This Sunday is New Year’s Eve
of the church year. We conclude the year
remembering that Christ is the beginning and end of all life and remembering
his story as we have followed it through the concluding year. Next Sunday we
begin again. That makes this a good
opportunity to take the long view of the church year.
t Bring out all the seasonal paraments and drape them over the central table in order. Connect each one to its season.
t Give the children a coloring
sheet of the church year and crayons with which to color in the
seasons adding important words and pictures that go with each season.
 |
| I would give this sketch to an artist in the congregation for “slicking up.” |
t Devote the whole service or just the sermon to reviewing the year. Using the lessons and carols format, read a
key text, talk about the main theme, pray a prayer, and sing a song from each
season. One worship leader who did this
changed her stole to match each season. Recall
the ways your congregation has celebrated each season during the past
year. Praise God for the journey through
the seasons each year.
t Put the focus on the life
of the Lord of the seasons.
Tell a story of Jesus and sing a song about Jesus for each season. Children who often do not connect all the
stories about Jesus into a whole especially benefit from the chance to connect
them all. Adults benefit from rehearsing
the long arc of the story and placing it in both all of history and the cycle
of the church year.
Christ the King
t Go to Year C - Christ the King to read about how children understand kings and ideas based
on the kind of king Jesus chose to be.
Christ the Cosmic Power
t Children are intensely interested in power.
They recognize early that they have very little and aspire to have more. The parents, teachers, and baby sitters have
absolute power. The biggest and oldest
among them have certain power within the group.
They admire superheroes with super powers. This Sunday says to them that Jesus has all
the power in the universe, always has had it and always will. But Jesus chose not to use that power to get
all the good stuff for himself. Instead
he used it to take care of and love people.
He calls himself a shepherd king.
And, he calls us to use our power in the same caring, loving way.
AUTHORITY DOMINION REIGN RULE POWER
Children
need help with biblical power vocabulary.
Authority, dominion , reign (sounds like a weather event to
non-readers), even rule are unfamiliar terms.
Choose one or two to use today.
Make one or all of them into a POWER POSTER
printing the words in big powerful fonts.
Christ, the Shepherd King
t Sheep and shepherds appear in several of the day’s texts. At the beginning of worship give children
strips of small sheep stickers and instruct them to listen for the sheep in the
songs, stories, prayers and sermon and to place a sticker in their printed
order of worship each time they hear one.
(Younger readers will put their stickers anywhere on the page. More proficient readers can be encouraged to
place them at the correct spot on the page – and thus become more familiar with
the printed order.)
t During a children’s time make shepherd’s crook crosses to take home as Bible bookmarks. Each child will need one pipe-cleaner to bend into the shepherd’s staff and a 2 inch piece of pipe cleaner to wrap around the staff forming the crossbar.
t Few urban or suburban children know much about sheep or shepherding. For many a shepherd is a fierce guard dog and a staff is a group of people at the school or recreation center. So display a cuddly stuffed sheep and talk about real sheep who do not smell very good, can’t find their own food, wander off if not watched constantly and wade into water that can soak their wool and drown them. As you talk slowly move from cuddling the stuffed sheep to holding it at an arms distance with disgust. Talk with admiration about the shepherds and the job they do taking care of sheep. Then, sitting the sheep in a prominent place for the rest of the service, note with surprise that Jesus compared himself to a shepherd and us as his sheep. Ponder why that fits and point to a song or prayer you will use today that refers to Jesus as shepherd.
t If all the shepherd talks leads you to sing
Psalm 23, remember that there are many musical versions of it. Many however use the King James vocabulary
that few children know. Probably the first choice is “The Lord’s My
Shepherd, I’ll Not Want” (Scottish Psalter) because the tune is familiar to the
congregation and because the words are closest to today’s English. “The
Lord’s My Shepherd, All My Need” (Christopher L. Webber, 1986) has easier
vocabulary but the tune is less familiar. Finally, “He Leadeth Me, O
Blessed Thought” is a meditation on the theme of the psalm with an easy to read
and understand repeated chorus.
It is also a fact that each congregation has its favorite
Psalm 23 hymn which is sung with a passion children hear. If you select
such a song, in a brief introduction explain one or two key words or phrases
before inviting the congregation to sing it.
Today’s Texts
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
t I was struck by the difference it made when these
verses are printed as poetry rather than prose.
All the individual sheep images stand out more clearly. Go to Hedwyg's Blog to see it. Print it down the middle of a
large sheet of paper leaving lots of marginal space. Read through it with children talking about
the sheep and shepherds, then invite them to illustrate
it during worship and post it on the rail at the front of the
sanctuary or in some other designated place at the end of worship or at
offertory time, if that is appropriate.
Take time to look at and comment on any you see as children leave the
sanctuary.
t Matthew has Jesus dividing the sheep from the
goats. Ezekiel has the shepherd separating the lean from the fat sheep. Children understand Ezekiel more
readily. Talk about the ways we push
each other around to be first in line or get a good seat on the bus or get to
the cookie plate first. Take time to
show where human flanks and butts are and how we use them against each other. Children are delighted that the word butt is
in the Bible and will remember Ezekiel’s message as they engage such shoving
matches in the future.
Psalm 100
t Turn the psalm into a congregational reading with many
short lines that new as well as experienced readers can follow. (The two groups could be choir and
congregation or two halves of the congregation.)
t * t
* t * t * t * t * t * t * t * t * t * t * t * t * t
Psalm 100
Leader: Make
a joyful noise to the Lord, all
the earth.
Group
1: Worship the Lord with gladness!
Group 2: Come
into God’s presence with singing!
Leader: Know
this! The Lord is God.
Group 1: Know
this! We belong to the Lord who made us.
Group 2: Know
this! We are God’s people,
and the sheep of God’s pasture.
and the sheep of God’s pasture.
Leader: So,
enter God’s gates with thanksgiving,
Group 1: Come
into the holy courts with praise.
Group 2: Give
thanks to God and bless God’s holy name.
Leader: For
the Lord is good;
Group 1: God’s
steadfast love endures forever,
Group 2: God’s
faithfulness is for all generations.
Based on NRSV
and Presbyterian Book of Common Worship
t * t
* t * t * t * t * t * t * t * t * t * t * t * t * t
t If you sing “All People That
on Earth Do Dwell” in the USA on the Sunday before Thanksgiving,
have a soloist or the choir line it out for the congregation. That is the way the pilgrims sang it.
Psalm 95:1-7a
 |
| from the rehearsal |
t On its 75th Anniversary one church called
itself to worship using this psalm. Fifth graders read the verses. First
through fourth graders came forward in groups waving streamers as each verse
was read. They stood in place waving
their streamers together as the congregation read, then swooped them to the
ground as they dropped on one knee at the end of the final line. During the opening hymn that followed they
returned their streamers to designated adults and joined their parents in the
pews. It would make a good child-led
Call to Worship for Christ the Kings Sunday which in the USA is also the Sunday
before Thanksgiving.
! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! *! * ! * ! * ! *! * ! * ! * ! *! * ! * ! * ! *! * ! * !
Psalm 95:
1-7a
Reader 1 Come, let us sing joyfully to God,
let us shout to the Rock of our salvation.
Reader 2: Let us greet God with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms.
Reader 3: For Yahweh is a great God above all gods;
Reader 4: God cradles the depths of the earth and
holds fast the mountain peaks.
Reader 5: God shaped the sea and owns it and
formed the dry land by hand.
Reader 6: Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the God who made us.
People: For Yahweh is our God,
and we are the people God cares for,
the flock God leads.
All readers: Brothers and sisters, praise the Lord.
People: The Lord’s name be praised!
Adapted
from Psalms Anew,
by
Nancy Schreck OSF and Maureen Leach OSF
! * ! * ! * ! *! * ! * ! * ! *! * ! * ! * ! *! * ! * ! * ! *! * ! * ! * ! *! * ! * !
t If you are following the The Advent Project and using
the O Antiphons (see The O Antiphons for Children????), today’s petition is “O Ruler of the Nations, come rule the whole
world.” Introduce it by pointing
on a globe or world map to places where Jesus rules. Since Jesus rules in all places, point to a
variety of places like a beautiful national park, Disney World, and places that
are filled with pain (today I’d include African where Ebola rages, the Middle East
and a place where children dig food out of dumpsters). Conclude by pointing to your town. Follow this with a responsive prayer in which
the leader offers a petition about each place pointed out to which the
congregation responds, “O Ruler of nations, come rule the whole world”
Ephesians 1:15-23
t Paul insists that Christ is the most powerful force in
the whole universe and that Christians can tap into Christ’s power. Christ, not monsters, evil leaders, bullies,
scary storms, or anything else is the most powerful power there is. When we are connected to Christ and acting as
Christ’s servants we also have great power.
The CEV translation of verses 19 -23 makes this clearest to children.
t To highlight the last phrase of the Lord’s Prayer and
celebrate Christ’s power and glory, create a litany. Each entry reviews events or the theme of one
of the seasons. The congregation
responds, “Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the
glory forever.” It could
be an affirmation of faith following a sermon exploring Christ’s glory and
power as seen in the seasons of the church year. Point out the format before inviting the
congregation to join in reading it.
Matthew 25:31-46
t Because this is a rather long passage that can lose
children in all the words, invite worshipers to join in reading
it as a play. The worship
leader sets it up and serves as Narrator.
A second reader stands front and center as the King. The right half and the left half of the
congregation read the appropriate parts.
Matthew 25:31-46
Narrator: When
the Son of Man comes as King and all the angels with him, he will sit on his
royal throne, and the people of all the nations will be gathered before him.
Then he will divide them into two groups, just as a shepherd separates the
sheep from the goats. He will put the
righteous people on his right and the others on his left. Then the King will say to the people on his
right,
King: Come, you that are blessed by my
Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since
the creation of the world. I was hungry
and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you
received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took
care of me, in prison and you visited me.
Narrator: The
righteous will then answer him,
Right Side: When,
Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a
drink? When did we ever see you a
stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you? When did we ever see you sick or in prison,
and visit you?
King: I tell you, whenever you did this for
one of the least important of these members of my family, you did it for me!’
Narrator: Then
he will say to those on his left,
King: Away from me, you that are under God’s
curse! Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his
angels! I was hungry but you would not
feed me, thirsty but you would not give me a drink; I was a stranger but you would not welcome me
in your homes, naked but you would not clothe me; I was sick and in prison but
you would not take care of me.
Narrator: Then
they will answer him,
Left Side: When,
Lord, did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in
prison, and would not help you?
King: I tell you, whenever you refused to
help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me.
Narrator: These,
then, will be sent off to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to
eternal life.
The Good News Bible
 |
| copyright Jan Richardson This image available at janricharsonimages.com |
t Display photos of a
grand variety of people from around the world. Select some that are inviting and others that
are threatening. Ask worshipers “Can you
see Christ here?” After discussing which
pictures are harder for us to find Christ in, reread all or part of the king’s
conversation with the sheep and the goats.
If
you do this as a children’s time, guide the conversation carefully. It is easy to fall into children’s cute
comments about culturally different people.
Actually, this conversation is more powerful as part of the “real”
sermon. Children realize that adults
have trouble seeing Christ in some of the pictured people too and the adults
can’t write the exercise off as something cute with the kids.
t Leo Tolstoy’s story about Martin the Shoemaker who takes care of 3 people in need who pass his window only to discover that he has met Jesus in each one of them is usually read at Christmas, but is a direct retelling of Jesus’ parable. So read it today.
t Carolyn Winfrey Gillette’s “Whatever You Do” offers
a simple, straight-forward words based on this text and set to the tune of “Immortal
Invisible God Only Wise”. Find the words
at Carolyn's Hymns.
There are some absolutely fantastic ideas here - thanks so much!
ReplyDelete