New Years Day (Years A, B, C)

New Year’s Day Worship Themes

There are several New Year’s themes that run through all today’s texts: time, God’s powerful presence in the world, the ability to change, and hope.  Children can explore all these themes.

% Time feels different to children who have known so little of it.  For them years last forever.  They are just beginning to sort out the difference between how long a time period feels and the fact that an hour is always 60 minutes long no matter how it feels. 

After exploring the fact that the same amount of time can feel short or long, point to alpha-omega symbols in your sanctuary (paraments, windows, furnishings).  Explain that these are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.  Note that saying God is alpha and omega is the same as saying God is A to Z.  Celebrate that God was before time began and will be after time ends and is with us in every bit of our time now.

Before singing “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past” take time to review the words of one or all of the verses.

Start with verse 3 “a thousand ages in thy sight” putting it into your own words.  Point out that when you have lived long enough to celebrate only 6 Christmases, it seems a long time between Christmases.  But, when you have lived long enough to experience 86 Christmases, the time between Christmases seems to fly by.  It is strange (especially if you are 6) but very true.  Then, read the first lines of this verse and ponder the possibility that not a thousand Christmases but a thousand ages (hundreds of thousands of Christmases) are like one evening to God.

Verse 2 says that God (for whom a 100 ages is an evening) is with us at all times.  You might want to connect to the alpha and omega symbols in paraments, windows, or furnishings in the sanctuary.

Verse 1 is both the introduction and the summary.  I’d start with other verses, then return to God as our “hope” and “home” in all times. 

I’d focus on the first 3 verses with the children.  The adults will get the last two on their own and the children will grow into them.

% Change is possible.  We can never be totally stuck.  God gives us unlimited fresh starts.  Actually children will quickly point out that there are some things they cannot change, e.g. their size, their athletic or musical ability (or lack of it),the family they live in, whether they have enough money for what they need and want.  Acknowledge this and help identify what we can and cannot change.  Only then, talk about New Year’s Day as a good day to identify one change you can make, want to make, and will work on making.  Warn that change is not easy.  We have to expect to mess up and not quit when it gets hard.  We are not like toy transformers that change in a flick of a few levers.  Change takes time and work.

Invite worshipers of all ages to write one change they would like to make during the new year on a slip of paper (maybe some space left at the bottom of the printed order of worship) and to put it in the offering plate as a gift to God.  In the offertory prayer mention this gifts of commitments to changes.

St. Benedict, who founded the Benedictine order of monks, pointed out that every day (as well as every year) we get a fresh start.  Introduce the discipline of bedtime prayer as a good way to remember this.   Individuals or families think back over their day and identify things they want to tell God about the day.  With children identify the things for which we want to say “thanks” and the things about which we need to say “Help”.  Together tell God about these things in prayers.  (At first parents will have to voice the prayers, but soon older children can take turns voicing the prayers.)  Many parents end this by drawing a cross with their finger on each child’s forehead as they say, “Remember, God loves you and I love you ALWAYS.”  (On the radio this morning I heard an expert on insomnia touting very similar bedtime practices in which adults let go of the day and settle in to sleep.)

% The epiphany theme “Arise, Shine” resonates with children as they return to school in a new year.  Especially if you need to combine New Year’s and Epiphany themes go to Epiphany Year A for ideas.

% The response to all these themes is hope for the new year – and all of the future.  Sing the Argentine “Canto de Esperanza” (Song of Hope) which appears in many recent denominational hymnals.  It is a prayer for the new year that could be sung at the benediction.  If it is new to the congregation, read through the words before singing it.  Because it is short, it can be sung two or three times and guarantee that worshippers will be humming it all day.

 

Doors Are BIG on New Year’s Day

% Doors are good images for New Years Day.  We have closed the door on the last year and opened the door to a new door.  When you walk through a door things change.  When you go from outside to inside, you use a quieter voice, you wipe off (even take off) your shoes, you expect to do different things.  Walking through doors tells us where we are and who we are.  There are several ways to use doors in worship on New Year’s Day. 

Borrow the Chalking the Door ritual which is associated with Epiphany but fits nicely on New Year’s Day too.   It is basically a house blessing.  Using chalk, members of the congregation or household write on the door frame the year’s date and the letters C, B, and M (the initials of the three wise men).  Prayer is then offered asking that the door welcome many visitors during the coming year and that all who come through the doorway be blessed.  Write on the church doors during the worship service with the prayers for all who will come through the doors this year (worshipers, brides and grooms, parents bringing babies to be baptized, families and friends coming to bury their dead, members of community groups which will use the facilities,….).  Then encourage households to repeat it in their own homes.  Print a simple blessing for use at both church and home in the order of worship and give out small pieces of white chalk for home use.  Below is a sample blessing.

God of doors and homes, bless this home this year and every year.

Bless all who come and go through this door, both those who live here and those who visit.

May all who enter through this door come in peace and bring joy.

May all who come to this door find welcome and love.

May the love and joy in this home overflow and spread into the community and the world.

 

If your congregation decorates the doors with blue streamers on baptismal days, hang those streamers today.  Point out that every time we walk through those streamers we not only celebrate the baptism of that day, but recall our own baptism and the fact that God loves us and forgives.  God gives us a endless new starts, a new start every day, and a new year today.  If you do not plan to do it on The Baptism of the Lord Sunday, do a remembering of our baptisms service today. 

Check out the Judgment Doors in the section on the gospel text for the day.

The New Year’s Day Texts

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

% To children Ecclesiastes says that life is full of all sorts of things and that all of them are good (in the sense of blessed).  Help the children catch the significance of the 14 rather general pairs of opposites by exploring several for them. 

Vs 2    We all are born and we all die.  Birth and death are simply part of God’s plan for our lives.

Vs. 2b There are seasons.  We can’t plant seeds during the winter or harvest them in the spring.

Vs. 6b There are times we need to save things carefully - like putting aside clothes to wear again.  There are other times when we need to let things go - like giving away old clothes or toys we have outgrown.  Sometimes it is hard to know which time it is.

Vs. 7b There is a time to keep silent and a time to speak.  Children are quick to list examples of these times.

Vs 4    (I’d save this verse for last even though it comes earlier in the list.)  There are times when life is sad and we cry.  There are other times when life is so happy that we laugh a lot.  Both of these times are good, blessed times.  We may prefer the happy, laughing times.  But, God is with us in both happy and sad times. 

% The Secret of Saying Thanks, by Douglas Wood, says to children what The Preacher says in verses 9-13.  The secret is that it is impossible to feel thankful and unhappy at the same time.  Indeed,

The more we say thanks, the more we find to be thankful for. 

And the more we find to be thankful for, the happier we become.

This is one of those children’s books that could be read at the conclusion of the sermon to sum it all up.  It could also be read with the children up front , sitting behind you so they can see the pictures over your shoulders.  Or, it could be read to the whole congregation having encouraged them to close their eyes and imagine each scene you read.

 

Psalm 8

% Read from Today’s English Version which uses vocabulary children understand more readily – “Lord” instead of “Sovereign,” “greatness” instead of “majesty,” and the moon and stars that you “made” rather than “established.”  Most adults will not notice the difference, but the children will.

Revelation 21:1-6a

% I do recall some years that began with a sense of promise for the world.  But, often we begin a new year with a sense of foreboding.  The children sense that even when they do not understand the details of that year’s fears.  The writer of Revelation insists that we need not worry about these things that make us feel like the world is about to end.  For one thing, only God knows when the world will end.  For another thing, the all powerful God who loves us is in control and moving all of history toward a good end.  Check the worship themes at the beginning of this post for ideas highlighting the alpha and omega, judgment doors in European cathedrals, and a song of Hope with which to celebrate the fact that we can face the future without fear.

 

Matthew 25:31-46



Last Judgment, from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
 http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=29327
[retrieved November 11, 2013].Add caption

% Medieval European Cathedrals made all the doors into the sanctuary Last Judgment Doors which illustrate this text.  Usually there was a stone figure of Christ the Judge over the door.  Often under him there were layers of figures with the saintly sheep on one side and the evil goats on the other.  Curved around these figures and the doors were gathered angels and biblical characters in worship.  Show pictures of these doors and imagine walking through them every week to worship.  If there are any special features of the entrances to your sanctuary, point them out and explain what it means to walk past/through them as you enter worship.  For example, many doors feature a cross.  So, say what it means to come through this sign of God’s love and forgiveness into worship every week.

% Where Love Is There God is Also, by Leo Tolstoy, is a short story about a cobbler who hears Jesus promise to visit him the next day.  He is excited, but disappointed when the only visitors he gets are an elderly poor man shoveling snow who he invited in for tea, a young mother and infant to whom he gave his coat, and a boy who has been caught taking an apple from a seller.  That night Jesus reveals that he was with each of those people.  This story is presented for children in several DVD/Videos and books.  It may be titled The Shoemaker’s Dream or Martin the Cobbler.  It may be found in some public libraries.  It is often listed as a Christmas item in libraries or stores.

Year C - Proper 26, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, 24th Sunday after Pentecost (November 3, 2013)

There are choices to be made by worship planners this weekend.

Halloween was on Thursday night, but will probably be celebrated in many communities on Friday and on into the weekend.  The Habakkuk reading and the format of Psalm 119 provide great opportunities for meditating on our fears.

All Saints Day was on Friday, but will be celebrated in many churches on Sunday.  If you are one of those, go to All Saints Day - Year C.  But also check out these texts since there are some interesting connections.  Another possibility to consider is the gospel text about life after death found in Proper 27.  It could be moved here saving Zaccheus for next week.  Go to Proper 27 (Year C) to see the details.

And, if you live in the USA it is time change Sunday.  So no matter what texts you select, remember to set your clock back an hour to claim that wonderful extra hour of sleep.

The Texts

Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4

F  Habakkuk complains about the violence and injustice that are causing so much pain in the world.  He speaks in generalities about what everyone fears and then delivers God’s promise that the violence and evil will not be the final word.  On Halloween we practice facing up to our fears.  We tell scary stories, walk through haunted houses, and dress up as monsters.  Children’s Halloween picture books range from tales in which heroes rise above their fears and in the process prove the scary thing or place is not so scary after all to tales in which monsters are shown to be just like us.  (There is even a take-off on Good Night Moon called Good Night Goon in which a young monster says goodnight to all the scary-to-us stuff that is part of his everyday life and a similar take off on Runaway Bunny called Runaway Mummy.) 

F  Display a not-too-scary mask (remember it doesn’t take much to scare the youngest).  Handle it, describe how it might frighten you but then point out that it is just a mask and not all that scary.  Use this as an entry to identifying the things we really fear – that bullies at school will go after us, that something bad will happen to someone we love, that we will get lost, that there will be a war where we live, that we will never be able to do what we want most to do….   If the children’s fears lead to talking about adult fears about jobs, the economy, world conflicts, etc., the children learn that fear is part of life.  They will then be ready to hear God’s promise to Habakkuk and us in Habakkuk 2:2-4. 

GOD SAYS

“Those who are evil will not survive,

but those who are righteous will live

because they are faithful to God.”

F  The TEV provides the translation of verse 4 that makes most sense to children: “Those who are evil will not survive, but those who are righteous will live because they are faithful to God.”  Write it in large letters on a big poster.  Have fun seeing if someone running up the aisle can read it while running.  Then, note that God’s goal in asking Habakkuk to write the message so big was that God wanted everyone to read it and know that God was on the side of the faithful and against the evil.

F  Suggest that everyone in the congregation hold hands because you are going to talk about scary things.  Then start with Halloween-y things and progress to the violent scary parts of everyday life for people of all ages.  Read Habakkuk 2:2-4 again, explaining some of its meaning related to the fears you have named.  Shake hands loose or clap hands to celebrate not having to be afraid because God is with us and will not all the bad things have the last word.
 

F  Some Things Are Scary, by Florence Parry Heide, is a random collection of things that scare children.  Turn to some of them to be sure the things that scare children as well as the things that scare adults get attention today.  

 

F  Display a large poster or some other item with an Alpha and Omega on it (maybe a stole or parament).  Explain its meaning and connect it with Habakkuk’s message.  Just as God was in charge at the beginning, God will be in charge at the end, so we don’t have to worry.  We can trust God.

F  Sing “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” after Halloween and in response to Habakkuk’s list of all the things that are going wrong.  It was written by Martin Luther while he was hiding in castle from people who wanted to kill him.  Tell this brief story of its writing before singing it and encourage worshipers to watch for fear and trust words. 

Psalm 119:137-14

F  Psalm 119 is an acrostic, that is an alphabet poem.  Each line in each section starts with a word beginning with the same letter.  The lines in this section start with the Hebrew letter zade/tsade (צַ).  If possible show a Hebrew Bible opened to this psalm or print this passage in Hebrew in your worship bulletin and help people recognize the repeated letter. 

When reading the psalm, have the congregation say the Hebrew letter zade before each line is read.

F  Each line says something about the value of God’s Word.  Hebrew poets rhyme ideas rather than sounds.  So, they say the same thing over and over again in slightly different ways.  For example,

It is a beautiful day.

The sun is bright and there is not a cloud in the sky.

It is wonderfully warm and there is a pleasant breeze.

I wish every day were just like this one.

Then, read one or two of the lines about God’s Word to show their similarity. 

F  Challenge children (and others) to write an alphabet psalm praising God on Halloween weekend or on other days when we are afraid.  Below is an activity sheet for doing this using words that begin with the letter H in honor of Halloween. 

N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N

Try some of             Write a psalm prayer about fear. 

these words            Make each line begin with H in honor of Halloween.

 

Help

H_______________________________

Have

 

Hope

H_______________________________

Heal

 

Hallelujah

H_______________________________

Hear

 

Hide

H_______________________________

Happy

 

Hold

H_______________________________

How

 

Horrible

H_______________________________

 

 

N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N

Isaiah 1:10-18

To understand Isaiah’s message one needs detailed information about worship in Old Testament times and then be able to connect that message to our different form of worship today.  That is a tough task for children.  So I would tend to use the other Old Testament texts.  If you do work with this one, go straight to verses 17 and 18 with the children.  They are more direct and use more familiar words. 

F  If your congregation regularly uses the language about sins as scarlet being made white as snow, this is a good chance to explain what we are saying when we say that and then to use it in the usual way.  Bring something rough and deep red (even a wadded up ball of red Christmas foil) and something soft and white (maybe a white sweater or piece of white cotton).  As you discuss the colors, remember that most children would prefer red over white.  For them the stark difference between red (think red ribbons, Christmas, valentines..) and white (think white paper, white shirt, OK, maybe also snow, but… white is generally boring) is more important than the colors themselves.  Tie the difference in the colors to the different feelings we have when we are hiding sins and when we admit them in Psalm 32. 

Psalm 32:1-7   SIN  TRANSGRESSION  INIQUITY  DECEIT  GUILT

F  Psalm 32 in the New Revised Standard Version is a collection of words about sin used often in worship but nowhere else.  So, before reading it, list the words and encourage listeners to watch for them in the psalm and in other parts of worship today.  If this will be the focus of worship, give children red pencils with which to underline all the sin words they find in their printed order of worship.

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Because there is so much for children in the other texts and themes for this day and because a preacher is likely to go many different ways using this text, I am going to leave it with you.  If you find a great connection for children, please share it with the rest of us in the Comments.

Luke 19:1-10

F  This is another text that can take worship leaders many different directions.  Themes that speak especially clearly to children include:

• People CAN change.  Zacchaeus changed.  You can change.  People around you can change. 
• The best way to deal with a troublesome person or enemy is to become a friend.  We can follow Jesus’ example by eating with the lonely ones or inviting them to eat with us in the school lunch room.
• Giving away money or stuff can save you (or bring happiness).  Jesus told Zacchaeus that returning the money he stole and giving half of all he had to the poor was going “to save his life.”  Take time to define “save his life” to include bring happiness, peace, and a place among God’s people as well as eternal salvation.

F  Jesus and Zacchaeus get most of the attention in this story.  But the crowd is us and is worthy of our attention.  To explore their responses, enlist the help of a few youth or adults.  Their job is to show the crowd’s response at key points in the story using their faces and their whole bodies.  The script below could be used to prepare a rehearsed pantomime.  Or, it could be the beginning of a more free-wheeling interaction between members of the crowd as the worship leader helps them and the congregation explore the response of the crowd to what happened.

MNLOMNLOMNLOMNLOMNLOMNLOMNLO

Luke 19:1-10

 19:1 He entered Jericho and was passing through it.

 

19:2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich

Zacchaeus stands proudly to one side.

 

19:3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature.

Jesus stands to the other side.  The crowd steps between the two and they jostle with each other with knowing smiles to keep Zacchaeus at the back of the crowd.

 

19:4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way.

Zacchaeus climbs a short step ladder.

 

19:5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today."

Jesus calls Zacchaeus down. 

 

19:6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him.

Zacchaeus comes down smiling happily and heads off with Jesus.

 

19:7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner."

At this point a worship leader steps in and works with the crowd actors to show with their faces and bodies how they might be feeling.  Feelings might range from  disbelief (Zacchaeus couldn’t change!) to disgust with Jesus for reaching out to such a sinner or maybe amazed acceptance of what happened.

 

19:8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much."

Zacchaeus stops, turns to Jesus as this is said.

 

19:9 Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.

Jesus reaches out to Zacchaeus.  Putting an arm around Zacchaeus’ shoulder, walks off the stage with him.

 

19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."

                                                                                    NRSV

MNLOMNLOMNLOMNLOMNLOMNLOMNLO

F  It’s another opportunity to point out the invitation to the Lord’s Table and stress that it is open.  People who look hopeless like Zacchaeus (and sometimes us) are welcome. 

 

F  If it’s still Stewardship Season in your congregation, take a look at Miss Fannie’s Hat, by Jan Karon.  Elderly Miss Fannie gives the best of her grand collection of hats to raise money to fix up the church.  When she goes to church hatless on Easter morning, she finds the church surrounded by blooming rose bushes purchased with funds from the sale of her hat.  She and those all around her find great happiness in her gift.  One hopes that Zacchaeus and some of the folks he refunded will share similar happiness.

Year C - The Third Sunday of Easter (April 14, 2013)

U There are two important Easter people in today’s texts – Peter and Paul.  The stories about them for today are rich and not terribly familiar to children.  So, it would be wise to focus on one or the other.  The one theme that ties both stories and that speaks strongly to children is forgiveness.  Children are impressed that Jesus forgave both Peter, the best friend who had deserted him when he needed him most, and Paul who had been killing and imprisoning Christians.  If Jesus forgave them, children feel they can probably trust Jesus to forgive anything they might do.

 

Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)

U In children’s words, Paul was the biggest bully on the block.  He was turned into a leader of the church by Jesus and by the loving care of the Christians who welcomed him.  Talk about an Easter surprise! 

U Be careful about vocabulary when exploring this story with children.  They more readily understand that Paul “changed” or “turned around” than “converted”.  (Conversion is a football term to children unless they hear it frequently at church.) 

U Children are amazed that Jesus would choose someone as awful as Paul to be one of the most important church leaders of all times.  So, take time to clarify the details of what Paul was doing before Jesus spoke to him.  Reread what Ananias said to God about Paul and what he had been doing to Christians.  It is almost like God was playing a joke on the Christians – a great joke in which God was telling them that God can do things that they don’t believe possible.  “You know Paul?  I am going to make him a great Christian teacher and leader.  Just watch!”

U If you explore the amazing changes that are possible in people like Paul, recall The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson.  Gilly is a “difficult” foster child with a difficult-to-her foster family and a school she does not like.  In the course of the book she changes in striking ways and understands the people around her in strikingly new ways.  This is a chapter book many middle and older elementary children have read.  If you haven’t read it you’ve missed a treat for your adult self.

U Children, like many adults, are jealous of Paul’s dramatic confrontation with Jesus.  They would like to see light, hear Jesus’ voice, even be blinded - but only for 3 days.  It helps them to hear that many adults share this feeling and to hear other ways God speaks to us today named, e.g. God speaks to us in the Bible, through other people, through experiences, etc.  It also helps children move past these feelings to point to the roles people as well as God played in changing Paul.  Paul could have stubbornly refused to hear what Jesus and Ananias said.  Ananias could have refused to heal Paul and talk to him about Jesus.  The other Christians could have decided that Paul was tricking them and that if they welcomed him even more of them would end up dead or in prison.  But, they all decided to risk trusting each other.  Finally, note that responding to Jesus today may not come with all the dramatics, but it is also - most of the time – a little safer.  Our challenge is to meet Jesus in the stories about him and figure out how to be his followers where we live today.

U Focus on Ananias’ role in Paul’s transformation.  Briefly outline what Ananias did for Paul focusing more on what he did than on his original response to the idea of doing it.  Then, invite worshipers of all ages to ponder who has been like Ananias for them.  Children might identify special teachers, coaches, or older friends.  To take it a step further ask whom they teach and serve as Ananias.  Children might identify younger siblings or friends.  If children make promises to the babies baptized in the congregation, this is a chance to think of ways children can show these younger children how to follow Jesus.

U Before singing “Open My Eyes” read through the first verse connecting it to Paul’s story.  Suggest that worshipers sing it imagining themselves as Paul waiting for Ananias after being blinded by Jesus on the road.

 

Psalm 30

U This psalm is filled with unfamiliar vocabulary (e.g. Sheol, the Pit) and ideas that make it hard for children.  The TEV does a good job of translating these words, but loses the poetic beauty of earlier translations.  Probably it is best to choose one or two verses to pray today and to imagine Peter praying after the resurrected Jesus forgave him and called him to back to being a leader.  See verses 11-12 below:

You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance;

you have taken away my sorrow

and surrounded me with joy.

So I will not be silent;

I will sing praise to you.

I will give you thanks for ever.

                                                   Today’s English Version

U Point out to the children that there is a difference in happiness and joy.  Happy and Joy are what we feel when everything is going great.  Happiness disappears when things start going badly (someone is sick, scary things are happening, things we want to happen don’t happen).  But, because we know God is with us even in the bad times, we still can have joy.  A monk named David Steindl-Rast says that joy is “that kind of happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens.”  Another person rephrased verse 5b “weeping and sadness come to spend the night, but joy moves in to stay.”  That is a challenging, but useful idea to children who are only beginning to learn that their feelings at any given moment don’t have to run their lives.

U Celebrate the changes God can make singing “O Sing to the Lord!” a light hearted Brazilian call to praise.  Or, follow the psalmist’s sturdy joy by singing the old favorite “I’ve Got A Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my Heart.”  I’ve got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus” and “I’ve got the peace that passes understanding” are good verses for this psalm and the other texts for today.

Revelation 5:11-14

U Today’s code figure is the Lamb.  Though there are deep atonement theology connections in this image, for children it is simply a code name for Jesus.  The bottom line of these verses is Jesus is worthy of worship.  Indeed he is right there by, almost on the throne of God. 

 

from Wikimedia Commons

U Point out any Lambs that are carved, painted, glassed or stitched into your sanctuary.  Point out that every time we see those lambs we remember Jesus.  If you do not have lamb imagery in the room, show some from other places.  The one in these photos is from the ceiling of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy.  Christ the Lamb is pictured among the four angels of the text at the center of the ceiling of the church.  Imagine worshiping under this picture of Jesus.  Point out that when this fancy mosaic Lamb of God was made, it was safe to be a Christian.  Even the emperor was a Christian.  But, people still used the code symbol to remember Jesus.

The Lamb at the peak of the ceiling in San Vitale.
A postcard from a trip in 1974. 

U Join all the creatures around the throne and the Lamb singing Easter Alleluias using “Halle, Halleluia,” a different musical form of Alleluia than was probably sung on Easter Sunday.  Sound sample 

U Sing “Blessing and Honor and Glory and Power” after identifying the Lamb and throne words in it and connecting them to Revelation.  Invite worshipers to imagine themselves singing it with the persecuted Christians who first read Revelation.

John 21:1-19

Third Sunday of Easter Outside Worship and Brekky in Australia.  from
http://seedstuff.blogspot.com/2010/04/easter-3-c-april-18-resurrection-impact.html

U This story begs to be read and explored at an outside breakfast picnic.  If the weather allows, what about beginning worship with a congregational picnic and holding worship outside?  Or, simply sit around a fire outside for worship today.  If you must worship inside, consider passing out goldfish crackers to eat as the story is read.

U Peter’s experience from Maundy Thursday through Good Friday and Easter then the fish fry at the beach is the resurrection story that makes most sense to older children.  They understand the dynamics of Peter’s denials, the fears that followed and the relief that Jesus’ forgiving welcome brought.  But, it takes more than these verses to tell the entire story.  Consider presenting a series of readings or skits telling the story of the call to the fishermen, Peter’s confession and new name, the denials, and Peter’s role at the empty tomb, and then the fish fry.  It could almost become a lessons and carols on Peter’s life as a disciple.

U If you will read only today’s text, call out especially to the children to hear this story as you read it.  Gather them on the steps or simply speak to them in their pews.  Set the stage for them.  Peter, Jesus’ best friend had pretended he did not even know Jesus not once but three times as he was on trial.  Now Jesus was somehow, amazingly alive again.  Peter was scared.  What would Jesus think of him, say to him, even do to him?  Then read the story from the Bible or from Peter’s First Easter.

Peter’s First Easter, by Walter Wangerin, is hard to find, but is my favorite account of Easter told from Peter’s point of view.  Strong art and story make it an especially good book for older elementary boys.  Today after briefly recalling the call of the fishermen, Peter’s denials, the crucifixion and empty tomb stories, read “10. Fishing and Forgiveness.”  It takes about 6 minutes to read aloud.  (Order the book from one of the suppliers to Amazon.com.)

My sketches.  Feel free to copy to cut patterns.

U The number of fish – 153 – is an interesting detail.  I think a case can be made that they are sort of a promise about the future to the frightened disciples.  Jesus had called them to catch people.  Just as he helped them bring in the amazing catch of 153 fish, he will help them bring in lots and lots of people.  To explore this, display 153 fish (maybe cut out of paper, possibly in fishnet).  Or count out 153 goldfish crackers into a glass bowl and imagine what a pile of that many real fish would look like.  Marvel at how many that is and explain Jesus’ possible promise.

FYI This is 153 goldfish crackers in a one cup measuring cup.

U This story echoes the disciples’ original call from their boats to fish for people.  To explore this connection with the children reread Jesus’ question to Peter asking them who the “these” is.  Note that no one is sure, but suggest that it might be those 153 fish they just caught and that what Jesus was asking was, “Peter, do you love me more than you love fishing?  Are you ready to really leave the fishing behind and become disciple forever?”  Celebrate the fact that Peter answered that he was and that he did indeed spend the rest of his life leading the new church.

U Sing “Will You Come and Follow Me.”  Introduce it as a question Jesus was asking Peter on the beach and also one Jesus is asking us today.  The words are simple enough that older elementary children can read them with understanding.