16 October 2022
Bible readings for today |
CollectHoly One,
nameless, you stay with us; even when we wrestle in the darkness may we never lose heart until your justice is fulfilled; 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. |
The Widow and the Judge (Luke 18: 1-8)
Today's Bible StoryJesus told his disciples a story about how they should keep on praying and never give up:
In a town there was once a judge who didn’t fear God or care about people. In that same town there was a widow who kept going to the judge and saying, “Make sure that I get fair treatment in court.” For a while the judge refused to do anything. Finally, he said to himself, “Even though I don’t fear God or care about people, I will help this widow because she keeps on bothering me. If I don’t help her, she will wear me out.” The Lord said: Think about what that crooked judge said. Won’t God protect his chosen ones who pray to him day and night? Won’t he be concerned for them? He will surely hurry and help them. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find on this earth anyone with faith? Reflection momentHave you ever really wanted something to happen? Maybe you wanted to do well in a school test, or you wanted the holidays to come quicker, or maybe you wanted someone you cared about to get better. Did you pray about it? (pause for answers) Why do we pray to Jesus? Well, I pray for lots of different reasons. Sometimes I just want to say thank you, sometimes I want to say sorry, and sometimes I want to ask for help. Other times I just feel like talking to Jesus just like I talk to friends.
Do you find it easy to pray? What is easy/hard about it? (pause) There are lots of ways to pray. Can you think of any? (pause) Well, you can just talk out loud or in your head, you can sing, you can write your prayers, you can paint your prayers, you can just sit and listen, you can go for a walk… there are lots of different ways to pray. Go pray!Preparation
Set out two rows of chairs back to back. There should be one less chair than people. What to do
Make your own prayer booksYou need:
What to do Hand out the books to each child, and tell them that this is going to be their own prayer book. It's their special book for them to write or drawer whatever they like in. Talk about the kind of prayer you can do -- writing prayers, drawing, praying in colour, thank you prayers, topic prayers (for family, school, friends, etc). Let the children create their own prayer books using the creative material you have, and leave a space at the end to let them write/drawer their first prayer. You met like to spread them out around the room and play some quiet music. |
Visio LectioAnother great illustration from the Visio Lectio, thanks to Rev. Sarah West.
PNG Download Terms of Use Visio LectioThe story is one of a nagging widow and a reluctant, non-God-fearing judge. It raises the question, "How on earth are we supposed to approach these parables?" Is God really meant to be equated with that unhelpful judge? In a truly international Gospel Conversation, Ellen Clark-King joins us for the first time from London; Jerry from Wisconsin, and Anne and Michael zoom in from the uncertain internet of rural northland.
Quick Questions
Prayer MemoryWhat you need
Pairs of pictures that relate to prayer: ways to pray, things to pray for. E.g. picture of a cross, a diary, paints and canvas, Preparation Make the cards. They need to be all the same size. Half an A4 piece of card would be ideal. You could use clip art if you are not confident drawing! What to do
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Tikanga Youth Sunday
Three Tikanga Youth Sunday is the closest Sunday to the 19th of October every year and it is dedicated to celebrating youth in the three Tikanga of the Anglican Church throughout Aotearoa and Polynesia. On this day we remember Tarore of Waharoa, a young girl who helped to spread the Gospel throughout Aotearoa.
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ResourcesChronicles of Paki (information on SUNZ)
Ngakuku, Tarore and the Little Book (SUNZ) St Michael's Kelburn celebrate Tikanga Youth Sunday (Anglican Taonga) A Pilgrim's Guide - The Story of Tārore of Waharoa (Archbishop David Moxon) |