Faithful Families Resources for 3 September 2017 (13th after Pentecost, Year A)

My father didn’t tell me how to live, he lived, and let me watch him do it.
~ Clarence Budinton Kelland

Family Closeness

Game

Letter On

Choose a category of things; it could be food, movies, places. The first person says the name of something in that category. The next person must say another thing in that category that starts with the last letter of the thing you previously said. There is a 10 second limit and nothing can be repeated. 

(from The Source for Youth Ministry)

Sharing

1. Your best friend doesn’t invite you to her birthday party. How do you feel? What do you say to your friend?

2. You are on a school field trip and you just found out that a few of the kids have brought along their pocket knives and are planning to carve their name in a tree. Do you tell the teacher? Why/why not? What do you say to your classmates?

Story

With your family read: Romans 12.9-21

 Questions for Discussion:

• What do you think about these rules for Christian living?
• Is doing these things easy or hard? What makes them so?
• How are we to treat others?
• How are we to treat enemies?
• Why do you think followers of Jesus should live this way?

 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” or “It's all right.”  Suggestions of actions might be hugs, smiles, and handshakes.

Service

Previously my family has spent a day disconnected from technology, prior to making a donation to a charity connected with the famine in East Africa. There are many charities like World Vision who have activities like the Forty Hour Famine that help young people and adults think about what it is like to go without. These are great events but they can at times be difficult for families with young children to engage with. The truth is we shouldn’t need prompting from a charity to help our children think about others.

With my family, we agreed around the dinner table that we would go without technology – TV, computers, games etc – for the day. Now this might seem trivial but the purpose of it was that every time we felt like we wanted to watch TV or go on the computer, we remembered that others in the world are going without a lot more than we are, and that we can use what we have to help. Why do this and not just give money? I am passionate about helping my children to grow as thoughtful disciples of Christ and so I want them to engage in a small action of self denial so they can reflect more deeply on what it means to give.

I wonder what creative ways you might engage your children’s hearts and mind so they may grow to love and serve others?

Bonus Family Activity

Hands and Feet

Draw around the outlines of your children's hands and feet onto cardboard. Cut them out and write words on them that might help them to remember how they help Jesus build his kingdom. They might be words like serve, share, love, grow. Alternatively draw pictures of these things or get your children to draw pictures of these things. Blutack or sticky tape them around the house so that they might be reminded throughout the week that they are workers in the kingdom of God.

Faithful Families Resources for 27 August 2017 (12th after Pentecost, Year A)

You don’t really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at her parents every time around – and why her parents will always wave back.

~William D. Tammeus.

Family Closeness

Game:

...a few of my favourite things

Everyone at the dinner table says five of their favourite things. This could be a favourite colour, number, TV show, movie, animal, friend, toy, food, book. The following night you can test your memory and see if you can remember the 5 favourite things that all the family members told you the previous evening.

Sharing:

• If you could be any animal, what animal would you be? Why?
• What is the bravest thing you have ever done?
• Have you ever wanted to grow up faster? Why? What is good about the age you are now? What would be good about being older?

Story

With your family read Matthew 16.13-20

Questions for Discussion:

[In this reading Jesus asks his disciples who they think he is. This is done against the backdrop of the region of Caesarea Philippi which had numerous temples to different religions including one to Caesar as God. In this passage we hear Jesus refer to himself as ‘Son of Man’, a phrase he often used to refer to himself.]

• What is the first question Jesus asks?
• Why do you think he wants to know what others think of him?
• What is Jesus' second question?
• Why do you think he asks his disciples this?
• How does Jesus respond when Peter gets it ‘right’?
• Why do you think Jesus tells the disciples not to tell anyone who he is?

Prayer and Celebration

Intercessory Prayer 

A useful image for intercessory prayer is a stretcher.  From Mark 2.3-12, some people lowered their paralytic friend through the roof into the presence of Jesus. This is a good image of the work of intercessory prayer.  That is, don’t labour too hard with the words to use, simply do the hard work of placing or ‘lowering’ the person into the presence of Jesus.

Place on the stretcher someone you know who needs help.

Silence

Lower on the stretcher someone who you can love better this week.

Silence

Put onto the stretcher a place that needs peace.

Silence

Put onto the stretcher one who needs healing.

Silence

Put on the stretcher a hope of yours for your life.

Silence

Lord in your mercy, receive our prayer.

Service 

At the moment we are confronted in the news with images of people struggling in Syrian refugee camps. Considering the luxury that so many of us live in, I want to encourage you to dig deep to help those who are not in a position to help themselves. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be in a situation like that. There is nothing more I can say on this except we who have resources need to use our abundance in whatever way we can to help. There are many charity organisations out there taking donations for this crisis so let's do what we can.

Bonus Family Activity

Family Time Line

To help your family think about the good things God has given you, work together to make a family time line. Draw a line in the centre of a long sheet of paper. Choose a starting date to write at the left end of the line. Your time line may cover a week, a one month period, or the school holidays, or a year. To help family members think of time line events, ask questions such as: "What was something we did that we really enjoyed? How did someone help us in a special way? Who are some new friends our family made?" Display the time line on a wall or door. Allow younger children to enjoy drawing pictures to illustrate the time line. (From Adventures for Growing Families, by Wes & Sheryl Haystead.)

Faithful Families Resources for 20 August 2017 (11th Sunday after Pentecost)

If you haven't time to respond to a tug at your pants leg, your schedule is too crowded.  

~Robert Brault

Family Closeness

Game:

Tapping hands

Each person crosses their arms over those of the person next to them and places their hands on the table. One person starts by tapping once and others follow in order of hands in one direction. When someone else taps twice, the direction reverses. If you tap out of turn, the game starts over. How many times can you go around the table?

Sharing:

Would you rather… 

• How many people from different countries do you know? When might it be difficult to be friendly to someone who is different from you?
• What is the best thing that happened to you this week? What was the worst?
• What unexpected thing happened to you this week?
• What is something new you learnt today or this week? 

Story

With your family read Mathew 15.21-28

Questions for Discussion:

[This can be a hard or confusing reading to hear. Jesus seems not only to ignore this woman from a different religion who needs his help but says some seemingly negative or antagonistic things to her. Is it possible Jesus knew how deep her faith was, that she would not be discouraged, and desired her to demonstrate this? In the end Jesus points out how great her faith is and gives her what she wants. It is interesting that so many of the religious leaders rejected Jesus but this foreign woman believes.]

• Why do you think Jesus ignored the woman at first?
• What was Jesus saying about why he shouldn’t help her?
• Why do you think Jesus thought the woman’s faith was so great?
• When have you shown persistence and perseverance in your faith life? 

Prayer and Celebration

Actions for a variation of The Lords Prayer

Our Father in heaven, [finger pointing up]

You are a holy God. [open palm pointed high, head dipped reverently]

Come and rule our hearts. [open palm brought down to rest over heart]

Do what’s best on earth [finger pointing down]

as in heaven. [rotate arm to point finger upwards]

Please keep us alive with food. [hand as bowl, other doing a scooping action to mouth]

keep us forgiven with you [closed hand warmly rotating over heart]

and forgiving with others. [same hand, finger pointing to all around in sweeping action]

Keep us holding your hand [one hand into the other hand]

and safe from all wickedness. [two hands up, elbows straight and a firm shielding action]

You’re in charge! [strong action, two hands pointing up]

You can do anything you want! [both palms open out, raised]

You are God, for ever and ever. [hands get further apart like measuring something bigger and bigger]

Amen.  [closed fist brought down on an open palm].

Service

Anglican Board of Mission – Australia

One mission organisation in Australia that does fantastic work is ABM-A. Their vision is: ABM wants to see people everywhere experience the wholeness of life God offers in Jesus Christ, and to this end support our Partners as they participate in God's mission. Their website is worth checking out and in particular under their resources menu is a section called “watch” that has videos of some of the work they do. Some of these videos would be appropriate to show family members around the table.

http://www.abmission.org/

Bonus Family Activity

 Camp Out Night

If you own a tent, pitch it in the backyard one night and take the family out there to sleep. Do some fun things like story telling and board games. Do all the things you would do camping out.