Sunday, May 26, 2024

Proper 13 B (August 4): Come Together

  




























Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a, Psalm 51:1-12, Ephesians 4:1-16, John 6:24-35

About the images:
Upper Left: Free clipart from www.heartlight.com - an excellent site for scripture slides which you can access via my link column at left.
Upper Right: This is my image so feel free to use it for worship and related activities.
Middle Left:  This is a Microsoft free clip art with my text.
Middle Right:  A Norfolk island road.  This is my image so feel free to use it for worship and related activities.
Lower Left: Another Heartlight image
Lower right: A free Hermano Leon clipart from a site which appears to be no longer functioning.
Bottom Left: A free clipart from the Misioneros Del Sagrado Corazón en el Perú

Listening Song: Come Together
By Third Day on their album, Come Together (pictured at right). This goes well with the Ephesians reading.

Choral Reading: Create in Us A Clean Heart
By Martha Keys Barker and found in Building Worship Together by Martha Keys Barker and the Fisherfolk, Celebration Services, 1981, ISBN 0906309212, page 87 (pictured iat left). This relates well with Psalm 51.

Kids: The Man Who Loved Boxes
By Stephen Michael King, Scholastic, 2005, ISBN 1865048372 (pictured at right). A man, who most people think is useless, finds a unique way to express his love to his son. This relates well with the Ephesians reading.

Pass the Peace:
Change the words for this morning to - Peace be with you: You are an important part of this church.

Film Clip: Ratatouille
This film  has heaps of good scenes which suit this topic - it is all about teamwork and co-operation and each person discovering what he can do. The scene I will use is the one where Remy (the rat) is talking to the imaginary chef and very proudly identifying all the different roles and jobs of those who work in a kitchen. When the chef asks him what the boy washing the floor does, and what his role is, Remy brushes him off and says the boy does nothing important and is basically useless.


Discussion: Ratatouille
1. Why does Remy think the boy is a nobody?
2. What role do you think the boy has in the kitchen?
3. Is everyone a somebody?
 
Helpful Illustration/Sermon Idea: Life Aboard the Fellow-ship
Chapter 16 in In the Grip of Grace by Max Lucado, Word, 1996, ISBN 0849913241, page 159ff (pictured at right). The comments/questions on Ephesians at the end of the book are also helpful.

Teens: Let Your Bodies Talk
Found in 40 devotions That Work With Youth by Geraldine Anderson (Ed.), JBCE, 1983, ISBN 0858194147, page 42 (pictured at left). This is based on the Ephesians reading and would also work well for a kids talk as long as the kids were older primary school children.

Story: Unity
Found in either
1. Your Point Being by Graham Twelftree, Monarch, 2003, ISBN 1854245929, story 286 (pictured at right), or

2. More Hot Illustrations For Youth Talks by Wayne Rice, Zondervan, 1995, ISBN 0310207681, page 91 (pictured at left) who attributes this story to William Barclay.

This story pops up in so many places it could possibly be an urban myth or something .... but then, when you think about it, does a story have to be fact to portray a truth?

Story: Stewardship
Found in 750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers Teachers and Writers by Craig Brian Larson and Leadership Journal (Eds.), Barker Books, 1993, ISBN 0801091551, Story No. 686 (pictured at right). This story goes well with the Ephesians reading - if you want more information about this story, visit http://www.stradivarisociety.com

Prayer/Meditation: Growing in Christ
By Tellhard de Chardin and found in Imaging the Word, Volume 3 by Susan A Blain(Ed.), United Church Press, 1996, ISBN 0829810862, page 269 (pictured at left).  I put images with these words on ppt and backed the images with I Hate Kareoke from the soundtrack of the film, Japanese Story.

Response Activity: Jigsaw
There are at least four ways you can do this:
1.This will depend on the size of your congregation, however, if possible give each person a piece of a jigsaw puzzle and then make the puzzle together - you may need a large enough table and jigsaw so that everybody can gather around it - encourage people to see that without all the pieces the jigsaw would be incomplete.
2. Give people a piece of jigsaw as they arrive. Tell them to put it in a prominent place at home to remind them that they are a vital part of the whole church picture. If we were to make the jigsaw and their piece was missing or deliberately witheld, then the picture would not be complete.
3. Make a mosaic (just google "mosaic" if you want a free program which makes such mosaics) of your church with photos of the congregation.
4. Make a homemade jigsaw using a large photo of the congregation.

Also:

Meditation: Bread
Found in Meditations from the Iona Community by Ian Reid, Wild Goose Publications, Trowbridge, 1998, ISBN 1901557022, page 80 (pictured at left). This goes well with the gospel reading.

Prayer Exercise: Confession
Found in Prayer: Heart of the Pilgrimage by Jenny Youngman, Upper Room Books, Nashville, 2007, ISBN 0835898369, page 46 (pictured at right).  This is based on the Psalm reading.

Lots of Useful Stuff: Sorry State
Found in Multi-Sensory Together by Ian Birkinshaw, Scripture Union,2005, ISBN 1844271641, page 17.  Based on the Psalm reading.

Complete Service based on all the readings: The Bread of Eternal Life
Found in In this Hour by Dorothy McRae-McMahon, Desbooks, 2001, ISBN 094982433X, page 91ff. 

Drama: Gifts Anonymous
This links with the Ephesians reading and is found in Mega Drama 4 by Verena Johnson, Open Book, 2002, ISBN 0859109186, page 35.

Bread Bible
Found in Messy Church 2 by Lucy Moore, The Bible Reading Fellowship, 2008, ISBN 978 1 84101 602 3, page 123. This is based on the John reading.

Bread
Found in Messy Church 2 by Lucy Moore, The Bible Reading Fellowship, 2008, ISBN 978 1 84101 602 3, page 204. This is based on the John reading.

Messy Baptism 
Found in Messy Church 2 by Lucy Moore, The Bible Reading Fellowship, 2008, ISBN 978 1 84101 602 3, page 191ff. This is based on the Ephesians reading.

Prayer
By Ann B Dayand 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 214. Based on the Ephesians reading.



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