You have a role in this

Listening for God?

Posted on November 11, 2011April 2, 2014 by Carol Hulbert

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Our Cool Disciples (both the Saturday’s Cool and the Sunday’s Cool varieties) are learning this month about Jesus’ visit to Mary and Martha’s home. In this story Jesus is teaching us that the best choice is to spend time listening to him. The question becomes: How do we teach our children to spend time listening to Jesus?

A baby wears large headphones while listening to music

The next time you are at the family dinner table (or wherever your family is gathered together) talk about listening. If you’d like to print out this Family Faith Companion discussion guide, click here.

First up, play some listening games:

Have everyone remain silent for one minute. When the time is up, ask everyone to say what sounds they heard.
Read a well-known Bible story, except change some of the details. See who notices.
Tap out a rhythm and see if everyone can repeat it. Make it harder. Can everyone still follow along? Try it again.
Have two people sit on the floor back-to-back. Give both people 5 toothpicks. Ask one person to layout the toothpicks in a pattern while describing to the other person what they are doing. (Example: Put one toothpick down so that a pointed end is facing you.) Do the two designs match up?

Debrief and extend the Bible learning:

What helped you to listen?
What made it hard to listen?
Jesus taught Martha something about listening. Let’s read the story to review. Read about it in Luke 10:38-42.
What did Jesus mean when he said that Mary had chosen what is better? (She chose to listen to Jesus, to spend time with him.)
What can you do in your daily life to make that same sort of choice?
What does it mean to listen to Jesus?

Perhaps listening for Jesus doesn’t only happen with our ears. God made us different kinds of listeners. Some of us hear Jesus speaking to us when we see a pretty sunset. Some of us hear Jesus when we laugh at a funny joke or when we are reading the Bible.

How were you made to best listen for Jesus?

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Baby wearing large headphones via photopin by Jo Jakeman, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

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Are your kids bonding with their Holy Shepherd?

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Carol Hulbert

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Lambs look so cuddly don’t they? (Yes, dirt and all.)

My favorite stuffed animal as a child was a lamb. Yep. Serious loving. If that sheep could have talked it probably would have said, “Stop squeezing me so tight!”

Psalm 23 gives us the words of a different lamb doing some talking.

This lamb is describing the care of a watchful, loving shepherd.

He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.

Psalm 23:2, The New Living Translation

The author David (of David and Goliath fame) wrote Psalm 23 over 3,000 years ago, painting a tranquil portrayal of life lived under a close relationship with God. Trusting. Loved.

Are your kids fostering that sort of a relationship with God?

Help ensure they do by talking about Psalm 23 around the family dinner table. (Or wherever your family is gathered together.) If you’d like to print out the following Family Faith Companion Guide click here.

Play a couple rounds of the game Twenty Questions. Point out that in order to figure out what the object is, you need to gather clues that help you describe something.
Say: The Bible gives us a description of what our relationship with God can be like. Let’s read that passage. Be thinking about what sort of picture you get when you hear these words.
Get out a Bible and read Psalm 23. (If your child is in 3rd grade or up, ask them the clue for quickly finding the book of Psalms.) Or check it out on-line: here.
Ask: What do those words describe to you?
What would it mean to a sheep to have a green pasture and still water?

Say: That sounds like one very contented and trusting sheep! David’s words describe what God can be like for us! Protective. Caring. Always watching over us.
Ask: Do you suppose those words describe your relationship to God?
How does God take care of you?
What are your quiet waters?
How do you get there?
Say: Sheep are covered in scratchy wool. That wool can get bugs and stickers in it and sheep don’t have arms to reach and scratch.
Ask: Have you ever had itchy bug bites?
Do certain situations or things that people do, sometimes irritate you?
Say: When we have troubles, we need our shepherd-God to help us so that we can find rest and enjoy our lives!
Close with a short prayer. A suggestion: Lord, thank you for being our protecting shepherd. Help us to turn to you, our friend, trusting in your care so that we can reach green, restful pastures. Amen.

How did this work? Share about your family devotional time.

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Little lamb by Chris Rice, who licensed this photo on Flickr under

Is God’s name Art?

Posted on September 20, 2011December 28, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

Imagine a leader with a bunch of kids, and the conversation goes like this:

Leader: Hello everybody, I’d like to read to you the world’s most famous prayer, the Lord’s Prayer. Does anybody know how it begins? (pause)
Yes, that’s right, we start by praying the words: Our Father who art in heaven.
Child: Excuse, me, excuse me.
Leader: Yes?
Child: Who is Art? Is God’s name Art? I never heard God called Art before.

Okay, so that was just a hypothetical situation but when you think about it, just what does the Lord’s Prayer mean to kids? Take a look at the Lord’s Prayer with your kids, a line at a time. Read a line and ask your kids what it means. Listen to their replies. (They might have a thing or two to teach us adults!)
If you’d like to print out this list, click here.

Our Father, who art in heaven,

“Art” in this case means “is.” Our Father, who is in heaven.
We can think of God as someone as close to us as a loving parent.
Addressing God as a father would have been radically different for the followers of Jesus. To them God was grand and majestic… and intimidating and fearsome! To call God something chummy like “father” – this was new!
God as our father makes us all a part of God’s family. What a great, big wonderful family!
Even though God is in heaven, he hears you and wants to talk with you.

hallowed be thy name.

Hallowed means holy.
By calling God’s name holy, we acknowledge God’s greatness.
Our great and Holy God wants to have a close relationship with us! Amazing!

Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

“Thy” is a fancy way of saying “your.”
“Will” refers to the plans that God wants to have happen.
This line is like saying: God, may things here on earth be just like they are in heaven. May things be run according to God’s standards — peaceful and free from unfair treatment of anyone.
Because God is after all, God, he can cause his will to be done. So why ask for this? It is an invitation for us to participate in making sure that God’s plan happens.

Give us this day our daily bread.

This is asking God for what we need on a daily basis. (Which is different than what we want!)
It is asking for the necessities of life, not just food.
God knows what we need. Why should we have to ask? It reminds us of our need for God and that we can trust God.
We live in a world where the focus is on being self-sufficient (taking care of yourself). Yet God wants us to depend on him for daily needs.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Trespasses, sins, debts… all mean the same – things we do wrong. Things we do that separate us from God.
Forgiving someone can be hard because forgiving fells like it makes an act seem less serious. But when you are forgiving, it is like saying: what you did was wrong but I am giving you a second chance. There is acknowledgment that what was done was wrong.
Nursing the grudges of something that has hurt us wastes our energy. Forgiving allows us to put the past behind us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Protect us from doing things that would harm ourselves or other people.
God provides us our “daily bread” however we are completely free to make choices about what we do with it. This temptation comes from our own doing.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

You God, are awesome!

Amen.

Amen means “so be it.”

Credits:
The quoted text was adapted from a drama by Neil MacQueen of Rotation.org.
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Other photo: from the archives.

Giving abundantly because we trust in abundance

Posted on June 24, 2011June 24, 2011 by Carol Hulbert

Kids participating with the Cool Disciples have been learning this month, about giving. They’ve learned how our offerings can be more than a monetary gift; they’ve had two chances to work at it during Sunday’s Cool! One week they helped make decorations that will be used for Vacation Bible Camp in July. Last week they made cookies to share with Alpha House. Each week they’ve listened to the story of a poor widow giving all that she had (in Mark 12:41-44). What was Jesus trying to say about this widow’s extravagant gift?

This woman was giving all that she had out of trust that God would supply all of her needs.

God is good; all the time. This is something we know inherently. But do we live as though we believe it?

Two coins

How about talking about it with your family! Gather a Bible and a fist full of coins (the more the merrier). First read the story together in Mark 12:41-44. Then gather everyone around the computer and scroll down only far enough to expose a speech bubble and its question.

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble Why do you suppose Jesus was watching people give their offerings?

No right or wrong answer to this one. Did you know the subject Jesus taught the most about was money? It’s almost as if Jesus were sitting there, waiting for a teachable moment!
Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble The teachable moment arrives when a widow gives her offering. What is a widow?

A widow is a woman whose husband has died. Most women in Jesus’ day didn’t work. Widows had to be taken care of by their family. It is likely that this woman didn’t have anyone to support her as, Jesus seemed to know that she was poor.

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble Jesus had watched rich people drop lots of coins into the offering box. (Since all money was coins it would have made a lot of noise going in!) Yet Jesus said that the poor widow had put in more than all the others! How can her gift be larger than what the richer people gave?

Here’s where your coins come into play. It’s probably not a significant pile of cash, but let’s just say: you are rich! Look at all the money you have! You’ve got plenty!

Pick up two coins. Since you are rich do you suppose you would notice if you had two coins less? (Probably not.)

Hold just the two coins and put the other coins away. Now you are poor! You have only two coins! What happens if you give away these two coins?

This is what Jesus meant; the rich people gave a lot because they could afford to do so; they had plenty left over. But the widow gave even though she was poor. She put in everything she had. She gave all she had to live on!

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble If the widow gave everything, where did she expect her next meal to come from?

The women had the chance to give a gift. She gave all she had, trusting that God would take care of her!

Jesus is not saying we have to give everything we have. He is saying that the amount of the gift isn’t really important but the attitude in which a gift is given is important. Jesus wants us to trust God to provide for our needs! Let me tell you: It’s not easy trusting God like that! But you know what? It makes me giddy when I do and he provides! (Ask me about it.)

When we begin to share abundantly, then we make room in our lives for God to bless us abundantly.

What can help you to live as though you believe in God’s abundance?

— Carol

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Other photo: from my archives.

Time, talent or treasures

Posted on June 16, 2011February 20, 2016 by Carol Hulbert

It’s a familiar part of the worship service.

collection plate

The Giving of Our Tithes and Gifts to God

Also known as “the Offering” or “the Collection.” At FUMC there is beautiful music to accompany this portion of worship. In the summer time it’s usually a soloist (or two or three) contributing their symphonious instrumental sounds. And hey! They are giving a gift to God!

That’s the point of our Rotation this month about the Widow’s Offering – to define an “offering” as gifts given to God and to discover that offerings can be time, talents, or money.

Ready for some family discussion about our story?

Gather kids around the computer and scroll down only far enough to expose a speech bubble and its question…

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble What happens in this story?

Read together Mark 12:41-44.
Did you catch all of the details? It’s a short story isn’t it!

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble What was Jesus doing?

Jesus was sitting in the Temple, the place where Jewish people came to worship. He was watching people give their offerings.

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble What is an offering?

Offerings are gifts to God. Right off the bat we think of an offering as money; it’s what we put into the plate that gets passed around at church. Money is an important part of what we give in our offerings but our gifts can be more than just money!

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble What are other examples of giving gifts to God?

There are many ways that people give gifts to God! An offering can be our time and our talents as well as our money. In church when we receive the offering, there are musicians or singers who share their gifts with us. The ushers are giving their time and leadership to collect the money we raise for God’s use. Other people oversee the use of the money that is collected. People who are teaching Sunday Cool classes, people singing in the choir, those who take turns in the nursery – all of these people are making a gift of themselves to God!

Of course this is just the start of the list; then there are people who give of themselves outside of the worship service.

kids at work on Appalachia mission trip Youth on Kenya trip Fish Fri

Kids on a Mission trip to Appalachia.

Youth on a Kenya Mission trip assisting with the school’s feeding program.

Kids & adults in the kitchen during a Fish Fri event.

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble Brainstorm ways that kids can give gifts to God.

For a list of activities where kids can get involved in offering their time see this list for summer 2011. (Updated: sorry, this list is no longer available.)

Photo credits:
Collection plate by rubber bullets, who licensed his/her photos under: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.
Mission trip photos by various FUMC church members, used by permission.

What do Arbor Day and Easter have in common?

Posted on April 30, 2011January 24, 2017 by Carol Hulbert

University of Michigan students participate in an Earth Day Tree Hugging Flash Mob Friday was Arbor Day. In the town where I live, that meant a free tree! Of course I can’t pass up the chance to plant another tree. The nice people giving out free Douglas Fir trees also offered me a flyer about Arbor Day. This caught my eye; this description of Arbor Day as a distinctive holiday…

Most holidays celebrate something that has already happened and is worth remembering like the day someone was born or a religious holiday celebrating a past event. Arbor Day reflects a hope for the future.

Not so fast Arbor Day! You don’t have the corner on this market!

Hope for the future? What about Easter!?

Though comparing Easter to Arbor Day is like matching up apples to oranges, it did cause me to ponder.

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble Ask your family: What are the similarities between these two holidays? What are the differences?

Both holidays share in hope for the future, but Easter has an advantage… we don’t have to wait for a tiny tree to grow into a towering timber.

With Easter there is no wait.

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can have a close relationship with our mighty God…today!

That is something worth celebrating every day!

A freshly planted Douglas Fir seedling A massive Douglas Fir tree
On the left, the bucket was placed there as a size comparison. This is a seedling! Though it has high hopes for someday being tall!

Photo credits:
The seedling photo is from my archives.
Tree huggers is by the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources & Environment.
The massive Douglas Fir is by Wildcat Dunny. Both of these Flickr photos were licensed under: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Holy Week: Holy Saturday (almost there)

Posted on April 23, 2011June 13, 2020 by Carol Hulbert

We’ve taken a journey through Holy Week, with questions for family discussion. Ready for one more day? It’s Holy Saturday!

Three empty crosses looking forlorn

Time Out. Talk about… Jesus was dead, so what happened on Saturday of Holy Week?

We don’t know for sure but probably not much. Saturday for Jewish people, was the Sabbath; a day of rest. Jesus had been buried in a tomb (a place to put dead bodies; probably a cave) on Friday, before sunset – when the Sabbath started. Working on the Sabbath was forbidden. It was to be a day of downtime and prayer. There was probably a great deal of sadness and mourning among Jesus’ followers, who were afraid and hiding out.

Time Out. Talk about… If the disciples had gone into hiding, who buried Jesus’ body?

If you’re not sure about the answer to this one, how about a little look-it-up-in-the-Bible practice? Find the answer in all four Gospels but how about this one: Luke 23:50-54. (Or you can click on the Bible passage to read an on-line Bible. But don’t you want to show your adults how quickly you can find the Gospels?)

Time Out. Talk about… Wait a minute! The guy who buried Jesus… he was one of the council who had arrested Jesus; the ones who had convinced Pilate to condemn him to death?! What is that about?

That’s right, he was a part of the Sanhedrin. John’s Gospel tells us that another member of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus, joined in the burial process, both at great risk to their public identity.

Time Out. Talk about… How did only one or two people move the stone to close the tomb? Wasn’t it huge?

Right, this wasn’t your garden-sized stone! Estimates are that it weighed between one-and-one-half to two tons! But it was easy to close the tomb – gravity was employed. The circular stone was in a channel carved with a slight downward pitch towards the tomb’s entrance. (See the photo below.) To close the tomb one would have only had to remove a wedge that held the stone in place; it would then roll closed. Opening the tomb would have been another story!

A Jerusalem tomb showing how the stone would have been placed — Not Jesus' tomb, just an example. Note: the box is a step into the tomb. Notice the channel for the stone.

Time Out. Talk about… (No right or wrong answers here!)

Whom do you relate to: Joseph of Arimathea – willing to be a secret disciple, or the followers of Jesus in hiding?
Do you suppose the disciples in their grief wondered about the words of Jesus with regards to being killed and rising after three days? (For a couple of examples check out Mark 8:31, Mark 10:32-34, or John 2:19).

Thanks for joining us on our Holy Week series.

Holy Week: What is good about Good Friday?

Posted on April 22, 2011April 11, 2020 by Carol Hulbert

How about some more family discussion on our journey through our series on Holy Week? Even though this day was full of sadness.

Remember: scroll down just until you see a “Time Out. Talk About…” question. Read the question with your group and allow everyone to share their answers. Scroll some more to see the answer. A good reason for computer time!

The judgment of Jesus

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble Why do you suppose it’s called “Good Friday?” What can be good about the day Jesus died?

an empty cross Actually there is no known correct answer to this question. The Friday before Easter being called “Good Friday” could have come from the shortening of an English phrase “God’s Friday” much like the word, “good-bye” originally started off as “God be with you.”

It certainly wasn’t a good day for the followers of Jesus back when it actually happened; they had to watch him be killed.

We can call it “good” because we can look back on the day Jesus died, from our perspective of knowing what happened on Easter!

But we are getting ahead of ourselves; there are still the events that happened on Friday of the very first Holy Week. When we left off yesterday, Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane…

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble Jesus was arrested in the garden, but what happened next?

Jesus had a long night. (It was late at night when he was arrested). He went through a series of trials, was beaten, whipped, spit upon, treated badly, and sentenced to die on a cross—a humiliating and cruel form of torture and execution.

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble But why were the people who had Jesus arrested so determined to kill him?

The simple answer: Fear. (Unfortunately fear can result in hatred.) The Sanhedrin had ordered Jesus’ arrest. The Sanhedrin was a very powerful Jewish court made up of religious leaders. They were threatened by Jesus, his message and his popularity. The gospels portray the Sanhedrin as a group most interested in preserving their own power and position.

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble What was it that happened with the man named Barabbas? (To hear how Barabbas is pronounced, go here.)

It was the practice at Passover to let one prisoner go free. Pilate (the Roman governor) offered to release Jesus, but the crowd demanded instead the release of Barabbas, a known robber and murderer. The gospels make it clear that Pilate did not believe that Jesus was guilty. But the crowd yelled, “Crucify him.” Pilate eventually succumbed to the will of the crowd and ordered Jesus to be whipped and then to be crucified.

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble What does crucified mean?

Jesus was killed by a process called “crucifixion;” we say he was “crucified.” This is where a person is either hung on a cross or nailed to a cross (the latter in Jesus’ case). It was a horrible way to die. (Thank goodness we don’t do that anymore!)

Time Out. Talk about… A speech bubble (No right or wrong answers here!)

Have you ever been accused of something that you didn’t do? What happened?
When have you seen or heard about an instance of hatred that probably stemmed from fear?
When have you given in to the pressure of what the “crowd” wanted to do? How did you feel about this?
What do you suppose happened to Barabbas? (The Bible doesn’t tell us.)

Stay tuned for the next installment of our series on Holy Week.

Photo credits:
Photos are from my archives. The painting of the Judgment of Jesus was taken in Corfu, Greece. Unfortunately I failed to note the artist.
Speech bubbles via WPClipart.com, in the public domain.