Treasures in Heaven

Today at church we celebrated treasures. This past month our Pastor has been teaching The Treasure Principal by Randy Alcon. I admit I have not purchased the book to read, but each week the sermons have been insightful & useful. The Holy Spirit is working in my heart in regards to my attitude toward money.

In the midst of this series, the 1 year anniversary of our new Children's Wing just happened to be today.

It was a day of celebration. With balloons, cake, testimonies, music & prayer.

I had the privilege of sharing the Kid's Message. Here is what I shared.

On February 19, 2006 we held classes for the first time in our new wing (to my surprise,the congregation broke out in a applause). Typical of any move, the classes were not fully furnished, boxes still needed to be unpacked, but we were in our rooms & happy. Today we celebrate our treasures.

(BTW, we had all the kid's in both services come to the sanctuary first before going to their classes.)

I invited all the kids down front & once they were settled I explained to the kid's what all the balloons on the platform meant. I had 60 balloons delivered that morning. The orginial idea was to have 150 ballons, one for each child with their name on it, but because of the logistics & cost of it I changed it to 6 balloon bouquets each one a different color. Each bouquet had 10 balloons in it.

Back to the message. I told the kids what each bouquet represented.
Yellow-The Big Kid's Club, they have 30 kids in the before & after school childcare.
Green-The Arabic Church, they are part of our church but most speak Arabic so they hold their own services in the afternoon. They have 55 kids in their program.
Orange-The Youth Group (about 50 kids)
Blue-The teachers, assistants & helpers (54 teachers)
Red-Children's Ministries (71 kids in the program). When we moved in we had 30 kids in the program. Teachers & children we totaled 125, a quarter of the church.
The last bouquet was a mix of all the above colors. It represents we are all intergrated together as community sharing one vision. The vision to bring Jesus to the hearts of kids.

I then interviewed my little 5 year friend DL. He accepted Jesus in his heart a few weeks ago. If I knew how to link to the post I would.

The Interview
This is my friend DL. DL is here with his mom, dad & 2 sisters, J & A. J & A. joined us up on the platform in the first service.
Me: How old are you?
DL: 5
Me: 5 is a great age, I like being five.
Me: Whose class are you in?
DL: Miss Sydney & Miss LaRee
Me: Sydney & LaRee teach the Kg & 1st grade class.
Me: A few weeks ago you told me some special news, can you tell all my friends.
DL: I have Jesus in my heart!
(applause)
Me: Oh that is wonderful, how did He get there?
DL: I prayed.
Me: You prayed & Jesus come right in?
DL: Yes
Me: I am so happy you are part of our church family & part of Jesus family. Do you have anything else to say?
DL: No, yes I have a new Bible Book.
Me: Dl has a new Bible with a cool Veggie Tale Bible cover. I want one like it.
Thank you, now that is better than any Oprah show!

I then dismissed the kids to Sunday School.

We did it all again in the 2nd service. I forgot the mixed bouquet in the 1st, but did remember the 2nd time around. Thank goodness for 2 services. In the 2nd service I walked from bouquet to bouquet,which was fun! I also had DL stand on the treasure chest so everyone could see him better & he is one of our 71 treasures at CNC.

Treasures in heaven, that is what we are striving for.

In the 2nd service 3 kids were baptized, 2 kids dedicated to the Lord & their Mom was baptized also.

It was truly a day to celebrated. But shouldn't everyday be a day to celebrated God's Grace poured out on us.

I will "treasure" today in my heart!