30 October 2022

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Bible readings for today

• Habakuk 1:1-4;2:1-4 
• Psalm 119:137-144 
• 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4,11-12
• ​Luke 19:1-10

All Saints Day (1 November) readings may also be used

• Daniel 7:1-3,15-18
• Psalm 149
• Ephesians 1:11-23
• Luke 6:20-31

Collect

Banqueting God, 
unworthy though we are 
you call us to your table; 
may we rejoice in your presence, 
and share your bounty abundantly with others; 
through Jesus, the Bread of Life, 
who is alive and reigns with you, 
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10)

Activities

• Paper Bag Tree  (Mrs Jones Creation Station)
• Snack Idea (E Recipe Cards)
• Toddler Playdough Tea Party (Little People Big Faith)
• Moving Zacchaeus Craft (Bible Class Creations)
• Tree Craft (Jesus Without Language)
• Teapot Craft
• Cottonball Tree Craft (Toddler at Play)
• 3D Tree Craft (Twitchetts)
• Zacchaeus Song (YouTube)

Sermon - Rev. David Rowe

Media

Sermon on the Mount (​Luke 6:17-31)

Introduction

The Sermon on the mount is one of the most enduring and most loved teachings of Jesus' ministry. This radical teaching went against the popular rhetoric that said our 'good deeds' were enough for God. However, this series of 9 truths point to a God who cares about our internal transformation and personal relationship with our Creator, more than the acts we can do for Him. ​

Teaching curriculum

If you're looking for a longer teaching series on the Beatitudes for children, then have a look at the Kid's Travel Guide to the Beatitudes by Group Publishing. It has 13 sessions, and provides some fun object lessons and activities for each of the beatitudes. ​

Activities

Jigsaw Puzzle (Sunday school Zone)
The Beatitudes Poster (Sunday school Zone)
Beatitude bookmarks (Sunday school Zone)
Colouring pages (The Colouring Pages)
Folding paper activity (Etsy - pay to download resource)
What are the beatitudes? (Children's Ministry Deals)
"Bee-Attitudes" Poster (Biblewise)

Visio Lectio

A beautiful image from the Visio Lectio project, created by the Anglican Diocese of Auckland. © Sarah West. All Rights reserved, shared with permission.
​Download
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Media

All Saints Day

Remembering

If part of your tradition is to remember those who have died during the year on All Saints/All Souls you could:

• invite people to light a candle, perhaps to honour the light of faith that shone in them if your congregation isn’t so comfortable with the practice of lighting candles as prayer.  Votive candles or tealights can be placed in containers of sand on a table.  Large baking dishes can work.  For a free-standing option, try a sand-filled bird bath or large planter (once full of sand these can be very heavy – consider using polystyrene to fill two thirds of the planter before adding sand).
• pin small bells to ribbons attached to a cross (see photo).  If you process out of the church you can use this cross to lead the way – following the saints who have gone before us in faith and hope and love.
• provide people with small cards to write (or draw for prereaders) names of those they wish to remember.  Gather them in baskets, in a similar way to the offertory, and pray a prayer of remembrance and thanksgiving over them.

Chalk Windows

If you have any clear windows in your church, you can use liquid chalk markers to write on them.  Invite people to write the names of those who are the saints of your community, or whose lives exemplify the beatitudes.  It can be a way to surround ourselves with the cloud of witnesses.  (These will wipe off very easily with a damp cloth).

The courage to live eternally

“If Easter is when Christianity celebrates the resurrection of Christ, All Saints’ is when Christianity celebrates the resurrection of the rest of us. The focus of Easter is the victory of Jesus over death and the grave. The focus of All Saints’ is resurrection and life eternal for the rest of us.
I think it can be an act of courage to believe in eternal life and to strive to live lives consistent with this belief. It takes courage to live as though our lives matter eternally — even if they seem to us very ordinary, even frustrating and disappointing. It takes courage to believe that our lives matter beyond this lifetime, or even the earthly memory of it, when so much of what we do seems trivial and even pointless. It takes courage to choose to do the good and just thing in terms of eternity, rather than what is easiest, even when it will cost us something in the short-term and nobody will much notice or care anyway”
Reverend Dean Snyder.  
Read the rest here

Easter and All Saints

If you had special decorations, like an Alleluia banner, in your church for Easter, today is a great day to bring them back out.  Drawing on the Rev. Dean Snyder’s perspective, if Easter celebrates Christ’s resurrection, then All Saints is when we celebrate the resurrection of the rest of us. 
For more info, see here