RCL A

Maundy Thursday

lectionary, worship resources

Welcome to Thursday of Holy Week. The day we call Maundy Thursday. What on earth is that, you ask? Check it out here.

Today is the day Jesus eats with his disciples, teaches them about the nature of servanthood as he washes their feet and moves into the night where darkness takes hold.

Enter the Story
Read the Gospel account of John here.

View the story for younger people here from What’s In The Bible With Buck Denver. a Phil Vischer production (creator of Veggie Tales)

View the LUMO project story here.

Engage the Story
Let’s think about the story we have just encountered. Using the prompts below, reflect and write, draw or talk about your responses with someone special to you.

Do you have ticklish feet? Do you think any of the disciples laughed when Jesus washed their feet?
How smelly do you think all of the disciples feet were?
How do you feel when someone touches your feet? Does it tickle?

What did Jesus mean when he said to Peter” If I don’t wash you, you have no part with Me.”?
Think about Peter’s response “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”, what might this mean?

Embodying The Story
In our current society, with COVID-19, cleanliness is such a big deal. Take a moment, go to your sink and wash your hands using the music of the doxology as your guide for the length of time to wash your hands but also as a way of thanksgiving for all that we have in this current moment, and through the thanksgiving for the sacrifice of the Christ on the cross. Think about what it meant for Jesus to take the feet of EACH of the disciples in his hands, to wash and dry them. How are we able to find the blessings in the challenging moments.


Holy Tuesday

lectionary, worship resources

Welcome to Tuesday in Holy Week. This week as we explore the readings of Holy Week through our senses today’s reading for us is from John’s gospel (RCL yr A) and can be found here.

It is the story of Jesus talking about his impending death with the disciples and what it means to follow him.

In John 12:20-36, Jesus explains to the disciples the way in which he will be glorified. He talks about the way that his hour has now come, using metaphors of wheat and light to talk about himself. So today we are going to focus on thinking about Jesus as the light.

Thinking About This

Take a few moments to think about this story today using the prompts below. Write about it for yourself or share a conversation with someone you love.

Have you ever been somewhere so dark you couldn’t see your own hand in front of you?
How did feel for you?
What happened after you brought light into that space?

What do you think Jesus was trying to say to the disciples?
Do you think the disciples understood what he was saying?
Can you think of other places in the Bible where Jesus talks about light?

How might you share your light today? 

Embodying This Story

Watch the story here from LUMO Project
Or here for a great all age telling from Holy Tales Bible Stories

Today we are going to create some light to carry us into the week. Check out this creation!

Get your groove on with Hillsong Kids here as they sing about the Light of the World.

Other great resources: dough mat, colouring page, colourful prayer

Holy Monday

lectionary, sensory faith, worship resources

Welcome to Monday in Holy Week. This week as we explore the readings of Holy Week through our senses today’s reading for us is from John’s gospel (RCL yr A) and can be found here. It is the story of a woman’s extravagant love for Jesus in sharing something so precious and expensive with him. It is a reminder of the way in which we are invited to love God and others, with a generous and unbound love.

In John 12:1-7, at a meal given in Jesus’ honor, Mary expressed her devotion to the Lord by breaking open an expensive jar of fragrant oil, anointing Jesus’ feet with it, and wiping them with her hair. Some present objected, but Jesus defended Mary for her actions. Our sense of smell is a very powerful thing in helping us to feel comforted, disgusted or even a bit ill. Jesus accepts Mary’s offering as it fills his senses.

Thinking About This

Take a few moments to think about this story today using the prompts below. Write about it for yourself or share a conversation with someone you love.

What is your favourite smell in the whole wide world?
What is one thing you absolutely can’t stand the smell of?
What is a smell that brings to mind a special memory?

What is the most precious thing you own?
Have you ever love someone so much that you were willing to give up your previous item for them?

How do you think Mary was feeling? How about Jesus?
How about Judas? Have a think about the way he responded to Mary’s offering.
What about the others gathered there, have a think about how they might be feeling. Pretend you are one of them present and write, draw or talk about your response.

How can we be generous with our love towards others just like Mary was towards Jesus?

How might you show your love for God today?

Embodying This Story

Watch the story here from LifeKids.

Using your senses see if you can beat the challenge of What is that smell?

Other great resources: jigsaw puzzle, code words, spot the difference, word search, colouring pages

For something extra, you can look here for ideas on how we tell God how much we love God through prayers of praise and adoration.


Hosanna Banner

lectionary, sensory faith, worship resources

When Jesus Rode into Jerusalem on a Donkey, the crowds were so excited to see him. He was their long expected king. The one who would free them from oppression. If I was in my congregation this weekend we would be celebrating with palm leaves, songs and dancing. Let’s not let the physical distancing of CV-19 change that. Let’s still celebrate, and here’s how we can do this together in our homes.

What you will need:

A print out of this palm leaf template.
8 A4 sheets green or white paper
Pencils, textas, crayons and maybe green paint
scissors
PVA glue
String/Wool
optional: green glitter

How To Make
Print & Cut out one copy of palm leaf template.
If you have green paper, fantastic! Use your template to cut enough to spell “Hosanna” and whatever you want on either side of it.
If you don’t have any green paper, print out 8 of the templates, and colour with green crayon, texta, pencil or paint!
If you have glitter, run a line of glue around the edges of each letter and apply glitter (maybe ask a big person to assist with this)
Once your leaves are dry, string them up to make your banner! Don’t forget to make sure all of your letters are in the right order. H-O-S-A-N-N-A-!

That’s it everybody! Now find somewhere to hang it so you can look at it and remember the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem and the crowds that cheered for him.

Palm Sundaes

sensory faith

In our current times of physical distancing due to CV-19 here’s a fun and easy way to really get into the celebratory mood of Palm Sunday. Let’s make Palm Sunday “Sundaes”. I’ll be ensuring all of the families in my community have the resources ready for making these together on Sunday.

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO GET STARTED:
Ice Cream
You can’t have a sundae without it! I opted for plain vanilla, but really, I think you could choose any flavour.

Crushed Cookies
The crushed cookies symbolize the rough and rocky road that Jesus travelled on when coming in to Jerusalem.

Green Mint Leaves
You’ll want to find a mint leaves for this one. Alternatively, you could use green sour straws, jelly beans, green sprinkles, fruit roll ups, gummy worms, green raisins, pistachios etc.  You’ll pour this on top of the crushed road to represent the palm branches that were waved and spread across the road during Jesus’ arrival.

Miniature Kit Kat
This represents the donkey that Jesus rode on.

Sour Patch Kids
This represents Jesus. You can use whatever candy you want for this, but I thought it would be perfect since it is sort-of-human shaped. Gummy bears might also work and jelly babies would also work.

Sprinkles
This represents the joy and celebration of the crowd as the Messiah entered into Jerusalem.

Cool Whip
This is solely just for aesthetics. You can’t have ice cream without a little extra cream! Plus, it makes it so much easier to place Jesus, the donkey and the sprinkles.

All of these ingredients together don’t make the typical sundae, but children love to pile on the sweets when it comes to their ice cream, so I don’t think the fact that there are contrasting flavours going on will be a problem. I don’t particularly love sour gummies in my ice cream, but it makes for such a fun treat with a great message.

I am looking forward to sharing this treat with the family this year. I know they are going to get excited once they see me bring in the ice cream! While we’re creating our sundae, I’ll be sharing the story and symbolisms of this special day in a way they won’t soon forget.