Remember, Restore, Renew

Transcription

1 Remember, Restore, Renew Community is formed in ritual, learning, service, and worship. The Hebrew people received God s grace and compassion in the gift of the Passover and in remembering this experience of liberation. Today, Jesus disciples continue to remember and celebrate God s saving works in loving, disciplined, worshipping communities. Focus Scripture: Exodus 12:1 14 Today s story follows after God s action to achieve the Hebrews release from Egypt through Moses repeated pleas to Pharaoh for liberty. The stories in Exodus imagine a test of the gods. In the ancient world, a diverse group of gods were thought responsible for the fate of humans. The Passover story recalls and celebrates God s identity as the one, true God who acts to save. On this first Passover, the enslaved Hebrew community prepared for an epic journey. It was to be a political journey, from slavery to freedom. It also was to be a journey toward community culture and identity. At the beginning of the journey, the Hebrews were a diverse people. After receiving God s law at Sinai (Exodus 19 20), they became God s covenant people. By the end of the journey recounted in Exodus, the Hebrews were established as Israelites. Subsequent generations remembered Passover through worship. The account in Exodus 12 was likely recorded and shaped during the Israelites later exile in Babylon ( BCE). It reflects how Israelite priests regulated worship through ordinances (v. 14). The ways to select and prepare the lamb, and dispose unusable parts, are detailed. Directions about cooking the meat and making sure everyone participates are very particular. Instructions about using the blood are specific. These instructions helped to maintain the form of the annual Passover worship and ritual. In telling the Passover story each year, Israelites remembered their identity. Ritual and worship worked together to renew and restore the people. Blood painted onto the frames of the house doorways was a sign of hope for a restored relationship with God. Blood did not save. When God saw this sign, the tenth plague passed over that household. God s liberating justice revealed who God was. God saved. The deaths of Egyptians were due to Pharaoh s persistent injustice. God did not require life to be taken in order to give life. God s creating and saving acts meet in this story. Israelite time and all remembrance festivals begin from this first Passover (vv. 2, 14). This sense of beginning again recalls creation. Also, people often recognize cataclysms such as devastating earthquakes, storms, or acts of war as times of new beginnings. Immediately after the Passover meal and final plague, God leads the Hebrews out of Egypt toward new life in the Promised Land. Passover is associated with deliverance. God keeps God s promise to save and restore. In the Passover, the community of Hebrews experienced God s restoration and renewed relationship. In Psalm 149, the psalmist remembers such mercy, and expresses praise for being God s people. Paul, in Romans 13:8 14, reminds readers of what it means to live as God s people. Relationships with one another and with those outside the community are to be guided by Jesus interpretation of God s law. In Jesus time, God s presence was closely linked with well-disciplined communities. In Matthew 18:15 20, Jesus teaches that God s forgiveness is never limited. God always seeks lost ones with compassion. When Christian communities live by Jesus words, God s glory shines through. God s deliverance restored and renewed the Hebrew people; later they remembered this gift in Passover worship. In what ways does your community proclaim what God has done in your lives? What rituals help your church remember and celebrate God s promise and purpose? Focus Scripture Exodus 12:1 14 Additional Scriptures Psalm 149 Romans 13:8 14 Matthew 18:15 20 God of grace and justice, your presence fed and freed the Hebrews, and your faithfulness fulfilled the promise of people and land. Be with us today to nourish and sustain our spirit and humanity for Christ s sake. Amen. Check out Spirit Sightings for connections between current events and the focus passage. Spirit Sighting are posted weekly prior to the date of use.

2 From Start to Finish Ideas for building community, strategies for discipline, and suggestions for setting up meeting spaces and integrating technology can all be found in the booklet From Start to Finish, available from your curriculum supplier or in the Planning Ahead section of SeasonsOnline. The Focus for Ages 9 11 Children of this age often eat their evening meal at home with their families, and most have experienced celebrative meals around holidays or birthdays. They may have set the table with fancy dinnerware and traditional food or participated in special rituals, so are likely to understand the idea of commemoration. They can grasp that special food and rituals point to important events or people they want to remember. As the children engage the story of the first Passover, they are invited to ponder ways their families and friends remember what God has done, and also to imagine new celebrations of God s work that they might incorporate in their lives. In Engage, they are invited to eat unleavened bread and bitter herbs and imagine participating in the first Passover meal. Each Respond activity provides them with models for modern commemorations so they can remember what God does in their lives and the world. Be aware that many children love animals and may be disturbed that animals were killed in the Passover. You may want to note that killing an animal to eat it was common in the ancient world. Also be aware that this ancient story suggests God struck down certain people to set others free, which could be frightening for this age group. In order to emphasize the celebrative, rather than the apparently punishing, aspect of this story, the paraphrase on the resource sheet omits some troubling details. Pray that the children s imaginations are kindled as they remember what God has done. PREPARE Materials needed Visit the seasonal online activity in the Action Zone at Before the session q Read and prayerfully reflect on this week s focus scripture, Exodus 12:1 14, and the biblical background material (p. 3). What rituals or traditions do you have to remember God s activity in your life? Gather q Bring Bibles, basic supply kit (see p. 2), and, if possible, Seasons Music CD, vol. 6 and CD player, and hang the poster Half Moon near the worship table. q Prepare the worship table with green cloth, Christ candle, matches, offering basket, and Bible. q Bring songs Jesu Tawa Pano and We Come to the Hungry Feast (p. 79 and 78, also #14 and #22 on Seasons Music CD). Engage q Bring a copy of today s resource sheet Before the Passover that has been cut into boxes so each child has a box. Keep the original resource sheet intact so you know the order of the story. q Bring costumes, such as robes or shawls, and long wrapping paper tubes for staffs. q Bring unleavened bread, such as pita, and bitter herbs in olive oil. q Bring candles or an oil lamp. Respond q Birthday remembrance: pipe cleaners, 24 in/61cm wooden dowel, copies of today s resource sheet Birthday Remembrance Flag so each child has a flag q Remembrance art: tissue paper of different colours, card stock paper or heavy paper, and card stock or heavy paper frames q Remembrance tree: copies of Palm Leaf Pattern resource sheet (p. 88), green fabric or paper, fabric markers, duct tape to secure fabric, cardboard or plastic tube, planting pot, tape or rocks to secure tube (alternatively, bring a large branch with twigs, and large garden pot) Bless q Bring song All We Long For (p. 77, also #5 on Seasons Music CD). 4 4

3 Remember, Restore, Renew Scripture Exodus 12:1 14 FOCUS To be led by the Passover story into our own rituals for remembering what God has done. 1GATHER Greeting Welcome the children by name as they arrive, introducing newcomers to other children. Call to gather Play Jesu Tawa Pano (p. 79, also #14 on Seasons Music CD) as a signal for the children to gather at the worship table. Invite a child to light the Christ candle. Remind the children that we are in the Season after Pentecost. This season s colour is green, the colour of growth, and in this Season after Pentecost we learn, and reflect on, ways that we grow as the people of God. Sing the first verse of We Come to the Hungry Feast (p. 78, also #22 on Seasons Music CD) as a child receives the offering. Pray this prayer or one of your own: God, we gather here today to remember what you have done. Amen. Extinguish the Christ candle as a sign that the Gather ritual has ended. Connecting with the focus Celebrations Tell the children about a special way that you or your family commemorate an important event, such as a birthday, anniversary, or holiday that celebrates an event. Then ask: n What special celebrations does your family have to mark a special occasion? Note that today s story explains how one of the Jewish people s special celebrations began. It is a celebration that reminds everyone of the wonderful way that God helped the people. 2ENGAGE Preparing for the story Before Passover boxes Explain that today s story is about the Passover, which has two meanings. The Passover was a time that God passed over the Hebrew people s houses and then set them free. Passover is also the name of the celebration to remember how God freed the Hebrew people. Use today s resource sheet Before the Passover to help the children learn about the events leading up to the Passover. The Bible story Celebrating Passover Learn together about the special way the Hebrew people were asked to celebrate. Read Exodus 12:1 11 aloud to the group. (Do not include verse 12.) Ask the children to raise their hands as fast as they can whenever they hear food mentioned. After the reading, ask: n What foods were the people supposed to prepare and eat? n Why were they supposed to eat that food in a hurry? n How do you think the people felt during their last meal before they were set free? Note that this last meal was a celebration that the people were going to be set free. After they were freed, God wanted them to remember so they would always love God and help others find freedom. Since then, the people have eaten this special meal every year. Jewish families still celebrate Passover today. To remind us how God set the people free, help the children don Bible-times costumes. Hand out wrapping paper tubes as staffs. Note that in the story, the people carried staffs even when they ate. Ask: n Why do you think the people were to hang on to their staffs even when they ate? Gather around a table and light candles or a lamp. Place unleavened bread and bitter herbs in olive oil on the table and invite the children to stand and eat one-handed, holding their staffs. Ask them to sit after. The Bible and our lives Art reflection Explain that God gave the Hebrew people a special ritual to remind them to give thanks for God s help in the past and to follow God s way in the future. Study the poster Half

4 Moon. Imagine that the people in this poster are giving thanks for certain things. Ask: n What do you see in this poster for which people could give thanks? n What is something good that you would like to remember to give thanks for? n What special rituals or symbols does our church have to help us to remember God s love? n What symbols or rituals might we use to remind us to give thanks and follow God s way? 3RESPOND Choose one or two of these options. q Birthday remembrance Birthday celebrations are rituals that can help us remember the new life God gives. Ask the children to decorate a flag from today s resource sheet Birthday Remembrance Flag. Thread a pipe cleaner through the hole in each flag. Ask the children to use pipe cleaners to attach their tags in order of their birthdays to a long dowel. Display the collection so you will remember everyone s birthday. When new children come, add their birthdays. q Remembrance art Like the Hebrew people, people today need reminders to give thanks for God s help. Using the poster Half Moon, ask the children to create scenes that represent the good things for which they can thank God. Tear pieces of different colours of tissue paper and glue them in patterns on card stock paper. Attach the finished pictures to card stock or heavy paper frames and ask the children to write what they want to be reminded of to thank God for on their frames. Share as a group what the pictures show. q Remembrance tree Trees last a long time and keep growing, so they are planted to commemorate people who inspire others and whose actions make a difference for a long time. Make a remembrance tree together. Wrap a cardboard or plastic tube in brown paper and secure it in a pot with rocks. Ask the children to think of events or people that have made an important difference in their lives or the world. Provide them with a copy of the Palm Leaf Pattern resource sheet (p. 88). Ask them to cut long leaves from green fabric and write the events or people they thought of on the leaves. Use tape to secure one end of each leaf to the trunk so the leaves have an overlapping pattern and the tree resembles a palm tree. (Alternatively, bring in a large dead tree branch with twigs on it to plant in a tall jar or pot. The children can glue or tie fabric or paper leaves onto the twigs). Keep the tree in the classroom as an ongoing commemoration. 4BLESS Gather When the children have gathered at the worship table, light the Christ candle. Sing All We Long For (p. 77, also #5 on Seasons Music CD). Point out that just as the Hebrew people longed for freedom, this song gives words to the hopes that many people have today. Pray Stand in a circle and pray this prayer or one of your own: God, we thank you for special rituals that help us remember you. Amen. Blessing As you prepare to send the children out, note that the Jewish people have passed the Passover meal on as a tradition for many centuries. Ask the children to stand in a line. Ask them to start at the front of the line and pass the message, Remember what God has done, to the end of the line. REFLECT Today s session encouraged the group to create new remembrance rituals. Which ideas could you incorporate into the coming season as the group s own rituals? Are there other ideas that might fit your group? How can you remind the children of the things they said that they want to remember? 6

5 Resource sheet Teacher: Give each child a copy of this flag. Once the children have cut out and decorated their flags, adding their names and birthdays, ask them to use pipe cleaners to attach the flags, in order of their birthdays, to a long dowel. Use the dowel to keep track of birthdays in the group, and add new birthdays as new children come. My name is My birthday is God made me. Remember what God has done! My name is My birthday is God made me. Remember what God has done!

6 Resource sheet Before the Passover Teacher: 1. Cut out and give each child one of the following boxes. (Keep this sheet intact so you know what order the boxes should appear in for #4.) 2. Explain that the sentences in the boxes describe what happened before today s story about the Passover. 3. Ask the children to guess the right order of this story. The child who guesses that she or he has the first sentence of the story should rise and stand in a spacious place in the room. The child with the second sentence should rise and stand beside the first child and read her or his sentence aloud. 4. When all of the sentences have been read, make sure everyone is in the right order of the scripture, and then ask the children to read the whole story aloud again. Long ago, the people of Israel, or Hebrews, came to Egypt when they had no food or water in their own land. At first, they were happy. But then things went badly for them. A new king came to power, and made the people work so hard that they were miserable. So the Hebrew people called to God to help them. God heard the cries of the people and chose a leader to help the Hebrew people. The leader was Moses. God spoke to Moses from a burning bush. God told Moses to lead the people out of slavery. Moses was unsure at first, but God promised to go with him. Moses and Moses brother Aaron went to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and told him that God wanted the people to go free. But Pharaoh refused to let the people go. Because Pharaoh would not listen or let the people go, God sent many signs to persuade Pharaoh that the people should be freed. But Pharaoh still refused. Finally, when Pharaoh still refused to let the people go, God told the Hebrew people that they should prepare to leave Egypt in a hurry. God was going to set them free, and they were to be ready. On their last night in Egypt, the Hebrew people were to prepare and eat a meal that would mark this amazing time when God set them free. The Hebrew people were to cook and share a lamb in a special way. Some of the lamb s blood was to be placed on the outside doorposts of their houses. When the Hebrew people put the lamb s blood there, it was an outward sign on their homes that they were celebrating the meal, as God had asked, inside their homes. This sign showed that they trusted God and were excited to be set free. Now let s hear about that special meal.