John 20:19-23 New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Welcome
Well, good morning and a warm welcome to our first 5th Sunday in lockdown and yet another experiment in how we do church. The way we hope it will work today is that if you take part in the exercises or craft, you can do that by putting us on “PAUSE” and return to the service when you’ve done. If you’re unable to do the exercises or craft you can just keep us rolling on. I hope that makes sense and NO we’re not considering this as an option when we are back together in the building.
Hopefully you will have received the information on how you might prepare to take part in this All Age Service. It is a lot I know but we hope that it will make for a meaningful time together. What you will need are printouts of what was sent to you via email, if not grab some paper/card now. You’ll also need pens, scissors, some way of fastening paper together such as split pins, and a costume/dressing up clothes. Just to remind parents that if the children are going to find and put together the skeleton you will need to have cut it out and hidden it around the house.
Right if you need to, put us on “PAUSE” and go and get the bits you need… now…
…OK you’re back. Great, I was worried we might not see you again. Before we sing our first song together let’s hear some words from the Psalms and then we will pray.
Psalm 104:24-34:
24 How many are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro,
and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
27 All creatures look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up;when you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face,
they are terrified;when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works—
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the Lord.Father in heaven
Prayer
You are good and wise
I will praise you when I rise.
Jesus, hear this prayer I send
Bless my family and my friends.
Jesus, help my eyes to see
All the good you send to me.
Jesus, help my ears to hear
Calls for help from far and near.
Jesus, help my feet to go
In the way that You will show.
Jesus, help my hands to do
All things loving, kind, and true.
Jesus, guard me through this day
In all I do and all I say.
Amen.
Peace – Dry Bones
I want to begin this part of the service by reading from John’s Gospel.
John 20:19-23 19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
OK children, and those adults that feel the holy spirit led to join in, I need you to either go and find the pieces that make up a skeleton and put them back together for me, or colour the pieces, cut them out and then put them together as they should be. Once you’ve done that we can come back together.
You can “PAUSE”…..Now
Welcome back. Let’s see what you’ve got then? Very nice indeed…this is one Tiana did for me.
Ezekiel DRY BONES story – I’m going to tell you a story about some skeletons…Some dry bones. Ezekiel was a priest in the OT and he had seen Jerusalem get taken over by invaders. Although this was very sad, God wanted to give everyone hope that He would save them.
So in a dream God took Ezekiel to a wide dry barren valley that was full of bones. It looked as though there had been a terrible disaster.Ezekiel trusted God, so whatever God told him, Ezekiel obeyed and did it, even when it seemed as absurd as prophesying to these dry old bones. But that was what God asked him to do so Ezekiel did as God instructed, and , guess what? those lifeless bones came to life and stood up. God gave them flesh and skin and put breath in their lungs. There were so many of them that they looked like a great big army.
Ezekiel must have wondered what all these things meant, would you wonder what was going on? Well God gave Ezekiel an explanation. The nation of Israel was as dead and as hopeless as the bones in the valley. They had no hope at all. They were exiled to Babylon, cut off from their homeland, and the life they once knew and enjoyed, had GONE. But God was going to rescue them and bring them back to their homeland. He was willing to forgive all the sins the people had done against Him and each other. Then they would recognise God as their Lord and savour. Now the people had something to hope for.When we come to know Jesus something happens which is really important to know. God’s spirit opens up our eyes to see what God did for us in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit breathes new life into us. Like He did with those DRY BONES – When God breathed his spirit into the skeletons they became alive again. That’s what happens to us when the Holy spirit breathes on us.
When the disciples saw Jesus for the first time after His resurrection He found them locked away in a room and they were very afraid. He breathed on them and said “peace be with you” and they received the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit gives us the peace and a peace that no one else but God can give. He helps us understand that Jesus died so that our sins would be forgiven and that we now have a new life to live. We like the dry bones can be born again by the Holy Spirit. Even now as we are locked away, no longer live the life we once knew, the Holy Spirit is able to give us hope and breath new life into us.
Isn’t that great news.
We are now going to sing again before we learn some more amazing things about the Holy Spirit.
Power – Mad professor
When the Holy Spirit comes at pentecost there’s a lot of amazing things that happen. There’s a huge thunderous noise, the place where the disciples were, shook and what looked like tongues of fire came to rest on each one of them. Then they could all speak different languages that they did not recognise.
But the Holy Spirit does even more than that. He gives us special gifts so we can help each other and He enables each and everyone of us to do the things God wants us to do. That might include, like the disciples, being able to speak to people about Jesus.
We might not be able to see Him but much like the balloon being filled up we can see what happens when He works in us.
Purpose – Feet
Superhero – I want to ask everyone a question, if you could be a superhero who would you be? Tell me. PAUSE FOR ANSWERS…Ok I hear a few spiderman’s, a lot of batmans and a couple of Supermans, Iron Man, yes nice, WOW Adam, Really? Very brave to choose Wonderwoman, If that’s OK with the rest of the house then fine.
Can we dress up in our favourite superhero, or if you want, any dressing up clothes you have or a cape
While you do that we can PAUSE if we need to.
What is the purpose of a superhero…? To be awesome, to save people, to do amazing things.
Purpose is often hard to work out, like saying what do you want to be when you grow up? My number 2, son wanted to be a Tiger when he grew up but sadly that didn’t happen. However for Christians the Holy Spirit guides us to our PURPOSE in God. To walk the road that God has set before us, just as Jesus was led by the Holy spirit.
Luke 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
In several places in John’s Gospel Jesus said “I do nothing on my own… but what the Father tells me”
And for us all Paul says in…
Romans 8:14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.
There is a purpose to our lives that the Holy Spirit helps us to see and he also leads us in that PURPOSE. The Holy Spirit sets us apart because he has some work that He has CALLED us to do”
That calling is to be willing to be led. To ask the Holy Spirit to show us. To be open to hear God’s voice and as we heard earlier, like Ezekiel, we trust God and go for it.
OK great we’ve heard about some of the ways the Holy Spirit impacts our lives. That He gives us PEACE and makes us alive for God. We heard from the Mad Professor about how the Holy Spirit fills us up and gives us the POWER to do what God wants us to do.
We have just learnt about how that very same Spirit also guides us in lives for God’s PURPOSE. He helps us walk the road set before us and that sometimes it is hard and we especially need to remember the other ways the Holy Spirit helps us. The peace of knowing we are God’s children and that He gives us all the tools to walk that road. We may not be superheroes but with the Holy Spirit’s help we can do some amazing things.
OK after the next song we are going to spend some time praying together using the circles we have. If you don’t have them, that really is fine, just pray with us. First let’s settle our hearts and sing “BE Still”
Prayer – peace, power, purpose (Venn Diagram)
I’d like us all to use the circles to help us to pray.
If we can take the circle that has the Skeleton on it. I will ask you to think about a few things and take some time and think, and if you want you can draw or write in the circle what God reveals to you. Children you can take part as well.
About the areas of our lives where we need to know the peace of God.
About situations/thoughts/actions where we may not have shared that peace
About those you know/love that need to find that peace and be put back together
If we can take the circle that has the Flame on it. I will ask you to think about a few things and take some time and think, and if you want you can draw or write in the circle what God reveals to you. Children you can take part as well
Ask the Holy spirit to reveal those gifts and talents that He has given you.
Ask Him to show you those places and the people where they may be used.
Think about others who you can encourage to use their gifts for God
If we can take the circle that has the Feet on it. I will ask you to think about a few things and take some time and think, and if you want you can draw or write in the circle what God reveals to you. Children you can take part as well
And we’re going to pray together…
Dear Lord Jesus… You sent your spirit to be with us on our journey of faith. You gave Him to us so that we may have peace and the tolls to do your will. Even though at times the journey can be tough you say “peace be with you” Even though at times we don’t think we are able to do your will you say “I give you all that you need”. Help us to follow you on the path you set out for us, that we will know the direction you are sending us and that we will rely on your Holy spirit more and more each and every step.
For your Glory Amen.