Explaining the Response Section. Colour Codes

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1 January - March 2018 Weekly@ has activity suggestions for all ages from crèche to youth groups and with the Response section, children and young people should all be able to find ways to engage with the Bible text. We suggest that you start and end with the green sections, and select other activities to suit your group, offering them in any order you wish.

2 Explaining the Response Section The Response Section creates an opportunity in your group time for the children to think about what they have heard and how it makes them feel, which means they can start engaging with the Bible passage and the lesson in a deeper way. You may want to set the Response Activity up in the same area of your room every week, or maybe you would like to be creative and move around each time. It is entirely up to you how you present it; we will provide the framework and you can design it to fit your group. You may want to play some background music during this section to encourage an atmosphere of personal reflection. This activity will work for all ages. For younger ones it s recommended that you give them some space initially, but if you see that they are unsure, help them by asking questions which will guide them to their response. Reassure everyone that there is no right or wrong answer and often you won t know who has said what. Colour Codes Weekly@ is categorised into colour codes which represent the different ages that we feel an activity is suitable for. You will find Under 5s and Over 12s alternatives each week, so you can now run a Weekly@ session with any of your Sunday groups. The colour codes are just our suggestions, so if you feel an activity aimed at one age group would work well for a different age group, then please do feel free to use it with them too. You may find that some weeks have more All Age activities than others. Some activity headings might be split colours, meaning they are suitable for the two age groups they represent. Under 5s All Age 5-11s Over 12s Suitable for those aged 5 and under, typically those in crèche. Suitable for all groups, from crèche to youth group. Suitable for those aged Suitable for Sunday youth groups.

3 7th January 2018 Set the Scene Search Matthew 2:1-12 You will need: Just the room you re in. Invite the children to move around the room and each find items that start with the first letter of their name. Aim: To explore why people search for Jesus and how that affects us. Game Hoopla On six bottles of water (or similar) stick the words Go, search, carefully, for, the, child. (Matthew 2:8a) The children take it in turns to throw a ring/hoop over each bottle in the correct order. If they miss a bottle, the next person starts their turn. Under 5s Display colours on the bottles and tell the children which colour to aim for. Response Search for your feelings Encourage the children to think about how the challenge of finding Jesus makes them feel. Ask them to pick an emoji sticker that matches their feelings and place it onto a large piece of paper. Alternatively, they can draw the emoji face if you do not have stickers. Discussion Use the Search for the Signs sheet (attached) and hide images or actual objects around the room that represent each sign. You can choose to either work through the sheet with the children as a group, or split the children up into teams and challenge them to see who can find all of the answers/ signs first. Once all of the signs have been found, the images / objects can be brought to the front. Run through the answers to each question and highlight how these signs show us how important Jesus is. There are some Bible references in red on the answer sheet which might help you with this. There are over 40 signs in the Bible that point to who the Messiah is, and Jesus fulfills them all. The wise men, who were very clever men that knew a lot about stars, recognised that the star they had seen meant that a future king had been born.the wise men also knew the signs to follow in order to search for the royal baby. People still search for Jesus today, because they want to know more about him. They follow the signs and it s Jesus that they find. We have a challenge. Can we too follow the signs to Jesus? Can we too search for him in our lives? Under 5s Place all of the objects that represent the signs in a box or basket; for Bethlehem you could use a toy house. Sit in a circle around the basket and ask questions such as: Who can find the star? When the item has been found, talk through the explinations in red on the answer sheet (attached). You may need to simplify some of them. Prayer Lord Jesus, help us to search for you in our lives and to listen to your word. Amen Song My Lighthouse - Rend Collective Activity Encourage the children to look at themselves in a mirror. Say: God loves you; he loves you so much he sent his son Jesus as the most amazing gift. Use dry wipe markers on the mirrors to draw/ write their answers to the question: how can you search for Jesus? Under 5s Mirror Play, reminding them how God made them and loves them. Take Home Provide acrylic mirror shapes, cardboard and embelishments, so the children can make their own pocket mirror as a reminder that they can search for Jesus in themselves.

4 Search for the Signs Solve the clues below to discover what sign you need to search for around the room. We ll start with an easy one: Search for the Signs Answer Sheet Solve the clues below to discover what sign you need to search for around the room. We ll start with an easy one: 1. Finish the song lyric: Twinkle, twinkle little 1. Finish the song lyric: Twinkle, twinkle little Star. Matthew 2:2 The wise men followed the star. 2. The town where Jesus was born. 3. I ate locusts and honey. Who am I? 4. I can be found on top of a Christmas tree, or in the nativity play. Make sure you don t put two of my letters the wrong way! 5. I m full of words but I don t speak. What am I? 6. Take two rectangles and put one on top of the other (a third of the way down) at a 90 degree angle. What shape do you have? 2. The town where Jesus was born. Bethlehem. Micah 5:2 Micah prophesied where the Messiah would be born. 3. I eat locusts and honey. Who am I? John the Baptist. Isaiah 40:3-5 Isaiah prophesied that a messenger would come to prepare the way for the Messiah. 4. I can be found on top of a Christmas tree, or in the nativity play. Make sure you don t put two of my letters the wrong way! An angel. Matthew 1:23 The angel that visited Joseph fulfills verse in Isaiah 7:14 verse which says that the Messiah will be called Immanuel. 5. I m full of words but I don t speak. What am I? A book. Matthew 13:10-15, Jesus spoke in parables, which are like stories, to help people understand his teachings. This was a sign of the Messiah (Psalm 78:2-4 and Isaiah 6:9-10). 6. Take two rectangles and put one on top of the other (a third of the way down) at a 90 degree angle. What shape do you have? A cross. Luke 24:5-7 The Son of Man must be crucified and on the third day be raised again.

5 7th January 2018 Search Matthew 2:1-12 7th January 2018 Search Matthew 2:1-12 Share a time when you ve searched for Jesus. Share a time when you ve searched for Jesus. The wise men searched for Jesus, why do people still search for him today? The wise men searched for Jesus, why do people still search for him today? Each find an object that begins with the letter J. Gather round with your items and say the following prayer: Heavenly Father, guide us in searching for Jesus in our lives. Help us to work together as a family to find him and explore what it means to follow him. Amen. Each find an object that begins with the letter J. Gather round with your items and say the following prayer: Heavenly Father, guide us in searching for Jesus in our lives. Help us to work together as a family to find him and explore what it means to follow him. Amen.

6 14th January 2018 Set the Scene Sharing John 1:43-50 You will need: Paper. Ask the children to each make a paper aeroplane. Let them fly their planes all at once. This represents sharing the good news of Jesus. Aim: To think about how we can share the good news of Jesus with our friends and other people we meet. Game Hula Hoop Pass Stand in a circle holding hands. Temporarily break the circle to place a hula hoop on someone s arm. The children must work together to pass the hula hoop all the way around the circle, without letting go of their hands. Link this to passing on the good news of Jesus to each other. Response Tick your answer Display the answers to the following questions on large sheets of paper. Ask the children to tick their responses: 1) Have you ever told a friend about Jesus? Yes / No 2) How could you tell a friend about Jesus? Face to Face / Phone / Text / Letter / Other. Provide an opportunity for prayer if anyone would find this helpful. Discussion Bring in a selection of different biscuits. Ask the children which of the biscuits are their favourite. You could even conduct a taste test (consider any food allergies). Ask them what their favourite biscuit of all time is. Do they keep their favourite biscuit a secret or do they tell others about the biscuit? This morning we re going to learn about someone who found something so good, they couldn t wait to tell others about it, to share the news. Use biscuits as the characters to retell this story, you could even draw faces on them with icing. The biscuit characters you need are in bold. Meet Philip (bring out his biscuit). He was a lovely man, and one day he bumped into Jesus, who asked Philip to follow him. Philip was so excitied, he ran off to find a man called Nathanael (bring out his biscuit), We ve found the one Moses wrote about in the Law! Philip told Nathanael, Come and See!! Off Philip and Nathanael went to find Jesus (bring out your Jesus biscuit), and when they got there, Nathanael was suprised to discover Jesus knew so much about him, and started to follow Jesus too. The good news of Jesus started to spread because people shared this amazing thing that they had found - better than a biscuit - Jesus! Telling our friends about the things we love in life is really important, and just like we d share our news about a fantastic biscuit, or a new toy, we must also share the amazing news about Jesus, and how much he loves us. Over 12s Make some hot chocolate / other drinks, and provide a selection of biscuits. Do the biscuit taste test; which is their favourite? Sit down together to discuss telling others about things that are good. Why do people share the good news about Jesus? Why should we? What can make it hard to do? Discuss these whilst having your drinks. Prayer Father God, help us to share the good news of Jesus with others. Amen Song Tell the World - Hillsong Activity Design a Newspaper Encourage the children to choose a story about Jesus that they want to share with others, and ask them to design the front page of a newspaper with the story as the headline news article. They can work individually or in groups. Allow time to share what they have created at the end. Under 5s Have a tea party and encourage sharing. Take Home Ask the children to decorate a biscuit to represent a story from the Bible that means something to them. Encourage them to share their biscuit with a friend so they can hear about Jesus.

7 14th January 2018 Sharing John 1: th January 2018 Sharing John 1:43-50 Have you ever spoken to someone else about Jesus who wasn t a Christian? Share your experience. Have you ever spoken to someone else about Jesus who wasn t a Christian? Share your experience. What is difficult about sharing the good news of Jesus? What s easy about sharing it? What is difficult about sharing the good news of Jesus? What s easy about sharing it? Stand in a circle and give one person a slice of bread. They can break a piece of bread off for themselves and pass it around the circle, so that everyone can share in the one slice of bread. Once you ve eaten the bread say the following prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to find ways to share the good news about you with other people. Amen. Stand in a circle and give one person a slice of bread. They can break a piece of bread off for themselves and pass it around the circle, so that everyone can share in the one slice of bread. Once you ve eaten the bread say the following prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to find ways to share the good news about you with other people. Amen.

8 21st January 2018 Set the Scene Transform John 2:1-11 You will need: Mendelssohn s Wedding March. Play the piece of music and invite the children to guess what it is and when they would expect it to be used. Aim: To explore and celebrate our relationship with God. Game Water Transfer Split the children into teams. Provide each team with a vessel of water and a second container (at the other side of the room) that is empty apart from a small amount of concentrated blackcurrant cordial. As a relay, team members must each carry a spoonful of water and place it into the container with the cordial. The team with the most transformed water when the time is up, wins. Response Wine Jars Stick six paper wine jar shapes up on the wall. Ask the children to fill up the jars from the bottom to the top with their responses (drawn or written) to the following questions: 1) How does Jesus make your life better? 2) What other good things Jesus has done? 3) How can you praise God for the blessings he gives us? Discussion You will need: a tray, six jar-shaped pieces of paper, cleaning cloths, cornflour and water. General instructions for the experiement that goes with the talk can be found here: A wedding is a wonderful time to come together and to celebrate the joining of two people who love each other. It s a reminder of God s love for us, and also Jesus first miracle. Today s experiment will help us to tell the story about that miracle. Retell the following story; you may want to invite older children to demonstrate their existing knowledge by asking for their input. (Place the tray with 450g of cornflour on it in front of you). One day Jesus was at a wedding with his family. Everyone was having a wonderful time when Jesus mother noticed that all the wine had gone. Not wanting the newlyweds to be embarrassed, Mary told the servants to do what ever Jesus told them to do. Nearby stood six water jars (stick the six the paper jars to the front of the tray so the children can see them), which where HUGE! Jesus told the servants to fill the jars with water, and the servants did as he said. (Pour 4fl oz of water into the tray). They poured lots (add another 4fl oz of water) and lots (add another 4fl oz of water) and lots (add the final 4fl oz of water) of water into the jars until they were filled to the very top. Something amazing happened; (mix the cornflour and water together on the tray with your hands) the water was transformed, which means it had changed. It had changed into wine, the best wine that the master of the wedding had tasted at the celebration. Look at what our flour has transformed into... Let the children examine the cornflour goop; how it can be both liquid and solid? Discuss how this was Jesus first miracle, and was a sign that he was no ordinary person - he was the son of God and with Jesus, life would be better! Prayer Dear Jesus, thank you for wanting to be our friend. Help us to remember that life is always better with you. Amen. Song Friend of God - Israel Houghton Activity Flour Art Follow the instructions here to make your own puffy paint ezebreezy.com/3-ingredient-diy-puffypaint-for-kids/. Encourage the children to think of a way they could have a relationship with God, then create a picture to reflect that using the DIY flourbased puffy paint. Take Home Blessing box Have a go at decorating blessing boxes as suggested at the bottom of this blog post blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/jesus-turnswater-into-wine.html

9 21st January 2018 Transform John 2: st January 2018 Transform John 2:1-11 Share and discuss how God has made your life better during tough times. Share and discuss how God has made your life better during tough times. What can you be thankful for in your life? What things should you praise God for more often? What can you be thankful for in your life? What things should you praise God for more often? Give everyone a disposable cup and each write on them things that you are thankful for. Pour some blackcurrant squash into the cups and then dilute it with water. Say the following prayer then enjoy your squash together: Father God, thank you for being able to tranform our lives. Help us to seek you when we re in times of need. Amen. Give everyone a disposable cup and each write on them things that you are thankful for. Pour some blackcurrant squash into the cups and then dilute it with water. Say the following prayer then enjoy your squash together: Father God, thank you for being able to tranform our lives. Help us to seek you when we re in times of need. Amen.

10 28th January 2018 Set the Scene Authority Mark 1:21-28 You will need: Large sheets of paper to write on and pens. Work together to make a list of people who are in authority on the piece of paper; these could include police officer, judge, teacher, MP, and the Queen. Aim: Today we learn from Jesus authority and how that shows his love for us. Game Stuck in the Mud This classic game has rules that the children must follow: One person is chosen to be It. They must try and tag the rest of the group. If you re tagged you must stand still with your arms open wide. To be untagged, another player must go under your arms. The last person standing is the new It. Talk about following rules and discuss who made these rules and ensures that we follow them. Response Rules What makes it hard to follow the rules? Ask the children to draw or write their answers on a piece of paper. Place them inside a folder marked The Rule Book as a sign of giving these things to Jesus to take care of in his position of ultimate authority. Discussion Provide the children with lots of different role play outfits and accessories so they can pretend to be people in authority. Allow them to have some fun trying on the different outfits, eventually letting them settle on their favourite. One day Jesus was at the synagogue and he started teaching. The people who were there were amazed at what he said because he didn t sound like regular teachers of the law who knew the rules, he instead sounded like someone who had written the rules. Encourage the children to think about the rules that their role play characters expect other people follow. Discuss whether they have made these rules up or whether they just know these rules very well. Make the connection between this and those who were teaching in the synagogue during Jesus time. Jesus was different; he spoke as if wrote the rules because he had the ultimate authority. Jesus was God in human form. Jesus then cast out a wicked spirit that was troubling a man in the synagogue and the people were even more amazed. Even bad spirits obeyed Jesus! What s troubling you? Jesus serves us with his love, and opens his arms to welcome us. Our challenge is to love him back, to learn how to follow his rules, and know his forgiveness. Over 12s Instead of dressing up, play Authority Who Am I? The young people sit in a circle, and give everyone a sticky note and a pen. They must write down a person or a role of authority and stick it on the forehead of the person on their right. The aim is for everyone to work out what is writen on their sticky notes by asking a series of yes or no questions. Once everyone has completed the task, continue with the above from One day Jesus... Prayer Heavenly Father, thank you for your love and grace. Help us to follow your rules. Amen Song This is Real Love - Hillsong Young & Free Activity Love Heart Paper Chain Encourage the children to think about the ways that Jesus shows us how to live, and write/draw them on strips of paper. Link the pieces of paper together in to make a paper heart garland, like this: co.uk/pin/ / Take Home On pieces of balsa wood (or other wood suitable for craft projects) invite the children to draw and decorate arrow designs. See attached sheet for suggestions. Attach some ribbon to turn the wood into hanging signs as a reminder to follow Jesus.

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12 28th January 2018 Authority Mark 1: th January 2018 Authority Mark 1:21-28 Discuss why you think rules are important, and how they help us. Discuss why you think rules are important and how they help us. How do you try to follow God? Is it easy or hard? How do you try to follow God? Is it easy or hard? Place something on the inside of your front door (it could be a sticker, a small cross, or a Christian fish symbol, etc.) as a reminder to follow Jesus which you will see when you leave your house. Every time you see the reminder, try and say the following prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to follow you Amen Place something on the inside of your front door (it could be a sticker, a small cross, or a Christian fish symbol, etc.) as a reminder to follow Jesus which you will see when you leave your house. Every time you see the reminder, try and say the following prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to follow you Amen

13 4th February 2018 Set the Scene Word John 1:1-14 You will need: In advance of the session, create a lego scene of creation. Ask the children to guess what the scene is and what is happening. What is one of the five W s of journalism and this is going to help us explore the Bible passage Aim: To realise that Jesus is the Word and why that is important. Game Why? Split the group into teams and use different coloured paper for each. Write each of the letters needed to spell the word Bible on separate pieces of paper using an invisible ink pen. Scatter these on the floor, along with some pieces of paper that have nothing written on them. Provide each team with a UV torch (invisible ink pens often come with torches) and challenge them to work together to find the letters to spell the word. Talk about how the Bible is the word of God and can be used to guide us. Response Who? Ask the children to consider if they could start following Jesus? If yes, if they do so already, or if they would like to know more, ask them to write their name or draw a picture of themselves using dry wipe markers on a mirror or reflective surface. Discussion You will need: the lego creation scene, a torch, a mirror, a clock / watch and labels that say What, Why, Who, Where, When. In journalism, to write a good news story, or to understand what s happening, people use the five W s ; What, Why, Who, Where and When. We can use these W s as a tool to help us understand today s Bible passage. We re going to read it and then see if we can use these items (show the items that you ve brought) to answer the five W s. (Read the Bible passage, or ask a child to read it, then place the labels for the five W s on the floor. Challenge the children to see if they can match the items with the questions posed by the W s. Where and When have the same answer). What: Lego creation scene. (What s happening?) The Bible tells us that Jesus has been a part of creation from the beginning. Jesus is the Word and he is came down to earth as a person to live amongst us. Why: Torch. The world is full of darkness and needs light to guide us in the right direction. Who: Mirror. (Who s affected by this reading?) Each and every one of us, who can all be children of God and choose to follow Jesus. Where and When: Clock/watch. Today, right now - not just 1000 s of years ago. This message that John wrote is relevant to us and is about the start of our relationship with God. Under 5s Pass the items around to the children and explain how each of them is connected with the Bible passage. Allow the children to play freely to give them opportunity to investigate each of the items. Prayer Dear God, thank you for your Word in the Bible. Help us to use it so we can follow Jesus. Amen. Song B I B L E - Yancy Activity What? On pieces of paper write down ways in which Jesus helps and guides us and place these in a paddling pool. Then write or draw on inflated balloons things that hold us back from Jesus and stop us following him. Place these inside the pool on top of the pieces of paper. On the count of 3, everyone can knock away the balloons to reach the Jesus things on the pieces of paper below. Talk about knocking away the things that hold us back from having a relationship with Jesus. Take Home When? Make book marks with verses from today s Bible passage written on them to be used in the children s Bibles at home.

14 4th February 2018 Word John 1:1-14 4th February 2018 Word How often do you read your Bible? Discuss your Bible reading habits and what can stop you from reading it? How often do you read your Bible? Discuss your Bible reading habits and what can stop you from reading it? What s your favourite Bible verse? Why? If you don t have one, you could use the internet to look up some popular verses. What s your favourite Bible verse? Why? If you don t have one, you could use the internet to look up some popular verses. Everyone must agree on a Bible verse that you all connect with. Write the verse down on a piece of paper and decorate it. Once you are done, read the verse out and say the following prayer: Father God, help us to follow your Word. Amen Everyone must agree on a Bible verse that you all connect with. Write the verse down on a piece of paper and decorate it. Once you are done, read the verse out and say the following prayer: Father God, help us to follow your Word. Amen

15 11th February 2018 Set the Scene Mountain Mark 9:2-9 You will need: Print out the timeline page from our PinPoint resource and use it to talk with the children about what they know about people in the Old Testament. (Link here: Can they point out Elijah and Moses on the timeline? Did they know each other? No, because they lived at different points in history. Aim: To think about what a mountain top experience is and to know that Jesus is all we need. Game Mountain Building Divide your group into two. Assign the following roles within the groups: builders, protectors, and attackers. The builders must build a mountain out of empty boxes. The attackers can throw (soft) balls at the mountain to try and knock it down, but must remain at the other side of the room. The protectors must protect the mountain by blocking the attckers. The team with the tallest mountain after 1 minute wins. Under 5s Build a mountain out of boxes. Response Where can I see Jesus? Ask the children to think about where they might see Jesus in their everyday lives. Write or draw their responses on sticky notes and create a moutain shape by sticking them onto the wall. Discussion Display the attached (and seperately downloadable) pictures on a screen. An image of Jesus (Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio) is hiding in each one of the pictures. The children need to try and find him before moving on to the next one. One day Jesus went up a high mountain; the journey took several days. He took Peter, James and John with him. Whilst they were there, Jesus appearance changed - he was transfigured. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became a dazzling white. Elijah and Moses (refer back to the timeline) appeared and began talking to Jesus. WOW! Then, a cloud passed over and covered them, and from the cloud a voice came saying, This is my Son, and I love him. Listen to what he says!. When the disciples looked again, they only saw Jesus. Sometimes people say they have had a mountain top experience. This is something amazing that happens which helps them to remember how important Jesus is. They are a reminder that we must keep listening to him and we can feel really close to God in these moments. The disciples had to travel back down into the valley, excited and refuelled by what they had just seen. They had difficult days ahead of them, but the experience on the mountain gave them the strength to continue. Whether or not we have had a mountain top experience with Jesus, we know that Jesus is our strength and if we keep listening to him, we will find he is all we need. Under 5s Act out the Bible story using a mountain made out of cushions and soft toys as the characters. Prayer Dear Father, thank you for sending your son Jesus, who is all we need. Help us to listen to him. Amen Song Mountain Top - The City Harmonic Activity Bring lots of different shiny materials (tinsel, shiny card, tinfoil etc.) but hide them from the group. Rustle each item so they make a noise. The children have to listen and guess what they are. Use the shiny materials to make a college that spells the word Listen as a reminder of God s instruction to listen to Jesus. Take Home As a group, write a prayer that the children can say in times of diffculty. This can be put onto a card that they have designed which they can take home as a reminder that Jesus is all we need.

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20 11th February 2018 Mountain Mark 9:2-9 11th February 2018 Mountain Mark 9:2-9 Have you ever had a mountain top experience with God? When have you felt most close to him? Have you ever had a mountain top experience with God? When have you felt most close to him? What times have been the valleys in your life? When have things been rough? What times have been the valleys in your life? When have things been rough? Read through the prayer that your child will have written with their group today and use it as your family prayer for when you are going through hard times. Read through the prayer that your child will have written with their group today and use it as your family prayer for when you are going through hard times.

21 18th February 2018 Set the Scene Wilderness Mark 1:9-15 You will need: A big piece of paper and pens. Ask the children to work together to draw what they think the wilderness might look like. Aim: To understand that we re never alone and that God can strengthen us. Game Pick-up Sticks Play the classic game of Pick-up Sticks, where a bundle of sticks is dropped in a jumbled pile and the players take it in turns to try and remove a stick from the pile without disturbing the others. This game tests the players both mentally and physically, and reminds us of how Jesus was tested in the wilderness. Response Wild Animal Weaving In advance of the session, cut long lines in pieces of card about 1 inch apart and 1 inch from the egde of the card. Provide strips of animal print paper (as a reminder of the wild animals in the wilderness) to weave in and out of the precut card. As they are weaving, encourage the children to think about ways they could weave time with Jesus into their lives. Discussion Create a sensory station with sand and a bowl of water which you can use whilst you are telling the story. You could place the sand inside an empty paddling pool or a deep tray to keep it contained. Gather around the bowl of water. Jesus had travelled from Nazareth and was baptised by John the in Jordan River. Encourage the children to place their hands into the bowl. How does it feel? When Jesus came out of the water the Spirit descended on him and a voice came from heaven saying, You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased. Jesus baptism was like his commissioning; what does that mean? It s Jesus being granted authority to do a particular job and the start of what he had been sent by God to do. At once the Spirit sent Jesus out into the wilderness. Move to to the sand tray. Invite the children to place their bare feet in the sand (if possible) or touch it with their hands (once dried). Jesus was in the wilderness with the wild animals for 40 days and 40 nights, and angels attended him. Whilst he was there, he was tempted by Satan. Jesus resisted these temptations and afterwards, was ready to go out and begin his ministry. Do you think Jesus would have felt lonely in the wilderness? The wilderness was a time of strengthening and it was challenging for Jesus, but by enduring those things, he was strong enough to start the job that God had sent him to do We can experience moments when we feel like we are in the wilderness. This is when we are trying to deal with something that is challenging, and it can feel like we have to cope with it all on our own. Sometimes in Lent, people choose to give something up to help them spend time focusing on God. Instead of doing that, we could let our main challenge during Lent to be to learn how to seek God during our wilderness moments, so we can be strengthened to follow his calling on our lives. Prayer Father God, please strengthen us and help us see that we re not alone during our wilderness moments. Amen. Song Greater - MercyMe Activity Angels of Strength Whilst Jesus was in the wilderness, it says that angels attended him. Ask the children to write things that they need strength for on pieces of paper and then use the paper to make angels like these: pin/ / Take Home Sand Art Ask the children to draw something that they are thankful for. Then carefully go over the outline of the picture with PVA glue and sprinkle with sand. Allow the picture to dry and keep it as a reminder that even during hard times we always have things to be thankful for.

22 18th February 2018 Wilderness Mark 1: th February 2018 Wilderness Mark 1:9-15 Why is Lent important? What are you planning on doing during Lent to help you prepare for Easter? Why is Lent important? What are you planning on doing during Lent to help you prepare for Easter? Have you ever had a wilderness moment where you have come out feeling strengthened? Have you ever had a wilderness moment where you have come out feeling strengthened? Decide on an activity that you could do together as a family during Lent, for example: pray together at a particular time of day, pick up litter on your street once a week, collect food items for your local food bank, provide hospitality to a different person every week. Decide on an activity that you could do together as a family during Lent, for example: pray together at a particular time of day, pick up litter on your street once a week, collect food items for your local food bank, provide hospitality to a different person every week.

23 25th February 2018 Set the Scene Focus Mark 8:31-38 You will need: Compass, telescope, sat nav, binoculars. What do these items have in common with these items? It s that they can help us to see or focus on where we are going. Aim: To learn what it means to take up our cross and follow Jesus. Game Spinning Bean Bag Target Make spinning targets similar to these com/2016/11/10/make-nerfspinning-target/ with the first letter of each of the following Christian values on them; Forgiveness, Love (for God and for other people), Generosity (time and money), Honesty. Instead of using nerf guns we will use bean bags. Ask the children to take it in turns shout out a value, then throw a beanbag to try and hit the matching target. Response Focus Response Print off the target reponse chart (attached) and give the children some coloured sticky dots. Encourage them to place the appropriate coloured dots in the area on the target that best represents their feelings. Discussion On a big piece of paper draw a circular target, like those used in archery. Ask the children to think about the things that they want to do in life and write them in blue on the target with the best things closest to the bullseye in the middle. Then ask them to think about the things that God wants us to do in life. Write these on the target in orange, with the most important things closest to the bullseye. Ask the questions: Do the things that we want to do, and the things that God wants us to do, match up? Do we need to change our priorities so that we re aiming for the same things that God wants from us? In our Bible passage today, Jesus says that we have to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. This means that we have to give up some of the things that we want so that we can prioritise doing what Jesus has taught us, and practice making good choices. Our focus should be on Jesus; our blue should match the orange. Is this easy or hard? What can make this difficult? Today we re going to look at some small steps that we can take to help us focus more on Jesus. Under 5s Create a spiders web discovery basket, similar to this: thetraindriverswife.com/2014/07/01/spiders-web-discovery-basket/ Invite the children to take turns in focusing on (choosing) an item and trying to get it out of the basket. Remind the children that although things sometimes get in our way (like the web), our focus should always be on Jesus. Prayer Lord Jesus, help us to ignore the things that stop us focusing on you so we can take up our cross and follow you. Amen. Song All That I Am - Rend Collective Activity Follow the instructions to make a bead cross: how-to-bead-a-cross-fun-christian-craft/ Ask the children to choose the beads that represent promises that they would like to make, to help them focus on Jesus: Blue = Be Honest, Yellow = Be Generous, Red = Love God, White = Pray More, Green = Forgive Others, Purple = Praise God. Take Home Have a face painting session (obtain parental consent first). When the children walk out of the church they will look different. Remember that when we follow Jesus we live differently because the love of Jesus is shining out of us!

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25 25th February 2018 Focus Mark 8: th February 2018 Focus Mark 8:31-38 Do you find it easy or hard to prioritise? What things are usually at the top of your priority list? Do you find it easy or hard to prioritise? What things are usually at the top of your priority list? How can you make sure that Jesus is a priority in your life? How can you make sure that Jesus is a priority in your life? Take some time to think about those who make Jesus a priority even when it isn t easy to do so. You could take a look at Christian Solidarity World Wide ( or Open Doors ( to find specific Christians to pray for. Dear Lord, we pray for strength and comfort for Christians in*insert place*. Help them to keep priortising you even though they are treated badly for doing so. Amen Take some time to think about those who make Jesus a priority even when it isn t easy to do so. You could take a look at Christian Solidarity World Wide ( or Open Doors ( to find specific Christians to pray for. Dear Lord, we pray for strength and comfort for Christians in*insert place*. Help them to keep priortising you even though they are treated badly for doing so. Amen

26 Game Broom Relay Divide the children into two teams and provide each with a sponge and a broom. As a relay, the children must sweep the sponge to the other side of the room and back. The first team to have all of its members do this, wins the game. For very young children, use a toy broom to sweep a small sponge or ball, which they will find easier. Response Your vote Write the following questions on large sheets of paper: 1) Is it easy to find areas in your life that need a spring clean? Yes or No 2) Are you up for the challenge of a personal spring clean? Yes or No Encourage the children to place a sticker or mark with a pen, their answers. 4th March 2018 Set the Scene Clean John 2:13-22 You will need: Different cleaning products with their labels covered up, and separate signs with the names of the products on them. Challenge the children to match the product names with the cleaning products to see if they can recognise them. Make sure the children don t touch the actual cleaning products as they can be harmful. Aim: To discuss how it feels to be forgiven and explore areas in your life that you need to spring clean. Discussion Place your cleaning products on a table and ask the children what each one is used for. We ve just entered spring and some people love to do a spring clean at this time of year, which is when we give our homes a thoroughly good clean! Today we re looking at a time when Jesus did a bit of spring cleaning. Move the cleaning products to one side and place the following items on the table during the story when indicated: toy cows, toy sheep, toy doves/bird, play money/ chocolate coins. It was time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and Jesus had travelled to Jerusalem. When he arrived, Jesus went to the temple and couldn t believe what he saw there. In the temple there were people who were selling cattle (place the cows down), sheep (sheep), and doves (doves/birds) for people to use as sacrifices. There were tables set up for money changers (coins) so that people could change their money to pay the temple taxes. It did not look like a house of worship! Jesus was very angry, so he drove out the cattle and sheep (push them off the table) and turned over the tables of the money lenders scattering coins all over the temple floor (push the coins off). Stop turning my Father s house into a market! Jesus told them. As we think about Jesus cleansing the temple, we can also think about things that need to change or be cleansed in our lives. Discuss the different suggestions and write them on sticky notes / labels. The leader can stick these onto the bottles of cleaning products as a pledge of what the children might do. Under 5s Ask the children to tell the story to you again using the props. Discuss what things places of worship are used for (praising God, learning from the Bible, praying etc.) and talk about why Jesus was upset in the story. Prayer Dear Jesus, during this time when we think of spring cleaning we ask you to forgive us when we do wrong. Amen. Song You Set me Free - Jonathan Shelton Activity Cleaning Product Follow the instructions on the next page to make your own (safe) cleaning product. Try using it on a window or mirror, whilst continuing to discuss spring cleaning our lives. Under 5s Allow the children to wash some toys in a bucket of soapy water with sponges and dry with towels. Take Home Duster Give each child a yellow duster which they can either embroider their name onto, or write with fabric pens. The children can take the dusters home and remember how God always forgives us so we can clean up our mistakes.

27 Cleaning Product Instructions You Will Need per bottle: A spray bottle or similar 60ml/4tbsp white vinegar 15ml/1 tbsp cornflour 470ml warm water Funnel Label (see next page) Glue Instructions 1. Pour the vinegar, cornflour, and warm water into the bottle using the funnel. 2. Fastening the top on and give the bottle a good shake. 3. Stick the label on to the bottle and you re good to make windows shine!

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29 4th March 2018 Clean John 2: th March 2018 Clean John 2:13-22 Why is spring cleaning your life a good thing? How can it help? Why is spring cleaning your life a good thing? How can it help? Are there any areas in your life that you need to change for God? What are they? Are there any areas in your life that you need to change for God? What are they? Allocate everyone a section of the house or room to clean. Whilst cleaning each reflect on what you could change for God and how you could do it. Once finished say the following prayer together: Dear God, please show us the areas of our lives that we need to spring clean to make more space for you. Amen Allocate everyone a section of the house or room to clean. Whilst cleaning each reflect on what you could change for God and how you could do it. Once finished say the following prayer together: Dear God, please show us the areas of our lives that we need to spring clean to make more space for you. Amen

30 11th March 2018 Set the Scene Grace John 3:14-21 You will need: A cross, wrapping paper and decorative items. Ask the children to advise you on the best way to wrap the cross up, to make it look the best it can. Follow the children s instructions. Aim: To discuss God s gift of grace through his son, and how that inflences our lives. Game Wrap a Leader Split the group into teams and assign a leader to each team. Provide wrapping paper, ribbon and sticky tape. The first team to wrap the leader up the quickest and in the neatest way wins (making sure the leader can breathe). Award bonus points for wrapping the leader in an unusal shape. For younger children, ask them to wrap up a toy or teddy. Response Free Art Provide the children with paper, pens and a selection of art materials. Play some reflective music and encourage everyone to sit somewhere they feel comfortable. Ask them to spend some time praying, before starting a piece of artwork (in any style they choose) which tells God how they feel about eternal life and Jesus dying on the cross for us. Discussion Wrap up two items several times, one of them being any object of your choice, and the other being a piece of card saying Grace. Start to unwrap the object that you have chosen first, by passing the parcel around the group and removing one layer at a time. After each layer is removed, ask the children to guess what the wrappedup item could be. Once the parcel is fully unwrapped, talk about what the best present you ve each ever received has been. You could also mention any gifts they have given for Mothering Sunday. Today we re going to hear about the best gift ever given. Unwrap the layers on the second parcel to reveal the word Grace written on the card inside. The best gift ever given was the grace of God which was received through Jesus dying on the cross. It s a gift for anyone who wishes to receive it, because the Bible says, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. What is grace? Grace is God s unconditional love and forgiveness for us, as people who get things wrong. Instead of being punished for the things that we do wrong, we can have eternal life because of Jesus who died for us. What an incredible gift! And all we need to do to receive it is accept Jesus as our Saviour. Doing this can be a long journey for some, and that s why it s important to pray, make time for God and to talk about our faith with others who can help us on that journey. Under 5s Play pass the parcel with a small wooden cross wrapped in each layer (make sure there are enough layers / crosses for each child to win one). In the centre of the parcel, wrap a white board and pen. Remind the children that Jesus came so that all of the things that we do wrong can be washed away. Write things that we do wrong on the white baord and then wipe them away with a cloth. Prayer Thank you Father for sending us your son Jesus, the greatest gift of all. Amen Song This is Amazing Grace - Phil Wickham Activities Mothering Sunday Card God cares for us so much that he gave his only son so that we might have eternal life. Today is Motherering Sunday and is a great time to think about others who care for us. Invite the children to make a card for a special person who cares for them. Try this: bouquet-hearts-card-valentines-day Take Home Cross Keyring Use hama beads to make cross-shaped keyrings that the children can hang off their school bag or pencil case to always remember God s gift. Iron both sides to strengthen the cross.

31 11th March 2018 Grace John 3: th March 2018 Grace John 3:14-21 Share how receiving God s grace make you feel? Share how receiving God s grace make you feel? Discuss ways that you can focus more on God s gift of his son Jesus this Easter. Discuss ways that you can focus more on God s gift of his son Jesus this Easter. Go for a walk and pick some flowers to represent gifts. (Make sure that you only take flowers that are ok to pick). When you get home say the following prayer: Dear God, thank you for your gift of grace through your Son Jesus. Help us to stay focused on this gift this Easter. Amen. Go for a walk and pick some flowers to represent gifts. (Make sure that you only take flowers that are ok to pick). When you get home say the following prayer: Dear God, thank you for your gift of grace through your Son Jesus. Help us to stay focused on this gift this Easter. Amen.

32 Set the Scene 18th March 2018 Glorify John 12:20-33 You will need: Masking tape and a stone. Mark out a hopscotch grid on the floor with masking tape, and encourage the children to play a game of hopscotch. Point out that the children used a stone to play hopscotch. What other games can be played with stones? Aim: To think about glorifying God s name, even in the most difficult of times. Game Stone Throwing Place three buckets or containers on the floor in a line going away from a standing point. Using loosely scrunched up tin foil to represent stones, the children must position themselves on the standing point and have three turns to throw the stones into the buckets. The nearest bucket is worth 10pts, the middle 20pts, and the furthest bucket is worth 30pts. Response Station 1: Bucket filled with water. Invite the children to pick up a stone, think of things they worry about, and drop it in the bucket to represent giving the worries to God. Station 2: Stand tray. Ask the children to draw or write things that are troubling them in the sand. Pray about those things, then smooth the sand to represent how God gets rid of our troubles. Discussion Discuss some of the different things we can do with stones. What s the most unusual suggestion? Some people use smooth stones to comfort them when they are worried. They are called worry stones. The idea is that you keep the stone in your pocket and when you find something you are worrying about, you rub the stone with your thumb to create a sense of peace. We don t need a worry stone in our lives, not because we don t have any worries, but because Jesus sets us a great example for how to handle things that cause us concern. We re going to use some stones to help us to understand this guidance: (Attach the story stone images on the next page, to some pebbles, which you will use to help you tell the story). It was a few days before Jesus was to be crucified, and he was troubled (show the worried face stone), he was worried and concerned. He turned to God in prayer and asked him some questions (question mark stone). Jesus said, What shall I say? Father save me from this hour? But Jesus knew it was for this very reason that he had been sent; to fulfil the scripture (Bible stone). So he asked God for something... Father, glorify your name! (glory stone). Jesus knew he was going to die on the cross (cross stone), and he was worried (point to the worried face), but he turned to God and through this gained strength (strong stone). Sometimes in life we face troubles, but through both the tough times and the good times, our aim is always to glorify God and to show others the importance of him in our lives. When we have worries, let s learn from Jesus and turn to God for strength to work through those difficult times. Prayer Dear God, we all face troubles. Let us ask that you help us to face them in such a way that your name is glorified. Amen Song Hallelujah - Ben Cantelon Activities Rock Building Jesus told us to build our church on the rock (God). Either using rocks, or wooden blocks wrapped in tin foil, encourage the children to build a church. Once finished, write and stick on the structure different ways we can glorify God, e.g. trust, faith, prayer, etc. Take Home Allow the children to create an image of a rock using cross stitch, which they could frame and hang up at home. They can draw out their design first. For those new to cross stitch Darice Clear Square Plastice Canvas with a plastic needle works great.