Children and Families - Scripture Union NZ

The season of Lent may not be familiar to all of us. It was certainly not a tradition I grew up with. But in the past couple of years I have grown to appreciate the journey that leads to Jerusalem. It gives me time to process and reflect. Take the opportunity to explore Lent with the children in your church and community. It might be one simple practice that you pick up.  Our blog has a variety of resources for the Lent and Easter season: - Intergenerational services  - An Easter story to share as a family or children's programme  - Links to resources, articles and images  You can find them all here! We will also be posting about great resources and ideas via our Facebook page so make sure you follow us.   We also recommend you check out these websites for a whole library of great resources and links. Look no further: Strandz  Kidsfriendly 

**This is episode one of a serial story, leading right up to Easter. This story is written to share as a family or with your church community. You can find the rest of the story by clicking on the 'Easter' ta b above. You will find the pi ctures to be downloaded, as well as a little Easter booklet to print and share .  ____________________________ Step with me back in time, over 2000 years back. Look around you. The land is dotted with olive trees, their silvery foliage swaying with the gentle breeze. It's warm, not too hot. The full on blaze of summer hasn't arrived yet, but the harshness of winter is fading.  The fields are tinged with green, with the olive trees providing shade for weary travellers. You sit down on one of the many rocks scattered all over the fields. They are everywhere! And sh epherds have used them to create walls and holding pens for animals, and the structure of their simple houses.  The journey towards Easter is just beginning....

An All Age Palm Sunday Service Use your imagination to enter into the story of Palm Sunday.  This service is a great way to encourage your whole church to enter into the event of Palm Sunday. It begins by setting the scene as Jesus approaches Jerusalem, providing helpful background details. It also includes: - Role Play: imagine you are one of the people in the crowd that day. Why have you come to see Jesus? - Waving of palm branches and laying coats along the front of the church.  - Bible readings  - A reflection activity using rocks, based on this verse:   “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”  This All Age service is designed so that people can be as involved as they want to be. It provides depth as well as interaction, seeking to bring to life the story in a creative way. You can download the file for FREE by clicking here . Feel free to adapt it to fit your church context. I would love to hear how it g...

It seems hard to believe that just the other day Jesus was riding on a donkey, and pe op le were calling him king. T hat sure caus ed a fuss. Everyone from the local market s to the temple courts are talking about it. Some people think that Jesus is in big trouble with the Romans. They don't like p eople caus ing a fuss. Some people think Jesus might just be the one to save them from the Roman s. Some people are keeping quiet, whispering about it at the dinner table but too afr aid to share their opinion out loud on the street.  But Jesus isn't hiding himself away. He certainly isn't scared of the Roman soldiers, or the leaders of the Temple. In fact, he spends lots of time in the temple.  One day Jesus and his friends he aded along to the temple. T hey mi xed with people in So lomon 's Colonnade , the place w here people met to discuss and debate. Jesus was often spotted hanging out here. But this day Jesus was upset. I n fact, he was wild! He grabbed tabl...

Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world. It has been attacked many times, and has had lots of different people living in it. The walls that we see today are not the walls that Jesus saw as he headed to wards Jer usa lem. Th e photo above is of a model of Jer usalem in the time of Jesus . It is a large model, and it sho ws the temple, the houses and the gates. Je rusalem had big thick walls to protect it, and gates to enter in and out of the city. The photo below is o f one of the gates in the wall that you can see today.T he walls are dented from years of fighting. T hese walls are scarred by bullet holes.  Jesus and his friends have walk ed a long way up the hill. As they arrive at the city, they get caug ht up in the crowds. Its hot and dusty with people pushing the ir way through the gates. Lots of people are arriving in the city to be there for the Passover feast. This is the feast celebrated by the Jewish people to remember how God saved them ...