Hope and Healing
This year we are using Echo as our storytelling to help us relate to God’s story to discover meaning and develop fresh insights. It is our prayer that you can engage with your family using creative writing, drawing, and conversation.
Each student will need a journal to complete the weekly activities. If you need one at home, please contact Heather.
Invocation
December 12th is the beginning of the third week of Advent! Do you have an Advent wreath? If so, bring it out now. If you do not have one, please let me know – we can provide one for your family. Your Advent Wreath should have five candles in all, four on the outer edge and one in the center. Each week we’ll light one more candle, ending with the Christ Candle on Christmas Eve.
Invocation: the act of inviting or welcoming or acknowledging that God is present in our space.
Today we’ll light three candles, say this invocation out loud: “We’ll light these candles in the name of God, our Creator; Jesus, our Savior; and the Holy Spirit, our Inspirer. The three in one! This is the Hope Candle (light one candle), this is the Peace Candle (light a second candle), and this is the Joy Candle (light a third candle), we find hope, peace and, joy with Jesus.”
Opening Question
What does joy mean to you? Can you feel joy even when things are difficult?
Review
The material we are using is called Echo, so let us echo the last section 🙂 Review the previous section with your student. Open the journals to pages 60-63, ask them to tell you about what they sketched, the questions they had, and their reflections.
Remix
Re-read the story click here: Hope and Healing. Now that you have heard the story twice (once last week, and again today), spend 10 thinking through the different ways that Jesus healed. Use the drawing activity on pages 64-65 and the writing activity on pages 66-67 to consider different thoughts. You can pick one, either drawing or writing, or do both!
Connect
Spend some time sharing thoughts on what you drew or wrote and why. Turn your journal to page 68 to help form your thoughts.
How did the people respond to Jesus in these stories? Do you think they felt joy? Why or why not?
Jesus said a few times “your faith has made you well”. What did he mean by that?
How would you describe Jesus in this story? Why do you think the first Christians thought this was important to write down?
Using the space on page 53, write down what you think this says about US? …. about YOU?
Parent tip: Encourage using “I” and “me” statements rather than only “you” and “we”, this will help the conversation from being overly general or preachy.
When you pray…
Maybe you’re inspired to write or speak your own, if so, please do so! If you’d rather, you can just read together with the following:
Creator God, thank you for these stories that shows us how others experienced Joy with Jesus. Help us to also seek and feel Joy with Jesus. We are also asking that you be with people that are on the margins and inspire us to care for everyone. AMEN
Thank you for joining us today! If you have a student in Grade 5 or 6, sign them up for Club 56 today! If you have questions about this resource or would like additional information, please contact Heather or Pastor Ben.