A place for children of all ages.
Proper 7
Proper 7? What a strange name for the Sunday.
The green weeks after Pentecost are called “Proper”. We will count them up to week 28 this year, before we get ready to start Advent and our new Christian Year with the first purple block at the top.
During the Proper weeks, we spend time getting to know Jesus better, understanding what he taught us to do, and remembering our responsibility as Christians.
Our Story this week
Jesus tells his apostles that following God’s love will sometimes make families turn on each other
Take up your cross??
What does it mean to ‘take up your cross’?
Well, one thing it does not mean is to take up a physical cross and drag it like Jesus did on Good Friday before he was killed on that cross.
To ‘take up your cross’ means take up your responsibility as a Christian and make the world better by talking about and doing things to share God’s love. It could mean talk about the environment and work on a project that would help nature. It could mean help stop hunger by bringing food to people you know or to the food bank. It could mean making someone who doesn’t look like you feel comfortable in your community. What are some other ways you can be responsible for sharing Jesus’ teachings about loving our neighbours?
Make a list of things you can to do help others. Go back to the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12 and see how many things you could do that match up with what Jesus taught the people who gathered around him on the mountain.
Five Finger Prayer
It is really easy to be busy doing the things Jesus asked us to do. However Jesus also asked us to pray to God for guidance and wisdom, and to ask for help when things get hard.
The disciples around Jesus were taught to pray regularly. Sometimes Jesus gave them the words to specific prayers, and sometimes he encouraged them to just talk to God like you would a special friend.
Try creating your own prayers using this practice of the Five Finger Prayer:
The Barefoot Evangelist 