28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

13 October 2024

Bible readings for today

Liturgical colour: GREEN

Collect

E te Atua o te kaha me te ngoi,
nāu ngā mea papai katoa,
whakatōngia ki roto i ō mātou ngākau te aroha mō tōu ingoa,
whakatupua te pai ki roto i a mātou,
ā, tohungia mātou kia ū tonu ai mātou i roto i tōu aroha noa.
Ko Īhu Karaiti nei hoki to mātou Ariki.
Āmine.

God of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things,
graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion, nourish in us all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The Rich and the Kingdom of God (Mark 10:17-31)

Most of us will be familiar with this week's passage and the story of the rich man. It's easy to skim over this as a familiar story but when we really listen to it - it is a very challenging one!

Camel Jokes

What do you call a camel with no humps?
Hump-free/Humphrey!

What do you call a crying Camel?
A humpback wail!

Game: Through the Eye of a Needle

What you need

2 pillows
6 adult sized chairs
2 ties or belts

What you do

Invite two people up
Remind them that Jesus talked about how hard it was for a camel to get through the eye of a needle.
Tie a pillow onto the back of each player and tell them that they’re the camels
Line the 6 chairs up in two rows so that the players can crawl through the first and then the second and then the third.
Make a starting point and when you say ‘go’ have the two players crawl through the chairs as quickly as they can without overturning the chairs. The first one through their 3 chairs wins.
Note: Make sure you match fairly similarly sized players. Small people have an advantage. You can play a number of rounds if you’d like.

The Basket

What you need

A basket
A lot of stuff that kids might have and love - dolls, teddy bears, books, crayons, cars, legos, a ball. Be creative with ideas (enough to over fill the basket)
A picture of Jesus or a cross
A table to put everything on

What you do

Put the empty basket on the table, surrounded by all the other stuff. Say something like, “This basket is a bit like my heart- I have lots of things that I love and want to keep really close”
Pick up each item, name it and say that it’s definitely one of your favourites. As an adult, you might want to talk about when you were a child… but you don’t need to.
Fill the box to overflowing with all the things that you love and have.
Pick up the picture of Jesus or the cross. Say something like, “Hmmm..this is a bit awkward. Here’s my heart all full of these wonderful things. I know I’m supposed to have Jesus in here somewhere, but I just can’t quite get him to fit. I mean, I want him in my heart, I do love Him, I’m just not sure how to manage this. I wonder what I can do?” Allow people to give you some helpful suggestions. Listen and acknowledge people’s ideas. You can try a few of them out. If someone suggests the following, you can act on it. If no one suggests it, then you can ‘think’ of it yourself. Empty the basket completely. Put your picture of Jesus or the cross in the basket first. This will allow it to be there and then you can put everything else on top. Say something like, “Now I get it. I need to have Jesus in my heart first because he’s the most important thing.”

Kids Talks

For God, all things are possible -- a simple but powerful talk on letting go of what we think we need so God can give us what we really need. (RFour)

What would you give up? - A lesson plan with suggestions for games and activities (Ministry to children)

A man with a question! - A short retelling of the story and a few wondering questions to think about. (Gary Neal Hansen)

Messy Church Ideas

Visio Lectio

Print design for this gospel passage from Rev. Sarah West
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Leaders Input

One of the challenges this week is to help our children understand that having a lot is not a problem, but making all of our stuff the most important thing in our lives is. Be prepared to answer some potentially tricky questions from children this week. We all have special treasures in our lives; things, pets and people. Allow children to talk about the things in their lives that are special. And point them back to making room 1st for God. This week isn’t about feeling guilty for what we have, it’s about opening our lives so that God has the most important spot in our hearts and lives.

Gospel Conversations 2024: What must I do to inherit eternal life? It's clearly a dangerous question to ask unless you're willing to accept the answer Jesus gives. Today we read of the man who genuinely wanted to know this, but was too tied down by his possessions to follow Jesus' response. It's one of the many uncomfortable passages in the Gospels, and this week Gillian Townsley, Wendy Scott and Anne van Gend join Michael to grapple with what it means to us today.

Gospel Conversations 2021: Some of these Gospel Conversations stand out for the level of fresh insight and challenge they offer. This is one of them. Michael is joined by Bishop Kelvin Wright, Richard Johnson and first-timer Esther Clarke-Prebble, and together they wrestle with uncomfortable questions of wealth and faith, while also helping us to glimpse again the "pearl of great price" which is what we are freely offered by God.

Prayer

God of the possible,
and the impossible,
when we come to you with questions
and struggle with your answers,
grant us faith in believing as we await the treasure from heaven,
which is your faithful promise.
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

Rich Young Ruler Drama

What you need

A copy of the script for each character
Optional - dress ups (plain robes, dishtowels and ties for Jesus and disciples and a fancy looking coat or cloak for the rich young ruler)

What you do
This can be an impromptu skit. Choose people to be each of the characters. Make sure all of those taking speaking parts can read well. You can have lots of disciples (who don’t need to read) so younger children can also take part.

Characters

Jesus
Rich young ruler
Narrator
Disciples

Script
Narrator: One day a rich young ruler came running up to Jesus and got on his knees.
Rich Young Ruler: Teacher, what good thing do I have to do so that I can go to heaven and have eternal life?
Jesus: Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.
Rich Young Ruler: Which ones?
Jesus: You shouldn’t commit murder; You shouldn’t commit adultery; You shouldn’t steal; You shouldn’t lie; Honour your father and mother; and You should love your neighbor as yourself.
Narrator: The rich young ruler was pleased. He’d done all those things.
Rich Young Ruler: I have done all these things. Is there anything else I need to do?
Narrator: Jesus looked straight at the young man with love and compassion.
Jesus: There is still one more things you need to do. Go and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.
Narrator: But when the young man heard this statement, he went away very sad because he had a lot of things that he wanted to keep.
Jesus: Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
Disciples: (very astonished) Then who can be saved?
Jesus: With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible

Media

The Parable of the Wealthy Man - Saddleback Kids. This video is based on Luke 12: 13-21, but also covers how the love of money can separate us from God.

God's word is alive (Hebrews 4:12-16)

Leaders Input

It may not seem immediately obvious how a passage describing Jesus as our great high priest, is relevant today, so it may help to start by giving some background on the role of the high priest. The duties of the priest were to offer
sacrifices, and to pray for the people. That is what the original recipients of this letter will have grown up with. Chosen from all the priests was one high priest – the only one who could ever enter the presence of God in the Temple (and only once a year). The role of the high priest was to bring the voice of God to people, and to bring the concerns and failings of people into the presence of God. ...Willie Barclay writes that the High Priest had to be
completely associated with God, and completely associated with people.

However, after Jesus had ascended to heaven, early Christians were concerned about what happens now? Who will offer sacrifices for us? Who will take our concerns to God? The writer of the Hebrews provides answers that are relevant and good news for today. Read these here.

From https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/

A free typographic image for this passage can be downloaded on the Scrituretype website

Songs

Intergenerational Worship

Holiness and Humanness: Chess, Thrones & Grace

(These resources are adapted from the material originally made available as part of the Holiness and Humanness six-week series).

Today we are reading from the book of Hebrews, specifically Hebrews 4:16-12. The book of Hebrews can be tricky to read. It’s not like the gospels in which Jesus’ stories use lots of everyday things like seed and salt and sparrows and soldiers. Or like Paul’s writing which has down-to-earth work-a-day images from the lives of city slaves and their families. The book of Hebrews takes all the things that the Jewish people had lost and were sad about and missing and gives them a different story, God’s bigger story. A story in which the good life-giving Word of God replaces the violent armies. Jesus – who knows all our weakness - replaces the corrupt priests. God’s everlasting grace replaces the harsh judgements of the emperor. The book of Hebrews reminds God’s people that the only authority, the only King, the only power that matters is God’s and - unlike the emperors, priests and judges they knew - God’s throne is a throne of grace.

God invites us – even in difficult times to bring our prayers boldly – because the throne of grace offers ‘come closer – let’s make this right again’. May we gladly, obediently and boldly approach God’s throne of grace.
[From intergen.org.au]