August in the Loft

Hinds Feet on High Places is an amazing allegory about our journey through life with God. During the next three weeks in August Tonya Denton, an amazing and captivating storyteller, has taken this classic and broken it down into three kid-friendly bites.

The main character in our story is Much-Afraid who goes on a journey up the rocky mountainside where she must develop "hinds' feet" to reach the "high places'. She is encouraged and led by the Chief Shepherd, who comes to her aid whenever she calls on Him.

Much-Afraid goes through many trails, faces many fears but experiences things she had only ever dreamed of, all the while developing a relationship with the Chief Shepherd where she learns love and trust.

Our hope and prayer is that the story will be so simple and so captivating that our kids will understand the places that God wants to take them and what it means to trust and follow the Chief Shepherd to reach those places.

We would like to encourage all the parents to get a copy or rent one from the library if you haven't already read it. It is a classic that has remained in the top 20 for years!

Sunday July 5th

This Sunday, July 5th, Southgate is taking some time to honor and celebrate and amazing man of God: Brother Bill. We have been spending a great deal of time in the Loft teaching our kids about what it means to make a choice to live life differently and in line with how God calls us to live. We are challenging the kids to not only believe in God with their minds but with their actions as well, encouraging obedience to God no matter what the cost. Brother Bill is a man who exemplifies all these qualities and as we come together to honor him as a church I desire our kids to not only celebrate his life but to see an example of what their life could look like 70 years down the line. For this reason we are going to close the Loft for this Sunday and let kids join in the service with their families as we honor an amazing man. How cool could it be for a 4th grader to see hundred's of people gather together to celebrate one man? How encouraging would it be for them to see a life well lived? I believe it could have a great impact on their life and encourage them to follow God no matter what the cost.

Thank you so much

What If

What if things didn't have to be the way they are? What if instead of kids looking at what the world expects of them (which isn't much) they looked at what God was telling them they could be? If this happened I think we would see a group of kids turn their families, their church and their community upside down.

This summer we are doing things a little differently in the Loft. We are closing the studio's and all the grades are going to be together for the worship and message time. As we join together our goal is that our kids would begin to not only dream about what their life could look like now, but that they would begin to listen to God and follow his mold for their life.

The messages will be taught by a combination of adults and kids from the Loft. What better way for kids to learn than through God speaking through kids their own age? We are really excited to see all that God is going to do this summer as we set aside time to dream and help our kids figure out how those dreams work their way into reality!

Please feel free to stop by weekly and see what awesome things are happening as we go on this adventure. If you are a parent please use what you find here to develop conversations with your child and help them process what they are learning in the Loft. We know that parents are the most influential person in a child's life and we are excited to partner with you on a weekly basis in the development of your child.

Month of May :: Holy Spirit

During the month of May, Pastor John & Ramona will be teaching about the nature and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Back in January and February, in the Loft, we talked about how when humanity disobeyed God by eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they(we) became disconnected from God. This month, we look at how Jesus' death and resurrection make way for us to be connected back to God through the Holy Spirit. We will be exploring the various roles, functions and our interaction with the Spirit of God.

The following is a synoposis of what Pastor John & Ramona will be talking about in the Big Room.

We are using a circle with four different colors of ribbon as a visual highlight.

Week One: Yellow- The sun rises in the east bringing the new light of day. Jesus said the Holy Spirit is the "Spirit of truth". His ministry is to bring the light of understanding about Jesus and the Father to each of us. In this role the Holy Spirit functions as our teacher.

Week Two: Red- The sun sets in the west often in a brilliant horizon displaying the tones of red. Jesus is one who baptizes believers with the Holy Spirit and fire. The color red reminds us of fire which speaks of the convicting and cleansing work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit always points us also to the (red) blood of Jesus where all of our sins are cleansed.

Week Three: White - White is the color that is used to connect us with the wind that comes out of the north. The Holy Spirit came as a "mighty rushing wind" that brought the power to live the Christian life in the first century. We still need the wind of the Spirit to empower our lives to live and minister for Christ.

Week Four: Blue - Blue is the color of water. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would be in us like a "river of living water". The very presence of God dwells in us by these living waters of the Spirit. Like every river, it flows somewhere and therefore the life of the Spirit that is in us must come out of us to our world.

Implanting the Word

For the month of April we have encouraged all of our kids to enlist the help of their parents in memorizing 10 scriptures during the month. Each week the kids are given a chance to demonstrate what they have learned. All of the verses being memorized are ones that we are teaching about and experiencing in the big room lesson time and in the Studios.

Our goal is that every venue (teaching, experience, relationships, scripture memory) would meet together so that the kids 'get it' and it begins to permeate their daily lives as they interact with family, friends, chores etc. Psalms 119:104,105 "Through your Precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate very false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Our Desire is that as Parents join with their kids, helping them to implant the word of God in their hearts, they will see it working its way out in their life.

Below are the verses we gave the kids, they were written in the New Living Translation but you can use whatever works best for you and your child.

John 14:6 1 John 1:9 John 3:16 Romans 8:34

Romans 8:9 Romans 8:11(a) 2 Cor. 5:17 Matt. 16:15,16

Jeremiah 29:11 John 14:3