Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

Here is another addition to the collection of reflective colouring sheets I'm building up- this time, helping children to focus on the cross.  To print off a copy, click here. Have fun!

Tomorrow I'm going to be talking about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.  When I've taught this before, I've focussed on how we come to God in prayer, but this time I'm looking at the idea of grace.  Here's an easy but very visual way to tell and teach the story! You will need: A beautifully wrapped box, a smaller, torn and battered box, a gold bag filled with enough sweets to overflow out of the smaller box. The beautifully wrapped box is like the Pharisee.  He has a lot of things to tell God and others about how good he is.  All his good works are on show for everyone to see.  He wants everyone to notice him for his goodness. The small, battered and torn box is like the tax collector.  People really don't like him.  They think, like this box, that he is like rubbish.  The tears symbolise the things he has done that probably aren't that good. Put the small box at a distance from the wrapped box (make sure that the wrapped box has c...

For anyone planning a Light party/ Bright party as a Halloween alternative, here is my guest  blog on  childrenswork.co.uk  including a game, craft, food craft, mini talk and take home activity.  Have fun!

This is a fun story to tell with lots of scope for acting out and messy play!  There is also quite a serious message to us about God's provision and asking Him for help when we need it.  Here are some ideas for teaching and responding to this story... There are a lot of points for discussion: worries, people who help us, God helping us, God giving generous gifts to us.   When the children have heard the story, let them respond through words and pictures.  What part of the story sticks with them most?  What have they taken from it?  Here is a link to a  word cloud   (see above!) using the words of the Bible story with a space for children to write or draw their response in the centre. Prayer activity :  G et the children to make thumb pots out of air drying clay.  While making the pots, help them to think about things that God has done for them or given them, or how he has helped them when they were worried and didn't know what ...

Here is a prayer activity that older children could do independently to help them think about trusting in God for their strength.  It could be used especially if you were exploring stories that involve the sea or storms (e.g the calming of the storm, Paul's shipwreck in Acts 27)! You will need: long and shorter strips of paper, semi circles of paper, hole punch, glue, string, a washing line God as our anchor Anchors keep ships steady in stormy seas.  They are strong and stop them from floating away from the safe harbour. Think about times when you feel afraid.  Who do you rely on to keep you strong, safe and where you need to be? Take a longer and a shorter piece of paper and glue them together to make a cross shape.  The cross reminds us that we can ask Jesus to help us to be strong and to be with us when times are hard and scary. Stick a semi circle on the bottom of the cross and write your name inside it.  Hang the anchor on the line as a sign ...