w/c 19th June
Our reading this week is Matthew 9:35 - 10:8
Jesus Feels Sorry for the People
35 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages. He taught in their synagogues and told people the Good News about God’s kingdom. He healed all kinds of diseases and sicknesses. 36 Jesus saw the many people and felt sorry for them because they were worried and helpless—like sheep without a shepherd to lead them. 37 Jesus said to his followers, “There is such a big harvest of people to bring in. But there are only a few workers to help harvest them. 38 God owns the harvest. Ask him to send more workers to help gather his harvest.”
Jesus Sends His Apostles on a Mission
10 Jesus called his twelve followers together. He gave them power over evil spirits and power to heal every kind of disease and sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles:
Simon (also called Peter),
Andrew, the brother of Peter,
James, the son of Zebedee,
John, the brother of James,
3 Philip,
Bartholomew,
Thomas,
Matthew, the tax collector,
James, the son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus,
4 Simon, the Zealot,
Judas Iscariot (the one who handed Jesus over to his enemies).
5 Jesus sent the twelve men out with these instructions: “Don’t go to the non-Jewish people. And don’t go into any town where the Samaritans live. 6 But go to the people of Israel. They are like sheep that are lost. 7 When you go, tell them this: ‘God’s kingdom is now very near.[a]’ 8 Heal the sick. Bring the dead back to life. Heal the people who have leprosy. And force demons out of people. I give you these powers freely, so help others freely.
Prayer for the week:
Dear God,
We all need someone to show us the way.
Thank you that we can copy Jesus.
In his name.
Amen.
Song for the week: Life is always better (Fullness of life)
In school:
We thought about how we all copy each other as we are growing up. Adults sometimes copy each other too. Sometimes we copy others doing good things, and sometimes we copy them doing bad things. We copy people's clothing styles and speech patterns, and we also copy behaviour. See if the children can think of examples of each of these. Say that copying someone can be hard, especially if they stand out against the crowd.
Some of us played the mirror game. One child had to be a mirror image of another child. If the leader got to fast it was very difficult to keep up!
Copying or following someone doesn't make us exactly the same as them. We are still ourselves, even when we try to follow a leader.
Christians want to copy Jesus. We thought about the story of Jesus cleaning his disciples feet. Jesus said the best way to copy him was to serve others.
We thought about the letters WWJD - What would Jesus Do? A lot of Christians find this helpful in their lives. Copying him does not mean looking like him, but trying to live in the same way he lived. That's a good copy!
We thought about some scenarios and applied WWJD to them.
Questions to think about at home:
Who has been the most influential person in your life? Do you do or say things the way that they did? Explain.
How is wishful thinking different to Christian hope?
Christian hope is grounded in the character of God. Often, in the Psalms, the writer says to God: ‘My hope is in you’. It is a hope rooted in the love and faithfulness of God. Hope is not wishful thinking but a firm assurance that God can be relied upon.
Christian hope for the future has its guarantee in the resurrection of Jesus. The prophets always spoke of a time to come when the whole world would be restored to God. For Christians, Jesus’ death and resurrection has set this in motion.