13 November 2022

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Bible readings for today

• Isaiah 65:17-25
• For Psalm: Isaiah 12:1-6
• 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
• Luke 21:5-19

Collect

God our end, 
as the sun of righteousness rises with healing in its wings, 
save us in our time of trial, 
so that we do not succumb, 
but endure in your eternal embrace; 
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.

Jesus speaks about the future (Luke 21:5-19)

Gospel Conversations

As we approach Advent, the lectionary starts throwing some of the toughest passages in the Gospels at us. Here we have the destruction of the Temple and rumours of wars and betrayals- difficult stuff to talk about in terms of Good News! But our panel is up to it. Bishop Justin Duckworth from Wellington Diocese joins Gillian, Jonathan and Michael to find out what this passage might tell us today.

The Importance of Teamwork (2 Thess 3:6-13)

Team Games

The Bible passage today is a great one to emphasise the importance of being a team. Use the opportunity to play some of your favourite team games:
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Relay Races
Divide the children into groups and line them up at one end of the room, wiht a stack of beanbags or balls. At the other end of the room, place a bucket. Children run backwards and forwards to put the beanbags in the tub. First team wins. 

Cup up, cup down
Place 20+ cups around the hall, with half facing up (rim up), and half facing down (rim on the floor). Divide the children into two teams -- one will try to turn all the cups up, and one will try to turn them all down. Each round lasts 2mins, and repeat with as many rounds as you have energy for. This game is so simple, but so much fun -- and great for wearing off energy!  

Over under game
Line teams of children up in rows, with all the children facing the same direction. The person at the front passes a ball over their head, and the next person passes it through their legs, repeating the over/under pattern until the end of the line of children. Once the ball has reached the person at the back, they run forward to the front of the line and repeat until the children are back in the original formation, and the first person is at the front of the line again. You can vary this game by changing the number of 'overs' and 'under' e.g. all overs, all unders.

Minute to win it
There are some amazing minute to win it games. Our favourites include wrapping sellotape around a person and sticking on as many balloons as possible in the time allowed, and balancing milk bottle lids on a ice-cream stick.

Tower Challenge

Preparation
You will need newspaper, cello tape and scissors for each group 

​What to do
Split the children into groups of three of four, and tell them they have ten minutes to build the tallest tower they can using the things provided. 
At the end of the ten minutes, judge which is the tallest.

The Importance of being a Team

We are all part of God's family, all playing on the same team. Each of us has a role to play! 
Here are some question to help kids think about what role they have to play in their 'church team'

• Why does a sports team have to work together to win a game? Can the players just do their own thing? 
• How is a family like a team? 
• What jobs do your family members have? 
• Do you have any chores or responsibiliites?
• What jobs and roles do we have in our church family? 
• Why is it important for all of us to pull our own weight, and not just leave the jobs to 1 or 2 people to do? 
• What can you do to contribute? Write down ideas of what roles children can do in the church, and encourage them to offer to do some of the ones listed in weeks to come. 

The Feel Good Jar

​​What you need

• Jar or container -- you can use metal tins if the edges are safe (not sharp!). One for each child. 
• Labels -- one for each child (A4 sheet, or individual label)
• Glue sticks
• Pens
• Slips of paper
• Any other embellishments for decorating, eg. glitter, sequins, stickers, pictures. 
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Instructions

• Talk to the kids about the verse from 2 Thessalonians, and what it might mean to 'never get tired of doing good'
• Can then think of anyone they know who lives out this verse well? 
• What are some of the good things we can do? Brainstorm ideas of kind, loving, and caring things we can do.
• Decorate the label and stick on the jar/container
• You can then encourage the children to use the jar in several ways, or you might like to choose just one for ease!
  • Write down 7 different ideas of good things they can do this week, on slips of paper. Put the slips in the jar and encourage them to pull out a slip each day, with a different 'good thing' they can try and do. Ask families to talk about the good things they have been doing each evening, and feed back next Sunday to see what ideas the kids had. 
  • Encourage the children to use the jar as a collection of memories. Overtime they can fill it with slips of paper with good things that others have done and things they have done to show are 'never get tired of doing good!' 
  • Perhaps each family has a jar, and whenever someone else does something good (e.g. a sibling goes out of the way to help another) they write it down and put it in the jar. The contents are read out at the end of the week and celebrated.