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26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Te Rātapu Rua Tekau mā ono o He Wā Noa 

26 September 2027


Bible readings for today

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
  • Esther 7:1-6,9-10
  • Psalms 124:1-8
  • James 5:13-20
  • Mark 9:38-50
​Liturgical Colour: GREEN

St Michael and All Angels
  • Daniel 7:9-14 or 7:9-10, 13-14 
  • Psalm 103:15-22 
  • Revelation 12:7-12a 
  • John 1:45-51 
Liturgical Colour: WHITE

​Season of Creation​ continues. Resources here.

Daylight Saving begins at 2am this Sunday - the clocks go forward! 

Collect

E te Atua atawhai me te pai,
e mōhio ana koe i tō mātou ngoikoretanga e ngaro ai mātou;
meinga mātou kia ū atu ki raro i āu manaakitanga, ā,
arahina mātou ki ngā rawa katoa e ora ai mātou;
ko Īhu Karaiti hoki tō mātou Ariki.
​Āmine. 
​
God of grace and goodness,
you know that by reason of our frailty we cannot but fail;
keep us always under your protection and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. 

Stumbling (Mark 9:38-50)

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A challenging passage

This week, the lectionary gives us a chunk of text with several scenes or teachings - all of which are really challenging to present to kids—or grownups, for that matter... That makes it a little hard to do a coherent lesson on the passage as a whole. In fact it can be tempting to skip it entirely and head for the Old Testament passage, but there are some good conversations to be had here. I wonder what you find hardest in this week's reading?

Kids Talks

No Stumbling Blocks 
Scary or Silly? A kids message about hurting ourselves.

Games to get you thinking

Exaggeration Circle
​A good warm up game to get you moving and thinking about exaggeration!
  • Everyone stands in a circle. One person starts a small gesture.
  • The next person takes it over and exaggerates it a little.
  • The next person takes it over and exaggerates it even more.
  • This continues all the way around until the last person takes it to the EXTREME.
  • After a couple times with just movement, tell the players they can add a sound as well.

Hello Hyperbole
On pieces of paper, write out the following phrases (a simple sentence and a matching but exaggerated one) and cut them up. Hide them around the room and get the kids to find all the sentences and then work together to match them up. Think about:
  • Why matching sentences can mean the same thing but sound so different?
  • Why someone might use an extreme sentence to get an idea across?
  • What important ideas did Jesus want the disciples to understand?
Matching sentences
  • I'm so hungry I could eat a horse   /   I am very hungry
  • This ice-cream is out of this world   /    This ice-cream is good
  • ​I’m in so much trouble, my Dad is going to kill me    /     My Dad is angry with me.
  • I have told you a million times to stop doing that.    /    Stop doing that!
  • That movie was so sad I cried buckets of tears.   /    That movie was sad.
  • I'm so angry I could explode.    /    I'm very angry.

Alone or together 
A classic blindfold obstacle course is a great way to get kids thinking about helping each other versus causing each other to stumble.
  • Ask for volunteers and blindfold half of the kids. If anyone is feeling very brave see if they can get around the obstacle course blindfolded by themselves (keep it safe!)
  • Then get the kids to take turns in pairs - one member blindfolded and the other guiding them around.
  • Themes to chat about: did your team member make it easier or more difficult? (this might depend on who you had!). In this scenario, who was responsible if you tripped? Why? Is real life the same or different?

Visio Lectio

A print design from Rev. Sarah West, Diocese of Auckland
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Leaders Input

Gospel Conversations 2024: This is a tough reading. None of us wants to hear the words of warning and judgement that Jesus utters in such a vivid and daunting way. Yet we cannot ignore passages like this simply because we don't like them. We need to grapple with them and see if we can hear them anew, as the words of the Jesus we have come to know. We have an ideal team to do this work: Bishop Kelvin Wright, retired educator Alec Clark, and school chaplain/pastoral priest Peg Riley. Listen to how they engage these issues with Michael, and look again at how you thought you understood this Gospel reading.
​Gospel Conversation 2021: Some of the words of Jesus are simply hard. When he speaks of cutting off hands, or millstones around necks, what do we do with that? How about the question of our approach to those outside the church who are clearly doing as Jesus would have us all do? Or the blessings connected with the simple, unheroic act of giving someone a glass of water? Bishop Steve, Gillian Townsley and an Auckland-lockdown-ring-in, Jonathan Gale, bravely tackle these and other questions in this week's discussion with Michael Godfrey on Mark 9:38-50.


​Intergenerational Worship

Intergen Australia have a collection of resources for this week pulling together themes from the Season of Creation (Animals), as well as the Mark and James readings from this week. Written and compiled by Michelle Cook there are some activities here that could be used in both intergeneration settings and in a kids only setting - check out ribbon prayers and salt paintings. 
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The Prayer of Faith (James 5:13-20)

Today's passage from James urges us to pray.

Prayer Fidget Spinners

A fun prayer wheel to get kids praying, using the a popular toy craze! Download the Fidget Spinner prayer and a new kids worksheet worksheet to go alongside it, to draw or write your prayers
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Prayer Ideas

  • Prayer Origami - download our prayer foldable resource to get kids playing and praying
  • Paper Chain Prayers (Flame Creative)
  • Road Sign prayers (instructions and signs)
  • Make a Calm Jar
  • How to run a leavers service for school children
  • Foil Prayers
  • Alarm Clock Prayers (Psalm 5:3)
  • The best 5 Finger Prayers
  • My Little Prayer book - printable resource from Strandz
  • The Lord's Prayer / Te Karakia O Te Atua Koru - a printable spiral activity.

Our friends at Flame Creative have some wonderful prayer ideas. Check out Creative Prayer or Prayer Stations by Children, or look for prayers specific to your theme using the search bar.


​Intergenerational Worship

​Intergen Australia have a collection of resources for this week pulling together themes from the Season of Creation (Animals), as well as the Mark and James readings from this week. Written and compiled by Michelle Cook there are some activities here that could be used ibn both intergeneration settings and in a kids only setting - check out ribbon prayers and salt paintings.
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The Lord's Prayer


Esther (Esther 7)

Kids Talks

Esther: Finding Courage - object lesson talk​

Prayer Activity

God can strengthen our hearts prayer activity

Leaders Input

An overview of the Book of Esther from BibleProject - a great resource for leaders wanting more context on the book.

Media

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