4th Sunday after the Epiphany

Not in 2025

Bible readings for today

RCL

Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

Collects

Loving God,
your loving purpose and mercy exceed all imagining.
Remove from us any narrowness of mind
or heart that limits your grace,
and strengthen our will to follow wherever you may lead us.
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

Jesus rejected at Nazareth (Luke 4:21-30)

When Jesus visits Nazareth, the town where he was from, he told a synagogue full of people that He was the fulfilment of the Isaiah scriptures. When the people in the synagogue heard him, they were angry and took him out to the edge of the town to throw him off a cliff.

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.

A print design from Rev. Sarah West, Diocese of Auckland
PNG Download
Download w/ background
Terms of Use

Family Mission Statement

What you need

Paper
Poster paper (A3 light card is great if you can get some)
Felts, pens, crayons
Pencil
Ruler
Glue stick
Optional: Decorating materials— ribbon, sequins, glitter, stickers, etc
Photo of your family

What you do

Talk together about what a mission statement is. Encourage your children to understand that families can have mission statements, too and that these can help remind everyone of what's important to your family.
Work together to brainstorm things that are important for your family. These can be things you do for each other and those outside your family, and values that you hold. It's ok if you have a lot of ideas!
Talk about your ideas. Re read Isaiah 61:1 thinking about Jesus' Mission Statement. Point out that it only mentions a few things-- not everything that Jesus did.
Decide together on the most important statements on your brainstorming page. Choose 3-4.
Work together to write your family mission statement including your chosen points. An example might be something like, "The Smith Family will love and support each other, pray together each day and spend time being helpful to our neighbours and people who need our help."
At the top of the poster write "The (Smith )Family Mission Statement" or "Our Family Mission Statement"
Decide where you're going to put your family photo. Lightly pencil around the photo so you can make sure you don't write where the photo is going to be.
If needed, rule some light pencil lines so that your mission statement can be straight.
Write out your mission statement. You might want to have everyone in your family sign or write their name on the poster. Explain that this is a way of saying that each person agrees with what you've written.
Glue your photo on your poster. Decorate it if you'd like.
Put your Mission Statement up where you can all see it!

Activities

Printable colouring in for Luke 4:18 (Flame Creative)

Make a scroll

What you need:

1 copy of Luke 4:18 per child
prepared paper (see below)
2 chopsticks per child
sello tape
glue sticks
scissors
felts/crayons
ribbon

What you do:

Prepare the paper to look old ahead of time. Make a solution of regularly brewed tea in a baking tray. Lay the paper in the tea for a few minutes then lay out or hang to dry. The longer the paper sits in the tea solution, the darker it will be. When the paper dries, it will not only be light brown, but it will also have a slightly crumpled feel.
On Sunday morning, give each child a piece of paper, 2 chopsticks and a copy of the verse. Make sure there are glue sticks, tape and scissors available.
Glue the verse in the middle of their browned paper. Decorate the verse with felts or crayons if desired.
Take the chopsticks and put one at each end. Take the chopstick to the paper.
Roll the paper slightly from each end so that the chopsticks are no longer visible and tape again (this is so that even with the scroll unrolled, you won't see the chopsticks and the paper will stay in place)
Roll the scroll closed from both ends and tie with a piece of ribbon.

Love is the greatest (1 Cor 13:1-13)

Stained Glass Hearts

What you need

Tissue paper in various colors
Scissors
White glue
Wax paper/greaseproof paper
Paint brushes
Newspaper to cover your working space
Hole punch
Ribbon or string
Bowls for the glue mix

What you do

Cover the table with newspaper
Mix up a diluted school glue mix (1 part glue to 2 parts water). Put this on the table with the paint brushes
Give each child a piece of greaseproof paper
Put the tissue paper on the table
Tear or cut pieces of tissue paper in the colours that they want to use
Paint a thin layer of diluted glue on the greaseproof paper
Press pieces of tissue paper over the glue
For another layer, add more glue and more tissue paper
Wait for the glue to dry completely
Cut out the shape desired (you can do any shape e.g. heart, cross, of detailed pattern)
Either leave the tissue paper on the greaseproof paper (the sunlight will still come through) or carefully peel the tissue paper away
Punch a hole in the top and thread ribbon or string through to hang the 'stained glass' creation

Linking to the Jeremiah verses

This passage ties in well with the Jeremiah passage for today, where it says:
"I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.
Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

God loved us before we were born, where He formed us in our mother's womb. There is no heights, depths and distance we can go from his love - even before we knew it.

Alternative Collect

Surprising God,
who were outsiders are included around your table;
may we learn to welcome those you welcome
through the scandal of the cross of Jesus the Christ, who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Jesus Presented in the Temple (Luke 2:22-38)

Activities

Simeon and Anna Puzzle (Sunday School Zone)
Secret Code Activity (Sunday School Zone)
Wordsearch (Sunday School Zone)