Session 1: Introduction to Branches - Creative Abiding

Meal:Pizza Muffins (top yourself) & Salad  

These were great... fun to make, everyone got what they liked, and so easy/simple!

Prayer: Abba Daddy, we come to You as children, Your children. We love You above all and want only to be with You more, to sit at Your feet, be held in Your arms and to see You smile. Nothing else matters more. Help us to let go of anything that gets in the way. Heal our wounds and restore joy unspeakable. Thank You, Daddy, for forgiving us when we mess up and for Your patient guidance in life. Increase our faith that we may be bold as children in shining Your light on the world. Teach us to play and love pure, as a child and to stand strong with the confidence of a rightful & righteous warrior. Let the awe & wonder of You never dim. You meet our every need and our hearts desire, even when we don’t know what they are. Thank You Daddy. Join us this evening as we seek You, through Your Word and our Savior, Christ Jesus. Help us to see & hear. Amen.

Focus Topic/Discussion: Overview of the Ministry - coming to God as a child, creativity in us.  What does a child do/have that adults typically don’t?

·        How are you creative (we are ALL creative!)?
We are all made in the image of God, THE Creator... it IS in us! Some of us make art, music, cook, sew, write, make games, are creative in how we help others, decorate, creative use of math or science, and much much more... creativity can be found in more ways than we realize!

·         What games or forms of play did you enjoy as a child?
We discovered many traits & things we did that were lost as we grew up, but also many that we kept! A good way to find these in ourselves is through the art project for this lesson.

·         Difference between child-like & child-ish
Child-like traits are things like awe, playfulness, trust, joy, etc.
Child-ish traits are things like selfishness, lying to get our way, temper tantrums, etc.

·         What happens to us as we grow to lose those child-like traits?
We discovered that it happens many ways, but usually comes in forms like:
criticism from others, "should's", guilt, trying to imitate grown-ups with their own issues (grow up too fast), etc. It starts with what our parents say/do, continues in schools & society. Removal of art & music and imagination in school a real issue, wanting kids to "behave" in ways that squash, etc.

Supporting Scripture/Reference

As a Child -

·         2Kings 5:14  his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

·         Mark 10:13-24  “Allow the little children to come to Me and do not hinder them. For of such is the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, Whoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter into it.” And taking them up in His arms, He put His hands on them and blessed them…. And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answering again said to them, Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!

·         Luke 18:13-17  justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself shall be abased, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted…. For of such is the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, Whoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no way enter into it.

Creative –

·         Gen 1:27  And God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him. He created them male and female. (but do read the entire section 1:1-28

·         Gen 5:3  And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years and fathered a son in his own likeness, after his own image. (Goes to us also creating in our image)

·         All through the old testament we see instructions for creating and building: the temple, garments, and  more.

Child-like Bubble Journaling:

1. Save your paper towel and toilet paper rolls, because they make great disposable stampers, using watercolor paint. Fill small bowls with a little watery paint to stamp circles on your journal pages. A paper towel dabbing then dries the pages pretty quickly.

2. Using a gel pen, trace around both sides of the circles you made, taking care to follow all the wiggly edges.


3. Using the gel pens again, brainstorm on all the different childhood traits & things they could think of that you enjoyed, whether now lost or not.


4. Then use the watery paint & a brush or colored pencil to fill in the area around the circles. Dark coloring is encouraged to create a lot of contrast.
This project got creative juices started & helped us creatively remember... Use your favorite color here! Make the traits and things you write specific to you. We had a variety of responses, and I combined the responses from everyone in this sample. Let go and just see what comes to mind for you. It can be quite enlightening. We learned a lot in this exercise, not only the traits & things we wrote, but the colors chosen and the way we wrote them also tells us about ourselves. Don't overthink this, it should be free-form and fun! You can go back and learn about yourself when the project is done...