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Tag Archives: peace
God Knows Your Name Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20 Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, July 3rd, 2016 Year C
As you have the children come forward have a large piece of butcher paper and numerous crayons available on the floor. Invite them to write their name on the butcher paper as you begin. (Just first names are fine for time sake.) Say, “When you meet someone for the first time, what’s usually the first thing you tell someone about yourself? Yes, your name! Our names are very important and they help other people talk to us, call us on the phone, email us, send us a card or even a present! Without our names, life could be very confusing, couldn’t it? Our names help people remember what is special about us and us about them. Do we learn and remember names of people who we don’t see very often? No, it’s hard to know the names of people who we don’t go to school with, live in our neighborhood or have never even met! But we learn the names of people who are important to us and we see a lot in our lives. Knowing someone’s name is a way to say “I care about you!”
In our story today, Jesus sends the disciples out to all kinds of different towns and cities where they will meet all kinds of different people. Jesus reminds the disciples and us, that the most important thing to remember as we go along in our life meeting new people, learning new things, and telling people about God is that God knows our name, everything about us and says that we belong to God. When people don’t like you, or don’t want to even meet you, even though that’s hard, it’s ok because God knows you and your name and says “I care about you!” When we baptize babies, children or adults, we say their name because we know that God is saying that we all belong to God, God knows us and promises to always call us by name to God.
Besides learning people’s names, how can we tell people that God cares for them? (Accept all answers.) There are all sorts of ways to show God’s love! A few ways we do that as a church are….(Fill in with ministries of your congregation). And you are never too little, young or old to help in one of those activities! As you go back to your seat, I want you to draw a heart around someone else’s name (not your own) to show that God cares for them.
(Invite the children and the whole congregation to join hands for the prayer. Have everyone hold their hands out with thumbs to the left. Then when you join hands, you are supporting someone’s hand and someone else is supporting you. The true meaning of community!) Dear Jesus, thank you for caring for us. You know our names and everything about us. Help us to share you love and care with our friends, with our families and with people that we meet. May your peace fill us and the whole earth. Amen.
Take the sheet of butcher paper with the children’s names on it from children’s sermon and place it on a table with more crayons, markers, etc. Have people write their own name as well as draw a heart around someone else’s name. Invite the congregation to pray for the person whose name they drew a heart around. And to try and meet them if they don’t already know each other!
+God knows your name and cares for you+
My Peace I Give To You, John 14: 23-29, May 1, 2016 Easter 6C
As the children come forward give them a handshake or a high-five and say “I give you peace.” They might think that’s a bit strange but that’s ok!
Once you’ve greeted everyone say, “Did I tell each of you “I give you peace”? Good! Why do you think I did that? (Accept all answers) Yes, those are all good reasons! In our Bible story this morning Jesus says that he gives his peace to the disciples. Do you think that they were confused by that too? I think so! It’s a strange thing to give someone peace…it’s not the same as giving a sandwich, a toy or a sticker…Jesus knew that he would not always be with the disciples or with us. He would be going to be with God in heaven. Jesus also knew that sometimes the disciples might get scared because there are scary things in the world.
Do you ever get scared? What scares you? (Share something that scares you.) Those things can scare us! When you get scared what do you do? Who do you run to? (Hopefully they will answer, mom, dad, grandma, grandpa or some family/close friend.) Yes! We run to someone who loves us and will help us! Does that make us feel better? It does me! I don’t like to be scared and alone…I think that’s what Jesus means by giving us peace, Jesus reminds us that we have each other to help us remember that we are never truly alone. If we’re scared and our mom, dad, etc. are not around, Jesus is! This makes us feel better! Did you know in church we offer each other peace in our worship service? We call it the passing of the peace and we shake hands or give hugs and say, “Peace be with you.” We do this to remind ourselves that we are not alone! We have this whole community around us! Praise God!
Have strips of cloth cut out from one piece of fabric so that everyone receives the same color. Invite the congregation to write with a fine tip permanent marker the words “I give you the peace of Jesus.” Have them take the strip of cloth with them to their seats. If your congregation has as part of you liturgy the “Passing of the Peace,” invite them to tie this strip of cloth around the wrist of someone as they offer a sign of peace. If not, choose a time to do this in your worship.
God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, you are one and we are also connected as one. May we share your peace and love with everyone that we meet. Remind us when we are scared that you are with us and will never leave us. We pray for your peace to reign in our hearts and our world. Amen.
+The Peace of Christ be with you always+
What do you wonder about Jesus? Children’s sermon Easter 2, Year C, April 3rd, 2016
Invite the children forward. Have some bread, a cup/chalice of wine, a bowl of water and some index cards. Ask the children this, “If you could say one thing to Jesus or ask him one question what would it be?” (Accept all answers and even share your own!) Say, “yes, we have lots of questions don’t we? We’ve never really seen Jesus like the disciples did, and we don’t necessarily hear Jesus’ voice (remember that you may have some mystics among you who might hear Jesus!). And sometimes I have lots of questions too and I don’t always know who to talk to about what I’m wondering about Jesus and God. (Repeat some of their questions here.) What do we do with all of those questions? (Accept all answers.) Yes, we could talk to each other! Jesus breathed on the disciples and reminds them and us that we all have the breath of God in us and share that breath everywhere we go!
Thomas missed Jesus coming and breathing on the disciples and when he came back and heard about it, he had lots of questions. Jesus doesn’t mind our questions-as a matter of fact, Jesus came to Thomas to talk to him about his! Jesus knew that he wouldn’t be able to talk to all people so that’s why Jesus told the disciples and us that we are sent out with the love of Jesus to talk about our questions and wondering together and to look for Jesus everywhere around us. We might not think that we “see” Jesus like Thomas and the other disciples saw him, but Jesus gave us ways to see how much he loves us and is with us always, in our questions, in our wondering and when we feel God’s presence. Jesus said to look for him in bread and wine: which we do every week! When we eat and drink we know that Jesus fills us with what we need to be his hands and feet in the world. In water that is found in our baptismal font, we know that Jesus says we belong to God forever, no matter what. Jesus wants everyone to know that what God really wants is to love us and be with us. Even if we wonder if God is real or what God is doing. I have some blank index cards here. You can take one back to you seat and write or draw your questions for Jesus or what you wonder about Jesus. *During our worship station time, you can place them in the basket on the table and take with you a heart to remind you that Jesus loves you now and always. (If you don’t do worship stations, have index cards in the pews for all people. Invite them to place them in the offering plate.)
Have index cards and pens on a table. Invite people to write their questions for God on them and either place them in a basket. (You could also have a large question mark on a piece of poster board hanging on a wall and people can write their questions on post-it notes to place on the question mark. The question mark could be inside a big heart.) Have heart stickers or paper hearts cut out for people to take as they leave their questions. Perhaps offer a time of wrestling with those questions in adult education, confirmation or some other forum.
Jesus, we love you and we are so glad that you love us! Thank you for hearing our questions, our wondering and our doubts. Be with us as this community grows and learns from those questions. Send us out to listen and talk with other people who also wonder about you and may we share your love and peace with them. Amen.
+Peace be with you+
God Guide Our Path Luke 1: 68-79 Advent 2 Dec. 6th, 2015
Have a piece of rope or twine that you can lay on the ground (you will want lots of it as it will be a moving “path”). Have the children stand next to the rope on the ground. Explain that this will be our path for our time together. We will follow the rope as it moves around our worship space. Start moving the rope and have the children walk toward the baptismal font. Stop them there. Say, “When we bring a baby or a person to the font we are declaring God’s promises of love and grace. We say that God promises to make us new each and every day. We promise to teach each other about God and God’s love. We light a candle to remind us that Jesus lights our path in life.” (Light a candle to take with the group.) Say, “Let’s take this candle with us.”
Move the rope path to the table. Say, “When we gather for communion we know that Jesus promised to be with us forever and forgives all of the things that we do that hurt each other. We know that Jesus rescued us from ever being apart from God ever again. Let’s keep going.” Move the rope to the pulpit or to where there is a Bible (even on a chair or “staged” is fine). Have the children sit down and give another adult (preferably one that will sit with you and the children) the candle.
Pick up the Bible and say, “One of the stories that we read in the Bible today about a man named Zechariah. After being silent for nearly nine months he spoke. And when he spoke, he told the people how God will lead us on our path, send Jesus to be our light and will forgive our sins and show us love forever. We are in the church season of Advent-where we focus on how God will always give us what we need to be with God forever. God sent Jesus to be on the path with us and we have each other to tell each other about God’s love every day! This is a path that we can invite all people to be on because it’s a path of love, mercy, forgiveness and hope. This is the path to peace and love with all people! God invites all people to God’s path!
If you have a portable labyrinth, have that available in a space. In a basket at the entrance, have a piece of paper with the words: peace and light written on it for people to meditate on as they walk the labyrinth. In the center have a tea light candle for them to pick up. Have a table where they can place their candle and light it. If you do not have a labyrinth, on a large table have some sort of “path” (either drawn on butcher paper, or made from sand, rocks, or whatever your creativity brings forth!) where people can place a candle and light it. Have the pieces of paper shaped as a heart with the words: peace and light written on them for meditation and prayer.
God of light, you guide our feet on the path. We will follow Jesus and walk the way of peace for all of creation. In Jesus name, the light of the world, amen.
+Walk in the Light of Jesus+
Let’s Go! Jesus is with us always! Children’s sermon on Mark 4: 35-41
Gather the children in a different spot than you normally do maybe at the font, or just on a different side of the worship space. Then ask them if they have ever had to go to a new school or daycare place. Or maybe they joined a new soccer team, dance team, swim team, etc. What was that like? Was it a bit scary to go somewhere new? Did you have to learn new things and new people? Yes! But probably your parents stayed with you for a little while anyway to get you settled, or maybe your brother or sister was with you or a friend. When we go new places we like to someone we know with us don’t we!
In our story from Mark this morning, Jesus invites his disciples to go somewhere new. Jesus simply says to the disciples, “Let’s go to the other side!” The “other side” of the sea of Galilee was a place where the disciples had never been before but they knew that there would be different people, different food and stuff they couldn’t even imagine! But Jesus said “Let’s Go!” and they got in the boat and went. Now when they were on their way a storm came up and they woke Jesus up for help. Jesus told the storm and the disciples “Peace! Be Still!” and the storm stopped! The disciples were amazed! But they learned that even when stuff is hard Jesus is there and will be with us, when we are afraid, somewhere new, and with new people. It’s kind of weird having children’s sermon here isn’t it? But you know what? Jesus is here!!!
You know what? God gives us all kinds of people in our lives to be with us and to remind us of God’s love. Today, we are celebrating all of the men in our community who care for us. Doesn’t matter if they are actually your dad, grandpa, or uncle, God calls all men to be caring adults for you and in this community! How can we tell other people about how Jesus is with them when they are scared, worried or alone?
(Have a carnation or a daisy for the children to give to each man (18 and up) in the congregation this morning.)
Create on a large piece of paper a simple boat. Have post-it notes available. Invite people to write or draw on the post-it notes prayers for where they are experiencing change in their lives. Offer these prayers during your community prayers during worship. Invite people to take a post-it note that is not their own home to pray for someone else during the week.
Have cards and pens available to write cards with words of encouragement for people to take to give to those they encounter this week in need of knowing that God is with them always. You can use the blessing below as a prompt.
We are all in the boat with Jesus together!
Dear Jesus, you tell us to get in the boat and follow you. We are sometimes afraid of new places, people and situations but you promise to always be with us with a word of peace. In the name of the one who stilled the storm, Jesus Christ, amen.
+Do not be afraid, Jesus gives you peace+
Weekly Devotion Page for June 21, 2015
Here is the devotion page for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost, June 21, 2015.
Just click on the picture to download the PDF file!
Did you miss a week? Go to the Weekly Devotion page to download past weeks!
Children’s Sermon Pentecost 10A Matthew 15:10-28 August 17, 2014
Preparation: The word for peace or love or hope or a mixture of them in different languages–you can do this visually with a collage that you make or use one of the links below. Prepare a handout or a worship station (more on station below under Faith+Worship)
A list of languages and the word for peace from Columbia University
An image of Peace in different languages
Gather the children with you. Ask them listen to you as you speak the word peace–it will help if they close their eyes (or substitute another word if you like) Say the word peace in english first, then say it in a few different languages. What did you hear? (take their answers, exploring that maybe they are not sure what they heard)
Those were all different ways of saying peace in different languages. I want to teach this word because our readings today talk about what comes out of our mouths being what is from our heart. And that when dirty things come out of our mouths, which the bible passage called things that defile, it is like our hearts are dirty. What would some of those things be that may be ugly that we say sometimes? (help them think of things like lying, exaggerating, not nice names, teasing that hurts people, etc) And our hearts probably don’t feel happy or kind when we are saying those things, but they feel closed up and hard (make a fist with your hand) So when our hearts are open (open fist) and willing to love, words that are good and kind and peaceful come out of our mouths and those are the kinds of words that help bring different people together. Can you think of some of those words? (take answers)
One way that we start to open our hearts and minds is knowing that others people, no matter how different they are from us, are a part of God’s world and they are children of God too. And when we learn about different people our hearts start to be open and not closed. So I wanted to give you some words for peace today in other languages. (either use the worship station for this or hand out an image or list of words and their languages.) Teach one or two of the words now and then instruct the children in the worship station if you are using it.
Have the words in different languages available on a handout or at a station on a poster board. Have paper and markers available and have some printed paper with a big word PEACE (or love, hope or all there) Then ask people to write down the different languages around the word peace and take them home and learn them.
Jesus, God of peace, ____, _____, ______ (insert your choice of other language for peace) Help us to see others with open hearts and help us to have words that bring healing and love come out of our mouths. Be with all those who are hurt by words and help our world live in peace. Amen
+Go with God’s love to bring peace in the world+
Faith + Home Connection December 2013 Isaiah 9: 2-7
Gather the household around the Christmas tree. Turn on the lights or light candles. Open with prayer: God of light, we gather to hear the promises of your love to us. May we walk in your light and share your light and love with your creation. In your son, the light of the world, Jesus’ name, amen.
Read Isaiah 9: 2-7. As it is being read have paper, pencils, colored pencils, crayons and markers available. Draw the images that Isaiah offers here as it is being read. Maybe read it through more than once.
For children: (Note: some of the images are hard in this passage. Yet, many of our children are exposed to images of war and destruction. This can be a good time to talk openly about those things.) God wants us all to live in peace. What does the word peace mean to you? What does peace look like? What would you say to God in a prayer for peace?
For youth/adults: The promise of prosperity and peace is the focus of this passage. Yet, we know that those things are elusive in our world and it’s easy to think that tangible, financial prosperity is the true meaning of these promises of God. But prosperity in that sense of the word for people means poverty for others. What do you think God’s prosperity looks like in the world? When is “enough” stuff “enough” for us? How can we participate in God’s promise of everyone living in peace and stability? How can we encourage our neighbor to thrive? In this season of gift giving how can we celebrate the joy in giving gifts (this is not a bad thing!) to loved ones and not get caught up in the extravagance?
A great way to give gifts and walk alongside a local or global neighbor is to contribute to a favorite charity in honor of that person. Make a fun card and attach a small ornament or piece of Christmas candy to the card. Or make some cookies or other treats for neighbors without family.
Dear God, your light shines on us and lifts our burdens. You offer us promises of new life, peace and justice. May we rejoice in the gift given to us, your Son who reveals your love for all creation. Amen.
(Make the sign of the cross on one another) May you walk in the light of God.