27 August 2023

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Bible readings for today

• Exodus 1:8-22; 2:1-10
• Psalms 124:1-8
• Romans 12:1-8
• Matthew 16:13-20

Liturgical Colour: GREEN

Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, 
by your Spirit the whole body of the Church 
is governed and sanctified; 
hear the prayer we offer 
for all your faithful people, 
that in the ministry to which you have called us 
we may serve you in holiness and truth; 
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
Amen. 

E te Atua Kaha rawa mutungakore, nā tōu Wairua ka kawanatia ka whakatapua te kāhui o te Hāhi; whakarongo mai ki tā mātou īnoi mō āu tāngata whakapono katoa, mā roto i a mātou minitatanga, nāu nei mātou i karanga kia mahi ki a koe i roto i te tapu me te pono; Ko Īhu Karaiti tō mātou Ariki me tōu mātou Kaiwhakaora. 
Āmine.

Peter, the Rock (Matthew 16:13-20)

In today's reading Jesus gives Simon a new name - Peter "the rock"

Introduction to discussion

Questions

You may like to focus your session on Peter -- and the words that Jesus speaks over his life. Peter is a wonderful example of someone who messes up, time after time, but God still uses him for Good. 
Introduce your children to the person of Simon Peter and adventures he had with Jesus. Highlights of his life (Source: here) include:

• Simon Peter, also known as Cephas (John 1:42), was one of the first followers of Jesus Christ. 
• He was an outspoken and impulsive!
• He was one of Jesus’ closest friends
• He and James and John were partners in a profitable fishing business (Luke 5:10). 
• Simon met Jesus through his brother Andrew, who had followed Jesus after hearing John the Baptist proclaim that Jesus was the Lamb of God (John 1:35-36). 
• Jesus gave him a new name: Cephas (Aramaic) or Peter (Greek), which means “rock” (John 1:40-42).
• Jesus called Peter to follow Him, producing a miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5:1-7). Immediately, Peter left everything behind to follow Jesus
• Peter was the first to confess that Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” 
• He was there when Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:37) and when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain (Matthew 17:1). 
• Peter and John were given the special task of preparing the final Passover meal (Luke 22:8).
• It was Peter who left the boat to walk on the water to Jesus (Matthew 14:28-29)
• It was Peter who chopped off the ear of the soldier when Jesus was arrested
• Jesus reaffirmed Simon as Peter, the “Rock,” in Matthew 16:18-19, promising that he would be instrumental in establishing Jesus’ Church. 
• Jesus made a special point of forgiving and restoring Peter and re-commissioning him as an apostle (John 21:6, 15-17).
• On the day of Pentecost, Peter was the main speaker to the crowd in Jerusalem (Acts 2:14ff), and the Church began with an influx of about 3,000 new believers (verse 41). 
• Later, Peter healed a lame beggar (Acts 3) and preached boldly before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4). 
• Even arrest, beatings, and threats could not dampen Peter’s resolve to preach the risen Christ (Acts 5). Jesus’ promise that Peter would be foundational in building the Church was fulfilled in three stages: Peter preached on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). Then, he was present when the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8). Finally, he was summoned to the home of the Roman centurion Cornelius, who also believed and received the Holy Spirit (Acts 10). In this way, Peter “unlocked” three different worlds and opened the door of the Church to Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles.

Interview with Jesus

​Note: for younger children you might like to go through the questions together and then get them to draw a picture of themselves and Jesus doing something together eg. Playing in the playground

What you need: A copy of the interview template, felts and crayons, bibles

What to do: The children can do this individually, in pairs or as a big group.

Give them each a copy of the interview questions and a bible. Get them to answer as many questions as they can (some of the questions they can feel free to make up the answers for!)

After answering the questions, fold the interview sheet in half and then decorate the cover.

After a set time, ask the children to come back together as one large group. Invite those that want to share their answers to do so with the larger group.
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If you have time, then divide the children into pairs and get them to interview each other.

interview_template.pdf
File Size:	35 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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• Who is your best friend? Why?
• Who is Jesus?
• Where do you find out who Jesus is?
• Is Jesus a big part of your life? Why/ Why not?
• What are some ways that you can have a better relationship with Jesus?

Game - who am I?

Preparation: 
You will need large pictures of famous people. (Magazines are a good place for this)

Cut each picture into six pieces. (Make sure you know how to put them back together!!!! Put all the pieces of a complete picture in a separate envelope.

What to do: 
Get the children to sit in a circle. Tell them that you are going to give them a puzzle that they need to put together again. Empty one envelope and get them to put it back together.

When they succeed, ask them if they can tell you who it is and why they are famous.
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Repeat with another envelope.

Game - people charades

Preparation: 
You will need a list of people or characters that the children will be familiar with eg, Jesus, SpongeBob Squarepants, Donald Duck, etc.

What to do: 
Divide the children into two teams, and number each team member. Separate the teams so they are back to back and can’t see the other team.

Ask the first team member from each team to come up the front. Explain that in a moment, you will show them the name of a famous person. What they then must do is without speaking, get their own team to guess who the person is. The first team to guess correctly gets a point.

Keep going until every member has had a turn.
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The team with the most points wins.

Moses in the papyrus basket (Exodus 1:8-22, 2:1-10)

Exodus 1:8-22, 2:1-10

Baby Moses paper plate craft

A paper plate craft from Let their light shine!

​Image sourced from Let their light shine

Baby moses

The story of Moses as a baby, as told by Saddleback Kids media. You can watch it on YouTube here