Saturday 6 June 2020
Welcome to Messy Church at Home. How are you all getting on? We miss seeing you! Hopefully you have been able to enjoy the great sunshine that we had recently but I think that the weather is a bit stormier now!
Today we’ll hear a story about a storm that struck when Jesus and his friends were out in a boat. Watch this video to find out what happened.
Wow, Jesus could calm the wind and the waves with just his words. His friends were amazed and terrified at what they had seen. Let’s think a bit more about this story together through some activities.
Storm Art
Can you recreate a storm scene with the boat in the picture too? There are lots of ways you can do this with whatever you have around at home, here are some ideas.
• Make a 3d picture by cutting up strips of paper, glue each end of the strip down on a sheet of paper to make a wave effect. If you don’t have any blue paper then you can colour in different shades of blue to use instead. Cut out a cardboard boat from a cereal packet and stick that on amongst the waves. Don’t forget to add a sail to your boat!
• Paint a picture of a storm. You’ll need paper, paint, paintbrushes and some brown card or paper to colour in for the boat. Swirl blue, white and black paint together to make some stormy effects and then stick on your boat.
Sometimes it can feel like we’re going through ‘storms’ in our lives, when we are finding something difficult. Can you think of anything that you have found difficult recently? Jesus’ friends were experienced fishermen and so it must have been a terrible storm if they weren’t able to control their boat in it. They turned to Jesus for help.
Tornado in a Bottle
We’ve enjoyed this activity at Messy Church in the past but can you get it to work at home? You’ll need a jar or a bottle, water and a squirt of washing up liquid. Fill your jar or bottle around three quarters full with water, add a squirt of washing up liquid, make sure the lid is on very tightly and then swirl it around vigorously. As you swirl it around, you should start to see a mini tornado appear in the jar. Stop swirling and it will become completely calm again.
Imagine being in the boat with Jesus’ friends as the storm raged around them, it must have been very scary. But just a few words from Jesus and all was calm again, just like our tornado jars when we stop swirling them!
Story and Song Celebration Time
You can read today’s story in the Bible in Mark 4 v 35-41 or you can follow this link.
Jesus’ friends were amazed at what had happened as they saw that Jesus had great power, even over the wind and the waves. It made them wonder who Jesus was. Who do you think Jesus is? This is a really important question for us to think about for ourselves and you can read all about Jesus and the things that he said and did, in the Bible.
We might feel like we’ve been going through a storm recently ourselves as so many things have changed. We’ve not been able to go to nursery or school or to other activities as usual and we’ve not been able to see our friends and family in the normal ways.
Quite near the start of the lockdown, I found myself feeling worried by all of the sudden changes that had happened and I didn’t know what the future would look like. It felt like being in a storm and as if everything had been turned upside down. But then I remembered that Jesus is always with me in every situation and so even if it feels like life has been turned upside down, I can trust him to be with me and to calm my fears. The storm might not always go away quickly but Jesus brings us peace and hope in difficult times.
‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him.’
Romans 15 v 13
Let’s finish off with a song that is new to our Messy Church and it reminds us of God’s power and that we can hold on to him each day.
Remember to send in any pictures of what you have made to our Facebook page or you can email them to familyworker@outlook.com, we would love to share some on our Facebook page.
Thank you for visiting Messy Church At Home and we hope you’ll join us here again