Bible Readings: Lamentations 1:1-6, Lamentations 3:19-26, Psalm 137, 2 Timothy 1:1-14, Luke 17:5-10.
About the Images:
Upper Left: The image comes from the excellent Imagebank site and is therefore free for worship related activities (see my link in the column at left) and the words come from the quote below.
Upper Right: This is my image so feel free to use it for worship and related activities.
Middle Left: This free image comes from the Heartlight site - please see my link column to the left.
Middle Right: This image comes from the awesome Church Galleries website which is down at present. This particular one was free on the site.
Lower Left: This is my front yard and my photo which I thought went quite well with Lamentations 3:22-23. Please feel free to use for worship and related activities.
Lower Right: It is World Communion Sunday this week - this image is from the Hermano Leon site.
Listening Song: Rivers Of Babylon
This song is based on Psalm 137. There are plenty of versions of this song around - Boney M had a very famous one which is still on a number of their albums and Sinead O'Connor has two great versions (London and Dublin) on her Theology double album (pictured at right).
This song is based on Psalm 137. There are plenty of versions of this song around - Boney M had a very famous one which is still on a number of their albums and Sinead O'Connor has two great versions (London and Dublin) on her Theology double album (pictured at right).
Kid's Story: Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going To Move.
By Judith Voirst, Robin Preiss Glasser and Ray Cruz, Scholastic,1995 (pictured at right). This story can get a conversation going about lament, being taken to a new place etc etc.
By Judith Voirst, Robin Preiss Glasser and Ray Cruz, Scholastic,1995 (pictured at right). This story can get a conversation going about lament, being taken to a new place etc etc.
Kid's Talk: Don't Be Ashamed
Wear your footy team colours to church and ask the kids what team they barrack for or play the Grand Final winner team song in church and have a talk about how we are not ashamed to wear our favourite team colours and sing our team song. This connects very well with the Timothy reading for this week.
Wear your footy team colours to church and ask the kids what team they barrack for or play the Grand Final winner team song in church and have a talk about how we are not ashamed to wear our favourite team colours and sing our team song. This connects very well with the Timothy reading for this week.
Found in Parable Performing by Kristen Etscheid, Hodder and Stoughton, 1985, ISBN 0340336676, page 12 (pictured at left).
Story/Quote: Devout Mothers
Index 1670 from Bible Illustrator for Windows Version 1.0d, Parsons Technology Inc., 1990 or find it at http://www.webbiblia.com/SermonHelps/11543455/ Another similar story can be found at http://www.christianity.com/SermonHelps/11558052/ These stories both go well with the Timothy reading.
Discussion:
How did you come by your faith?
Was it a sudden conversion or a gradual dawning?
Where you helped by a member of your family, through a friend or member of a church, or did it come straight from God with no human intervention at all?
Share how you came by your faith with somebody sitting near you?
Is your faith actually yours?
Have you ever claimed your faith ..and how is it at the moment?
Has the flame been fanned as you have travelled through life or is it dying out?
Discussion:
How did you come by your faith?
Was it a sudden conversion or a gradual dawning?
Where you helped by a member of your family, through a friend or member of a church, or did it come straight from God with no human intervention at all?
Share how you came by your faith with somebody sitting near you?
Is your faith actually yours?
Have you ever claimed your faith ..and how is it at the moment?
Has the flame been fanned as you have travelled through life or is it dying out?
By Marie Livingstone Roy in Imaging the Word Volume 2 by Susan A. Blain Sharon Iverson Glouwens, Catherine O'Callaghan, Grant Spradling (Eds.), United Church Press, 1995, ISBN 0829810331, page 43. (pictured at right). This fits in very well with the Timothy reading
Found in Resources for Preaching and Worship - Year C compiled by Hannah Ward and Jennifer Wild, Westminster John Knox Press, 2003, ISBN 066422508X, page 257 (pictured at left). This goes very well with Psalm 137.
Quote: J.B Phillips
"Every time we say "I believe in the Holy Spirit" we mean that we believe there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality and change it." An interesting quote to discuss if you have discussion groups and to get people thinking about how the Holy Spirit operates - the words "human personality" grate a little with me in the context of the quote - but therefore there are lots of opportunity to define words and meanings together.
"Every time we say "I believe in the Holy Spirit" we mean that we believe there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality and change it." An interesting quote to discuss if you have discussion groups and to get people thinking about how the Holy Spirit operates - the words "human personality" grate a little with me in the context of the quote - but therefore there are lots of opportunity to define words and meanings together.
Also:
Found in Multi-Sensory Prophets by Mike Law, Scripture Union, 2007, ISBN 9781844272587, page 34 (pictured at right). This is based on the Jeremiah reading.
Based on the 2 Timothy reading, this is found in The All-Age Service Annual Volume 4, published by Scripture Union, 2010, ISBN 9781844275199, page 31 (pictured at left).
Found in Mega Drama 6 by Verena Johnson (Ed.), Open Book, 2002, ISBN 0859109208, page 30 (pictured at left). This goes well with the Luke reading
Drama: One For the Ladies
Found in All Age Sketches for The Christian Year by Peter Shaw, The Bible Reading Fellowship, 2006, ISBN 10 1 984101 458 3, page 68ff. This is based on the 2 Timothy reading.