Welcome!

By Annette Osborne -

Welcome to Scripture Union NZ's Children and Families Blog!

This is us!  Paul Dadd, Andrew Ramsbottom, Nigel Winder, Hilary Hague,
Annette Osborne and Raewyn Rowney.

We are the Children and Families Department of Scripture Union, New Zealand.
And, we are kick-starting a blog, a place to share ideas, book reviews, provide free downloadable resources, keep you updated with training opportunities and much much more!

Watch this space!

Location: New Zealand

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The Three Kings by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

By Annette Osborne -
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What a beautiful poem to read this Christmas, (despite the fact we don't know that there were three wise kings, nor do we know their names). This would make a great addition to an All-Age service, or as part of a church service during Advent. Find someone in your congregation with a great reading voice. You might even like to have them sit in a comfy arm chair with a lamp for light.  For extra drama, soak a little frankincense or myrrh oil onto cotton-wool balls and pass these out before you read the poem. Let people smell the spice of the wise kings gifts, as they listen to the poem, and take home the cotton-wool ball as a reminder.  The Three Kings  By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow  Three Kings came riding from far away, Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar; Three Wise Men out of the East were they, And they travelled by night and they slept by day, For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star. And when they came to Jerusalem, Herod the Great...
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12. Jesus has his first visitors.

By Annette Osborne -
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When a new baby is born, everyone wants to visit. People bring gifts and they take photographs. When Jesus was a baby some of the first visitors to meet him were these young guys who looked after sheep for a living. Some of them stayed in the fields to make sure the sheep we re okay, and a group of them travellled into Bethlehem to find this baby that the angels told them about.  This is a photograph of a painting of the shepherds. In this photograph the shepherd is an older man. Can you see how he carries the little lamb safe on his shoulders? They would have been a bit smelly. They lived out in the fields, with sheep for company. No showers, no soap and probably no change of clothes. But that doesn’t matter to God. You see, the Christmas story is full of people who weren’t famous or grea t leaders or seen as important. That’s what make it so amazing. God sent angels to tell the shepherds about the saviour of the world. Not Herod, not Augustus. Shepherds.  Do yo...
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Breakfast on the Beach - All Age Service Resource

By Annette Osborne -
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Have you ever dreamed of passing a fish around in church?  Then this service resource is for you! (and even if you don't wish to pass fish...) This is an All Age Service, exploring the scene in John 21 where Jesus meets the disciples on the beach around a fire. He makes them breakfast and he gives Peter a special job to do. The service is designed to use the senses of smell and touch to explore the story. It takes a bit of set up beforehand but it is worth it!    Our sense of smell is one of our strongest memory triggers so my prayer is that people of all ages will remember this service long after they have forgotten the words. Credit to Elizabeth Singleton who led a devotion using charcoal, bread and fish in the Auckland Scripture Union office years ago – and I remember it like it was yesterday!  If you would like the script for the service please click here to download a copy from Dropbox.  Here are some extras to add into your serv...
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