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Sunday after Ascension

​​Te Rātapu Tuawhitu o te Aranga

29 May 2022


Bible readings for today

  • ​Acts 16:16-34 
  • Psalm 97
  • Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21 
  • John 17:20-26

Today is the 7th Sunday after Easter, and also marks Christian Unity. 

Collect

Eternal God, 
Between Ascension and the Spirit; 
Between your going and your coming; 
we await your purpose: 
grant us expectant hearts; 
give us the vision of your kingdom; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord; 
who lives and reigns with you, 
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
one God, now and for ever. ​

Jesus prays for his followers (John 17: 20-26)

This passage of John 17 shares part of Jesus' last address to his disciples, before he is arrested by the soldiers and taken off to Pilate. Jesus speaks of unity, and finishes by saying: “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”

Thy Kingdom Come

Thy Kingdom come is a global prayer movement between Ascension and Pentecost that encourages the church to pray for people to become Christians and follow Jesus. There are lots of prayer ideas on our Strandz website, such as praying for 5, labyrinth prayers, and our prayer puzzle. 

All age talk

What you need: cake ingredients, such as flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, eggs, milk. 

Look at all the things I have to show you this morning. (Hold up several items and comment on each.) I have some flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, eggs, milk, and much more. Just by looking at the individual items, you might not know what we could do with them. The individual items could have many uses, but guess what we might be able to do with them if we put them all together. Well, for one thing, we could make a chocolate cake! Would you like to eat a spoonful of flour? How about a spoonful of salt or some vegetable oil? I didn't think so! Most of the items we have here wouldn't taste very good by themselves, but when you mix them all together in one bowl, put them in a pan and bake them in the oven, you can end up with a delicious cake!

These different ingredients that go into baking a cake can teach us an important lesson about the church. The church is made up of many individual members. Like these ingredients, the members of a church are quite different, but when you put them all together and they work together as one, the church can do some wonderful things. In our Bible reading this morning, Jesus himself prayed that all believers would be one so that the world would see God's love in them. You and I are part of the church. Jesus wants us to love one another, help one another, and serve one another. When we do that, we become one, just as Jesus prayed we would be, and when we are one, the world can see God's love in us.

Unfortunately, sometimes the individual members of the church have a hard time being one with one another. We may hear people in the church saying things like "I don't like the songs we sing" or "The preacher preaches too long." When we say things like that and want to have everything our way, we are no longer being one. We are like the individual ingredients of the cake. The world cannot see God's love in us. They don't get to enjoy the wonderful things that God has in store for them.
If you ever find yourself thinking about yourself, rather than being united with others in the church, remember that Jesus prayed that we would be one. When we are one, bound together by Christ's love, the world gets a taste of the wonderful things that God has for them.
Dear Father, help us to be one so that the world may taste your sweet love in us. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Gathering Prayer

"We come to re-weave the unravelling fabric of community.
To re-connect once more with the larger human family.
To find once more that place of calm.
To remind ourselves that we belong.
And to remember what it is we belong to."
See more in this link - Gathering Prayer (Church of Scotland) - scroll down to find the prayer!

Christian Unity Resources

Children's Group resources doc (CAFOD)
Christian unity colouring sheet (CAFOD)

Gospel Conversations

Thanks to the Diocese of Dunedin for these great videos! Some conversations are stand-outs, and this is one of them. As Jesus comes ever closer to the cross, his final words are ones of challenge and promise, not only to the disciples sitting around him, but to us as well. Join +Kelvin, Trish, Jonathan Gale and Michael as they explore the glorious complexities of Jesus' prayer with honesty and insight.

Visio Lectio

​A beautiful image from the Visio Lectio project, created by the Anglican Diocese of Auckland. © Sarah West. All Rights reserved, shared with permission. ​
​
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Picture

Picture prayers

  • Gather a collection of pictures from newspapers or online images that represent the differences between people, and people in unity. 
  • Spread out the pictures for the children to see
  • Take time to look and choose one which you feel God is nudging you towards. As you hold your picture in your hand: 
  1. first praise God (tell God why you think He is wonderful); 
  2. Thank God (for something that has happened in your week, or something the picture makes you think of); 
  3. Say sorry (for something you may have done, or not done, or something the picture makes you think of); 
  4. Pray for others (in your picture or in your life) and 
  5. pray for yourself (ask God to help you with…)

Jesus' Ascension (Luke 24:44-53)

Today also marks the Sunday after the Ascension of Jesus, which is written about in Luke 24: 44-53 and Acts 1:9-11, 

Balloons Up!

You will need:
  • A parachute
  • Balloons
This is a parachute game, as you all stand round the parachute, holding on to the edge.  Lift up to fill up with air then add balloons and make them float up and hit the ceiling, make an air-mountain, try not to lose any of the balloons off the edge. Play other parachute game variations, if you have a favourite! 

Activities

  • Jelly/Cream Sky Dessert (The Crafty Crow)
  • Straw Rockets (Tip Junkie)
  • Cut and Colour Printable (El Rincon da las Melli)
  • Ascension Bubbles (Flame Creative Kids)
  • Printable Paper Craft (Crafting the Word of God)

Blowing Bubbles

Blow bubbles and they have to pop them/catch them, try blowing from low down and blowing them up in the air. If it seems appropriate, you can mention that today we are thinking about Ascension day when Jesus went back up to heaven to be with God and we are blowing the bubbles up to the sky like Jesus going up to God.

Paul and Silas in Prison (Acts 16:16-34)

Activities

  • Paul's Jail Cell (Susan's Homeschool Blog)
  • Shackles (Bible Class Creations)
  • Pop-up Jail (Bible Songs and More)
  • Chain Craft (Crafting the Word of God)
  • Paul and Silas in a Delicious Prison (The Summit)
  • Printable puzzle (Crafting the Word of God)
  • Paper craft activity (Gelovenisleuk)

Quick Questions

These questions are from Ministry to Children website and could be a great follow up activity

  • What city did Paul and his friends go to first in Macedonia? (Philippi)
  • Why did Philippi not have a synagogue? (Not enough Jews lived there)
  • Who did Paul and his friends find at the river? (Women)
  • Who opened Lydia’s heart to listen to the words Paul was teaching? (The Lord)
  • Who is God leading you to share the Good News/Gospel of Christ with?
  • Who was following Paul when he was sharing the Good News in Philippi? (A slave girl that could predict the future)
  • Why did the slave girl’s masters get angry? (They couldn’t make money from the slave girl anymore)
  • How was Paul and Silas treated by the crowd? (They were beaten)
  • What did Paul and Silas do in prison? (They prayed and praised God)
  • How did God’s power change the jailer’s heart?  (He believed in Jesus)
The Adventures of Paul: Prison Break
Paul and Silas: Acts 15 & 16
Paul and Silas in Acts 16: 16-36
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