The Pharisees Rules (Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23)
In today's passage, Jesus talks to the Pharisees about the rules they have, to catch people out. Today they asked him about why his disciples weren't keeping strict rules around eating, and Jesus reminds them that having a clean heart is even more important. The words we use can be a reflection of the state of our heart.
Washing handsHaving spent the last 18months living in a world with Covid-19, where good hand hygiene is even more important than ever, it may be tempting to read today's gospel passage and think that the Pharisees and scribes have a good point! Its important to remember that they were not concerned with good sanitation, but with the keeping of lots of rules and regulations that would make someone ritually clean. Their rules are for exclusion, not including people into God's kingdom.
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Quick Questions
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Prayer Jenga uses the popular game to encourage all ages to pray. Write prayer ideas on each of the blocks, and assemble your tower. As each person removes a block, they read out the prayer idea on the block and pray a quick prayer for it. It is a great way to get all ages praying out loud, in a fun and creative way.
Thanks to the Kitchen Table Project for the great idea. |
Prayer PlacematsUsing the paper, pens and craft materials around your house, design a placemat for someone else in the family, reminding them how much you love them. The passage from today reminds us that our heart is the source of the words we share, so take a moment to pray for that person and share words of encouragement, hope and love. Share them with each other at dinner time, and take a moment to explain what your picture represents.
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Gospel ConversationsPeg Riley, until recently long-time chaplain of St Margaret's College in Christchurch, joins Bishop Kelvin, Alec Clark and Michael to dig deep into a potentially tricky passage of Mark's gospel. What does it mean to balance the inner and outer life of faith, to ensure the walls come down between us and others, to focus once again on the core of it all: love?
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Scripture Reflections"Mark frequently depicts the scribes and Pharisees as habitual opponents of Jesus, for ever attempting to trap or trip him, to embarrass him in front of his followers and undermine his mana. The contrast Jesus makes between outward piety (Paul and Luther’s “works”) and inward devotion (akin to holy eros) silences, for now, the schemers. A similar and similarly unsuccessful trap, more obscure to modern readers, is depicted in the omitted verses. Love, compassion, and justice will not be silenced." - Rev. Michael Godfrey
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The Faith of a Gentile Woman (Mark 7:24-30)
Jesus heals the woman's daughterWow that was quite a story today. Jesus didn't seem to be treating the woman very well in the first part of the story. How did you feel about it? (pause) It might have been a bit hard to pick up, but the woman and her daughter were from a different town than Jesus. In Jesus' time, people often thought that Jesus had come just for the people of his town, not the rest of the world.
Does that sound like the Jesus you know? (pause)
Well, Jesus did heal the woman's daughter in the end. Some people think that this story was Jesus' way of letting people know that he had come for all people, not just a few. As Christians, we are called to be like Jesus. And just as Jesus healed the daughter in the story even though she was from a different town, we too need to treat everyone the same way and not just be nice to our friends. |
Quick Questions
Gospel ConversationsOne of the most uncomfortable passages we encounter in Mark's Gospel is the story of Jesus and the Syrophonecian woman. This week Chris Holmes, Jan Clark and Richard Atiken join Michael to face the challenges of a Jesus who does not always fit our comfortable images of him, and who yet brings hope that is extended to us no matter who we are.
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Jesus Heals the Deaf/Mute Man (Mark 7: 31-36)
All of these games and activities can be used as conversation starters about what it might be like to be Deaf or Mute
Activities
Quick Questions
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