The Church at Brook Hills

Creation Station

The nursery ministry is open to all children from newborns through age 18 months and is available during all Worship Gatherings.  It is our desire to come alongside parents in nurturing the faith of their children.  Our responsibility is to model and to teach truth in an attitude of frequent prayer.

Significant ministry to children begins in our youngest nurseries. Here a foundation of prayer begins for your child, as the godly men and women serving in the nurseries are encouraged to "pray without ceasing" for the Lord's work in the hearts of these little ones while they are in our care.

As your child's language skills develop our prayers for them continue. We will also begin introducing biblical truths to them through frequent use and illustration.

Biblical Truths

1. God is good.
2. God is big.
3. God is strong.
4. Jesus loves you.
5. We love Jesus.
6. Thank you, Jesus.
7. God made everything (the trees, birds, your nose, etc.).
8. God is with us.
9. God knows everything.
10. Jesus is my friend.
11. Jesus loves _________ (babies, children, boys and girls).
12. We need God.

Exploration Station

How can we hope to help toddlers see an infinite God?  Little by little we can build a foundation of understanding for little children, and little by little they will begin to understand who God is and how great God is. We will repeat over and over "hidden things, things from of old - what we have heard and know, what our fathers have told us.  We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done." (Psalm 78:2-4)

Curriculum
In Younger Toddler Ministry, we use the age appropriate levels of the Children Desiring God curriculum entitled "The Wonders He Has Done". The Small Group leader guides toddlers by presenting great truths about God through simple "biblical truth statements" and the telling of four key Bible stories, which are repeated over and over with the prayer "that the next generation ...would put their trust in God." (Psalm 78:1-7) The aim of this curriculum is to impart to children a vision of God, who He is, who we are in relation to Him, and to establish them with a foundation of doctrine and truth. We want them to be biblically grounded, seeing God as the hero of every story, with a God-centered world view and a faith that will hold them when the days of testing come. We want them to love the Lord their God with all their heart, and to delight in Him forever.

Parent Resources for Small Group Lessons
Parents are the primary faith nurturers of their children and time to nurture your child is limited in the classroom. Therefore, each week your child will bring home a Parent Resource Page that will help to inform you of the Bible story, scripture reference, prayer and key theme of the lesson from that day. Each page provides you with suggested discussion topics to assist you in reinforcing and building upon the truths in the scripture lesson. This is best done if you are familiar with the Bible story. The actual time with your child will only take a few minutes; however, there are great rewards for diligence.

Exploration Station

The only sure foundation for our little ones is Jesus Christ.  Everything else will crumble. Nursery and toddler ministries are just the beginning of leading a child to Jesus. Much of the work is hidden, and the fruits of this ministry may take years to see; but God is faithful. Prayer, blessing, a godly atmosphere, and simple biblical truths will play an important role in the eventual salvation of a child.

Curriculum
In the Older Toddler and three-year old Ministry, we use the age appropriate levels of the Children Desiring God curriculum entitled "His Praiseworthy Deeds". In the Older Toddler Ministry, the Small Group leader continues to guide the children by presenting great truths about God through simple "biblical truth statements" and the telling of 13 key Bible stories, which are repeated over and over with the prayer "that the next generation... would put their trust in God" (Psalm 78:1-7).  The aim of this curriculum is to impart to children a vision of God, who He is , and who we are in relation to Him, and to establish them with a foundation of doctrine and truth. We want them to be biblically grounded, seeing God as the hero of every story, with a God-centered worldview and a faith that will hold them when the days of testing come. We want them to love the Lord their God will all their heart, and to delight in Him forever.

Parent Resources for Small Group Lessons
Parents are the primary faith nurturers of their children and time to nurture your child is limited in the classroom. Therefore, each week your child will bring home a Parent Resource Page that will help to inform you of the Bible story, scripture reference, prayer and key theme of the lesson from that day. Each page provides you with suggested discussion topics to assist you in reinforcing and building upon the truths in the scripture lesson. This is best done if you are familiar with the Bible story. The actual time with your child will only take a few minutes; however, there are great rewards for diligence.

Celebration Station

Curriculum
In Preschool Ministry, we use the age appropriate levels of the Children Desiring God curriculum. The aim of this curriculum is to impart to children a vision of God, who He is, who we are in relation to Him, and to establish them with a foundation of doctrine and truth. We want them to be biblically grounded, seeing God as the hero of every story, with a God-centered worldview and a faith that will hold them when the days of testing come. We want them to love the Lord their God with all their heart, and to delight in Him forever.

The Preschool curriculum is called "He Established A Testimony". It's purpose is to show the children the Greatness of God throughout history and continuing today. The curriculum begins with a chronological study of the stories of the Old Testament.  We want them to understand that the same baby Moses that was placed in the reeds is the same Moses to whom God ultimately gave the Ten Commandments. 

Following their study of the Old Testament preschoolers will begin their journey through the New Testament and learn how God has "Spoken to Us by His Son - Jesus". Children will study how Jesus revealed to us the nature of the Father; how He spoke the words of the Father, and how He was a reflection of the Father. They will know that Jesus welcomed the children into His Father's Kingdom.

In summary, if they learn with us on Sunday mornings through their preschool years and with re-enforcement of the lessons at home, it is our prayer that every preschooler will have a sure foundation as to who God is in all His Glory!

Scripture Memorization
The Preschool Ministry is committed to the memorization of Bible verses.  We believe that memorized verses have tremendous potential for promoting spiritual growth.  For this reason, we are committed to encouraging the children to learn the Foundation Verses, in reinforcing your efforts and "coming alongside"  you.  In our Small Group time on Sunday mornings, we cannot teach your child their memory verses, but we can introduce the verses, review the verses, keep records, provide accountability and help motivate your child. Working as a team we can prepare your child to begin to use scripture memorization that will impact them for a lifetime!

Foundation Verses Information and Chart

Parent Resource Pages
Each week your child will bring home a Parent Resource Page that will help to inform you about the Bible story, scripture reference, and key themes of the lesson from that day. Each page provides you with suggested discussion questions to assist you in reinforcing and building upon the truths in the scripture story and to solicit a personal response from both you and your child to the truths in the scripture passage. This is best done if you yourself are familiar with the bible story and have gleaned some truth from it that is meaningful to you. The actual time with your child will only take a few minutes, due partly to the inability of your young child to sit for an extended amount of time. It will be helpful to take some time and prepare for the time with your child. May God bless your efforts to guide your children in truth! May they love God and become strong in the Faith!

Large Group Time

Bible Stories
Our Bible Stories will be told each week in our Large Group time by trained story tellers using as many biblical visuals as possible. Each story will begin by reading from the Bible and letting the children know that everything in the Bible is true and right.

Worship
It is a sobering thought that God is allowing us to train children how to respond to Him. When leading children in Worship it is important to make a connection between the song and what it reflects about God or how it relates to the truth they have learned or will learn. God wants people to relate to him, not simply know about Him.

Teaching children to worship is preparing them for a lifetime of worshipping God. Therefore we will introduce preschoolers to hymns and worship songs we sing in church. This will prepare them to participate in corporate worship. We will stress that worship is God-centered and not man-centered.

Prayer Time
It is wonderful to hear God's Word prayed. Even young children can learn that God is the one we pray to about everything; in good times and bad times. We give the children the opportunity to take turns praying in our Small Groups. They are eager to pray for the people they love and understand that we all need God's help. We are amazed at their big prayers that focus on God's character and show faith in his ability to hear and answer prayer.  Your child's Small Group leader will be intentionally modeling prayer.  With your help reinforcing and modeling prayer at home, your child can grow in their understanding of prayer.