Brite Monthly – August 2023

This month’s biblical theme is:

Beginnings & Patriarchs

In the beginning, there was God! He existed before everything else. The book of Genesis tells us about the beginnings of just about everything else. This month, we will learn about how God created the universe and the beginnings of His relationship with His created people. Genesis lays the foundation for who God is and how He loves us.

Creation: In the very beginning, only God existed. The world was empty and formless. God showed his power when He created everything just by speaking. He made the whole world and everything in it and He rules over it today.

Made In His Image: God created everything, including people. God created Adam and Eve in His own image. They lived in a perfect relationship with God, inside of His perfect garden until they chose to disobey God. Their sin resulted in brokenness for themselves and the whole world, yet God loved them and provided for them.

Tower of Babel: The people decided to build a great city, including a great tower so that they could reach heaven on their own. God confused their language to protect them. Doing things God’s way instead of our own is always the best path. He provides a way for us to live in heaven with Him forever through Jesus, not by trying to make our own way to Him.

Abram and Lot: God made Abram a great promise and asked Abram to leave his country and travel to somewhere God would show him. Abram took his nephew Lot. The time came when they needed to separate, and Lot chose the better land for himself. God reminded Abram of his faithfulness and helped Abram rescue Lot when he got in trouble.

This month’s Unit Title is: Incredible Inventions

In this month’s videos, we meet a kid who has just moved into town and is pretty nervous. He makes quick friends with a kid inventor and learns great lessons from her invention successes, and failures. Decor can include wacky science elements, gears, test tubes, or inventions such as robots.

Check out our Pinterest board for more ideas! https://www.pinterest.com/britecurriculum/incredible-inventions/

This month’s Leader Training Topic is: Leadership Characteristics that Communicate Care

The words and actions of a leader flow from their beliefs about what leadership is and their own personal motivations. For example, some view leadership as power, and they are motivated by a desire to gain more prestige, possessions, or followers. Others view leadership as influence, and they are motivated by opportunities to bring their ideas or products to a larger audience, making their mark in their field or industry. There are also those that view leadership as a burden and are motivated to avoid it at all costs so that they don’t have to meet the demands or expectations of those around them.

As those who love God and seek to follow Jesus’ example, we look to Him as our model and guide when it comes to leadership. Rather than point others to Himself, Jesus pointed them to His Father. Rather than seeking to elevate Himself, He intentionally served those around Him. His love for others was demonstrated in the way that He cared for them, meeting them where they were at, attending to their needs, and inviting them into the abundant life they were created for. What would it look like to follow Jesus’ model of leadership as care for others? This month, we’ll explore some of the qualities that communicate care to the kids you lead.

Throughout the month, we’ll explore the following topics:
  • Week 1 – Caring through hospitality
  • Week 2 – Caring through compassion
  • Week 3 – Caring through Curiosity
  • Week 4 – Caring through humility
Teaching kids about the gospel:

The gospel is the good news. God wants everyone to know this good news and to not miss out on this invitation!

Here’s the gospel in four main words: God, Us, Jesus, Trust.

God

God is a loving God who is all-powerful and holy. He knows and sees everything, and rules over everything. God created all people in His image, and we are valuable to Him.

Us

But we have sinned, and our sin separates us from God. What is sin? Sin is anything we think, say, or do that disobeys God. The penalty for sin is death and separation from God forever.

Jesus

But because God loves us so much, He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus died in our place. But He did not stay dead—He rose again three days later. Because of Jesus, we no longer have to be separated from God and we are offered the free gift of eternal life!

Trust

God gives salvation, rescuing us from our sin, to everyone who places their trust in Jesus as their Savior. What is trust? It means that we rely on what Jesus did. You cannot be saved from sin by doing good things, but only through what Jesus did for you.