Sunday, February 8, 2015

Faithful Families Resources February 8 2015


There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthened and maintained
 ~Winston Churchill

Family Closeness
Game:
Sound affects machine
This game can be played individually or with the whole family working together. The aim of the game is for certain sound effects to be produced using only your voice or your body (clapping, stomping, clicking). You can come up with your own sound effects but here are some examples:
a football game
the rain on a tin roof
a percussion band
angry wasps
a rainforest

Sharing:
Questions for stimulating discussion in your family.
  • Are you more like a candle or a flashlight? Why?
  • What is something you have learnt from a friend?
  • Would you rather have a house with no roof or no walls?

Story
With your family read: Mark 2.1-12
Questions for Discussion:
When the people carrying the paralysed man couldn’t get to Jesus what did they do?
Why were the scribes angry at Jesus?
What did Jesus say he had authority over?
What would you be willing to do to help a friend in need?

Prayer and Celebration
12 Types of Prayer
In his book ‘The hour that changes the world’, Dick Eastman outlines twelve different types of prayer . In this miniseries explore the many different types of prayer with your children.
Contemplation
This type of prayer revolves around thinking and reflecting deeply either on a piece of scripture or on something to do with God. With children this might mean taking a particular story or passage of scripture and encouraging them to think for a moment on a theme coming from the passage, such as God’s love for us, or the wonder of creation. There are many short stories written on different themes that might help children think more deeply about scripture and these can be helpful in developing the prayer of contemplation.

Family Time
Build a Fort Night
With your family make a fort in your house big enough for your whole family to sit in. This can be done by hanging and draping blankets and  sheets over chairs and dining room tables and whatever else is around. Try to build the biggest fort you can. Eat dinner in it together and play some games. Read Psalm 46.1-3 together and have a discussion about what it means for God to be your fortress and shelter.

(This material is based on and draws from earlier Faithful Families emails by Stephen Harrison and Richard Browning: An Unless Ideas Production.) Unless otherwise noted all material on this blog is copyright Stephen Harrison and Richard Browning

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