had leprosy it was a curse from God. So they were told to go into the wilderness…Do you know what this means?
NO SHOWERS
NO FRIENDS
NO JOB
BEGGARS
WILDERNESS…ALONE….SICK. CONSTANTLY IN PHYSICAL PAIN FROM THE DISEASE. NO COMFORT, NO PEACEFUL SLEEP, SOME OF THEM HAD NO BED. THEY WERE BEGGERS, THEY’D HAVE TO BEG FOR MONEY.
WELL in Biblical times…there was no one to beg for money outside of the villages. So this means what….that the lepers had to go into the towns to ask for their survival. Food, water, money. Sometimes they’re family would leave these items of survival in a place where at a later time the leper could come and pick up the items…but other than that…they were alone, beggars, they smelled because some of them did not shower for YEARS. could you imagine even going a month without seeing a bath or a shower? I can’t. They were outcasts.
So lets fast forward to Luke 5:12-15…lets read it…
read verse 12..STOP…
Do you know what this means? ok well if you don’t let me again give you a visual…man comes into a town….NOT ALLOWED!!! some men would keep rocks in their pockets so that when the lepors came around them they could throw the rocks at them to keep them away…because they thought that if even their SHADOW cast on them…they’d catch leprosy…so Unclean leper is announcing he’s coming into the village..”UNCLEAN…UNCLEAN” and he sees who…..Jesus….pause ) This leper who is no doubt assumingly already having a hard time walking due to the soreness, the hassle, rude bystanders…he falls to his knees….this is painful…with sores covering his body he HUMBLES himself to ground level before Jesus and begs him….he pleads with Jesus…now if you’ve ever pleaded for a video game…or to go somewhere with friends…then you might know what this means..but this mans life depended on a healing action to take place from Jesus….he is CRYING OUT IN DESPERATION….it goes on to say he is begging him by saying “LORD”…he is calling him son of God which many of the religious leaders were not certain that Jesus was the son of God..but this leper knew…IF YOU ARE WILLING….YOU CAN MAKE ME CLEAN”…he’s not asking if the Lord is capable of healing him, he’s ASKING if he’s willing…not able. This leper with no friends, life, job, significance has one thing right….he knows Jesus can make him clean. He knows who can make him clean?
MY FAVORITE PART…LETS CONTINUE READING..VERSE 13…
WHAT’D IT SAY? he touched him. Jesus….touched…the…leper. I understand that touching someone in our day and age might not be a big deal…but in their custom…you don’t even look at a leper, and you definitely don’t let their shadow fall on you…and most certainly…..you don’t touch them. How long do you think it had been since this leper had been touched? months? years? decades? This man had this disease for a long time….this man just needed a touch.
But i want you to walk this out with me in order for Jesus to touch him….he has to get on his level…he has to do what….BEND down….get down to his level…and touch him. Be Healed he says…and IMMEDIATELY…the leprosy left him. Healed. not just physically but free emotionally and spiritually. this man can walk through the streets, healed, this man can take a bath and not hurt. This story is just a mere glimpse of one of the many miracles Jesus did when he was alive…But tonight I want to challenge you once again, many of us have said the prayer of salvation and now we are saved…but in these next few minutes…I want to challenge you to talk to the Jesus that I described to you tonight..the one that touches unclean diseases and heals them. Jesus is here, perhaps not in the physical way that I am, but he is here. So with all the respect we can, at the altars tonight…what would you say to Jesus? Perhaps you want to do this alone, maybe you’d like to pray with someone? This is not a time of playing or laughing if someone begins to cry, because we all know I’m a cryer, that is Jesus doing a work inside of us. Come on down tonight…and I want YOU to talk to Jesus, perhaps you want to talk to Jesus in the form of writing. If you are not praying I want to see you writing…Jesus is here…what do you want to say to him?

We Did This Make-up And Added Scars:

Trunk or Treat is right around the corner.

This year we are trying some new things. First our candy donation drive has been turned into an OU/OSU Bedlam contest. The pastors of Spring Creek Assembly  will wear the  color of the team that donates the most candy. Also we are adding a new game, Angry Birds Live. I posted about this in an earlier entry.

Check it out: Make a live action angry birds

We will be doing door to door canvassing, with a coloring sheet that is both a flyer and a coloring contest. Also we are putting up poster in local businesses.

For more info and ideas check out these links:

What is trunk or treat

trunk or treat2010

trunk or treat 2008

Click on the previews below for full size images of each flyer:

Richard Smith is a creative guru, and a Children’s Pastor @ Ponca City Assembly. This idea is awesome for a game, and the video was well made. Here is a fun game you can play in kids church. With just a little prep, and some inexpensive items, you can quickly set up a live version of one of todays most addictive video games.

Kids Church Game from PCA on Vimeo.

Find Richard on his blog http://section8cw.blogspot.com or on Facebook by clicking here

God’s Kids Worship Review and Easter Egg Hunt

I’m a big fan of God’s Kids Worship! We have used lots of their songs in Spring Creek Kids worship. They have so many great features with each DVD, cool motions, split tracks, and bonuses like countdowns.

God’s Kids Worship is launching a new collection for Easter called “A BIG Basket of Easter Songs”. This collection has 15 energized hymns & modern worship songs with an Easter theme. Each song has split tracks, vivid motions, and large lyrics so they can be seen on any screen not matter the size. This DVD comes with computer files for PC & Mac video files, lyrics, lead sheet music, audio files and a 30 copy license to make rehearsal CDs & mp3′s.

I’m really happy with this collection, and we will be using this for our Easter Series. Also we have used some of the slower songs for our alter time!  You can hear samples of all the songs here at this link .

Since this is an Easter collection, I thought it would be fun to have an early Easter Egg Hunt.  I have hidden somewhere in one of my blog post an Egg that looks just like this one.

Search the blog to find this in another post

Be the first to find that post and leave a comment stating that you found the Egg and I will send you a copy of “A BIG Basket of Easter Songs”.  Happy Hunting!

Here is a copy of the birthday cards we are using at Spring Creek Kids this year.
I decided to go with this type of birthday card because I love using personalized cards.  Sending the children personalized cards are great because kids love getting stuff in the mail. Not only are they getting mail but their getting a goofy picture of my wife and I plus a coupon for a treat the next time they come to church. It feels personal and the kids are always thankful. A great tip I learned from the Kidologist, Karl Bastian, is to use fat tipped markers when writing on postcards because it helps make the postcard looked filled up.

Below is a template that you can use to make your own personalized birthday card. The middle square is transparent so you can place any goofy picture you want behind it. It’s a png. file so you will need to save it first.

Here is one with the coupon.

I really enjoy carving pumpkins! Every year my oldest daughter and I going to a pumpkin patch and pick out a pumpkin. Then we make a night of Pumpkin Carving. This year I bought a template from zombiepumpkins.com .

Here is last years pumpkin

Here are some free Star Wars http://www.starwars.com/kids/activity/crafts/f20051027/index.html

Just got our balloons with the Spring Creek Kids logo and they look great. I’m really happy with the price and timeliness and the customer service of  “A Balloon Imprinting Company”. Check Them out at http://www.fastballoons.com.

Richard Smith is a creative guru, and a Children’s Pastor @ Ponca City Assembly. This idea is awesome for a game, and the video was well made. So check it out if you have a free moment.

Game idea from PCA on Vimeo.

Find Richard on his blog http://section8cw.blogspot.com or on Facebook by clicking here

I love this game!!! I almost believe it was created by kids pastors. We’ve been making up crazy games from cheap household items since the dawn of children ministries. The other day I was walking around Dollar Tree looking for plungers to spray paint gold and found pedometers for only a buck (like everything else in the store). I bought ten and used them at our volunteer pep rally to play Bobble Head. It was awesome! Just want to share the find with others who would get excited about playing minute to win it!

Name the famous character on dad’s tie.

See how well you know the fathers of these guys.

be the first to guess that famous Dad.