Here is the Weekly devotion for the Second Sunday in Lent – February 24, 2013
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Here is the Weekly devotion for the First Sunday in Lent – February 17, 2013
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Prepare: Bring some kind of party decoration, preferably something that marks a change in your life, like a graduation, marriage, retirement, etc. Note that you will need to modify parts of this children’s sermon to fit your party and your experience.
Faith+Open: Have your party item out and easy to see as you gather the children together. Ask the children if they have ever been to a party, be ready to hear a few stories and move on.
Faith+Share: Wow, those sound like some great parties! I wanted to tell you a little about a party that I was at once. (Here is where you will need to think about your own situation. I will write what I would say.) This says ”Congrats Grad!” What do you think it’s from? Right, a graduation! I was thinking about my college graduation and all the fun I had celebrating that day. That party was celebrating more than a single event, the graduation itself, but also all that had come before and all that lay ahead. See, you can only get to a college graduation by staying in school and working really hard, so it’s fun to celebrate all that work that was put in. Even more, though, a college graduation celebrates all the possibilities that are to come! Graduating from college was great fun, too. We had parties, and I got to spend time with my family and some good friends, I even got some gifts, and everybody likes gifts! I didn’t want all that fun to end.
In our Gospel story today Jesus takes Peter, John and James to an amazing event. We call the Transfiguration. Peter, John and James see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah. They see their friend and teaching in a dazzling new way, and they don’t want to leave that place or that moment. They want to stay right there, they even offer to build houses to live so they never have to leave. They even hear the voice of God claim Jesus as God’s Son! But they can’t stay there. Just like I had to move on from the fun of graduation, they have to go back to their lives, back to the ministry that they are part of with Jesus.
So, kind of like a graduation, Jesus transfiguration marks a moment of change. Jesus is claimed by God and is ready to start the next part of his life. Peter, John and James see Jesus in a new way, and as much as they want to stay in that moment they have to move on, but they move on with a new way of understanding Jesus, and a new excitement about the things to come. This Sunday, for us, marks the beginning of the journey toward Easter, and we, too, should move forward with excitement!
Faith+Prayer: Ever changing and amazing God, we thank you for the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain, and for the turning points in our own lives. Help us to celebrate these turning points and to move forward with our lives with excitement and joy. Amen.
Faith+Blessing: Shine with God’s light so that all may see God’s Glory.
~GB
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Here is the Weekly devotion for the Transfiguration of Our Lord – February 10, 2013
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Here is the Weekly devotion for the 4th Sunday After Epiphany – February 3, 2013
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Prepare: Bring a copy of your church’s mission statement, and/or the mission statement of the broader church organization your congregation is part of. Bring a Bible and mark Isaiah 61:1.
Faith+Open: As the children gather ask them if they know what a mission statement is. Take a few answers. Some of them might get close, but offer a clear definition in any case, something like, “A sentence or short paragraph that says the goals and values of a company, organization or person.”
Faith+Share: Did you know that our church has a mission statement? Here, listen to this (Read the statement. Read the statement of your wider church organization, too if there is one.) What do you think about that? Why do you think that we have a mission statement like that? (So people know what we believe, what things we think are important, what kinds of things we want to do as a community, things like that.)
Well, I think that today we get to hear Jesus’ mission statement in the Gospel reading. Jesus went back to his home town and went to his home church and got up to read from the scriptures. Now here’s the tricky part, was Jesus reading from the Gospel? No, of course not! Those were written after Jesus did all this amazing stuff. Jesus was reading from what we call the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible. He was reading from a book called Isaiah, and we still read stories from Isaiah today. This is what he read – (Read Isaiah 61:1-2).
That’s a pretty good description of what Jesus did, isn’t it? Are there parts of this scripture that we can do, too? (Wait for a few answers.) Yeah, those are all great ideas, let’s pray.
Faith+Prayer: Jesus, what an amazing mission statement! Help us to live within your mission and to show people your compassion and love in all that we do. Amen
Faith+Blessing: Shine with God’s light so that all may see God’s Glory.
~GB
Permission to use for nonprofit. When printing give credit to Faith Formation Journeys. Intellectual property rights apply.
Here is the Weekly devotion for the 3rd Sunday After Epiphany – January 27, 2013
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Preparation: Baptismal font down front or where you can gather children.
Faith+Gather: Gather the children around the baptismal font. Ask them if they know what this is? What happens here?
Faith+Connect: Yes, baptisms happen here. In our gospel today we hear that Jesus was baptized and we know that he said to go and baptize others. So baptism is what we call a sacrament. Does anyone know what it means? Take some answers. Explain that baptism is about God’s gift of love and grace being give to us totally free. Ask what water does, what is for? Take answers. Yes, water can also be for cleaning and washing so we use water to help show us that God washes all the sin away and promises to love us no matter what we do in our lives. It’s a way that we remember that we belong to God. When we baptize someone we say ‘You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever’ and we mark the sign of the cross on their forehead either with water or with oil. And this is one way we can remember our baptisms too–anytime and anywhere! Let’s do that now. Put your finger in the font and make the sign of the cross on your forehead while I say the words “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever” Now we are going to pray but then we are going to dip our fingers one more time and you can go back to your pew family and make the sign of the cross on them!
Faith+Prayer: Thank you Jesus for your love with us every day. Thank you for water and words that help us remember we belong to you. Amen.
Faith+Blessing: Today you are taking the blessing back to the people around you. Dip your finger in the water and head on back and say to them, “Jesus loves you always”
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Preparation: Find three people to help you tell the gospel story: a man, a woman and a boy. Go to this link at Worshipping with Children for the reading: Jesus as boy in Temple
Faith+Gather: Invite the children forward. Ask, “What does the Christmas story tell us about Jesus?” Accept answers, “Right, that he was born as a baby, just like you and me! Today we here another story about Jesus growing up, this one he is older, maybe about 12. Are any of you 12? Well I have some people here to tell us the story. A father like Joseph, a mother like Mary, and Jesus as a boy.”
Faith+Share: Have the three people you found tell the story using the provided script or your own. Then ask, “How do you think it felt for Mary and Joseph when they couldn’t find Jesus? How do you think Jesus felt when he was found?” We don’t have many stories of Jesus growing up, in fact this is about it but what’s important here is that we remember that Jesus was born and he grew up like you and I do, he had experiences with his family and friends and community that were about being lost and found and happy and sad and all those human things. And it says here that Mary kept these things in her heart. What do you think that means? I think your moms and dads and people who love you keep things about you in their hearts, like remembering what you were like or when you teach them something about love or God just like Jesus as a boy taught his parents about the importance of being close to God. And I also know that God keeps you close to God’s heart because just like Jesus grew up like we do, Jesus is also God and able to know us and love us fully. This is why we keep stories of Jesus in our hearts and why we come to worship, so that we can remember all the time that we are loved and kept close to God’s heart.
Faith+Prayer: Jesus, we are glad for your birth, we are glad for you being a child, we are glad that you know us and keep us in your heart in love. Amen.
Faith+Blessing: God in our head, God in our heart, God on our left, God on our right. (say these words while making the sign of the cross and have the kids do this with you)
Here is the Weekly devotion for the 1st Sunday of Christmas – December 30, 2012
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Notice something different about on the back page? Dinner Devotions are now called “Faith on the Go!” It’s the same great household Bible study, but formatted to work with “Faith Five” from Faith Inkubators.