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There is a 2021 version of this blog with lots more resources - see my archive at left
Bible Film Clip: Little Women
Show the scene near the beginning where the girls share their breakfast with the poor family and the lady of the house calls them angels (messengers) from God. (pictured)
Provide/project some images of the world and your local area.
Ask the Bill Easum question from Leadership on the Other Side, Abingdon, 2000, ISBN 0687085888 (pictured) :
What is it about your relationship with Jesus that the world cannot live without knowing?
Give people a quiet space to think about this question.
Poem: Unknown!!
I don't know where I got this from - either a book or a web site - it would be great if somebody could help me source it.
Do you know,
do you understand
that you represent
Jesus to me?
Do you know,
do you understand
that when you
treat me with gentleness,
it raises the question in my mind
that maybe he is gentle, too?
Maybe he isn't someone
who laughs when I am hurt.
Do you know,
do you understand
that when you listen to my questions
and you don't laugh,
I think,
"What if Jesus is interested in me, too?"
Do you know,
do you understand
that when I hear you talk about arguments
and conflict and scars from your past
that I think, "Maybe I am just a regular person
instead of a bad, no-good, little girl who deserves abuse?"
If you care,
I think maybe he cares --
and then there's this flame of hope
that burns inside of me,
and for a while,
I am afraid to breathe
because it might go out.
Do you know,
do you understand
that your words are his words?
Your face,
his face
to someone like me?
Please be who you say you are.
Please, God, don't let this be another trick.
Please let this be real.
Please.
Do you know,
do you understand
that you represent
Jesus to me?
Nasty balloon weilding meanies enter and are foiled as follows:
Nasty balloon: Nobody in this group likes you. Go and play with someone else!
Piece of Armour: Belt
Armour message: God loves me!!
Nasty balloon: Come on, let’s grab their footy. They’ll be too scared to do anything about it.
Piece of Armour: breastplate
Armour message: No, I‘d rather play with them than mess up their game.
Nasty balloon: How dumb! Do you really go to church??
Piece of Armour: Shoes
Armour message: Come with me and find out how much God loves you.
Nasty balloon: Ha ha ha, I got you into trouble.
Piece of Armour: Shield (umbrella)
Armour message: At least God knows I was right.
Nasty balloon: You can’t have any, you don’t deserve it !
Piece of Armour: helmet
Armour message: God gives me heaps of great gifts.
Nasty balloon: You’ll never be good enough to join our group.
Piece of Armour: sword-bible
Armour message: There are heaps of messages in here which tell me how special I am.
Talk it through with the kids...
Written by Rosemary Broadstock and Ann Scull.
Story: Men
Story 426 in 750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers and Writers by Craig Brian larson and Leadership Journal, Baker Books, 2002
Discussion questions:
There is much talk in this reading of evil forces and the stuff the devil throws at us.
1.How are these forces demonstrated in our lives?
2.How do they infect our church?
3. How do they infect our community – our social and political structures?
Film Clip: Romero
Show the scene where Archbishop Oscar Romero goes to the village that is under martial law and confronts the soldiers who have transformed a church into a barracks - start the scene where he first arrives and end it when he is leading the service.
Discussion on film Clip:
How is Romero able to withstand evil with such strength?
Response Activity:
Project a picture of the armour complete with labels and give everybody a 1 cm or so cube of self hardening clay.
Ask: I wonder if there is a piece of God’s armour that you use less than you could? A piece going rusty or a piece that until today you never knew God had given you. With the small cube of clay which you have been given, model that piece of armour and while you model, talk to God about how you can use that piece of armour better.
Resources which suit all three readings above:
Music video clip: My Will
By dc Talk on their The Supernatural Experience video.(pictured)
This song does not appear to be on any of dc Talk's cd’s. However, it is one of their best. It talks about depending on God’s strength to do the things he has called us to do and it acknowledges that our own discipline, knowledge and will may fail us from time to time but that God never will.
NB. for more info on this song and where to find it, click on the comment posted at the end of this week's blog - thanks to "anonymous" for helping me out with this.
Listening song: Breathe Your Name By Sixpence None the Richer on their album, The Best of Sixpence None the Richer or their album Divine Discontent or on the album WOW 2004.
Response Activity: As people arrive, ask them to write their name on a small square of paper - even better, make business cards with a photo or clip art of praying hands leaving enough space for people to write their name on the card. Collect all the cards. During the last hymn or song, ask some helpers (kids like to do this) to distribute the cards, making sure that no person receives a card with their own name on it and making sure that everybody receives a card. Encourage people to take home the card and pray for the person who is named on their card over the next week/month/year.