Here is the devotion page for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany Year A (Click on the words!)
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Tag Archives: light
Weekly Devotion Page for the 5th Sunday after Epiphany – Year A
Here is the devotion page for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany-Year A (Click on the words!)
Did you miss a week? Go to the Weekly Devotion page to download past weeks!
Household Devotion Page for the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany
Here is the devotion page for the Third Sunday after Epiphany (Click on the words!)
Did you miss a week? Go to the Weekly Devotion page to download past weeks!
Weekly Household Devotions for the Second Sunday after Epiphany – Year A, Lectionary 2A
Here is the devotion page for the Second Sunday after Epiphany- Year A (Click on the words!)
Did you miss a week? Go to the Weekly Devotion page to download past weeks!
Children’s message January 4th, 2015 Christmas 2 Year B John 1: 1-18
Preparation: Have a nightlight, a flashlight, the candle shape printout (click here to download) and some cross or heart stickers to hand out to each child.
Have a flashlight and a nightlight handy. Gather the kids around the Christmas tree if you have one in your worship space or around the altar candles (wherever you have light!).
Talk about how wonderful the lights are this time of year when it gets dark so early. “Is it nice to have candles and Christmas trees to add lights to your house? Did you put lights on the outside of your house this year? We love lights don’t we! Ask the children if they have a nightlight or a flashlight in their room. Why do they have that? (Accept all answers.) Yes, no one, not even adults, likes the dark. Why do you think that is? (accept all answers: can’t see, trip over stuff and get hurt, kind of scary to not know what is in the same room with you…etc.) Light makes us feel safe, makes us feel not alone and lets us see what and who is around is. Light is good!”
Say, “Today’s Bible story has a lot of talk of light. It’s kind of confusing, even for adults, but the writer of the story is telling us that Jesus is the light of the whole world! God sent Jesus to let us know that we are not alone, God is always with us and Jesus’ love shows us all of the people in the world that Jesus wants us to love. God shows us God’s light through Jesus. Jesus is sort of like a nightlight for the whole world. When you look at your nightlight or your flashlight you can remember that Jesus is always with you! He is the light of the world! And do you know what? God says that Jesus’ light shines through us! You can light up someone’s life with God’s love! How can you do that? (Accept all answers) Yes! We can love, help and care for people and be Jesus’ light to them.”
*”If you parents say it’s ok, you can put this cross/heart sticker on your nightlight or flashlight to help remind you of Jesus’ love for you!”
Have a table of tea light candles (electric ones are great too!) and have the congregation light a candle and write a prayer for where they would like Jesus’ light to shine or a thanksgiving for Jesus’ light in their lives. Have a candle shape cutout (link here) for people to write their prayers on. You can have a basket at the base of the Christmas tree or the cross for the prayers to go into. *You can also have people write how they will be the light of Christ to others this week and take their candle piece of paper home. You can also find inexpensive candles for people to write on and take home.
Jesus you are the light of the world! Help us to share your light with everyone we meet. Thank you for being with us always. Amen.
+Jesus’ light shines in you+
Children’s Sermon Baptism of Our Lord, Mark 1:4-11 January 11, 2015
Preparation: evergreen sprigs that are wet or can be dipped in baptismal font or spray bottles that do a light mist, a candle (if you are doing the worship station you will need several candles and non flammable paint markers or permanent markers)
Gather the children to you and around the baptismal font. Ask for them to tell you what they know about the font and what it is used for.
Share about baptism and how it is done in your setting. Then move on to talk about how water is a gift not just for life and our bodies and for the world but also for how we remember that God has come to us and made us God’s children. Say, “Today we hear in the gospel of Mark about the baptism of Jesus and that we received the same promise from God as God’s loved children. Each time we use water, we can remember this promise! Also in baptism we are given a candle–a light to help us know that we are called to shine God’s light that has been given to us in the world.”
Lead the children in sprinkling the assembly with the evergreens or spray bottles OR simple take this time to squirt them!
Jesus–you are God’s beloved son and we are also God’s children. Be with us in water and in light and help us to know and show your love. Amen
Use the baptismal blessing: You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever +
Light of the world, Light of Our Lives: As we lit Advent candles in the season of Advent, waiting for Jesus to come, now we celebrate the light of Christ come into our lives. Decorate a white candle and take it home with you as a reminder of your baptism and the light of Christ throughout our next season of faith: Epiphany
Children’s Sermon Epiphany 5A Matthew 5:13-20
Preparation: you will need salt and a candle
Gather the children with you. Ask, “Did you notice anything in the gospel reading today?” (or if they have not heard it, summarize for them) Take answers. “I noticed that Jesus was talking to us about how to be in the world and he used two things that I think are pretty common…. salt and light.”
Read or summarize how Jesus uses salt and light to give examples of how we are to be in the world. Show them the salt and say, “So, what is it about salt that it does that makes it special? Well nothing really, salt is just being salt, being what it was made to me. How about this candle? (light the candle) what is it doing to be special in the world? Right, it’s shining light–it’s just doing what it was made to do too. Jesus is saying the same thing to us–that being who we are, and being in the world as God made us is giving light and life and saltiness to the world. God claims us as children and says that everything we are is precious to God and we can use our gifts and our love and our hearts to show the world what God is like. That God is love and opens this gift to everyone.”
You can also teach the song “If I were a Butterfly” by Brian Howard
For time you can even just teach one verse and the chorus.
Holy God, thank you for making us your children and help us to show your love. Amen
You are a precious child of God made to light up the world with Jesus’ love +
Children’s Sermon Epiphany Matthew 2:1-12
Preparation: Stars cut out of paper and markers. Optional: tape or cut the stars out and add a piece of double sided tape or other way that they can ‘stick’ on to someone.
Faith+Gather: Gather the children with you and ask them if they know the part of the story about the wisemen. See how much they can tell. Use a picture or prop from your creche if you have one. Say, “The wisemen followed a star, which give light. Today we begin the season of epiphany and in this season of the church year we read scripture stories and think about how God’s being in the world brings us light.”
Faith+Connect: Say, “I know that God sends us star-like people in our lives to help show us the ways of Jesus. These people care about us, tell us about how they see Jesus in their lives, they help us know how to love one another and other people, things like that. Can you think of people who are stars for you?” Share a person who is a star for you and why. Take answers from the kids. Also ask, “How do show you about Jesus?”
Give each child the star piece of paper and a marker. Ask them to write down a name or a letter or a picture to say who is a star for them. Then tell them that if the person is here they can stick this star to them. If they person is not here they can mail it or give it to them when they see them. If the person has died they can put this star in their room or you could create a board or space somewhere in the worship space or church where all the stars can be placed. You can do this during this time or send them back to their seats for this part, or if you have an interactive time in worship such as an open space time you could have this as a station and let them know when they can do this activity.
Say, “Stars in our lives help us to remember about Jesus and help us to be stars for other people. We always have the light of Christ with us in so many ways. These stars can help you remember one way and one person today and this week.”
Faith+Prayer: Jesus, you were born to show us the way of love. We thank you for the lights of the stars in the sky and for the light of the people who are stars for us. Amen
Faith+Blessing: Make the sign of the cross and teach the children: God in my head, God in my heart, God on my left, God on my right.
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