Children and Families - Scripture Union NZ

When they thought about it later, they all knew things weren't going to end well. The leaders at the temple didn't like Jesus and they were stirring up trouble. They were plotting to do away with Jesus.  But what none of Jesus' friends could ever have seen coming was that it would be one of them who would get Jesus arrested.  When they saw Judas coming through the olive trees that night they were absolutely flabbergasted. Judas was surrounded by soldiers as he walked. He came right up to Jesus and kissed him on the check. Judas looked tortured, as if his life was falling to pieces . And then the soldiers swooped and everything turned crazy. Swords were drawn, a soldiers ear was swiped clean off by Peter who was in a real rage.  As Andrew sat telling the tale to Mary and Martha later that day, he pictured Jesus' face so clearly. He was calm. In the middle of all the madness Jesus was calm. Just like he had been in that great storm on the lake. Oh so calm. And he ...

Ancient olive trees at Gethsemane As Easter draws near, everyone involved in children's ministry is on the hunt for great resources and ideas to help their children explore the story and connect with God. Here's a great resource to add to the list. Easter in Israel 'Easter in Israel' is a free downloadable book that takes children through the Easter Story, photo by photo. Each photo shows the children what the places of the Easter Story look like today.  Here are a couple of sample pages as well as the link to download the booklet. Print out enough for each child, or one book per small group. You can read it together during your teaching time and talk together about how it helps us to understand what happened at Easter.   To receive your free book all you need to do is click on this link to send an email request . You will receive a dropbox invitation to access the file.  And then, it's all yours!  Please note that it's a big...