Live Stream:
9th August 2020View past Sundays

Today we are going to be learning about prayer which is another word for talking to God. **Next week we will be doing an activity involving decorating biscuits (any shop bought biscuits are fine or you can make some if you’d like to) with icing and smarties (or any multicoloured chocolates/sweets). If you are not able to get hold of these items by then please contact Emily (email here) who has some of the Nest ones we can share with you.**

If you have a chance, take a look at this 2 minute video about chatting to God with young children (see the video here). We would also recommend watching this video as well if you have time, you will need to create a login to watch it, but it is free and this video and the whole course are really fantastic (see the video here).

As a quick overview, we are going to be thinking about this concept of ‘chatting’ to God which is taken from the Parenting for Faith course and books (which we would really recommend). ‘Chatting’ encourages children to use informal language, as well as non-verbal forms, to communicate with God. It’s about reinforcing our children’s understanding that they have their own relationship with God. All our activities this week hopefully will help with this.

Verse ‘Always be full of joy. Never stop praying. Whatever happens, always be thankful.’ 1 Thessalonians 5v16-18

Book My Very First Prayers by Gabrielle Mercer (see link here). Tamsin, one of our Nest team, has recorded a wonderful video of this term’s story using Makaton signs (see the video here).

Songs For this term please choose whichever are your favourite songs from our Nest resources page (see the videos here).

Activity 1 This is a chance to practice chatting to God with your child. We are going to include this activity each week of the prayer term and although it might feel a bit awkward at first, we hope that with a bit of practice this will become easier and help to encourage our children to chat to God themselves. Your child naturally learns by copying you and we want to show them that they can have their own relationship with God. It is also something we can try to do every day by letting our children see and hear us chatting to God out loud. For example ‘Thank you God for this dinner I am making, I really love spaghetti, God isn’t it funny that it looks a bit like wiggly worms!’.

Grab a cushion and ask a question (some ideas are below). Then tell God your answer into your cushion and encourage your child to do the same. If children are non-verbal or don’t want to speak then you could suggest the following: God is a proud parent just like us, who wants to see their new skills, so they might want to show Him how they can clap their hands or the funniest face they can make. Just remember to keep directing it as communication with God, not a performance for you.

What is your favourite animal? What did you have for breakfast today? Who is in your family? What is your favourite colour? Do you like singing or dancing? What food do you love to eat? What is your favourite toy? Do you like it when it’s sunny or rainy?

Activity 2 Blow bubbles together and as your child pops the bubbles ask them to say things that they would like to thank God for. You could also use this time to go on a prayer walk together, searching for things you would like to thank God for - trees, birds, smiles from people you see etc.

If you can't come to us, we decided we would come to you! Some of our Treehouse children and families have been telling us what they have been up to in our first episode of Doorstep Diaries.

Last week we thought about how our lives have changed recently, but this week we are going to think about ‘Who is Jesus and how can He change our lives?’

Bible Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.

Print out the colouring sheet here to make beautiful throughout the session. Use colouring time to have conversations and to give space for children to ask questions. Pause to read out the verse. Can you say the verse without reading the words?

When we follow Jesus, we become changed, we become new. Old habits pass away and we change, becoming more like Him.

Watch the video– you will find the bible story in there too.

I wonder what comes to your mind, when you think about Jesus? Maybe it is the story of him being born in a stable? Maybe it is when he turned a little bit of bread into enough for thousands? Or maybe it was when he turned water into wine?

These are stories about things that Jesus did … But who is he, and how can he change our lives?

The bible story in the video tells us all about who Jesus is.

How can Jesus change our lives?

When we follow him, and try to be more like him we become: 

• Kinder
• Think of others
• Include people
• Generous

These are just some of the ways we can change.

Could you try to learn more about Jesus, you could read your bible, you could talk to your family, you could pray and ask Jesus to show himself to you throughout your week.

Could you try to find ways to be kind, think of others, include people and be generous this week?

WORSHIP

Brighter  - 'Your love is taking over me' As we sing and dance, lets invite Jesus into our hearts to change us! 

Every Move I Make - We will be using this song throughout the whole 4 week series, can children learn the moves and join in? 

Reckless Love  - This would be lovely as a reflective song 

ACTIVITY – Water Rainbow Colour Change 

Items needed:

• Food colouring
• Plastic cups or small glass jars
• Kitchen roll
• Water

What to do:

Place your 5 cups in a row, feel free to use more, put water in each one.

Then add food colouring in alternate cups, for example red water, plain water, yellow water, plain water, blue water.

Fold some kitchen roll into long rectangular strips then fold them in half again, so they bend in the middle and will fit into each cup.

Put the kitchen roll into the cups and wait for the rainbow to form.

Here is one we tried at home 

This website explains in more detail how to set everything up 

Talk and discuss about the changes Jesus can make in our lives, they don’t happen overnight, but by spending more time with him, we start to change for the better, just like the colouring is changing the kitchen roll to make something beautiful.

PRAYER

Jesus, I want to change from the inside out.

I want to become more like you.

Please help me and show me the way.

I want to say Yes to you today.

Amen

Content coming soon