Year B - The Fourth Sunday of Easter (April 29, 2012)

	Catacomb of Callixtus - The Good Shepherd, from Art in the Christian Tradition,  a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.  http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54382 [retrieved March 24, 2012].

Catacomb of Callixtus - The Good Shepherd,
from Art in the Christian Tradition,
 a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
 http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54382
[retrieved March 24, 2012].

The Fourth Sunday of Easter might be called Good Shepherd Sunday.  It always includes Psalm 23 and something from John about the Good Shepherd.  Go to Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year A) for background on children’s understanding of this image.

Acts 4:5-12

U This is the only non-shepherd reading for this day.  In it Peter gives the Council basically the same sermon he gave the crowd after healing the lame man in last week’s text.  Before reading either sermon it is essential to present the story of the healing.  Go to The Third Sunday of Easter (Year B)  for two suggestions about how to do this.

U Explore the image of Christ as the rejected stone that turned out to be the cornerstone in 4:11

Use children’s blocks to lay a foundation for a square building.  Start with a misshaped block at the corner letting it lead the walls off square.  Ponder the problem.  Then replace that cornerstone with one that is square and rebuild the sides of the foundation.  Having looked at the two cornerstones, reread 4:11 to see what Peter is saying about Jesus.

If you have a cornerstone in your church, display a large picture of it.  Tell how it works.  If it has a cross or other faith reference on it, point them out and note how they set the direction of the church.

After talking about cornerstones, sing “Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation.”  It is filled with language children will not understand, but begins with a reference to Christ the cornerstone.  Before singing, point out this reference and put the first verse into your own words.

Psalm 23

U Psalm 23 has already appeared several times in the Revised Common Lectionary Years A and B.  Use the links below to gather ideas from them.

Go to The Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year A) for a reading of the psalm thinking like a sheep and the catacombs painting of Jesus the Good Shepherd which is the first picture we have of Jesus.  The catacombs are narrow, twisting underground tunnels.  The walls are filled floor to ceiling with graves that have been dug out of them.  They are dark and spooky.  Imagine walking quietly through them with a small oil lamp to find Christian friends who are gathering to worship by a designated grave.  Listen for the clank of soldiers’ armor as you go.  Given this it is easy to imagine why someone painted on the ceiling a picture of Jesus as a strong young shepherd who would take care of them.

BTW - the image in the Year A post is a scan of a postcard I bought on my 1974 trip.  The image at the top of this page is the same painting, but comes with permission from the Vanderbilt University collection.

Go to The Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year A) for a child’s view of the usual Psalm 23 hymns, a coloring sheet idea, information about shepherding tools, and a reminder about cups that overflow.

Go to Year A -Proper 23 (28th Sunday in Ordinary Time) to explore the feasting image in the psalm and God’s promise to be with us even in the hard times.

U To help children pay attention to the verses of Psalm 23, display a different colored sheet of construction paper for each page.  The rainbow page is either the multi-colored sheet that comes in some packs of construction paper or a home-made sheet with stripes of all the other colors.  You could write the verse on the back of the sheet so that you can read from them as you display them.  After reading the whole psalm, go back to the rainbow page to ponder the truth that God is with us, caring for us like a good shepherd.

Yellow            The Lord is my shepherd…

Green              He… green pastures

Blue                 … beside still waters

Rainbow          He restores my soul

Brown             … in paths of righteousness

Black               … in the valley of the shadow…

White (table cloth)

… a table in the presence of enemies

Yellow             Surely goodness and mercy….

1 John 3:16-24

U If you have not used stickers recently, discuss John’s insistence that God wants us to love others.  Then, put a heart sticker on the back of each child’s hand reminding each of them that God wants them to love others.  Or, pass baskets of the stickers to the pews instructing people to put heart stickers on the backs of each other’s hands saying “God says to love other people.”

U Children’s version of 3:17-18:  If we have all we need and see another person who has nothing but do not share what we have, we cannot say we love God.  Love is not what we feel, but what we do.  God wants us to love each other with actions.

Children hear this literally which is appropriate.  The challenge to us as adults is to speak honestly and early about their responsibility to share with others.  Several years ago the local paper ran a series it called the Teen Distinguished Dozen.  Each day an article featured the service of one teenager in the community.  Every single one of those teens noted that they began serving others during elementary school.  We in the church should be helping all elementary school children develop the service mindset.  So talk literally about the verses with the kids in front of the adults.  Be ready with specific ideas for kids and their families.  Direct them to sacks printed with grocery lists for the local food bank.  Suggest that they make lunch for a Habitat building crew.  Send them to the Church World Service website (http://www.churchworldservice.org/site/PageServer?pagename=kits_main) to learn about the many kinds of disaster response kits needed by Church World Service.

John 10:11-18

U There are many ways to “lay down your life.”  Jesus allowed himself to be killed.  But we lay down our lives every time we set aside what we want to take care of the needs of others.  For example, when you set aside your game or book to play with a younger sibling so your parent has time to do something that needs to be done that is a way of “laying down your life.”  Children also need to hear Jesus’ insistence that if he lays down his life he can take it up again.  For them it says that giving up what you want once does not mean you will never get it or that you will always be called on to give up what you want.  Adults have learned that, but it takes a while for children to learn it.  This passage can help them.

U In “Babe” (full length DVD) there are several good shepherds.  Mr. Hoggett understands and cares for Babe, the runt piglet.  Fly, the sheepdog, comforts Babe as he settles into the barn and teaches him about the sheep.  Babe, the pig, is the main good shepherd.  If you project film clips during worship, there are several good scenes:

-          About halfway into the film an old sheepdog explains his view of his job and his disdain for the sheep.  He emphasizes the importance of letting them know who is boss.

-          Just past that there are several scenes in which Babe listens to the sheep and learns why they call all dogs “wolves” and why they hate them so.  He also learns that if you ask sheep politely, they will do what you ask.

-          The film ends with championship sheepdog trials.  In one scene, a dog herds the sheep by nipping at them.  Then Babe speaks to the sheep respectfully telling them what needs to be done and they do it.

U Use toy sheep, a cardboard pen and a small shepherd figure to demonstrate the shepherd calling the sheep by name as they go out into the field to graze under the care of the shepherd and later return to the sheepfold.  If you have a wolf figure, also demonstrate the shepherd coming between the sheep and the wolf rather than running away. 

If your congregation uses the Young Children and Worship program, borrow the figures for Story #39, “The Good Shepherd and the Wolf.”  Children who have been through the program will grasp more fully the program’s connection to worship in the sanctuary when they recognize this story that is told in both places.

Year A - Proper 29, Christ the King, the Reign of Christ (November 20,2011)

This Sunday is New Year’s Eve in 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.

Bring out all the seasonal paraments and drape them over the central table in order.  Connect each one to its season. 

I would give this sketch  to an artist in the congregation for "slicking up"

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.

Devote the whole service or just the sermon to reviewing the year.  Read a key text, talk about the main theme, pray a prayer, and sing a song from 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.

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

Go to Year C - Christ the King, Reign of Christ to read about how children understand kings and ideas based on the kind of king Jesus chose to be.

Christ the Cosmic Power

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

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.)

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.

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.

Sing “The King of Love My Shepherd Is” or your congregation’s favorite psalm 23 hymn rather than other shepherd hymns.  Most of the images in them are too complex for children to understand.

                   Today’s Texts

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

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.

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

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.)

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

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.

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

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

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

Psalm 100 may be more familiar to the adults (or some of the adults), but this psalm is filled with simpler references from the created world that children more readily understand. 

Ephesians 1:15-23

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.

Beatrice’s Goat, by Page McBrier, describes the impact one goat has on a family in central Africa.  The goat gives the children milk to drink, extra milk to sell.  The money enables them to put a tin roof on their little house and to pay for Beatrice to go to school.  She excelled and won a scholarship to a New England prep school.  The goat, from the Heifer Project, was probably purchased by a church or Sunday School class.  Ponder the power of the gift these Christians gave. 

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

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
Image available at
janrichardsonimages.com

Methodist minster-artist Jan Richardson created Christ in the Scraps from scraps of paper she had tossed aside while working on other projects.  Help the children find the face by looking first for the eyes, then the nose and mouth.  Ponder how hard it can sometimes be to see Christ’s face in the world around us – especially when that face is found in the trashed, tossed aside, discounted people and places.  For your own enjoyment and to fill out your understanding of this art, read Jan’s description of how she created this face on her blog The Painted Prayerbook.

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.  

Year A - Holy or Maundy Thursday (April 21,2011)

For children, Maundy Thursday is all about celebrating Holy Communion on the night Jesus invented it.  Just as the Nativity stories have special power on Christmas Eve, the Eucharist has added power on Maundy Thursday.  Just to be there participating in the sacrament on this night says that I am one of God’s people.  Because I eat at this table, I belong. 

Unfortunately, many congregations do not encourage children to attend this service.  The fact that it is on a school night makes it easy to decide that children will not be able to come and therefore to neither plan for their presence nor encourage them and their families to come.  After a few years of such expectations it takes more than one or two “children are welcome” notes to reverse the trend.  A clear invitation to families to join all God’s people to hear the stories of the most important days of the year and to celebrate the sacrament that was introduced on that night is needed.  It also helps to include children in some way in leadership.  Consider

    -asking a church school class to prepare the elements for
      communion,

   - including children among the readers during the Tenebrae,

   - asking children’s choirs to sing, and

   - calling on families with children to serve as greeters and ushers.

Stories are important on this night.  The key story is the bread and cup of the Last supper.  But the story of washing the disciples feet, the failure of the church in Corinth to gather as a loving community to celebrate communion, and the Passover story are also part of the night.  And, though the Passion story belongs to Good Friday, all the stories told on Maundy Thursday look to the Good Friday stories.  In any given service only one or maybe two of the supporting stories can be involved.

The Last Supper is at the heart of the day.  Children imagine themselves in the room with the disciples eating with Jesus.  The Revised Common Lectionary sets John's gospel (with no bread or cup) as the gospel reading for the night.  For the sake of the children, you may want to read or tell one of the synoptic accounts in addition.  This year  read Matthew 26:17-20, 26-30.  Sitting around tables rather than in rows (whether you share a meal or not) also brings the story to life.   Using a loaf or matzo rather than wafer brings worshipers closer to the food of that first night. 

Jesus Washes the Disciple’s Feet.  You can almost see all the disciples looking at their feet, knowing that someone needs to do the washing, thinking that if they don’t make eye contact with anyone maybe it won’t be them.  Then Jesus does it.  He washes the feet of the people who will desert him.  He even washes the feet of Judas who will turn him in and tell his enemies where to find him.  I think a case could be made that Jesus did this as either practice for what was coming on Friday, as a demonstration of what it means to love, or maybe both. Like everyone else in the room, he knew everyone’s feet needed to be washed.  Maybe he thought to himself, “OK, if I can wash their feet - even wash Judas’ feet - tonight, maybe I can believe that I can do what is coming tomorrow.”  This makes sense to most children.  When washing feet is compared to yucky jobs that must be done every day – taking out the garbage, cleaning the cat’s litter, turning the compost pile, cleaning the bathrooms, dealing with a diaper pail – it calls them to join Jesus in practicing love.  The first challenge is to do these jobs for people we love and who love us back.  As we do we imagine doing them for someone who mistreats us and we remember that Jesus washed Judas’ feet.

While surfing for pictures of foot washing, I came across photos of weddings at which the groom washes the bride’s feet during the ceremony.  I’m guessing (hoping!) the groom gets his feet washed too.  This is a new idea to me and I’m not espousing it.  But it is an interesting wedding ritual that points out the very non-romantic ways husbands and wives (and all family members!) are to love each other. 

After washing their feet Jesus gives the disciples and us a new rule, “Love one another as I have loved you.” How do we love one another?  We wash their feet and do whatever else is needed (even the yucky jobs) to take care of them.

After washing the feet and sending Judas away to do his deed, Jesus announced, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.”  Or, “if you want to see the glory of God, watch me wash feet.  If you want to share in the glory of God, wash feet like I do.” God’s glory is not seen in people walking on red carpets or standing on championship stands.  God’s glory is seen in people taking care of those around them – even washing their feet when needed.  This definition of God’s glory is a hard sell with children and worshippers of all ages.

SIDE-BAR:  Peter was offended by Jesus’ offer to wash his feet.  Youth and adults today understand his feelings.  But, children are used to being tended in many personal ways.  So, Peter’s issue isn’t their issue - yet. 

Display a towel and a basin prominently throughout the service.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 if taken in its context is the opposite of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet.  The wealthier members of the church at Corinth came early with all their food to the church suppers.  They did not wait to eat until the poorer members got off their jobs and could come.  So, there was often nothing left for the poorer members when they arrived.  Paul calls them on their lack of loving care of people in need.

The Passover   Older children, especially those who have Jewish friends, are fascinated by the connection between Passover and the Last Supper.  But, before they can understand it, they have to hear the story of the Passover, know some of the details of the Seder, and know the details of Holy Communion.   Maundy Thursday worship is not the place to start into all three from scratch.  What you can do…

Invite the children forward for the reading of Exodus 12:14,11-14.  Then point out that God saved the Jews from slavery in Egypt.  Jesus and his disciples were remembering this story on the night of the last supper.  The very next day, Jesus died on the cross to save us from sin and death.  Note the similarity.  God saves us over and over again. 

Before Holy Week, invite a Jewish family to walk families of your congregation through a Seder.  They could just tell about it or present pictures of themselves celebrating it (maybe in a Powerpoint?)  Or, with their direction you could prepare a Seder meal to eat together with them leading the whole group through it.  Then, on Maundy Thursday seat worshipers around tables in the fellowship hall with communion elements on each table.  Read the Passover story and the story of the Last Supper before celebrating communion.

Exploring the Passover connection tends to lead adults to speak of Jesus as the Lamb of God.  Remember if you do that children think literally and are easily confused by metaphorical language.  For them the easiest way to understand Lamb of God is as a nickname for Jesus.  Actually, I’d save this term for other worship settings.

There are so many vivid stories vying for their attention in worship this night, that most children will miss Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 entirely.  That may be just fine.  Unpacking it enough for them to understand requires more than it is probably worth on Maundy Thursday.  So include it in the liturgy for the adults.

Tenebrae was originally celebrated on Good Friday, but many congregations, especially those who do not worship together on Good Friday, include it in Maundy Thursday worship following communion.  It is a candle lighting service in reverse.  Seven or eight candles are lighted in the beginning with each one snuffed out as a part of the Passion is read.  A deep toned hand bell may be sounded as each candle is snuffed.  Then after a moment of darkness, a single candle is relit to remind us of the coming resurrection and the congregation departs in silence.  Children deeply appreciate this ritual IF…

-          It is explained to them in advance

-          The readings are not too long and focus on storytelling. (This is not the place for John’s long soliloquies.)

-          Readers of all ages, including at least one older child, are involved.  (A child can often read the story of Jesus’ burial.)

Some congregations end this rite with a minute of silence followed by a single crash of a gong. Even when you know it is coming, the gong makes you jump.  Be sure the children know it is coming.  A note among the printed announcements is not enough warning!  Actually briefly explaining the Tenebrae and noting the crashing gong at the end makes good publicity drawing families to this service.

Songs for the evening:  “Let Us Break Bread Together” and “For the Bread Which You Have Broken” (especially verse 1, 2, and 4) are probably the simplest communion hymn for this night for children.  The Ghanian hymn “Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us With Your Love,” while it may not be as familiar to adults as it is to children, is a good choice for congregational singing or for a children’s choir to sing.

Sharing the Easter Faith with Children includes

-          a plan for a Maundy Thursday service  rehearsing the Last Supper story and celebrating communion around tables,

-          a child-friendly script for a Tenebrae and

-          a plan for a children’s Tenebrae with props as well as candles that could be a special service for families on either Maundy Thursday or Good Friday.

Year C - 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (November 7, 2010)

Haggai 1:15b-2:9

Encouragement to work together as God’s people

The church over the ages has devoted time and money to repairing and rebuilding after natural disasters, wars, and personal traumas.  It is one thing we do frequently and do well.  Celebrate that today.  Cite examples of ways your congregation has been involved.  Be sure as you do to include projects in which the children are active.  In my congregation that would include collecting food for the food pantry, packing a variety of disaster response kits, walking with families or classes on money raising walks and hosting homeless men at the church during winter evenings. 

Our local paper annually recognizes a Distinguished Dozen, local people who are significantly involved in serving others.  One year they were all teenagers.  The article about each teen cited serving experiences during their elementary years as the inspiration for the teenage service.  Many got their start by working with their families on community care projects.  Scientific studies validate their stories.  So encourage children and parents to work together repairing, rebuilding, and generally caring for their community.

During the singing of Argentine folk hymn “Song of Hope,” stage a processional of placards, each naming one way your congregation is involved in repairing and rebuilding.   The placards could be handed to children and briefly explained just before the hymn.  The children then circle the sanctuary while the congregation sings the song several times.  (It is only one verse.)  Or, create a litany in which a leader names and briefly describes one project and the congregation responds by singing the song once.  Feature as many projects or groups of similar projects as time permits.  Four or five is probably enough. 

Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21

The greatness and goodness of God

During the reading of this psalm project a series of pictures of people rebuilding and repairing together. 

OR

Psalm 98

Sing to the Lord A New Song!

Offer a two sided praise sheet.  On one side print Psalm 98. Invite the children to fill the margins with drawings of things that are mentioned in the psalm or that the psalm makes them think about.  (The first few verses don’t offer much, but the middle verses calling for all sorts of musical praises suggest lots of instruments, and the last verses call for pictures from nature.)  On the opposite side of the paper print the words of “Earth and All Stars” and invite children to illustrate that one too.  The pictures will be very different.  If possible give out the paper early in the service and include time later in the service when children can share and discuss their work.  When the congregation sings the hymn, even young children should be able to join in on the repeated chorus.

Job 19:23-27a

If “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth” from Handel’s Messiah will be sung, point out the title phrase in Job 19:25.  Briefly explain that Job was both very sick and very sad.  Even in all his suffering he knew that God was his Redeemer and was on his side.  That is as far as it is wise to delve with children in the sanctuary.  Discussions of suffering with children are always specific and need to be held in private.

Psalm 17:1-9

Even if you are building worship around Job, I’d use Psalm 98 instead of this psalm for the sake of the children.  The vocabulary and poetic images are too complicated to explain.  Though some children have enough experience with suffering to share the psalmist’s prayer, there are other prayers that state the concern in ways a child can more easily grasp.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

Lead disciplined lives in the present

The message to children here is don’t worry about what will happen when you (or people you love) die and don’t worry about what will happen when you grow up or get to be a teenager or….   Instead, think about today.  Live as God’s person today.  Do the best you can and know that God is with you.  Fortunately, this is the default setting of many children anyway.  They live very much in the present moment.

Luke 20:27-38                          

God is Lord of the Living

The nasty trap the Sadducees set for Jesus and the way is turned it back on them will go right past the children.  Let it.  Instead explore what it says about what happens to us after we die. 

Jesus insists that life after death is different from life now.  Debating to whom a woman who has had seven husbands will be married is just plain silly.  (This is a special relief to children whose parents have remarried and who therefore may upon hearing the story wonder about the fate of their family.)  The butterfly is a helpful symbol of this reality.  The caterpillar and butterfly are entirely different, but they are different life stages of the same animal.  Caterpillars crawl and eat leaves.  Butterflies fly and drink nectar/ pollen.  We will be as different after death as a caterpillar is from a butterfly, but we will still be ourselves.

We don’t know very much at all about what life will be like after we die.  God has kept it as a special secret.  We do know from Jesus that we will be with God and will be safe.

Make a list of things that aren’t necessarily true about life after death, i.e. we may not walk on streets paved with gold, we may not all play harps (a relief to many), we may not have wings and fly (who knows how we’ll get around), etc.  Balance this with the list of things we do know about life after we die, i.e. we will be with God, God’s love and care will continue.

If you live in the northern hemisphere, display autumn nuts and bulbs.  Note how dead they look and how hard it is to believe that they will ever be anything but rather dead looking “stuff.”  Talk about what each item becomes in the spring.  If possible give each worshiper a nut or bulb to plant at home.  Talk about how long it will be until we see the results and encourage patience.  Briefly ponder how it feels different to celebrate new life after death in the autumn rather than in the spring at Easter.

If you live in the southern hemisphere, pull a blooming bulb or seedling out of the dirt.  Gently brush away the soil until you find pieces of the nut or bulb from which it grew.  It may also help to have an unplanted nut or bulb to help find the decaying one in the soil.  (A smallish blooming potted bulb can be tidily unspotted over a bucket or small tub.)  Briefly ponder how it feels different to celebrate life after death in the spring when new life is all around you rather than in the autumn when all the plants are dying back for the season.

 

If you are celebrating this Sunday as a “little Easter,” explain the reason for reading the necrology before it is done.  Also if you have a columbarium, memorial garden or other place for cremains on your property, bring an enlarged photo of the area to identify it to children and talk about how it is used and why that spot is special to people in your congregation.  Point out any plaques identifying all the saints buried there.  (Though it is not the aim of this discussion, once children know what these areas are they treat them with more respect.)

If your congregation regularly recites the Apostle’s Creed in worship, before reading it today, point out the phrase “(I believe in) the communion of saints.”  Define “saints” as God’s people.  Name a few famous ones, like St. Patrick and Martin Luther King, Jr., and some less famous ones like your grandmother (or other important person in your life) and someone in your congregation.  Finally, point to worshipers and identify each of them as a saint.  Then, repeat the phrase “communion of the saints” and explain that all saints belong to each other in the family of God.  That means we are connected to all God’s people who ever lived and all God’s people who are alive now and even all God’s people who will be born in the future.  We are family with them.  Repeat the paragraph in which it appears in the creed.  Then, invite everyone to say the creed together.

Either within the sermon or just before the celebration of communion, do a little worship education about the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving.  For most children (and more than a few adults) this is generally thought of as “that long prayer before communion.”  They are more likely to join in on the sung responses if they are explained and rehearsed.   So, point to the prayer in your prayer book or worship bulletin.  Walk through the part that recognizes the communion of the saints putting it into your own words.  Together name some of the individuals or groups you want to be especially aware of at the Table today.  Take time to rehearse the parts the congregation says or sings.  Suggest singing it at every communion service imaging yourself singing and eating with people of all times and from all parts of the world.

Leader: Therefore we praise you,

joining our voices with the heavenly choirs

and with all the faithful of every time and place,

we forever sing to the glory of your name:

People: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest.