The Bridge Core Values – Week 2 – Worship through Writing

John 4: 23-24 Jesus says, It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before Him in their worship. God is sheer being itself – Spirit. Those who worship Him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.

This week at Bridge Kids, we talked about how Worship is one of God’s Love Languages, which can take many forms, just like our own Love Languages. Our main focus this week was Worship through Writing Poetry. We discussed asking for help and giving thanks to God through writing poems. Writing, in worship to God, is like the Love Language, Words of Affirmation and Quality Time. We talked about how David, in the Bible wrote poems to God – some of thanksgiving and some a cry for help….David was not afraid to be his true self when communicating with God.
We started out reviewing the previous Sunday -- Core Values – what does that mean? It means it’s the center (core) of what we build everything we do on. We also briefly discussed Worship through Art – the Love Language of Gifts to God. We then took a minute to sit in our circle, quietly thinking about things we are thankful for – whether it is people in our lives, our homes, school, or our life. This gave us time to reflect and prepare ourselves for the act of worship.

Today, we broke the group into 4 groups, pairing each group with a BK Volunteer. We then began the process of Flash Poetry with each of the groups. At the top of each flipchart sheet we wrote a different word – Thankful, Help, Laugh, Cry and had the kids give us words they thought of when we said the word at the top of their page. The BK Volunteer then transcribed the words the BK group gave them onto the flipchart paper and helped their group create a poem, as an act of worship to God. We then shared our poems with the entire group. We challenged them to find time this week to write their thoughts to God – whether they are happy or sad, angry of joyful. If they are unable to write, just yet, we challenged them to have their parents help them write a poem of worship to God.

Listen to the kids Poems
THANKFUL!
I am Happy and feel Warm on Thanksgiving.
Parties and Food make me smell Fishy.
Doggies are cute & the Family of the Gnarwhale are my Friends.
The Panda enjoys the PandaExpress, before he eats Candy.
you don't want Clothes on Christmas or to Fart in God's presence.
I can be mySelf in Love with Decorations of Candles on Halloween.
Bill Cosby eats jello Lions and is an Artist.

HELP
Dear God,
We love you,
Please help Kelli breathe
I feel like I'm going to Scream and I feel Sick.
God, we are a Team, we want to stop people from dying & Running away.
Help us Now.
I'm sitting in this Tired Car and I need to Call 9-1-1.
My Hair is on fire.
The Family of BridgeKids is Thankful but we're Scared & Distressed.
The Adults have turned into Apples.
Firefighters, Ambulance, & Hospitals are good for the environment.


AMEN!

Dine and Dish:
Talk – Talk to your kids about worship. What does it mean to you? How do you like to worship God? Ask them how they think they might like to worship.
Ask your kids what they are thankful for in their lives.
Discuss the things you are thankful for in your life.

Do an activity together: If you are a parent who is timid about writing – that’s ok. Before you begin, be sure to take time to reflect – even if it’s 2 minutes – on God, things to be thankful for and make sure it’s a quiet time, or a brief discussion.

Flash Poetry – Todd & Angie Fadel taught us, as a church, last year, that we can ALL be poets! This is a great way to worship God through writing. Have your child pick one word (it can be anything, even if they say, “Spiderman” – that is TOTALLY OK!) then, together, brain dump words that come to your mind, while thinking of the initial word chosen. Only do this for about a minute or two. Once you are finished, use connecting words or fragments to create a poem from your brain dump. Once you are finished, read the poem together as a prayer of help or thanksgiving to God.

Share – If you are someone who writes on a regular basis, share some of your work with your kids (make sure it’s age appropriate) and talk about why you wrote what you did – how you were feeling, how you felt after writing it, how, or if, it affected your relationship with God and with others.

Read Psalms or Proverbs – Pick a Psalm or Proverb to read to your child(ren) before bedtime each night. Talk with your kids about what they think of the writing, what you think about the writing and what you think the author was feeling when writing.

Re-Write a Psalm or Proverb – Choosing a favorite Psalm or Proverb, read it, line by line, with your kids and with their help, re-write it, in your own words.


Journal – Encourage your kids to write or draw in their journals, how they are feeling. If your kids aren’t at a stage of writing, help them write in their journal. Go somewhere private, where you won’t be disturbed by outside sources and write with your kids.

The Bridge Core Values – Week 1 – Worship through Art

John 4: 23-24 Jesus says, It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before Him in their worship. God is sheer being itself – Spirit. Those who worship Him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.

This week at Bridge Kids, we talked about how Worship is one of God’s Love Languages, which can take many forms, just like our own Love Languages. Our main focus this week was Worship through Artistic Expression. We discussed showing love and thankfulness to God by creating art. Creating a work of art, in worship to God, is like the Love Language, Gifts.

We started out, talking about Core Values – what does that mean? It means it’s the center (core) of what we build everything we do on. We then took a minute to sit in our circle, quietly thinking about things we are thankful for – whether it is people in our lives, our homes, school, or our life. This gave us time to reflect and prepare ourselves for the act of worship.

Today, we set up stations so the kids could express themselves through different types of art and experience what it’s like to worship God through art. We challenged them to find time this week to do an art project, simple or complex, which reflects their thankfulness to God.

We will be discussing and exercising different ways to Worship God through the month of November – Art, Dancing, Songwriting, etc. We encourage you to talk with your kids about the different ways you like to Worship – what works for you, what doesn’t, what works for them, what doesn’t. And, ask you be open to trying new things.

Dine and Dish:
Talk –
Talk to your kids about worship. What does it mean to you? How do you like to worship God? Ask them how they think they might like to worship.
Ask your kids what they are thankful for in their lives.
Discuss the things you are thankful for in your life.

Do an activity together: If you are a parent who is timid about art – that’s ok. Let your kids guide you on this one. Be sure to take time to reflect – even if it’s 2 minutes – on God, things to be thankful for and make sure it’s a quiet time, or a brief discussion. See if having different types of music playing in the background inspires you in different ways.

Drawing/Painting – Get out paper and pens, pencils, crayons, paint etc. and draw or paint things you are thankful for with your kids. Take time before you do to be quiet together and reflect on the things you are thankful for. Mat or frame the art if you want.

Collage – This is a great way to get reuse your old magazines or newspapers….maybe even certain books. Cut, tear, glue, imagine.

Photography – Walk around your house or outside with your kids – if it’s raining, grab an umbrella. Let your kids take photos with your camera. If they are too little to handle a camera, let them direct the photography session. Get prints of the pics and frame them – even if the photos aren’t “centered” or what you might think are “good”. Be sure to remind them to be thoughtful of what they are photographing – ask why they are choosing a particular subject.
Play Dough/Sculpting – Yes, Play Dough can be used for Worship! Sculpt, twist, smash together, but be thoughtful and genuine in what you are doing.

Found Art – Walk around the neighborhood with your kids, go to the Goodwill and find things that wouldn’t normally be picked up and create a sculpture or picture with what you have found. This is a good way to talk about how things may get ugly in life, you can find the beauty in it, if you seek it.

Patches – Create clothing/backpack patches with your kids using old clothing. Rip or cut into squares and using fabric paint, Sharpie markers, embroidery, create designs and attach by sewing or using safety pins.

Bridge Kids Sunday

Well... It was pretty remarkable
We had nearly 80% of the church dancing, the Kids GOT IT. The Adults added their peice to the puzzle. and there was lots of candy.

Thank you so everyone who made Bridge Kids Sunday happen!
Check out these incredible pictures of the Fun we Had!

Thank you to everyone that showed up and participated in one way or another -- we had so much fun...hope you did too! :)
Love you guys!
G&C