Hi everyone…  apologies that there hasn’t been too much updating on this blog recently…  although it still gets 500 hits a day and often peaks at around 1000 on Saturdays and Sundays!  2011 has been a busy year…  moved to new charge – the three way linkage of Ardgour, Strontian and Morvern in the West Highlands of Scotland, third child born, have been Chaplain to the Moderator of our General Assembly…  hope to get some more material posted here during 2012…   contributions always welcome.   If you want to see what we are up to here check out – www.ourchurches.org or www.facebook.com/AKSMparishes   With all good wishes to you all and thank you for the support of “Talks2children”… 

Call of the Disciples John 1

What do we call Jesus’ friends… Disciples
and how many where there?… 12
What were they called… – as the names are called out… also write up the wrong one’s on a white/ black board…
Go over the right one’s… and have the young folk remember them. I always write them up in this order:
James James Judas John,
Simon, Simon (Peter), Thaddeus & Tom
Bartholomew, Matthew, Andrew and Philip
(This order has nothing to do with the Scriptural order – but is easily remembered – 4 J’s, 2 S’s & 2 T’s and a BMAP!)
Having remembered all the right one’s – return to the wrong one’s – Mark and Luke will probably appear – and maybe Paul – you can explain that they were not among the 12 – but they were in a sense disciples… the other “wrong” answers are of course also right… and will include some of the young people’s own  names… we can all be disciples of Jesus if we try to follow him.

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for Ministry Resources from around the Church of Scotland…

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

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The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 170,000 times in 2011. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 7 days for that many people to see it.

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The weight of a snowflake

Key ideas: peace, responsibility

“Tell me the weight of a snowflake”, a sparrow asked a wild dove. “Nothing more than nothing”, was the answer. “In that case I must tell you a marvellous story”, the sparrow said. “I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, when it began to snow – not heavily, not in a raging blizzard: no, just like in a dream, without a sound and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,952. When the 3,741,953rd dropped onto the branch – nothing more than nothing, as you say – the branch broke off.” Having said that, the sparrow flew away. The dove, since Noah’s time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for a while, and finally said to herself: “Perhaps there is only one person’s voice lacking for peace to come to the world.”

From New Fables, Thus Spoke the Maribou, by Kurt Kaufer

www.loanheadparishchurch.co.uk/christmas has some good Christmas ideas…

http://spillbeans.org.uk – new resource produced by a wonderful bunch of Church of Scotland ministers and members…

http://sermons4kids.com/how_does_your_garden_grow_kids_force.ppt

Two eggs needed. One normal, one ‘blown’. (Google if don’t know how) Start the talk with the great Easter Day and how the tomb which they thought would be full was empty. Think how surprised the women were when they saw it was empty. Often talk about eggs at Easter etc. I’ve got an egg here and a badminton racket. Now look I’m going to try and hit this egg to the back of the church. Throw egg up and deliberately miss. (Egg splaters all over a tray) Oh dear I missed that one. Lets try again. Take blown egg and this time hit it of course its just bits of shell. The look of horror that passes children’s faces when you hit it is amazing. Then talk about how they all expected the egg to be full but what a surprise it was empty

submitted by Douglas Murray.

Object: One of the fashion "tattoos" little girls are wearing
round their necks at the moment.

Show the children that you have one on – e.g. round your wrist.   Ask the girls if they have one – some may be wearing one – others may have one at home.
Point out that the advantage of this kind of tattoo is that when you are tired of it you can take it off – you can’t do that with a real tattoo, it is there for ever. Did you know that God has a tattoo? – read Isaiah ch. 49.16.
God has engraved our names on the palm of his hand – not just written them, the way we might write a phone number on our hand and then wash it off later – but engraved them – i.e. he has tattooed our names on his hand. They are going to be there forever. Why?   Because he loves us so much that he is never going to forget us.