Proper 6 A (June 18): Take the Plunge

Bible Readings: Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7, Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19, Romans 5:1-8, Matthew 9:35 - 10:8, 9-23.

About the images:
Upper Left: A combination of two microsoft free clip art and my text.
Upper Right:  A free heartlight image - see my link column at left.
Middle Left: A free Cerezo Barredo image - see my link column at left.
 

Middle Right: A free Hermano Leon image - see my link column at left.

Lower Left:  This is a free clip art from the Misioneros Del Sagrado Corazón en el Perú.

Lower Right: Free from the Sundaygraphix site

Listening Song: You Move Me
By Susan Ashton on A Distant Call and Nothing But Pop (pictured at left)

Kid's Story: Abraham
Found in The Picture Strip Bible by Felicity Henderson and Chris Saunderson, Scripture Union, 2001, ISBN 1859994970, page 12 (pictured at right).

Drama: Sarah
By Judy Gattis Smith and found 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 224, (pictured at left).

Film Clip: The Princess Diaries
(pictured at right) Show the clip where Mia is quite obviously nearly invisible to everyone. Finish the clip when she says "someone sat on me again".

Discussion: On The Princess Diaries
1. Who are the invisible people in our community who feel like Mia or are like the people Jesus saw in Matthew 9:36?
2. How can we help?

Story: Save the Starfish
Found in More Hot Illustrations for Youth by Wayne Rice, Zondervan 1995, ISBN 0310207681, page 151 (pictured at left).

Story: Shipwreck
Found , I think, in Robert E Coleman's The Heartbeat of Evangelism, NavPress, 1985, ISBN-10: 0891094008.

An artist, seeking to depict on canvas the meaning of 
evangelism, painted a storm at sea.Black clouds filled the sky. 
Illuminated by a flash of lightning, a little boat could be seen disintegrating under the 
pounding of the ocean.  People were struggling in the swirling waters, their 
anguished faces crying out for help.  The only glimmer of hope appeared in the 
foreground of the painting, where a large rock protruded out of the water.  There, 
clutching desperately with both hands, was one lone seaman. It was a moving scene. 
Looking at the painting, one could see in the tempest a symbol of humankind's 
hopeless condition.  And, true to the Gospel, the only hope of salvation was "the 
Rock of Ages", a shelter in the time of storm. But as the artist reflected upon his 
work, he realized that the painting did not accurately portray his subject.  So he 
discarded the canvas, and painted another.  It was very similar to the first:  the 
black clouds, the flashing lightning, the angry waters, the little boat crushed by the 
pounding waves, and the crew vainly struggling in the water.  In the foreground the 
seaman was clutching the large rock for salvation.  But the artist made one
change:  the survivor was holding on with only one hand, and with the other hand 
he was reaching down to pull up a drowning friend. 

Also:

Poem and prayer: summoned and sent.

Found in Dad and Daughter by Ron Gordon and Jennie Gordon, 2012, ISBN 9780646586601, page 40 (pictured at left). These are based on the gospel reading.

Response Activity: The Lost Sheep

Found in Bringing the Word To Life Together: Year A by Andrew Collis and Dorothy McRae-McMahon, Mediacom, Adelaide, 2010, ISBN 9780949656919, page 106-7 (pictured at right). This is based on the Gospel reading .

Poem/Meditation: Song-lines for Sarah and Hagar
By Ruth Burgess in Dandelions and Thistles: Biblical Meditations from the Iona Community by Jan Sutch Pickard (ed.) Wild Goose Publications, 1999, ISBN 1901557146, page 24 (pictured at left). This goes well with the Genesis reading.

Various Ideas: Training Manual for Messengers

Found in Multi-Sensory Message by Dave Maclure, Scripture Union, 2008, ISBN 9781844272730, page 24 (pictured at right). Connected with the Matthew reading. 

Eating Together

Found in Messy Church 2 by Lucy Moore, The Bible Reading Fellowship, 2008, ISBN 978 1 84101 602 3, page 50 (pictured at left). This activity is based on the Genesis reading. For a few reasons that sadden me, Messy Church activities are often moved out of regular church services into their own little niche service.

Discussion Questions: When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Found in Chapter 4 of The Gospel According to the Simpsons Leaders Guide for Group Study by Mark I Pinsky and Samuel F Parvin, Westminster John Knox Press, 2002, ISBN 0 664 22590 X (pictured at right).  These questions are based on the Romans reading.

Litany of Laughter

By Anna Shirey and found in Before the Amen by Maren C Tirabassi and Maria I. Tirrabassi (Eds), Pilgrim Press, Cleveland, 2007, ISBN 978 0 8298 1750 8, page 107. Based on the Genesis reading.