Some activities for young people from St Mary & St Nicholas church, Compton This day each year we celebrate those selected by the Church over the centuries to be examples of what a Godly person can achieve - we are to honour and if possible copy them in our life. But in the letters (Epistles) in the New Testament, Paul and other great leaders of the early church tell us that ALL those who try to follow Christ are indeed saints! So - what do YOU have to do to be a saint? Follow what Jesus has taught us! Last week we heard how Jesus said there were two Great commandments - and that they were in the Old testament all the time! We talked about how the Ten Commandments follow on from these and examples of what we should do were described in Leviticus. This week we will look at the beatitudes - the way Jesus described how we can behave in following these commandments - and the rewards we will get! - Matthew 5, 1 - 12. And we think about how we too can be saints Materials are mainly from Roots on the Web young people's Christian resources, or the Sunday School teachings "Living Stones" from Kevin Mayhew. These materials are Copyright but used with permission: Roots © ROOTS for Churches Ltd (www.rootsontheweb.com) 2002-2020 Living Stones © Susan Sayers (author), Kevin Mathew Ltd (publisher) 1998 An alternative teaching is freely available from Roots based on 1 Thessalonians 2 - He is the one who has chosen you https://www.rootsontheweb.com/athome1Nov (click on this, it should work - if not - cut and paste to your browser) All Saints - the beatitudes - Matthew 22 Page 1 of 11 Guide to this document: Page For younger children Gathering activities 2 Present the reading 4 Explore the messages / activities to assist understanding / discussion 5 Activities for older ones 6 Paper activities 9 For younger children, I have based this lesson on a previous one by Roots based on a pun - we will talk about the BEE-atitudes. Wording from Roots: Today’s Gospel reading – Matthew 5.1-12 - is all about the attitudes Jesus’ followers should have. They are called the beatitudes. We can call them the BEE-ATTITUDES. Disciples of Jesus are: to believe, to be thoughtful, to be caring, to be peaceable, and to be seeing to the needs of others, and thinking of the kingdom of God. © Gathering ideas From Roots © unless otherwise stated A gathering prayer for children (from Living Stones) Warm-up Activities - several to chose from: 1. Colour the picture of a bee. Use this as the story is read, listening for bees. Think about how Jesus wants YOU to behave as you listen to the bible verses. Have some simple pictures of buzzy bees on cards displayed on the walls or tables — today Jesus is telling us the kind of people he wants us to BE! 2. Opposites — have a collection of opposites all mixed up, ready for the children to pair up. You might include the following: a stone and a feather (heavy—light), a lemon and honey (bitter—sweet), All Saints - the beatitudes - Matthew 22 Page 2 of 11 little paper clip and a large paper clip, picture of a lion and a picture of a lamb (fierce and gentle), brick and straw (sturdy and weak), chalk and cheese, steel and putty, dog picture and cat picture, or cat and mouse, smiling faces and sad faces. When the children have done it, explain that in today’s story, Jesus says some things that, are the opposite of what we might expect. 3. Pass the blessing This variation on pass the parcel illustrates how we can make choices in favour of those we may not always think about. Wrap up a small gift in lots of layers. On each layer write a special instruction about who to give it to next, such as ‘the person furthest from you’, ‘a person who has been ill recently’, ‘the smallest in the group’, ‘the youngest in the group’, ‘someone who has not received it yet’ and so on. All Saints - the beatitudes - Matthew 22 Page 3 of 11 Presenting the reading - encouraging and instructing the "saints" Matthew 5, 1-12 - Note from the introduction that Jesus is talking to His disciples - a pep-talk for those who He will send out with His message. Here is the pun version from Roots: "A short retelling of the beatitudes (Matthew 5.1-12) for all ages" I have put the more traditional wording in the second column The Bee-atitudes according to Roots © (verse) Traditional words 3 Happy are those who don't think they are the bee's knees, Poor in spirit God will give them honour in his kingdom. 4 Happy are those who are beside themselves with sorrow, Mourn (feeling sad) God will help them begin again. 5 Happy are those left behind in the race of life, Meek (humble) God will give them beyond measure. 6 Happy are those who believe that justice cries out to be done, Hunger for God's God will see their dreams fulfilled. teaching 7 Happy are those who behave mercifully, Merciful God will be generous to them in return. (kindness) 8 Happy are those who begin to forgive, Pure in heart God will show them his love. 9 Happy are those who bring peace between foes (enemies), Peacemakers God will adopt them as his children. 10 Happy are those who are ill-treated because of loving Jesus, Persecuted God will give them a place in heaven. 11 Happy are those who are insulted beyond what they can Reviled, insulted bear, 12 God will astound then with the beauty of his love. These are your rewards!! These are the Be-attitudes - or 'how to be a disciple of Jesus'. (brackets are my additions) Discuss and explore the reading (Sorry parents, you will have to present this as appropriate for your young people!) These words were spoken by Jesus to give guidance to His disciples. They speak directly to us as well. The nine messages of guidance (verses 3 - 11) tell us how to behave - and the last verse tells us what our rewards will be - in the words of the old King James bible - Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven and Jesus encourages (?) us by saying that those who have spoken out for Jesus in the past also found it difficult (for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. NIV) All Saints - the beatitudes - Matthew 22 Page 4 of 11 I think all but the first one (verse 3) are obvious; note how the warning is given twice - it is tough to follow Jesus! We have discussed the first beatitude - we think it means that we must accept that we are not perfect but can still work for Jesus. We must not be proud and think we are better than others. So what where the opposites all about? I think this has two meanings: 1 what Jesus wants us to do is not what you would expect - His heroes and the opposite of our normal view of heroes 2 We have a choice to make - for each of the guidelines, there are opposites In case you are asked - What is a saint? One definition: A saint is a committed Christian whose life is devoted to their Christian work. Often in their commitment to their Christian ideals, they endure suffering. They stay true to their faith whatever the consequences. Activities to explore further From pages 9 on are some paper activities. The picture cube (adapted from Living Stones ©) explores this teaching quite well. I have included four of the saints celebrated in the stained glass windows in our church in Compton - and a well-known modern saint. Use stiff card if you have it (available in Compton if required - use GET IN TOUCH button on the church website). Cut out the cube template and the separate figures (according to who is with you!). Before assembling, the children can colour in the pictures and try to identify the saints from the information below. before assembling, leaving one square blank. They can write in the names in the correct squares. Place the cube on the table with blank side down and talk about the saints. THEN turn up the blank square and tell them that they too can be saints (just follow Jesus' guidelines!). They can colour and stick the appropriate figure on the blank square and put on an appropriate label - eg "Saints are filled with God's love" or "He chose you to share in His glory and kingdom" Four of the saints on the cube are also in the stained glass windows of Compton Church: St Mary, mother of Jesus Mary was chosen by God and the angel Gabriel appeared to her to tell her. Mary was obedient to God’s call; this is what we emphasise. St Nicholas AKA Santa Claus! St Nicholas was a fourth century bishop in Turkey. He was a very devout and active Christian, kind and generous. He was imprisoned and punished for sticking to his faith. He is famous for giving gifts to people, often secretly left on their door- step. St Cecelia St Cecilia was a devout Roman lady married to a pagan; the pagan family were converted by her zeal and promptly martyred. During her wedding hymns, she sang to the glory of God in her head, praying for a pure heart; supposedly to organ music. She is therefore the patron saint of music and usually depicted with All Saints - the beatitudes - Matthew 22 Page 5 of 11 a hand organ (as in our window).