Children and Families - Scripture Union NZ

www.bibleproject.com This is a two part service outline, exploring the book of Proverbs with all generations,  and this question:  What is wisdom and what does a wise person look like?  We look at wisdom as seen in action, through the whole range of gifts that God has given us, and examine what it means to ‘fear the Lord’. As Lady Wisdom says, “listen up!” Here is what you need: Week One: - Service Outline  - PowerPoint  - Proverbs overview sheet (like image above) - 3 signs  Week Two: - Service Outline - PowerPoint - 7 Proverbs for Acting or Water Leak Proverb - La Luna Pixar Film  Additional links for more info: The Bible Project: This service is based on the wonderful content at The Bible Project. You can check out their YouTube channel and their website: YouTube Website Lost Sheep: Check out Lost Sheep for some great illustrations of the Proverbs: LostSheep

Pentecost Sunday is the 23rd of May.  Pentecost Sunday is a great opportunity to get creative, to be joyful and to learn a little church history!    In preparing for an intergenerational service for Pentecost Sunday, I  made a rather inspiring discovery, Holy Spirit Holes! In the ceilings of some cathedrals are these holes, trapdoors actually. During the celebration of Pentecost, live doves and red rose petals were dropped through these holes to swoop and fall on the congregation below.  Imagine the drama of it all!  So, I created a service to explore this idea. There are no live doves involved so don't worry about terrifying your church or the clean up job required for all that bird poo.  All you need is here:  Holy Spirit Holes

This service explores the event of Easter Friday using coloured ribbons and branches to create 'Mercy Trees'. This service is a guided meditation on Jesus’ journey to the cross, woven together with music and scripture readings. This service is one hour long and suitable for all ages. Click here to download the script. Powerpoint for the service  Media clips used during this service: The Story of the Three Trees Good Friday: The Story Chpt 26 **Please note that some of the scenes in this clip may be  too intense for young children. You may need to plan carefully to show only certain parts of it.  The Mercy Tree - Lacey Sturm 

'The Colours of Sunday' is an intergenerational service that uses colour to describe the events of Easter Sunday. Colours convey emotions, and help us to engage emotionally with the events of Easter, in ways that stay with us long after the service: · Purple:  darkness – a dark purple or blue for the dark sky at the time of Jesus’ death · White:   the linen that Jesus’ body was wrapped in · Gold:  the colour of dawn and the colour of the angels · Grey:   the colour of the road to Emmaus · Orange:  the colour of fire - Didn’t we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road, as he opened up the Scriptures for us? Luke 24 Here are all the resources you need to run your own service. If you use this material, we would love to hear how it goes. What worked well for your church? Any tweaks or suggestions?  Click on these links to download everything you need: - The service outline - A colouring page: ( opt...

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...

July is Bible Month in New Zealand!  Here's an All Age Service outline you can use. It's about 25mins long.  Click here to download all the files you will need.   For more on Bible Month, see the Bible Society NZ

  Here are two great resources for exploring Pentecost Sunday!  Church-based Children's Programme: If you are planning to explore the story of Pentecost in your children's programme than this little resource might be just what you are looking for. It includes story ideas, using a bull roarer ( a wooden disk on the end of a string ), eating grapes and much much more! (For more on taonga puoro, Maori musical instruments, click here ). Thanks to Bex Davies for sharing her programme outline with us. You can download it for free from our dropbox by clicking here! All Age Service resource: Pentecost Sunday is a great opportunity to get creative, to be joyful and to learn a little church history! In preparing for an All Age service for Pentecost Sunday, I made a rather inspiring discovery, Holy Spirit Holes! In the ceilings of some cathedrals are these holes, trapdoors actually. During the celebration of Pentecost, live doves and red rose petals were dropped through these ...