Faithful Families Resources March 29 2015

As we begin Holy Week we provide you with a slightly different format for faithful families.

Easter is a time to celebrate in a huge way the message of life resurrected, of new life, of Jesus setting us free. We encourage you to celebrate well, to use the resources available to make Easter day special and memorable. To use symbols wisely and to help your children understand why chocolate Easter eggs (egg: symbol of new life/half an Easter egg is like an empty tomb). More importantly we invite you to tell the story well. This email does not provide you with games or stories but with a way of telling the story well in your household leading into this most special of days.

Story

One of the ways we might be faithful with our family is by telling the story of Easter really well. This might include dressing up and acting out the story or using some props as symbols to recall different events, it might include music and action. You might like to set up some stations in your house on Friday or Saturday and make signs with the days of the week, leave the different symbols in the different locations.

Alternatively you might like to read the various portions of scripture that recount the last week of Jesus life leading up to Good Friday and East.

Here are some signposts for telling the story well in your household.

Day:Sunday before Easter

Jesus enters Jerusalem and people wave palm leaves to welcome him like a king.

Reading: Matthew 21.1-9

Symbol: Palm Leaves:

Question: What does it feel like when you are a winner or a champion? How do you think Jesus felt as he entered Jerusalem?

Day:Monday

Jesus turns the tables in the temple.

Reading: Matthew 21.12-17

Symbol: Whip made of cords.

Question: What things make you angry? Is it okay to be angry sometimes? Why was Jesus angry?

Day:Wednesday

Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty silver coins.

Reading: Mark 14.10-11.

Symbol: Bag of Coins.

Question: What does it feel like when your friends let you down? How do you think Jesus felt knowing Judas would betray him and his friends would run away from him.

Day: Maundy Thursday

Jesus shares a meal with friends, washes their feet.

Reading: John 13.1-10, Matthew 26.17-30

Symbol: Bowl and Towel. Bread and Wine.

Question: What is special about eating with friends? What does it mean to be a servant to your friends? Why do you think Jesus washed his disciples’ feet?

Day: Good Friday

Jesus dies on a cross.

Reading: Matthew 27.15-60

Symbol: Nails. Crown of Thorns. Cross. Hot Cross Buns.

Why is Friday called Good? (Reflect on childbirth…it is painful yet the result is wonderful)

Day: Saturday

We wait. Jesus is in the tomb.

Symbol: Question mark.

What happens next? When have you had to wait to see how something turned out? How do you think Jesus friends felt on Saturday?

Day: Sunday

Jesus is risen.

Reading: Mathew 28.1-10

Symbol: Easter egg. Broken in half looks like an empty tomb.

Question: What does Jesus risen mean to you?

We hope these resources are helpful. Have a wonderful Easter,

Faithful Families wishes you and your family a wonderful and inspirational Easter , celebrate well, tell the story well. Our prayer for you and your family is that the truth of the Resurrection might fill your lives with much joy.

(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

Faithful Families Resources March 22 2015

In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.

~Alex Haley

Family Closeness

Game:

Coin Wiggle

Family members lay flat on the floor on their back. A coin is balanced on the tip of their nose. The player must twitch their nose and move their lips but nothing else. Wiggling of the head or body is not permitted. The goal is to make the coin fall.

Sharing:

Questions for stimulating discussion in your family.

• Are you more a hare or a tortoise?
• What food would you be happy never to eat again?
• Have you ever lost something? What was it?

Story

With your family read: Mark 11.1-11

Questions for Discussion:

• What did Jesus ride into Jerusalem?
• How did the people respond to Jesus? What did they shout?
• What did people throw on the road in front of Jesus?
• What kind of people get welcomed likes this today?

 About the Bible Bit

Palm Sunday begins the last week of Jesus life. He is welcomed enthusiastically into Jerusalem like a king. However, it will be the same crowds shouting crucify him by the end of the week. How quickly people turn against him.

Prayer and Celebration

Try to connect what you do in worship on a Sunday with what you do to worship at home during the week. Here are some examples:

Regular attendance in worship might be linked with a regular pattern of prayer and worship at home. Praying with our children is a key way that we may be faithful with our family. (we regularly offer ways to pray with children in this email)

Break bread at home. Even if your children do not receive communion, break bread with them at home reminding them of the story of the last supper. Assure them that at home, when we break bread together it is different to church, but that we may break bread to remember Jesus. This may be linked with a meal time pattern of prayer.

 “What prayer do we take to church today?”  As a family, be conscious of the prayers and hopes you take to place before God in worship. Ask this question before you go to church.

Bonus Family Activity

Many churches celebrate the coming Sunday (the Sunday before Easter) as Palm Sunday. On this day we remember Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey and people placing branches on the ground before him. This week why not make your own palm crosses at home as a way of helping your children remember the story.

Below is a YouTube video that will show you how to do it. There are many other websites online that will show you how to make them.

“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Matthew 21.9

(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

Faithful Families Resources March 15 2015

Home is the place where boys and girls first learn how to limit their wishes, abide by rules, and consider the rights and needs of others.

~Sidonie Gruenberg

Family Closeness

Game:

Piggy

A family member takes a turn rolling a die and may continue to do so for as long as they wish, adding up their score as they go along. The aim is to be the first to reach fifty. A player continues to throw the die and add their score until they choose to stop for that round or they throw a one on the die.  If a player stops before they roll a one they get to keep their score and add it to the next round.  A throw of one cancels their score for the round and ends their turn.

Sharing:

Questions for stimulating discussion in your family.

• Would you prefer to be a fish or a bird?
• What food would you be happy to eat every day?
• What is something you like about your sister or brother? (or a best friend)

Story

With your family read: John 12.20-24

Questions for Discussion:

• What do you think Jesus meant when he said it was time to be glorified?
• What did Jesus say happens when a seed falls to the ground and dies?
• What good things come from Jesus death and resurrection?

Prayer and Celebration

Prayers to use in Lent

These prayers may be used as part of a meal time pattern of prayer or
at other times.

Jesus our helper, our healer and friend,
As we journey through Lent, help us to
see you more clearly
love you more dearly
and follow you more nearly,
day by day.  Amen.                 
~Taken from the Prayer of St Richard of Chichester

As we journey with Jesus to Easter, let his teachings be in our heads
and our thinking, our feet and our walking, our hands and our
serving, our hearts and our loving:

Blessed are the poor in spirit
response: For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn:
response: For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek:
response: For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for what is right:
response: For they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful:
response: For mercy shall be shown to them.

Family Time

Crayon "Stained Glass" Cross

Cut out two identical cross shapes from wax paper. Scrape crayons with a blunt knife to create shavings of different colours. Spread the crayons on one of the pieces of waxed paper in the pattern you want. Place the second wax paper cross on top of the first with the shavings in between. Use  a warm iron to press the two pieces of wax paper together. Hang them up to somewhere that all the family can see.

(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

Faithful Families Resources March 8 2015

Bringing up a family should be an adventure, not an anxious discipline in which everybody is constantly graded for performance.

~Milton R. Saperstein

Family Closeness

Game:

Camouflage

Gather some ordinary objects such as a paper clip, a pencil, a coin, a comb or brush. Place them throughout the room, hidden but in plain sight. In other words, camouflaged.  An example might be placing a blue comb leaning against a blue vase or a spoon next to a silver tray.  Give family members a list of the items.  They must not announce when they  find an item but simply note where it is. The first player to see all the items and correctly reveal them wins. Another way to play is to choose one object and have a family member hide it and then the rest of the family must seek it out.

Sharing:

Questions for stimulating discussion in your family.

• Are you more like a desert or an ocean?
• What is something you would find hard to live without?
• Would you rather live in a place where it always rains or  where it never rains?

Story

With your family read: John 3.14-21

Questions for Discussion:

• Who is the Son of Man?
• What do people receive by believing in him?
• How much did God love the world? What did he give to show this love?

 Prayer and Celebration

Lenten Thanksgiving Bowl

This week place a bowl in the middle of your table. Place some blank strips of paper and a pen next to it. Each night spend some time writing things you would like to say thank you to God for. Place them in the bowl. Smaller children might like to draw pictures.

Prayers to use in Lent

Dear God,

thank you that your love

is deeper than the ocean

and bigger than the sky.

No matter what we do,

you still love us

and welcome us home.

Amen.

Dear God

Help us when we hurt.

Help us to know what to do.

Help us forgive.

Amen.

(Whole People of God. 2001)

Family Time

Lenten Placemats

Draw a variety of Lenten symbols on sheets of purple construction paper. These symbols could include a palm branch, a cross, a candle, a crown of thorns, a dove, a bowl, the number 40, loaf and cup, nails, a rooster, a bag of coins. In the middle of the placemat write a Lenten prayer. Cover them with a clear covering such as “contact”. As you eat meals together during Lent, look at each symbol and discuss its meaning.

(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

Faithful Families Resources March 1 2015

In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony.

~Eva Burrows

Family Closeness

Game:

Cup and Ball

Scrunch up a piece of aluminium foil into a nice ball. Tie one end of a forty centimetre piece of string around the foil ball. Tie the other end to a cup with a handle. Any cup can be used but plastic ones are best. Hold the cup by the hand and swing the ball up so that it goes into the air. Try to catch the ball inside the cup.

Sharing:

Questions for stimulating discussion in your family.

• Are you more like a hundred metre sprinter or a marathon runner?
• What hobby or sport would you like to try?
• What makes you angry?

Story

With your family read: John 2.13-20

Questions for Discussion:

• What did Jesus do in the temple?
• Is this something you would expect Jesus to do?
• Why do you think he was so upset?
• What proof did Jesus say he would give that he had the authority to do all he did?
• Is it ok to be angry at some things?

Prayer and Celebration

Ways to say “I forgive”

At the top of a piece of paper write the words “I forgive you.” Ask “what did God do to show He forgives us?” Then encourage your family to list as many ways as they can which show forgiveness to others. The list may include words and actions. Suggestions of words might be, “That’s ok.” “Its all right.” Suggestions of actions might be hugs, smiles, and handshakes.

Burning Prayers

Your family might like to individually write down things they would like to say sorry for. These prayers might then be placed in a bowl and burnt as a symbol of God’s forgiveness.

Family Time

The Cross Shaped Window

You may be familiar with the segment on Play School where children are invited to travel through the square, circle, arched or diamond window. On the other side are some children doing something interesting. Using cardboard and some coloured cellophane make a cross shaped window. Tell your children that when we look through the cross shaped window we might see the kind of world God would like us to live in.  Invite your children to draw some pictures to put behind the window. What might God’s kind of world look like? What would people be doing? How might they be treating one another? Find some pictures in magazines that show what the kingdom of God might be like. (Maybe pictures of people caring for one another, seeking peace, helping one another).

(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