Kingdom Ways
This year, we use 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 week, students will use an Echo Journal to complete the weekly activities. If you like an Echo Journal at home, please contact Heather.
Invocation
Find a Candle that you can light, and keep it with your Club 56 gear
Invocation: the act of inviting or welcoming or acknowledging that God is present in our space.
As you light your candle, say this invocation out loud: “I light this candle in the name of God, our Creator; Jesus, our Savior; and the Holy Spirit, our Inspirer. The three in one!”
Opening Question
Love your neighbor as yourself. We’ve heard this before. It can mean different things to different people. Did you know that we each have a different love language? We all give and receive love in different ways. The most common are: words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, and physical touch. How do you best give and receive love?
Review
The material we are using is called Echo, so let us echo the last section 🙂 Review the previous sections with your student (Jesus’ birth, baptism, his followers, Hope and Healing Jesus can give us, and Miracles). The most recent stories we covered are the Kingdome Way. Re-read those here Kingdom Ways
Do you have any new insight or questions that you have reflected on?
Remix
Pick one 🙂 we have two activities for you to pick from. Do you like to draw or write?
Drawing: If you have an Echo journal, go to pages 96-97. If you do not have an Echo journal, you’ll need some blank paper. Think back to the people that were “blessed by God”. (Matthew 5:3-12 and Luke 6:20–23) Draw a picture of each type of person that Jesus describes in the Beatitudes:
- The humble, gentle, poor, and merciful.
- Those who are grieving and in pain.
- Those who have a pure heart.
- Those who desire what is right and work for peace.
- Those who are mocked, hated and excluded for following Jesus.
Creative Writing: Review the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke10:25-37). Use your imagination and creativity to re-tell the story in 6 words. This is not a fill-in-the-blank activity! Express yourself in 6 words by what this story makes you think or feel.
Connect
Did you use your art skills or your writing skills above? Maybe you did both! Take a moment to think about what you drew or wrote. Share your thoughts with those around you.
So what stood out to you from this story?
What did this story make you wonder about?
Imagine you have a camera and you are watching these stories take place right in front of you. Pick a moment in the story to take a picture of. Do you have your picture? Who would like to share what you snapped a picture of?
Discuss as a family:
- What kind of people did Jesus say were blessed by God?
– What do you think this says about God? - Why do you think Jesus taught in parables?
- How would you tell someone about “The Kingdom of God”?
- Did you relate to any characters in the story? If so, how?
- What do you think these stories say about us? … about you?
When you pray…
Maybe you’re inspired to write or speak your own, if so, please do so! If you’d rather, you can try this action prayer:
The story of the Good Samaritan reminds us that the “neighbor” we are called to love is a person that we consider to be an “other” or even and “enemy”. FIll in the blank:
__________ is very differnt from me.
Now, cross out “very differnt from me” and write “my neighbor”. How can you intentionally bless and love them this week?
Pray for your neighbor and yourself to love them.
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.