Jesus: Beginnings
Learn about Jesus' early days of Jesus' childhood and ministry with Jesus: Beginnings. Explore the story of Anna and Simeon in the temple witnessing Jesus as a baby. Wonder about Jesus' wisdom even when Jesus was only 12 years old. Reflect on the many things children have to teach adults through the story of Jesus in the temple. Learn about John the Baptist, how he helped everyone prepare for the coming of Jesus. Be part of the story of Jesus' baptism by John. Consider what Jesus struggled with as he prepared to start his ministry and what a desert has to do with it. Jesus: Beginnings helps children better relate to Jesus and understand how his ministry began.

Stories included in this unit:

• Anna and Simeon (Luke 2:25–38)
• When Jesus Was Twelve (Luke 2:39–52)
• Shhh, Listen! (Luke 3:1–6)
• An Awesome Day (Luke 3:21–22)
• A Wild Test (Luke 4:1–12)

Jesus: Beginnings has an at-home kit guide as an accompanying download found at the bottom of this page. This guide helps you put together a kit of supplies and activities from this unit for families to do at home. Equip families for doing at-home faith formation with the at-home kit guide.

Growing in God’s Love: A Story Bible Curriculum invites children and their leaders to wonder, play, and connect with one another as they develop a better relationship with God. By exploring the stories in Growing in God’s Love: A Story Bible, children and their leaders learn more about who God is and what their relationship is with God. This curriculum has 35 units filled with 148 stories from the story Bible that dive deep into characters and themes in the Bible. Children and their leader will read the story together from the story Bible, pause to allow the story to resonate, and then engage with the story and wrestle with their place in that story.

Growing in God’s Love: A Story Bible Curriculum is written for ages 5–10 and is intentionally multiage, meaning that children are all grouped together. Grouping children this way brings a relational focus to the sessions and fosters a collaborative spirit. The curriculum also includes an intergenerational component with four suggestions for intergenerational and home ideas for each session within a unit. Those ideas include suggestions for things to do in worship, more education-focused ideas, ways to connect with one another, and mission ideas. This adds another dimension to learning and helps the children connect to the congregation, creating a holistic approach to children’s ministry.