John the Baptist for Kids
John the Baptist for Kids
Memory Cross has created a origami folding card that teaches the story of John the Baptist to kids. Designed to be used for Sunday School, Children’s Church
and Vacation Bible School. This card is part of our crafts for Sunday School line. Each card contains four panels that never stop folding and is designed as a coloring card. The unique design fascinates children as well as adults and helps children learn the story of John the Baptist.
The John the Baptist card was designed for middle school children as a craft activity to help them remember what was taught in class. Your children can color the card or add Christian stickers or glitter. If you are looking for ideas to help you teach about John the Baptist, visit our friends at Ministry to Children. Tony as always has some great resources to help you.
There are a number of lessons that we can learn from John the Baptist. He was called to prepare the way for Jesus and faithfully fulfilled his calling. He accepted his role in history gracefully. As Jesus’ ministry and following became greater his disciples came to him and said more people were following Jesus than John. His response was he must become greater and I must become less.
From a human standpoint that can be hard to accept but John was looking at life from God’s point of view. John can help our children start to look at life from God’s point of view. When John was in prison he sent a message to Jesus asking if he was really the Messiah. Jesus response was to tell John all that you have seen today and say blessed is he who does not loose faith.
That story applies to our lives and our children’s lives today. John did not want to be in prison, especially for serving God. There are times in each of our lives where bad things happen even when we are trying to serve God with all our heart. Through this story we can remind our children that God is faithful even when things are not going the way we plan.
Memory Cross provides a number of craft cards to help you teach children stories from the Bible. Visit our Bible Craft Ideas page for more information. We’ve put a video below that shows how the cards work.
Memory Cross Creates Christian Origami Valentine Card
Memory Cross has created a Christian origami style Valentine’s Day card based on 1 Corinthians 13. This book of the Bible talks about what love is and how to express it. The Valentine card is designed for Sunday School and Children’s Church. It combines a teaching tool, craft project and Valentine card all together.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous. Love is not proud and does not boast. Love does not do things that are not nice. Love does not think of itself. Love does not get angry. Love holds no wrong feeling in the heart. Love is not glad when people do wrong things, but it is always glad when they do right.
Love forgives everything. Love is always trusting and always hoping and never gives up. Love never ends. The Scripture was taken from The Jesus Book – The Bible in Worldwide English and is written in a manner that children can understand.
These verses will open up opportunities to talk with your children about what love is, how they can show it to others and why having a relationship with Jesus is necessary to really love. The card is designed to be colored on so after talking about love, children can color on it and write a note to their parents. When it is finished it makes a great Valentine card for children to give to their parents.
The origami design fascinates children so they won’t put the card down after they get home. It is a fun and creative way to teach children about love while creating a Valentine Card that they can give to their parents or friends.
Two versions are available, one for children to give to parents or other care givers and one for them to give to other children or adults. Memory Cross has created crafts for Sunday School. They are fun origami cards that teach children stories of the old and new testaments.
Share the Gospel at Halloween
How to Share the Gospel at Halloween
Halloween can be a great time to Share God’s love with kids who don’t visit your church. It is probably the best opportunity of the year. There are several ways 
which we can share the gospel at Halloween.
Trick or treat
Even though less kids are participating because of safety fears I still have 50 to 100 kids show up at my door. Its great to see all the neighbors out walking around with their kids. I usually get to meet a few new members of our community every year. So here is how I share the Gospel at Halloween. Along with candy I give out one of our Memory Cross tracts. Kids love the origami design and seem to prefer it over candy, at least by the time they get to my house and their bags are full of candy. After a hundred pieces of candy, it’s hard for kids to get excited about one more piece.
Trunk or treat
This is the biggest opportunity to reach children with the Gospel. Trunk or treat is where people decorate their cars and hand out candy from the trunk of their cars. Many times churches will add food, music, games and rides to the event. Trunk or treat provides a safe place for kids to dress up and get candy and has been growing every year.
This opens up the opportunity to share the Gospel and invite kids and parents back to the church. Setting up your trunk or treat correctly is an important step in sharing the Gospel. The first stop kids should make is at the welcome center. Be sure to have a sign up sheet where parents can put their email if they want to know about other events going on at your church. It’s also a great place to give kids a fun tract and an invitation to the next church event at the church.
Trunk or Treat provides many opportunities for members to interact with both children and adults. If you have a praise band ask them to set up and play for the event. It provides an opportunity to present the Gospel through music and encourages people to stay longer at the event. If your church has the facilities to accomodate it, a hot dog and hamburger cook out is also been very successful.
Memory Cross has created a number of fun, creative tracts for Halloween. We also have a variety of tracts for kids that you can use year round Below is a video that you’ll want to watch.
Why Memorize Scripture
Why Memorize Scripture?
I read an article in Children’s Ministry Magazine that asked the question “Should Children’s Ministries require Scripture Memory?” That got me thinking about
Why Memorize Scripture. What is the purpose and benefits. Does God really care whether we Memorize Scripture? What does the Bible say about it?
First a couple comments on the article. In it Stephanie Martin says: “To memorize or not to memorize-that’s a controversial question for children’s ministers. And for some, it’s an extremely uncomfortable question.” Stephanie goes on to agree that memorizing Scripture is something that people in children’s ministry should be doing and gives a number of well thought out ways to make sure that if you are teaching children how to memorize Scripture that the program works and kids are not only memorizing Scripture but understanding what the verse means to them.
So the question Why Memorize Scripture?
First a few quotes. Chuck Swindoll wrote, “I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than Scripture memorization. . . . No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified” (Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994], p. 61).
Rick Warren in the Purpose Driven Life listed the benefits of memorizing Bible verses as follows:
- Resist temptation
- Make wise decisions
- Reduce Stress
- Build confidence
- Offer good advice
- Share your faith
The Reverend Billy Graham in an interview said “If he had his life to live over again, Graham says he would spend more time immersed in Scripture and theology. He never went to seminary, and his lack of a graduate education is something that still gives him a twinge. “The greatest regret that I have is that I didn’t study more and read more,” he says. “I regret it, because now I feel at times I am empty of what I would like to have been.I have friends that have memorized great portions of the Bible. They can quote [so much], and that would mean a lot to me now.” Personally I’ve found my spiritual life strongest when I spent time meditating and memorizing God’s Word.
If you are not sure what the benefits are for kids I’d say try it yourself for 30 days and see if God does not change your life.
What does the Bible say about Memorizing Scripture?
There are many verses. I’ve shared a few here. All are from the New Living Translation
Psalm 119: 11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Joshua 1:8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
Deuteronomy 11: 18 So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.
Psalm 119:9 How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word.
Jeremiah 15:16a When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight.
Psalm 1: 2-3 they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
Colossians 3:16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
Matthew 4:4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Jesus quoted Scripture from memory and we are called to follow after his example. I encourage you to try it for yourself. Take a 30 day challenge. Commit to memorizing two Bible verses of your choosing a week and see what happens. I believe you will change your question from why memorize Scripture to why did I not memorize Scripture earlier.
Memory Cross makes a number of printed and blank Scripture memory cards to help get you started. We also wrote a article about how to memorize Scripture that you might find helpful. Below is a video showing how Memory Cross can help make it fun and easy to memorize Scripture.
How to Memorize Scripture
How to Memorize Scripture
A few days ago our Tuesday morning mens group put a challenging of memorizing two Bible verses each week. It seemed like a simple challenge at the time but 
I’m finding age has made memorizing Scripture harder than when I was young. So I started on a quest on How to Memorize Scripture. I’ve found several resources that I wanted to share.
Since I work at Memory Cross one of the first places I turned to was our blank Scripture memory cards. I’m a technology guy so the next place I looked was the Android store and downloaded one of the most popular apps, Remember me. The app has a lot of nice features. It automatically imported my verse in the translation I wanted to use. That made it really fast and easy but actually typing it in would have probably helped me remember the verse better. Once the verse was in the app I had multiple options to help me memorize it.
- Flash cards
- Word puzzles
- First letter and placeholder
- Line by line
- Listen to the passage
- Randomly generated quizzes
I used several of them to help me remember the Scriptures. I found multiple ways of learning helped. One of the nicest things is that it was always with me since I carry my phone around everywhere I go, so if I had a few minutes to spare I’d flip open the app. It also keeps all the verses I’ve learned in one place which will make reviewing them easy.
Not everyone has a smart phone and if you are helping children at church learn Scripture buying them all iPods or smart phones is probably not the solution. I mean if you have the money the kids will love it but there are less expensive solutions.
I took my two verses and wrote them on Memory Cross blank cards. While not as high tech I really enjoy using these cards to memorize Scripture. There are four panels on each Memory Cross card so you need to plan how you are going to break the verse down into four sections before you start writing. Once it is on the card you simply flip through the verse panel by panel. I like the simplicity and you can stop at each section, think about what it means and repeat it over before going to the next section.
One of the verses I decided to learn was Philippians 4: 6-7 which has 57 words in the Message so it was really nice to be able to break it down into four sections. Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries was on my first panel. Stopping there gave me an opportunity to think about what that really means.
Panel 2 said “Into prayers, letting God know your concerns” Letting God know your concerns. If I was just reading my Bible I would have blown right by this. Panel 3 said “before you know it a sense of God’s wholeness everything coming together for good”. Panel 4: Will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life”.
The Scripture app and the Memory Cross card are useful and I’m going to use both of them. For me personally the Memory Cross card helps me to meditate on God’s Word. The verse that comes to mind is be still and know that I am God.
There are so many reasons to memorize Scripture. It will change your life and if you have kids it will change theirs also. I’d like to give you a challenge to commit to memorizing one Scripture a week. If you have kids or are teaching Sunday School get them to join in. That will be 52 verses a year. How much would our lives and the lives of our children change if we committed the verses to memory and allowed God to work in our lives through these passages?
Rick Warren in the Purpose Driven Life listed the benefits of memorizing Bible verses as follows:
- Resist temptation
- Make wise decisions
- Reduce Stress
- Build confidence
- Offer good advice
- Share your faith
I hope this article helps you learn how to memorize Scripture. If you want to check out our Memory Cross blank Scripture memory cards click the link. May God change your world as you put his Word into your heart and the hearts of the kids you touch. If you have children between the ages 7 and 17 consider signing the up for the National Bible Bee. They’ll learn Scriptures and could win part of the $260,000 prize money. I’ve put a video below that shows how the Memory Cross card works. If you have comments post them below.
Memory Cross has a number of Scripture memory cards printed like what you see on the video. One of the most popular right now is the Armor of God which is the key veres in the VBS for Answers in Genesis.
Bible Memory Challenge
Bible Memory Challenge
Tuesday mornings at 6:30 a group of guys from my church meet to study God’s Word, pray and support each other. This Tuesday we challenged each other to a Bible Memory Challenge: two Scriptures a week. It felt good to have someone hold me accountable for memorizing Scripture so I decided to offer the challenge to you also. Memorizing Scripture has a lot of benefits.
Chuck Swindoll wrote, “I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than Scripture 
memorization. . . . No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified” (Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994], p. 61).
Rick Warren in the Purpose Driven Life listed the benefits of memorizing Bible verses as follows:
- Resist temptation
- Make wise decisions
- Reduce Stress
- Build confidence
- Offer good advice
- Share your faith
I was flipping through my Bible thinking about which two verses and decided on these two. I picked The Message for both.
Proverbs 13:19 Souls who follow their hearts thrive; fools bent on evil despise matters of soul.
Philippians 4: 6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
I picked Proverbs 13:19 because I’m at a crossroads in my life. I’ve always felt passionate about Memory Cross but I’ve never relied on it for my income. Now things have changed and I’m putting all my efforts into Memory Cross. I feel passionate that our origami design is one of the best ways using print to share the Gospel and teach children Scriptures and Bible stories.
Stepping out is scary. Does anyone else feel like Memory Cross is a good way to share the Gospel and will they support this ministry and share it with their friends? That is a question that is constantly on my mind. Maybe you are in the same place in life. You have a dream you want to follow but taking the next step is scary. We are not called to be afraid but to step out.
There are so many examples in the Bible: Abraham, Moses, Jonah, all the Apostles. Each of them put their fears aside and decided to trust God. From a worldly standpoint their lives did not go as planned. Moses spent 40 years wondering around the desert, Jonah spent three days in the belly of a fish and all the disciples except John were killed for their faith. Yet from God’s standpoint they were faithful.
Philippians 4:6-7 was a natural pick during this uncertain time in my life. Scary for me usually means worry and worry takes the energy and motivation out of life. God does not want us to worry about anything but rather to pray about it and turn it over to him. That is tough. It seems like I have a constant list of things to worry about: grandchildren, children, work, money and now putting everything else aside and pursuing Memory Cross full time. But God says before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life
As I’ve been praying about everything I’ve felt God saying, do not worry, trust me. Everything is going to turn out better than you can dream. Still uncertainty still scares me. Maybe it does you also. If so I challenge you to put this Scripture to memory.
Will you take the Bible Memory Challenge?
I hope you will consider taking the Bible memory challenge with me. Two verses a week of your choosing. If you comment on the post we’ll keep each other accountable. Let’s see how God works in our lives through this challenge.
If you have kids sign them up for the Bible Bee. Not only will they get to memorize Scriptures this summer but they could win part of the $260,000 prize money. Imagine the lasting impact this could have on your kids and if they win the grand prize of $100,000 that would be pretty exciting also. The Bible Bee needs host churches also so if you work at a church why not get your church involved?
Finally a few resources that we have available. Memory Cross has created a number of printed Scripture memory cards and memory packs. One of the most popular is the armor of God. With 31,173 Bible verses in the Protestant Bible it is impossible for us to have all of them available so we’ve created several blank cards. Memory Cross makes memorizing Scripture easier in two ways: First it breaks the verse into 4 parts and second the design is almost addictive. Children and adults have a hard time putting it down which means they’ll read over the verse again and again. You can save 10% on any Scripture Memory Card by entering code: SM2013 at check out.
One testimonial that we received: ”I help teach kids church at Dix Hills Evangelical Free Church in LI New York. We play games and have contest each week for the kids to help them memorize Scripture. We started using the Romans Road and were amazed at how quickly the kids learned verses using Memory Cross.
We had 20 kids and six verses, we give 20 points a verse and we offered 100 points to any one who could recite the Romans Road from memory. We ended up with almost 2500 points. The math doesn’t lie our scripture blitz was successful. The only thing we could say is amen and thank you God for memory cross.” – Michael Grzegorski
If you decide to accept the challenge let me know by commenting or letting your friends know. Love to know what you think.
Father’s Day Craft Ideas for Church
Father’s Day Craft Ideas for Church
Father’s Day will be coming up in a few weeks and if you teach Sunday School or Children’s church we’ve put a few creative Father’s Day Craft Ideas for church 
and links on this page for you. Memory Cross has created an origami folding father’s day card. Children can color on it so it makes a good craft project and everyone likes the origami design that never stops folding. Here is a link to the Father’s Day Craft Card.
Danielle’s Place has a number of Father’s Day Crafts that kids can make. Most of them incorporate things you’ll find around your house.
- Dad, You’re Out of This World” Paper Plate UFO Craft
- Dad, I would roll out the Red Carpet for You Any Day” Folding Craft Stick Card Father’s Day Craft for Kids
- Things I Love About You” Father’s Day Folding Craft Stick Card
- Dad, You’re Beary Special!” Father’s Day Craft Idea for Church
- Dad, You’re Pawsitively Grrreat!” Father’s Day Picture Frame
- Dad, You Brighten up My Life” Father’s Day Card Craft for Kids
- Dad, You have all the Right Tools to Make a Great Dad!” Father’s Day Card For Kids
- Dad, I’m Nuts About You!” Father’s Day Craft Idea for church
- Dad, Make No Bones About it, You’re Top Dog!” Card Craft for Kids and more.
DLTK also has a number of craft ideas for Father’s Day that you can use. Memory Cross makes an origami card that amazes children and adults. Check out all our Crafts for Sunday School today. You’ll be glad you did.
Chick Tracts and Memory Cross
Memory Cross and Chick Tracts
Chick Tracts are one of the most popular Gospel tracts on the market today and one of the best known. Millions of copies have been printed and countless
John 3:16 Tracts for children
people have come to the Lord because of them. They are illustrated comic books that tell a story and present the Gospel.
At Memory Cross we have created a new format for Gospel tracts. Using an origami card designed by Pastor Andy Lambert we create simple short tracts that present the Gospel in a positive and encouraging way. Because space is limited on the Memory Cross tract, (unlike Chick Tracts) we have incorporated a QR code on many tracts to continue to tell the story. A QR code allows anyone with a smart phone and reader to open up an application such as a video or mobile website.
Memory Cross has designed tracts for children, youth and young adults who grew up receiving lots of short messages (text messages, Twitter, Facebook, My Space and Google +). The Memory Cross design gets their attention and the short positive messages are designed to make them think about their relationship with God. While Chick Gospel tracts have been around for many years, Memory Cross is relatively new. Pastor Andy Lambert designed the card to help children memorize Scripture but it was not long before we received our first request for a Christian tract made using the Memory Cross design.
Our newest design in tracts for kids is a six inch coloring card that allows children to decorate the tract while learning God’s plan of salvation for their lives. Cards include: Roman Road tract, 1 Corinthians 13 and tract based on the Wordless book. You can see samples of these cards by visiting our Gospel Tracts for kids page.
What people are saying about Memory Cross cards
Christians using Memory Cross for children’s tracts have had this to say:
“Our church has experimented with tracts in the past at various children’s outreach events. Most of them get tossed aside and never read. The one tract that seems to captivate the attention of the kids and parents is the Memory Cross Gospel tract.
It is creative, innovative, and most of all biblically sound and gospel-centered. I want Christians to realize the treasure they have in this product for child evangelism. There is nothing better.” – Derek Combs Pastor Jessieville First Baptist Church
“These Memory Crosses are so neat – from young child to adult, everyone is amazed by them.” – Angie Curry
“I’ve used many a tract to spread the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have found this to be an incredible tool.” – Constance Revels
We’ve put one video below so you can see why the design makes such a good tract.
One Act Can Change a Life
One Act Can Change a Life
I attended Chick-fil-A’s Leadercast Friday May 10th. One of the things that stuck in my mind is how one act can change a life. The story was about Caine 
Monroy and a filmmaker, Nirvan Mullick. One day Nirvan went looking for a door handle for his 96 Corella and came into Caine’s dad’s store. That is where he found Caine’s arcade which was an arcade built out of cardboard. He decided to create a short video about Caine’s arcade and the rest is history. Within hours the video went viral and lives were changed.
How One Act Can Change a Life
Caine’s Arcade Video 2 – The rest of the story
This is a dramatic and moving example of how one act can change a life. That got me thinking about the opportunities that each of us have every day. They may not go viral but the effect can be just as dramatic. Who are the people we touch today? Our children, family members, other kids, people at work, servers where you eat …
At the Chick-fil-A Leadercast Andy Stanley asked several questions that have duel answers. He aimed these questions at work but as a Christian I needed to answer them from God’s perspective:
- What am I doing?
- Why am I doing it?
- Where do I fit in?
Jesus’ last command was to go into all the world and make disciples. What are we doing with our lives? Why are we doing what we are doing? and Where do I fit in?
I found it interesting that YouTube placed the video by Adam Leipzig right next to Nirvan’s. In his Ted talk Adam found that 80% of his fellow Harvard graduates were unhappy with their lives. He developed five questions that he believed helped people find happiness. While the video was not from a Christian persepective I found meaning in his questions.
- Who are you?
- What do you do?
- Who do you do it for?
- What do they want?
- What do you get out of it?
The questions are very similar to what Andy Stanley asked. Maybe life is really about service God first and everything else will fall into place. Can one act change a life? At Memory Cross we create tracts for children, youth and adults that are creative, positive and encouraging. Love to hear your thoughts.
I wanted to talk a little about Chick-fil-A’s Leadercast conference. Approximately 150,000 people attended worldwide. It was the largest Leadership conference in the world. Great speakers. A leader is defined as someone with influence so if you are a mom with one kid, you are a leader and you should look at attending next year. It will probably be the best one day event you go to.
Colossal Coaster World VBS
Colossal Coaster World VBS Bible Verse
Memory Cross has created the Scripture card for Lifeway’s Colossal Coaster World. The verse is 2 Timothy 1:7 which says Don’t be Afraid, Trust God. For the Spirit God Gave us does not make us timid but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
Memory Cross uses a unique for panel design that makes a never ending loop. The design captures the attention of children and adults. As they fold through the card over and over again God’s Word will be put into their hearts and minds. The Bible verse that was selected for Colossal Coaster World is one that can have a huge impact on children’s lives when they internalize it. It says the Spirit gives us power, love and self-discipline, something that can have an amazing effect on the lives of children.
One of the benefits of Memory Cross is that it will get shared. Teresa Hacker says “They are fun and easy to use and great to share with friends.” Because the design is so unusual children will want to show it to their parents, siblings and friends, passing on God’s word to others. Other card that are available for Vacation Bible School include the Armor of God for Answers in Genesis Kingdom Chronicles.
No related posts.
