Year A - Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (January 26, 2014)

Both Old Testament readings include references to the light.  “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” and “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”  If you have not already explored light as part of Epiphany, these readings offer you an opportunity to do so.  Go to Epiphany (Year A) to find suggestions for exploring light with children.

Isaiah 9:1-4

* Sun Bread, by Elisa Kleven, could be read as a meditation on the light in Isaiah or it could be read to the bickering Corinthians encouraging them to become more like light.  In either case, take time to look into the windows around town on the second page.  Name all the unhappiness/darkness you see in each window.  Read the Daily Sunless Times sign at the bottom of the page.  With that as background, you can read the remainder of the book rather quickly, perhaps stopping to look in each of the windows noting the changes from what was in them earlier and read the Sun Times sign on the town picture near the end of the book.  After reading the last page about who bakes the sunbread, ponder God’s gift of light and the ways we share light too.  If you celebrate Communion today, point to the loaf or bring it down and identify it as sunbread.  (While many children will not make detailed connections between the two breads, they might begin to think of communion bread as sunbread – or bread that shares God’s light.  Adults might look for more detailed connections.  Both work well.)

Psalm 27:1, 4-9

* The psalmist celebrates ways God is present in many different situations in life.  Invite the children forward to help you highlight these situations using posture.  Read several phrases explaining each one and assuming with the children the described posture for that situation.  Then reread the verses leading the children through the postures as you read.  If it fits in the service at this point complete the reading with a one or two sentence prayer thanking God for being with us always.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Lord is my light and my salvation;

     whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life:

     of whom shall I be afraid?

Stand tall, head up, hands folded across your chest

He will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble;

He will conceal me under the cover of his tent…

Curl up in a little ball as if hiding with a blanket over your head

He will set me high on a rock

Stoop down as if looking over the edge of a high place.  Imagine seeing flood waters or a battle going on below you

Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me

And I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;

I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Stand tall with your heads held high.

On the last phrase throw your hands above your head in praise.

“Come” my heart says, “seek God’s face!”

Hand over heart

Your face, Lord do I seek.

Do not hide your face from me

Open hands on either side of a face tilted up.

From NRSV

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1 Corinthians 1:10 - 17

* Remember all of the fine things Paul said about the people of Corinth at the beginning of his letter last week.  This week he isn’t so complimentary.  So, gather the children around the pulpit Bible, recall what you learned last week about this letter and then read the verses dramatically.  Almost overstate the “I belong to”s to emphasize the cattiness of what was being said. 

* The people in Corinth were bickering.  In the middle of the dark cold days of winter, cooped up in the house with no big holidays to look forward to, it is easy to bicker.  Talk about all the silly fights that get picked in the back seats of cars or in the back room when it’s too nasty to go outside and everyone is bored.  Briefly outline the usual advice in such situations, i.e. whenever some says "I am better than you" or "my WHATEVER is better than your WHATEVER", just shrug your shoulders and say “who cares?”  Don’t get drawn into a silly argument.  Paul gave similar advice to the people in Corinth.  He said that it didn’t matter who had baptized whom.  What did matter is that all were baptized followers of Jesus.  End of silly argument.

* This is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  So pray for all the denominations and/or churches in your area.  Be as specific as possible so children will recognize the names and connect them to churches their friends attend. 

If you gather prayer requests as a congregation, take time to get worshipers of all ages to call out the names of other churches in the area.  Note informally any activities you share with this or that congregation as it is named.  Then, pray for neighboring churches.

In a Children’s Time gather the names of the churches, identify what you do together, and hear who has a friend who goes to a named church.  Then, offer a prayer for all the congregations.  Pray for individual well-being and for community cooperation.  Ask God’s blessing on them all.

Assign Worship Homework:  Encourage worshipers to pay attention to the churches they pass as they drive around this week.  (It is rather like collecting license plates from other states.)  Instruct them to be sure they know the names of the churches.  Ask yourself or your passengers who you know who is part of that church and what you may have done with people in that church.  Families may want to work on pronouncing the names of denominations.  Offer a short prayer for each church.

* There are several child-friendly hymns about unity that might be chosen for this day.

“Blest Be the Tie That Binds” has simple words.  Still, walk through the verses putting some phrases into your own words.  Then ask the congregation to “bind themselves together” by holding hands or putting a hand on a neighbor’s shoulder.  (Creativity is required to do this AND hold a hymnbook!)

“In Christ There Is No East or West” focuses on the division between East and West.  Before singing it imagine other pairs that meet in Christ, , i.e. In Christ there are …

… no athletes or geeks

…no “ins” or “outs”

…no young or old

…you (or worshipers) name other pairs….

“I Am the Church” is an Avery and Marsh song that is frequently sung in church school and children’s activities.  If your children know the chorus and the motions that go with it, invite them to teach it to the congregation.  Then sing the two verses that are key for today.  Find the words at http://www.hymnary.org/hymn/UMH/558 .

* With very young children, explore the unity of all people with the simple book, Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, by Mem Fox.  The differences in a series of pairs of babies are pointed out.  Each one ends “as everyone knows they each had ten little fingers and ten little toes.”  Insist that each of the people in the church in Corinth had ten little fingers and ten little toes.  The same is true in your own church and in your town, country, even the world.

* Or, scroll back up to today’s Isaiah reading for directions for reading Sun Bread, by Elisa Kleven.  The bickering Corinthians really needed this book!

 

Matthew 4:12-23

* I know verses 13-17 are important to Matthew and his Jewish readers, but they are incomprehensible to today’s children.  Before the reader can get to the stories about Jesus starting his ministry and the calling of the fishing disciples, the children get lost and tune out.  So, for the sake of the children, consider omitting verses 13-17.

* A boat (a wooden rowboat is best, but any boat will do – even a canoe, if that is what is available) filled with nets in the front of the sanctuary immediately grabs the attention of young worshipers.  If you can’t get the boat, drape the pulpit and central table in string fishing net.  There are several ways to use these props.

Simply point to them before reading the gospel announcing that in today’s story there is a boat and some fishermen.

At some point note the nets and describe how they are used to catch fish.  If you generally use projected images, project pictures of people fishing with nets to show worshipers how it works.  Then, ponder the equipment needed to fish for people – a Bible, a text message device (for communicating with others), even a Meals On Wheels cooler (to reach people by caring for them), etc.  If you do this as a Children’s Time add each item to the boat – or place them in front of the boat where they will be visible for the remainder of the service.

* Fishing requires strong able hands.  Fishers have to be strong enough to haul in a net full of fish and nimble enough to mend nets when they got snagged.  They have to be able to quickly clean lots of fish to get them to market.   Fishing for people also requires strong able hands.  You have to be able shake hands, pat people on the back, reach out to let people know you care, tend to the needs of people, etc.  

 

* The FISH is a symbol for Jesus and for the church.  Tell the story of its use as a secret sign during Roman persecution of Christians.  A Christian could casually draw a two line fish in a dusty road with a sandal.  If the person they were talking with was a Christian, that person could also draw a fish in the dust.  If the person was not a Christian, the sign would not even be noticed.  Then, note that one reason it made a good symbol because the job of the church is to fish for people.

Point out any fish symbols in your sanctuary and connect them to fishing for people.

* Two more hymns children enjoy singing today:

“Jesus Calls Us O’er The Tumult” is an old hymn that refers to the call of the fishing disciples in simple language.  Many verses end with a call from Jesus to us today, e.g. “Christian, love me more than these.”  Find the words and hear the music at http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/j/e/jesuscus.htm .

“Tu Has Venido a la Orilla” (Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore) tells the story of the call of the fishing disciples.  Verse 3 refers to the hands of the fishers.  With its Hispanic music and language (most hymnals print the verses in both English and Spanish) the song also ties to the 1 Corinthians message about celebrating what holds us together rather than what divides us.

 

* A challenge:  If all the talk is about fisherMEN, all the little girls will assume that the call to fish is not for them.   So, hard as it is, try to speak of “fishing disciples,” “people who fish,” and the job “fishing”, in addition to “fishermen.”   

Year C - Proper 22, 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, 20th Sunday after Pentecost (October 6, 2013)

World Communion Sunday

Children are fascinated by the idea of a day on which Christians all around the world celebrate Communion.  So exploring that reality might be the best entry to worship for the children on this World Communion Sunday.  There are many different ways to do this.

UInclude people of different racial, ethnic backgrounds as worship leaders.  If possible, include youth and children as well as adults.  When appropriate, invite them to say something about their church in that place or culture.  Some may want to wear what people in that church wear.

UTake time for worshipers to tell brief stories about their worship experiences in churches in other countries.  

UFeature breads from around the world during Communion.

Have children process in carrying loaves of sourdough, pumpernickel, pitas, Asian nan, Native American fry bread, cornbread, tortillas, etc.  They put their loaves in a big basket in front of the central table where they remain for the service.

If you use bread cubes or if people tear chunks of bread off loaves to share in the sacrament, use a variety of breads.  Older children can cut the cubes during church school the week before.  If the cubes are stored in plastic bags in a freezer until Sunday morning, they will be fresh for worship.

Bread, Bread, Bread, by Ann Morris, is a book of pictures of bread from all around the world.  It would be possible to read the whole book.  But, you could also just look at the pictures on the first pages.  Use the index to learn where each pictured bread is made.  Ponder with the children the fact that people everywhere eat bread and marvel at bread as a good symbol for God’s love for all of us at communion.

U Display chalices or crosses (Central American painted cross, Celtic cross, palm cross, orthodox cross, crucifix, etc.) from around the world OR cover the communion table with cloth from different continents.  Identify the source of each one and tell a brief story about Christians gathering for communion in that place.

UPray your way around the world using a map or globe.  Pray for groups of Christians with which you congregation has contact, groups who have been in the news recently, etc.

If space allows, spread a large world map on the floor or draw a world map on a huge mat of newsprint paper.  Invite worshipers to light a votive candle/tea light from a central candle and to place it on a country.  They then offer their prayer for the people who worship there this morning either silently or aloud.

In a more formal setting, the worship leader can pray his or her way from continent to continent with the congregation replying to each prayer, “Hear our prayers for Christians worshiping in NAME OF PLACE.”  If a world map is displayed or projected on a wall, an acolyte can point to each spot with a stick pointer or a pinpoint light.  (Rehearse this so the focus is on the praying rather than the logistics.)

U Select Communion hymns that sing of the whole world in ways that grab the attention of children.

Sing “Blest Be the Tie That Binds” inviting each worshiper to put a hand on the shoulder of or hold hands with the next person.  Encourage stretching across the aisles.

Before singing “I Come With Joy” read verses 2 and 3 with the congregation following along in their hymnals.  Note the appropriateness of singing those verses on World Communion Sunday.

As you sing “In Christ There is No East or West” project pictures of people from around the world.

Point to the Jamaican source of the music for “Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ.”  If possible add Jamaican drums or simple rhythm instruments to the accompaniment.

USelect prayers, readings, and music from around the world for today’s liturgy.  Gifts of Many Cultures: Worship Resources for the Global Community, edited by Maren C Tirabassi and Kathy Wonson Eddy, is an excellent source.  Many of the prayers and liturgies are filled with every day references, but will still need introducing to the children .  There is also a follow up book titled Gifts in Open Hands: More Worship Resources for the Global Community.

UIf you can locate a set of paper flags in a school supply store, string them together to drape over doorways or in the worship center.  A children’s class can be enlisted to color the flags in advance if needed.

UGo to Jan Richardson Images  for a collage picture of people of all ages and ethnicities gathered around a table.  ($15.)  While you are there, take time to explore Jan’s other work.   I am a regular visitor at her lectionary based website at The Painted Prayerbook.

U Last year on World Communion Sunday Anita Lynn-Stuart in Pennsylvania used a clock with the children to talk about Christians all around the world celebrating at different times so that there is always someone praising God and celebrating communion on this day.

Saint Francis Day

Go to The Texts This Week - Saint Francis Day for lots of resources for Saint Francis Day.  It includes many plans for blessing the animals.  Some year (soon I hope) I will produce a post on it, but it will not be this year.

The Texts

Faith is doing God’s will or trusting God’s plan and rules – even when you are not sure how it is going to work out.  Many of the texts for the day explore FAITH in different situations.  So, make FAITH the word of the day.  Display it on a banner at the beginning of worship and challenge children to draw a star in their printed order of worship every time they hear, sing or say the word today.  Explore FAITH as it appears in the very different texts for the day. 

Lamentations 1:1-6, 3:19-26; Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4; Psalm 37:1-9 even Psalm 137

L Together the Old Testament texts are a sampler of people talking back to God.  These are deeply hurt, terribly sad, and totally angry people, and they are willing to tell God so.  We talk to children often about telling God the happy things, confessing our sins to God, and asking God for help.  But, we also need to give them permission, even encourage them to tell God when they are angry, when life seems unfair, when it looks to them as if God isn’t doing God’s job the way it should be done.  These texts and other stories teach us that God can take such straight talk and even wants it.  Indeed, all these writers seem to work through their outburst to a kind of peace or patience or hope in the middle of their mess.

L One way to explore this in either a children’s time or the day’s sermon is to present photos of people in horrible situations, e.g. portraits of children with harelips, pictures of people living in deep poverty, someone in a hospital bed, etc.  Add situations such as “your parents are getting a divorce.”  Explore the feelings of the people in these situations.  Say aloud some of the things they make you want to say to God and some of the questions you’d like to ask God about these situations.  Note that just as it sometimes helps to talk our feelings out with another person, it can also help to talk them out with God.  Sometimes, in the process of explaining just how horrible it is, we find something we could do to make it better, e.g. telling God how unfair it is for the children to be born with harelips may make you realize that there are ways you could help those children.  Other times, in the process of telling God how bad it is, we remember some of the good things we have too and that makes us feel better.  Or, we remember someone else who has a similar problem and begin to think of ways we can work on the problem together.  And sometimes, it just feels like we’re yelling and God is not listening.  That is the hardest time.  But even then lots of people tell us that if you keep talking to God about it, eventually, sometimes after a very long time, it helps.  No one can say exactly how or why.  But it helps.  So, we need to tell children that, when they are really, really angry and hurt and sad, they can tell God all about it. 

Lamentations 1:1-6 or 3:19-26

L The first Lamentations verses loudly complain about everything that is wrong .  The second set of verses (3: 20-26) manage to find hope in the bleak situation.  Ask six good readers of several different ages (maybe one or two families) to read the verses using the script below.  To make the difference in the two sets of verses clearer, give each reader a two sided round “face” poster on a short pole.  As they read the first set of verses, they each turn the sad face toward the congregation.  As they read the second set of verses, they turn the straight face with eyes looking up and a gold border toward the congregation.

JKLJKLJKLJKLJKLJKLJKLJKLJKLJKL

Lamentations 1:1-6 and 3:21-26

 Readers hold sad face poster toward the congregation.

Reader 1:      How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal.

Reader 2:      She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies.

Reader 3:      Judah has gone into exile with suffering and hard servitude; she lives now among the nations, and finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress.

Reader 4:      The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to the festivals; all her gates are desolate, her priests groan; her young girls grieve, and her lot is bitter.

Reader 5:      Her foes have become the masters, her enemies prosper, because the LORD has made her suffer for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe.

Reader 6:      From daughter Zion has departed all her majesty. Her princes have become like stags that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer.

As readers finish reading their second verse, they turn their face posters to the hopeful side.

Reader 1:      But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

Reader 2       The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,

Reader 3:      His mercies never come to an end;
                       they are new every morning;
                       great is your faithfulness.

Reader 4:      "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."

Reader 5:      The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.

Reader 6:      It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

                                                                                                 NRSV

 JKLJKLJKLJKLJKLJKLJKLJKLJKLJKL

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

L The CEV jumps many of the historical details to provide a message that makes immediate sense to adults and some older children.

Our Lord, how long must I beg for your help

before you listen?

How long before you save us from all this violence?

³                Why do you make me watch such terrible injustice?

Why do you allow violence, lawlessness, crime, and cruelty

to spread everywhere?

 

L This passage offers a model for lamenting.  Read verses 1:2-4 dramatically, letting your anger show.  Pause to note that it IS possible to talk to God this way.  Read 2:1 with arms folded across your chest waiting to hear from God.  Then, read 2:2b-4 stopping as you go to be sure everyone gets the message.  Ponder how it felt to get that message.  Finally, retrace the process and suggest that we can do the same thing today. 

L Put the lament form into a worksheet with fill in the blanks as below.  Challenge worshipers to fill in the blanks from their last week or for the world today.  Collect all the laments in prayer baskets passed through the congregation or located on the Table.

God I can’t take it much more….

It makes me want to….

Still I remember that You….

So, I …..

 

L Read Alexander Who’s Not (Do you Hear Me? I Mean It!) Not Moving, by Judith Viorst, as an example of a lament from a boy who did not want to move but had no choice.

Psalm 137

L Introduce the angriest, meanest, maddest verse in the Bible – Psalm 137:8b-9.  Explain that invaders had conquered the psalmist’s city, burned all the buildings in it, killed most of the people, and taken the rest (including the poet) back to their country as prisoners.  Note that the psalmist had every right to be very angry and sad.  Then read the verses.  React with your face and voice to show how offensive this wish is.  State that it is rather surprising it is in the Bible.  Then, with a change of face and tone, note that you are actually rather glad this verse is there because it reminds us of something that we don’t like to talk about.  That something is that when we are mad and feel mean, no matter how bad it gets, we can tell God all about it.  God can take it.  God can even help us deal with it. 

2 Timothy 1:1-14

J Tell the back story about Timothy with the focus on his faith family.  Timothy’s mother and grandmother told him stories and led him to the Christian community.  There he met Paul who claims to love him like a son and who ordained him to be a minister.  Identify some of the people in your faith family and encourage worshipers of all ages to identify the members of their faith families.  This is great chance to explore the importance families and friends have in shaping each other’s faith. Encourage households to continue this discussion at home.

Challenge especially young worshipers (but also willing older ones) to draw pictures and/or write thank you notes to people who have helped them grow as disciples.  This can be sermon art to be displayed or cards to be delivered in person or mailed after worship.

J Explore Paul’s encouragement to Timothy to have more self-discipline.  Children long to be more and more “my own boss.”  Usually they mean that they want to be able to do what they want to do.  For Paul however, being your own boss means being able to control your actions and emotions, being able to not go along with the crowd, and being able to keep your own rules.  Paul encourages Timothy to have more self-discipline, he says that Timothy knows what he believes about God and Jesus and he knows what rules he wants to live by.  What he needs to work on is not letting other people lead him astray.  He, not other people, is to be his own boss.  He is to discipline himself. 

J As the Charge at the end of the service, address Paul’s words to Timothy to the congregation urging them to be brave disciples this week standing up for Jesus’ ways no matter what.

Luke 17: 5-10

J Children feel little and "not enough."  Jesus says to them that they are “enough” just as the tiny mustard seed is enough.  Remember that this is not the mustard seed parable in which the tiny seed grows into the big bush.  This is the mustard seed that even though it is tiny,  is “enough.”  So show the children a tiny mustard seed (spice section of the grocery store), note how much bigger (physically) they are than that seed, and tell them to get to work as God’s people.   Urge them to live as Jesus’ disciple where ever they are and whatever they are doing.  They can do it.  They are big enough.

J The other point in these verses that speaks to children is that doing what God wants is just our job.  We shouldn’t expect lots of praise and awards for being kind and forgiving and generous.  We just do it.  Illustrate this conversation with prize ribbons labeled MOST FORGIVING or THIRD PLACE FOR KINDNESS.  Laugh at them pointing out that such ribbons will never be awarded.  Those are things we just do because we are Jesus’ disciples and that is what disciples do.

Year C – Proper 21, 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, 19th Sunday after Pentecost (September 29, 2013)

Hope is a common theme in today’s texts.  So fill the sanctuary with symbols of hope such as paraments featuring alpha and omega (God was in charge at the beginning and will still be in charge at the end), rainbow banners (God will not destroy the world again), Easter banners featuring bulbs and butterflies, maybe even an Easter lily.  Also point to the baptismal font (hope for God loving each one of us) and the Table (hope of God’s forgiveness and the coming feast).   Use them as sermon illustrations and introductions to parts of worship that deal with hope.  Or, point them out at the beginning of worship, note when they generally appear in the sanctuary, and encourage worshipers to listen and watch for signs of hope in worship today. 

Jeremiah 32: 1-3a, 6-15

u Most children know very little about the details of buying and selling of property and even less about the problems of impending conquest by foreigners.  It is hard for them to get from the details to any meaningful-to-them message.  So, for children, simply hearing the story and learning a little of what it meant to people in Jeremiah’s day is enough.  To do that, try one or more of the following:

u Introduce the props before reading the story.  Show two paper deeds (one to file publicly and one to keep for your own records), a check, and a glass jar big enough to hold the deed.  Explain what a deed is and why there are two of them.  Compare today’s buyer writing a check to give the seller of the property with Jeremiah’s weighing out gold coins.  Then, drop one of the deeds into the jar and put the lid on.  Note that Jeremiah used a clay jar because that is what he had.  But that either glass or clay the jar makes sure the deed will last a lot longer than just putting it in a drawer.  Then, read the story encouraging your listeners to listen for the props.  (This could be a discussion addressed to the whole congregation or a children’s time.)  If possible display these props for the remainder of the service. 
  

u Have 3 people act out the story as it is read.  The king (maybe wearing a crown) takes his place off to one side (verse 1).  A big man wearing a fierce expression with his arms folded menacingly across his chest takes his place in the center aisle (verse 2a).  And, Jeremiah stands beside a table (verse 2b).  Hanamel enters on verse 8 and he and Jeremiah act out the sale.  For added impact Jeremiah might speak verses 14-15 from memory.  If a response to scripture is your practice, all actors and the reader then say together, “The Word of the Lord” to which the congregation replies “Thanks be to God.”

u The closest I can come to putting Jeremiah’s message into terms that are meaningful for today’s children goes something like this:  Even when you get an awful teacher who doesn’t like you, even when you feel like you don’t have a single friend, even when you don’t make the team or get the part you wanted in the play, even when you feel ugly and dumb and hopeless, remember that is not the last word.  God is looking further ahead than you are.  God is planning for you.  You’ve got to wait and be patient and trust God.   It isn’t easy.
 

u Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst, describes such hopelessness in a series of things that go wrong for Alexander on a single day.  At the end his mother insists that some days are just like that.  It is possible to read some or all of the book including the ending then insisting that even on those days we know that God is in charge and God is planning good things.  So we wait, we are patient, we trust that better days will come. 

u Another short book is The Quarreling Book, by Charlotte Zolotow.  It is really not about quarreling.  Instead it recounts how a number of unhappy incidents in a family escalates the unhappiness until the dog responds to a shove off the bed with playful tail wagging and starts a reverse series of incidents that lead to peace and happiness.  It is a parallel for Jeremiah’s land purchase and calls us to imitate both Jeremiah and the dog in the book.  (Reads aloud in 4 minutes.  If I were reading it, I’d leave out all the “he thought she was UNPLEASANT ADJECTIVE” phrases which feel a bit heavy and unnecessary to me.)

Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16

All the unfamiliar words (snare, fowler, pestilence, pinions, buckler, refuge) make this a hard psalm for children.  Several familiar hymns communicate the message better.

u “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past” is based on Psalm 90 instead of 91, but carries the same message.  Before singing it point everyone to verse 3 and note that God takes a much longer view of our lives than we do.  “A thousand ages are like an evening.”

u “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” is also based on another psalm (Psalm 46), but carries the message of this one too.  The words are difficult for young readers, but the music communicates brave confidence and most congregations sing it with that feeling.  Before singing it, tell the story of its writing.  Powerful people wanted Martin Luther dead.  So, his friends were hiding him in a castle.  He and his friends were very scared.  While he was there he wrote this song to help his friends and himself remember that God was with them.

u “God Be With You ‘Til We Meet Again” sung at the conclusion of this service is an opportunity for a little worship education about benedictions.  Explain to worshipers that the benediction (the very last words in every worship service) is a reminder that we can trust God to be with us no matter what comes our way.  Put the words of the verses into your own words, something like: 

May God guide you.

Trust God to care for you like a shepherd.

May God protect you.

May God provide you physical and spiritual food.

When life gets tough may God’s arms be wrapped
      around you.

May God’s love be your motto and may God be with
      you at your death.

Encourage children to at least sing the repeated beginnings and endings of each verse.  Even older elementary readers will be able to read the short words of the verses.

 Amos 6:1a, 4-7

This echoes the teachings about the dangers of wealth in the other texts of the day but it a way that is not very accessible to children.

Psalm 146

The script for reading Psalm 146 below calls for 2 readers and the congregation.  It would be possible to use only one reader and the congregation for simplicity.  Point out all the “the Lord”s before reading it and challenge even non-readers to join in on them.

G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G

Psalm 146

Leader:          Praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD, O my soul!

All:                 I will praise the LORD as long as I live;

 I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

 
Reader 1:       Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals,
                                in whom there is no help.

 When their breath departs, they return to the earth;

         on that very day their plans perish.

Reader 2:     Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the LORD their God,

who made heaven and earth, the sea,

         and all that is in them;

who keeps faith forever;

who executes justice for the oppressed;

who gives food to the hungry. 

All:                 The LORD 

Reader 1:      sets the prisoners free;

All:                 the LORD 

Reader 2:      opens the eyes of the blind. 

All:                 The LORD 

Reader 1:      lifts up those who are bowed down; 

All:                 the LORD 

Reader 2:      loves the righteous.

All:                 The LORD 

Reader 1:     watches over the strangers;

he upholds the orphan and the widow,

but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

All:                 The LORD 

Reader 2:      will reign forever, your God, O Zion,

                               for all generations. 

All:                 Praise the LORD!

                                                            NRSV 

G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G

u Go to Year B - Proper 18  for a shortened version doing Psalm 146:5-10 focused on “the Lord” verses.

1 Timothy 6:6-19

u Before reading this text, tell the back story.  Paul is writing to encourage Timothy, a young minister who is having a hard time.

u Paul’s message to Timothy is that he needs to remember what is important.  He needs to pay attention to what is important and ignore what isn’t that important.  One way to help children identify the difference between the important and the not important is to name some of the things that we feel we gotta have, gotta do, gotta be only to learn after a bit that they were really not that important.   Display an article that you thought you gotta have at some point, but quickly discovered wasn’t worth much (clothes or shoes that once seemed essential, a video game or gadget that I had to have, etc.)  Tell about wanting it, going to great effort to get it, and finding it wasn’t that cool.  Or, tell about some group you thought you had to be part of or some award you thought you had to win, but did not. 

u Check The Quarreling Book and other references for acting hopefully at the beginning of this post.

u If your congregation frequently sings “Be Thou My Vision” and your hymn book includes the verse about riches, walk through that verse before singing the hymn.  Point out and briefly define the wealth words (riches, inheritance, and treasure) and put the phrases into your own simpler words.

I don’t care about money or people thinking I am cool

Your love is all I will ever need.

I care about you more than anything else, God.

You are my real treasure.

Luke 16:19-31

u The rich man’s sin was that he ignored Lazarus and his needs.  Lazarus was right there in front of him, hungry, sick, plagued by dogs and the rich man did nothing to help him.  Psychologists tell us that infants perceive only themselves and their needs.  They see themselves not as the center of the universe, but as the whole universe.  Everything around them exists only in relation to them.  If all goes well, children grow beyond this throughout their childhood until they see themselves as one among many and as people who are called to help other people.  Our culture complicates the process because it allows us, even encourages us, to remain oblivious to certain others.  The challenge in this text is for listeners of all ages to identify some of the people around them who are regularly ignored, even treated as if they are invisible, and then to reach out to them.  For children these ignored ones include the outcast kids at school, at times even members of their own household, people of all ages in their neighborhood who are looked down on, people in certain racial, ethnic, or religious groups, etc.

u To help children (and other worshipers) follow this rather long story, prepare three male readers to read it while moving around the front of the sanctuary to follow the movement in the story.  Place their scripts inside black choir binders for esthetics.  Below is a script.

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Luke 16:19-31

Reader One (from center): There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

Reader Two (below and off to one side):  And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores.  The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. (Move to opposite side and up a step or two if possible.)

Reader One:  The rich man also died and was buried.  (Move to side opposite Reader Two and down a step or two if possible.)  In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. (Third Reader stand beside Reader Two.) He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’

Reader Three: Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.  Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’

Reader Two:   ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’

Reader Three: ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’

Reader One: ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

Reader Three:  ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

All:  The Word of the Lord!

                                                       New Revised Standard Version

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u If you featured intercessory prayer last week, fine tune the emphasis this week by brainstorming together a list of “invisible people” at school, in the neighborhood, at work, and in the larger world.  Pray through the list together.  If you did not explore intercessory prayer last week, introduce it this week and do the brainstorming as a part of collecting prayer concerns.