Children and Families - Scripture Union NZ

As children flood through your doors, may you feel the love of God flooding in with them.  As your children bring with them their experiences of last year, carrying with them various shades of anxiety,  may you have courage to bring healing and comfort to their worries,  while finding peace for your own.  As you see dirty faces behind masks and empty lunchboxes  may you know that God's heart breaks too. As you hear stories of golden summer fun  Cousins, friends, sleeping out under the stars  May you be filled for gratitude for moments of untarnished joy  and find your own joy reflected in theirs.  Today may you know afresh how important  you are  in the life of just one of these children  who will walk through your door and may you be blessed. Amen

Do you have young leaders in your children's ministry team? These six strategies are gold! They come from a book called, 'Growing Young'. Have a look at this list. Which do you see operating in your church? Which could become a focus in the second half of this year? How might these six strategies change or strengthen the way you work alongside young leaders? 1. Unlock keychain leadership: Instead of centralizing authority, empower others—especially young people. 2. Empathize with today’s young people: Instead of judging or criticizing, step into the shoes of this generation. 3. Take Jesus’ message seriously: Instead of asserting formulaic gospel claims, welcome young people into a Jesus-centered way of life. 4. Fuel a warm community: Instead of focusing on cool worship or programs, aim for warm peer and intergenerational friendships. 5. Prioritize young people (and families) everywhere: Instead of giving lip service to how much young people matter, l...

What I learned from cows... Growing up on a dairy farm, I loved nothing better than lying in bed at night and listening to the herd of cows in the paddock next door. There was something strangely comforting about hearing them chomping away on their grass. I find cows rather peaceful creatures. Strange I know. Memory verses are important . I still remember verses I learned as a child. Teaching children memory verses is an investment in their future, planting the seed of God's love and concern that can spring into life during the difficult times they may face in adulthood. But memorisation alone is not enough. We know that Jewish children were required to memorise large chunks of scripture. But the Bible also places emphasis, not simply on rote learning, but on wrestling with the text. Meditation. Meditation can be a rather difficult word for Christians to feel comfortable with, given its links to other religious practices. But meditation is thoroughly biblical. In the Old Tes...

Mother's Day Mother's Day has become an established date in our calendars. It is often celebrated in churches. This blog post contains some ideas you can use with your children. It also includes some thoughtful blog posts and suggestions that are helpful in thinking through how to acknowledge the pain and loss often associated with this day. How do we support and encourage mothers, while acknowledging those for whom the grief of losing a mum, or not being able to bear children is a very present hurt? Ridiculously beautiful things to make out of egg cartoons!  Here's a lovely prayer for all caregivers. It is a good one to read out as part of your church service: A child is a precious gift, given into the hands of birth parents, adopted parents, caregivers, relatives, and a church community. Together we undertake the raising of children and together we ask for help, Lord! Read more here...    Here's a very thoughtful post from the Sacraparental blog:  ...

The sky i s dark but the first hints of light are touching the horizon. A c oupl e of Jesus' friends get up really early. Mary from the town of Magdala and her friends wrap their shawls around their shou lders to keep them warm. The Sabbath is over and they are getting ready to head to the tomb where Jesus is buried. They are going to put spices on his body .  As they walk along the road in the early morning of Sunday they talk about all that has happened. About how much they love their friend Jesus and how they haven't stopped crying since that horrible day when he died.  Birds sing to the dawn as they walk along the road. Pink and gold clouds streak across the sky. If it wasn't for the heav iness of their hearts they would have though t the world was a little brighter this morning. But it can't be. Jesus is dead and the world is broken and dark.  As they enter the olive grove where the tomb is the fi rst thing they notice is the big stone that was put ove...