Movie: The Dark Knight

At the beginning of my Sunday School class of 5th grade boys, I always like to have a little time of sharing about their week.  The hot topic this week was the batman movie that just came out:  The Dark Knight.  Four out of the eight of us went to see it over the weekend so it was fresh in our minds.

All the boys in my class who saw it really liked it.  Of course, they liked the Joker.  In a way that I came to realize after class was over, this movie is an illustration of how good people can sink to evil.  The White Knight (the upstanding district attorney who was trying to clean up the town of crime turned evil when pushed). 

The Joker who set up situations to bring out evil in people in the movie is similar to how Satan attacked Job in the Bible to try to get him to turn from God.  It seemed like to me, the Joker is the one with all the good lines and the most interesting character and it also seemed that he got away with his evil deeds unpunished, as did the "white knight."  That's what bothered me most about this movie and I didn't care for all the violence. (I was surprised this movie was only rated PG-13).  People kept getting shot and killed all through it without any consequences. 

Anyway, it certainly is a good illustration of the verse in I Corinthians 10:12 which says, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."

This is one of those movies that is hard to get out of your mind.  It does give you something to think about. 

(See my husband's and my review of it on www.zemeks.blogspot.com)

VBS Report: Awesome Week

 We had 70% attend from the community.

New Babes in Christ:  25

Average total attendance per day OVER 700!  (This is 100 more than last year and we had to order more materials and have them shipped overnight! 

God did more than what we imagined! 

Both Gerard and I were sad to see the week end.  The kids were enthusiastic, attentive and cooperative! 

Yesterday, a video was shown in church of some of the highlights at VBS which was very cute.  It was really a wonderful way to convey the electric atmosphere, the fun the children had and the happiness they experienced.

Also, some of the staff were interviewed as well.  I enjoyed hearing how these volunteers liked working in VBS and how they felt this ministry was a very effective means of reaching kids with the gospel of Jesus Christ outside of our church.

Our ABF (adult Bible Fellowship) leader shared with us that one of his employees is Catholic with five children and her church charged $50 per child to attend their Bible School.  Her church refused to give her a multi-child discount so he told her about our VBS.  She brought all five of her children and they absolutely loved it--without having to pay one cent to come! 

Bobby, a 5th grade boy who was visiting with David from our church, came with him the first day and afterwards said this was the best VBS he ever went to.  He attends another church and was only able to come one day because he was leaving for a missions trip with a group from his church.

Laurie, one of the leaders in the 4th-6th grade group enjoyed her small group so much, that she has invited them and their families to dinner at her home.  (She has a big house and yard and it could be as many as 70 people if they'd all come.)  She shared that one little girl in her group finally "got it" that she needs Jesus to forgive her because she can't be good enough to get to heaven on her own. 

I was so glad to be able to help in VBS again this year.  I really missed it last year because I used my vacation time to take care of clearing out my dad's house after he died last year and didn't have enough days to do VBS.  It was good to be back!

VBS is Awesome!

Gerard and I are both working in VBS this week at church and are having a wonderful time.  There are many children and it's such a pleasure to teach them scripture and have some fun with them too.  We are praying that many will trust Jesus as their personal Savior this week.  The theme is SonWorld Amusement park that we are using this year. 

It's such a joy to be part of a church where there are so many committed Christians who are willing to help in ministry endeavors to reach the community for Christ.  I love being a part of such a active and dedicated group.  I believe we have something like 80 workers.

Gerard is helping in the first grade group and I am helping in grades 4-6 (Juniors).  Our attendance is ahead of last year and just the first day we had more than we anticipated for the whole week in the junior department!  Praise the Lord!

Dollar Car Wash With a Twist

Many youth groups do car washes to raise money, but our youth group at Parma Heights Baptist Church used the car wash idea to actually help people.

After washing the cars, they GAVE them a $1 with a card saying "This is just a simple way of saying to you...JESUS LOVES YOU.  ALWAYS HAS, ALWAYS WILL." 

I thought that was a really neat idea.   

This week some of them are in Mexico City on a 12-day mission trip.  Three different teams of youth and adults went to run a Vacation Bible School in English, one in Spanish and to paint at a retreat center.     

Vacation Bible School

Our next big event coming up July 14-18 is our VBS which I am looking forward to.  I will be helping with grades 4-6 and Gerard will be working in the first grade group.  We usually have over 300 children attend so it's a lot of fun.  Again, no charge. 

Volunteers make homemade cookies for snacks each day, there is a craft each day, games outside (weather permitting) and Bible lessons.  It is an amusement park theme this year so kids will be given tickets to enter into drawings through the week for the 4th - 6th grade group.  Time is from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

Beth Moore Simulcast

August 1st - August 2nd

2008 Living Proof Live Simulcast with Beth Moore

Hosted by Parma Heights Baptist Church

The Living Proof Live simulcast will broadcast live from the sold-out event at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

Bring your friends and join us for life-changing Bible teaching, authentic worship, and laugh-out-loud fun!

Friday, August 1, 7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m., Beveragse provided)

Saturday, August 2, 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. (doors open at 8:30 a.m., beverages & pastry provided)

Cost:  $30.00 Pre-Registration Deadline - July 20 (any remaining tickets will be sold at the door on Friday, Aug. 1st)

Make checks payable to:  PHBC--Women's Ministries

If interested in attending, email me your address at kzemek@sbcglobal.net and I will be happy to mail you a registration form.

Focus Sports Ministires--Sports Camp

This is the second year we are doing a sports camp at church.  There is a clinic for basketball, soccer or cheer leading.  Children choose what sport they want to do for the four days.  Emphasis is on learning the fundamentals and sportsmanship.  Each day they get instruction on fundamentals, snacks, small group devotions where they learn a Bible verse, free prize at the end of the day. 

Monday was water bottles,

Tuesday--wrist bands,

Wednesday--t-shirts

Thursday--ball or pom poms at the evening picnic for the whole family

All is free as a ministry to the community.  We hope to start up some instructional leagues in the fall. 

See some of the pictures below to give you an idea of the fun the kids have.  Children can either attend the morning session or the afternoon session.

DARE TO BE A DANIEL

This is a new curriculum we are using for the summer at PHBC with the kids finishing 5th grade in June.  It is all about being a witness to your friends and is packed with cool videos, great testmonies, music, a field guide aka training manual.  I wish we had this kind of material when I was a kid because I had a burden for my lost friends but not a clue as to how to tell them about Jesus.  I am really looking forward to teaching this summer now. 

The material we were using was just fluff stuff pretty much.  The last month was extremely poor--one lesson after another on healing with the application being compassion and help others.  I was tired of it so I'm sure the boys were too. 

What I especially liked about this new material is the application "missions" to do outside of class and the online "daniellogs" which are very interesting and fun to do.  Check out this website to see just what I'm talking about:

www.daretobeadaniel.com  (I'll even share the password for the first daniellog with you:  it's PURPOSE1.)  I plan to contact my boys to remind them this week.

YOUTH MINISTRY

Grades 7-12:

Wednesdays in the Youth Center:  7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

Join us for an awesome study through the book of Genesis called Beginnings.  Come early from 6-7 p.m. for open gym and game room time.

SUNDAY:  Sr. High 9:30 a.m. will begin a series called "Phlippin' Sweet Joy" in the book of Philippians.

Teaching Ideas

I love teaching the 5th grade boys class at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays and I get charged up when my ideas work out well.  I'd like to hear what other teachers are doing as well to keep the interest of their students and make the lessons meaningful, special, fun or memorable.  Following are some things I found that work well in my classes that may work for you too.

• One thing I usually try to save some time to do at the end of the class is a little game review on the lesson.  We use a nerf ball (or similar small ball) and waste basket for basketball, use a table for the football fied and use a paper football, for baseball designate bases around the room, use a small ball and the table for a soccer field, or use tic-tac-toe, putt-putt tick-tac-toe or some other active game.  The boys really like this.  For more details on exactly how we play and the rules, email me at myfunnydadharry@sbcglobal.net.
• To help with class management, I have a secret seat winner each week who gets a treat (choose candy from a bag or if they all like the same kind, just give the same kind each week).  If they are there with their Bible and do not disrupt, their name gets entered into the drawing except same person can't win 2 weeks in a row.  Then I draw a name or have the winner from the previous week draw the name.
• I have a "Scripture Challenge" race to encourage scripture memory.  I believe very strongly that memorizing scripture is important and by having this, I participate right along with them which motivates me to keep on memorizing scripture as well.  I made a simple track with lanes for each student and let the choose a little car when they say their first passage.  They get to move their cars along as they quote the passages (we have a passage each month, but they can learn them anytime).  At the end of the year, we have a outing to McDonald's and I give them up to $4 depending how far along they got in the race. 
• To communicate with the parents of those in my class as well as the students about what we are learning, upcoming events, and just sharing things of interest I mail a class newsletter which I include a couple digital pictures in of the boys. 

Elisha-Army of Syria Blinded

This lesson is from II Kings 6 about the army of Syria coming for Elisha but then Elisha sees the angels all around and prays for God to blind the eyes of the army, which he does.  Then, Elisha overcomes evil with good but leading them right to Samaria and told the King of Israel to give them a feast and send them back on their way.  Then there was peace for awhile.

This is a fun lesson to have the whole class act out, but I like doing it as I tell the story.  Blindfold all but one who is Elisha's servant and I play Elisha.  Then we lead them to another room (Samaria) where we give them a treat and some water.  Then we return.  I also posted signs with the names of the different places mentioned.  It's a very fun way to teach this lesson and my classes loved it.

Daniel Ideas

Daniel's Captivity:

When our Sunday School lesson was on Daniel being captured and taken to Babylon where he and his friends were given new names that were related to the gods of Babylon, I did the following fun activity that the boys really enjoyed.

Before class, I did a little research on the Internet, looking up the meaning of all their names so I could tell them what their names meant and also the meaning of some other names which I then assigned to each boy.  For the rest of the class, we called each other by his "new name." 

The boys really got a kick out of this and even commented on it the following week by correcting me when I used their real name!  It was funny.

Daniel's Prayer Habit:

As a class activity to help them develop their prayer life and increase their faith, I presented them with my "prayer box" idea (See my "Life is Tough But God Is Good" page article "Pray Without Ceasing.")  I brought in a little box for each boy and took time for them to write down some specific things they are praying about or will pray about on separate slips of paper.  I followed up the following week to see if they used it, and at least several said they did.

Parma Hts. Baptist Church

Our Mission:  To help people find and follow Jesus Christ.

8971 West Ridgewood Drive

Parma Heights, OH  44130

phone:  440-886-6100

www.phbaptist.org and

www.come.to/phby

Sunday Services:

8:15 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m.

Adult Bible Fellowship small groups:  9:30 a.m./11:00 a.m.

Sunday School, 9:30 a.m. (all ages):

Including special needs children's "Treasure Cove"

Wednesday Family Night

(7:00 pm-8:30 pm):

• Pioneer Girls
• Boys Brigade
• Youth Group
• Adult Bible Studies
• Choir Practice