For the past few weeks, our lessons have been based on Genesis 1. It's only one chapter in the Bible. And yet it contains our whole world in it! From God speaking light into the dark world, to the separation of the sea and the sky; from God's creation of tiny fish and birds to God's creation of enormous trees and animals. And what about all the planets and the stars and all that exists in our universe? AMAZING isn't it?! All things bright and beautiful All creatures grea

This week in our study of Genesis, we are going to consider all the amazing aspects to God's creation. And we start with how God created night and day. It wasn't until God said, "Let there be light" that creation even came into existence. The light was so good and beneficial in so many ways- to help us see, to allow plants to grow, to keep us warm. But the night was just as important! This hymn, entitled "Father, We Thank Thee" by Rebecca Weston, is often referred to as a Ch

There is a scene in "The Sound of Music" where Frau Maria is teaching the Von Trapp children about singing. She says to them that the best place to start learning to sing is to, "start at the very beginning- a very good place to start!" So that's what we are going to do in class this week. We're starting on a wonderful adventure of reading through God's Word together and we want to start at the very beginning because it is a VERY GOOD place to start! We'll be learning Gene

This Fall we are going to begin learning the stories of the Old Testament starting in Genesis. I want to introduce you to some of the people we will encounter along the way. Perhaps you know some of these people who are part of God's story. Take my little quiz and see if you can guess who is who! I am call the Mother of all the living. Who am I? Answer: Eve We are the first brothers mentioned in the Bible. Who are we? Answer: Abel and Cain I built a big boat for animals.

First John 4:19 teaches us a simple but VERY IMPORTANT truth about love: We love because God first loved us. And because of that VERY IMPORTANT truth these things are true: Moms and Dads and Children love because God first loved us. We can love our pets- our doggies, kitties, turtles, and goldfishes because of God's love. If you love ice cream or delicious ripe peaches it's because God first loved us and created us to enjoy all those wonderful creations! Worship is our respo

Have you ever made a paper chain? When I was young, I loved to create paper chains to decorate my room. I could change the colors out for whatever color I liked at the time! They were easy and inexpensive to make and I thought they were so pretty! When my kids were young, we used to make paper chains to hang up at Christmas time. Sometime we would do an Advent paper chain, counting down the days til December 25th and using it as part of our family devotions. On each piece

When we come to church on Sundays, our minds are often full of thoughts about the day and the week ahead. We are excited to see friends but also thinking about what might be happening later in the day. So often, coming in to worship, God may not be the most important thing on our minds!🥴 Our love for God is expressed in the things we talk about, the way we spend our time and money, the things we do throughout the day. When we come to church on Sundays, God know about all t

The Nicene Creed is an important statement of faith that has existed for over a thousand years. It was written by a collection of church leaders who came together at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD and the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD. It was written to help believers to state in a very simple way what they believe about God, His Son Jesus, the Holy Spirit. The Nicene Creed ends with this: "I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism

There's a special event that takes place a short time before Jesus was crucified on the cross-- it was the Passover meal that Jesus celebrated with his disciples. Many people were celebrating that special meal at the very same time that same day. As a matter of fact, many people celebrated the Passover for more than a thousand years before Jesus was born and for the past two thousand years since Jesus died. The story of the Passover is found in the book of Exodus (see chapt

I love the Fourth of July! It's a holiday that my extended family of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins celebrated with good food and good fun. At the end of the day we would go to the local park in town and spread out on the lawn and watch the fireworks show. While we were all waiting for the fireworks, we'd roll down the grassy hill and catch fireflies. It was a day where everything about the day was special and enjoyable! This Fourth of July is even more special to a

When a person tells another person, "I love you" they are saying a lot in those three words! They are expressing something deep in their heart for the other one-- often a spouse, or a child, or a parent or a friend. Often, when you love someone, you express that love by giving them something. Maybe it's a hug or a kiss. Or maybe it's flowers, or maybe its a gift of some kind. When you're little you might draw a picture for your mom or dad, or do something special to let th

How many times in a week does your mom remind you to wash your hands? 🧼 Maybe it's time to eat and she wants you to wash up for supper. Or maybe you've been playing outside and she doesn't want you to get dirt on the furniture. Or maybe you just covered a cough with your hand and she wants you to wash the germs off. Soap is a good thing and it has made a big difference in keeping down infections and keeping us safe from things that might make us sick. But soap doesn't wor

I love to sing! Singing was always important in my home. My parents loved to sing! My grandparents loved to sing! My aunts and uncles and cousins loved to sing! We would sing all kinds of songs when everyone was together at the holidays. It was something that made being together special! One of my earliest memories of singing was at church when I was little. Church was meeting at my home! My dad was leading the music. There was a group of about 30 people- adults and kids,

We come each week to church as an act of worship. God is the One who calls us to worship. We come acknowledging He is in control and He made us to be ruled over by Him. So we come singing His praises and praying to Him and listening to what He has to say to us in the Bible. Pay attention to the words of this hymn... All creatures of our God and King Lift up your voice and with us sing O praise Him! Alleluia! Let all things their Creator bless And worship Him in humbleness

Have you ever thought about all the parts that make up our weekly worship at CCG? I love that there is an order to our worship that is based on traditions that were started way back in the first century AD. Our Sunday morning worship is what connects us with Christians from around the world through the past two thousand years! Just as we are lifting our voices and prayers to God each week so are others in places near and far! Just as our pastor is preaching from God’s Wo

Have you ever heard this phrase before? People use it to tell someone to act carefully or to treat something gently. Maybe you are moving something that is breakable and so you don’t want to drop it with a thud. Or maybe you are rushing to do something and you just need to take your time. We’ve spent the past few weeks looking at the Fruit of the Spirit that are found in the verse from Galatians 5:22-23, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goo

This week in our lesson we are looking at Faithfulness as one of the "fruits" of the spirit. And what better example of faithfulness do we have than of God's faithfulness? God's faithfulness is continual and it is abundant! In His faithfulness to us He meets all our needs! One of my all-time favorite hymns is "Great is Thy Faithfulness" written by Thomas O. Chisholm. Here are the words to the chorus of that hymn... Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Mo

Kids are often taught by adults to be "kind" and "good". "Good" and "kind" kids are kids that teachers like to have in their class or that neighbors like to have in the neighborhood. They get along with other kids and they don't make a fuss. They share their toys and act nicely to others. To bear fruit of kindness and goodness (as children or adults) we need Jesus to show us how to truly be kind and good. Jesus was the one who came to earth to show us how to be kind and good

Eastern Box Turtle Have you ever seen one of these beautiful creatures? They are the state reptile of North Carolina and are called Eastern Box turtles. I think they are so interesting and if I could have one as a pet, I would like that! But Eastern Box turtles belong out in the wild and I look forward to encountering them on walks in the woods. Turtles are patient animals. They don't move very fast. They are very watchful of their surroundings. God made them with shells

Have you ever been camping? Maybe you camped in a tent or possibly a camper? Or maybe your family has "camped" out in a cabin where you can be out in the woods and build a camp fire and roast marshmallows. If you are very fortunate, you might have found a spot next to a lake or a creek or waterfall or even an ocean. Listening to the the water break and flow is very soothing. Isn't it wonderful that God gives us water to refresh our bodies and to refresh the earth? And for