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St. John’s Church School is the primary venue for Christian Education of elementary-aged children offered at St. John’s Church. Church School is held every Sunday of the year and begins at 9:30 a.m. |
Just when you thought our church school couldn’t get any better,
IT DOES!
What you need to know:
The classes at 9:30 are as follows –
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- Nursery – (First Floor Cranmer Hall)
- Preschool – Kindergarten
- 1st and 2nd Grades
- 3rd and 4th Grades
- 5th Grades
- All classes for Preschool – 5th Grades will be on the 2nd floor of Cranmer Hall
- All children in 1st – 5th go straight to the 2nd floor assembly area.
- All children in Preschool – Kindergarten go to their classroom.
- Please pick your children up from their classrooms at 10:15 for church. Preschool – 4th grades must have a parent pick them up from the door to ensure everyone’s safety.
- This year the children will continue to learn the History of Our Salvation in the New Testament.
What goes on at 10:30:
- Nursery (first floor Cranmer Hall – newborn to 2yrs)
- Sunday School and Music for
- Preschool Class (second floor Cranmer Hall)
- Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten (second floor Cranmer Hall)
- Children in 1st – 4th Grades attend church with their parents. They then have the option of following the cross back to Cranmer Hall at the hymn before the sermon for Junior Choir with Diane Stallings (Choral Director at Savannah Arts Academy)
- Children in 5th Grade and older remain in church with their parents for the service.
THIS SUNDAY, EASTER V – May 13, 2012
Greetings St. John’s Church School,
This week we will follow our regular schedule with Morning Assembly beginning at 9:30 in the Children’s Chapel Area located on the second floor of Cranmer Hall. The Dad Squad Assembly Leader will be Ben Baxter. Carolyn Ezelle will be the Church School Supervisor.
This week is the Church School Awards, during the 10:30 service. The children will present the painting they created in thanks for all the lessons they learned this year.
The hymn of the month #107 Hail Thee Festival Day. This hymn is sung throughout the month of May as a part of Morning Assembly.
Mark your calendar for the following upcoming events:
May 20th – Special Event for Ascension
May 27th – Special Event for Whitsunday – last day of 9:30 Sunday School until the Fall
The lesson for this week will be:
The Promise of Prayer
Scripture: John 16:23-33
cf. Hebrews 10:19-22
cf. Luke 10
Key Points: Prayer in the name of Jesus
- When Jesus completes his return from the world to the Father, by death, resurrection, and ascension, he opens to his disciples the gates of prayer.
- His promise: When we call upon God in the name of Jesus, the Father for the love of his own dear Son welcomes us as his own children, and hears our prayers with love.
- Praying in the name of Jesus is not just saying his name, but believing and trusting in him, and seeking to do his will.
The Lesson:
Names open doors.
Did you know that names open doors? Imagine it is in the middle of the night. You are in a deep sleep: and suddenly there is loud knocking on the door and a ringing of a bell. Your parents get up. Do they open the front door right away? No, they don’t. Through the door, they ask who it is. And, if it is someone they know by name, they will probably open the door. But, if they don’t know the person by name, most likely they won’t open the door. Names open doors.
Let’s say you really need some help—and you go to a friend of your father’s or mother’s. And that person says, “I don’t know your face. Who are you? I don’t think I know you.” Then, you say, “I am Fred (or Jane), the son (or daughter) of Bob or Sally McFiggin. That’s when you say, I am Sally McFiggin’s daughter, Jane; or, I am Bob McFiggin’s son, Fred”—and that person says, “Oh you are! I have heard Bob or Sally mention your name. So you’re Fred! Tell me what I can do for you! When you mention a name that is trusted, loved, respected, people pay attention. Names are powerful; names open doors.
The Name of Jesus and the Promise of Prayer:
There is no name more powerful than the name of Jesus. At the last supper, Jesus told his disciples:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name. Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. (St. John 16:23, 24.)
The name of Jesus opens the doors of prayer. When we lift up our hearts and minds to the Father in prayer in the name of Jesus, God hears us and our prayers.
What it means to pray in the Name of Jesus:
Jesus also says that he won’t have to do the asking for us, “because the Father himself loveth you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.” (John 16:27.) When we pray in the name of Jesus, we are not just saying his name, we are also believing in him, and loving him. When we believe and love Jesus, the Father himself is ready to hear and receive our prayers, for the sake of his Son.
So, praying in the Name of Jesus means believing in Jesus and loving Jesus. When you come to the Father in his name, you are saying to God, I believe in Jesus, I love Jesus, I want to be like Jesus. If Fred McFiggin turns out to be a liar and thief, his parents’ neighbor or friend is going to be sorry he listened to him and helped him; and the next time he asks, he won’t get any help—no matter whose name he says.
When we go to the Father in the name of Jesus, we are going as someone who wants what Jesus wants. And what does Jesus want? He tells us in the Lord’s prayer, the prayer he taught his disciples:
Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed by thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.The person who prays in the name of Jesus wants what Jesus wants—God’s Name to be hallowed, his kingdom to come, his will to be done. Prayer in the name of Jesus is willing God’s will—his loving plan for our salvation and eternal happiness—and making it your own, just the way Jesus did.
This is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask any thing in his name, he heareth us; and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. (1 John 5:14, 15).
When we pray for God’s Name to be hallowed, his Kingdom to Come, his Will to be done—we are praying for God to accomplish his plan for our salvation, to guide us through this world, that we may come to everlasting life and endless joy with him.
Prayer:
(BCP p. 50 altered)
Almighty God, who hast promised to hear the petitions of those who ask in thy Son’s Name: we beseech thee mercifully to incline thine ears to us who [make] our prayers and supplications unto thee; and grant that those things which we ask faithfully according to thy will, may effectually be obtained, to the relief of our necessity, and to the setting forth of thy glory; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.
****Lesson written by Father Dunbar
See you Sunday,
Caroline Hayes
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NOTES: |
CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS May 13: CS Awards May 20: Special Event: Ascension May 20: Ice Cream Social after Evensong May 23: Wed. Night Honoring Graduates May 27: Special Event: Whitsunday Procession LAST DAY CS |
For more information about our church school program contact
Maryan Harrell, Parish Activities Director
or
Caroline Hayes, Church School Superintendent.
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St. John’ Church presents extensive opportunities for
Children’s Music Education for boys and girls of all ages.
2012 Summer Choir Camp – June 25-29
Contact Choirmaster Dr. Brian J. Taylor for details
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Vacation Bible School
July 16-20, 2012
As many of you know, St. John’s now has its very own VBS curriculum.
“On Eagles’ Wings” was written by Maryan Harrell, and is a four year program. Centered on the life of Christ as portrayed in St. John’s beautiful stained glass windows, each of the four years is studied from the aspect of the four gospels. The program is directed for children in our parish and neighborhoods, from ages 3 to 7. We hope that this special program will serve to teach our children the truths found in the Bible, as well as give them an understanding of what they see around them as they grow up worshiping at St. John’s Church.
Contact Maryan Harrell to Register.