Children and Families - Scripture Union NZ

This Christmas is a good opportunity to gather your community together to sing and celebrate. This resource gives you all you need to create a community Christmas event. It is approx. 45 minutes long, is easy to use, fun and interactive, and perfect for all ages. Sing together, explore the letters in the word CHRISTMAS and spell out some very important words! Full Resource available here Skit script Spelling out CHRISTMAS activity

An Aotearoa Advent Circle: Written by Liz Eichler, thanks to Adrienne Thompson for this resource idea. The Aotearoa Advent Circle is an arrangement made of shell necklaces and paua shells with five candles, four around the circle and one in the centre. It’s inspired by the traditional Advent Wreath, which was invented in Germany by a village pastor helping his flock to count down the days to Christmas. In Europe the Forest was the place of adventure, quest and danger. The evergreen branches of pine trees symbolised the faithfulness of God’s love and the candles showed the light of Christ. But we live in Aotearoa, it’s summer time, everything is green, and using traditional pine branches in an Advent wreath seems a little odd. So, here is an Advent circle instead, with symbols drawn from the Ocean instead of the Forest. This is how you can interpret it.  The circle reminds us of God. A circle has no beginning or end, neither has God. God is for ever.  The shells remind us of the ocean

This is a resource that can be used by families and households during Advent, as well as by a church congregation. It is simple for a family to use over the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Day. The Sundays of Advent are often focussed around the themes of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. This resource centres around an Advent Wreath, the lighting of candles for each of these themes, and engaging with Bible stories in the lead up to Christmas Day. In uncertain times it is good to create daily and weekly rhythms and routines as anchors or lighthouses to help us stay firm and find our way when the storms of life come with such unpredictability. It is our hope and prayer that these resources will be a part of that for you and your family. You will need: The Full Resource Additional resources

Dr Seuss tells the wonderful story of a Grinch who is not a fan of Christmas. It’s too noisy and disruptive. So, he creates a plan to steal it. Late on Christmas Eve he sneaks down to the village below and takes all the presents, decorations and food. But the Whos of Whoville, in the village  below are not to be stopped! Come Christmas morning, the Whos join hands in a circle and sing with joy! The Grinch cannot resist the sounds of joy, and the final scene sees him seated at the feast, invited to be part of Christmas.  As followers of Jesus we know that Christmas is more than the trimmings. It’s more than just food or decorations or presents. God came to dwell with us. That’s how much we are loved! That’s worth celebrating.  Our focus this year is on ‘The Certainty of Christmas’. In our uncertain times, people are looking for hope and meaning. They may well feel that the Grinch has stolen much from them this year, and is threatening to steal Christmas too. But in the midst of these ch