Here is the Weekly devotion for the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost – November 3, 2013
Using the All Saints texts?
Download the All Saints version of the Devotion Page!
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As the children come forward be playing with a lump of play-dough. Talk about how what is so cool about play-dough is that you can make it into anything that you want. You can make a snake, a letter, a shape, whatever your imagination allows (make one or two of these things if you can). If we don’t like what we have made we can start over and try again, over and over-that’s the really neat part of play-dough.
In a book of the Bible called Jeremiah, the people had forgotten about God. They did not remember to pray to God or that God loved them very much. God wanted the people to remember that they are loved and so God tells the people that God will make a new promise with them. God will forgive them for forgetting God and will help them to know about God in their lives. God reminds them that they belong to him/her and that nothing changes that. God will work in their hearts to help them remember to whom they belong and forgive the things that they had done that were not nice.
God does that with us too! We know that changes us and makes us new, day after day, over and over. Each day God promises to be with us and to help us to live God’s love in the world.
Here is a piece of play-dough for each of you to have. Let’s make a heart out of it to remind us that God changes our hearts to live in God’s love and to share God’s love every single day.
God, you promise to be our God and that we are your people forever. Thank you for making us new every day and for loving all people. Amen.
Make the sign of the cross and say, “You belong to God.”
Gather your household to a comfortable location. Share your highs and lows for the day/week.
Read Ephesians 1:11-23.
For children: Who talks to you about God in your house or at school? Is there someone who prays with you? Ask your mom or dad who told them about Jesus. Do you talk to your friends about God? Is that hard sometimes? It can be hard but God is with you always, especially when you might feel nervous or afraid! Say a prayer today for someone that you are grateful for in your life.
For adults/youth: Is there someone in your life who helps you to see God’s work in your life and in the world? What reminds you of God’s promise and of hope in your life? Is it a person or nature? How do we reveal God’s power in Jesus Christ in our communities?
God of all, you sent Jesus to reveal your love and mercy to a broken world. In Christ’s death and resurrection, you revealed your power over death and suffering and declared that nothing separates your people from you. We give thanks for all the people who show us your love, power and mercy in our lives. May we also be that light for others, amen.
(Make the sign of the cross on one another) You are sealed by the promise of the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.
This Ephesians text is appointed for All Saints Sunday, a day where we remember those witnesses of Christ who have died and those witnesses in our lives who are still living. Write a note with a prayer for someone in your life who reveals God’s love to you. You can sign your name or give it anonymously. Another idea is to decorate a simple white candle with symbols of God’s love with permanent markers and give it to someone this week who is the light of Christ for you or for someone else.
Here are the Weekly devotion pages for the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost – October 27, 2013
For the month October we have two devotion pages for each week. There is a set that has a “Faith on the Go” section based on the Gospel readings for the month and as set focused on stewardship and using the 2 Timothy readings.
Download the Gospel text version
Download the 2 Timothy version
Did you miss a week? Go to the Weekly Devotion page to download past weeks!
Preparation: Have a small plant or a stuffed animal or a picture of your pet.
Bring the children together. Have them sit where they can see you and what you are holding. Show them the object that you have brought with you. (What you will say exactly will depend upon what you have brought.) Hold up the plant/or stuffed animal and say, “I just got this plant/toy this week. I really like it and it is special to me. But I don’t have a name for it yet. What should I name it? (As the children give you names, remind them that you want the name to mean something special to you or your family. If you have brought a picture of your pet already named, lead a conversation around how you named your pet.) Maybe you will settle on a name and you can say, “Yes! I like that name, it has a special meaning to me in my life. Have you ever named anything? A pet, a toy, a baby doll, or maybe you got to help name a younger brother or sister? How did you decide on the name? Did you pick a name that you didn’t like? No, you picked a name that was special to you and tells the world how much you love your pet, or sibling.
Today we heard a story about a man named Jacob. He loved God very much but had been having some troubles in his life. Jacob was moving his family which in those days meant walking and carrying your stuff or putting your stuff on animals to carry. So you couldn’t have everything you needed and it was hard work. One night he had sent his family ahead a bit and he was alone. Now this story is very old and a little different from some of the other Bible stories. A man came and wrestled or fought with Jacob all night. Jacob had his hip hurt and was very tired but refused to stop wrestling until the man gave him a blessing. Do you know what a blessing is? It’s when someone reminds you of how you belong to God and that God loves you very much. Well, finally Jacob got his blessing in the form of a new name! The man said that his name was now Israel which means, “he who strives with God.” Jacob, now Israel, had been wrestling with God! God doesn’t mind when we argue with God, as a matter of fact, God loves that we talk to God about everything!”
“Did you know that God has given you a special name as a blessing too? Remember what a blessing is? A reminder that God loves you and that you belong to God. God calls each of you not just by your name of…(fill in some names here) but “Child of God.” Just as you give your pets or toys special names, God has given each of us a special name too!”
Dear God, thank you for calling us “child of God.” May we share the good news that you love us all and call us yours. Help us to share your blessings with our friends, our family and our neighbors. In Jesus name, amen.
“You are called God’s child now and forever.”
*Special thanks to Lois Moss for the idea!
Prepare: Bring a picture or ad of something outrageous that you want, like a new car, or an expensive guitar, or the newest phone, or whatever you dream about having that is just unattainable.
Pretend to be totally absorbed in picture/ad that you brought as the children gather. Look at them with sudden surprise once they are all gathered up. Then show them the picture and talk about how much you want it. Then . . .
I know what I’ll do! I’m going to go [to the store, etc] and beg them to give it to me until they do. I’ll just stand there and pester them all day, all week if that’s what it takes! Do you think that will work? (I hope that you get some “no” answers here!) You think it’s a bad idea? But wait, it says to do that in the Bible! Here, listen to this – (You can either read the story, or just tell it in your own words, whatever you think will work best for you. This one doesn’t show up in many children’s Bibles! Make sure you emphasize that the judge is unjust, mean, doesn’t care about people or God, etc – AND that the widow is seeking justice, not just some toy that she wants.)
Hmmm . . . now that I read that story again, maybe this isn’t a good idea. The widow was trying to get the judge to fix something that was wrong, something that was not fair. She was persistent because she knew what was right and good and needed the judge to help her fix things. If I went to a store and begged for this I would just be annoying! This isn’t anything that I need, and it doesn’t make the world better for me to have it.
What Jesus is really saying here is that we should ask for things that make our world better, and if we know that something is wrong we should ask for things to be fixed. Jesus even says that if an unjust and mean judge can figure out how to do the right thing, imagine what God can do!
Right and true God, thank you for giving us good things, and for giving us people in our lives who know how to take of things and make thing right. Amen.
Make the sign of the cross and say, “God be in your head, God be in your heart, God be on your left, and God be on your right. Amen”
~GB
Permission to use for nonprofit. When printing give credit to Faith Formation Journeys. Intellectual property rights apply.
Here are the Weekly devotion pages for the twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost – October 20, 2013
For the month October we have two devotion pages for each week. There is a set that has a “Faith on the Go” section based on the Gospel readings for the month and as set focused on stewardship and using the 2 Timothy readings.
Download the Gospel text version
Download the 2 Timothy version
Did you miss a week? Go to the Weekly Devotion page to download past weeks!
Here are the Weekly devotion pages for the twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost – October 13, 2013
For the month October we have two devotion pages for each week. There is a set that has a “Faith on the Go” section based on the Gospel readings for the month and as set focused on stewardship and using the 2 Timothy readings.
Download the Gospel text version
Download the 2 Timothy version
Did you miss a week? Go to the Weekly Devotion page to download past weeks!
Prepare: Bring something with you that is “broken”, but that a child could obviously fix. Something really simple, like two pieces of wood that fit together.
As the children gather be trying to fix whatever it is you that brought, and then ask them for help. Once it is fixed be sure to NOT say thank you! Just grab it back, maybe be even a little rude.
Wait, was that what I was supposed to do? Shouldn’t I say something to (name of child who helped)? Yeah, what is it that I should say? Oh! “Thank You!”
We all know to do that, right? We all say “thank you” when someone helps us, right? Here’s a question for you, though – how often to you say thank you to God when you ask God for help? I don’t know about you, but I pray most often when I am scared or worried, or when I just want God to do something for me. I pray for God to give me good weather when I want to be outside, I pray for God to help people feel better, I pray for God to comfort people who are scared. You know what else I say when I pray? I say, “thank you.”
In today’s Gospel story there are ten people who are really sick, and the disease that they have is really easy to give to other people, so they are not allowed to live in town with all the other people. They ask Jesus to heal them so that they can go back home, and Jesus does it. What should they do next? They should say thank you, right? Well, only one of them comes back to Jesus and says thank you, just one! That’s not good! I said thank you for help with a simple toy, Jesus healed them! They should all say thank you, and so should we.
Let’s try it together. I’m going to start a prayer and then I’m going to stop talking so that we can all say thank you to God for something that we prayed for. (If you children’s sermon happens as part of the main worship at your church invite the whole congregation to do this!) Ok, think for a minute of something that you prayed about that you would like to say thanks to God for. . . ready?
Gracious God, we pray to you all the time for help and comfort, but sometimes we forget to say thank you. Please accept our thanks for these wonderful gifts you have given us ___________. Amen.
Make the sign of the cross and say, “God be in your head, God be in your heart, God be on your left, and God be on your right. Amen”
~GB
Permission to use for nonprofit. When printing give credit to Faith Formation Journeys. Intellectual property rights apply.
Here are the Weekly devotion pages for the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost – October 6, 2013
For the month October we have two devotion pages for each week. There is a set that has a “Faith on the Go” section based on the Gospel readings for the month and as set focused on stewardship and using the 2 Timothy readings.
Download the Gospel text version
Download the 2 Timothy version
Did you miss a week? Go to the Weekly Devotion page to download past weeks!
