7 Day Creation Story- Genesis 1-2- September 3 - 17
In the time after Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples waited in Jerusalem as Jesus had told them to do. While they waited, after ten days, the Holy Spirit of God came upon them. The description of the Spirit’s coming talks about the rush of a mighty wind, what looked like flames landing on the heads of the disciples, and they suddenly have the ability to talk to other people in ways they can understand about God’s love for us that has come in Jesus.
Some talk about the day of Pentecost being the birthday of the church. And that’s not a bad way to think about it. But perhaps even more it is a fulfillment of a promise. Jesus said to the disciples that the Holy Spirit would come to them, so they know that they are not alone. That God is indeed still with them. What a wonderful promise we celebrate! That God, through the Holy Spirit, is always with us. And that through the help of this Holy Spirit we can all do amazing things. Parents, here is a good video for you to understand more about how the Holy Spirit works in the Bible.
Hear the Story (March 26- April 2)
We encourage you to share the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit with your child throughout the week. Read them the story from their Children's Story Bible. You can watch one of the following videos. This video (1.5 minute) tells the story very simply from the Beginners Bible. This video (3.5 minutes) from Saddleback tells the story in some more detail.
Engage/Live the Story (April 2 – April 9)
This week we encourage you to engage/live the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit with your kids. We have several great examples here, but feel free to explore things with your children in a way that works for your family.
- The Holy Spirit is God’s gift given to all believers. It comes to us through our baptism (just like for Jesus at his baptism!). One activity to do would be to have a cut out of a heart, a bible, a picture of your family, and two flashlights (one without batteries) in a bag. Talk with your children about how much they enjoy receiving gifts. Then tell them that in the bag are gifts that God gives to all of us who are followers of Jesus. You can have them pull out the gifts and describe what they are to them.
- Heart-It is a gift to know that God loves and comforts us as God’s children.
- Bible-God’s Word is a gift to us because we find God’s promises and instructions inside.
- Family-It is a gift to be a part of God’s family (the church) and be able to pray together and help each other. It’s also God’s gift that we have our immediate family to love, care, provide for, and protect us.
- Flashlight-Once both flashlights are out, have two family members turn them on. Talk about why one came on and the other did not. Open the flashlight and discover the batteries and the empty flashlight. The flashlight with batteries reminds us of another very important gift that God has given to believers. The power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to live a life that pleases God. A life that lights up the world around us!
- The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to do things that we might be afraid to do. It gave Peter the ability to speak before all those people, and the ability to have his words make such a difference in their lives. Share together something that each of you is afraid or nervous to do. It might be to go in the deep end of the pool, or speak in front of a group, or anything at all. What would it mean to trust that the Holy Spirit gave you the ability to do even that scary thing? Have you ever felt that power to do something that scared you? If so, share the story!
- At Pentecost, the promise of Jesus was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples. We recall these events in order to understand how we, too, have the Holy Spirit and should share the Gospel with one another. There are some symbols for the Holy Spirit that we pick up from the story. Can you figure out what they are?
- Flame!- Like the tongues of fire that seemed to land on the disciples we also use flame to remember the presence of the Holy Spirit. This is why we have candles in worship and use the color red at Pentecost. Light some candles together this week to remember that the Holy Spirit is with us.
- Wind- The coming of the Holy Spirit was accompanied by the sound of a mighty wind. Think of the wind off a fan- turn one on and talk about it.
- Can you see the wind? No, but can you feel it? Yes! The Holy Spirit is like that, something you can feel that has an effect, but you can’t see it.
- Play a game with balloons. Fill them with air and let them go and see where it lands! See who can get their balloon to go the farthest.
- Here are some coloring sheets and activity sheets you can print for your child to use.
- Plan on celebrating the birthday of the church on Pentecost this year (June 8). Have the whole family participate in the planning. What kind of meal you will have. What kind of cake. Also, ask them after your discussion of the symbols of Pentecost if there are any special things you should have (candles, fans, red foods, etc.). Then, follow through with the celebration!
Share the Story
We invite you to share with us how you have covered this as a family. Send us pics of what you and your children have created. Let us know if there was some big discovery you had. We’d love to share what you are doing with our larger church family. E-mail these things to pastorstjohnely@southslope.net You can also post to our Facebook page if you prefer.
