Blessing of the Backpacks August 8th!
All Students, faculty and staff, are asked to bring their backpacks and school bags to worship (either 8:15 or 10:45) on Sunday, August 8th for a special “Backpack Blessing” – a celebration of our Milestones Ministry. As the new school year begins, we want to lift up students of all ages – reminding them that God is with them as they head back to school. We also want to bless, encourage and affirm all teachers, professors, aides, principals, administrators, advisors, and all others who work within a learning institution and serve students in their daily work. All participants will receive a special gift as a reminder that God’s love, grace, and peace continue to surround, uplift, and strengthen them, even while at school!
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Faith Formation with Children
There is nothing as important than helping nurture the faith of a child. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 emphasizes this point:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
What a wonderful model for ministry! As a church it is our responsibility to nurture, strengthen, and share the gift of faith with all children who enter First Lutheran’s doors. This responsibility requires more than just finding the right Sunday school curriculum and providing things for children to do. It requires that together we learn and speak the language of faith, that we teach and model God’s grace and love, and that we welcome others to join us on the journey of faith providing them with guidance, assurance, support and protection along the way.
First Lutheran is committed to providing ministries that nurture, sustain and encourage the development of faith for all children. Faith formation is a process that stretches from birth and continues throughout all of life. It is a process that requires God’s grace and depends on the forgiveness of sins. It is a process that is shaped by our connection with God’s word and is strengthened by a growing knowledge and understanding of the scriptures. It is a process that relies on the care and support of others and is reinforced by our relationships at home, at church, and with the world around us.
At First Lutheran, we understand that faith is more "caught" than "taught;" more formed than learned. With parents and guardians as partners, we share the privilege and responsibility of helping children grow into a deep and thriving faith. We strive to help families experience faith practices in the home, speak comfortably in the language of faith, and make active participation in the congregation a priority. Children have an active role in worship, and are provided opportunities to use their God-given gifts in service to others. Our Sunday morning learning time--FaithTrek--is much more than simply Sunday School. It's an interactive, intergenerational experience that brings children into deep contact with both the stories of the Bible, and of the adults they know from right here at First Lutheran.
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Learning & Growing 
