Faith + Home Connection

Faith + Home Connection Luke 7:36-8:3

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20130520-224945.jpgGather the household around the dining table. Jesus was dining at a Pharisee’s house in this passage. Have some perfume or scented bath oil available. Share highs and lows for the day with each other and pray about them together.

FaithCross_BibleALTRead Luke 7: 36-8:3 The story of the woman forgiven and the women who traveled with Jesus.

FaithCross_ConversationALTFor children: When was a time that you had to tell a friend that you were sorry for something that you had said or done to them that wasn’t very nice? What did they say to you?Have you ever had someone tell you that they were sorry for being mean or not nice to you? What did you tell them when they said “I’m sorry”?  Did you forgive them? God loves us so much that God sent Jesus to tell us that God forgives us all the time, no matter what! That doesn’t mean that we can do whatever we want and it’s ok, we should try to love like Jesus loves us. But what that does mean is that when we mess up, we get to try again!

For youth/adults: The woman in the this story is so compelled by what she has heard about God through Jesus, that she seeks him out in order to show her gratitude. We don’t know if she has ever had any real contact with Jesus personally but we do know that she fully believes that Jesus reconciles her past and gives her a hopeful future where she is no longer in shame. Forgiveness is tricky, God forgives all sins and sinners, even people that WE may not think deserve it. We may lie a bit, or just innocuously cheat a little but other people who kill or steal large amounts or worse….do they also get the same forgiveness? Jesus is saying here, yes. That is difficult for us many days. What would it mean for our society if we really lived the way that Jesus forgives and reconciled? What would it mean for us personally? What would it mean to be able to go about our days “in peace”?

FaithCross_PrayALTForgiving Lord, your gifts of faith and forgiveness are freely given to us all and yet can be hard for us to accept. Help us to show great love to all people and for all of creation. Allow us to live our lives in the peace that only you can offer us. In Jesus name, amen.

FaithCross_BlessALTUse the perfume or the scented oil and make the sign of the cross on each other’s forehead or hand. Say, “Your sins are forgiven; go in peace.”

FaithCross_ConnectALTThe woman cleansed Jesus feet in response of God cleansing her whole being. Let’s focus on collecting toiletries for a local food pantry or shelter for the month of June.

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Trinity Sunday Year C Romans 5:1-5

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Guest writer–Pastor Michael Stadtmueller

Scripture: Romans 5:1-5

Prep: On Facebook or through other social media ask your members to share some ways that they have experienced God in the world this week.   Let them know you maybe using some of their answers in this weeks upcoming worship.  Make sure you can share a few different short stories collected in one sentence answers.

FaithCross_ConnectALTGather the children. Welcome them to worship

 

FaithCross_BibleALTRead from verse 5 of Romans, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Tell them that we believe that God is revealed to us in many ways through the Holy Spirit, and that today we celebrate the 3 separate ways in which God has been made revealed to the church.

FaithCross_ConversationALT(Trinity Sunday can be difficult to grasp when we get caught in the doctrine, so instead speak through the ways we experience God.) Share the images of how God has been revealed to your congregation members.  And ask the children to share where they have seen God.  Then ask the kids… which one was the right answer?  Remind them that God is most certainly revealed through the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that we know this means that all of these answers are ways in which God has been revealed.

Remind them that a joy for a Christian is seeking to find how God is being revealed in their own lives and sharing that joy with others.

FaithCross_PrayALTGod the Father, Son and Holy Spirit we know that you are active and present in our world today.  We pray that you would help us to point others to your ever present Grace by revealing yourself to us.  Amen

FaithCross_BlessALTIn the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit you are loved by God. (have children repeat this)

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon Acts 2:1-21 Pentecost Year C May 19, 2013

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Scripture Acts 2:1-21

Preparation: optional–streamers or ribbons or pom poms in red/orange/yellow colors like fire.

FaithCross_ConnectALTGather the children–If you have streamers or pom poms, hand them out. Hey kids! Look around, what colors do you see? What colors are you holding in your hands now? Does anyone know why I would pick those colors?

FaithCross_BibleALTToday is Pentecost! It’s a day in the church that we do a little celebrating and remembering of the first Pentecost. Anyone know what happened on the first Pentecost? (take answers or move on if no one answers) When he went to heave, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to be with us. Peter and the disciples had no idea what this would look like, they just knew that Jesus was gone and they were not sure what to look for in a coming Holy Spirit–they felt sad and maybe scared so they stayed all together and they did a lot of praying. Well, Pentecost was a festival day and so they were doing their festival prayers and not sure what to think about Jesus not being there with them and then–the Holy Spirit came! It came as a big wind and flames were dancing above their heads but not hurting them and people spoke different languages but could also understand one another.  Has that happened to you before? No? Yeah… it’s an amazing story that is why we want to remember it each year–but did you know that the Holy Spirit did not just come once and go away? Do you know where the Holy Spirit went?  Yes–it went EVERYWHERE! And it’s still moving and talking to people and the Holy Spirit is here with us and in us.

FaithCross_ConversationALTI think that’s pretty exciting so I thought we could use our ribbons and say a cheer for the Holy Spirit–do you know any cheers? One we used to do a lot when I was in High School and we were cheering for our team at a sport event goes like this–We’ve got Spirit yes we do, we’ve got spirit, how about you? and then the other people in the stand on the other side would yell the same thing back. I am thinking we can change it just a little and say We’ve got Holy Spirit, yes we do, we’ve got Holy Spirit how about you? –Let’s try it.  Try out the cheer. Great job! (or do it again if it wasn’t great!) Ok, so now we are going to try it again, but this time we are going to stand up and look at all those people and see if we can get them to say the cheer back to us. You can wave your ribbons in the air while you are doing this.

Have kids do the cheer and have the assembly cheer back to them!

FaithCross_PrayALTHoly Spirit–we praise you for being here with us and in us. Help us to remember we always have your spirit and that we can share this spirit with others through our cheers, shouts, prayers and actions. Amen

FaithCross_BlessALTGod the Holy Spirit is in your head, in your heart, on your left and on your right. Amen

Children's Sermons

May 12, 2013 John 17:20-26 Easter 7C

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FaithCross_ConnectALTPrep: carnations for each woman in your congregation–or you could do a paper heart or leave out this part.

Gather the children. Welcome them to worship

 

FaithCross_BibleALTRead them verse 26, “I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Jesus says these words to his disciples–do you know who disciples are? (take answers)

FaithCross_ConversationALTJesus is talking to the first disciples who were with him but Jesus is also talking to all of us! Disciples are those who follow Jesus and here Jesus wants us to know that we are all a part of God’s children and that we are all made one in God’s love. This verse also got me to thinking about how it’s mother’s day and that God gives us mothers of all kinds. Sometimes they are the mothers who are the ones who gave birth to us or take care of us everyday or maybe sometimes they are our grandmothers too, but because Jesus says we are all one, we have other mothers too. Jesus is praying in this verse that we may know the love of God that he has shown us and that we can show it to others. So really, that means that all of us need to work together to show God’s love to eachother and to the world. When you are baptized all the people promise to help you raise you in God’s love and promises–so all the women and all the men who are here today and who are in our lives showing us about faith are like our Christian parents. Today we are going to share a special blessing for all the women because it’s mother’s days and we want to say thank you to all women–old and young, those who have children here today and those who do not–because they are a part of the oneness in God’s love that Jesus prays for and God promises.

So after we pray, we will say a blessing together to all the women here and then you can each take a few carnations and hand them out to all the women.

FaithCross_PrayALTGod-thank you for making us one, for giving us Christian adults in our lives to help us know your love and grace. We pray especially for all the gifts the women of our community bring to us your children. Grant them love, peace, and joy in you. Amen

FaithCross_BlessALTMay you know God’s love today and always. (have children repeat this and then hand out carnations if you have them)

 

Children's Sermons, Communications

May 5, 2013: Children’s sermon Acts 16: 9-15 6th Sunday of Easter

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20130227-164821.jpgBring the children either to the back of the worship space or another spot but not up front or where you usually gather for the children’s message. Have a simple map (hand drawn is fine!) of the worship space.  Also have a simple compass on the map.

FaithCross_BibleALTWhat do I have here? (a map, guide, picture of the worship space, etc.). Yes, this picture or map shows me what the space looks like and how maybe best to walk around in here. It guides me to where I need to go!

In today’s story Paul and and some of his friends were traveling all over the region. Paul and other early Christians traveled quite a bit to tell other people about Jesus and God’s love and forgiveness for the whole world. God came to Paul in a vision, like a dream, and told him to go to a distant place where people needed to hear about Jesus. Paul went and when these people heard about Jesus and how much Jesus loved them, they believed in God and were baptized to show the whole world that they were a child of God. Paul didn’t go there because PAUL thought it was a good idea-Paul and his friends went because God led them there and told them to go. God was like Paul’s map or guide. Paul wasn’t on his own but had God with him and all of his friends with him. God makes sure that we have people with us so that we are not alone.

FaithCross_ConversationALTLet’s use this map to walk from here the back of the room to the front of the room (or whatever you want to do). On our way let’s see who will join us on our journey. (Weave your way through the congregation and every now and again stop and tell someone “Jesus loves you. Come with us!” Gather the larger group at the front or even by the font.

Wherever we go we can share God’s love and not worry because God will guide us! What are ways that you can share God’s love at school, on the playground or at soccer practice, etc.?

FaithCross_PrayALT Pray: God you guide us everyday throughout our whole lives. Thank you for being with us always. We will tell everyone we meet about you and your love! Amen.

 God is with you always. (Make the sign of the cross on one another.)

Children's Sermons

Children’s Sermon April 28th, 2013 John 13:31-35

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FaithCross_BibleALT Read the children these verses out of a children’s Bible (my two favorites are the Spark Storybook Bible and the Jesus Storybook Bible). Many of the children’s Bibles will incorporate this story with the foot washing scene. Adding those verses is a wonderful idea!

FaithCross_ConversationALT Ask the children, “How can you tell if someone is a good reader? How about a good soccer player? Or a dancer? (Accept all answers) We know when someone can do something when we see them do it right? Just talking about it doesn’t always tell us what a friend can do. We have to experience them doing it don’t we? How do people know that we love God? (Accept all answers) When we do things that help others, are nice to others or stand up for people who other people are not being nice too, right? What if we SAY that we love God but then treat someone not very nicely? Do you think that people will know that we love God? No, maybe not. Jesus says that if we love one another-each person we meet-then the world will know that we follow Jesus. That’s kind of hard though all the time isn’t it? I know that I am not nice all the time to people! Does that mean that I don’t love God or that God doesn’t love me? NO! It means that God loves me enough to say “try again” and “again” and “again” and “again….” You get the point! But we should try every day to let people know that we love God, God loves us and God loves all people.

            We are going to show everyone here that we love them and God. I have little cards printed up that say “Jesus loves you” (see attachment). We are going to give those to everyone here and give them a hug or a high five or give a blessing (see below). You can even take some of these cards with you to give to friends or other family members. (Have enough printed up for all people to take a few with them when they leave.)

FaithCross_PrayALT Dear Jesus, you love us so much. Let us show the whole world how much you love all people. Amen.

FaithCross_BlessALT (Make the sign of the cross on one another)  Jesus loves you and so do I. 

Let us walk with you on the journey of faith. Whether your feet are big or small, fresh or worn, running or crawling, God's love goes with you and you stand on holy ground.