At Four Oaks, we desire to equip our children with an understanding of the truths of God's Word, the grace of the Gospel, and the character of God so that they might worship the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Our Sunday School curriculum is from Children Desiring God, which seeks "to fuel spiritual desire in children by exalting the greatness and worth of God and His glorious work through Christ." For more information, read the curriculum's philosophy and distinctives.
The theme for the summer is The Righteous Shall Live By FAith and focuses on the 10 commandments. With this theme in mind, we will be memorizing two wonderful gospel passages as our HeartGuard verses--Exodus 20:2-5a, 7-8, 12-17 and James 2:10. We encourage church-wide scripture memory by providing HeartGuard verses, and these verses can be found in the bulletin and on the front page of the church website. We trust that these verses will provide wonderful opportunities for families to memorize the Word of God together and meditate upon key Biblical truths.
Our hope for our preschoolers is to gain an understanding of the character and worth of God and His glorious deeds among the nations and begin to worship Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. To do this, preschool children participate in wee worship time and classroom time. Wee Worship time includes singing to the Lord, prayer, a missions offering, and learning a monthly memory verse from Theo the Puppet (Wee Worship verses focus on our summer theme of The Righteous Shall Live By Faith). Classroom time includes a Bible lesson, learning a monthly memory verse, and breaking into small groups to pray, complete an activity sheet, and eat a snack. To download the preschool memory verse placemat, click here for Toddlers/Son Seekers and click here for Faithful Followers/Kingdom Kids.
We believe that it brings great pleasure to the Lord to have His children walking in the truth of God’s Word and singing praises to Him. We desire to see children magnify the name of the Lord as well as lift up their requests to Him. Therefore, children from the Faithful Followers and Kingdom Kids classes join together for Wee Worship time during the first part of the service, and children from the Son Seekers Class and toddlers come together during the second part of the service. The Wee Worship time includes singing, prayer, a missions offering, and learning a monthly Bible verse, which includes listening to Theo the Puppet explain a different part of the verse each week. In addition, the worship leaders go to the nursery and sing a couple songs to the infants at the end of each service.
| 1st Service | Tim Anderson (leader); Cassidy Smith (helper) |
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| 2nd Service | Paul & Brittney Harlacher (leaders) |
We believe that the early preschool should be an exciting and vital ministry in the church, not just a babysitting service. Therefore, our Son Seekers Class seeks to nurture the faith of the next generation by studying A Sure Foundation. This curriculum repeats 13 lessons throughout the year, with each lesson focusing on a different foundational truth statement about the Lord that kids can learn as they form their language skills.
| 1st Service | Joey & Carice Cartwright, Janna Currieo (co-teachers); Madison & Junior Cartwright, Claire Andrus (helpers) |
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| 2nd Service | Beth Kinnon, Jessica Shaffer (co-teachers); Maggie Jo Coker, Hannah Kinnon, Camille Buckles (helpers) |
Our Faithful Followers Class is studying He Established A Testimony, which explores God's greatness and worth by noting key themes found chronologically throughout the Old Testament. God has certainly testified of His glorious deeds and His mighty power, and we desire to see children begin to understand the great God whose character never changes.
| 1st Service | No Summer Class |
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| 2nd Service | Denise Bernath, Richard & Lori Crowe (co-teachers); Leah, Abigail & Sylvia Crowe (helpers) |
Our Kingdom Kids Class is studying He Has Spoken By His Son, which explores the greatness of God in Christ by noting key themes found chronologically throughout the New Testament. We trust that this class will help children see the wonder and power of Jesus Christ and prepare their hearts to set their hope in Him.
| 1st Service | Jackie Crowe, Karen Butler (co-teachers); Ben Crowe, Anna Grace Butler, Luke Diemer (helpers) |
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| 2nd Service | Kate Shugart & Tyler Sununu (co-teachers); Rob Hodges & Holly Kouns (helpers) |
To encourage family worship, we suspend Sunday School for the summer (June 6-September 5). However, for K-3rd graders (rising 1st-4th grade) who are unable to sit through the entire service, we provide Children’s Church during 2nd service. Children worship in the sanctuary with their parents for the first part of the service and then are dismissed to the 268 room for large group teaching and on to their classroom for small groups.
This summer, children are studying the Ten Commandments based on a curriculum called The Righteous Shall Live By Faith. Each Sunday, we look at one of the commandments and consider the perfections of God and His heart for His people. Our goal is not only to help children understand God’s moral law and how we are to reflect His character, but also point children to the grace of God and how we need Jesus’ righteousness and forgiveness in order to be made right in God’s sight.
For security purposes, parents should sign in their children before 2nd service in the youth lobby. There, parents will get a pick-up tag and children will get a nametag. Parents will sign out their children at the appropriate classroom. To download Heartguard summer verses click here.
Teachers & Helpers for Elementary Summer Classes:
Kindergarten: Stephanie Avello, Josh Griep, Eddie Kent; 1st Grade: Doug & Ashley Bennett, Mike & Wendy Lassiter; 2nd Grade: Kent & Jan Hamilton, John Barron; 3rd Grade: Tammy Pulsifer; Charlene Pulsifer, Trey Braun
Kid Praise is a great time each week for children to worship the Lord together, singing praises to the Lord, being taught the weekly HeartGuard Bible verse, hearing a missions biography, and giving a missions offering. To be more intimate and age-appropriate, the 5s/K, 1st Grade, and 2nd Grade classes worship together and then the 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, and 5th Grade Classes worship together, each for about 25 minutes.
| 1st Service | No Summer Schedule |
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| 2nd Service | No Summer Schedule |
Our Kindergarten Class is studying Jesus, What a Savior!, which uses selected Bible stories presented chronologically to present these key redemptive themes:
• the incomparable greatness and worth of God who is to be desired and treasured above all things;
• the desperate condition of sinners who have fallen short of treasuring the glory of God and are helpless to save themselves; and,
• the all-sufficient work of Jesus on the cross to save sinners who put their trust in Him. We pray that God will use this study to open the eyes of each child to see the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
| 1st Service | No Summer Class |
|---|---|
| 2nd Service | Stephanie Avello, Eddie Kent, Josh Griep |
Our 1st Grade Class is studying The ABCs of God, which uses the alphabet as a framework for teaching the attributes of God. Each lesson asks and answers three key questions, "Who is God?" "What is He like?" and "How should I act toward Him?" as it presents a theology of God for children. We pray that children will see the greatness and worth of God and worship Him for all that He is.
| 1st Service | No Summer Class |
|---|---|
| 2nd Service | Doug & Ashley Bennett; Mike & Wendy Lassiter |
Our 2nd Grade Class is studying In the Beginning…Jesus, which looks at the mystery behind the cross: "What really happened here?" "Why did Jesus die?" and "Who did it?" The study reveals God's redemptive plan by moving chronologically through the Old Testament helping children search for “clues” that foreshadow the coming of Jesus and His redemptive work on the cross. We pray that children will see that Jesus and His work on the cross is the “yes” to all promises of God (II Corinthians 1:20).
| 1st Service | No Summer Class |
|---|---|
| 2nd Service | Kent & Jan Hamilton; John Barron |
Our 3rd Grade Class is studying Faithful to All His Promises, which is a study of God's promises to believers and His faithfulness to keep them. As children mediate on these truths each week, we pray that they would not simply know the promises of God, but that they would place unshakable confidence in them and the One who made them.
| 1st Service | No Summer Class |
|---|---|
| 2nd Service | Tammy Pulsifer; Trey Braun; Charlene Pulsifer |
Our 4th Grade Class is studying How Majestic Is Your Name, which teaches the names of God and how they reveal His majestic character. Children learn the Hebrew names of God in the Old Testament and the names of Christ and the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. We pray that children will see and rejoice in the goodness and greatness of God as they explore the meaning of His glorious names.
| 1st Service | No Summer Class |
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| 2nd Service | No Summer Class |
Our 5th Grade Class is studying To Be Like Jesus, which helps children answer important questions (What is salvation? How does someone become a Christian? What does it really mean to become like Jesus?) by carefully explaining elements of the Gospel message, its purpose, and promise. A major portion of this curriculum focuses on the doctrine of sanctification - the process by which a Christian becomes more and more conformed to the likeness of Jesus. By carefully studying some of the commands of Jesus, we pray that children will have a clear understanding of what it means to respond to God in faith and obedience.
| 1st Service | No Summer Class |
|---|---|
| 2nd Service | No Summer Class |