April
April 26th
We’re continuing in our series looking at “Jesus is Alive” - when Jesus meets his friends again after he has risen from the dead. This week, the disciples had been hiding in their houses together, not really sure about what to do; when all of a sudden Jesus appears! Jesus wanted his friends to be sure he was alive and that his death and resurrection were all part of God’s plan. You can read the story in Luke 24:36-49.
Worship
Chat
Why do you think Jesus’ friends were so frightened and afraid when they first saw Him? Jesus knew that they were worried and confused, how did he help them? Sometimes we can be frightened or worried; because we are in a new situation and we are unsure what is happening. Can you think of times when you felt like that? Can you tell God?
Play
In today’s story, Jesus ate some food to show that he really was alive. What food did he ask for? At home, cut up some different fruit (or other food) into small pieces for the children to taste. Children can be blindfolded or just shut their eyes. Ask the children what it feels like, what it smells like and then what it tastes like. Can they guess the food?
Maybe plan a “family restaurant” (Ready, steady cook style) and enjoy planning and cooking a meal together, using whatever you have at home. As you eat together, you could pray for the 5 households you chose in the “Pray” section. Do send us any pics of your family feasts, we’d love to see them
Pray
In our Bible focus today, the disciples are hiding at home, not sure what to do. We’re all at home a lot more at the moment. Why not go on a ‘prayer walk’ around your house. Here are some ideas of how to pray in each room:
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Bedroom Thank God for your comfy bed. Pray for anybody who doesn’t have a safe place to sleep at night.
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Bathroom Wash your hands while you’re here. As you wash, talk to God about anything you want to say sorry for. Remember that God always forgives us.
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Living room/sofa Take a moment to pray for all those who appear on the screens of our home. Pray for leaders in our country and locally who have to make difficult decisions; thank God for the people that make our favourite TV shows; pray for our church leaders.
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Kitchen Thank God for our food; for those who grow it and make it, those who drive the lorries to transport it and who work in shops to sell it. Pray for the foodbank and OPAL and all those charities helping people to access food and supplies. Ask God to help all those who are struggling to afford food to feed themselves and their families.
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Dining Room/table Some households are made up of just 1 person and some are made up of lots and lots of people. Pick 5 households to pray for, while you sit round the table together. Maybe you could pray for those 5 households every dinner time
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Garden/Doorstep/Window; Look outside and pray for the people who live in the homes you can see. Do you know their names? Is there any way you could help them or serve them at this time?
Make
What you need: A copy of the template for each child (or draw your own), double sided tape/glue stick, kebab skewers or straws or a stick, felts and crayons for decorating. If you have a printer, you can download the template here
Cut out the template and fold down the centre line as marked. Colour in or decorate the pictures. Put your straw or stick on the centre line, fold the wrong sides together and glue or tape in place.
How to use: Hold the bottom of the skewer between your hands, and have the template at the top. ‘Spin’ the picture really fast by rubbing the skewer between your two hands. If you are doing it fast enough, the two pictures on the template will look like they are combined, and Jesus will ‘appear’ to the disciples!
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Memory Verse
Over the next few weeks, we’re learning together a verse from the Bible, which we can remember in our minds and our hearts. Philippians 4v6-7
19th April
Our focus this week is Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. Easter has happened. Jesus is alive. He meets his friends when they’re on a walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus. You can read the story in Luke 24:13-35 or you might like to watch it, read from the book “The Seriously Surprising Story”
Worship
Chat
Jesus’s friends would have been missing Him, in our story today. Who are you missing at the moment - maybe family or friends or school or nursery? Tell each other and tell God. Ask Him to be with them and with you. You might like to print out some pictures of those people and stick them on the fridge - as a reminder to pray for them.
Pray
Did you have a go at making a Labyrinth during Holy Week? If not, today is a GREAT day to do that! You could use some string or masking tape on the floor or a trail of stones or some chalk on the floor outside, to make the trail. Have fun and be creative with the shape of your trail on the floor. As you walk along your trail, talk to Jesus about how you’re feeling, tell him about the things and people you’re missing. Remember as you walk, that Jesus walks with you every step. You could also try hopping along your trail. Or jumping. We’d love to see pics of your trails, so do send them in.
Play
At first, Jesus’ friends didn’t realise that it was Him walking along with them.
Do you have the game “Guess Who” at home? If so, have fun playing that.
If not, try playing “I’m thinking of an animal…” One person thinks of an animal and answers only yes and no questions from everyone else, until they can guess what it is. You could also think of people or TV characters or……..
Memory Verse
Over the next few weeks, we’re learning together a verse from the Bible, which we can remember in our minds and our hearts. Philippians 4v6-7
12th April
Our focus this week is Easter! Read the story, in: Matthew 28:1-10
Not got a Bible at home? No probs, you can get it here
Chat
Have you read the story? This video also tells the story
How did the women feel when they saw the tomb was empty? Why do you think the angel tells them ‘not to be afraid’? How did Mary know that the person she met was Jesus?
Mary did not realise at first who Jesus was, the Bible tells us that she thought he was the gardener. It was only when Jesus called her by name that she recognised him. This is the sort of relationship that God wants with each one of us – God knows each of us by name and loves us like a shepherd loves his sheep. Just like the sheep know the voice of their shepherd God wants us to respond to him and follow Him.
Play
(remember it’s good for big kids and adults to play too!)
Game: Mary recognised Jesus when he called her name. Play a game together – take it in turns to wear a blindfold. Members of your family should say your name but should try to disguise their voice, can you still recognise who they are? If you are feeling brave why not see if the person in the blindfold can be guided round the house just by following a voice calling their name
Lego Challenge: Can you use lego (or duplo, or any props or building stuff!) to build a scene from today’s story. Why not take a picture of your scene and share it in one of our Parent’s WhattsApp groups?
Nature Art: Gather items from your home, garden or from your daily walk to create your own Easter Garden together. You will need to select a stone to be in front of the tomb and roll away, a flowerpot or cup can make a good substitute for the tomb. You could do some junk modelling and use some items from your recycling or just build the whole thing from building blocks and toys. Once you have built your Easter garden, use any toy figures you have to act out the story of Easter morning together.
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Challenge
Scavenger hunt! Explore the Easter story together whilst doing a scavenger hunt, find an object in the house that matches the colour of the different eggs. The different colours all represent a different part of the Easter story. Either collect objects with the colours in the correct order to tell the Easter Story, why not travel from room to room together to find them. Alternatively find all the eggs first and then lay them out in order to tell the story. You can also download the challenge here
PALM SUNDAY - Matthew 21:1-11. Our Easter story begins on Palm Sunday, it’s the day when we remember Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. People waved palm branches and shouted out Hosanna. They recognised that Jesus was the special Messiah they had been waiting for.
THE LAST SUPPER - Matthew 26:17-30. The night before he died Jesus had a special meal with his disciples. Jesus took the bread from the table and broke it; he shared it with his disciples and told them it represented his body that would be broken for them. Next Jesus took a cup of wine and shared it with his disciples, he said that it represented his blood that would be spilt for them. When we share communion, we remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and the promise he made that he would return.
GETHSEMANE- Matthew 26:36-56. After their meal together, Jesus and his disciples went to the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus took time to pray asking God to help him with the challenge he was about to face. While Jesus prayed his disciples fell asleep. Jesus was disappointed that his friends could not stay awake with him while he prayed. the disciples did not really understand what was going to happen. Then Judas who had betrayed Jesus arrived with soldiers who arrested him.
PETER’S DENIAL- Matthew 26: 31-35, 69-75. While Jesus had been eating with his disciples, he had warned them that one of them would betray him. Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples was horrified, “Not me,” he cried, “I would never betray you.” “It is not you,” Jesus explained, “but before the rooster crows tomorrow morning you will deny me three times. After Jesus was arrested, Peter was waiting in a courtyard to hear what was happening. Somebody recognised him as one of Jesus’ followers, but Peter denied that he had ever known Jesus because he was scared. Then somebody else asked him, and somebody else. Each time, Peter denied that he had known Jesus. After Peter had denied Jesus three times a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered what Jesus had told him would happen.
PONTIUS PILATE- Matthew 27:11-37. Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate to be judged. Pilate asked Jesus if he was the “King of the Jews”. The soldiers mocked Jesus, they gave him a crown made of thorns and a robe to wear. Over the cross they put a sign saying “Jesus, King of the Jews”. The purple egg reminds us of the truth, that Jesus is royalty, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
OUR SINS ARE WIPED AWAY- Matthew 27:45-55. When Jesus was killed on the cross the sky went dark, there was an earthquake, people came to life who were dead and the curtain in the temple was torn in two! Jesus died as a sacrifice for us so that all our sins might be forgiven. The colourless egg reminds us that all our sins are wiped away and we can be forgiven because of Jesus’ death on the cross.
THE EMPTY TOMB- Matthew 28:1-10. Three days after Jesus had died Mary went to visit the tomb where Jesus had been buried; when she arrived, the tomb was empty. An angel appeared to Mary and told her that Jesus was no longer in the tomb, he had risen from the dead! Then Jesus appeared to Mary, at first, she thought it was the gardener but when she realised who it was she was amazed.
A VISIT TO THE DISCIPLES- Matthew 28:16-20. After Jesus had risen from the dead, he appeared to many people including his disciples. He showed them the wounds in his hands and feet and reminded them of how much he loved them. Jesus commissioned his disciples to go into all the world and teach everybody about how much he loved them.
A HEAVENLY PROMISE- John 3:16. Finally, Jesus returned to heaven. Because of the Easter story we know that we too can go to heaven and spend eternity with Jesus.
Memory Verse
Over the next few weeks, we’re learning together a verse from the Bible, which we can remember in our minds and our hearts. Philippians 4v6-7
5th April
Our focus this week is Palm Sunday. As a ‘way in’ to the story, watch the video
….and then read the story, in: Matthew 21:1-11
Not got a Bible at home? No probs, you can get it here
Chat
Have you read the story? This cartoon also tells the story.
What did you notice that was surprising in the story? Why were the people singing and shouting? What did they shout? What does it mean that Jesus is king? What difference does that make?
Play
(remember it’s good for big kids and adults to play too!)
Game: Using just two or three pieces of fabric (old t-shirts, pillowcases) can you get your whole family from one side of the room to the other? You are only allowed to stand on the fabric and not touch the floor. You will need to work as a team standing on one piece while you move the other. Use this as a reminder of the clothes that the people put down for Jesus to walk on.
Lego Challenge: Can you use lego (or duplo, or any props or building stuff!) to build a scene from today’s story. Why not take a picture of your scene and share it in one of our Parent’s WhattsApp groups?
Nature Art: In your garden or on your daily walk why not collect some leaves to make into a collage at home. The people in the story were so excited to welcome Jesus that they grabbed what they could find to worship Him. What other items can you find in your garden or on your walk to make some worship art from? Arrange the items you have found to make your own picture.
Challenge
On Palm Sunday we usually have palm crosses in Church - but you could make your own! You could try a paper origami one or just freestyle with some sticks or whatever you can find. Or you could make your own palm waver. Or just find a big leafy branch outside! (https://www.origami-resource-center.com/easter-cross.html)
Once you’ve made your ‘palm cross’ or palm branch’, you might like to hang it on your front door, as a sign that you’re celebrating Palm Sunday.
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Worship
You could draw a cross on your palm - you’ll probably need to help each other! As you do, listen and sing along to this song. It’s all about what it means to sign ourselves with the cross. (Don’t worry - as you’re washing your hands SO much it’ll come off fairly quickly)
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Pray
We might not be able to meet up with people but we can send a wave of encouragement and pray for others. Why not start your own virtual Mexican wave of encouragement? Video call another family and give them a big encouraging smile and wave. Take a moment to pray for them and then ask them to send the wave on to another family. How far will your prayer wave travel? Maybe it will even come back to you!
Memory Verse
Over the next few weeks, we’re learning together a verse from the Bible, which we can remember in our minds and our hearts. Philippians 4v6-7