Jesus’ Followers
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 student will need a journal to complete the weekly activities. If you need one 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
Who do you admire or look up to? What would it feel like if they asked you to join their group? (Parents, don’t tell your kids what you think, give them space to think about it).
Review
The material we are using is called Echo, so let us echo the last section 🙂 Review the previous section with your student. Ask them to tell you about what they sketched, the questions they had, and their reflections.
Prepare
Each story has its own symbol, it will help us remember the story. Right now, turn to page 40 and students will draw their own version of Jesus’ Followers
Parents and students, read together pages 42 and 43 from your journal. Talk through the questions that are listed and any that you might have. Feel free to talk about the questions, but no pressure to answer them!
Parents: It is OK not to know everything, even Pastors carry a lot of unanswered questions.
Read and Imagine
Students, open your journal to pages 44-45, 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 Jesus’ Followers, as you are reading they will be sketching.
Capture what you noticed
Use pages 46 and 47 in your journal. 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 we had: Did the fishermen REALLY leave their stuff behind to follow Jesus? Why did the Pharisees seem so mean? Why did the women use the expensive perfume? Write your list out too.
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.
In today’s stories, we had a few examples of the things that Jesus did, of the power that it held. If you got to hang out with Jesus today, what would you ask him for? The Holy Spirit is with us always, what is stopping you from asking the Spirit right now?
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 Jesus lived. Help us explore, ask, and wonder about your creation, your story, and help us find our story too. 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.