Welcome to another week at Sunday Kids@Home
For the rest of June we are going to be thinking and learning about Jesus’ disciples, especially Peter because the last Sunday in June is when we celebrate St Peters Day at our church – St Peters Glenelg!
Today we’ll think about how Jesus gave his disciples directions to go out and look after people in the same way as He did.
The materials you’ll need are
* Your imagination and thinking caps,
* Paper and pencils/texta/crayons and scissors,
* Your jar of names (containing names of people you have a concerned for)
Read Matthew 9:35-10:8
Jesus travelled through all the towns and villages. He taught in their synagogues and told people the Good News about the kingdom. And he healed all kinds of diseases and sicknesses. He saw the crowds of people and felt sorry for them because they were worried and helpless. They were like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus said to his followers, “There are many people to harvest, but there are only a few workers to help harvest them. God owns the harvest. Pray to him that he will send more workers to help gather his harvest.”
Jesus called his 12 followers together. He gave them power to drive out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and sickness. These are the names of the 12 apostles: Simon (also called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot. Judas is the one who turned against Jesus.
These 12 men he sent out with the following order: “Don’t go to the non-Jewish people. And don’t go into any town where the Samaritans live. But go to the people of Israel. They are like sheep that are lost. When you go, preach this: ‘The kingdom of heaven is coming soon.’ Heal the sick. Give dead people life again. Heal those who have harmful skin diseases. Force demons to leave people. I give you these powers freely. So help other people freely.
Sunday Kids@Home Activity
The story today is about a time when Jesus gave his disciples directions to go out and look after people in the same way that he did. These instructions apply to us as much as they did to the original 12 disciples.
So today, think about how you can do one or more of these things:
• Tell people about the good news of God’s love.
• Heal people who are sick.
• Care for people who are left out.
• Tell people that God’s peace is already here.
• Give to others.
You could use the jar of names that you made a few weeks ago. Try pulling someone’s name out of the jar and thinking which of Jesus’ instructions you could use for this person!
Today is a good day to try to learn the names of all 12 disciples. Make a 12-people chain from paper – get Mum or Dad to help you make one like in this picture. Then name each one. Peter, his brother Andrew, James and his brother John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, another James, Thaddaeus, Simon, and Judas. Give them all different faces and clothes. Then test yourself to see how many of their names you can remember. The resources section has some pictures and the names of the Disciples you could print and turn into flash cards, or just look at the poster.
Older Children
Can think about being a healer. Doctors and nurses spend years studying to be able to do their jobs but there are things that help to heal people, which don’t need lots of learning, just some love and care. I was reminded of this when I sent some flowers to a teacher who is very sick this week. I said I wished the flowers could be a magic healing. She said they helped her lots by making her feel loved when she looked at them. Jesus sent Peter out with his friends to heal people who were sick. Jesus gave Peter gifts to help with healing.
What gifts has God given you that you can use to make sick people feel better? Can you do something healing for someone this week?
Additional Materials for this week
Materials for next week
None