Wild Things

This week's story from the bible is the story of the Prodigal Son. It's about a son who runs away from his father, and behaves rather badly, like a wild thing. Eventually, he misses his father and returns, just hoping his Dad will let him come home. His Dad does more than that... he shows overwhelming love and forgiveness and welcomes his son home with open arms.

This reminds me of the book 'Where the Wild Things Are', by Maurice Sendak, where Max misbehaves and 'runs away'. 

Watch this week's Awesome Time Online by clicking HERE.

Jesus didn't tell stories about perfect people who never mess up. Instead, Jesus told stories about people who made mistakes, but who were loved and welcomed home and forgiven. We too mess up and make mistakes, but like Max's return to his Mum, and the prodigal son's return to his Dad, as children of God, we are always loved and forgiven.

Watch the story of the Prodigal Son here:

the Prodigal Son (Lego version)

the story of the Prodigal Son

Create a Wild Thing:

Make a paper bag Wild Thing... draw a 'wild thing' face and add some googly eyes, wooly hair or fur.

Use an old holey sock to create a 'wild thing' sock puppet (don't use a good sock though!). You could use buttons or scraps of fabric for eyes and mouth.

Wordle:

Click HERE for this week's Wordle!

Caleb's Prayer:

Dear God,

Thank you for loving us always, even when we mess up.

Help us to remember we ALL make mistakes.

Teach us to show love and forgiveness to others, just like you do for us.

Amen

Thanks to Izak & Caleb for their help with this week's Awesome Time Online!

Harvest Festival

This week's Awesome Time Online is brought to you by Dave and Heather:

According to Google’s Scrabble dictionary, there are 161 words that can be made from the word Harvest!

14 x Two letter words

41 x Three letter words

61 x Four letter words

33 x Five letter word

10 x Six letter words

33 x Five letter words

Some examples are :-

SAVE, VEST, HARE, SAT, RAT, HAT,

How many can you find?

But there are 4 words that jump out at me, says Dave, which truly remind us of what Harvest Festival is about:

The first word is HAVE.

Harvest is an opportunity to remember and thank God for the many things that we have. When we go to the supermarket , the shelves are full of lovely food to buy (at the moment the shelves are not all full, so this helps us to appreciate what we HAVE more).

When we turn on the tap, there is plenty of water that flows out of them.

The second word is EAT.

Harvest isn’t just an opportunity to thank God that the supermarket shelves are full, it’s a chance to thank God that our tummies are full too! We have plenty to eat. There might be food that we find boring or we dislike, like Brussell Sprouts or Marmite, but we still have enough to eat and drink.

The third word is STARVE.

As we think of all the lovely things we have to eat and drink, it should make us think about those who don’t have as much as we do. 1 in 6 of the world's people  (that’s over 1 billion people) are hungry. Many children are dying of starvation. Harvest is a time to remember those who are not as fortunate as us.

Then the fourth word is SHARE.

Harvest is a time to help poor and hungry, and those in need. And also those  who are isolating at home and can’t get out to the supermarket.

Why should we share? The bible verse from Galatians chapter 6, verse 10 says that; 

“as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people....especially those who belong to the family of God.”

Jesus told a story about the fruit tree that didn’t grow fruit for 3 years. Just as the farmer was going to chop it down, he decided to give it another year …and it grew lots of fruit. Jesus was really talking about us - and about God. God has "planted" us on this earth and he expects us to produce good fruit in our life. What kind of fruit does God expect? Things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and gentleness. When God doesn't see these things in our life, God is possibly disappointed -- but is willing to give us another chance.

God tells us that we are to do good to all people. It pleases God when we look out for others. There are so many different opportunities to do this.

So... Harvest is a time when we can remember and praise God for all we have- food / drink / clothing / family and especially for Jesus who God sent to be our savior. But also a time when we can share by helping those in need!!

This week’s challenge:

Take the word AWESOMETIME  and see how many words you can make from this.

(Once again, Google tells me that there are 465 words to be made)

All I want you to find is:

1 x 7 letter word

3 x 3 letter words

And a special 4 letter word that you all need to find – clue: it’s very tiny.

Prayer:

Dear God, each season brings us something new for us to see and enjoy. With sunny days, and rainy days, our crops grow larger, Fruit and vegetables ripen, ready for us to harvest. Thank you for all  the food we have to eat, let us remember people who may not have enough.

Help us to be kind to others, in our thoughts, words and deeds

Amen

 

Trust that God is with us!

This week's Awesome Time Online is brought to you by Carol. 

You can watch Carol's talk in church here:

God’s promise to Abram & Sarai

You may know Abram better as Abraham.  When we first meet Abraham in Genesis, he is called “Abram.”  The “ha” came later.  Abram was old really old and so was his wife, so he was surprised when God promised that Abram would have many descendants.

You can watch a video of the story here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rrcqpgEoug

Click HERE to try Izak's KAHOOT!

How do you think Abram felt when God came & spoke to him?

How do you think Abram & Sarai felt after God promised to give them a child?

Carol's Challenge: Go outside & count the stars!

Draw a picture of the stars – write down the number of stars you counted – you could use black paper & white chalk for the night sky picture.

On the back of your picture of the stars, list the names of your whanau members - your family & friends – the people who are important to you.

Prayer

Dear God,

God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thank you for including us in your family tree.  

Thank you for the truth of your Word

Help us to trust in that

And to keep our faith in you

Even when we can’t feel or see you

Thank you for taking care of us

We love you, God!

Thank you for Jesus

In His name, Amen!

This week's Wordle:

Click HERE for this week's Wordle!

As you go out into the world this coming week, remember that God loves you, and you can trust God to always be with you, guiding and supporting you, and loving you.  

Thanksgiving Box

Hi there, Awesome Kids! This week's Awesome Time is brought to you by Sue and Anne. It's all about what it means to be tempted... and how Jesus wants us to make the right choice, and do the right thing. 

Welcome to Awesome Time Online for 6 March 2022.

Challenge from Sue & Anne:

Find a box, paper bag, or something lying around.  This will be your ‘Thanksgiving box’.  Decorate it with pictures or words of things you are thankful to God for – it might be things like our families, friends, homes to live in, or food to eat!

Then, each day, put something in the box to be given away.  It might be an item you don’t need anymore (a toy you no longer play with, or an item of clothing that no longer fits you – our second hand clothing shop, Budget Boutique would love to receive donations or there is a whanau table at Aratupu!)  

Or it could be something home-made (like a card) to be given away as a gift to someone who needs some cheering up.  It could even be a note recording something you did to help someone else – like taking an extra turn at doing the dishes.

Bonus Challenge - Can you keep this up until Easter Sunday?

Wordle:

Click HERE for this week's Wordle!

Storytime: 

Here's a fabulous story about temptation... poor George the dog is tempted to eat the cake, to chase the cat, to dig the soil... it's so hard to say no, when they are all things George LOVES to do! Enjoy 'Oh No, George!' by Chris Haughton:

Enjoy this beautiful story, 'LOVE', by Matt de la Peña and Loren Long.

“A slice of burnt toast tastes like love,” and other lines like this remind us that love exists in places we don’t think to look. No matter where we are or what is going on in our lives, in the world... remember that God's faithful LOVE is with us, always.

Prayer:

Dear Lord,

Thank You for all the good things

You give to me.

Help me to say Thank You

with a grateful heart

and help me to show generosity

to others.

Amen