24 October 2021

Bible readings for today

Collect

Listening God,
you show us mercy
and ask us what we need.
May we seek those things which increase our faith,
and further your reign on earth as in heaven,
so that we may follow you more closely.
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

Mark 10:46-52

Today's story looks at how Jesus healed a blind man, named Bartimaeus. The gospels tell of Jesus healing two men of blindness, found in Mark 8 and Mark 10, or John 9. We have included resources and ideas for both in this day, as they may be helpful in coming up with ideas for your church. 

Fostering empathy, not sympathy

Seeing Our Faith In Action
Fostering empathy in our children is so important, but when faced with someone who is different or going through a hard time, empathy can become sympathy.
 
Sympathy just feels bad for a situation and sometimes that’s appropriate. Empathy is more complicated than sympathy, and is the ability to understand others and to put yourself in that person’s shoes.

Recent studies suggest that children as young as 2-3 years old can learn empathy.  We can help our children be empathetic by modelling empathy, talking openly about what other people are experiencing and achieving, and allowing our children to think about (and perhaps experience) what it might be like to have the challenges in life that others face. Feeling empathy allows us to grow as people, build solid relationships with others and it encourages us to reach out and take positive action to do good.
Brainstorm ideas of how to help people who are affected by blindness.
Think about one project that you can work together on, to fundraise or raise awareness of the cause. The Fred Hollows Foundation may be a good organisation to connect with in New Zealand, as they send repurposed glasses to end avoidable blindness in Pasifika.

Activities

A Simple Blind Bart Skit

What you need
  • A Simple Blind Bart script (Word document download)
  • Narrator, Jesus, Bartimaeus, crowd (2-3 people) others to be the disciples or other crowd people if desired
  • A walking stick for Bartimaeus
  • A cloak for Bartimaeus
  • Other costumes as desired 

Photocopy the skit so that each speaking part has a copy. Get into costume and go!

Googly Eye Finger Puppets

A word document with instructions can be downloaded here

Blind Obstacle Course

What you need
  • A blindfold
  • An obstacle course created from ordinary household objects and furniture 

What you do
  • Blindfold one family member (a parent or older child should demonstrate first)
  • Have another family member lead the ‘blind’ one through the obstacle course.  For a greater challenge, have the guide use only words to lead. 
  • Talk about how there are people who spend their whole lives not being able to see and how difficult that can be.

Blindfold Game

What you need
  • A variety of objects
  • A table
  • A blindfold

What you do
Explain that you’re going to ask for a volunteer, blindfold that person and then they’re going to have the chance to figure out what three objects are without looking.  The blindfolded person will only be able to use their hands.
  • Ask for a volunteer and blindfold them
  • Put three objects out on the table
  • Allow the person to pick up and name each one.  

Choose interesting, but not unknown objects. You can make this more challenging by giving a time limit. You can also have 1-2 more volunteers outside the room and they can then try the same thing (or you can have enough objects that each person can try different ones.

Media
Some videos based on the healing of the blind man in John 9 (where Jesus uses mud)
Bible Explore
Developed by Strandz for the Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia
© 2021 Copyright Strandz. All rights reserved.
Photos from Unsplash