Year A - Epiphany (Monday January 6, 2014 or Sunday January 5, 2014)

These texts are set for January 6 which in 2013 is on a Monday.  The ideas here could be incorporated into weeknight celebration that includes worship in a freer form than often followed on Sunday morning.  Also, they could be used on Sunday, January 5, by congregations who do not have a weeknight celebration but do not want to ignore Epiphany.  Actually I think these texts have much more to say to children and adults than do the texts for the Second Sunday of Christmas.

Isaiah 60: 1-6

Isaiah calls the people of Jerusalem to rise and shine because God’s glory is upon them for all the world to see.  Children heading back to school this week after soaking up God’s Christmas love and glory are ready to hear the call to shine also.  Verse 1 is their key verse.   Actually “Arise, shine!” is all they need. 

One way to explain the symbol of light is to present children with several symbols, e.g. a national flag, a symbol for a sports team, and a cross.  As you present each symbol ask what it stands for and what it makes them think about.  Then tell them that the symbol for God is light.  Since we can’t make a picture of light, we use things that make light like a star, sun, candle, lamp.  Display a treetop star ornament that goes at the top of the Christmas or Chrismon tree and note its meaning.  Recall Christmas candle lighting services and note that we lit those candles to remind ourselves that God the light is with us.  Then, move to the discussion below of the candles in the worship center.  Or, name and explore other light symbols pondering how each reminds us of God.  Encourage the children (and other worshipers) to watch for light symbols scattered through the scriptures we read, the songs we sings and the prayers we pray today.

It is a good day to point out and explain your congregation’s use of candles during worship.  Many congregations light two candles on a central table.  The explanation that I grew up with was that one candle was “God is the light of the world” (John 8:12) and the other “we are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:13)   (I know from the 2011 comments that others have different explanations.  That is fine.  It is more important to know one than to have a “right one.”)  An acolyte may light a taper from one of the candles before snuffing both at the conclusion of the service.  The acolyte often walks down the central aisle and out the back door to call worshipers to follow the light of God out into the world. 

Speaking of acolytes:  Lighting candles as a worship leader is a job that older children relish.  Including children in this simple act, training them how to do it and what it means, possibly even robing them to do it, tells them that they are a real part of the worshiping community.  Children as young as eight or nine can take this role successfully if the candles are short enough for them to reach easily.  In some churches serving as acolyte is an activity children sign up for just as they do for choir.  In others, the responsibility is tied to a particular church school class for the year. 

“Arise, shine” is not about enjoying light.  It is a command to reflect and spread light.  Reread the phrase several times pondering the difference in basking in light and shining out in the darkness.  Explore ways we can shine listing ways children can shine God’s love out at school, in the locker room, even in the back seat of a car as well as ways youth and adults can shine.  To encourage worshipers to shine, give each one a star sticker (glittery ones are the best!).  During a children’s message, stick a star on each child’s hand or forehead and say to each one, “Arise, shine.”  Or, pass baskets of star stickers to the entire congregations, instructing individuals to stick a star on the person at their side saying to them “arise, shine.”

Light hymns children can sing at least parts of with understanding:

“I Want To Walk As A Child of Light”

“Let There Be Light” with lots of short phrases of hope for the coming year

“This Little Light of Mine” – a spiritual about our ability to be light as well as enjoy light

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14

Turn this psalm into a prayer for today’s leaders from all around the world. Begin by brainstorming a list of these leaders together.  Include political leaders of all persuasions, leaders in your community, coaches, teachers, and other leaders of children.  Then adapt the first few words of each line (mainly the pronouns) to make the psalm into a prayer for those leaders.  Groups 1 and 2 could be the two sides of the congregation or the congregation and the choir.  (Yes, Psalm 72 was a text for Advent 2 and this script was offered there too.) 

h h h h h h h h h h h h h

A Prayer for Leaders Based on Psalm 72

Group 1:       Give our leaders your justice, O God,

and your righteousness to their children.

Group 2:       May they judge your people with righteousness,

and your poor with justice.

Group 1:       May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,

and the hills, in righteousness.

Group 2:       May they defend the cause of the poor of the people,

give deliverance to the needy,

and crush the oppressor.

Group 1:       May they live while the sun endures,

and as long as the moon,

throughout all generations.

Group 2:       May they be like rain that falls on the mown grass,

like showers that water the earth.

Group 1:       In their days may righteousness flourish
                       and peace abound,

until the moon is no more.

Group 2:       Amen

All:                  Amen

                                                                        Based on NRSV

h h h h h h h h h h h h h

Ephesians 3:1-12

Demonstrate Paul’s mystery that God loves people all around the world by including people of as many different racial and ethnic backgrounds in worship leadership.  Some might even come in native dress or speak/read in native languages.  Include music from many different cultures. 

If you frequently do this for Pentecost, today feature one reader from one continent or country, use at least one piece of music or instrument from that culture, hear about the church in that area, and pray for Christians there.

Pray your way around the world.  Display a globe.  Explain that remembering the mystery Paul discovered, i.e. that God loves all people all over the world, your prayers today will move around the globe.  You might use the continents as your outline, offering prayers for each continent followed by time for worshipers to add their own voiced or silent prayers for that continent. 

Present several pairs of portraits of people from different parts of the world asking which of these does God love.  The answer of course is that God loves both of them.  God loves all people in all parts of the world.  (Old National Geographic magazines are good sources for these pictures.)

Matthew 2:1-12

Tell the story of the three kings in your own words moving the kings from the crèche around the sanctuary as you talk. 

Actually you will need three assistants, one to carry each king and perhaps a fourth to carry a shiny poster board star on a pole.  Start in a far corner of the sanctuary telling about the beginning of the trip.  Stop in another corner to tell about the visit to Herod’s palace, then come to the mother and child figures.  (These figures might be in a prominent spot at the front of the sanctuary or in a nook off to a side.)  Finally tell about the warning not to return to Herod and accompany the king figures back to their homes following another path around the sanctuary.  (After the story you might want to return the kings to their positions around the mother and child figures.)

Do a hymn study of “We three Kings of Orient, Are.”   Ask all worshippers to open their hymnals to the carol.  Walk through the verses explaining the significance of the three gifts.  Then sing the carol together.  This could be the outline for the day’s sermon or a fairly brief introduction to the hymn.

Interesting sidebar for children:  the carol is generally known as “We 3 Kings of Orient Are.”  Most children assume that Orient Are is the place the kings come from.  The truer to the meaning grammar for this verse would be:

We three kings of (the) Orient are bearing gifts.

We traverse afar, (over) field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star.

 

Chalking the Door is an Epiphany ritual that can be done at church then repeated in the congregation’s homes.  It is basically a house blessing.  Using chalk, members of the congregation or household write on the door frame the year’s date and the letters C, B, and M (the initials of the three wise men).  Prayer is then offered asking that the door welcome many visitors during the coming year and that all who come through the doorway be blessed.  Write on the church doors (if there are more than one, chalk them all!) during the worship service.  Name some of the people who may come through the doors – parents bringing babies to be baptized, brides and grooms, people coming to remember those who have died, and lots of people coming to worship God each week.  Then encourage households to chalk the doors in their own homes.  Print a simple blessing for use at both church and home in the order of worship and give out small pieces of white chalk for home use.  Below is a sample blessing.

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

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

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

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

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

The world is full of stories about people who were invited to go with the three kings, but declined for a variety of reasons all related to being too busy. In most this person later then decides to follow the kings, but is always too late and spends the rest of his/her life looking for the child.  The message in all the stories is to stay alert for signs of God at work in the world (like a star in the sky or an invitation) and to be ready to drop everything to respond.  The Other Wise Man, by Henry Van Dyke, is a rather complicated long American version of this tale.   Two of the best of these stories for children are: 

The Legend of Old Befana, by Tomie dePaola.  In this well loved European folk tale, an Italian grandmother meets the kings, then spends the rest of her life leaving cakes and cookies for children during the night on January 6.  It could be used at least two ways in worship.

Read the first 13 pages ending with Befana telling the 3 kings that she has seen the star which kept her awake at night and that she had work to do. (approximately four minutes to read aloud)  Stop there to ponder the possibility of missing out on something wonderful because you were stuck in a grumpy rut.  Note that the new year has many possibilities.  Encourage worshipers to stay open enough to give them a chance. 

Or, instead of stopping read one more page.  Then, stop.  Ask listeners what Befana might have done next.  Read or tell what happened in the next 13 pages (approximately three minutes to read the rest of the book).  Compare Befana’s (grumpy) face in the pictures of her sweeping with her (happy) face on the last page.  Ponder what made the difference.

 

Baboushka, retold by Arthur Scholey, is a Russian folktale about another busy grandmother who meets the three kings and is invited to join them.  At first she declines with lots of busy excuses, then decides to follow, but never catches up.  An angel points out that the shepherds left immediately after the angels sang to them.  The kings followed the star as soon as it appeared.  She is simply too late.  She keeps searching, carrying with her toys that she leaves with sleeping children in case they are the Christ child.  (About ten minutes to read aloud) 

 

 

For what it is worth, I prefer The Legend of Old Befana because of the change in her attitude.  Also be aware that some women object to both of these stories as stereotypical of overworked women with limited vision.  While I work hard to avoid such stereotypes, I think either of these stories might be used.  If you object, go back to the Van Dyke story telling it in your own words.

 

Year C - Proper 14, 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 12th Sunday after Pentecost (August 11, 2013)

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

_ Before reading Isaiah’s message make two lists.  First list for worshipers all the worship terms in the text briefly noting how they were part of worship in that day: sacrifices, burnt offerings of rams, blood of bulls, Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and incense.  Next list things that are part of your usual worship: banners, music, choirs, beautiful prayers, scripture readings, offerings, even sermons.  Only then challenge worshipers to listen for what Isaiah was saying to people worshiping at the Temple in his day AND to us worshiping here today. 

To be more dramatic have someone interrupt after the reading from the Bible walking down the center aisle to deliver the same message replacing Isaiah’s list of what happens in worship with one reflective of worship today.

_ Isaiah’s message is that our lives beyond the sanctuary should match what we pray and sing inside it.  In a fairly outrageous description of people whose church going did not match their lives outside of the building, Mark Twain (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 18) tells of the Gangerford and Shepherdson families who brought their guns to church holding them between their knees while listening to a sermon about brotherly love and leaving to carry on their blood feud immediately after worship services ended. 

_ Forbid Them Not (Yr C) includes a prayer of confession in which the choir, ushers, preachers, and the congregation confess ways it is easy for them to fail to do in everyday life the tasks they perform in worship.  For example, the  ushers confess that they are not as polite and welcoming to people they meet during the week as they are to the people they greet at the door to the sanctuary.  Either get permission to use a copy of that prayer or create a similar one that particularly fits your congregation.

_ The Charge and Benediction are the gate between what we do in the sanctuary and the way we live in the world.  Point this out before pronouncing them at the end of the service.  List a few of the themes and events of the service.  Charge worshipers not to forget them when they walk out the door, but to remember them every day this week and to try to live like they believe them.  Then promise worshipers that hard as this is on some days, doing this is possible because God is with them always.  (This could be a children’s time at the end of the service with the children then echoing phrases of the charge and benediction as the worship leader says them.)

“Go Forth for God” would be a good final hymn leading to this charge and benediction.  Children will miss many of the phrases in the middle of each verse.  But if the phrase that is repeated at the beginning and end of the verses are pointed out even young children will sing them and catch any of the other phrases they can.

_ Verses 16-17 offer a series of generalities that make more sense to children when fleshed out with examples from children’s world.

cease to do evil

     learn to do good,

seek justice

     rescue the oppressed

The last two offer most potential for both examining the prophet’s teaching and building children’s familiarity with words they will hear often in worship - “justice” and “the oppressed.” 

To seek justice for children means to play fair.  Children are quick to cry “that’s not fair!”  That cry can be both affirmed and also directed.  Children can be encouraged to notice when someone other than themselves is being unfairly treated.  They can even be challenged to seek justice for others when it might not benefit them, e.g. when we are invited to sit with friends at lunch, but someone else is told to go away or insisting that everyone gets a turn before we get a second turn – even when we are the biggest and oldest in the group.

“The oppressed” who children meet regularly are the kids who are always chosen last for games, who everyone laughs at, who dress oddly, who bring different food to lunch, who have trouble with English, who are slow students at school, etc. 

Though your sins be as scarlet…

_ If your congregation frequently prays prayers of confession that use language about sins being scarlet, then washed white as snow, it is a good day for some worship education about that phrase.  Begin with talk about the color red.  Cite several other names for red being sure to include scarlet and crimson.  Since most children like red, they don’t understand “though my sins be as scarlet.”  To help them get it, talk about murder as maybe the worst sin you can do. Imagine with the children a murderer with blood dripping from his or her hands.  Then reread the phrase about scarlet going on to the promise “they shall be white as snow.”  Remind worshipers how white, white, white fresh snow is and how different it is from bloody scarlet. Then put the whole phrase into less colorful words, “there is no sin so bad, that I will not forgive you when you say you are sorry.”  If you will pray one of the traditional prayers of confession featuring this phrase, read the prayer and translate it into such words.  Then pray the prayer together.

_ If it is Back to School Sunday, blessing the backpacks is a great way to emphasize the connection between worship and daily living.  Go to Back to School - 2013  for specific suggestions.  One way to include more than just children in this is to invite everyone to bring something they carry every day (backpacks, briefcases, laptops, purses, even diaper bags) to this service to be blessed.  If this week is a little early for students to have book bags ready, consider swapping this week’s texts with those for the Sunday before everyone goes back to school.

Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23

This psalm is very like Isaiah’s message.  The way it is presented makes it harder for children to understand.  The omission of vv. 9-21 may work for those who know all about Temple worship, but it leaves children in the dust.  And, even if you read the entire psalm children may get the idea that God didn’t need the sacrificed animals, but they can hardly get from that idea to what it says about worship today. 

FAITH

FAITH is one of the big words in worship.  It is also abstract and hard for adults to define.  Introducing it well to children actually helps the adults well as the children.  The key is that faith is not something we think but the way we live.  It is more a verb than a noun.  Faith is a lot like trust.  When we trust our parents we jump into their arms in the swimming pool knowing they will catch us and we will be safe.  When we trust God we follow God’s rules faithing that God is in charge and is working things out for good in the world.  To explore this try some of the following.

_Present a big poster or banner featuring FAITH at the beginning of worship.  Before the call to worship give a brief definition of faith and challenge worshipers of all ages to listen carefully for what we sing, say and hear about FAITH in worship today.  Give children markers to write FAITH in their bulletin every time they hear it or strips of small star stickers to use in marking the word as they hear it.  Comment on well-marked or stickered bulletins as children leave the sanctuary.

_Talk about people we trust and don’t trust such as the people who make our cars or bicycles, teachers or coaches, people who make and deliver food we eat, the person who dares us to do something dangerous.  From there talk about trusting that God is in charge of the world and loves us and is working to make the world a better place for everyone.  Because we trust God to do those things we try to follow God’s rules and be part of building the better world.  That is living on FAITH.

Genesis 15:1-6

_ Many children today have little experience with sitting under starry skies.  There is just too much light.  But, they do have a keener sense of our place in a universe of stars than earlier children had.  So before reading this story, have a brief starry night experience.  Project pictures like this one that give a sense of the vastness of the universe and the numbers of the stars.

find this and more at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA16884

 

_ Children (and many adults) need a fuller telling of Abraham’s story than these six verse provide.  Try something like this.

God told Abraham to pack up his family and leave his home for “a land I will show you.”  God also promised Abraham and Sarah that though they were

already really old they would have a son and that son would have children and those children would have children until there was a huge family that “would bless all the earth.”  With these two promises Sarah and Abraham packed up all their stuff, said good-by to their family and friends knowing they’d probably never see them again and started out across the wilderness.  God did give them one thing they could see as a reminder of the promise.  That was all the stars in the sky.  God told them, “Try to count to stars in the sky.  You can’t, can you.  Your family will one day have as many children in it as there are stars in the sky.”  Abraham and Sarah kept moving and waited for the baby.  It was hard to keep believing it was true.  When they were 100 years old and were told that Sarah would have the baby that year, Sarah laughed.  But, she had the baby and she happily named him Isaac which means “Laughter”.  They did love their little Isaac.  And, they still wondered about the children and grandchildren he would have.   Finally, they died.  While they were alive, they never owned the land God promised to their family and never saw more of the family than their one son.  Still, they still believed it would come.  They knew it deep inside themselves.  They counted on it.  They lived like it was true. 

_ After reading this story.  Give the children large metallic star stickers that they can put on the inside cover of their notebook, inside their locker, or on a flap on their backpack as a reminder that they are part of God’s huge family.  Insist that as such they are loved always (even when it doesn’t feel like it at the moment) and that they are called to live like Gods people/stars.

Psalm 33:12-22

This call to praise and trust God is simple and straightforward, but there is nothing in it that particularly grabs the attention of children.   

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

_ Paul assumes that all his readers know the story of Abraham in detail.  Most children (and many adults) do not and will need a condensed version of Abraham’s story maybe just before this passage is read in worship.  Use the one printed above in the Genesis section.

_ The secret that the fox told the boy in The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint Exupery) was “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”  That may be close to the heart of this text for children.  The things we cannot see are more important than the ones we can see.  It’s the invisible things (e.g. love and faith) that shape our lives.  

As an example, describe a sports team that believes it will win the championship this year.  They know they are good and love playing the games together.  Because they want to win that championship so badly, they practice hard.  When they win games, they cheer loudly not only because they just won a game, but because they are that much closer to the championship.  When they lose a game, they think carefully about everything they did wrong and make plans to avoid doing those things in the next game.  After all if they are going to be champions they must play like champions.  Nothing they can see or touch or hear or smell proves that they will be champions, but they hope they will.  They believe they will.  They work hard so that their championship will come true. 

_ Younger children will only grasp that things we cannot see are important and shape our lives.  Older children may be ready to explore the words “faith” and “believe,” something that is not seen, but shapes our lives in the most important ways.  The sports team believed they were champions.  That is faith.  Abraham and Sarah believed that God was going to make their family huge and make them a blessing to all the earth.  That is faith.  We believe that we are God’s children and that God loves us and has work for us to do.  That is faith, too.

 

Luke 12:32-40

_ The Roman Catholic lectionary offers as an alternate reading only verses 35-40 which focuses on watchful waiting, i.e. being ready to respond as Abraham did with faith.  This more focused reading is easier for children to follow.

_ To help children separate the three alert servants, ask three people to come forward with their props and stand facing away from the congregation.  As their turn comes each turns to face the congregation and follow the italicized directions below.

' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '

Luke 12:35-40

Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; ³⁶ be like those (first person picks up lantern and steps forward watching out toward the congregation) who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. ³⁷ Blessed are those slaves (second person lifts a candle and stands ready with a towel over one arm) whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸ If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹ “But know this: if the owner of the house (third person picks up big flashlight and shines it just over the heads of the congregation with a serious facial expression and maybe shading his eyes with a  hand) had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰ You (narrator points to congregation as this is read) also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

                                                                           NRSV

' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '

_ Most children are in their last days of summer vacation.  Summer no longer looks endless.  The return to school is on the horizon and many are focused on getting in as much freedom and “summer” as they can before it ends.  (This is true whether they are looking forward to or dreading going back to school.)  To them this text says, even at the end of summer, you are on the job as God’s disciples.  Just as God is with us always loving us, taking care of us, forgiving us when we need it, so God expects us to be with God always living like God’s children.  That means that at the swimming pool, in the back seat of the car on that last trip to the beach or mountains, even when there is nothing to do at home, you are still Jesus’ disciple.  You need to be Jesus’ hands and feet taking care of people around you, being kind and loving (even when you don’t feel like it), and even forgiving brothers, sisters and friends when they need it.

In the congregation’s prayers, include prayers for the last days of summer vacation.  Pray for safe and happy trips that draw us closer to each other.  Pray for alertness to the needs of people around us and the wisdom to find ways to take care of those who need our care.

 

_ The Greatest Treasure, by Demi, tells of a man who almost lost his treasure when he was given a hoard that was really not a treasure at all.  It reads aloud in 6-7 minutes and is a great meditation on Luke 12:34.  Go to Proper 13 (Yr C) and scroll down for a summary of the story. 

 

% % % % % % % % % % % % % %

 

There are several suggestions in this post connecting these texts to themes children focus on in the days when they are getting ready to go back to school.  Go to Back to School - 2013 for more general ideas about this important season in the lives of young worshipers.

Year C - Epiphany (January 6, 2013)

The texts for Epiphany are the same in Years A, B and C.  After looking at what I had already posted for years A and B, I added some things and changed some things.  This post is the sum total of that.  So there is no need to follow links to other years. 

Isaiah 60: 1-6

'  Isaiah calls the people of Jerusalem to rise and shine because God’s glory is upon them for all the world to see.  Children heading back to school this week after soaking up God’s Christmas love and glory are ready to hear the call to shine also.  Verse 1 is their key verse.   Actually “Arise, shine!” is all they need. 

'  One way to explain the symbol of light is to present children with several symbols, e.g. a national flag, a symbol for a sports team, and a cross.  As you present each ornament ask what it stands for and what it makes them think about.  Then tell them that the symbol for God is light.  Since we can’t make a picture of light, we use things that make light like a star, sun, candle, or lamp.  Display a treetop star ornament that goes at the top of the Christmas or Chrismon tree and note its meaning.  Recall Christmas candle lighting services and note that we lit those candles to remind ourselves that God the light is with us.  Then, move to the discussion below of the candles in the worship center.  Or, name and explore other light symbols pondering how each reminds us of God.  Encourage the children (and other worshipers) to watch for light symbols scattered through the scriptures we read, the songs we sing and the prayers we pray today.

'  It is a good day to point out and explain your congregation’s use of candles during worship.  Many congregations light two candles on a central table.  The explanation that I grew up with was that one  candle was “God is the light of the world” (John 8:12) and the other “we are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:13)  I’m sure there are other explanations.  Share any you know in the comments.  An acolyte may light a taper from one of the candles before snuffing both at the conclusion of the service.  The acolyte often walks down the central aisle and out the back door to call worshipers to follow the light of God out into the world. 

Speaking of acolytes:  Lighting candles as a worship leader is a job that older children relish.  Including children in this simple act, training them how to do it and what it means, possibly even robing them to do it, tells them that they are a real part of the worshiping community.  Children as young as eight or nine can take this role successfully if the candles are short enough for them to reach easily.  In some churches serving as acolyte is an activity children sign up for just as they do for choir.  In others, the responsibility is tied to a particular church school class for the year. 

'  “Arise, shine” is not about enjoying light.  It is a command to reflect and spread light.  Reread this several times pondering the difference in basking in light and shining out in the darkness.  Explore ways we can shine listing ways children can shine God’s love out at school, in the locker room, even in the back seat of a car as well as ways youth and adults can shine.  To encourage worshipers to shine, give each one a star sticker (glittery ones are the best!).  During a children’s message, stick a star on each child’s hand or forehead and say to each one, “Arise, shine.”  Or, pass baskets of star stickers to the entire congregations, instructing individuals to stick a star on the person at their side saying to them “arise, shine.”

'  Light hymns children can sing at least parts of with understanding:

“I Want To Walk As A Child of Light”

“Let There Be Light” with lots of short phrases of hope for the coming year

“This Little Light of Mine” – a spiritual about our ability to be light as well as enjoy light

'  A commenter on an earlier Epiphany post said she grew up singing “Jesus Bids Us Shine” especially on Epiphany.  The YouTube video  at Jesus Bids Us Shine is a great introduction to the song if it is new to you as it was to me.  Looking around the web I found several different versions of some of the verses.  I would make choices of verses based on my message.

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14

' This prayer for  the king points out good characteristics for kings – and all leaders.  Obviously Herod did not share those characteristics.  But, King Jesus does.  After listing several well-known current leaders, read this psalm as a prayer for those people.

Ephesians 3:1-12

'  Demonstrate Paul’s mystery that God loves people all around the world by including people of as many different racial and ethnic backgrounds in worship leadership.  Some might even come in native dress or speak/read in native languages.  Include music from many different cultures.

'  Pray your way around the world.  Display a globe.  Explain that remembering the mystery Paul discovered, i.e. that God loves all people all over the world, your prayers today will move around the globe.  You might use the continents as your outline, offering prayers for each continent followed by time for worshipers to add their own voiced or silent prayers for that continent. 

'  Present several pairs of portraits of people from different parts of the world asking which of these does God love.  The answer of course is that God loves both of them.  (Old National Geographics are a good source of such portraits.)

JESUS MAFA. The Three Wise Men,
 from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48399
[retrieved November 13, 2012].

'  Connect Paul’s message to Epiphany by displaying several artist’s depictions of the magi.  Select works from different cultures.  The Vanderbilt Divinity Library collection includes one from Africa and one from Asia as well as several “great masters” from Europe.  Note the similarities and differences in what the magi wore (especially on their heads) and rode and brought as gifts.  From this make the point that Jesus did not come just for one small group of people, but for all the people in the world.

Matthew 2:1-12

'  As you tell the story of the three kings in your own words or read it from the Bible, move the kings from the crèche around the sanctuary.  Actually you will need three assistants, one to carry each king and perhaps a fourth to carry a star on a pole (or maybe the usual processional candle).  Start in a far corner of the sanctuary reading/telling about the beginning of the trip.  Stop in another corner to read/tell about the visit to the palace, then come to the mother and child figures.  (These figures might be in a prominent spot at the front of the sanctuary or in a nook off to a side.)  Finally read/tell about the warning not to return to Herod and accompany the king figures back to their homes following another path around the sanctuary.  (After the story return the kings to their positions around the mother and child figures.)  This could be a children’s time with all the children following you and the figure around the sanctuary or it could be the gospel reading for the day done with children in their seats.

'  Do a hymn study of “We three Kings of Orient, Are.”   Ask all worshippers to open their hymnals to the carol.  Walk through the verses explaining the significance of the three gifts.  Then sing the carol together.  This could be the outline for the day’s sermon or a fairly brief introduction to the hymn.

Interesting sidebar for children:  the carol is generally known as “We 3 Kings of Orient Are.”  Most children assume that Orient Are is the place the kings come from.  The truer to the meaning grammar for this verse would be:

We three kings of (the) Orient are bearing gifts.

We traverse afar, (over) field and fountain, 
      moor and mountain, following yonder star.

'  Chalking the Door is an Epiphany ritual that can be done at church then repeated in the congregation’s homes.  It is basically a house blessing.  Using chalk, members of the congregation or household write on the door frame the year’s date and the letters C, B, and M (the initials of the three wise men).  The date is interrupted by the letters:  20+C+M+B+13 for this Epiphany.   Prayer is then offered asking that the door welcome many visitors during the coming year and that all who come through the doorway be blessed.  Write on the church doors during the worship service with the focus on the congregation’s home.  Then encourage households to repeat it in their own homes.  Print a simple blessing for use at both church and home in the order of worship and give out small pieces of white chalk for home use.  Below is a sample blessing.

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

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

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

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

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

'  Interesting tidbit:  I learned on another blog that C,M,B also stands for Christus Mansionem Benedicat, Latin for “May Christ Bless this House.”

'  The world is full of stories about people who were invited to go with the three kings, but declined for a variety of reasons all related to thinking that they were too busy. In most this person later then decides to follow the kings, but is always too late and spends the rest of his/her life looking for the child.  The message in all the stories is to stay alert for signs of God at work in the world  (like a star in the sky or an invitation) and to be ready to drop everything to respond.  The Other Wise Man, by Henry Van Dyke, is a rather complicated long American version of this tale.   Two of the best of these stories for children are:

' The Legend of Old Befana, by Tomie dePaola.  In this well loved European folk tale, an Italian grandmother meets the kings, then spends the rest of her life leaving cakes and cookies for children during the night on January 6.  It could be used at least two ways in worship.

-          Read the first 13 pages ending with Befana telling the 3 kings that she has seen the star which kept her awake at night and that she had work to do. (approximately four minutes to read aloud)  Stop there to ponder the possibility of missing out on something wonderful because you were stuck in a grumpy rut.  Note that the new year has many possibilities.  Encourage worshipers to stay open enough to give them a chance. 

-          Or, instead of stopping read one more page.  Then, stop.  Ask listeners what Befana might have done next.  Read or tell what happened in the next 13 pages (approximately three minutes to read the rest of the book).  Compare Befana’s (grumpy) face in the pictures of her sweeping with her (happy) face on the last page.  Ponder what made the difference.

'  Baboushka, retold by Arthur Scholey, is a Russian folktale about another busy grandmother who meets the three kings and is invited to join them.  At first she declines with lots of busy excuses, then decides to follow, but never catches up.  An angel points out that the shepherds left immediately after the angels sang to them.  The kings followed the star as soon as it appeared.  She is simply too late.  She keeps searching, carrying with her toys that she leaves with sleeping children in case they are the Christ child.  (About ten minutes to read aloud)

'  A possibility to develop?  Are there light and epiphany songs from around the world that could be gathered to sing on Epiphany?  If anyone has such a list, please let the rest of us in on it in the comments.  Or, maybe next year (do I sound like Befana or BaboushkaJ)  I will have time to do the research to create such a list.

Have A Bright and Glorious Epiphany!