5 January 2025

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Bible readings for today

Epiphany readings

• ​Isaiah 60:1-6
• Psalms 72:1-7,10-14
• Ephesians 3:1-12
• Matthew 2:1-12​

If the Epiphany has already been celebrated, please refer to the Second Sunday of Christmas 

Collect

E Īhu, mārama o te ao,
meinga kia tīaho tōu whetū mārama
​ki runga iho i te wāhi e noho ai te rawakore;
arahina ō mātou tohunga ki te whakaaro nui,
ō mātou rangatira ki te whakaaro pai.
Whakarongo ki tēnei īnoi i runga i tōu aroha.
Āmine.

Jesus, light of the world,
let your bright star stand over the place
where the poor have to live;
lead our sages to wisdom
and our rulers to reverence.
Hear this prayer for your love’s sake.
Amen.

Bible Explore in 2025

We're excited to keep sharing ideas and resources to support the church across Aotearoa New Zealand and abroad. If you are creating material, writing prayers, coming up with fun games for kids... let us know! Email us at [email protected]

Over the summer

You may have fewer services or regulars over the summer months, but its always a great idea to anticipate that children will be present in your Sunday gatherings.

Quick checklist: 

• Is your website up to date for visitors?
• Do you have signage on the church doors or noticeboard for your summer services?
• Are you ready to welcome new faces who are visiting or exploring new churches over the summer break? Think about your space, and how you can help families feel welcome in your time of worship.
• How can your services accommodate all ages? 

Have some things printed out and a creative station available for kids who want an interactive space. These school holiday packs from the Salvation Army are a great start

Download our Strandz 2025 wallplanner

The Magi travel to meet Jesus (Matthew 2:1-12 )

Today's bible reading talks about how the magi travelled to meet Jesus. 

What is Epiphany?

We often think of Epiphany as just being one day/Sunday, but in fact it is a season in our liturgical calendar. For three weeks we celebrate how Epiphany is all about expanding God's Kingdom beyond his people Israel.  The word Epiphany describes the 12th day of Christmas, which falls on January 6th and marks the official end to the festive season for many Christians. 

We also celebrate Jesus' baptism on this day (see our other Bible Explore resources for today) and Epiphany also marks the visit to the baby Jesus by the Magi, (the three Kings, or Wise Men). The word 'Epiphany' comes from Greek and means 'manifestation'. It celebrates 'the revelation of God in his Son as human in Jesus Christ'.
Find out more facts about Epiphany here

Leaders Input

​Unpacking the readings: The Church of Scotland have some good lectionary reading content on their website, which is helpful for those preaching this Sunday, or looking for background information on the scriptures. 
You can find their information here

Gospel Conversations: The GC team normally take a break over January, but a group got together to talk through some of the summer readings. No editing, no structure, so not perhaps something you'd use instead of a sermon (as we know some places do occasionally do). Instead we're inviting you to drop in on us as we chat about our reactions and thoughts about each of the Gospel readings as they come up.

Visio Lectio:
​Visio Lectio is based on the practice of Visio Divina - the thoughtful contemplation of something visual that invites God to speak to us.
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​A print design from Rev. Sarah West, Diocese of Auckland
​PNG Download
Download w/ background
Terms of Use

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Intergenerational Worship

A lot of families will be on holiday this weekend, and the story this week is a great one for an intergenerational service. We'd encourage you to include your children into the wider church family, and make sure the worship and teaching is for all ages. If you would like to provide some activities to back up the story for today, see the activity section below. 

Quiz

Today is what we call Epiphany Sunday!  Which means that is the Sunday we remember the wisemen coming to visit the baby Jesus. Let’s have a quick quiz. (encourage everyone to sit down). Jump up if you think you know the answer....

• How many magi were there? (Three - that we know of!)
• What do people say their names were?  (Bethazar, Melchoir, Gaspar)
• How long did it take them to get to Bethlehem?  (we don’t know but a long, long time. Jesus was probably 1-2 years old!)
• Where was Jesus when they arrived? (they had found a house to live in)
• What presents did they bring? (gold, frankincense and myrrh)
• How did they find Jesus? (the followed the star in the sky)
• Why do you think these wisemen came to see a baby? (They knew he was very important, that he was going to be a king)
• What is Jesus King of? (He is King of us, king of all people.  He showed us how to live by the way he lived himself and like a good King, he cares very much about all his ‘subjects’ or his ‘people’ - that’s YOU)

Kids Talks

The Magi have an epiphany! (Gary Neal Hansen)

Lovely simple session for little ones 

Epiphany - Wise Men: The first of a series of three sessions looking at three 'signs' or 'clues' of who Jesus is. Involves making a wall display pirate map. See also The Baptism of Jesus and  The Wedding at Cana.

Wondering Questions

• I wonder what why the wise men brought gold, frankincense and myrrh to Jesus? 
• I wonder what they said when they gave them to Mary and Joseph?
• I wonder what Mary and Joseph thought when they received them?
• I wonder what gifts we can give Jesus today?

Activities to connect with the story

• Wise men christmas crafts -- a range of good ones here
• An I-Spy printable nativity game
• A Vist of the Magi Wordsearch
• A wise men code breaker
• A star maze
• Yarn wrapped star
• Wise men colouring in page
• Magi colouring in printable  (Christmas on the Move, from Strandz)
• Church House Collection have some downloadable templates of some gold, frankincense and myrrh that you can print, cut out and hang on the tree. You can find them on their website

Preschool Playdough Mat

Flame Creative have put together a printable Playdough mat, so that the youngest of our children can enjoy Epiphany too. 
You can find it on their website!
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Play dough recipe

• 1 ½ cups salt
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon Cream of Tartar
• 2 tablespoons Oil
• 2 cups boiling water

Mix together ingredients. Knead dough until smooth and warm, add a bit more water if the dough is too dry. Use food colourings for different colours. It will keep in an airtight container for ages!

Epiphany Activity Sheet

Youth for Christ UK have a fun Epiphany worksheet that would be great for families and church services. Download it here

Alternative Epiphany Collect

God of all wisdom
As the wise ones were guided to your stable by a star, 
lead us through this world with gifts of 
love, reason, and wisdom 
so that we shall know and love you, 
our beginning and our end. 
For you are alive and reign with the Father 
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Chalk Blessings for households

A simple chalk blessing to pray over the homes and households for the year ahead. 
For background info about the blessing:

• Epiphany chalk house blessing (Liturgy)
• Epiphany House blessing (Interrupting the silence)

What you need: 

• A stick of chalk for each household
• Black construction paper for flats or shared rental properties (optional)
• A take home sheet for each household. These are printed off double sided and 3 to an A4. Fold in half like a card. 

Road Tripping for households

This week's reading is about the Magi, who journeyed to see the King. Many of your community's households may be journeying during this time. Here are some fun options for road trips!

• Road Trip 'God-sightings'
• Some great "I wonder" questions from glenysnellist.com (scroll down).
• Road Trip Scavenger hunt with pictures (for younger kids)
• Road Trip Scavenger hunts for teens and tweens
• Games and activities for car trip

Epiphany Photobooth

What you need

• Print outs of the Strandz Photobooth props (pdf) on card
• Kebab sticks 
• Tape
• A Photo Booth area set up -- perhaps a corner of the room with gold, purple fabric
• Pens/sharpies for writing on speech bubbles. You might like to print a few of these. 
• A camera and laptop/printer for printing photos, or an instant camera printer. Or an old school polaroid! Use a digital camera if you want to share the photos with your church Facebook page or use in service powerpoints next week! 

What to do

• Take photos of groups of your church family. Encourage them to be creative and excited! Each person adds a prop or decoration to become part of the epiphany story -- a wise man or woman! 
• Share the photos with your church community, or print them out on the day for families to take home. 
• Encourage all ages and members of the church to get involved -- this is a great intergenerational activity. 

Epiphany Star

Source: Sun Hats and Wellie Boots

Game:Kings Keys

The king’s keys - sit in a circle. 1 child sits in the middle on a chair with a bunch of keys underneath, they are blindfolded. They have to listen hard and point if they hear anyone coming to steal the keys, 3 goes. If they point correctly, the stealer sits on the chair.  A leader choses different children to try to get the keys...

Clay Crowns Craft Activity

Give each child a square of greaseproof paper with their name on and a lump of salt dough to make into a crown.  They can push sequins and beads into them to make them look like beautiful crowns. Push a skewer through the top so they can be hung up (make 2 holes if the crowns are too big). Put them into cook on a low heat and give out before they leave (during morning tea).  
Suggest the older children write Jesus or Jesus is my King on the back, using a knife, or tiny dots make with a fork. 

Epiphany Artwork: Journey to Bethlehem by Giuliano Lunelli

Media