Sunday 02 October 2011

Transcription

1 Sunday 02 October 2011 Fresh start Bible passage: John 3:1 21 Session aim: To place Jesus at the centre of our lives Before the session, write the words of John 3:16 clearly on some balloons (not yet blown up) in felt-tip pen. Write two or three consecutive words on each balloon, eg God loved, the people, of this world. Do not blow up the balloons yet! Before everyone arrives, place the balloons under different seats around your room. Ask everyone to look under their seat and, if they find a balloon, to bring it to the front. Ask them to blow up their balloon and tie it. Invite your volunteers to line up across the front, showing their balloons with the words of John 3:16 (in whatever order). Ask the congregation to order the words correctly. Explain that Jesus spoke these words to a Jewish leader who wanted to understand who Jesus was. Learn the verse together as follows. Read the whole verse together from the balloons, then ask one of the volunteers (or a child from the congregation) to burst one of the balloons. Say the verse again, this time remembering the missing words. Repeat this process, bursting balloons in any order, until all have been burst and everyone can say the verse from memory. (Remember that some small children can be frightened by the sound of bursting balloons.) Say that today you re going to be learning that new life with God starts when we put Jesus at the centre of our lives. Place a cross or an image of a cross, large enough to use as a focal point, in front of the congregation. Ask everyone to be quiet and concentrate on listening. Encourage people to call out any sounds they can hear. Comment that there are lots of sounds we don t hear because other things get in the way. Did anyone say wind? Jesus compares the coming of God s Spirit to the sound of wind (John 3:8). Ask everyone what gets in the way of their being aware of God in the world and in their lives. Hand out paper and pencils and ask everyone to draw some of those distractions or barriers (eg computers, football, TV). Invite everyone to say sorry to God for allowing those things to stop them remembering his importance to their lives. Read John 3: Encourage everyone to lay their drawings at the foot of the cross and as they do so to give those concerns to Jesus. Conclude with a prayer expressing trust in Jesus, for example: Lord Jesus, forgive us for letting things stop you from being important to our lives. Help us to trust and believe in you. Amen. Extra idea In advance, print out verses 3,7,8,14,15,16,17,21 from John 3 (Web resource available). Display a picture of a cross using a PowerPoint or an OHP. Have the congregation gather in mixed-age groups of three or four and give each group one or two of the verses from John 3 and a sheet of paper and a pen. Ask each group to think together of what they would like to say to Jesus in the light of their verses. Invite them to summarise their thoughts and write them as a conclusion to this sentence: We worship you, Lord Jesus, because Ask a representative from each group to read out their words to the rest of the congregation. Then sing together two or three worship songs which focus on Jesus sacrifice for us and the work of the Holy Spirit. There is a Redeemer SOF 544 Wind, wind, blow on me SOF 609 When I survey the wondrous cross SOF 596

2 Sunday 09 October 2011 No secrets Bible passage: John 4:3 42 Session aim: To hear and respond to Jesus offer of new life Brief a volunteer in advance to think of something about themselves that others don t know and that they won t mind being made public. Invite your volunteer to come to the front. Explain that they have a secret and that the congregation has to guess by asking no more than 20 questions. Invite questions from the congregation, until you discover the secret. Then give everyone the chance to share, in pairs, a secret about themselves in the same way. The secrets should be good and positive things about themselves. When everyone has finished, invite anyone who d like to, to share their secrets with the rest of the congregation. Say that today you ll be thinking about how Jesus knows everything about us even secrets we d prefer others not to know. Jesus still loves us and makes us a very special offer. Today s story is about a woman who discovered that she could have no secrets from him. Display an image of a well (available from Web resources), and set up your own well below the image. Have some bottles of water hidden inside it with strings attached and hanging over the top edge. Remind everyone that you go to a well with a need water! But to collect water you need a bucket (John 4:11). Give out buckets to some people in the congregation and say that you re going to collect some of the congregation s needs. Give out paper and pens. Ask everyone to write down something they know they need God s help with (personal things, needs of others etc). Alternatively, they can draw something to represent what they are thinking about. Those with the buckets should pass them around and collect the papers. They should then be brought to your well at the front. Lower the buckets into the well, saying that we can give our concerns to Jesus and he will meet our needs. Now ask for volunteers to come and pull up the bottles of water from your well. Explain that Jesus doesn t just offer temporary solutions. He offers us water that will last and satisfy our deepest needs, now and forever (John 4:13,14; 7:37,38). Extra idea Let your living water flow SOF 334 River wash over me SOF 487 Before the session, set up stations around the meeting area: one for painting, one for music making and another for writing. There should be sufficient materials at each station for four or five people to participate. Say that you want people to try worshipping God in different ways. Ask everyone to choose one of the stations: art and painting, music making or poetry writing. At the station they choose, they should work together with others to create a painting, song or a poem that will help them worship God together. Ask everyone to use Jesus words from John 4:14 as the basis for their worship. Encourage people to pray first in their groups, asking the Holy Spirit to lead them. They will need to talk about the ideas they intend to include, and plan who will do what so that everyone is included. Allow about ten minutes for the creative work. Then invite the different groups to share their work.

3 Sunday 16 October 2011 Healing word Bible passage: John 4:43 54 Session aim: To have faith in Jesus ability to meet our needs Just before the service, fill a hot water bottle with hot water and wrap a tea towel around it. Place a thermometer on the hot water bottle, and put the hot water bottle out of sight of the congregation. Invite a volunteer to come and have their temperature taken to see if they are well. A normal temperature is 37 C. Fetch your prepared thermometer and take your volunteer s temperature, just for a few seconds. The temperature will be raised because of the hot water bottle. Look at the thermometer, showing concern. Ask others to check the reading. Say that your volunteer obviously has a high fever! Now say that you are going to make your sick volunteer well again. Invite everyone to point at your volunteer and say, Get well now. Make sure there s been enough time for the thermometer to return to normal before taking your volunteer s temperature again. This time allow one minute before checking. While you wait, ask the congregation whether they think they ve made the sick volunteer well again. Check your volunteer s temperature. It should be normal now! Ask others to check the thermometer reading. Express amazement that your volunteer is now well. Explain the healing to the congregation, revealing the hidden hot water bottle. Make the point that, though this healing wasn t for real, today you ll be discovering how Jesus healed a young man for real just by saying to his father, Your son will live. Hopefully this will help us to trust in Jesus and his ability to meet our needs, just as the young man s father did in the story. Cut up the verses from Web resources so that each verse is on a separate strip of paper. Fix some of the sets of verse strips to the walls around your meeting room. You will need enough for everyone in your congregation to be able to move around comfortably and look at the words. Place other sets of the verse strips, along with pencils, at stations around the room. Introduce the prayer activity by saying that Jesus often healed people using just some appropriate words. Explain that some of those words are fixed around the room. Invite the congregation to move around the room and look at the different healing words of Jesus. Tell everyone that, as they read each one, you d like them to think of someone who is ill or troubled, or a particular situation where there is suffering. They should pray for that person or situation, and imagine Jesus speaking those words to that person or situation. They should then move on to look at some of the other words and think of another situation. After a few minutes, invite everyone to choose one of the slips of paper, take a pencil and write the name of a person or situation on the reverse of their slip. Ask everyone to sit down again. Then, in a time of quiet, invite people to say aloud the name of the person or situation, and, if they d like, to say the words of Jesus that are on their slip of paper. Encourage everyone to keep their slip of paper as a reminder to pray for that person or situation.

4 Extra idea Say that in this time of worship you are going to express your trust in God and his Son Jesus through one or two songs or hymns, remembering the things and people you have just been praying for. Sit to sing. Then encourage everyone to stand to praise God for hearing your prayers, as you sing again. I believe in Jesus SOF 203 Be still, for the presence of the Lord SOF 40 I am trusting thee, Lord Jesus SOF 202 I will enter his gates SOF 268 Give thanks with a grateful heart SOF 124

5 Sunday 23 October 2011 Helping hand Bible passage: John 5:1 18 Session aim: To worship Jesus as Lord Mark out a short racecourse in your meeting room using gaffer tape. Fix blue paper to the floor at the finish, labelling it Pool of Bethzatha, and invite two volunteers to stand either side of it, holding a length of ribbon between them as a finishing line. Choose one of the following races, depending on the size of your congregation and the available space. In each race, the volunteers (as teams or individuals) compete against each other to reach the finishing line at the pool first: a three-legged race, with two pairs of volunteers, each pair tied together at the ankle (with an old tie); a hopping race, with several volunteers racing each other as individuals; a carrying race, with two teams of three, each made up of a pair carrying the third member of the team between them. Ask for volunteers, and allocate each team or individual in the race a group of supporters from the congregation. Start the race and keep up a lively commentary as it progresses. Whoever gets to the pool first wins and can be awarded a small prize. After the race, introduce today s Bible story about the man who d been ill for 38 years, lying by the pool that he believed had healing powers. Explain that there was always a race to get to the pool first when the waters began swirling with healing power, and that he always got beaten by others who were faster than him or who had help. Then he met Jesus and things changed. In advance, attach a large sheet of blue paper to the floor, labelled Pool of Bethzatha (as for the Theme introduction activity above). Place felt-tip pens around the pool, along with several bowls of warm water and towels. Brief some volunteers to dry people s hands. Say that lots of different people lay close to the pool, hoping they would be the next to be healed, but most couldn t get there because they didn t have help. Ask everyone to think of someone they know with a particular need or difficult situation. Imagine you re going to help bring these needs to Jesus for his healing. You d like everyone to come and write names or draw pictures on your pool to represent taking them to Jesus for his healing or help. Now invite everyone to go to one of the bowls of water near the pool. Encourage them to wash their hands, and allow them to be dried by your volunteers; as they do so, they should bring their own needs to Jesus, and recognise our need of one another. Encourage your volunteers to pray for each person whose hands they dry.

6 Extra idea This session we explore what happened when Jesus met a sick man who had a mat. Because Jesus is Lord and is God, that he could heal this man that s why we worship him. Invite people to think of situations that they can trust Jesus to deal with, because he is Lord. Give everyone a copy of the mat picture (from Web resources) and some coloured pens or pencils. Ask everyone to decorate their mats and write Jesus is Lord in the centre space. As they do this they should remember that Jesus is Lord of the situation they thought about. Encourage everyone to take their mat pictures home and to put them somewhere where they ll see them during the week, as a reminder to worship Jesus as Lord. He is Lord SOF 165 He is the Lord, and he reigns on high SOF 755 Jesus is Lord SOF 290

7 Sunday 30 October 2011 Powerful provider Bible passage: 2 Kings 4:1 7 Session aim: To praise God for his power to provide Invite the congregation to break into small groups of between four and six people of mixed ages. Ask each group to discuss the following two questions: What is the best present you have ever been given? What is the best present you have ever given? Allow a few minutes for group discussion. Bring the congregation back together. If people are willing to share, collect feedback from some groups and write it up on a flip chart or OHT. Answer the questions yourself, adding your answers to the flip chart or OHT. By the end of the activity you should have a good idea from the congregation of how they have received good things things that they felt they needed or wanted. You should also be able to see how people have enjoyed giving good things to others. We instinctively like to give and receive especially when it comes to presents! Make the point that if we delight in giving and receiving, then how much more must God, since everything comes from him? Conclude by saying that in today s service you ll be exploring the theme of God as our provider and the implications of that for us, as you look at the story of how God met the needs of a poor widow through his prophet, Elisha. Introduce the PowerPoint presentation (from Web resources). Explain that it is designed to stimulate recognition of God s provision of good things, and to aid prayerful reflection on God s goodness. Encourage the congregation to reflect as they view the presentation on God our provider, who gives us life and sustains us with good things. Run the presentation with meditative music playing in the background (either from a recording or from your musicians suggestions include Pachelbel s Canon; Guitar, Flute and String, from the album Play by Moby; or In Space, from the album Melody AM by Royksopp). Afterwards you may want to encourage people to speak out short prayers of gratitude to God. Great is thy faithfulness SOF 147 Jehovah Jireh, my provider SOF 284 O give thanks to the Lord SOF 413

8 Sunday 6 November 2011 Powerful life-giver Bible passage: 2 Kings 4:8 37 Session aim: To marvel at God s lifegiving power Invite a qualified first aider (possibly a local St John Ambulance volunteer if no one in your congregation is qualified) to come to the service, and provide a resuscitation dummy and any other equipment necessary for a resuscitation demonstration. Introduce your first-aid volunteer. Explain that they are going to demonstrate something very important what to do if someone stops breathing. Hand over to your volunteer for the demonstration. This will need to be done sensitively, in order not to distress or frighten the younger members of the congregation. After the demonstration, encourage a round of applause for your volunteer. Explain that when a life is threatened, we fight for it and do all we can to help people in trouble, because life is precious. And thanks to first aiders, doctors, nurses and paramedics, lives are often saved. Explain that in the days of Elisha the prophet (whom some will remember from last time), they didn t have first aiders or doctors or paramedics in the same way we do today. So when people became seriously ill or even stopped breathing, there was no emergency number to call and no A&E departments to go to. Explain that in today s Bible passage, God uses Elisha to help another family in trouble who didn t have an emergency number or paramedics to help them. Then invite a preprepared volunteer reader to come and read 2 Kings 4:8 37. Before the service, give printed copies of the prayers from Web resources to four volunteer readers (two adults and two children) so that they can prepare. Arrange for the words of the prayers to be displayed on PowerPoint or on OHP. Remind the congregation of today s theme of God as powerful life-giver. Say that we will now pray about various aspects of God s life-giving plan. Invite the two children to read the first three prayers between them. Then invite the adult volunteers to read the next four prayers alternately. Get a child to read the final prayer. The whole congregation should join in the words that are in bold type in the prayers. Extra idea Explain that the PowerPoint presentation (from Web resources) is a combination of images of life and words from the Bible about the life that Jesus gives. Encourage people to take this opportunity to use the images and words to contemplate God as the powerful lifegiver and to reflect upon Jesus: the resurrection and the life. Use background music (either from a recording or provided by your musicians one possibility is Louis Armstrong s What a wonderful world ) to accompany the images. After the presentation has finished and the music has faded, allow a couple of moments of silence for further meditation and prayer. Ascribe greatness to our God the rock SOF 26 Our God is an awesome God SOF 453 Tell out, my soul SOF 520

9 Sunday 13 November 2011 Powerful healer Bible passage: 2 Kings 5 Session aim: To thank God for his healing power Before the session, make a number of large world puzzles using several large maps of the world. Glue the maps onto cardboard. Use a pencil to draw lines on the maps, dividing them into approximately eight puzzle pieces. Cut along the lines to make the puzzle pieces. Keep each set of puzzle pieces together. Place each set of puzzle pieces at different points around your meeting room. Invite people of all ages to gather around them. Say that each group has a puzzle of a map of the world and that they have one minute to put the broken world back together. Set everyone off on completing their puzzle. Shout Stop! when one minute has passed. Move around the groups to see what progress they have made. Explain that this activity is to introduce the idea of God as healer of this broken world. Say that although our world isn t literally in pieces, illness, disease, suffering, famine, pain and broken relationships are all symptoms of a broken world. Our world is not right. Our world is not as it should be. God wants to mend our broken world. He wants to comfort the brokenhearted, feed the hungry, and heal the sick. Introduce today s Bible passage by saying that you are going to focus on a story that looks at how God used his prophet Elisha (with whom some of them will be familiar by now) to heal a person who was ill. Show the congregation various everyday objects that are associated with being kept safe, such as a child seat, a bottle of pills with a child-safe cap, a picture of a castle, a policeman or a lollipop lady, a stairgate. Talk about the dangers that these various objects or people protect us from. Next, explore other dangers in society that we might face (such as pollution, violence, bullying), inviting people to make suggestions. Write the suggestions on pieces of card and stick them around an outline of a castle or a tower with a large flag on the top. Read Psalm 18:1,2 and, as you do so, invite someone to put all the cards inside the castle outline. Write on the flag at the top of the castle, God keeps us safe. Then thank God that he keeps us safe from all danger. Extra idea Create a display of information and images from The Leprosy Mission or Tearfund about their work with those who suffer from leprosy (this could include copies of their catalogues and samples of the products created by those who have leprosy). Place it in a prominent position where people will easily be able to come and look at it. Remind everyone that today s Bible passage concerns God s healing of Naaman s leprosy. Explain that there are parts of the world where people still suffer from leprosy today. Say that organisations like The Leprosy Mission and Tearfund help people who have or have had leprosy by caring for them and helping them to sell the things they make.

10 Invite everyone to come and look at the display. Encourage them to think about whether they could buy something they need from The Leprosy Mission or Tearfund instead of their usual High Street store, in order to help bring healing to leprosy sufferers. When they have returned to their seats, lead everyone in a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the work of organisations like The Leprosy Mission and Tearfund. One shall tell another 439 River, wash over me 487

11 Sunday 20 November 2011 Powerful warrior Bible passage: 2 Kings 6:8 23 Session aim: To put our confidence in God, who alone has the power to save The PowerPoint presentation (available from Web resources) is designed to stimulate reflection on the idea of God as a warrior hero. It does this by mixing familiar images of heroes with images meant to be suggestive of the power of God. Naturally, therefore, it also includes images of the cross. The presentation will hopefully challenge people s ideas of what real heroism is and encourage them to think that God is a warrior hero. Much of Holst s The Planets Suite would provide a suitably evocative soundtrack to the PowerPoint images. However, in light of today s Bible passage, it would seem particularly appropriate to use Mars: The bringer of war to tie in with the fiery horses and flaming chariots seen by Elisha s servant. Introduce the presentation by saying to the congregation that the world seems full of heroes, but which can we put our confidence in? You might need to explain either before or after the presentation that we often overlook the notion of God as a powerful warrior, but the Bible makes it clear that this is an essential aspect of his character. Run the PowerPoint presentation with your chosen background music. Allow a time of silence afterwards for people to reflect on what they have seen. Encourage them to offer silent prayers to God, expressing confidence in his power to save and protect. Before the session download the latest news updates and any accompanying images from the Christian Solidarity Worldwide website ( Create prayer stations around your meeting room by sticking different news items and images around the walls. Introduce the prayer activity by briefly explaining the work of CSW (details available on their website). Explain that around the room are current news items and images relating to their work on behalf of Christians who are given a hard time for following Jesus. Invite everyone to move around the different prayer stations, looking at the displays and praying for the people involved. People can either do this individually in silence, or they might prefer to make their way round in a mixed-age group, praying together at the various stations. DVD clip Play the clip from the film Superman Returns, near the beginning of the film, where Superman prevents a stricken aircraft from crashing onto a packed baseball ground. Ask members of the congregation how they felt when Superman saved the day. Remind them of how, afterwards, Superman stood at the entrance of the aircraft, taking in the applause and cheers of the crowd. Ask people what they think the crowd thought of Superman. Try to draw out the idea that they regarded him as a hero someone who they could be confident would fight for the cause of justice and good, and who would protect them.

12 Say that we all love the idea of a superhero that s why most people probably felt a sense of delight when they saw Superman save the day. The problem is that superheroes are the stuff of comic books and films; they don t really exist. However, God does exist and in this service you re going to see, through another story about Elisha, how God stands with his people, protecting them even in the face of danger and saving them from harm. This will hopefully help us to put our confidence in him. Eternal Father, strong to save MP 122 In heavenly armour SOF 237 We shall stand, with our feet on the rock! SOF 589

13 Sunday 27 November 2011 Bible passage: Luke 1:26 38 Session aim: To trust our promisekeeping God The Christmas series in Light this year looks at the story through the promises that God kept through each event. In each Light session, participants are encouraged to respond in a different way to our promise-keeping God, following the responses of the people in the story. Today we explore the concept of trusting God, as we look at Mary s trust. 1 Beforehand, write the words trustworthy and untrustworthy in large letters, each on three different pieces of paper, and fold up the pieces of paper. 2 Invite six volunteers of different ages from the congregation to come and receive and read one of the pieces of paper, without revealing its contents to the congregation. 3 Ask the volunteers to share an unknown fact about themselves with the congregation. Those given the word trust worthy should say something that is unknown but true. Those given the word untrustworthy should say something plausible but untrue. The congregation should be asked to raise their hands to show if they think what is being said is trustworthy or not. 4 When the vote is done, the person should show the congregation the writing on their piece of paper. 5 Finish the game by saying that God says many things, but everything he says is trustworthy, even the things he says about the future. The children will be looking at someone who trusted what God said would happen in the future. Invite the congregation to suggest times this year whenthey have faced things that have made it hard to trust God. You could give the first example from your year to help people share more comfortably. Using these examples, construct a prayer that people can join in with. There s an example of one below. When we re feeling sad Help us to trust in you, God. When things are new or we feel afraid Help us to trust in you, God. When we don t understand why things are happening Help us to trust in you, God. When people we love are ill or hurt Help us to trust in you, God.

14 Extra idea Ask a member of your congregation to share a short story of a time in their lives when they trusted God. Trust in the Lord Bitesize Bible songs CD* UR my refuge Bitesize Bible songs CD* God s promises Light for everyone CD* Faithful one SF * These Scripture Union songs are available to purchase online, as part of an album or individually, with sheet music. Go to

15 Sunday 04 December 2011 Bible passage: Matthew 1:18 25 Session aim: To obey our promisekeeping God The Christmas series in Light this year looks at the story through the promises that God kept through each event. In each Light session, participants are encouraged to respond in a different way to our promise-keeping God, following the responses of the people in the story. Today we explore the concept of obedience, as we look at Joseph s obedience. To explore the concept of obedience while having a bit of fun, have a How obedient are you? quiz. This could be printed out and given to people as they arrive or put onto a screen. Encourage people to work in groups with people of different ages. Discussion of the answers should also be encouraged as people explore the concept of obedience together. Below are some example questions for you to adapt to suit your congregation. Each question can be rated on this obediometre : A always obedient B usually obedient C sometimes obedient D rarely or never obedient 1 When you re in the car (either driving or as a passenger), how obedient is the car to the speed limit? 2 When asked to tidy your room (for example your bedroom, office or classroom), how obedient are you? 3 When asked to do something in a church service, such as sit further towards the front, how obedient are you? 4 When playing sport, how obedient are you to the umpire? 5 When playing a game, how obedient are you to the rules? Invite the congregation to suggest times this year when they have faced things that have made it hard to trust God. You could give the first example from your year to help people share more comfortably. Using these examples, construct a prayer that people can join in with. There s an example of one below. When we re feeling sad Help us to trust in you, God. When things are new or we feel afraid Help us to trust in you, God. When we don t understand why things are happening Help us to trust in you, God. When people we love are ill or hurt Help us to trust in you, God.

16 Extra idea Ask a member of your congregation to share a short story of a time in their lives when they trusted God. Follow me Bitesize Bible songs CD* Come back Bitesize Bible songs 2 CD* Trust and obey SF * These Scripture Union songs are available to purchase online, as part of an album or individually, with sheet music. Go to

17 Sunday 11 December 2011 Bible passage: Luke 2:1 20 Session aim: To praise our promisekeeping God The Christmas series in Light this year looks at the story through the promises that God kept through each event. In each Light session, participants are encouraged to respond in a different way to our promise-keeping God, following the responses of the people in the story. Today we explore the concept of praise as we look at the shepherds praise. Play a game where volunteers take it in turns to praise someone or something they think is great without saying what or who it is. The congregation should try to guess who or what is it. You could prime some volunteers beforehand, so that they can choose something they can rave about, for example, their favourite sports team, pop star, DVD, celebrity, car, holiday destination or animal Give out Post-it notes, preferably different colours and shapes, and invite everyone to write or draw something God did this year that they would like to praise him for. Ask people to pray in small groups, by sharing what they have written and drawn, and praising God. For example, they might share that God helped them find a new house, and say, I want to praise you, God, because you helped us find a new house. This eyes open type of prayer may not be familiar to people, but it s a great habit to get into, to praise God as we talk with each other. Give everyone time to pray in this way, then collect up the Post-its and make a praise poster with them. Encourage people to look at it afterwards as it s a record of some of the things God did for you all this year. Extra idea Print out lots of copies of different carol lyrics. Give them out along with highlighter pens and get people to work in groups of three or four to highlight all the words in the carols that praise God. Invite people to each pick their favourite praise word or phrase and plan a way to use it in the coming week to praise God. So amazing God Light for everyone CD* Light for everyone Light for everyone CD* So cool Reach up! CD* Hosanna JP, SF * These Scripture Union songs are available to purchase online, as part of an album or individually, with sheet music. Go to

18 Sunday 18 December 2011 Bible passage: Matthew 2:1 15 Session aim: To worship our promisekeeping God The Christmas series in Light this year looks at the story through the promises that God kept through each event. In each Light session, participants are encouraged to respond in a different way to our promise-keeping God, following the responses of the people in the story. Today we explore the concept of worship, as we look at the worship of the wise men. Use a quiz to explore your church s concept of worship and that of people in the Bible. Make sure your quiz reflects worship as part of our lives, not only our singing or prayers, just as the wise men spent their money and time travelling to kneel in worship to Jesus. Here are some questions you could use about worship in the Bible: 1 Where did God tell Abraham to go to worship with a sacrifice? Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:5) 2 Why did Abraham s servant worship God when he went back to Nahor? Because God had led him on his journey and brought him to relatives of Abraham who were happy for their daughter to marry Isaac (Genesis 24:26) 3 What did God say would be a sign to Moses that God had sent him to bring the Israelites out of Egypt? They would worship God on Mount Horeb ( Exodus 3:12) 4 What was the first commandment God gave to Moses? Worship no other God but me (Exodus 20:2) 5 What were the people worshipping when Moses came down the mountain with the Ten Commandments? A golden calf (Exodus 20:2,3) 6 What did God tell Moses to make as a place to worship God when they were moving around in the desert? The Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting (Exodus 25:8,9; 27:9,20) Challenge everyone to think about worshipping God as they go about their activities this week. Invite them to think about what they will be doing as you say the following prayer, and to ask God to help themremember to worship him. If this works in your church, people may enjoy joining in the refrain.

19 Dear Jesus, As we celebrate your birthday this week, help us to remember to worship you. As we go to our homes after this service, help us to remember to worship you. As we see our friends and families, help us to remember to worship you. As we give cards and gifts to people, help us to remember to worship you. In the things we do and the way we do them, help us to remember to worship you. In the words we say and the way we say them, help us to remember to worship you. We ask this because we want to be people who worship and please you. Amen. Wow! Reach up! CD* Strong and mighty God Light for everyone CD* Here I am to worship SF The heart of worship SF * These Scripture Union songs are available to purchase online, as part of an album or individually, with sheet music. Go to