Gather
Activities marked with an asterisk 
next to the activity title are in addition to the resources in the Ready-to-go sessions. Suggested timings for these activities are also shown. NB The inclusion of additional activities varies from week to week.
FOR CHILDREN
Gathering song
Sing to the tune: The Bare Necessities
Let’s sing of God the Father now
and Jesus Christ his only Son,
who aid you in your worries and your strife (A-men!)
and here’s the Holy Spirit, that force that helps you rest and pray,
in all the bare necessities of life.
When is it? W E S
You will need: three labels with arrows ‘past’, ‘now’, ‘future’.
- Line up the labels from past, to now, to future and ask the children to stand by the ‘now’ label. Next, ask them to decide when they were born and stand by that label.
- Continue by asking the children to move to the label for other events, e.g. Roman times, turning 21, being at church/group, flights to Mars. Discuss how some things happened in the past, some are happening now and some will happen in the future.
Musical statues 5 mins E
You will need: music and equipment to play it.
- Play musical statues and give a point to all who freeze. After a short time playing, end and check on points scored.
- Talk about the importance of ‘now‘, it’s easy to see in this game, but it can often be harder to focus on.
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Snap 5 mins E S
You will need: a pack of playing cards.
Play the track ‘Trust In You’, Chris Sayburn on Saved By Grace, as the young people arrive.- Play a game of snap with the group. Deal all the cards out equally and ask players to take turns to turn over a card and place it into a central pile. When two matching numbers are revealed in succession, the first player to shout ‘snap’ and put their hand on the pile of cards wins the stack. The winner is the player with most cards when the game is over.
- To win, you have to look at what’s on the table and respond to it in that moment.
First impressions
You could also use the image and following questions to help introduce the theme.
 |
Click on the image to view a larger version
or use the Jump menu to go to This week's images.
For artist's details, see this issue's illustrators.
|
Questions
- How does this photo show that immediate action is needed?
- What is going on in your own faith journey right now?
- What can we do right now with the gifts and knowledge that we have to further God’s kingdom (rather than wait)?