You have found a collection of ideas to help you contemplate the RCL readings. While designed to be used during a Sunday service at church or by zoom, these readings can also be used during the week to help you remember and build on what you experienced on Sundays. My objective is for faith to be a lived experience and for children to learn how to worship and explore the Bible and pray by participating in Worship with you. The goal here is not for them to learn names or facts though they may want to do that for themselves, but rather to find ways of connecting with the text and sharing that with others. The ideal is to form a life long love of Christ, for the Word of God and to participate in Worship.
If you are worshipping from home you may like to set up a worship area and define it with a GREEN placemat, or ribbons.
If able to worship in the Church buildings pack a special backpack, as well as filling, it with your Covid Safe equipment, add the books or materials required to help your young ones relate to today’s readings.
For adults and older students, you might like to use a journal with which to record anything that grabs your attention during the service. This could be a special, bound book or use your ipad or iphone. You could write a precis of the message (traditional words or pictures), draw, keep a record of emotions and hymns that you did or did not like. You could use a template like this free download. Remember, this is for you, you do not have to show anyone what is in it unless you want to, and you feel safe to do so.
CONGREGATIONAL USE: Though parents are the best at sharing their faith with their children. If you are a small congregation where children are a very small, or rare part of your congregational life, please feel free to make these suggestions available to your congregation. I am very happy for you to copy and paste ideas from here into your own Order of Service or for you to supply a link to this page. An acknoledgement though is always appreciated.
THE LORD’S PRAYER:
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF COUNTRY
INTRODUCTORY SONG Hey Ha Ha from the Full of the Spirit Album by
Heather Price Music
FIRST READING: Amos 8:1-12
DRAW/READ Such beautiful imagery in these lines, you might like to read a few from the NIRV Children’s Bible or https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Amos+8&version=ERV the Easy Reader Version.
try 8:1 a basket of summer fruit
8:3 Temple
8:6 People Market
8:9 Land trembling/ water rising
8:9 Darkend Day
8:10 Day of Sadness
8:11 No food
8:12 Wandering
Ask what do these images tell you about God? No wrong answer.
PLAY: find some scales and measure anything you like. And wonder why they were mentioned in the reading?
EAT some seasonal fruit. I wonder why fruit was refered to in the first verse?
LOOK through a pair of binoculars. I wonder what you can see through them that you couldn’t see before.
PRAY
My God,
You can do anything
Amen
PSALM 52
Psalm 52: God sees through
Who are you kidding? (wag a finger)
You spout lies and pretend it’s true. (put your hans on your hips)
You do dreadful things and boast about it! (drop your shoulders)
You cut people to shreds.(shake your head)
Just because you’re rich you think (pretend to wipe money off your palm)
you can get away with anything! (stamp your foot)
Watch out! God is watching (make cylinders with each hand and hold them to your eyes like binoculars)
and we can see through you. (stare)
Sooner or later your greed will collapse (fall down)
onto your own head. (tap your head)
The money you trusted will betray you. (look down)
As for me, I choose the way of love, not the way of greed. (make a love heart with your hands)
I want the truth, not lies. (put one finger vertically near your mouth)
I trust in God, not money. (put your hands on your hips)
I give thanks for everything I have,(put your hands in a prayer position)
for nothing is really mine.(shake your head)
I stand with friends, never alone, (put your arm out as if puting around a friends shoulders)
like a tree in a forest, and it is good! (plant your feet solidly on the ground)
thanks to Rev. Purdie for her great rewriting of the Psalms. Actions by me
DO: How does the psalm make you feel? Show on your face, or draw how you feel.
SECOND READING: Colossians 1:15-28
READ: How To by Julie Morstad
A Storypath suggestion
SING/LISTEN: Seeds Family Worship, The-journey-vol-9/# number 13 Preminent
GOSPEL READING: Luke 10:38-42
READ: The Whirl Story Book Bible, Mary and Martha, pp.258-261
OR The Spark Story Bible, Mary and Martha,pp.306-311
Pray
M (point to an M or draw an M) Prayer
May I always put you first God
May I Listen when I must
May my efforts be pleasing to you
May I not stop others from doing what God wants them to do
Amen
Alphabet prayers are a wonderful way of helping your child learn the alphabet while showing them that prayer is part of everything.
Blessings
Wendy L.
Please check local guidlines before using items that are not mine especially if you are using this page for congregational use. Please acknowedge this page if you find it useful. Thank you.
I am writing this on Wurundjeri land and wish to pay respect to all Elders, past, present and emerging.
The Cross in My Backyard 