Before the service, pin up the map and the two sheets of paper on a board at the front of the room, so they are clearly visible to everyone.

Transcription

1 (NEHEMIAH 9:1 36, LUKE 15:11 24) We don t have to look far in Scripture before we realise that God s restorative love and compassion are evident throughout its pages. God s desire was always to be in relationship with his people. Despite their continual disobedience, time and again he draws them back to himself, often at the same time restoring what was lost through their turning away. In the Old Testament we see Joseph being reconciled to his brothers, the Israelites moving from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land, the walls of Jerusalem being rebuilt and the temple being restored. In the New Testament, we see Jesus demonstrating God s restorative love and compassion over and over again: blind eyes see, the lame walk, those with sickness and disease receive full health. Ultimately, Jesus death and resurrection would restore the relationship between God and humanity. Of course, we are still living in a fallen world so the full potential of our restored relationship with God, as believers in Jesus, is not yet realised. But we have hope that one day there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain that what was lost at the time of the fall will be completely restored and made new. As you explore this theme together, remember that God is unchanging; he is just as willing today to show his restorative love and compassion as he has been throughout history. Be open to his power and expect him to act to change lives. This is a Light Link service. That means that the content of the service directly relates to the syllabus of Scripture Union s Light resources, in contrast to those services where the primary link is to a Christian festival or other occasion. 28

2 Prepare in advance two sheets of OHT. On one sheet reproduce the painting The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt (you will need a colour photocopier or printer that will accept OHT acetate). Use a thick black water-soluble OHP pen to colour the whole of the other sheet. Introduce the theme of God s restorative love and compassion by talking briefly about what restoration means. You could read out this dictionary definition: to return something to an original or former condition or mention the current trend to have items restored such as homes, paintings, antique furniture, (even our bodies!) so that they return to their former glory. Display the two OHT sheets on an OHP, with the black sheet placed on top of the picture sheet, so that the painting is largely obscured. Ask for a volunteer to come and help you restore this picture to its original condition. Give them a very slightly damp cloth and ask them to use it to slowly remove the black from the top surface. As they do so, the picture will be revealed underneath. Once the whole picture is revealed, explain that, just as picture restorers can t bear to see great paintings covered up with grime, God is always looking to restore us because of the love and compassion he has for us. Ask if anyone knows what the painting shown on the OHT is about or who it is by. Establish that it is a depiction of the return of the prodigal son, and go on to explain that the father is welcoming back the son who has come home to him. This is a welcome that the son doesn t deserve, but because the father loves him so much he wants to restore his son to his place in the family. He demonstrates this through giving him a ring and a robe and by putting on a fabulous feast. This is a picture of how God is willing to welcome back anyone who has ignored or forgotten about him but decides to change, to take notice of him and make him the focus of their lives. Either using an OHP or PowerPoint with a computer and data projector, display Nehemiah 9:5b 8 on a screen or wall (beginning Blessed be your glorious name and ending because you are righteous ). Ask everyone to stand, whilst you read out this amazing declaration of God s greatness. Invite the congregation to respond with worship as you sing together one or more of the following songs, which speak of God s love and compassion: Amazing Grace ; Father God I wonder ; I have heard so many songs ( The Father s song ); King of kings ; My Lord, what love is this ; The Lord s my Shepherd ; What love is this? ; Your love is amazing 29

3 For this part of the service you will need a world map, the outline of a church building (or the particular building where you meet) drawn on a large sheet of paper, the outline of a person drawn on a large sheet of paper, and enough Post-it notes and pens for everyone in the congregation. Before the service, pin up the map and the two sheets of paper on a board at the front of the room, so they are clearly visible to everyone. Ask the congregation to think of any recent situations where God has shown his love and compassion in the world, in the church or in their own lives. Give out the pens and Post-it notes and encourage everyone to write short prayers of thanks, ideally one for each area (world, church, their own life) on separate Post-it notes (the youngest children will need to be helped in this by older children or adults). Then encourage everyone to come to the front and stick their Post-it notes on the appropriate sheets of paper (world map, church outline, person outline). When everyone has returned to their seats, lead a further prayer of thanksgiving that summarises some of the concerns and prayers now displayed on the board. Alternatively, say together the following prayer of thanksgiving: Thank you, Father God, that we can celebrate your love and compassion to us. We rejoice and are glad because we were dead and are alive again; We were lost and are found! Amen. Nehemiah 9:1 36 Luke 15:11 24 Either read these two passages aloud yourself, or ask members of your congregation to prepare in advance to read. As the passage in Nehemiah is a long one, you may like to ask several people to read short sections each, to add a variety of voices and so enhance people s ability to concentrate on the reading. The suggestion here is that the teaching of the Bible takes the form of a life-sized board game played by members of the congregation, based on the Israelites recollection of their experiences in their confession in Nehemiah 9. The idea is that by the end of the game people will understand better the different ways in which God showed his restorative love and compassion to his people from his bringing them out of slavery in Egypt to the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah. Prepare before the service by writing 10 numbered camp signs on large sheets of card ( camp 1, camp 2 etc.), adding the word slavery to the camp 1 sign and the word freedom to the camp 10 sign. Position these signs at different points around your meeting room. Write a sin bin sign on another sheet of card. Position this not far from the site of your camp 1 (slavery). There are also a number of instructions to be read out details of these, as well as the restore cards and the free gifts, can be found at Write out the instructions on separate sheets of paper and place them, with a volunteer to read them, at the relevant sites ( camps and sin bin ) as 30

4 indicated. The volunteers stationed with these instructions will also need the relevant free gifts to give to the game players at their camp site. Meanwhile, the restore cards show the role of the restorative love of God. Write out the text for each restore card onto a separate, small sheet of card. Order them as required for the game (see below) and then give them to another volunteer who will need to read them out at the appropriate time. (If you want to add to the fun and sense of participation you could have a volunteer group of enemies stationed at the sin bin ready to grab the Israelites on their arrival.) The game should play as follows: 1 Select volunteers of different ages to form a family to represent the Israelites. Station them at camp 1 (slavery) to begin the game. The volunteer stationed at that camp should read out the first instruction and your Israelite family should follow it (in this instance, moving to camp 2 and there receiving the free gift of the red and white banners see below). 2 At camp 2, the family hears a new instruction, move to camp 3, and pick up a free gift of a Bible. 3 The family hears another instruction and move to camp 4. 4 At camp 4, they receive restore card 1, which is read out before they move on to camp 5. 5 After hearing the next instruction, the family is sent to the sin bin! At this point in the game, you may like to stir up the congregation by asking if they think the Israelites deserve a restore card to get them out of the sin bin. Say that it can be easy for us to judge the Israelites, yet remark on how often we fail to remember what God has done and refuse to listen to him. Ask for restore card 2 to be read out. 6 The family escapes from the sin bin to camp 6, where they hear restore card 3 read out. Now ask if there is anyone in church who has been a Christian for over 40 years. If there is, you might like to get them to stand up and receive a round of applause. If appropriate, you could ask them if their feet are as good as new! You could also ask if there is anyone who has clothes in their wardrobe that are 40 years old. If so, draw out the fact that it is unlikely they still look as good as new and comment on how the Israelites clothes did not wear out and their ankles didn t swell. God showed his sustaining and restorative love. 7 Another instruction card sends the family to camp 7, where they receive a free gift of sweets, which are offered to children in the congregation who are invited to join in the game and the journey to freedom. 8 Another instruction card is read out and the family goes to camp 8, where they receive the gifts of a bottle of spring water, a bottle of wine (or bunch of grapes), a jar of olives and an apple. As the gifts are given out, explain that each one represents something from the Bible passage: the Israelites newly dug wells, their vineyards, their olive trees and their fruit trees. 9 On hearing the next instruction, the family is sent to the sin bin again. After restore card 4 is read, ask the congregation to think of a time when they didn t deserve God s help, but God rescued them and showed his love to them as he did to the Israelites. 10 On hearing instruction 10, the family are sent first of all to camp 9, but then immediately back to the sin bin again. You may like to stir up a response from the congregation again and ask if you should give the Israelites a restore card or not. Do they deserve one? Eventually allow them to have it and ask the assigned volunteer to read it out. After reading out restore card 5, ask if the Israelites story is similar to ours. How often do we slip back into bad habits and rebellion against God? Make the point that, just like the Israelites, as we cry out to God he restores our relationship with him and delivers and rescues us. 11 Read out the final instructions, which return the family to the sin bin again and require them to give up all the gifts accumulated on the journey. Contrary to what many might be expecting, by the end of the game your family will still not 31

5 actually have made it to camp 10 and freedom. Instead, they will find themselves in the sin bin, very close to the situation of slavery from which they started. Make the point that whilst God s people started to realise the things they had done wrong in the past and struggle against sin (with the help of Ezra and Nehemiah), they still were not totally free from disobeying God. Also, even with the walls of Jerusalem restored, God s people still found themselves serving and being ruled by foreign kings a result of their sins in the past (Nehemiah 9:36,37). They were in the Promised Land, but they were not yet free God had not finished his work of restoration. Say that in the same way, God has not finished his work in our lives. Ask if we are willing to allow his work of restoration to continue in our lives today. Lead the congregation in the following responsive prayer of confession. (You may wish to write out the prayer onto OHT or use PowerPoint.) The words in bold type are for everyone to say together: Father God, We confess that like the Israelites we have sinned again and again. When we haven t always been aware of your love and compassion in our lives, When we turn our backs on you and try to take control of our lives, When we don t remember the miracles you have performed in our lives, When we don t see the good things you give us, When we have spoken harshly and hurt those we love, When we have been selfish, arrogant or rude, When we have failed to show love to those in need, Thank you that you forgive us and cleanse us from all our sins. Amen. Give out pencils and paper to each member of the congregation. Either show Rembrandt s depiction of the return of the prodigal son again, or use another picture or painting of this part of the story to show the congregation. (We recommend using Liz Lemon Swindle s emotionally vivid painting, The Prodigal Son, a number of copies of which can be found by a web search.) Display the image either on OHT or on PowerPoint, and ask the congregation to spend a few moments looking at the details. Who do they identify with? Encourage them to absorb the atmosphere and emotions in the painting. How does the Father feel? How does the Son feel? What might God be saying to them? Particularly if you are using Liz Lemon Swindle s image, you may wish to encourage people to imagine the father embracing his son in love, and think about what it means to be hugged or embraced by God, our Father. After a pause, highlight the idea that the embrace of the father in the story is restorative he gives his son back his role in the family and ends his period of wandering and exile. When you feel the moment is right, ask the congregation to write down one thing on their piece of paper that they want to ask God to restore and make new again in their lives (adults and older children might need to help 32

6 the youngest children with this). Reassure the congregation that what they ve written won t be read by anyone (they can fold the piece of paper so the words can t be seen). Sing together a song that focuses on returning to God (such as, Lord, I come to you ) or have an appropriate CD track playing in the background. As they sing or listen, invite everyone to come up to the front in their own time to place their folded paper on a central table (or at the foot of a cross, if you have one) to show their willingness to commit this item to God s care. Ask two or three volunteers to spend some time in the week before the service thinking or gathering up-to-date information about where God s restorative love and compassion might be needed among your congregation. They should then translate this information (respecting confidences as necessary) into all-age friendly prayers that they can lead the congregation in. Pray for those who are grieving, who are sick, who are going through difficult circumstances or who have wandered far from God. They may like to make reference to times when Jesus showed compassion and love in his life and work. Close the service with the following words of blessing (adapted from 1 Peter 5:10,11): And the God of all grace, Who called you to his eternal glory in Christ Will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. 33