Year A - Proper 12, 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 24, 2011)

Genesis 29:15-28

This is an outrageous story about outrageous people doing outrageous things to each other.  It has much in common with tall tales of folklore.  So, tell it in your best storyteller style or invite a good storyteller in the congregation to tell it.  It’s message for children (and adults too) is that God gave us free will and lets us use it as we will.  Even when we are using that free will in outrageous ways, God doesn’t give up on us. 

Psalm 105:1-11, 46b

In the middle of a summer when the news, the economy and the weather are all bad, Psalm 105:1-6 calls us to celebrate God’s glory, i.e. all about God that is so cool, so absolutely awesome.  There are several ways to revel in God’s glory.

>        Introduce the word GLORY that can be either a noun or a verb.  Either during worship or before, print it in big letters on a large poster – maybe using gold glitter pen.  Then add the other key glory words (thanks, sing, rejoice, seek, remember, tell) from these verses.  Take time to comment on each one as you add it.  Then read the verses in unison. 

>        The above could be done as the scripture reading for the day or it could done as the call to worship with the worship leader leading the conversation about the Glory words before reading verses 1-6 and the congregation replying with either verse 45b or “Let us worship God.”
 

>         Make the poster with the children as a children’s time asking different children to write each of the words, taking time to spell the words, and to talk about how they keep us in touch with God’s glory.  Display the poster for the rest of worship and encourage children to listen for the words in your songs and prayers today. 

>        Give children a worship worksheet with the Glory words already printed on it and invite them to illustrate God’s glory as they have seen, heard, tasted, even smelled it this summer.

>        If you regularly sing the “Gloria Patri” interrupt after it is sung to ask people what they just sang.  Walk through the words putting the song’s meaning as it is sung in your service into your own words.  Then, invite everyone to sing it again.  (Do alert the musicians of your plan in advance.)

 

>          To encourage the discipline of praise, send worshipers home with verse 3b printed on a bulletin insert.  Urge them to post it on the refrigerator door, bathroom mirror, or some other prominent spot and to read it aloud (as a household if possible) at least once each day this week.  As they do they are to remember how they have sensed God’s glory and to tell each other about those times.  Doing this often leads to thanking God for the glorious things they see, hear, touch, and feel that day. 

I Kings 3.5-12

*   Before reading this story, remind worshipers of all the stories of a genie coming out of a bottle offering three wishes.  Challenge them or work together to create lists of things one might ask for, e.g. the talent and height to play in the NBA, to be extremely smart, to be really rich, or maybe a cure for a seriously ill family member or friend, etc.  In the Harry Potter books Tom Riddle (Lord Voldemort) wanted more than anything to live forever.  He used all his magical powers trying to get that.  Then, read what Solomon asked for when God offered him one wish.

*   Solomon did not ask to be different than he was.  He asked to be very good at who he was and what he had to do.  He was the king.  We don’t know whether he particularly wanted to be king, but he was the king.  He asked God to help him be the best king he could.  That may be a sign that he was already wise.  In any case, it is worth exploring with children (and probably a number of adults) the possibility that they, like Solomon, are called to be their very best self in the place they are rather than to dream about being someone totally different in a different situation. 

*   Before the congregation sings “God of Grace and God of Glory,” direct worshipers to the repeated chorus in their hymnals.  Point out that “Grant us wisdom, grant us courage” sounds a lot like Solomon’s prayer.  Then note the sentences that are sung twice at the end of each chorus.  Read each sentence twice and briefly comment on what it means to sing that to God.  Encourage even young readers to try to sing the chorus.  Point out that if they miss the final sentence the first time, they can get it the second time.  Then sing the whole song together.

*   Solomon’s story is the alternate reading for Jacob’s story.  But, it might be fun to pair the stories to explore the truth that God worked through both conniving Jacob and wise King Solomon.  If God loved and worked through two such different people, maybe there is hope for us.

Psalm 119:129-136




Hebrew Letter PE

 

      This section of Psalm 119 is not the easiest to share with children.  There is neither clear focus nor a key verse.  If you do use it, enjoy its alphabet poetry.  Each line of this section of the psalm begins with the Hebrew letter PE.  Show it to the congregation.  If you have not shown the children the psalm in a Hebrew Bible before, do so today noting that this is the language Solomon read.  Then have eight readers (either one  children’s class or readers of all ages – maybe one or two families) read one verse each. 

Today’s English Version offers easier vocabulary for child readers.

Your teachings are wonderful;

I obey them with all my heart.

¹³⁰     The explanation of your teachings gives light

and brings wisdom to the ignorant.

¹³¹     In my desire for your commands

I pant with open mouth.

¹³²     Turn to me and have mercy on me

as you do on all those who love you.

¹³³     As you have promised, keep me from falling;

don’t let me be overcome by evil.

¹³⁴     Save me from those who oppress me,

so that I may obey your commands.

¹³⁵     Bless me with your presence

and teach me your laws.

¹³⁶     My tears pour down like a river,

because people do not obey your law.

Romans 8:26-39

For children the heart of this passage is verses 38-39.

Read Paul’s list of all the things he worried could get between him and God’s loving care.  Then, make your own list of the things we worry about. 

Shel Silverstein provides a wonderful list of things that might be too much for God’s love.  

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Whatif by Shel Silverstein

Last night, while I lay thinking here,
some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
and pranced and partied all night long
and sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I'm dumb in school?
Whatif they've closed the swimming pool?
Whatif I get beat up?
Whatif there's poison in my cup?
Whatif I start to cry?
Whatif I get sick and die?
Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?
Whatif I don't grow taller?
Whatif my head starts getting smaller?
Whatif the fish won't bite?
Whatif the wind tears up my kite?
Whatif they start a war?
Whatif my parents get divorced?
Whatif the bus is late?
Whatif my teeth don't grow in straight?
Whatif I tear my pants?
Whatif I never learn to dance?
Everything seems well, and then
the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

      Point out that some questions have only one right answer, e.g. one plus one is always two.  Parables don’t have just one right answer or meaning.  When we pay attention and think about them they often have many different things to tell us.  Show a single mustard seed (found in spice section of grocery stores) and a photo of a mustard tree.  Be amazed that such a small hard lump can produce a big shrub.   Ponder what that says about every small gift making a big difference in the world.  Then inform worshipers that one little mustard seed doesn’t just produce one mustard bush.  Mustard bushes are weeds.  One quickly becomes several and several soon take over the whole field.  That tells us something else about God’s Kingdom – it is unstoppable.  It is going to fill the whole world.  Stress that parables are for thinkers and suggest that they will always be learning new things from the parables.

>  Laurel Dykstra claims the key to these parables is not the objects, but what people do with them.  They don’t just hold on to them.  The mustard seed gets planted.  The yeast is worth nothing until the baker kneads it into the dough.  “Everything I have” is sold to buy the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price.  The contents of the net are carefully evaluated and used.  So one call to preachers is to challenge worshipers to do something or take some risks or decisive action.  If children are to catch this point, you will need to walk through what the person in one of these parable did in some detail.  Then tell them directly that Jesus was telling us that what we do for God makes a difference.  It may seem small and ordinary, but it makes more difference that we will ever know.  It will help to name specific small things children can do - being kind even when you don’t feel like it, befriending those without friends, etc.

>  The Pearl of Great Price and Treasure Hidden in the Field have a Harry Potter connection.  The invitation to become a student at Hogwarts and the knowledge that he was a wizard were so valuable to Harry, that he left behind everything he knew.  True, he wasn’t leaving anything all the great given where he lived and who he lived with, but still it is not easy to leave what you know.  And, he had to walk straight into the brick column at the railroad station to catch the train to Hogwarts.  These parables challenge us to be as ready to step into something new for God as Harry was to step into that column and go to Hogwarts.

>  In democracy we often say that the majority rules, but that is only half true.  The other truth is that one person or a very small group of people can change everything.  Rosa Parks sitting down on the Montgomery bus is an historic adult example.  The fable about the boy who said “the Emperor has no clothes” while the adults watched silently is a fictional example children enjoy. 

Year A - Proper 10, 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 10, 2011)

Genesis 25:19-34

Children enjoy this story of brothers who were fighting before they were born.  Parents appreciate the story of the parents who did everything wrong by today’s standards for parents.  The whole family is a mess AND still God loves them and calls them to be God’s people.  There is a lot of hope in that for less than perfect families today. 

Do note that Joseph and the brothers who sell him into slavery show up the first two weeks in August.  Think ahead about which shared themes you will emphasize in these similar but different stories.

Ask a family with two sons who are good readers (maybe older elementary or middle school age) to read the scripted version.  Explain to them that their job is to help the listeners hear all the problems in this family.  Rehearse it with them once to show them where to stand and to encourage them to play their parts a little over the top. 

& & & & & & & & & & & & & &

Genesis 25:19-34

Reader 1 reads from the lectern and is probably the worship leader.  Isaac stands beside Rebekah in the middle, (maybe on the top step).  Esau and Jacob stand just in front of their parents (maybe one step down) and Esau closer to Isaac and Jacob closer to Rebekah.

Isaac  and   Rebekah

                  Reader 1

Esau            and                  Jacob

Reader 1:  These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac,

Isaac (pointing to self):  Isaac was forty years old when he married

Rebekah (pointing to herself proudly):  Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean.

Isaac: Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer,

Rebekah:  and his wife Rebekah conceived.    The children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is to be this way, why do I live?”   So she went to inquire of the Lord.

Reader 1:  And the Lord said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb,

and two peoples born of you shall be divided;

the one shall be stronger than the other,

the elder shall serve the younger.”

Rebekah:  When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb.

Esau (pointing to self): The first came out red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they named him Esau.

Jacob (raising hand as if to say that’s me): Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel (Lean down to grab Esau’s heel then stand up again); so he was named Jacob.

Isaac (proudly):  Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah bore them.

Esau (stand tall with feet planted wide):  When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field,

Jacob:  while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.

Isaac:  Isaac loved Esau, because he was fond of game; (Put hands on Esau’s shoulders)

Rebekah:  but Rebekah loved Jacob. (Put hands on Jacob’s shoulders)

Pause  (Parents withdraw hands and boys step forward a little)

Jacob:  Once when Jacob was cooking a stew,

Esau:  Esau came in from the field, and he was famished.   Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!”

Jacob:  Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.”

Esau:  Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?”

Jacob:  Jacob said, “Swear to me first.”

Esau:  So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.

Jacob:  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew,

Esau:  and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

                                               Based on the New Revised Standard Version

& & & & & & & & & & & & & &

F Before reading this text, invite the children forward to explain what a birthright was.  From a preschool room bring a collection of plastic farm animals and housekeeping equipment.  Explain that when a man died in Bible days, all his stuff was divided among his sons (sorry, daughters).  The oldest son got twice as much as any younger son.  Identify several boys as brothers.  Give half of everything to one of them and split the rest between the others.  Note that since the oldest had more than he could possibly take care of, he COULD invite the younger ones to stay at home and help him.  But, he would be the boss.  Agree with the children that this was very unfair and you are glad it doesn’t work that way today.  Then, repeat the word “birthright” and tell the children they will hear about two brothers and the older’s birthright in today’s story.  Then send them back to their seats to listen.

D Children, who hear a lot about making good choices, enjoy hearing about Esau’s really poor choice.  Esau chose what he wanted right now without thinking about what he was giving up to get it.  Parents work hard to get children to avoid making that mistake.  And, throughout our lives we all struggle with what we want right now and what is of long term value.  Two books connect neatly here.

F Way back in the first Harry Potter book, Hagrid who loved magical animals got a chance to get a dragon egg.  He really wanted to raise a dragon.  He wanted it so much that he did not think ahead.  He ignored the fact that owning dragons was illegal, that dragons grow very fast, have poisonous fangs, nasty dispositions, and breathe fire.  (Hermoine had to remind him what was likely to happen to his wood house.)  And, there was trouble.  It soon became impossible to hide the growing, rambunctious dragon.  Finally, Harry, Ron and Hermoine managed to smuggle the dragon (Norbert) out of Hogwarts to people who could get it to a safe place.  But everyone got in trouble in the process.  Hagrid finally regretted getting the egg, just as Esau eventually realized that his choice to sell his birthright for a bowl of stew was very foolish.  Unfortunately for Esau, his bad choice had much more serious long term consequences than Hagrid’s did.  (See Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, chapter 14, for all the glorious details.)

F In Alexander Who Use to Be Rich Last Sunday Judith Viorst describes a long series of bad choices a boy makes spending the dollar his grandparents brought him.  Alexander (yes, the same Alexander of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day) really wants to save it for a walkie-talkie, but frithers it away foolishly.  Since the book was written in 1978, you may want to update the prices, e.g. no 11 cent candy bars.  Alexander and Esau both need help thinking ahead when they make choices.

Psalm 119:105-112

F This is the section of the huge alphabet poem Psalm 119 in which every line begins with the Hebrew letter nun.  Display a poster of the letter, explain that each line praises God’s word in a phrase that begins with that letter.  Project or show this text in a Hebrew Bible pointing to the letter at the right hand (Hebrew reads right to left) of each line.  Then have each verse read by a different reader.  This could be a good worship leadership job for an older children’s class.

F Verse 105 is probably the best known of these verses.  To help children understand the metaphor “Your word is a lamp to my feet,” try using a Bible as a flashlight pretending to look for something.  Maybe with the help of the children, conclude that a Bible will never be a flashlight.  Then read verse 105 and work out what it is really saying about the Bible.  The Bible helps us know where to go and what to do every day.  It helps us see God’s good way of living. 

Romans 8:1-11

J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter) and Paul are on the same page in this passage.  Paul compares living by the flesh with living by the Spirit.  Rowling gives us two characters to embody those possibilities. 

Lord Voldemort lives according to the flesh.  He is all about getting what he wants no matter what it means for others.  One thing he wants is to be immortal.  He learns that the way to do that is to divide his soul (his self) into seven parts, inserting each in a separate object that he obtains by killing its owner.  These soul holding objects are called horcruxes.  Slowly Lord Voldemort creates the horcruxes hiding them in ingeniously guarded places.  Murder and mayhem ripple out from his activities. 

Harry Potter on the other hand lives by the Spirit, that is he understands the world as a good place and sees love as what holds the world together.  He knows that he was loved so much by his mother that she died to save him.  He slowly learns to treat all the people around him lovingly.  He and his friends hunt and destroy each of Lord Voldemort’s horcruxes to save each other and everyone in the world.  When Harry learns that he is the final horcrux and that the only way to stop Lord Voldemort is to let him kill Harry, Harry allows that to happen.  That is living by the Spirit.  The surprise is that after his “death,”  Harry learns that he still has the opportunity to live and thus is returned to his friends.  His love triumphs over death.  This is living by the Spirit too.

Though we do not face death-eaters, magical monsters, and wizards with wands, we do daily meet opportunities to do what we know is wrong and will hurt other people.  We are warned by Harry to stay alert and be careful.

F If your congregation uses the phrase “renounce evil” in questions in baptismal, confirmation or ordination, quote those questions today.  Put the question into your own words with reference to Harry Potter’s fight against the evil he encountered.  Talk about what it means to “renounce evil” in each worship situation.  Compare “renouncing evil” every day to the way Harry had to “renounce evil.”

Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

F Parables are very open stories designed to have more than one meaning.  Often they mean different things to the same reader at different times.  When we refuse to offer right answers to the parables in preaching, we welcome worshipers to read and ponder all parables with a sense of open wonder.

The commentaries I read, warned against treating this parable as an allegory.  The easy way to do that is to read only the parable (verse 1-9) omitting the very allegorical interpretation in verses 18-23.  Or, stop after the parable to ponder “what Jesus was trying to tell us” before introducing verses 18-23 as one possible meaning.  Children are often more able than adults to produce possible messages.  If they do, be sure that their attempts are affirmed and not laughed at – even when their offerings are a bit novel.

F This parable (verses 1-9) begs to be dramatized for sheer enjoyment. 

 

Before worship gather a group of worshipers to prepare to pantomime the parable as it is read.  Read through the story first asking actors to show you how each seed grew.  As they offer good interpretations, assign them to that part.  After reading it through once and assigning parts, direct actors where to stand.  Then reread the parable with the groups miming their assigned parts.  Now you should be ready to pantomime it during worship.

- This could be done by youth and adults for a more polished performance or
- by children to give them a chance to be worship leaders and have a more spontaneous performance or
- by an intergenerational group for summer fun and to emphasize that the parable belongs to all of us.

Green plant sock puppet
choked by a weed sock puppet

For a no rehearsal presentation using socks as puppets, invite the children to come forward to help you present the parable for the day.  Give each child one sock to pull over one hand.  Most socks should be green (or white with the instructions to imagine them green).  You will need a few dark brown ones for weeds and black ones for the thieving birds. There could even be a few gray ones for the rocks.  Once everyone has a sock on, invite them to show with their sock puppet what happens in the story.  You may need to pause as you read to help them act it out as you get started.

F The Harry Potter connection to this parable is found in Chapter 3 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, “The Letters From No One.”  When his Uncle Vernon refuses to give Harry a letter addressed to him, more and more, actually hundreds of letters arrive.  As Uncle Vernon moves Harry and the family around hoping to make the letters stop, the letters keep arriving with the new address, e.g. “the cupboard under the stairs,” “the smallest bedroom,” “Railview Hotel,” and finally “the floor, Hut on the Rock, the Sea.”  The letter is an invitation to become a student at Hogwarts.  When Hagrid finally delivers it personally to Harry he tells Harry that he is a wizard, a much loved one.  Like the sower, Hagrid scatters his letters in abundance everywhere that Harry might get them.  Like the seed, the letters tell Harry who he is and invite him to an incredible new future. 

F Two other familiar children’s stories about sowing with abandon:

Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney, tells the fictional story of a woman who keeps her promise to her grandfather to do something to make the world prettier by planting lupine seeds all around her community in Maine.

Go to http://www.appleseed.net/About_Johnny.htm to learn the details of the story of Johnny Appleseed, a real person who became a legend, for planting apple trees all over the Ohio River Valley and into New York.  After telling his story, sing the Johnny Appleseed blessing in place of the doxology today when offerings are presented today.

O, the Lord’s been good to me. 

And so I thank the Lord

for giving me the things I need:

the sun and the rain and the apple seed. 

The Lord is good to me.  Amen.

Yr A - Proper 8, 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (June 26, 2011)

As we move into Ordinary Time there are two streams of Old Testament readings.  My current plan is to work in the “semi-continuous” stream, possibly dipping into the other when the texts there are “better” for children.  That plan could be flexible.  So, if you follow the “complementary” stream and would like it included, leave a comment to persuade me.

Genesis 22:1-14



From The Family Story Bible,
by Raph Milton. 
Used with permission.



This story may be the scariest story in the Bible for children.  They hear it from Isaac’s point of view and ask, “Would God ask my parents to kill me and if God did would they do it?”  God looks really threatening.  Pondering this question makes it almost impossible for children to get to a positive message about trusting or obeying God.

If you must read the story in worship, introduce it as the scariest story in the Bible and promise a happy ending.  Even suggest that parents and children hold hands to hear it.  IMMEDIATELY after reading it, FORCFULLY point out that Isaac was never in danger.  God had other plans (there was a ram hidden in the bushes).  In fact, in those days other religions insisted that parents sacrifice their first child to their god.  God, however, does not, never did, never will.  Given that, this scary story is actually a wonderful, happy story.  Invite parents and children to give each other hugs and the whole congregation to say “alleluia!” or the usual congregational response (e.g. The Word of the Lord!  Thanks be to God!) with great joy.

Preachers generally use this story to explore the importance of trusting or obeying God.  There are better stories to do this with children, e.g. the Hebrew slaves walking away from slavery through the sea and into the desert with Moses or David facing Goliath trusting God. 

Psalm 13

Spend some time with this psalm as it is read.  Choose The Good News Bible (TEV).   Before reading it, introduce the complaint “how long?” citing times we say it today, e.g. when waiting for our turn, when waiting for a child to stop whining about something, when waiting for anything you don’t like to end, etc.  Note that this is a “how long” psalm with the psalmist asking God how long all the bad stuff will last, then asking God to help, and finally remembering that God does help us when there is trouble.  Invite the congregation to join you and the psalmist saying the “how long’s” like you mean them and reading the ending like you do remember that God is with you in the tough times.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Psalm 13

All:                   How long

Leader:            will you forget me, Lord? Forever?

All:                   How long

Leader:            will you hide yourself from me?

All:                   How long

Leader:            must I endure trouble?

All:                   How long

Leader:            will sorrow fill my heart day and night?

All:                   How long

Leader:            will my enemies triumph over me?

Leader:            Look at me, O Lord my God, and answer me.

Restore my strength; don’t let me die.

Don’t let my enemies say, “We have defeated him.” 

Don’t let them gloat over my downfall.

All:                   I rely on your constant love;

I will be glad, because you will rescue me.

I will sing to you, O Lord, because you have been good to me.

                                    Based on Today’s English Version

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Romans 6:12-23

This is Paul at his long, complicated, repetitive, best.  Children are quickly lost as it is read.  But, Paul IS speaking to them.  They will however depend on worship leaders to present Paul’s message in a way that they can understand.

Paul’s bottom line is that people have to make choices between serving the good and serving the evil.  Their choices have consequences.  It is the old “choices lecture” that kids hear repeatedly this time on a cosmic scale. 

All fantasy literature (e.g. Narnia or Lord of the Rings) are built on heroic characters choosing to ally with good against evil.  Harry Potter is the most currently popular fantasy saga among older children.  Two boys Tom Riddle and Harry Potter are born with the same wizarding powers.  Tom chooses evil and becomes the monster Lord Voldemort.  Harry chooses good and becomes a hero who saves people.  In these stories evil and good are clearly forces with great powers at work in the world.  Each person must side with one of them.  Choices matter – a lot!  The challenge is to suggest to children that good and evil are as real in our world as they are in Harry’s world.  Just as it was sometimes hard for Harry and his friends to know who was on which side (Professor Snape constantly puzzled people), it is sometimes hard for us to know what is good and what is evil.  And, it is just as important that we recognize and choose to side with good.  As examples, try

Clothes, food, games are advertized to us as things we MUST have to be OK.  When we buy into that, we become greedy and jealous and spend our whole lives worrying about what we have and wear.  That is a bad choice and is a way of siding with evil.

If the crowd is cutting someone out, calling them cruel names, and treating them badly, when we go along telling ourselves “it does not matter,” we are siding with evil.  On the other hand if we stand up to the crowd, we are siding with good.

Matthew 10:40-42

The Contemporary English Version provides the translation that makes most sense to children.  (NIV is a close second.)  Before reading it, tell listeners that Jesus was speaking to his disciples sending them out on a mission trip.  He has given lots of instructions, then says….

^40 Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me. And anyone who welcomes me also welcomes the one who sent me. ^41 Anyone who welcomes a prophet, just because that person is a prophet, will be given the same reward as a prophet. Anyone who welcomes a good person, just because that person is good, will be given the same reward as a good person. ^42 And anyone who gives one of my most humble followers a cup of cool water, just because that person is my follower, will surely be rewarded.

In context this is comfort for disciples taking on a big task, i.e. the people who welcome you will be welcoming me, those who give you something as little as a cup of cold water will be rewarded.  In worship, however, these verses are often used to explore the possibility of seeing Christ in other people and treating them accordingly.  Work with this by

Ø  Projecting faces of people from around the world while reading these verses – or even just verse 40.

Ø  Instead of projecting pictures, give each worshiper a picture of a person to hold and think about as you talk about the verse.  Challenge them to see Christ in that person.  Urge them to keep the picture and pray for that person this week.  (Portraits, by National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry, is a soft bound book of hundreds of postcard size photographs of people.  It is easily cut apart into a collection of individual portraits, each a prize winner.)

Ø  Or, instruct worshipers to look at the faces of people around them as you read verse 40.  Next ask them in their minds to recall the face of each person in their family before reading the verse again.  Finally, ask them to think of the faces of people they will see at work or wherever they will go this week before reading the verse a third time.

Ø  Go to Anna's Hossanas for a script for a children’s time which explores what it means to see God in another person.

In a lighthearted spirit, read verse 42.  Offer all worshipers (or children gathered at the front) a small cup of cool water.  After drinking the water and savoring it, point out that nice as that was, Jesus wasn’t telling his disciples to give people cups of cold water to drink, but to provide what they need.  Then, introduce the ministry of hospitality.

Identify a variety of hospitality ministries in which your congregation shares, taking care to cite some in which children participate.  In my congregation those would include:

Ø  Volunteers provide lemonade, coffee and cookies after worship services so people can get something to drink and so they can stand around and visit with each other.

Ø  The deacons organize the delivery of meals to people who are sick or have other problems that make it hard to get meals on the table.

Ø  All the churches in the community take turns hosting homeless people during the winter months.  Dinner and breakfast are served, beds provided, even laundry done.  Church members (including families with children) spend the evening talking, playing cards, and getting to know these guests.

Ø  Food drives for the local emergency food bank and an international disaster relief offering include children in giving “cups of cold water” in Jesus’ name.