Worship at home resources for everyone linked to Matthew 13.24-30,36-43
ROOTS is a partnership of denominations and other Christian organisations and has been publishing lectionary-based worship resources online and in print since 2002.
Go to: Resources for families; Resources for adults
Copyright
You are welcome to copy this material for use in your own resources e.g. printed sheets or web pages including audio/video recordings. If you do so, please include this acknowledgement to ROOTS:
© ROOTS for Churches Ltd (www.rootsontheweb.com) 2002-2020.
Reproduced with permission.
For families
Introduction
Another parable – a story with a hidden meaning – which helps us to see that good and evil exist alongside one another in the world. This can be one of the big questions we have to grapple with: why do bad things happen?
Bring those questions to God as you worship together today.
Gather
Use this prayer as you begin your time of worship together. Nominate a leader or all join in together.
God of wheat and weeds,
as we gather here today,
from this imperfect world,
help us to take time to
grow in your perfect love.
Amen.
You could learn this song to sing together as you begin your time of worship: A farmer in a field, Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
Read
Share the Bible story using the idea below to help you explore it together.
Bible story
Open the Bible at Matthew 13.24-30,36-43: Jesus tells a story to help us live in an imperfect world.
The ear of wheat
Print off the grains of wheat outlines on which the reading is subdivided (template), and carefully cut out each one. On a large piece of paper draw a stem on which the wheat grains will be stuck.
Invite different peeople to have one grain each and to read these in order. Then, in turn, they stick their grain to the stem, so that once the story has finished, the whole ear of wheat is complete.
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Activities
You may wish to use these additional resources to worship together and/or the activity sheets for children.
Harvest time
Play the game Ker-plunk™ but imagine that the yellow sticks are wheat and the green ones are weeds.
Divide the group into two teams. The object is to ‘harvest’ the wheat, while collecting as few marbles as possible.
The teams take turns until all the wheat is gone, and the one with the lowest marble score wins.
Wheat from weeds
A game of discernment
You will need: the ‘Wheat from weeds’ template, from which to print, on card, one full set (8 cards) per pair of players.
- Beforehand, download the card templates, print them on card and cut them out.
- Invite people to work in pairs. Distribute one set of cards (8) to each pair and explain that they need to decide whether the picture on each card is of a weed or a good plant. Invite all pairs to sort them into two different piles.
- When everyone has sorted their cards, go through the answers with them – hold up the cards and encourage everyone to shout out whether they think it is a good plant or a weed.
Activity and colouring sheets
(Links to the PDFs for these can also be found at the end of the page.)
For adults
Live your faith
This week's Live your faith sheet for adults with Bible notes, prayers, a picture and questions for reflection, a live your faith action
Prayers for others
Loving God, hear our prayer
Loving God, we pray for your world,
so imperfect and yet so rich and so diverse.
We pray for those places where humanitarian aid
is being distributed amid violence, fear and power struggles…
for volunteers, medical staff, peacekeepers, reporters
and all who risk their lives to help others.
We remember those who continue to be affected
by the attack at the maternity hospital in Iraq...
for the people of Yemen, and Syria...
We pray too for those places where landmines
still lay in the crops of fields, in villages,
in places where children and communities
live and work and go to school
Loving God, hear our prayer.
We pray for discernment and wisdom
around the use of social media.
We give thanks for those who use it for good –
to fundraise, to highlight injustice, to share good news
and to keep in touch with family and friends;
but we also pray protection from, and for a change of heart for,
those who use it to incite hatred, to bully and abuse,
those who are predatory,
and those who initiate financial fraud and scams.
Loving God, hear our prayer.
We pray for our relationship with creation,
and we give thanks for birds and wildlife,
and those green spaces that inspire and nurture us;
but we pray also for those who live in places devoid of colour,
for all caged by their surroundings;
we pray for an end to practices that are cruel and inhumane,
and we pray for the welfare of all animals and creatures,
and for wisdom in our stewardship of the earth.
Loving God, hear our prayer.
We pray for the family of the nations,
for our own families and for our church family.
Where there is division – bring reconciliation.
Where there is mistrust – bring healing.
Where there is opportunity – bring courage.
Where there is a shared dream – bring joy.
Where there is discouragement – bring hope.
And, amid all the muddle of the best and the worst of humanity,
bring your grace, your love and your truth
We ask these things in Jesus’ name.
Loving God, hear our prayer. Amen.
We all need your love
Lord God, we pray for our world and its people.
So many different cultures, colours, languages
– but we are all your children, all special in our own right.
Whatever our gender, race, colour or creed, we all belong to you.
We all need your love.
We pray that we might learn to live in harmony with each other,
to recognise that even someone halfway around the world is still
our neighbour in your sight. Far or near, we all belong to you.
We all need your love.
With today’s technology we have access to news from afar,
almost before it happens. Help us not to become blasé about
the situations we see, but to pray and care faithfully for all concerned.
In war or peace, we all belong to you.
We all need your love.
We pray for those near and dear to us: protect them, wrap them
in your loving arms, and in sorrow and in joy, be with them.
Near or far, we all belong to you.
We all need your love.
Amen.
Seasonal activity for all
Use your senses
Go for a walk. Stop at intervals to be very still and smell, see, hear, and feel what is going on around you.
Look for different colours, then see what's high (clouds, birds, buildings) and what's low down and what you are standing on.
Pray or sing songs thanking God for your surroundings.
Take home anything found or picked (as allowed) to make a display.
Thank God for our senses.
[Adapted from Picnics, processions and praise]