Each week, students will use an Echo Journal to complete the weekly activities. If you like an Echo Journal at home, please contact Heather.
This week, we are learning about the early Church.
Gather your journal, candles, favorite writing, and drawing materials. Get your imagination and creativity ready…
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
What teams or groups do you belong to? What do you like best about being in those groups?
Prepare
Each story has its own symbol, it will help us remember the story. This week, we are talking about the early Church. Grab some paper and use your imagination to stretch your own symbol of what “The Church” might look like.
To prepare for this week’s story, you will want a bit of background on Pentecost.
Jews from all over the world gathered in Jerusalem for Shavuot, an annual pilgrimage also known as Pentecost. This was 50 days after Passover. This was – and still is- a time for Jewish people to remember and celebrate God giving the Torah (the first 5 books of the bible) to Moses.
Pentecost is one of the 3 major Jewish festivals. During the time of this story, the festival would have drawn HUGE crowds of people from all over the known world, filling the streets with song, food, dancing, and celebrations in many languages.
During the celebrations, large crowds would have gathered at the Temple each day at 9 AM. It is precisely at this time that the events of the next story take place.
What is the largest crowd you have ever been in? How would you communicate with all those people, especially if they were speaking in different languages?
Read and Imagine
Students, pull out your pens or markers and doodle or sketch what comes to your mind as you listen. Once you have completed sketching the images, share what you’ve done with a parent.
Parents, this week you will read to your student, The Church as you are reading they will be sketching.
Capture what you noticed
What stood out to you? What did you see or sense? What questions do you have about this story? ANYTHING (we mean anything) is okay to ask. A few that I have: How long did Jesus hang out with the others? 120 gathered in a house… how? Was Peter left in charge, or did he just take over?
What questions do YOU have about this story?
Keep these questions handy, every so often, we’re inviting a Pastor to discuss with us! Send your questions to Heather and she’ll get them on our list.
Remix
Now that you are familiar with the stories, let’s REMIX! Have paper and something to draw with.
Today we covered different parts of the story following Easter. Use your imagination and create pictures of what was happening. Pretend that you are seeing the events through the windows of the homes of Jerusalem…
- Jesus having breakfast with the followers…
- Followers looking to the sky as Jesus ascended…
- The flams of the Holy Spirit settling on the people…
- Peter preaching to the people…
- The Church, with everyone living in great joy and generosity.
When you pray…
Maybe you’re inspired to write or speak your own, if so, please do so! If you’d like to try something different – Grab a map of the world (or use your phone) and notice how many countries, territories, and cities we live with. Do you think that we are doing what God wants with each other?
Pray for all the people that live on our planet, pray for peace and harmony that we may also live each day in great joy and generosity.
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.