Bible Readings: Jeremiah 1:4-10, Psalm 71:1-6 or Psalm 103:1-5, Hebrews 12:18-29, Luke 13: 10-17
About the Images:
Upper: This is a free Microsoft clip art.
Lower: This is from a free set of worship templates found at Church Powerpoint (see in my links section to the left).
Listening Song: Psalm 103:1-5
By Sons of Korah on their album, Rain. I used this beautiful song as part of the pardon for the prayer of confession and set it to a series of images.
Kid's Story: The Gospel Story
I got this idea from doing mime clown workshops years ago. Talk to the children about the woman's physical disability but then encourage them to mime with their whole bodies how they feel
when they are sad (most go all droopy and slump forward),
when they feeling guilty (ditto)
when they are feeling bullied (ditto)
when they are worried (ditto) etc etc.
I think you probably get the picture from there :-) and can go on and relate it to freedom we have in Jesus. While you are doing the mimes with them you have to over emphasise it and make a bit of a fool of yourself, but I reckon that's not too hard for most of us.
Kid's Story: Jeremiah
Use a balloon to represent Jeremiah. First he was a deflated balloon, unsure of himself, lacking confidence and unsure of what to say. Emphasise that God didn't mind that Jeremiah was young and inexperienced and that God gave Jeremiah all the resources he needed to get the job done. As a consequence, Jeremiah became an inflated balloon filled with God's Spirit.
Film Clip
or Story: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 
Use the dialogue where Susan and Lucy ask Mr and Mrs Beaver to describe Aslan. Start when Mr Beaver says "Aslan a man?" and finish when he says "Of course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you". Found in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis, Puffin Books, 1950 (pictured at left) or in the film of the same name (pictured at right).
Film:
Cocoon(pictured at left) Use any scene at the start where the elderly people are made out to be the living dead and contrast this with the thoughts of the Psalmist in Psalm 71.
Story: Thermometers and Thermostats
Found in Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice, Youth Specialties, 1994, ISBN 0310402611, page 198 (pictured in an earlier blog).
Quote: Unknown Source
I intend to stay alive for the whole of my life.
Quote: John Bell
"Women make up half the world's population
do two thirds of the world's productive work,
own ten percent of the world's wealth,
and one per cent of the world's land."
Found in Ten Things They Never Told Me About Jesus by John Bell, Wild Goose Publications, 2009, ISBN 9781905010608, page 83. An excellent book!
Poem: My Name is Known to You
by Kathy Galloway and found in Resources for Preaching and Worship - Year C compiled by Hannah Ward and Jennifer Wild, Westminster John Knox Press, 2003, ISBN 066422508X, Page 234. This works really well with projected images and music.
Group Discussion:
What do you think God is calling our church to do?
How can we personally be involved?
Where does each one of us fit?
Adult Response:
Give everybody a small card with the following questions and a space to quietly think.
Are we........
- Like Jeremiah? - despite feeling inadequate or inexperienced we trust God and answer God's call to us
- Like the Psalmist? - willing and able to share a lifetime of experiences which reflect what we have learnt as we have grown into our relationship with God
- Like the woman in the gospel? - eagerly sharing what God has recently done in your life.
- Like the leader of the synagogue in the gospel? - unable to recognise God at work because our religious baggage gets in the wa
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