July 2021
July 2021
Jesus and the Gospels – Jesus' Ministry Parables
Gather
Set up your worship table or centre of the class circle with the ordinary time (green) cloth and take out the Bible, cross and light candle.
Opening responses
If you have school responses or opening words for collective worship say them together or say the following:
We take out the Bible And think about God the Father
We take out the cross
And think about God’s son, Jesus
We light the candle
And think about God, the Holy Spirit
Today we are continuing to learn about Jesus and the gospels but we are looking at a story in a different gospel from last week – we are going to the book of Matthew you could ask pupils to remind you what the word gospel means – good news.
Big question – looking at the clues in the box, I wonder what our story might be about today?
Make connections
Link back to last week. Jesus was called ‘Rabbi’ by some people. The word Rabbi means ‘teacher’. Jesus taught people about lots of different areas of life and Jesus used stories to teach people about and help people understand God. These stories are called parables. Today we are going to listen to another parable and its all about money again…
If you are using this for class worship – take out the items in the box (see notes for the teacher) and place them in the centre
Engage
Read Matthew 25:14-30
The Lion Storyteller Bible – big bags of money
You can use the items in the box to help tell the story.
A brief overview for the teacher
Jesus often answered questions with a story, many of which the gospel writers wrote down – stories that contained truths about God and how he wants us to live. The story of the bags of gold (or parable of the talents) takes us into another culture that we may not recognise, but the warning remains the same – are we ready. If Jesus came back today, would we be happy for him to see the way we live our lives? Jesus often used images of the sorting out between the wise and the foolish, sheep and goats, weeds and wheat. This is no random process, it is God seeing how we have kept the two great commandments – worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and caring for the rest of humanity. In God’s classic phrase, “Anything that you did for the least important you did for me.”
Wondering questions
- I wonder what part of the story you liked best?
- I wonder what part of the story was the most important?
- I wonder how the servants felt when they were given the bags of money?
- I wonder what you would have done with the money?
- I wonder what this story teaches us?
Respond
Reflection activity :
Christians believe that, like the servants in this story, we have all been given gifts. Like the servants, we too can decide whether we use them or not.
We all have gifts that we can give to others… talents, skills, characteristics, things that we are good at.
What are your gifts? (You might want to talk about this with the person next to you.)
If you want to, you can draw or write your gifts onto the money outline as a way of saying that you will try to use your gifts to help others.
Send
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for the story we have listened to today and thank you for the gifts of talents we each have. Help us all to use our gifts and talents to the best of our ability and help us to help others use their talents too.
Amen
Notes for the Teacher
In the collective worship box each week
Cloth with the colour of the Church year ( this week is green)
- Bible
- Cross
- Candle
For this week – some gold coins / toy money, the numbers 5, 3 and 1
Making links
This connects with the concept of Gospel and panel 6 of the Understanding Christianity frieze you could include the gospel concept symbol in your box.
Further resources
Here is a video version of the story you could use
http://request.org.uk/teachers/teaching-resources/the-parable-of-the-talents/
Digging deeper and learning more
Three of the gospels record many of the parables that Jesus used in his teaching, John’s gospel has a much less linear structure and chooses not to use any of them. It is accepted that there are around thirty of these pithy tales, though they were rarely followed by a detailed explanation. Although these stories were originally used to illustrate a single truth over the years teachers have delighted in teasing out every last detail. The gospel writers indicate that Jesus preferred to let each individual niggle out the truth and in the light of that understanding apply it to real life. For example the parable of the three servants is part of Jesus teaching about the inevitability of God’s judgement and the need to not only be prepared but to make the most of every life opportunity offered. Other parables focus on the joy in the recovery of lost items, or guidance about how we relate to other people.
Acts and the Church – Paul
Gather
Set up your worship table or centre of the class circle with the ordinary time (green) cloth and take out the Bible, cross and light candle.
Opening responses
If you have school responses or opening words for collective worship say them together or say the following:
We take out the Bible And think about God the Father
We take out the cross
And think about God’s Son, Jesus
We light the candle
And think about God, the Holy Spirit
Today we are moving to a new section of the New Testament and the story continues after Jesus death and his followers are travelling and continuing to share his teachings. Today we are going to hear about a man called Saul. He didn’t like Jesus followers very much until one day something unexpected happened…..
If you are using this for class worship – take out the items in the box (see notes for the teacher) and place them in the centre
Big question – looking at the clues in the box, I wonder what our story might be about today?
Engage
Read Acts 9 1-19
The Lion Storyteller Bible – On the road to Damascus
You can use the items in the box to help tell the story.
A brief overview for the teacher
Jesus had been seen alive by hundreds after his crucifixion and had returned to his home with God. His followers were no longer a handful of fearful people, now there were thousands with a God-given confidence boldly proclaiming their message of salvation. This not only disturbed the careful balance with the Roman authorities but challenged religious orthodoxy. Saul, trained as a religious scholar felt it was important to take action against these misguided people who were beginning to be nicknamed Christians. Armed with valid arrest warrants he set off towards the city of Damascus, but his progress was stopped by a light-filled vision of Jesus who challenged all his carefully nurtured prejudices. Slowly he began to understand the teaching of Jesus and the meaning of his life on earth; after a long period of reflection and study, he became Paul and joined the team of disciples who were promoting this life-changing faith.
Wondering questions
- I wonder what part of the story you liked best?
- I wonder what part of the story was the most important?
- I wonder what Saul thought when the saw the light and Jesus spoke to him?
- I wonder how Saul felt as he waited those 3 days?
- I wonder what Ananias thought when Jesus told him the plans he had for Saul?
- I wonder why Saul’s name was changed to Paul?
- I wonder why Paul decided to follow Jesus?
Respond
Reflection activity :
Place a small cross and a basket of footsteps. Allow some time for pupils to reflect on the following questions ( you could print them on to a larger footstep to display in your reflection area) Instructions
Have you been unkind or unfair towards someone? Have you done or said or even thought mean things about someone?
If you want to, pick up one of the footsteps and think about saying sorry to that person.
If you want to, you can also say sorry to God.
Take your footstep and put it beside the cross as a way of saying sorry.
(When you next see the person, you might want to say sorry to the person too.)
Send
Prayer
Dear God, Thank you for today’s story Help us to recognise when we make mistakes and help us to put things right. Give us the courage to change the way we think about others and help us to treat everyone with respect. Amen
Notes for the Teacher
In the collective worship box each week
Cloth with the colour of the Church year ( this week is green)
- Bible
- Cross
- Candle
For this week – footsteps (symbolise journey), a torch (bright light) a blindfold
Making links
This connects with the concept of Kingdom of God and panel 8 of the Understanding Christianity frieze you could include the Kingdom of God concept symbol in your box.
Further resources
Here is a video version of the story you could use https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0p0W_Zbt1s ( first minute for the story but you can continue and learn more about Paul)
Digging deeper and learning more
Jesus had completed his ministry leaving it to his followers to continue the work, small groups of Followers of the Way met and began to reach out into the wider community. This was perceived as a threat to Judaism with the potential of disturbing the delicate political balance in Israel. Saul, a trained theologian, was keen to end this schism and embarked on his mission to find and imprison as many of these heretics as possible. Journeying north to Damascus his progress was halted by a vision in which he heard the voice of Jesus speaking directly to him. Blinded by the vision he was cared for by Ananias who taught him more about Jesus’ teaching. This encounter turned his life right around and after a period of reflection and study, he became one of the foremost proponents for this new faith, whose followers were being called Christians as a term of derision. As a symbol of his changed priorities, he changed his name to Paul, describing himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus.
Acts and the Church – Letters to the Colossians
Gather
Set up your worship table or centre of the class circle with the ordinary time (green) cloth and take out the Bible, cross and light candle.
Opening responses
If you have school responses or opening words for collective worship say them together or say the following:
We take out the Bible And think about God the Father
We take out the cross
And think about God’s Son, Jesus
We light the candle
And think about God, the Holy Spirit
Today we are moving to a new section of the New Testament and the story continues after Jesus death and his followers are travelling and continuing to share his teachings. Today we are going to hear about a man called Saul. He didn’t like Jesus followers very much until one day something unexpected happened . . .
If you are using this for class worship – take out the items in the box (see notes for the teacher) and place them in the centre
Big question – looking at the clues in the box, I wonder what our story might be about today?
Make connections
Today we are still learning about Paul but moving to a new book in the New Testament – Colossians. I say a book, it’s actually a letter . . . When we left Paul last week he had just committed to following Jesus and telling people how to follow him. Paul travelled to lots of places telling people about God and Jesus and this led to him being treated badly and he even ended up in Prison. On his travels Paul wrote letter to encourage other Christians as they tried to follow Jesus even when they were being badly treated. Some of these letters are now books of the Bible and today we are going to look at Paul’s letter to the Colossians
Engage
In Paul’s letters, he was encouraging Christians to follow Jesus and live by his example.
Let’s look together at some things Paul said to Christians in Colossae when he wrote them a letter . . .
Read take the quotes out of the box and ask different pupils to read them out (select quotes suitable for your class. You may want to choose one or two and talk about what the words and what pupils think it means)
Wondering questions
- I wonder which you like best?
- I wonder which you think is the most important?
- I wonder how the people of Colossae felt when they received Paul’s letter?
- I wonder what these words help us to think about?
- I wonder what people might do differently if they put these words into action?
Respond
Reflection activity :
Write a letter:
Encourage pupils to spend some time thinking about the qualities they think are important, they might take some from the quotes in Colossians for example being patient or forgiving others. If they want to pupils could write a short letter to the school community encouraging them in ‘how to live well together’ you could display these in your reflection area.
Send
Prayer
Dear God
Help us to make decisions wisely and think about the words we use and the actions we take. Help us to show patience, kindness and gentleness this week. Amen
Notes for the Teacher
In the collective worship box each week
Cloth with the colour of the Church year ( this week is green)
- Bible
- Cross
- Candle
For this week – a scroll and a quill, quotes from Colossians, Kingdom of God symbol from Understanding Christianity
Making links
This connects with the concept of Kingdom of God and panel 8 of the Understanding Christianity frieze you could include the Kingdom of God concept symbol in your box.
Further resources
Find out more about Paul in Bible Infographics for Kids Vol 1 pages 50-51
Digging deeper and learning more
The Good News of Jesus spread through the Mediterranean basin with small communities of followers established in many towns. Paul travelled extensively encouraging and sharing his knowledge, like others he also wrote letters that dealt with specific issues. Although addressed to the Christian community in a particular location it seems that these epistles were passed around more generally. These texts established the doctrinal beliefs of the faith and contain some of the earliest credal statements. Colossae was a thriving town in modern day Turkey where a small group of activists were attempting to revive some practices of Jewish ritual worship. Paul stood strongly against this, maintaining the core belief of Christianity that salvation, a right relationship with God, depended on faith alone. Although observing God’s rules was important it was not simply about following a code of religious behaviour. Paul, writing from prison, no stranger to suffering himself, warned that following Jesus could be costly. He encouraged individuals to stand firm for what they believed, reassuring them that their future with God was secure.