Year A - The Baptism of the Lord (January 12, 2014)

Because it is “Baptism of the Lord” Sunday the first obvious worship theme is baptism, both that of Jesus and our own.  (If you are going this way, jump to the Matthew text below.)  But the texts also call for a review of Jesus life.  And, they introduce the Epiphany emphasis on Jesus being for all people everywhere rather than just those like us.  So there are lots of choices here.

For a totally different take on these texts:  Laura Dykstra at Voices of Truth insists that today’s texts are all about voices and using them to tell what we know.  So before the call to worship urge listeners of all ages to listen for voices in today’s readings, songs and prayers.  Even distribute lists of voice references to listen for and check off as they are heard – sort of a worship treasure hunt.  Gather the children near the end of worship to discuss what they have heard, restate the basic message, and encourage them to use their voices well during the coming week.

The Texts

Isaiah 42:1-9

> The Roman Catholic lectionary omits verses 5, 8, and 9.  The result is a shorter more focused reading.  If you are willing to make a totally Christian interpretation of this Old Testament text, read it immediately after the gospel story introducing it is as God’s “proud parent speech” about Jesus.

from Wikipedia Commons

> Use these verses to explore God’s amazing approach to bringing justice.  God does not stomp on the “bad guys” or those who make life difficult for everyone else.  God works gently with them to change them.  Celebrate this about God AND insist that God wants us to use the same plan when we deal with “bad guys” or unfair situations.  (As I write this, the news is full of remembrances of Nelson Mandela.  Certainly, he was a man who exemplified this approach.  His story makes immediate sense to children.)

> Isaiah’s description of the Suffering Servant of God can be seen as a either a description of or a job description for Jesus.  Walk through it verse by verse with children helping them understand some of the poetic images and connecting those images to stories about Jesus.  Point out that these were verses Jesus knew and may have thought about as he decided to be baptized and begin the work God asked him to do.

 

Psalm 29

Like many psalms this one needs to be experienced rather than explained.  So, try one of the reading plans that have been posted as this psalm appeared in the lectionary to date.  (It is popular with the lectionary creators!)

> Go to Baptism of the Lord (Year B) for a script that emphasizes the question “How strong is the Lord?”

> Go to Baptism of the Lord (Year A) for suggestions that explore this storm.  There are directions for creating a stormy coloring sheet and suggestions for accompanying the reading with small percussion instruments or people using their hands to make a sequence of storm sounds.  (If you sit on wooden backed pews, the second produces a truly awesome sound!) 

> Or use the script below to include the whole congregation in following the coming of the storm, its full power and its receding into the distance.  Before reading it, remind people of scary storms and the quiet afterward when we can reflect on God’s power that is even greater than the power of a storm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Psalm 29

A Very Stormy Psalm

ALL GROUPS

¹     Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

²     Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;

worship the Lord in holy splendor.

GROUP 1

³     The voice of the Lord is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders,

the Lord, over mighty waters.

⁴     The voice of the Lord is powerful;

the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

GROUPS 1 and 2

⁵     The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;

the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

⁶     He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,

and Sirion like a young wild ox.

GROUPS 1, 2, and 3

⁷     The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.

⁸     The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;

the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

GROUPS 1, 2, and 3 even louder

⁹     The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,

and strips the forest bare;

and in his temple all say, “Glory!”

PAUSE

ALL GROUPS VERY QUIETLY

¹⁰   The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;

the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.

¹¹   May the Lord give strength to his people!

May the Lord bless his people with peace!

                                                        NRSV

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Acts 10:34-43

> A couple of answers to the “how much do I read” question:

The Roman Catholic lectionary calls for only verses 35-38 which makes the reading shorter for children and more focused on Jesus’ concern for whole world.

Both these readings stop before Peter baptizes Cornelius and his household.  Add verses 44-48 to provide a second baptism story to the day.

> This sermon was preached as Peter met, ate with, and baptized the gentile Cornelius.  The whole story is more concisely presented in Acts 11:1-18.  Go to Fifth Sunday in Easter (Year C) for lots of ideas about presenting and exploring the whole story with its emphasis on Jesus being for all people of all races and cultures.

> The context of Peter’s summary of the gospel is preaching to the gentiles for the first time.  Peter prefaces his summary with “I realize that God has no partiality” or “I know now that God treats everyone the same” or “God doesn’t play favorites.”  There are better texts to explore this truth with children.  But, if that partiality is to be the focus of worship, explore it with children as follows:

Ask who God loves more

- students with good grades or those with not-so-
   good grades
- rich people or poor people
- people who wear cool clothes or people who always
  look weird
- athletes or nerds

Conclude that God made and loves all these people equally.  These people are God’s loved children.  We are to treat every person we meet as God’s loved child and we are to remember that we are God’s loved child.  (This could be developed into a low key anti-bullying pitch and/or “remember who you are when you are being bullied” pitch.)

> Dr. Seuss tells the story of a silly division between the star bellied sneetches and the plain bellied sneetches.  Both kinds of sneetches, like Peter, had to learn that they were all valuable.  Find this tale at the public library in Sneetches: And Other Stories, by Dr. Seuss.

> For children, today is the hinge between all the Advent/Christmas/Epiphany of Jesus the Baby and the stories of Jesus the adult that will dominate worship from now until Easter.  They both enjoy and need help stringing the stories together so that they feel they know all of Jesus.  Peter’s sermon offers a good summary.  If you did not do this on the First Sunday After Christmas, today present a series of pictures of Jesus including birth, baptism, teaching, healing, calling fishermen or Zacchaeus, the cross, and resurrection.  Pictures may come from the church school teaching picture file, enlarged pictures from Bible story books or projected images collections.  As you present each picture ask who is in it and what they are doing.  This is both a chance to rehearse the whole story of Jesus and an opportunity for a little worship education about the seasons of worship.  Note how you celebrated birth at Christmas, will celebrate resurrection on Easter and will be telling stories about Jesus every Sunday between Christmas and Easter.  (If you do this, look ahead to Jesus stories during the next few months to include in your summary story this morning.)

> “O Sing A Song of Bethlehem” and “I Danced in the Morning” are songs that trace Jesus' life and celebrate all of Jesus' life on the day of his baptism.  Before singing one of them, point out the connection to Peter’s sermon and invite worshipers to follow the story of Jesus’ life in the verses.

> If you use the Apostle’s Creed in worship, this is a good day to highlight the section on Jesus.  Walk through the words adding brief comments about each phrase as you go.  Then, invite worshipers to claim the phrases with a litany.  A worship leader reads each phrase with the congregation responding, “I believe in Jesus.”

Matthew 3:13-17

Reading about Jesus’ baptism often leads to exploring baptism in general.  There are lots of interesting ways to do that with children in the sanctuary.

> One minister emailed the entire congregation asking them to talk about the baptism of each person in their household before coming to church on this Sunday.  Those stories formed a personal context for each worshiper as they explored baptism together during worship.

 

> If you hang curtains of blue ribbons in the doors to the sanctuary on baptismal Sundays, hang them today in honor of Jesus’ baptism.  At the very least they provide an introduction to the story of Jesus’ baptism that connects his baptism to that of each worshiper.  It is also a chance to suggest to worshipers that as they pass through those curtains every time they appear people can remember and thank God for their own baptism.  In the charge and benediction, remind worshipers to do so as they leave the sanctuary today.  If you have a children’s time, explain the practice and lead the children out the doors and back through the curtains. 

> During the sermon walk through and comment on your congregation’s baptismal rite.  Even use a doll and adult volunteers to take the various roles in both infant and adult baptisms.  Show several baptismal certificates for members of the congregation.

> Sing a baptismal hymn for Jesus today.  If your congregation regularly sings one at baptisms, talk about its meaning and then sing if for Jesus today.  Two baptism hymns that are child accessible:

“Child of Blessing, Child of Promise” - Read verse 1 noting how it is true for Jesus and for every person baptized.  Then read verse 4 noting the same is true.  Jesus had to learn to listen for God’s call and to love and laugh and trust God more than all.  So do we.  (I’d skip verses 2 and 3 to focus everyone’s attention and for the sake of brevity.)

 

Feel free to copy this.

“Christ When For Us You Were Baptized” – To point out the connection of the first three verses to the story of Jesus’ baptism in Matthew, give each child a sheet of paper with the hymn words printed in the middle.  Point to the highlighted words and phrases promising that they will hear them in the story of Jesus’ baptism.  Read (or reread) the biblical story challenging them to raise a hand each time they hear one of the phrases each time they hear it.  Point out that the first three verses are about Jesus’ baptism and the fourth is about ours.  Repeat the highlighted phrase in the fourth verse and briefly discuss what that means.  Then challenge the children to illustrate all those words about Jesus’ baptism around the edges of the sheet.  Invite them to post their sheets at an agreed upon place (baptismal font, altar rail, door to sanctuary, even your office door) at the end of the service.  This could be done as a children’s time or could be tied to the reading of the gospel for the day.  In either case the congregation should sing the song shortly thereafter.

 

 

from Wikipedia Commons

> What is different and the same with Jesus’ baptism and ours.  Meet at the font, show a photo of Jordan River.  Note all the differences in where Jesus was baptized and where most of us are baptised.  Then read “You are my beloved Son” and note the sameness of what God said to Jesus and says to us at our baptisms.

> Invite worshipers to dip their fingers into the water of the font saying “I am the beloved child of God.”  Or, place a mirror in the baptismal font and have children (or all worshipers) look into it saying the phrase.

> Challenge children to do as Martin Luther did - when they wash their face each morning, say “I am God’s loved child.” You might demonstrate with a bowl of water for a children’s time, and invite one or two children to do the same.  (Remember to provide towels.)

> Water Came Down: the Day You Were Baptized, by Walter Wangerin, Jr. describes how sun, cloud, rain, wind, and water are involved in a child’s baptism.  The idea is lovely, but a little over the top.  The whole universe seems to revolve about the child rather than the child taking his or her place among God’s people and the universe.  One way to use it in worship would be to read only the end of the book beginning with “Your family was there that holy day…”after walking through your congregation’s infant baptism rite.  Can anyone point us to other good baptism books to read in worship to children?

> If your congregation practices infant baptism and most baptisms are infant baptisms, this story introduces the idea that older folks can be baptized, too.  Tell the story of Jesus’ baptism.  Then, tell about an adult being baptized.  Note that when babies are baptized they do not understand what is going on.  Everyone else remembers that God loves us even before we can know it.  When youth and adults are baptized, they know what they are doing.  They decide to become followers of Jesus.  Be sure to point out that people who were baptized as babies, get their chance to say publicly that they want to follow Jesus when they are older and explain when that happens, e.g. in the Presbyterian church it is at confirmation .  (Do this for idealistic older children who are looking for a chance to take a public stand.  Be sure these children know that their parents have not robbed them of that opportunity and tell them when it will come.)

> In this story God gives Jesus a new name – Son.  Explore the importance of this and all names by listing “bad names” you have been called.  Invite worshipers to add to the list silently or aloud.  Describe the power of those names to make us “less.”  Then insist that God says the same thing to each of us that God says to Jesus, “You are my beloved Son/Daughter/Child.”  In prayer a worship leader might leave silence for people to recall bad names they have been called and bad names they have heard hurled at others.  Then, thank God for giving us the good name and pray for help in finding good names for everyone we meet.

> In many congregations, new officers are installed in early January.  In this case, Jesus’ baptism links to their installation (maybe ordination too).  Jesus in being baptized is telling God and the people around him that he is ready to undertake God’s mission.  Officers are agreeing to undertake missions to which the church is calling them. 

Year C - Proper 12, 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 10th Sunday after Pentecost (July 28, 2013)

Most of today’s texts lead us to explore how freely we are called to talk with God.  Whether you focus on the Lord’s Prayer or more generally on how freely we are called to share our lives and ideas with God, children are interested.

D Invite children to join you at the front before the call to worship.  Point out in today’s worship we will be thinking together about prayer.  Note that every Sunday we do a lot of praying during worship.  Give each child a copy of the order of worship and either a colored pen or a strip of small stickers.  (Praying hands stickers are available in many Bible bookstores.)  Challenge them to draw a star around every prayer we pray today after they have prayed it with the whole congregation.  Invite them to show you their work as they leave the sanctuary.  Then, follow through with them asking about their prayer record if they do not thrust it into your hand immediately.

Hosea 1:2-10

This is one tough text!  The family images offer something to offend everyone.  Adults are offended by the marriage relationship.  Children are offended by the names given the children.  “How could God do that to a kid?” they ask.  “It is not the kid’s fault that the adults have not lived as they should.  That is not fair!”  To get from there to Hosea’s message about God’s faithful love, one has to unpack the details of the images and set them in the context of the whole book.  This is more easily done in adult classrooms than in sanctuaries.  Fortunately, the Hosea text next Sunday features the image of a parent continuing to love a very difficult child.  That text may offer a better chance to explore Hosea’s message of God’s unending love in a way that speaks to worshippers of all ages.  For today, go with the some of the other texts in worship.

Psalm 85

This psalm is clearly linked to the Hosea rather than the New Testament readings.  It is also difficult for children to follow.   Go to Second Sunday of Advent (Year B) for a worship activity that does not really fit with the other texts for today.

Genesis 18:20-32

D This story is a conversation between God and Abraham.  So, have it read by two readers – God and Abraham.  A narrator sets the scene explaining that Sodom and Gomorrah are two cities whose people had been so sinful that God was considering destroying them entirely.  The readers then read straight from the Bible excluding the he said phrases.  Use CEV or TEV for clearer language and choose an Abraham reader who will give it lots of expression using his voice, his face, even his whole body.

D This could lead to a sermon/discussion about being honest with God in prayer – something children need to hear.   Add to Abraham’s story other biblical stories in which people tell God exactly “how it is” such as

Moses talking God out of destroying the Israelites,

Various prophets telling God why they didn’t want to be prophets,

Elijah telling God how sorry for himself he was feeling,

Jesus on the cross asking where God was,

Even Psalm 137:7-9

D Years ago a friend caught her then 10 year old engaging God in a similar conversation.  From the back yard the mother saw a paper with writing on it taped in her daughter’s window and went for a closer look.  The message was a prayer, “God, I can’t suck it up much more.  Your friend, Emma”

Psalm 138

One commentator says this is the happiest psalm in the Bible.  In today’s worship it might be introduced as a happy song for God.  If you use the TEV translation, alert listeners to all the “you”s for God and the “I”s for us.  Encourage them to listen for what this psalmist is saying to and about God.

Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)

The problem for the Colossians was people who were making it more complicated to be Christian than it had to be.  “Real Christians” followed certain laws and cultivated a sophisticated spirituality.  Colossian Christians were tying themselves in knots trying to do and be all these things.  Paul tells them to relax.  Remember who you are and whose you are.

For children today the problem is all the things people tell them they “gotta be” and “gotta do.”  They gotta be athletic, smart, gifted, cute/pretty, popular, and more.  All these are fine things, but they are not the best thing, not the thing that will make life abundant and “good,” not the thing, that will save us.  Paul tells these children to relax and remember that God made them and loves them.  They belong to Jesus. 

D With this as background, the part of this text that preaches to kids is verses 6-7.  These verses use two images to direct readers toward a simple disciplined life:

Be rooted in Christ

Build yourself in Christ

Both images feature deep relationship.  If you must do a children’s time, physically act out rooting.  Start by uprooting a potted plant to see all the roots and talk about how they work into the soil looking for food and water.  Invite the children to use their fingers as imaginary roots digging into imaginary soil for food and water.  Then snuggle with one child next to you and remind them of the way they might root around with their parents at home.  Finally, snuggle close together as a group.  Recall Paul’s instruction to “be rooted in Christ.”  Mention things you do together as a congregation (worship, fellowship hour, church school, special events) that keep you rooted together in Christ. 

D For children, circumcision is simply a Jewish ritual that welcomes boys into God’s family – just as baptism is a Christian ritual that welcomes boys and girls into God’s family.  Paul’s point is that if you are baptized you are one of God’s people.  No special feats or disciplines are required beyond that. 

D The liturgical link for this text is baptism.  So,

Even if there is no baptism for today, be sure the baptismal font is filled.  At some point invite the children to meet you there (or walk there to speak to everyone).  Speak about baptism as the one basic thing that shows who we are.  Invite children (all worshipers) to dip their hand into the font saying “I belong to God.  God loves me.”  Conclude that because this is true nothing else much matters.

Meet the children at the baptismal font.  Show them an ordination certificate or some award or sign that you are special (I’d show them the purple crocheted bookmark I won in the fifth grade for memorizing more Bible verses than anyone else in the fifth grade) then dip your hands in the water and tell the children that being a baptized person is more important to you than the award.  Talk about being one of God’s people.  Invite the children to dip a hand into the font.  As they do say phrases like, “Remember, God loves you.”  “You belong to God’s people.” 

Ask worshipers to follow in their hymnals as you talk your way through a baptismal hymn frequently sung in your worship.  Then sing it together.

Luke 11:1-13

D There are three parts to this text: the Lord’s Prayer, the parable about persistence, and the teachings about prayer. When they hear the Lord’s Prayer (which most children are still learning) prayed and discussed by the whole congregation, children realize that this is an important prayer.  It is not just a kid prayer.  Teenagers and adults, whom we all assume already know and understand the prayer, benefit from exploring it in the congregation because they can unravel some misunderstandings and confusions without having to admit they have them.  This is the one time the Lord’s Prayer appears in the lectionary, so it is hard to pass up making it the focus of the day. 

D Worship planners could either build the entire worship service around the Lord’s Prayer.  Or, explore the parables and teachings in the sermon and use the Lord’s Prayer in a special time for children or feature it in the day’s liturgy.  Or, peaking ahead to next week’s Psalm 107 suggestions, it would be possible to explore the Lord’s Prayer this week and delve into the concerns of God’s response to prayer in the parable and teachings in this text using Psalm 107 as a case study on next Sunday. 

D Lord’s Prayer Words to Watch:  It’s not just the children who are puzzled by some of the phrases in the Lord’s Prayer.  So work through them for everyone.  Briefly.

Hallowed means holy.  So one translation of the first line is “God, you are holy!”

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven is one sentence, but when it is prayed in public there is often a huge breath gap before on earth as it is on heaven.  I may have been in my teens before someone glued those phrases together for me.

Bread is food AND everything else we need for survival, even money which is slangily called bread. 

Forgive us our debts, trespasses, transgressions, sins.  The new ecumenical version of the prayer uses sins which makes most sense to children.  Debts are financial IOUs.  Trespassing is going on someone’s property uninvited.  And, transgressions has fallen out of everyday speech entirely.  So, it is worth taking time to translate the term used in your congregation and to point to the terms they will hear worshipers use in other churches.

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil is another phrase that needs explaining as a whole.  For children it means please don’t let us get into situations that ask us to be braver and stronger than we are or situations in which we can’t figure out what to do or situations in which we will be hurt (deliver us from evil).

For thine is the kingdom, power and glory forever echoes the praise of the first.  God you are the biggest most powerful, most wonderful being and always will be.

D Read The Lord’s Prayer, by Tim Ladwig, a picture book linking the phrases of the Lord’s Prayer to the experiences of a father and daughter spending a day fixing the house of an elderly neighbor.  The clear message is that praying the prayer leads us to living that way.
 

If anyone turns this sketch into a spiffy computer generated worksheet,
I hope you'll share it with the rest of us.

D Give each worshiper a Lord’s Prayer worksheet with the phrases of the prayer written in 6 separate sections of the page with lots of space around them.  Encourage worshipers to write or draw about each phrase as you work through the worship service.  Their notes may be things they want to remember about the phrase or situations in their own lives that connect to the phrase or their own versions of that prayer phrase today.  Near the end of the service, pray the prayer with a leader stating each phrase leaving generous time for worshipers to pray the phrase silently using their notes.

D Base the Prayers of the People/Pastoral Prayer/ Long Prayer on the Lord’s Prayer.  Use two prayer leaders - one to say each prayer of the Lord’s Prayer, a second to offer prayers for the day related to each phrase after the first leader prays them.  You may or may not follow each phrase with silence for individual prayer.  Both leaders may be adults.  Or, the first might be an older child.  This is powerful for both the adults who cherish the sound of the young voice offering the traditional prayer and for the children who hear one of their own as a worship leader.

D Scatter the phrases of the prayer throughout the prayers of the day in some not too subtle ways.  The easiest is to create responsive prayers in which the congregation repeats a phrase of the Lord’s Prayer.  At the beginning of the service introduce this as a treasure hunt, give young worshipers copies of the Lord’s Prayer and challenge them to check off each phrase every time they pray it today.   Possible matches are:

Call to Worship       Our Father who art in heaven…

Confession               Forgive us….

Prayers of People   Thy kingdom come….

..daily bread…

..not into temptation…evil

Benediction             Thine is the kingdom…

D Give each child a word search puzzle containing key words (rather than a list of the phrases) from the Lord’s Prayer at the beginning of the service.  Challenge them to find the words listed below the puzzle in the puzzle and to draw a star by or circle each word every time they hear it in today’s worship.
 



This word search was made using http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/code/BuildWordSearch.asp#

D The parable and teachings which follow are tricky for adults are even harder for literal thinking, Santa Claus letter writing children.  For one thing, pestering God repeatedly for what you want looks even more risky to children who have fresh experiences with how parents respond when pushed too often on a want. (The neighbor in the parable may give you what you want to get rid of you.  But, a parent is more likely to hush you with threats or punishment.)   For another, the text, taken literally, says that if you ask for it, you will get it.  And even the youngest child knows that is not true.  Children and adults together can separate the prayer requests for a pony, a car for my sixteenth birthday, or an invitation to that prestigious event from those for Grandpa’s health, the family’s income, or stability in the marriage at the heart of the family.  (Don’t credit the children with all the former and the grownups with the latter!)  Once you wade into the questions of prayers that do not get the answer you want, children and adults again have an equally tough time with putting important things in God’s hands.  The challenge for the preacher is to use examples from all ages rather than just from adulthood.  The problem is the same all through life.

Year C - Proper 7, 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 5th Sunday after Pentecost (June 23, 2013)

1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8 – 15a

F If you already built the cave into an Elijah display, there is nothing to add today.  Elijah wished there had been something spectacular.  He would have preferred that God speak to him in the earthquake or maybe some fireworks.  But God was there in sheer silence in a desert cave.  The point for the children is that often God does not come in flashy or dramatic ways, but in the silence that surrounds us.  If you add the mountain cave today, note how simple it is.  There is no color or any special object to add, just the cave to which Elijah ran when he was feeling really, really bad and alone.  Point to this cave before reading the text to alert listeners to where Elijah had gone and why he had run there.

F Elijah was having a very bad time.  He was afraid that Queen Jezebel was going to kill him.  He felt like he was the only one left who loved God.  He worried that everything he had done was not going to matter.  All together it made him wish he were dead.  Children don’t have enough life experience to understand Elijah’s situation in the way adults do.  But, they do have similar experiences of hopelessness and loneliness.  Friends desert them.  They move and have trouble finding new friends.  A bully targets them.  There is trouble at home that is poisoning everything and that the children cannot fix.  Even though it may not be true, they feel that everyone else at home is more loved than they are.  Like Elijah they want to run away.  This story reassures them that God is with them even when they feel this bad.

F Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst, or at least a couple of pages from it would be a good introduction to a sermon about times when everything is going wrong.  You could start here, then proceed to list Elijah’s woes in a similar fashion.

F The “timeouts” that many children experience when they get too upset or tired or overwhelmed to keep doing whatever they were doing are a good comparison to this story.  God gave Elijah a “timeout.”  Elijah left the place where all the trouble was, ran to a quiet place where God could meet him, and thus was prepared to return to his work.  Just as children sometimes give themselves a timeout when they know they need one, Elijah ran toward Mount Sinai.  (Avoid using the term “running away” to avoid suggesting to unhappy children that running away is a good solution to whatever is making them unhappy.  Even though it stretches the text a bit, insist that Elijah was not running away but running toward help at God’s holy mountain.)  God helped Elijah along on his timeout journey and then sent him straight back into the work he had been ready to abandon.

F To explore “sheer silence” start by inviting everyone to listen carefully.  Together identify sounds they hear in the supposedly silent worship space – outside noises, utility sounds, conversations in other parts of the buildings, etc.  Have worshipers put their hands over their ears or their fingers in their ears, then note that we still hear the sound of our muffles.  Imagine the silence of floating in the space – assuming the space suit makes no noise.  Note that even near-silence can be either very comforting or rather scary.  Give the whole congregation one full minute of near silence to experience.  Then reread verses 11 ff.  How far you read depends on where you are going next.  You could stop with “what are you doing here, Elijah?” to ponder the question God often asks us in our silences.  Or read to the end of the chapter to ponder God’s sending Elijah back to work.

F It is tempting for those of us who are easing into summer to talk about summer as a timeout and to raise questions about how we use that time.  If you go this way remember that children, who have not cycled through the year very many times yet, don’t feel that cycle the way adults do.  For them time is a straight line.  Summer is a period between this year and last year.  It is what is next and what is now rather than a timeout.

Psalms 42 and 43

Psalms 42 and 43 together are too long to keep the attention of children.  So select only Psalm 42, as the Methodist lectionary does, or select a few key verses here and there.

F Psalm 42:5 and 11 are the same verse and are the heart of the psalm for children.  Much of the rest of it requires life experience and understanding that is beyond most children.  But, when they list together times when they feel hopeless – everything from playing on a team that ALWAYS loses to feeling no one at all loves you to feeling horrible things are about to get you – children can then hear these words as a prayer for such times.  Walk through the words with them, putting them into words that will make sense for your children, then pray them together.

F Enjoy the fact that this psalm was already around when Elijah lived thousands of years ago.  Suggest that he might have prayed it as he walked across the desert to the cave on Mount Sinai.

Isaiah 65:1-9

This text is for the adult Bible students more than the children.  Listeners need to know about the return from Exile and all its problems to understand what Isaiah is saying.  The one possible connection for children is that Isaiah is telling the people to stop blaming other people or God for their problems, but to recognize the fact that they are responsible.  The problems are the consequences of their behavior.  Children struggle to accept that kind of responsibility for their own actions.  That said, this is a hard text with which to explore that fact with them. 

Psalm 22:19-28

Because this psalm is filled with so many unfamiliar images and references, it is not a good choice for children.  I’d go with the idea for Psalm 42:5 or 11 above.

 

Galatians 3:23-29

F As I’ve said before and will say again as we move through Galatians, children are not ready to hear Paul’s argument against living by rules.  They are currently living under the tutor of the Law and cannot see beyond it.  For them rules are good ways to understand what to do as they work their ways into the world.  Telling them that obeying rules is not the best way to live baffles them.  So, for them pick up on other aspects of this reading.

F To explore Paul’s insistence in verse 28 that all the everyday distinctions between people do not matter, get a show of hands on who supports which sports teams, goes to which schools, plays which sports or instruments, or was born in town rather than moved here from somewhere else.  Then note that all of that is interesting, but none of it is the most important thing about any of us.  The most important thing about each of us is that we are a child of God.  If you are sitting with a group of children to do this, point to individuals underlining this with phrases like, “John, I know you are a really big Eagles fan and that is cool, but even more important than that is that you are a child of God.”  Even, “John, you are an Eagles fan.  Erica, you are a Redskins fan.  But, you belong together because you are both children of God and that is way more important than what team you follow.”

F OR, reverse the process.  Start by putting a hand on each child’s head saying, “NAME, you are a child of God.”  After doing this with several children, interrupt yourself - “hey wait, you are an Eagles fan and you are a Redskins fan.  Can you both be a child of God?”  Talk your way back to the truth that all sorts of very different people can be a child of God.  Conclude by blessing the remaining children.

F Reread verse 27 and explore what it means to be “clothed in Christ.”  Laugh at the picture of wearing Jesus.  Then, point out some of the different clothes worshipers are wearing.  Have fun noting the differences and pointing out what clothes tell us about the person wearing them.  Finally, insist that it really doesn’t matter what we wear to worship or at any other time.  The most important thing about us is that we are the children of God.  In a way we are all wearing Jesus. 

F If you are exploring accepting all people for who they are, read the humorous story “Adam’s Animals” in Does God Have a Big Toe, Rabbi Marc Gellman’s book of stories about stories in the Bible.  It describes Adam’s failed attempts to name the animals, before a bear suggests that he asks the animals what they want to be called.  It can be read aloud in about 4 minutes. 

F If this text is leading you to talk about baptism, go to Dollar Store Children's sermons for an idea about using a birth announcement to talk about baptism as a sacrament of belonging. 

Luke 8:26-39

 

Instead of a sock use a frazzled
dust mop as a puppet to be healed.

F Scripture is meant to be enjoyed as well as just read.  So, retell this story with the children using lots of socks.  Before reading the story from the Bible warn the children to listen carefully because you are going to need their help retelling the story.  After the reading invite them forward.  Put a brown, black or beige sock over a hand on each child.  Tell them that they are the herd of pigs.  Imagine with them a very large lake in front of them.  Then put one sock for Jesus and one sock for the demoniac on your hands introducing them as you do.  Retell the story letting Jesus and the man do most of the talking.  Expect a little chaos when the pigs dive into the lake.  Enjoy it.  Then help children settle down, maybe dropping their socks in the lake then sitting down again.  This is one story all worshipers will remember.

Puppet note:  All the socks can just be socks.  But I would be inclined to weave some black yarn into the demoniac to form a wild appearance.  Jesus might be any other sock or could be a Jesus handpuppet, if you have one.

Cathedrale Sainte-Lazare (Autun)
from a 1970s trip postcard

F Demons are tricky.  What people thought about demons in Jesus’ day is largely replaced today by more metaphorical understandings and uses.  Since most children have little grasp of what mental illness is, explaining the earlier understanding is challenging.  At the same time for literal thinking children modern metaphoric uses are equally confusing.  So, if you are going to talk about demons at any length, introduce them with children in mind.  Show a picture of a demon from middle ages art.  Tell about the evil little things that people used to think caused mental illness and other problems AND about the way we talk about jealousy and greed or drugs and alcohol as demons today.  The connection between the two is that both refer to things that get us in trouble when we let them determine what we do and say.  And, in this story Jesus proves that he has power over the nastiest of demons.  So, we are safe.

F Animal loving children ask why the pigs jumped off the cliff.  Possible answers include but are not limited to

1. The demons drove the pigs over the cliff to get even with Jesus for kicking them out of the man.  (They knew the pigs’ owners would be angry with Jesus.)
2. The pigs were so frightened by the demons that they jumped over the cliff to get away from them.
3. The pigs, being smarter than most people expected, recognized the demons and finished Jesus’ work by drowning them in the lake.

 F Commentators and preachers make all sorts of points with this story, but for children it is mainly a story of Jesus healing a man in a rather spectacular way.  They enjoy Jesus’ power and his way of getting rid of the demons.  Probably the best lesson in it for them (if it needs a lesson) is that Jesus did not send the man out to a new place to do something dramatic, but sent him back home to live like the healed man he was every day.  Children can be challenged to do the same this week.