All-Age Talk - Names of Jesus

Here is my talk for the Nativity & Tree Lighting Service at St John's Seven Kings this year, which I also adapted to use as a Christmas assembly for Downshall Primary School:

Earlier in Advent I had a session with children in an RE class at Little Heath School to talk about Christian values as we see them in Jesus. Following that session the children sent me poems they had written which combined different words to make titles for Jesus which summed up something about him and his values. Among my favourites were 'The King of Kindness', 'The Truth of Giving' and 'The Gift of Happiness'.

I wonder what names or titles you could devise for Jesus which say something about who he is and what he came into our world to do. Each of you should have a sheet of paper with three lists of words on it. I’d like you to look at those lists and combine some of the words to make a new name of title for Jesus. Please talk to the people around about this. You could circle, tick, rewrite or just remember the words that you want to combine and use. Then I’ll ask you to tell us some of the names you have come up with.

[Time for discussion and feedback]

Thank you for sharing those new names and titles for Jesus. They were great and give us lots of ways for thinking about who he is, what he did and what he can mean to us today.

In the Bible we find two special names that were given to Jesus at his birth which are particularly important for understanding and knowing him.

The first is ‘Emmanuel’, which means God with us. Jesus was not just any other human baby, he was God born as a human being. He was God come into our world as an act of solidarity sharing what we experience in life, so we know that he understands and will support us through whatever happens.

The second is Jesus which means ‘The Rescuer’. Jesus was God come into our world to die and rise to new life for us making it possible for us to come through sin and suffering into new beginnings and new life.

The greatest gift you can have this Christmas is to come to know Jesus in these ways. Jesus is God’s gift to the world. Jesus is God’s way of showing and telling that he loves us enough to be with us in every situation and circumstance and to bring us through our experience of sin and suffering into a new start and a new way of living. My prayer is that we don’t simply know the story of Jesus’ birth or even know the meaning, the reason, for his birth, but that we actually receive the gift that God has given to us and know Jesus for ourselves as our Rescuer who is God with us.

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Kate Rusby - Diadem.

Lent, Holy Week and Easter at St John's

Children from Downshall Primary School came to St John's Seven Kings to learn more about Easter. They took part in seven Easter Activity Stations which enabled them to learn about the Easter story and reflect on what the story says to them. This year's Easter Activity Stations involved, among other activities, tasting vinegar and chocolate, washing hands, placing rocks in water and making foil crosses. The Easter Activity Stations taught, among other stories, about the Last Supper, the trial of Jesus, carrying the cross, Jesus' death and resurrection. These activity Stations were also used at All Saints Goodmayes this year and for our own Good Friday Children's Activity Morning.

Brambles the donkey led our Palm Sunday procession from St Paul's Goodmayes to St John's. The service and procession was attended by more than 100 people. From St Paul's the procession went to Westwood Recreation Ground where palm crosses were blessed and the Gospel was read. From there the procession continued along Meads Lane to St John's Seven Kings where the service concluded with Communion. Along the way, the congregation of Seven Kings United Free Church left their service to greet the procession with waved palms, banners and instruments.

The Seven Kings Fellowship of Churches celebrated the learning done together as part of this year's Lent Course - 'Build on the Rock: Faith, doubt and Jesus' at a Lent Service hosted by Seven Kings United Free Church. Among feedback from each of the three groups that studied the Course was the following:

• "We had some very deep discussions. Our discussion about death was particularly interesting, thoughtful and deep."
• "I appreciated thinking about Jesus as 'friend' and 'brother'. This was a new way of thinking. I had to stop and think about what we are really saying when we call Jesus our 'brother'."
• "Asking why God leads us to pray was thought-provoking and important for me."
• "You think you're not that good as a Christian but to then hear that we all struggle with doubt, it makes you realise that you're not odd."  

On Maundy Thursday we appreciated a reflective Communion service with footwashing where Jean Richards, our Reader, spoke about the background to Jesus' prayer for unity in John 17. Our Good Friday Devotional Service featured dramatic monologues written by Rev. Alan Stewart giving perspectives on Christ's Passion from Judas, Pilate, Mary, a Soldier and Peter. Our Service Sheet included two images of the Passion by Worthing-based artist Jonathan Peter Smith (smithpeterjonathan@yahoo.co.uk). In between came our Good Friday Children's Activity morning with Easter crafts including: Easter snow globes, Easter cards, Easter plates, Easter gardens, Easter cakes and more.

Easter Day included a Sunrise Service followed by breakfast which began, as did our All-Age Communion Service, with the rolling away of the stone from the empty tomb. During this Service I said, 'The story of Christ’s death and resurrection takes us forward into a new life. The reality of his presence with us on the way helps us endure and persevere. The combination of the two brings hope for the future because whatever we may experience in the here and now, ultimately Love wins. That is what has made sense for millions of Christians over the centuries since that first Easter Day. May we also know Christ’s resurrection not only making sense for us but also making sense of our lives too.' 

Our Easter Day ended with the baptisms of four children from a local family. There, I said, 'As we celebrate these baptisms today, may we realise afresh the way that our deepest needs - for love and significance – are fully met through baptism into the family of God. Who are we? We are the beloved sons and daughters of our Father God. Why are we here? To use our God-given abilities to do work for God that only we can do.'  
   
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Scott Stapp - What Would Love Do?

Easter Activity Stations

On Friday children from Downshall Primary School came to St John's Seven Kings to learn more about Easter. They took part in seven Easter Activity Stations (see above for one of these activities) which enabled them to learn about the Easter story and reflect on what the story says to them. This year's Easter Activity Stations involved, among other activities, tasting vinegar and chocolate, washing hands, placing rocks in water and making foil crosses. The Easter Activity Stations teach, among other stories, about the Last Supper, the trial of Jesus, carrying the cross, Jesus' death and resurrection.

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Gillian Welch - By The Mark.

The Journey: The long walk is part of the present

This morning for our All-Age Christmas Communion Service at St John's Seven Kings I'm reusing the Christmas Assembly talk which I gave to Downshall Primary School last Friday. It comes from the assemblies.org.uk site and uses last year's John Lewis Christmas advert to reflect upon the cost of care and giving.

Like Jesus coming from heaven to earth, how far will we go to show concern for someone else? Might learning to care and give be the making of us? Loving God, you have given us life. Help us to give a little more love this Christmas and always. Amen.

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Lily Allen - Somewhere Only We Know.

Seven Good Joys

Knitted nativity at Parkview Court

 

Nine Lessons and Carols by Candlelight below

This week at St John's Seven Kings we have: sung carols at Parkview Court and along Devonshire Road; hosted a Christmas performance by Aldborough E-Act Free School; held a Christmas Assembly for Downshall Primary School; had a Youth Group Christmas Party; and, tonight, held our Nine Lessons and Carols by Candlelight. Here is the cribbed homily I gave during the latter service:

‘The Seven Joys of Mary’ or 'Seven Good Joys' is a traditional carol about Mary's happiness at moments in the life of Jesus, probably inspired by the Seven Joys of the Virgin in the devotional literature and art of Medieval Europe. I’ve come across this carol only recently, as it is included on Kate Rusby’s excellent Christmas album While Mortals Sleep.

The carol has a simple, repetitive but beautiful structure:

“The first good joy that Mary had,
It was the joy of one
To see her blessed Jesus
When He was first her Son.
When He was first her Son, Good Lord;
And happy may we be,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
To all eternity”

That structure is repeated for all seven joys. There are different British and US versions of the carol which taken together give more that seven joys but the basic joys of Mary of which the carol speaks are to see her own Son Jesus: suck at her breast bone; make the lame to go; make the blind to see; read the Bible o'er; bring the dead alive; upon the crucifix; and wear the crown of heaven.

These seven joys take us from the nativity of Christ (suck at her breast bone) through his ministry (make the lame to go; make the blind to see; read the Bible o'er; bring the dead alive) to his death (upon the crucifix), and on to his resurrection and ascension (wear the crown of heaven).

Part of the reason this carol resonates, besides its beauty, is that it links Christmas with Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. It even dares to list the Crucifixion as one of Mary’s joys, an incomprehensible idea unless viewed with the eyes of faith.

So the singing of a carol like this can help us more fully explain the meaning of Christmas and save it from mere sentimentality because, as the carol describes, Christ is born into our world to save us by his life, death, and resurrection. This is the ultimate lesson of every true Christmas tradition and the source of all our joys as Christians, as well as those of Mary.

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Kate Rusby - Joy To The World.

Relighting candles and the resurrection

I used an Easter presentation from the Collective Worship website today for the Year 5 lessons to which I contributed today at Downshall Primary School. The presentation provides an opportunity for pupils and students to reflect on some of the key Easter events and their meaning.

Following this I used a relighting candle on an Easter cake to illustrate what happened in the crucifixion and resurrection. We had some good fun by inviting the children to join in the attempts to blow out the candle. I talked about Christians seeing Jesus as the light of the world; Jesus "was the source of life, and this life brought light to people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out" (John 1. 4 & 5). 

People thought that that light had been snuffed out through the crucifixion only for it to flare into flame again through the resurrection. Now Christians believe that Jesus is still alive in the good we do and experience in our lives: “You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead it is put on the lampstand, where it gives light for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5. 14 - 16).

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Philip Bailey - Bring It To Jesus.

Advent update

Advent to date at St John's Seven Kings has included Advent Reflections, Tamil Carols, Brownies Got Talent, Christingle Service and Nine Lessons and Carols by Candlelight. Today added the Christmas Party for the Downshall Pre-School Playgroup plus Carol Singing around the Parish. Later in the week Downshall Primary School will come for their Christmas Assemblies. We have raised funds for The Children's Society through our Christingle Service and for Haven House Hospice through our Carol Singing. 

The choirs of St John's and St Peter's Aldborough Hatch have led our worship in the Advent Service for the Seven Kings Fellowship of Churches and also at our Service of Nine Lessons and Carols by Candlelight. The two choirs will join forces again this Sunday evening for a Service of Nine Lessons and Carols at St Peters.

The latest creation of our banner group - a cover for our organ with a text from Psalm 57 - was dedicated during our Christingle Service. The dedication prayer we used was:  We dedicate this organ cover to the glory of God in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We thank you for the gift of music, the abilities of musicians and singers and of those who make and maintain the instruments we use in worship. May this organ cover be both a protection to our organ and a reminder to all of the contribution which music and musicians make to our worship. Amen.

Our church website is currently part way through a significant upgrade. The new format is in place and the next stage is to update the content. We are very grateful to Doug Feather who has maintained our website over a number of years and helped transition to the new format. Also to Senthur Balaji and colleagues for their work in redesigning the look of the site. 

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Sufjan Stevens - O come, O come Emmanuel.

Easter Activity Stations

Today children from Newbury Park Primary School came to St John's Seven Kings to learn more about Easter. They took part in seven Easter Activity Stations (see above) which enabled them to learn about the Easter story and reflect on what the story says to them. This year's Easter Activity Stations involve, among other activities, smelling perfume, tasting vinegar and chocolate, touching rocks and drawing gifts. The Easter Activity Stations teach, among other stories, about Jesus' trial, carrying the cross, mockery of Jesus, his death and resurrection. On Friday children from Downshall Primary School will come to take part in our Easter Activity Stations.

Both schools visited St John's last year for Easter Activity Stations as part of an initiative organised by the Redbridge Standing Committee on Religious Education (SACRE) and the experience went so well that all involved wanted to repeat it again this year.

 

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U2 - With A Shout (Jerusalem).

Good news for children and young people

During March, as well as continuing with our Lent Course Handing on the Torch: Sacred words for a secular world, our other activities at St John's Seven Kings during Lent will focus on children and young people.

On Sunday 18^th March our young people will lead our All-Age Mothering Sunday service. Our young people are currently planning the service themselves and are exploring ways of saying thank you as well as looking at the bible stories about Mary and Elizabeth. The service is likely to feature cards, poems and puzzles, as well as the bunches of daffodils which are given out to all the women present.

Then on 26^th and 30^th March schoolchildren from Newbury Park Primary School and Downshall Primary School will be visiting St John’s to learn more about Easter through a series of Easter Activity Stations.

Last year, at the invitation of the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) in Redbridge, we ran Easter Activity Stations for both schools and they proved so popular that both are bringing their children to St John’s again this year. For the pupils coming, this will be an opportunity to understand more about the narrative of Easter, reflect on the meaning of Easter for Christians, and take time to think on what some of the Easter concepts mean to them.

Here is an example of one of last year's Easter activity stations:

Reflection - Can you think of somebody who has put themselves out for you like Jesus did for Christians? Who was that person and what did they do that was special?

Activity - Write a Thank you card.

Going for Growth is a Church of England report which challenges churches to try to become good news for children and young people instead of simply trying to teach good news to children and young people. To do, it suggests, the Church will need fresh eyes to see itself:

“Such a church would need the confidence to deal with questions rather than always having to find the answers. It would be prepared to surrender its life and lets its institutions be

transformed. The sadness is that churches rarely have the confidence which enables

them to face the questions theology may ask of them, especially in the devastating

directness such questions may take on in the mouth of a child (or young person).

Churches lack the humility to face the truth about the quality of their life and worship

and to set about addressing the needs which are then identified. A church which

welcomes children (and young people), accepts their gifts and ministries, meets their

needs, advocates justice, seeks new life, challenges evil with love and truth, and

continues to learn the values of the Kingdom by living them, is a Church which is good

news not only for its members but for the world.”

In a small way, through our activities this month and on an ongoing basis, we are seeking to be that kind of a church.

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Sister Act 2 - Joyful, Joyful.

Christmas at St John's (1)

We had our All-Age Christingle Service and Service of Nine Lessons and Carols by candlelight today at St John's Seven Kings. Also above are photographs from our Youth Group's Christmas Party and our Christmas Bazaar plus our Christmas Tree. During the week we have had both the Aldborough E-Act Free School and Downshall Primary School in church for Christmas shows and assemblies. New opportunities this year have included the link with the Free School and a Carol Service held at a local supported housing complex, which has led on to a monthly service also being requested. Tomorrow will find us carol singing in the parish, while on Tuesday we have our Carol Tea.

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Solomon Burke - Silent Night.