Hello Barn Kids Families!

We are switching back to Worship and Sunday School at 10:30 a.m. this Sunday. Please remember that we have some new Sunday School teachers this year, and not all of them have gotten to know everyone in their classes yet, so please remember to keep your parent pick up code with you after you check in your children and show it to their teachers at pick up time. Thanks for helping our teachers make sure that all of our children are checked out safely!

Our Sunday School teachers and helpers for this year are:

Nursery Seedlings (Room 7) - Rachel, Matt, and Caroline Blazer, Austin Bracy, Jamie Clegg, Will Downie, Emma Garrett, Callie Huntington, Anna Fluder, and Meredith Evans.

Pre-K Sprouts (Room 4) - Meg Biggins, Paige Colantonio, Jeanette Downie, Todd Miltimore, Sarah Neagoy, Maria Preiser, Andrea Stetson, and Serena Huntington.

Grades K-1 Buds (Rooms 1 and 2) - Matt Carman, Hannah Lawton, Ali Rice, Erin and Damon Slechta, Katy Waterman, Kerri Carroll, Janice Carroll, and Jean Kracke.

Grades 2-5 Harvesters (Room 3) - Bryan Bushong, Tony Charles, Katie Gritter, Sarah Guerrera, Mike Biggins, Samantha Hershberger, Lee Huntington, and Hannah Swenson.

If you are interested in joining our awesome and amazing group of Sunday School teachers and helpers email me at LLynch@cpcbarn.org for more information.

This week we will be learning about how God provided for Hannah in 1 Samuel 1-3.

When was the last time you prayed fervently to God? What did you need? Did He answer in a way you expected? When Hannah wanted a baby, she cried out to God with great earnestness so much that the priest Eli thought she was drunk. Hannah had confidence that God heard her prayer. She understood that one of the evidences of the understanding and the belief that God hears and answers prayer is persistence in prayer. 

Hannah prayed with a passion and bitterness of heart that looked to God at first and fixed her gaze upon the Lord only. She didn't even notice Eli watching her. She believed that God heard and God acted as a result of our small prayers. She prayed with passion because she believed God heard her. 

But what if our prayers seem not to be heard? Hannah is a great example for us of what C. H. Spurgeon observed about prayer in his book Illustrations and Meditations: "Frequently the richest answers are not the speediest … A prayer may be all the longer on its voyage because it is bringing us a heavier freight of blessing. Delayed answers are not only trials of faith, but they give us an opportunity of honoring God by our steadfast confidence in Him under apparent repulses.”

Finally, Hannah's persistence in prayer showed that she understood she could not fix her situation but the all-powerful God who hears and acts could. The next year, Hannah came with a baby in her arms. A baby she named Samuel, which means “God heard.” Samuel’s life was a constant reminder to Hannah and all of Israel that God lives, hears, and acts.

I encourage you to watch these short videos about the lesson with your children this week: 

Hannah - https://youtu.be/qvVfSeG_1Ts?si=zggx0u82yk0dSY8y

Samuel - https://youtu.be/P13uIsFW7OA?si=mnn7R95cs_tPDc6S

Then ask them:

- Who prayed to God for a son?

- What do you think it means to "pour your heart out" to the Lord? Have you ever done that?

- How do you think Hannah felt when she dedicated Samuel to serve in the temple?

- Why do you think Samuel went to Eli when he heard someone call his name?

- Samuel told people what God is like and what He would do. Who told people about God's plan and showed the world what God is like?

Look at pictures of your children when they were younger. Tell them about your feelings when you learned you would be their parent. Share how you prayed for them and continue to pray for them. As a family, make and keep a family prayer list. Invite each family member to add to the list. Pray as a family for the requests. Remind your children that God hears our prayers. Look for and talk about ways God answers the prayer requests.