30 April 2023
Bible readings for today
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CollectLoving Shepherd:
you lead us nowhere you yourself have not been. Call us by name, lift us high upon your shoulders, and bring us to the fold. 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 |
John 10:1-10
Today's Gospel reading is the story of the good shepherd and sheep
SheepThis sheep activity can be done by all ages -- and while the instructions are to use fondant icing, you might like to try other materials like modelling clay, salt dough, or marshmallows!
You may like to name your sheep after one of your friends, neighbours or family and then prayer for that person as you work. 
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My sheep hear my voiceRead Read the story of John 10:1-5 together
WatchThen watch this youtube clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDvb1tXuRrU
In Jesus’ day, where he lived, was very much a farming community. Although usually each shepherd would care for His own flock of sheep on his own, sometimes 3 or 4 flocks would be combined together in a larger pen. A watchman would put at the gate to guard the sheep on behalf of the shepherds. When they came back for their flock, each shepherd would go in to the pen and call the sheep that belonged to him. The sheep would recognise the voice of their master and would leave the pen to follow him. A friend of mine has actually seen this happen! She was on a trip to Israel. She was on a bus tour and they stopped for a rest break at a roadside cafe. I looked over a wall and saw an Israeli shepherd leading his sheep out of a sheep pen. He was calling them individually by their names, “Bella, Mary...” and they were following him! Some of the sheep stayed behind - he obviously wasn’t their shepherd! We stopped at the same spot the next day, and I ran to the wall with my video camera ready, wanting to capture the beautiful scene. To my horror, the shepherd was not calling the sheep forward like before – he was hitting them with a big stick, driving them from behind. I asked the coach driver what on earth the shepherd was doing! He replied, “That’s not the shepherd, it’s the butcher and he’s just bought them!" Jesus is the Good Shepherd and He leads from ahead, calling us by name. The sheep recognise the Master’s voice, and when they obey and follow Him, they enjoy good pasture. However, there’s an enemy who’s much like the butcher, driving the sheep from behind and hitting them. He came only to steal, kill and destroy. The Good Shepherd has laid down His life for the sheep, in order to save them from the enemy. Not only did He willingly lay His life down, He also took it up again – just as He said He would. Questions
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Story for younger children
** Depending on your audience you may prefer to not include the the paragraph beginning with two ** in your story.
This part of the good Shepherd is not in the children’s bible, but you can read this story to them : Jesus often used pictures and stories to explain things to his disciples. Today we are going to hear about how Jesus tells us he is a the Good Shepherd of the sheep. In Jesus’ day, where he lived, was very much a farming community. Although usually each shepherd would care for His own flock of sheep on his own, sometimes 3 or 4 flocks would be combined together in a larger pen. A watchman would put at the gate to guard the sheep on behalf of the shepherds. When they came back for their flock, each shepherd would go in to the pen and call the sheep that belonged to him. The sheep would recognise the voice of their master and would leave the pen to follow him. A friend of mine has actually seen this happen! She was on a trip to Israel. She was on a bus tour and they stopped for a rest break at a roadside cafe. I looked over a wall and saw an Israeli shepherd leading his sheep out of a sheep pen. He was calling them individually by their names, “Bella, Mary...” and they were following him! Some of the sheep stayed behind - he obviously wasn’t their shepherd! **We stopped at the same spot the next day, and I ran to the wall with my video camera ready, wanting to capture the beautiful scene. To my horror, the shepherd was not calling the sheep forward like before – he was hitting them with a big stick, driving them from behind. I asked the coach driver what on earth the shepherd was doing! He replied, “That’s not the shepherd, he’s just bought them!" Jesus is the Good Shepherd and He leads from ahead, calling us by name. We can trust him. Sometimes it is hard to know what the right thing to do is, that is when it is good to stop and think about what you know about Jesus, the important things he has taught us about how what kind of person we should try and be, you can even just quickly pray in your head, to ask him to help you to follow his lead, his voice. Everyone needs to do this, adults, vicars, teachers, parents and you too. Because you can trust Jesus to guide well because we know how much he loves you. Most of us are lucky enough to have parents who are good shepherds and we know they love us and want the best for us - so it is important to listen to them too! |
Story for older childrenPreparation
In Jesus’ day, where he lived, was very much a farming community. Although usually each shepherd would care for His own flock of sheep on his own, sometimes 3 or 4 flocks would be combined together in a larger pen. A watchman would put at the gate to guard the sheep on behalf of the shepherds. When they came back for their flock, each shepherd would go in to the pen and call the sheep that belonged to him. The sheep would recognise the voice of their master and would leave the pen to follow him. A friend of mine has actually seen this happen! She was on a trip to Israel. She was on a bus tour and they stopped for a rest break at a roadside cafe. I looked over a wall and saw an Israeli shepherd leading his sheep out of a sheep pen. He was calling them individually by their names, “Bella, Mary...” and they were following him! Some of the sheep stayed behind - he obviously wasn’t their shepherd! We stopped at the same spot the next day, and I ran to the wall with my video camera ready, wanting to capture the beautiful scene. To my horror, the shepherd was not calling the sheep forward like before – he was hitting them with a big stick, driving them from behind. I asked the coach driver what on earth the shepherd was doing! He replied, “That’s not the shepherd, it’s the butcher and he’s just bought them!" Jesus is the Good Shepherd and He leads from ahead, calling us by name. The sheep recognise the Master’s voice, and when they obey and follow Him, they enjoy good pasture. However, there’s an enemy who’s much like the butcher, driving the sheep from behind and hitting them. He came only to steal, kill and destroy. The Good Shepherd has laid down His life for the sheep, in order to save them from the enemy. Not only did He willingly lay His life down, He also took it up again – just as He said He would. Reflection Question Ask the children how they feel about the shepherd protecting them. How they felt about the wild animal threatening them. Then talk about how Jesus is our shepherd, that we need to learn to listen to his voice, through praying to him, through learning to feel him inside us, through reading the bible etc. Do you yearn to hear the voice of the shepherd more clearly? PrayerInvite the children to hold their sheep while you pray this prayer : Dear Lord Jesus, I want to hear and recognise Your voice today. Would You come and speak to me by name, in ways that I can’t possibly misunderstand. Please help me to recognise Your voice, to follow You and to trust You as my Good Shepherd. In Jesus’ name, Amen. |
Playdough mat
A Good Shepherd playdough mat from Flame Creative Children's Ministry. Print out the mat, laminate and provide a lump of play dough for kids to make their own model of the good shepherd.
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Know my voice! A game for older childrenWhat you need/PreparationRecord snippets of famous people’s voices -- you can do this on your cell phone and play back with a speaker (e.g. Justin Timberlake, the Prime Minister, Scooby doo, Hermione Granger, Spongebob square pants, the vicar, yourself!) Also, paper and pens for each group.
What to doDivide people into two or three teams. Explain that you will play voices of famous people. As you do, the teams have to write down the name of the person that they think it is. At the end, check the answers and see how they did! This could lead into a discussion about how we recognise people by their voices. Whose voices/ opinions do we listen to most? How do we listen to Jesus? Re- read John 10:1-10... What gets your attention in this reading? Why do you think God brought that to your attention? What might God be asking you to do about that? |
Follow the leader - a game for younger childrenPreparationNothing!
What to doGet the children in one long line. The person at the front is the leader. Tell the group that they need to copy what the leader does. After a short time, change the leader by making the person at the front go to the back of the line. At the end, you could talk about how easy it was to follow someone else? How do we follow Jesus? What makes it easy/hard? |
Sheep and shepherd game
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Sheep craft
Print out copies of this sheep for each child, and decorate with cotton wool balls, glue and pens. You might like to create a field for them all to go in, to display you flock! You could also make multiple and write the names of who they represent (eg. you, mum, dad, best friend)
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Ice block stick sheep
When Jesus told this story, the people didn’t understand. Do you understand what Jesus was talking about? In this story, we are the sheep and Jesus is our shepherd. He loves us and only wants what is best for us. He will watch over us and care for us and keep us from harm. He will give us everything we need.
When someone tries to get you to listen to what they say, just wait long enough to listen to what Jesus might be saying to you… Make a sheep puppet to remind you that Jesus looks after you, his little sheep. Craft instructions are found at the 'Crafts by Amanda" website, here: https://craftsbyamanda.com/colorful-flock-craft-stick-sheep/ |
Media
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Andrew McDonough, the creator of the Lost Sheep books tells 'Cecil the Lost Sheep' and does a bit of drawing in this YouTube video.
For more Lost Sheep resources, go to their website |
