Our final AWANA Store of 2019 will take place on December 15. This will be a special Christmas store where the Clubbers can buy gifts for their family and friends. There will also be a gift wrapping station available on site.

Our Sparks and T&T clubbers are awarded Awana Shares for Bible verse memorization, coming to AWANA prepared, bringing friends to Awana, and other positive choices. These shares are like real money to spend in our AWANA Store, which is filled with items that kids love and is made possible by a portion of the registration fees, the church budget, and toy donations.

December 2019 at AWANA
December 14 — Capital Baptist’s Family Christmas Fest
December 14 — Teens / Student Christmas Hangout
December 15 — AWANA Christmas Store Night
December 22 — No AWANA
December 23 — Contemporary Family Christmas Eve Eve Service
December 24 — Family Christmas Eve Candlelight Services
December 29 — No AWANA

As Capital studies the Book of Isaiah through the month of December, I thank God anew for God’s Gift of Joy and Peace in the midst of the busy-ness, stress and other feelings that can distract us during this season. The promise of a Savior and the results of our faith in Him is so beautifully captured in Isaiah 9:6,   “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” As the Prince of Peace, He is an endless source of that heavenly peace we sing about, the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7), or as Isaiah praises God, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”  [Isaiah 26:3]. We as Christians are to share this peace with the world, in our work place, our neighborhoods and especially our homes, not only at Christmas, but throughout the year. Fortunately, His perfect peace is dependent neither on our circumstances or our strength, but on His grace as we trust Him. AWANA’s slogan is “Because kids matter to God …” The Capital AWANA prayer team asks God each week that each of us leaders effectively shares that peace and love with each child, teen and adult who interfaces with AWANA.  Sharing God’s love through consistent kindness, genuine respect and a focus on the positive, to maintain discipline and motivate growth, is a mainstay of AWANA’s approach. I think Ken Blanchard captured the idea well in the phrase “catch them doing something right, and reward it …“ Praising what’s good and correcting with gentleness and humility, we communicate God’s love, mercy and grace - new again each morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). As we contemplate the depth of God’s love for us, demonstrated in Jesus’ humble birth, perfect life, sacrificial death and triumphant reign, I praise God for the peace He gives and pray His Spirit in our hearts and lives overflows to envelop our families, neighborhoods and each encounter this season and in the new year, for His glory as we serve and follow Him.

Sponsored by the Capital Baptist Church's Children and Family Ministry, Christmas Fest will be a dazzling, family-friendly celebration of all things Christmas for kids of all ages on Saturday, December 14, from 11 am until 2 pm. Be sure to bring your family, neighbors and friends to this great event! For additional information email Sean Hart at shart@capitalbaptist.org or call (301) 807-1582.

 

We’d love for you to join us this Christmas for a powerful time of worship, prayer, and celebration during this Christmas season.

Christmas Eve celebrations start on Monday this year with a Christmas Eve Eve service at 7 pm featuring contemporary Christmas music and a message of hope and inspiration. On Tuesday, December 24 at 5 pm and 7 pm we will honor the birth of Jesus Christ at our annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Services.

All of these services are casual and family-friendly, so pick which one is best for you and bring your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. Full of special music, Christmas carols, Scripture lessons, and an interactive story time for the children, our 75 minute celebrations shares the joy and hope of Christmas with all who attend. All of the programs are free and open to the public.

For more information, call the church office at (703) 560-3109.

by Kristin Thompson from AWANA.org
 

Whether your holiday traditions are passed down to you from family members or you have created your own, there are probably some that are “musts” for the holiday season. Even if you just participate in the ones that seem to be everywhere this time of year, there are ways to point your child back to Christ in holiday traditions as he or she does them with you.
 

The Bible (especially the Old Testament) has a rich history of traditions that God gave to His people as a way for them to remember something important about Himself. A particular day or season gave His people a chance to recall a truth about God, and often engage in a practice or experience of some kind that made this truth more real or tangible. These moments were important opportunities for God’s people to have their understanding of Him deepen, and the experiences God prescribed often were accessible to the whole community, from the youngest to the oldest members. Adults were even told simple ways to explain the truth behind the tradition to the children while they were participating in a particular ritual or tradition together.
 

Though church history gives a beautiful tapestry of Christmas traditions to choose from, there are a lot of options when it comes to what to pick. As believers in Christ we have the freedom to choose what traditions we want to use in this practice of engaging deeper with the spiritual truths of the Christmas story. And that is really fun!
 

Because children usually are going to interpret something literally, they will need you to help them translate the experience to what it means in a deeper sense. It doesn’t need to be elaborate or complicated, and you don’t need to force the issue – even an offhand remark to a child will give them something to think about and ask more if they are curious. Don’t feel like you have to stick to any particular script if you and your child are doing an activity that has a deeper meaning to you. Just say something short about why it matters to you.

An example of an offhand comment would be, “It’s so fun that we give presents at Christmas time. When God sent Jesus to earth as a baby, it was like a big giant present to the whole world!”

For a longer example, if you are doing a Christmas activity where you light candles, you will be able to deepen their understanding of this by explaining briefly, “Hey kids, see this candle? It makes light. Jesus said He is the light of the world. This means he is our hope. The world we live in would be a dark place without Jesus and the hope He gives us. Christmas is when we celebrate Jesus’ coming to our world. We can remember to thank Jesus when we see a candle lighting a dark place.”

Stay up-to-date when bad weather occurs with the Remind App
 

The winter months are upon us and that can often bring challenging weather conditions. The safety of our families and staff is the number one priority whenever a decision is made regarding closures and delays.

The Capital Baptist staff monitors weather conditions daily, reviews information from emergency management and state highway officials about road conditions, and inspects the conditions of sidewalks and parking lots to make the determination if events on campus must be cancelled, delayed, or closed early. Due to the speed of information updates, our Remind notification system will be the official AWANA Club notification system to provide parents with timely information regarding all cancellations or schedule changes. 

On a Sunday, the Capital Baptist staff will decide by 3 pm if AWANA and other activities on the church’s campus will be cancelled. The church’s communication channels will be updated as quickly as possible including email, text messages, website, social media, church phone and local news stations. A Remind notification and text messages will be sent to parents after 3 pm, so please check for cancellation notices to find out if we will still have Awana and evening classes.

You can join our group on Remind to receive messages via text, email, or push notification (or any combination of these). To join by text, send the message “@2019-awana” to 81010. To join online, visit remind.com/join and enter the code “@2019-awana” along with your mobile phone number. You'll get text notifications at the number you entered. You can also download the mobile app for iOS and Android devices and create a new account (or log in if you already have one.) To join, tap the + by Classes Joined and either “@2019-awana”. You'll automatically get app notifications. To get email notifications, visit remind.com/join and enter “@2019-awana” and your email address. You can also send a blank email to 2019-awana@mail.remind.com. You'll get a response with more signup instructions.

Thank you for taking the time to connect with the Remind App, to ensure you get the word.