Sunday School

Thank you for visiting our page! Welcome to the Sunday School page! Sunday School meets from 9:15-10:15 a.m. during the school year for students age 3 through 8th grade. Through study, discussion, play, and music, we learn the stories of God's love for us in Jesus and grow together in sharing that love with others.

The Feast of Pentecost The feast of Pentecost falls on May 11 this year. On this day, we celebrate God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to His Church, and to each of us in our baptisms. The symbol at the top of this page – the dove with the nimbus of flame - is a Pentecost symbol. We remember that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove at His baptism, and that on that first Pentecost, tongues of fire came to rest on each of Jesus’ disciples. It got me thinking about the fire of the Spirit in my own life. Fire, of course, has many uses. -It heats; -It cooks; -It purifies – sometimes in the process of destruction. And perhaps the fire of the Spirit does the very same things: -He heats my heart, which can sometimes be so cold toward the Word of God and toward other people. -He works with my thoughts, helping to process and “cook” the ones that are hard to make sense of by bringing His wisdom to my everyday life; -and certainly He purifies my life and conduct, sometimes in ways that are very painful, but never more than is needed to refine the gold that He promises is there. May the fire of the Spirit work in your heart and in your home this month. Little Lambs Parents are invited to check their very own page in the Voice for news, lessons, and announcements!

Friendship Trek VBS Join us on a Friendship Trek this summer! Our Savior’s VBS August 3-7 Picnic and carnival Sunday, August 3 VBS sessions August 4-7 Watch for registration and volunteer forms coming soon! For more information, call Ruth at 385-2183.

Summer Sunday School Returning to Our Savior’s this June … Summer Sunday School! “Jars of Clay” Sunday, June 1 - Sunday, June 8 - Sunday, June 15 - Sunday, June 22 9:15-10:15 a.m. For students in preschool through those just finishing fifth grade – and parents are welcome too! Featuring … Songs – movies – Bible stories – snacks – and take homes! Preregistration is helpful but not required – and you can register for one, two, three, or all four weeks. To preregister, call Ruth at 385-2183.

Little Lambs Who made the sky so bright and blue? Who made the grass so green? Who made the flowers that smell so sweet, In pretty colors seen? Who made the birds to fly so high? Who taught them how to sing? Who made the pretty butterfly And painted her bright wing? ‘Twas God who made this world so fair, The sun, the sky, the air; ‘Twas God who made the sea, the ground, And all the things around. Summer is on the way … what a marvelous time to explore God’s creation with your Little Lamb. As the trees sprout their leaves, the birds begin chirping, and, yes, the insects begin crawling, it is a great time to cultivate the wonder that your preschooler naturally experiences and to teach her to thank God for all the beauty with which He surrounds us. We hope you are enjoying your “Read and Learn Bibles” at home. “Cuddle time” with your Little Lamb is very special, but spending it together with Jesus makes it priceless. Be sure to let the Little Lambs staff know if you did not receive a Bible for your Little Lamb. We want each child to receive his/her very own Bible.

May Lessons in Little Lambs May’s Lessons in Little Lambs: (Page referrals are from the “Read and Learn Bible.”) May 4: The First Pentecost (pp. 452-459) May 11: The Conversion of Saul (pp. 466-475) May 18: The Jailer at Philippi (pp. 476-483) May 18 is the last date for “regular” Sunday School this year, but we invite our Little Lambs and their moms and dads to the special Summer Sunday School session in June. There’s more information on another page of this newsletter. “Miss Steph” (Anderson) and “Mr. Tim” (Mackie) are going off to college this fall – and we will miss their enthusiastic and patient help with our Sunday School program. Both of them have been with us for four years, “Miss Steph” in Green Lambs and “Mr. Tim” in kindergarten – and both of them have made many young friends in that time. We give thanks for their ministry, as well as that of our other preschool and kindergarten teachers and aides. Parents are their children’s most important faith teachers. Opportunities to talk about God’s work in our lives are all around us every day. We at Our Savior’s are committed to helping parents learn the language of “faith talk” with their children. The weekly flyers contain lots of ideas for bringing faith home – the place for its earliest and most solid foundations. God’s blessings to all our Little Lambs and their families this month! The Camp Omega Day Camp registration packets will arrive this month! Day Camp will be at Hosanna Lutheran Church June 23-27 – 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Students entering first through sixth grades are eligible to attend. For more information, or for a packet, please call Ruth at 385-2183.

Elementary Lessons for May May 4: Philip and the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26-40) May 11: The Conversion of Paul (Acts 9:1-31) May 18: Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10)

Summer Sunday School Summer Sunday School is happening in June! Please check the page elsewhere in this newsletter for more information about dates, times, and registering. This is an adventure we haven’t tried for a long time – but we’re excited, and hope you are too!

Awesome April Attendance We had over 90 students in Sunday School each of the first two Sundays in April! That’s something to celebrate!

Memory Work Awards As the year winds down, we will be honoring those students who completed their memory work curriculum this year. There is still time to finish, but these students had finished by April 18: Teresa Kiewiet – Green Lambs Danica Marxen-Maus – Kindergarten Shelby May – Grade 1 Bridgett Johnson – Grade 2 Hailey Kiewiet – Grade 2 Levi May – Grade 3 Melinda Poehler – Grade 4 Tanner Sonnek – Grade 5 Ben Mackie – Grade 6 We congratulate these students and their families and hope that we will have more to add to the list before the end of the year!

Staff Notes for May We are so very grateful for all the teachers and assistants in the Sunday School program, and send our prayers with Jasmine Scharper and Cory Griffin, both of whom have assisted in the Sunday School throughout their high-school years and who will be graduating in June. We’ll be looking for and welcoming new teaching and support staff for next fall. Sunday School ministry is a unique opportunity to touch young hearts and lives. Please pray about what God may be calling you to do to advance the work of His Kingdom. Staff Meetings This Month: Just one: Elementary (K-6): Sunday, May 4, 3:30 p.m.

Junior High Bible Study Junior High continues to chew on the Old Testament book of the prophet Amos, and will finish the year with it. In keeping with their promises, we do pray that all our eighth-graders will return to finish the Sunday School year this month.

Family Faith Flyers Family Faith Flyers continue to go home with all our students each Sunday. These contain creative and easy-to-do ideas for integrating Christian discussion and practice into family life. You are your child’s most important faith teacher. Through “faith talk,” family rituals, devotions, and service opportunities, families grow closer to each other and to the Lord who gave them to each other. We encourage you to look over the weekly flyer and see what you might be able to try in your home.

“Let us sing the books of Moses …” Has your middle-schooler been humming this one around the house lately? Knowing where to look for a particular passage is so much easier when we know the order of the books of the Bible - so we are working on the books of the Old Testament in middle-grade music classes and our teaching staff is working very hard to help our students memorize the books of the entire Bible. This is a great family project as well!

K.I.D.S. The K.I.D.S. program is alive and well and available to everyone on Sunday mornings! This savings program through the Lutheran Church Extension Fund is a great tool for teaching children how to save while their quarters and dollars are used to build churches and schools. No downside here! If your child is not yet enrolled in the program, stop in the Sunday School office and the friendly office staff will get you started.

If you'd like more information about Our Savior's Sunday School, please see Ruth Mackie in the office Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Or you may call or email her. Office: 385-2183 Home: 389-9780 ruthm@oslcmankato.org

Little Lambs Pre-School Little Lambs is an activity-based approach to sharing the love of Jesus with preschoolers through creative storytelling, music, free play, and crafts. Children are invited into the program at age 3 and stay until they enter kindergarten. We provide each of our Little Lambs with his/her own “Read and Learn Bible” for family devotions and storytime. Each Sunday School lesson can be found in this wonderful resource, and the page numbers are included on the monthly lesson calendar. Each fall, new "lambs" and their parents are invited to a "mini-session" of Sunday School, where they have an opportunity to meet the staff and experience a sample Sunday School day. The mini-session for 2008 will be held on Wednesday, August 27, at 6:30 p.m. ruthm@oslcmankato.org.

Parents are their children’s most important faith teachers. Opportunities to talk about God’s work in our lives are all around us every day. We at Our Savior’s are committed to helping parents learn the language of “faith talk” with their children. The weekly flyers contain lots of ideas for bringing faith home – the place for its earliest and most solid foundations. This month, symbols of the Easter season offer lots of opportunities to talk about the Christian faith with your little one. Easter eggs remind us of how life arises from a seemingly lifeless object – just as Jesus rose from the tomb. Butterflies, too, emerge from a dried, “lifeless” cocoon – just as Jesus rose. Spices remind us of the spices used to perfume Jesus’ body. Each color of jelly beans is sometimes used to represent part of the Easter story. And, each year, as spring itself returns, we are reminded of the message of Easter: new life springing from death. A fun and easy family project to do with your Little Lamb during Holy Week is making a spice cross. Cut a cross from posterboard. Color it with markers or cover it with wrapping paper or Contact paper – then attach whole cloves with glue. As your Little Lamb smells the cloves, talk about the spices that the women used to keep Jesus’ body from spoiling – but it didn’t have time to spoil. God’s blessings to all our Little Lambs and their families this month!

Kindergarten & Grade School Elementary-age students are welcome to Our Savior's Sunday School at any time during the school year. Our curriculum is currently the "Growing in Christ" curriculum from Concordia Publishing House. The elementary staff of the Sunday School consists of over 25 teachers, aides, office assistants, and other administrative helpers, working with an enrollment of over 100 students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

"Fun Fair"

"Fun Fair"

Confirmation & Jr. High School Junior high Sunday School classes at Our Savior's are same-gender groups of eight to ten students, led by a staff of seven teachers. The small-group atmosphere is intended to help the students get to know and trust each other and to stimulate discussion. Confirmation classes are also held for junior-high students on Wednesday evenings during the school year. Contact Pastor Lauer for more information.