Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

This is a great idea from our amazing children's worker, Sharon.  A few weeks ago we were looking, as a congregation, at the question of what heaven is like. We talked about one of my favourite passages,  Revelation 21:1-4 . Those who were being creative with the passage looked especially at verse 4:    He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone.” Sharon had the brilliant idea of using handkerchiefs to convey the message of heaven being a place where God wipes all of our tears away.. Here's what they did. You will need:  White fabric or  white handkerchiefs ,  fabric pens Thinks about what heaven will be like and what it will be like never to be sad or in pain again. What would it be like for God to wipe our tears away? On the handkerchiefs, draw or write words about heaven and take the handkerchief home as a reminder of what we hope for.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone.  Revelation 21:4 Sometimes the life can be sad and worrying. It is important to acknowledge that children feel these emotions and I strongly feel that it is part of our ministry to help them to express to God what makes them feel sad.  I love Revelation 21 because it really paints a picture of a place where God is and where all that makes this world sad is washed away forever. This prayer activity is based on that hope. You will need: paper (watercolour paper is especially good), small spray bottles, water, paint, stiff cardboard (I used an Amazon box), scissors Before you start the activity put a small amount of paint in the spray bottles and water it down so that it will easily spray onto the paper. Ask children to think about People who are going through difficult times or situations that are hard, or of something that ma...

Often we avoid speaking to children about sad and traumatic times, but to do so is to do them a disservice.  This activity helps children to pray for themselves or others who are going through sad times and gives an opportunity for discussion to be opened up. It is helpful, in this activity to use the verses from Revelation 21: 3-4 where the new heaven and new earth is described and we can see that, in God's kingdom, all sadness and pain will be taken away for ever: I heard a loud voice from the throne. It said, “Now God’s home is with people. He will live with them. They will be his people. God himself will be with them and will be their God.   He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone.” You will need: Strips of paper (5cm by 2cm is a good size), ready mix paint, water, baby oil (or vegetable oil, but this will give yellow drops!), containers for the paint. Water down som...

I have to admit to liking a bit of incense every know and again.  Multi sensory prayers are my favourite thing and one of my favourite images in the Bible is of the smoke of the incense rising with the prayers of God's people in Revelation 8:4.  I love it when all of the senses get involved- but smell is pretty hard to achieve, especially as we have to be very careful if working with people who have asthma. After seeing some posts about painting with spices, I thought I'd have a go at applying it to prayer.  I wasn't disappointed! This prayer activity works really well if you can get hold of some strongly coloured spices.  I would have loved to use some saffron, but it was a bit out of my price range. Turmeric worked really well for a yellow though!   You will need: cupcake cases, water, spices- I used paprika, cinnamon, ginger, cumin and tumeric, paintbrushes, paper Put about a tablespoon full of spice into each cupcake case (one spice per case). Mix...