Stamp Collections
Children's Liturgy and Story
Call to Worship:
Jesus said, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock." Let us resolve today to build our lives on the rock of Jesus.
Invitation to Confession:
Jesus, sometimes I'm tempted to cut corners.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes I'm too lazy to dig down as far as the rock.
Christ, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes I prefer the feel of sand.
Lord, have mercy.
Reading:
Matthew 7:21-29 (NRSV)
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. [22] On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?' [23] Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.'
[24] "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. [25] The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. [26] And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. [27] The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell--and great was its fall!"
[28] Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, [29] for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
Story:
In the desert, sand lies on top of a bed of rock. To build a house on the rock requires a lot of backbreaking work, digging down through the layers of sand. But the effort is worth it, for the house never falls, whatever the weather.
Similarly, to really follow Jesus with every inch of our being requires a lot of painful effort. But as we persevere, so we grow strong inside and will never be overthrown, no matter how terrible are life's storms.
Stamp Collections
Tom and Philip were both given stamp albums for their birthdays. Since they were best friends, they were delighted that they both had similar gifts and would be able to enjoy stamp collecting together.
Tom started with great enthusiasm. He bought a packet of stamps from the local market, some stamp corners to attach them to his album and a pair of tweezers, because it felt so cool to have real tweezers. He started work right away, sticking his stamps into his album. It was soon a quarter full and it looked terrific. Tom was very proud of his album and bought stamps as often as he could to add to his collection. And he went round the whole family, uncles, aunts and cousins, asking them to save for him any foreign stamps they received.
Philip did nothing with his album. He didn't buy any stamps and he didn't have any tweezers of his own. He admired Tom's stamps, but didn't say much. While Tom was buying stamps at the market and sticking them into his album, Philip went to the library. He took out a number of books on stamp collecting and he read them all carefully at home. It took his ages, but he began to feel very excited about his new hobby. He learned which stamps were the most valuable and he learned the correct way of displaying stamps. Then he began to look out for the stamps he really wanted.
After six months, Tom's album was full. He bought another album and continued with his collection, but found he was growing bored with it. Before he had finished the second album, he gave up stamp collecting and moved on to collecting little plastic spacemen from the cereal packets.
During all this time, Philip had bought only one stamp. He had saved and saved until he had enough money to buy it, for it had been very expensive. Then he had displayed it in his album. He grew more and more knowledgeable about stamps and began to attend special stamp fairs. His collection slowly grew.
When both the boys were grown up and had families of their own, they both fell on hard times. Tom looked around his home and discovered that he had nothing of any value. His plastic spacemen and his stamp collection had long ago been thrown out in the rubbish. He was very worried, for he didn't know how he would find enough money to pay all his bills. In the end he became ill with worry.
Philip too looked around his home. He took his precious stamp collection to a dealer and discovered that it was worth a great deal of money. With a huge sigh (because he dearly loved his collection) Philip sold his stamp albums. He had plenty of money to pay his bills. He was very sad because it hurt a lot to part with his stamps, but he started a new collection that very same day.
Tom was so knocked out by his misfortune that he gave up on life and became a bitter old man. But Philip went from strength to strength. He was always slow, but he did everything properly and he became a happy old man. And throughout the whole of his life, he never lost his love for stamps.
Activity:
You need:
Several packs of playing cards
In your own words, tell Jesus' story of the men who built their houses on rock and sand. You could make it into a game by giving the children certain actions to perform when you say particular words, eg. They could whistle when you say "wind", or mimic the falling of rain with their hands when you say "rain". So you probably need to include a sort of refrain, such as "Then the wind blew and the storm came and the rain fell". Alternatively, you could invite the children to act out the story as you read it.
Then divide them into teams, giving each team a pack of playing cards. Their task is to build a house of cards. Hopefully you'll find that the house with the biggest foundations is the most secure! Or you may find that the children are ingenious enough to stick the base cards into something firm, so that the house stands securely.
Point out that we need strong foundations and that cutting corners doesn't usually work very well. Talk about having Jesus as the foundation of their lives and tell the children that we need to go on working at following Jesus all our lives, because there are no short cuts.
Prayers:
God of strength and stability, may our church be so firmly fixed upon you as our foundation that nothing sways us or causes us to lose our footing. Give us the desire to keep you always at the centre of our church life.
God of strength and stability, may all religions world-wide begin to work together for good. May all who worship you as the one, true God, be drawn to each other in love and commitment to a better way of life for all people.
God of strength and stability, take away our innate laziness and help us to constantly seek you, no matter how hard the path. Give us the endurance we need to enable our own inner strength to build, so that when we need it, we have the necessary strength to face difficult times in our lives.
God of strength and stability, we pray for our friends and families who have been weakened through pain or illness. Breathe your healing spirit into them so that they may grow strong and healthy once again.
Blessing:
May God give you the strength,
determination and endurance you need
to live a full and perfect life in his name.
And may the blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Be with you, be in your homes
And in your families,
With those whom you love
And with those for whom you pray,
Both now and always. Amen.
Jesus said, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock." Let us resolve today to build our lives on the rock of Jesus.
Invitation to Confession:
Jesus, sometimes I'm tempted to cut corners.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes I'm too lazy to dig down as far as the rock.
Christ, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes I prefer the feel of sand.
Lord, have mercy.
Reading:
Matthew 7:21-29 (NRSV)
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. [22] On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?' [23] Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.'
[24] "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. [25] The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. [26] And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. [27] The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell--and great was its fall!"
[28] Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, [29] for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
Story:
In the desert, sand lies on top of a bed of rock. To build a house on the rock requires a lot of backbreaking work, digging down through the layers of sand. But the effort is worth it, for the house never falls, whatever the weather.
Similarly, to really follow Jesus with every inch of our being requires a lot of painful effort. But as we persevere, so we grow strong inside and will never be overthrown, no matter how terrible are life's storms.
Stamp Collections
Tom and Philip were both given stamp albums for their birthdays. Since they were best friends, they were delighted that they both had similar gifts and would be able to enjoy stamp collecting together.
Tom started with great enthusiasm. He bought a packet of stamps from the local market, some stamp corners to attach them to his album and a pair of tweezers, because it felt so cool to have real tweezers. He started work right away, sticking his stamps into his album. It was soon a quarter full and it looked terrific. Tom was very proud of his album and bought stamps as often as he could to add to his collection. And he went round the whole family, uncles, aunts and cousins, asking them to save for him any foreign stamps they received.
Philip did nothing with his album. He didn't buy any stamps and he didn't have any tweezers of his own. He admired Tom's stamps, but didn't say much. While Tom was buying stamps at the market and sticking them into his album, Philip went to the library. He took out a number of books on stamp collecting and he read them all carefully at home. It took his ages, but he began to feel very excited about his new hobby. He learned which stamps were the most valuable and he learned the correct way of displaying stamps. Then he began to look out for the stamps he really wanted.
After six months, Tom's album was full. He bought another album and continued with his collection, but found he was growing bored with it. Before he had finished the second album, he gave up stamp collecting and moved on to collecting little plastic spacemen from the cereal packets.
During all this time, Philip had bought only one stamp. He had saved and saved until he had enough money to buy it, for it had been very expensive. Then he had displayed it in his album. He grew more and more knowledgeable about stamps and began to attend special stamp fairs. His collection slowly grew.
When both the boys were grown up and had families of their own, they both fell on hard times. Tom looked around his home and discovered that he had nothing of any value. His plastic spacemen and his stamp collection had long ago been thrown out in the rubbish. He was very worried, for he didn't know how he would find enough money to pay all his bills. In the end he became ill with worry.
Philip too looked around his home. He took his precious stamp collection to a dealer and discovered that it was worth a great deal of money. With a huge sigh (because he dearly loved his collection) Philip sold his stamp albums. He had plenty of money to pay his bills. He was very sad because it hurt a lot to part with his stamps, but he started a new collection that very same day.
Tom was so knocked out by his misfortune that he gave up on life and became a bitter old man. But Philip went from strength to strength. He was always slow, but he did everything properly and he became a happy old man. And throughout the whole of his life, he never lost his love for stamps.
Activity:
You need:
Several packs of playing cards
In your own words, tell Jesus' story of the men who built their houses on rock and sand. You could make it into a game by giving the children certain actions to perform when you say particular words, eg. They could whistle when you say "wind", or mimic the falling of rain with their hands when you say "rain". So you probably need to include a sort of refrain, such as "Then the wind blew and the storm came and the rain fell". Alternatively, you could invite the children to act out the story as you read it.
Then divide them into teams, giving each team a pack of playing cards. Their task is to build a house of cards. Hopefully you'll find that the house with the biggest foundations is the most secure! Or you may find that the children are ingenious enough to stick the base cards into something firm, so that the house stands securely.
Point out that we need strong foundations and that cutting corners doesn't usually work very well. Talk about having Jesus as the foundation of their lives and tell the children that we need to go on working at following Jesus all our lives, because there are no short cuts.
Prayers:
God of strength and stability, may our church be so firmly fixed upon you as our foundation that nothing sways us or causes us to lose our footing. Give us the desire to keep you always at the centre of our church life.
God of strength and stability, may all religions world-wide begin to work together for good. May all who worship you as the one, true God, be drawn to each other in love and commitment to a better way of life for all people.
God of strength and stability, take away our innate laziness and help us to constantly seek you, no matter how hard the path. Give us the endurance we need to enable our own inner strength to build, so that when we need it, we have the necessary strength to face difficult times in our lives.
God of strength and stability, we pray for our friends and families who have been weakened through pain or illness. Breathe your healing spirit into them so that they may grow strong and healthy once again.
Blessing:
May God give you the strength,
determination and endurance you need
to live a full and perfect life in his name.
And may the blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Be with you, be in your homes
And in your families,
With those whom you love
And with those for whom you pray,
Both now and always. Amen.
