7 February 2021

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Bible readings for today

• ​Isaiah 40:21-31
• Psalms 147:1-11,20
• 1 Corinthians 9:16-23
• Mark 1:29-39

Collect

Healing God,
in the touch of Jesus the sick were healed,
the chains unbound.
Freedom is before us.
Set us on a new path of wholeness,
deliver us from all that binds us,
turn us to embrace that life giving love
offered through Jesus Christ,
who is alive and lives with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. 
Amen

Jesus cares for each of us

Games

The games are taken from the website Jesus Without Language, at the following link and play on the three ideas of links to Jesus, healing and touch.

Holding On
Give the youngsters tape, paper and scissors to make paper-chains. Get the youngsters to construct a paper-chain that links everybody’s wrists together. Talk about how we all came to church because of somebody we are linked to – a family member, a friend, etc. then stand up and try to move without breaking the chain… this probably won’t last long. Say that even though we came to church because of somebody else we are each loved individually by God. 

Plastering Balloons
This is a messy game that can be played with water in the summer. You need at least one balloon per child, tape or small sticky plasters and a sharp pin. Before you give the balloons out make 3 or 4 pin holes in them. Give the children a balloon and say it’s broken, but they can fix it. The game starts when you shout start and ends when either all the balloons are fully inflated, or the first balloon is fully inflated. 

Plaster Hunt
Like hide the thimble meets a treasure hunt but with plasters. Just be careful that they can be removed from where you place them. As they are found they can be stuck to the person who finds them. 

Ephesians 2:13-18

Ephesians 2 talks about breaking down the walls of division. It ties in well with Waitangi Day too.

The Treaty of Waitangi

Today we are thinking about the Treaty of Waitangi – ask if anyone knows what that means. 
We are looking at the 3 principles of the treaty (simplified here by www.montessorikiwi.com/waitangi). They are: 

• Partnership: working alongside together and valuing the Taonga each other brings. 
• Protection: the Treaty states it’s very important to look after Maori language, knowledge and values; 
• Participation: we need to ensure both Maori and Pakeha have the same opportunities in New Zealand. 

When we look at the stories from the bible today, it is about God making peace by giving his life for us (Ephesians verse) and we all have access to Him – he belongs to us all. Who in your life do you need God’s help to make peace with? Try to give the kids a sense of how the Treaty of Waitangi aims to make this vision true today.  And how they can ask God to help them be peacemakers in their lives in the context of school and home.  Especially right now as they have just begun a new year. There may be situations and people that have caused them to feel unhappy.  How can God help them to find peace? 

Waitangi Resources

• Scripture Union have a collection of ideas and resources to help your tamariki engage with Waitangi Day, and the Treaty of Waitangi. 
• “Elwyn’s Dream– Saving the Takahe”
  This is a book about how Elwyn saves one of our Taonga (treasures). Talk to the children about what other things are Taonga (Te Reo Maori, Waiata, Maori culture, native plants and animals, our mountain, our churches, etc). What do you think God’s dream for his world and His people are?  We are all his treasures.  How do we look after His treasures?

House against house

​All throughout history and literature, there is story after story about how people are put against one another. 
House against house, person against person, party against party. Examples you could use include:

• England vs Italy – sports teams in the Euro 2020/21 cup final
• Apple vs Android
• Capulets vs Montagues (Romeo and Juliet)
• Labour vs National political parties
• Science vs faith
• What others can you think of? 

In our reading today, Paul talks about how Jews were up against the gentiles

• Jews vs Gentiles 
  • Jews were the children of God and the recipients of God’s covenant and law. But the Bible also tells us that even though they were close to God, they were disobedient and unfaithful. 
  • Who were the gentiles? Gentiles were the strangers and aliens to Israel, and were not included in the covenant promises God made with Israel. The Gentiles are without hope because they are without God in the world  

 
These differences can be seen in history, in stories, and in the church. And not just in the church of the old. Perhaps its the friction between two Sunday worship services, the youth group and the adults service. For centuries, parts of the church have accused other parts of the church that they are "not Christian enough."

Intergenerational friction

In recent times, the media has shown the tension between the generations, such as the 'Okay Boomer' narrative that has become popular over the last few years. A young woman posted a video of herself saying this comment to an older person, and the expression gained more momentum when a Green MP, Chloe Swarbrick, used the term in response to an older National MP in the debating chambers. 

Overnight, the expression soared in popularity and seemed to express the frustrations that many younger generations were feeling. A 2019 New York Times article was entitled 'Okay boomer marks the end of the friendly generational relations', while an US magazine created two editions of the same magazine, entitled "It's all your fault Boomers", and another with "its all your fault millennials". And while we need to filter these debates through a contextual lens here in New Zealand, we need to acknowledge that these conversations dehumanise the "other". For more information, see Cory Seibel's book, Engaging all generations.

Don't take it for granted

It can be easy to forget our stories of faith, and take for granted the knowledge and experiences we have had walking a life with Jesus. Psalm 145: 4-7 reminds us of how one generations commends the work to another, and the needs of an intergenerational community of faith, as they learn and grow together. 

Playdough Prayers

Using 2 blobs of playdough each. Talk about God bringing peace and that it is one of our jobs as Christians to pray for peace. Is there anyone that you can think of that needs help to be united by prayer?  As you pray for these people, squish the two balls together until they become one. (from Flame Creative Ministry)

Taking down walls. 

And Jesus is in the business of taking down walls. ​

The church is good at putting up walls between our services, groups and activities. In some ways, when taken too far, we are like a Potato head toy separated out into the different parts, like a  divided up Body of Christ. How can we bring the generations back together, for mutual learning, serving and worship? 

We're in this together

Jesus came to give us a fresh start, to make a new covenant for Jews and Gentiles, so they would no longer be different. 

Temples of God

Paul uses the illustration of a building to describe how Jesus takes down the walls that divide. As the Old Testament tells us, the Temple was the place where people had to go to be close to God. In this new covenant, a fresh start, God shows that we are now the temple of the living God - God is using people. We no longer have to be in the right place, or with the right person. 

The Message version of Ephesians 2:19-22 is great for this description: "You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home."