Children's Ministries
Sunday School
Equipping our children with the truth of God's Word.
Purpose
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.
Theme
The theme for the spring is God Is Faithful to All His Promises. We encourage church-wide scripture memory by providing HeartGuard verses which focus on promises God makes to believers (these verses can be found in the bulletin and on the front page of the 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 about who God is.
Preschool
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 fall theme of God Is Faithful to All His Promises). Classroom time includes a Bible lesson, learning a monthly memory verse (class verses correspond to the Bible lessons for the month), and breaking into small groups to pray, complete an activity sheet, and eat a snack. To download the preschool memory verse placemat, click here.
Preschool Wee Worship
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 | Justin and Amy Dunning (leaders) |
|---|---|
| 2nd Service | Rik and Nicole DeZego (leaders) |
Son Seekers Class: A Sure Foundation
(birthdates: September 1, 2005 – August 31, 2006)
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 | Chad & Christine Brenco and Michael & Ginny Weigly (co-teachers); Rachel Dudley (helper) |
|---|---|
| 2nd Service | Stephanie Post and Geoff & Meredith Schaefer (co-teachers); Jon Post, Patti Prime, and Melissa Prime (helpers) |
Faithful Followers Class: He Established A Testimony
(birthdates: September 1, 2004 – August 31, 2005)
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 | Tim & Jennifer Naddy and Nicole Drinkard (co-teachers); Kelsey Evans and Zach Diemer (helpers) |
|---|---|
| 2nd Service | Caroline McCutchen and Hope Liles (co-teachers); Haley Liles, Josh Cunniff, and Emily Segler (helpers) |
Kingdom Kids Class: He Has Spoken By His Son
(birthdates: September 1, 2003 – August 31, 2004)
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 | Shannon Pifer and Ginger Park (co-teachers) |
|---|---|
| 2nd Service | Kate Shugart and Craig & Rachel Bultmann (co-teachers) |
Elementary
In Elementary Sunday School, our hope and prayer is to “…tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done…that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.” (Psalm 78:4, 6-7). Elementary kids learn about and worship the Lord through their classroom and praise times. In the classroom, children are taught the Word of God and then break out into small groups of boys and girls led by our co-teachers and small group leaders for lesson application and prayer. During Kid Praise, children worship the Lord through songs, learning their weekly HeartGuard verse, hearing a mission story, and giving to missions.
To download the children's memory verse booklet, click here.
Elementary Kid Praise
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 and 1st Grade classes worship together and then the 2nd/3rd Grade and 4th/5th Grade Classes worship together, each for about 25 minutes. This fall, our theme for HeartGuard verses is God Is Faithful To All His Promises. Also, children are learning about Hudson Taylor, a missionary to China. For more information about his biography, please visit this site.
| 1st Service | Jeff & Vanessa Van Syckle (leaders) |
|---|---|
| 2nd Service | Danny & Toni Brown (leaders) |
5s/Kindergarten Class: Jesus, What a Savior!
Our 5s/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 | Mike Neal and Kris Braun (co-teachers); Erin Argersinger and Stephen Scaringe (small group leaders) |
|---|---|
| 2nd Service | Doug Bennett & Ashley Wootton and Brian Van Stratum & Lois Brinkmann (co-teachers) |
1st Grade Class: The ABCs of God
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 | Doug & Holly Banks and Lloyd & Leo Thurber (co-teachers) |
|---|---|
| 2nd Service | David & Amanda England and Casey Moseley (co-teachers); David Fish (small group leader) |
2nd/3rd Grade Class: In the Beginning…Jesus
Our 2nd-3rd 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 | Jason Brienen and Rori Dunbar (co-teachers); Matt & Audra Garlich and Paul Diemer (small group leaders) |
|---|---|
| 2nd Service | Dawn Segler and Tony Anagnastou (co-teachers); Matt & Ashley Johnson (small group leaders) |
4th/5th Grade Class: Faithful To All His Promises
Our 4th/5th 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 | Jim & Terry Dudley and Mike & Cathy Scaringe (co-teachers); Carla Schell and Trey Braun (small group leaders) |
|---|---|
| 2nd Service | Bryan & Jami Trochessett and Bradley & Sarah Maxwell (co-teachers) |