Here is the devotion page for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost, June 21, 2015.
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Tag Archives: Year B
Children’s Sermon/Worship Station – June 14, 2015, Mark 4:26-34; 3rd Sunday after Pentecost
Prepare: You will need a large piece of banner paper (probably white) and a bunch of crayons of markers.
Ask the children, “Have you every planted anything? Flowers, or vegetables, or a tree? What did you do to help if grow?” Wait for a few answers.
I think one of the amazing things about planting seeds is that all of the information that the seed needs to become a plant is inside that little seed! If you plant a pumpkin seed in a good place and give it water it grows more pumpkins with a whole bunch more seeds, it’s amazing!
In the story from Mark today, Jesus is working hard to explain what God’s Kingdom is like, and he chooses seeds and plants to help him explain. Jesus knows how amazing seeds are. It almost sounds like Jesus is just as fascinated as we are! He talks about how just a few seeds can grow into a bounty of food, or how a tiny little seed can become a huge tree (Jesus uses a mustard seed, but maybe we could think of an apple seed growing into a big apple tree!)
Jesus seems to be saying that God’s Kingdom holds more wonders than we can imagine, and more bounty than we can dream of. If a tiny little apple seed can grow into a big tree that can produce maybe hundreds of apples every year, imagine what the kingdom of God could be like!
For the worship station, invite people to gather around the banner paper and create a prayer garden. Invite them to draw a flower or tree, or to write a short prayer on the paper. Find a place around your church where you can keep the banner up for a while with a sign that encourages people to add flowers, trees or prayers throughout the summer season. If you really keep it up, you could make the “harvest of prayer” part of you Sunday School kick off in the fall!
My God’s kingdom grow in you!
Bountiful God, We thank you for the wonders of seeds and plants. Help us to grow in faith just as the plants around us grown through the warm growing seasons. Amen.
Weekly Devotion Page for June 14, 2015
Here is the devotion page for the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost, June 14, 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 Mark 3:20-35 Pentecost 2B
Preparation: a big chart with two columns for Yes and No
Gather the children with you up front. Show them your chart and say, “So this week I was thinking about things that Jesus taught and how in our life we have lots of choices to make-lots of things and ideas and experiences and people that we can say yes or no to. Now I know that sometimes you have choices between other things too–like maybe mom or dad or grandparents ask if you want broccoli or green beans for dinner or how about this– raise your hand if you would like chocolate ice cream better and raise your foot if you would like ice cream better. So yes sometimes choices are for things but you know you are saying yes to chocolate or vanilla and not to the other even when you have these choices.
So I made this chart thinking about the things, people, ideas, ways to live that we can say yes or no to and I thought I would ask you what you thought. So let’s think deeply together, what are some things or ideas or people that we say yes or no to? I’ll go first. Yes things are things that connect us to love, to God, to other people, to helping the world. I needed help mowing my yard the other day and the neighbor boy came over to help–I said yes to accepting help. Do you have other ideas?
Knowing what we say yes to helps us know what we say no to. Like because I accepted help, I was able to say no to having a lot of pride and trying to do everything all alone. Other ideas?
Jesus today in the Gospel and throughout scripture is saying yes to people, to being in a community, to worshipping God. He is teaching to say no to separation from God, to evil, to being a part of things that do not show love. He tells us that we are all his brothers and sisters when we are saying yes to God. This reminds me of what happens in a baptism. Together we say we renounce, which is a big word for saying No. And we say no to the devil, empty promises, and anything that goes against God. (add these to the chart if they are not there or circle them) And in baptism we say Yes to remembering we are God’s children, helping other people and creation, yes to loving God and loving one another. Jesus promises to be with us everyday and all the ways we try to do this and to love us even we say yes to things that need a no.
Let us pray, Jesus-help us to say yes to living as your children. Yes to loving others. Yes to your promises. Help us to say no to all the things that separate us from you. Amen+
+May you walk in the yes with Jesus. +
Have a chart at your worship station for people to add their yes and no to. You could also have smaller pieces of paper with the same columns for people to take home. On this table also have a bowl of water with a remembrance of baptism or the blessing above. You can also put this station near the baptismal font if your space allows.
Weekly Household Devotions for June 7, 2015
Here is the devotion page for the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, June 7, 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!
“For God So Loves You!” John 3: 1-17, Holy Trinity Sunday, Year B, May 31st, 2015
Have a piece of chart paper available that you can write on or have the children write on. Have the paper divided into threes (maybe make a peace sign). Ask: “What do you know about God who creates or makes stuff?” Write or have an older child write the answers. “What do you know about Jesus?” Again, write all answers. “What do you know about the Holy Spirit?” Write all answers. Say: “Wow! You know quite a bit! Do you think that this is all that there is to know about God? Who do you think knows EVERYTHING about God? (Yes some child will say “GOD!” Go with it!) It’s really hard for us to know everything about God isn’t it? We try and explain how God is creator, Jesus who died for us and the Holy Spirit who we talked about last week as wind, breath, or fire. (Or insert however you discussed the HS last week on Pentecost Sunday.) But we just don’t quite know everything do we?
In our Bible story this morning we read about a really smart guy named Nicodemus or Nic for short. He knew all kinds of stuff about the Bible, God, rules, and special religious holidays. He didn’t know a lot about Jesus and so he went to talk to him at night so that no one else would know that Nic had questions, there was stuff that even he didn’t understand. Have you ever had something that you didn’t understand, maybe at school? Did you go and talk to someone? Yes? Good! Nic did a great thing by talking to Jesus. Jesus told Nic some things that he didn’t know and it was confusing! But Jesus said to him, you can’t know everything! Only God does! God comes to you with love and healing and that is the most important thing to know! There will always be stuff about God you don’t understand-everything that we wrote on this paper is not everything about God, right? But all we need to know is that God loves us very much, always will no matter what, and always is with us. That’s it! Simple but still hard, huh? Yeah, even for me and other adults we don’t quite get it, but we get to try and just live in God’s love and share it with people every single day. How can you show your love for people and God’s whole world? (Accept all answers.) Great ideas! During Worship Station time, you can take a red construction paper heart, write Creator, Jesus, and Holy Spirit on the three “points” if you will of the heart (see better description below). Then write your own name in the middle of the heart to remind you that you are part of God’s love in the world. Decorate it however you want and take it home! Make some to share (with friend’s or family members names on it)!
Dear God Creator, Jesus our Savior and the Holy Spirit our Breath, we love you and we are grateful that you love us always. You make us your own and bring us to live into your love for the whole world. You make us new each day and you are at work bringing healing and wholeness all around us. We pray to be a part of your love and wholeness in the world. Amen.
Have red construction paper hearts (fairly good size-about 4 ½ X 5 ½), markers, heart stickers and anything else you would like to decorate the hearts. Have a sample made where at the top of the two rounded parts of the heart one side says “Creator” (or “Father” “Mother” depending upon your tradition), and the other “Jesus.” Have the words “Holy Spirit” written on the point of the bottom of the heart. Encourage people to write their own name on the center of the heart and/or write ways to share the love of God with the world. They can take them home or tape them on a cross.
+God so loves you+
Weekly Household Devotions for May 31
Here is the devotion page for Holy Trinity, May 31, 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 Day of Pentecost – Acts 2:1-21 – May 24, 2015
Preparation: You don’t really need to do anything, but the main part of the Children’s Sermon/Worship Station will be a parade, so it would be fun to have a Pentecost banner or streamers that the parade leader could carry.
As you gather children together, ask if any of them have ever been to a parade or in a parade. What was the parade for? Was it fun to be there?
Parades are often to celebrate something, like people returning home from a journey, or a county or state fair, or a holiday.
We are going to have a parade today! We are going to have a Pentecost parade! Today is the day that we remember the story of the disciples with tongues of fire on their heads, speaking to a crowd and telling them all about Jesus.
In the tradition of the Easter Orthodox church they have parades every year on Pentecost. They have a parade all the way around the outside of their church building to remember that they are sent out into the world to tell about Jesus, and that they come back into the church to gather back together as a community.
(you can decide if the parade will be around your worship space, or longer! This is also the point where you need to decide if this is going to be an activity for the whole congregation or just for the children.)
So, let’s gather up our banner and go for a Pentecost Parade!
Holy Spirit, enter into our lives and our hearts. Put the Good News of Christ on our lips and in our hearts for us to share with the whole world. Amen
God’s Spirit fills you up!
The worship station is really just the parade this week, but you can add to that if you want. Part of our identity as Easter people and Pentecost people is to spread God’s love and mercy throughout the world. You can have people spread out to different corners of your church grounds and pray for all the parts of your church. Then have them gather back together to pray for the whole world.
Children’s Sermon Easter 7B John 17:6-19 2015
Preparation: create a photo or picture collage of things that we do with our friends, different activities, etc. Put either a cross or praying hands in the center. OR draw a big scribble and put the name of a friend in one of the sections and then different things about him/her around it–for more details go to the blog Worshipping with With at this link. You will need to scroll down to the ideas for this text. This is to have a visual. The message can be done all orally if you choose.
Gather the children. Ask them to name some things they do with friends. Show them your poster and talk about those things (add to it if you can) or Show them your name scribble and talk about your friend in particular.
“There are many things we can do with our friends. You know Jesus had friends too. He had his disciples and the people who followed him and he did all kinds of things with them. Can you think of any? He walked with them, talked, hung out under trees, went to cities and towns, drank and ate, etc. Do you think he did any of the things we listed like play games? Well today we hear from Jesus who had done all these wonderful things with his friends and we hear that Jesus reaches out to us too and calls us friend, a loved child of God. And what he is doing is praying. Yep he’s ‘thinking about all the things his friends have done and all the things they will need to do even when he is not with them any more to teach about God’s love. He’s thinking about them and about us and he is praying. He prays that all those ways that we live and play and learn are ways that we also show love to others. He prays that we will know what to do when hard things come into our lives. He prays that we will know how to love others and that God will be with us. So Jesus prayed for the disciples and he prayed for each one of you–that you will know how to be friend and love others.”
If you have done the name scribble, tell the kids how to do this and then encourage them to do this during the sermon or at a worship station or at home. Describe how the name scribble shows things about the person that they can pray for specifically. They can make this for their friend, say the prayers for them when they give it them or before, like a blessing of the drawing.
“One of the ways I have been taught to pray is to hold hands so that both thumbs point left.”Demonstrate by holding hands of the two children on either side of you. “See one hand is underneath, so it is being supporting this person. The other hand is on top so it is being supported. Let’s hold hands in a circle so that we are being supported by our neighbor and offering support to the other neighbor as well pray. Jesus, thank you for the gift of friends. Thank you for sending us to the world to be a friend. Help us to love them and support them and show them your grace. Amen”
Jesus’ prayer today gives us a promise and blessing that we will also always be held in his love. Let’s say our blessing together while making the sign of the cross. “God in my head, God in my heart, God on my left, God on my right” Amen
Worship Station: Have paper and markers and sample ‘friend scribbles’. Invite people to pray for a friend or friends by creating this name scribble and praying for each part of their friend’s lives. Another way to do this would be to write different places on the globe or different issues in the spaces of the scribble and pray over them.
Weekly Devotion Page for May 17, 2015
Here is the devotion page for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, May 17, 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!