Answers to Sermon notes (22 December 2013)

Answers to Sermon notes (22 December 2013)

Extra helps and ideas on sermon note taking for kids

Many parents face the same struggle. Some shared their experiences and self-made resources online. If your children are still not able to follow the Sunday sermon or find taking sermon notes independently hard, below are some links that may give you some ideas to start off. Please use them with discretion.

• Video: Interior Tour of  "Sermon Notes for Kids"  by Jill Connelly (Truth Steps Publishing)
• Examples of how the "Sermon notes for kids" are used by Jill Connelly (Truth Steps Publishing)
• Free printable sermon note taking sheets for kids! from Truth Steps Publishing
• Kids sermon notes template (good framework for kids beginning to write sermon notes)
• Worship notes for kids (suitable for younger kids)

Warning: Without proper preparation at the beginning and with little encouragement/interest from the parents along the way, the child is unlikely to sustain interest in the long run. So do talk to your children and pray with them to prepare them spiritually before you get them started to write sermon notes. Help them to understand the purpose behind taking sermon notes and help them see the value of it by you yourself placing value on it  (e.g. spending the time to run through the sermon notes with her child during the week.) 

For those with a few older children, you can come up with some related questions and train your children to have a simple discussion among themselves (under your supervision). All these need a lot of effort on the part of the parents but the spiritual rewards that your children could reap make it all worth while. God bless.

Photos of Vacation Bible School 2013

Thank God for the VBS 2013. We had a fulfilling 3 days of Bible messages and fun activities.
Let's look at some photos to reminisce what has past.

God willing, our next VBS will be on 17 to 19 Nov 2014.
Are you looking forward to it? I am. So I started this countdown clock :) Hope to see you there.

Answers to Sermon notes (8 December 2013)

Answers to Sermon notes (8 December 2013)

Answers to Sermon notes (1 December 2013)

Answers to Sermon notes (1 December 2013)

Vacation Bible School 2013

Come join our Vacation Bible School 2013!  (To save the form, right click on the image above and choose "save image as). Download, print & fill in the form and then sent it back to us. Please register early. Do invite the children of your relatives, friends & neighbours too.

Welcome to Truth BPC Junior Sunday School

 Pre-School (N -K2)

Primary (Pri 1-3)

Junior (Pri 4-6)

Young Teens (Sec 1-2)

You are welcome to join us. We meet every Sunday after our 2 pm Sunday Worship Service

(from about 3.30 pm to 4.30 pm).

Address: 201 Pandan Gardens S(609337)

Contact Boon Choo @ 6566 5519 for more details.

Junior Sunday School Report 2012

The Junior Sunday School plays a crucial part in the Christian Education to children in Truth B-P Church. It ministers to children aged fourteen and below.

The objectives of the Junior Sunday School are based on Colossians 2:6-7, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

Our objectives are to lead the children to:

1.    the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ (Receive), 

2.    obey God and be a good testimony (Walk),

3.    a vibrant spiritual life (Rooted and Built up),

4.    a clear understanding of the basic Christian doctrines and teachings in the Word of God (Stablished and Abounding).

There were about 30 children in the Junior Sunday School in the year 2012. The children were grouped according to their ages into four departments (see table below). There were between four to eight children in each department.

Department:	Age range:	Venue:	Department superintendent/ assistant superintendent:
Pre-school	6 years old and below	Room 01-05	Eileen Chee / Mrs Mary Yong
Primary	7 to 9 years old	Room 03-07	Ng Boon Choo
Junior	10 to 12 years old	Room 03-08	Mrs Alice Tan
Young Teens	13 to 14 years old	Room 04-06	Eric Toh

Each department has its own curriculum to meet the spiritual needs of its students. Pre-school and Primary departments focused mainly on Bible narratives. The children learn not only about biblical characters and events in the Old and New Testaments, but were also taught foundational truths drawn from these Bible lessons and how they may apply them in their lives. Both departments used materials from the Regular Baptist Press.

Children in the Junior Department had a programme of systematic study of the Bible doctrines according to the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Their focus was to help the children understand the answers to the Catechism questions and the supporting doctrines.

Students in the Young Teens department were further grounded in their faith by a two-year programme that included a study of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith and a survey of the whole Bible. The Young Teens teacher would get the students to memorize scripture verses and to engage the students in a two-way discussion on practical applications. Both the Junior and Young Teens departments used materials which were developed in-house.

Besides regular Sunday school lessons, the children also have combined department programmes, which, in 2012, included the following activities:

·        --  Quarterly birthday celebrations

·         -- Easter Quiz

·         -- Teachers’ Day celebration

·         -- Missions Fortnight

·         -- Promotion Sunday 

Each department, with the exception of Pre-school, had an Open Sunday usually on the fifth Sunday of the month. This gave our Pastor, Rev Dennis Kwok, the opportunity to minister God’s Word to the children.

Some departments also organized special programmes. The Pre-school department had an outing at Yew Mei Green on 10 March, while the Junior and Young Teens departments had their combined outing to East Coast Park on 29 December.

The Junior Sunday School teachers gathered in church on 2 June for a teachers’ training session on the topic “The Makings for a Good Sunday School Lesson.” Eileen taught the Pre-school and Primary teachers while Xiao Wei taught the Junior and Young Teens teachers. Thank God that many participants found the session practical and felt that it was helpful for their lesson preparation.

Thank God for the department superintendents and assistant superintendents’ service in 2012. As part of the Junior Sunday School committee, they met quarterly to discuss and decide on matters concerning the Junior Sunday School. We are also thankful to God for the dedicated service of all the teachers and helpers. To show their appreciation, the Sunday School children presented a song item during the Worship Service on 2 September. Each teacher and helper also received a card made by the children. This was a part of our Teachers’ Day celebration which ended with a Teacher’s Day high-tea buffet.

Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom and keep us faithful as we continue to serve Him in the training of these young children in the Word of God and in His ways. May these children be well trained in the way that they should go so that when they became old, they will not depart from it (Prov 22:6). 

Junior Choir 2012

Our main objectives:
1) To train the children to serve God with their voices.
2) Be a blessing to the congregation through our monthly presentations.

It has been a joy to serve in the Junior Choir, along with Mrs Jean Chang and Wong Kai Leong. The Junior Choir members ranged from 5 to 12 years of age.

Our first presentation in 2012 was at a wedding on 2 January. Everyone in the Junior Choir was very excited to be part of this presentation as it was for the wedding of Kai Leong and Kate. Together with the Church Choir, we presented the song “Lord, Bless Our Home.”

The children were equally excited at our Annual Graduation, Promotion and Pledge-Taking on 8 January. After we bid farewell to Hazel Chew and Tan Sue-Ann, the remaining choir members retook their pledge to continue to serve God faithfully in the Junior Choir. To encourage those who have been very faithfully coming for their choir practice, they were given attendance awards. A number of them also took their choir rank test and got promoted to the next rank. This system of ranks, implemented by Kai Leong, has encouraged discipline, responsibility and team work amongst the Junior Choir members. Higher ranking choir members were encouraged to be good role models to the others.

By the grace of God, the children presented song items for Easter (April), Mothers’ Day (May), Fathers’ Day (June), Junior Choir Anniversary (August), Missions Fortnight (October) and Christmas (December). We were also thankful to God for sending us three new members in August: Titus, En-Qi and Yih Chern. Though they were only 5 years old, they were as committed about serving in the Junior Choir as the older children. 

Our last event of the year was a year-end gathering cum BBQ in church on 29 December. We gathered to give thanks to God for His goodness to the Junior Choir in 2012. The other reason for this gathering was to say farewell to the five Primary Six choir members who would be graduating in 2013. Three of them were part of our first batch of Junior Choir members in 2006. Thank God for keeping them faithful all these years. May God continue to keep the rest of us faithful in our service too. 

Truth Children's Fellowship 2012

Committee members: Ng Boon Choo, Dn Winston Chew, Mrs Chew Soh Han, Tina Wong, Emerson Ang and Eric Toh.

TCF’s objectives are to:

1) evangelise boys and girls with the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, and

2) establish them in the Word of God for Christian living.

Thank God for seeing TCF through another year. We are thankful to God for our 5^th Anniversary which we celebrated on 25 February 2012 (Sat). Our theme for the year was “God, our Provider.” Indeed TCF has no lack for God has been our Provider from day one. We thank God for the many children, parents, teachers and guests who came to rejoice with us. He also provided our pastor, Rev Dennis Kwok, to be our speaker on that day.

There were two special items that day. The first was a PowerPoint presentation which testified of how God has been TCF’s Provider. The second special item was a song presentation by the TCF children. They sang the TCF theme song and the hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” which they presented again to the whole church during the Sunday Worship Service the following day, 26 February.

Other major events in our TCF calendar 2012 included:

1.    26 May: Outing to Japanese Garden

2.    23 June: TCF Teachers’ and Helpers’ Meeting

3.    29 September: Children’s Day special program

4.    12 October: A special program where TCF children prepared for VBS

5.    24 November: Combined TCF and VBS outing to Kent Ridge Park and a museum called Reflections of Bukit Chandu

Thank God for providing us with many good speakers throughout the year. They taught us from the Word of God under four themes: “People who followed Jesus” (Term 1), “Character Studies from Daniel and Nehemiah” (Term 2), “Lessons from the Divided Kingdom” (Term 3) and “The Christian Solider” (Term 4). 

Thank God for every opportunity to minister to the children and for all the teachers and helpers who faithfully served each week. Our weekly programme consisted of assembly, singspiration, offering, message, and small group counsel time (where teachers reinforce the message as they guide children through a worksheet and memory verse). On every first and third Saturdays, the children had library time, while every second, fourth and fifth Saturdays was games time. At the end of every meeting, there were refreshments and a time of fellowship.

Do continue to pray for this ministry. If you have non-Christian relatives, neighbours and friends who have children from ages 4 to 12, please invite them to TCF. Feel free to take and use the invitation slips (available from the display table every Lord’s Day). May God help us.

Vacation Bible School 2012

Main committee: Ng Boon Choo (co-ordinator), Charles Sang (games i/c), Chan May Ling (food i/c), Kwok Yee Min (craft i/c), Joel Chang (transport i/c)

The theme of our VBS 2012 was “Jesus Saves.” Our objectives were as follows:

1.    Reach out to non-Christian children in the neighbourhood and of our loved ones and friends.

2.    Build up our children’s faith and encourage them to evangelize.

3.    Lay a good groundwork for future VBS.

4.    Develop potential helpers/teachers.

VBS 2012 continued to be a daily three-hour programme starting from 9 am to 12 noon over a three-day period. However, unlike past VBSs, we did not start on a Tuesday but on a Monday (19 Nov) and ended on a Wednesday (21 Nov). This change was made so that our VBS will not clash with the release of the PSLE results.

Thank God 87 children signed up. A quarter of them were first-timers. Thank God for the opportunity to minister to these children. Three speakers, Eileen (Pre-school), Xiao Wei (Primary) and Karen Lee (Junior), spoke to the children over the three days. Compared to the past, this VBS had the lowest enrolment. But getting sufficient teachers and helpers was still a big challenge as many church members were away or busy with work during the same period. Thank God that He still provided more than 30 teachers and helpers.

The gospel was given not only during the main messages and the gospel session, but was also reinforced during singspiration, games, craft, verse memorization and even in the song which the TCF children presented on the last day of the VBS. Although the VBS had ended, the follow-up work continues. During the VBS, we extended the invitation to the VBS children to join the TCF outing on 24 November. Thank God for a handful of VBS children who attended. However, much follow-up work needs to be done. Please continue to pray for the salvation of the VBS children and the follow-up work.