Sermons4Kids Mobile Apps

In late January 2014, Sermons4Kids announced the launch of mobile apps for iOS and Android devices.  While it may not be earth shaking, we hope it will be another tool which those in children's ministry will find helpful. In the month of January, there were 41,607 users who accessed our web site using a tablet and 39,565 using a mobile device. That is more than 81,000 users!  By introducing mobile apps, we are trying to reach out to those users and to keep up with trends in technology.  I was somewhat surprised by the reaction of some who thought that this move meant that they would no longer receive their Sermon of the Week by email.  Let me emphasize that nothing has changed the way we have done things in the past. These mobile apps are merely an additional tool for you to use.

No doubt, there will be some glitches in our app.  This is new territory for us and it is a learning process.  I hope you will be patient as we move into this new area of technology.  When I look back on our first web site, it was pretty ugly, but I think it has evolved into a pretty useful tool for those who work with children.

What can you do with the new app?  Well suppose you work in Children's Church and one of your co-workers calls you on your iPhone and says, "I need a lesson for the first Sunday in Lent.  Open up your Sermons4Kids app, and click on Sermons, choose Lectionary Yr A, click on Lent and there you will find a couple of sermons for the first Sunday in Lent.  Choose one of the sermons and at the top of the sermon page, you will see a button which will allow you to send an email link for that sermon to your co-worker.

If you have the ability to air print from your mobile device, you can print sermons, coloring pages, or puzzles directly from your device.  If you don't have an air-print printer there are also apps such as the HP e_Print which will allow you to print from you mobile device whether you are at home, in your office, or on the go.

As with all Sermons4Kids services, the mobile app is free. Sermons4Kids is supported entirely by the voluntary donations of those who use our services and feel that our ministry is worthy of their support.  If you find our Sermons4Kids helpful, won't you please consider making a donation? Visit our web site for more information about how to make a donation.

We hope you find our mobile apps helpful to you in your ministry to children.

Six Legs and a Leash

One of the greatest joys I experience in my ministry through Sermons4Kids is the people I get to know.  I have formed friendships literally all over the world. Although I  never get to meet most of them "face to face," we form a friendship and our ministry to children is our bond.

One of the most interesting people I have come to know is Judy Brown. Judy began a very special ministry about seven years ago at the age of 72!  She has recently published a book about her ministry entitled "Six Legs and a Leash: Stories of a Therapy Dog." It is a delightfully told story about how God has used Judy and Reggie, her 120-pound Schnoodle, to minister to others.  Judy takes Reggie to churches, hospitals, nursing homes, and anywhere else where there are people in need of a message of hope and a touch of God's love.

I highly recommend Judy's book.  It is inspiring, entertaining, and even includes a good collection of sermons for children.  Hopefully, it will cause you to step out of your comfort zone and look for ways that God can use you to spread the Good News.  The book is available for purchase on Judy's website and also from Amazon.com and ebay.com.

Freedom Isn't Free

This week we celebrate Memorial Day.  The holiday was originally called Decoration Day and dates back to the days following the Civil War. It was established three years after the end of the Civil War on May 5, 1868 when Union General John A. Logan designated a day when the graves of war dead would be  decorated with flowers.  It was not until the end of World War I that the day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars.  In 1971, Memorial Day was named a national holiday and people were urged to pause for a moment of silence at 3:00 p.m. to pay tribute to the men and women who died during military service fighting to protect and defend our freedom.

We enjoy a lot of freedom in our country. We are free to attend church and worship, we are free to choose where we want to live, we are free to choose most of the things that affect our daily lives. We enjoy our freedom, but we also know that our freedom wasn't free. Many courageous men and women gave their lives to pay the price for the freedom that you and I enjoy.  These are the ones that we honor this week as we celebrate Memorial Day.

The greatest freedom that we have is the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus. The apostle Paul writes, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)  We have been set free because Jesus was willing to pay the penalty. Jesus died on the cross to set us free from the penalty of our sin. "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36) Instead of death, we have been given eternal life. This freedom wasn't free, Jesus paid the price.

This week as we celebrate Memorial Day, let us remember to stop and give thanks for those who have paid the price for our freedom. Let us also remember to thank God for Jesus, who has set us free from the penalty for sin, because he was willing to pay the price.

Father, we give thanks for the freedom that we enjoy. We are thankful for those who paid the price for that freedom, but even more important, we thank you for the freedom we have because Jesus was willing to pay the penalty for our sin.