18 July 2021

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Bible readings for today

Bible Sunday Readings

• Isaiah 55:1-11
• ​Psalm 19:7-14 
• 2 Tim 3:14 - 4:5 
• John 5:36b-47

Ordinary Sunday readings

• 2 Samuel 7:1-14
• Psalms 89:20-36
• Ephesians 2:11-22
• Mark 6:30-34,53-56

Collect

God of creation, 
you are revealed in the morning song of Tui, Bellbird and Magpie, 
and in the golden evening waves reflecting the setting sun. 
You surround us daily. 
Open our eyes to delight in your presence, 
and activate our hands into caring as you do for all you have made,
​that your kingdom may come and your will be done. 
Through Jesus Christ our Liberator, 
who is alive and reigns with you, 
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
one God, now and for ever.
Amen

Bible Sunday

The Bible Society New Zealand have a great range of resources to help unpack the Bible, and the story of Bibles in New Zealand. ​This year they are celebrating 175 years of the Bible being in New Zealand. 

• The Big Picture of the Bible
• The Bible is the best selling bible of all time
• Te Paipera Tapu – The Bible in Māori
• Is the Bible still important to New Zealanders? 

Ngā Timatanga / Beginnings - the early story of the Bible in New Zealand 

Mark 6:30-34,53-56

When word spread that Jesus was healing people, crowds followed him everywhere he went. In today's readings, Jesus seeks time out with his disciples and with God, and also responds to the needs of the crowds. 

Children's Talk

Have you ever felt like everyone needs you to do something for them all at the same time and there is no time left for yourself? (Pause for discussion.) Well, in today's story, Jesus and the apostles were having just that very dilemma! Can anyone remember what Jesus' solution was? (Pause) Well, Jesus said 'Let's go to a place where we can be alone and get some rest.”!! You see, even Jesus needed time to recharge his batteries. If he didn't make time to look after himself, then he would have been too exhausted to help all those other people in the rest of the story.
What do you think we can learn from this story? (pause) Well, I think we can try and make time for us to recharge our own batteries. One of the things that work for me is to have Time out with God. I go to a quiet place like my bedroom and just sit quietly and try to listen to God. Sometimes I play some music in the background or I read from the bible. Do any of you do something similar? (pause)

Quick Questions

• How do you recharge your batteries?
• When you get really busy, what helps get you through the day?
• Have you ever tried having a quiet time with God?
• If you did, what did you do?
• I wonder why God would want to spend some alone time with us? 

Creative prayer

Helping children discover that prayer can be fun, creative, deep and personal, can transform the way they speak and listen to their heavenly father. When you talk to them about 'quiet times' or spending time with God alone, brainstorm and introduce them to some creative ways they can pray. Prayer can be:

• colourful -- praying by colour
• written -- Written conversation/narrative with God
• tactile -- Flame Creative ideas
• playful -- lego prayers
• sung -- Lords prayer in te reo
• fun -- fidget spinner prayers
• personal -- the best 5 finger prayers

Time With God Hangers

Print out these door hangers on A4 card and decorate with pens, crayons, stickers and your favourite craft bits. Encourage the children to have a quiet time with God this week, or to think about good times of the day when they can spend time with Him. ​
Download it here

Shrunken Island

A game for younger children
​
What you need: A blanket 
What to do: 

• Spread the blanket out on the floor. Tell the children that it is an island and they all need to stand on it so they don't get wet in the water surrounding it.
• Get then to get off the blanket and then fold it in half and place it back down on the ground.
• Again, get all the children to stand on it without touching the ground.
• Repeat until it is too small for them all to fit. See how small they can get it without touching the ground!

Media

Children's Ministry in St Albans Diocese: Sheep without a shepherd, Mark 6

Ephesians 2

House against house

​All throughout history and literature, there is story after story about how people are put against one another. 
House against house, person against person, party against party. Examples you could use include:

• England vs Italy – sports teams in the Euro 2020/21 cup final
• Apple vs Android
• Capulets vs Montagues (Romeo and Juliet)
• Labour vs National political parties
• Science vs faith
• What others can you think of? 

In our reading today, Paul talks about how Jews were up against the gentiles

• Jews vs Gentiles 
  • Jews were the children of God and the recipients of God’s covenant and law. But the Bible also tells us that even though they were close to God, they were disobedient and unfaithful. 
  • Who were the gentiles? Gentiles were the strangers and aliens to Israel, and were not included in the covenant promises God made with Israel. The Gentiles are without hope because they are without God in the world  

 
These differences can be seen in history, in stories, and in the church. And not just in the church of the old. Perhaps its the friction between two Sunday worship services, the youth group and the adults service. For centuries, parts of the church have accused other parts of the church that they are "not Christian enough."

Intergenerational friction

Intergenerational friction
In recent times, the media has shown the tension between the generations, such as the 'Okay Boomer' narrative that has become popular over the last few years. A young woman posted a video of herself saying this comment to an older person, and the expression gained more momentum when a Green MP, Chloe Swarbrick, used the term in response to an older National MP in the debating chambers. 

Overnight, the expression soared in popularity and seemed to express the frustrations that many younger generations were feeling. A 2019 New York Times article was entitled 'Okay boomer marks the end of the friendly generational relations', while an US magazine created two editions of the same magazine, entitled "It's all your fault Boomers", and another with "its all your fault millennials". And while we need to filter these debates through a contextual lens here in New Zealand, we need to acknowledge that these conversations dehumanise the "other". For more information, see Cory Seibel's book, Engaging all generations.

Don't take it for granted

It can be easy to forget our stories of faith, and take for granted the knowledge and experiences we have had walking a life with Jesus. Psalm 145: 4-7 reminds us of how one generations commends the work to another, and the needs of an intergenerational community of faith, as they learn and grow together. 

Taking down walls. 

And Jesus is in the business of taking down walls. ​

The church is good at putting up walls between our services, groups and activities. In some ways, when taken too far, we are like a Potato head toy separated out into the different parts, like a  divided up Body of Christ. How can we bring the generations back together, for mutual learning, serving and worship? 

We're in this together

Jesus came to give us a fresh start, to make a new covenant for Jews and Gentiles, so they would no longer be different. 

Temples of God

Paul uses the illustration of a building to describe how Jesus takes down the walls that divide. As the Old Testament tells us, the Temple was the place where people had to go to be close to God. In this new covenant, a fresh start, God shows that we are now the temple of the living God - God is using people. We no longer have to be in the right place, or with the right person. 

The Message version of Ephesians 2:19-22 is great for this description: "You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home."