On the Road
On Sunday 4th May we held a JAM session talking about the events immediately after the resurrection; when Jesus walked with followers on the road to Emmaus and how Thomas doubted that Jesus was alive.
When the JAM members arrived, there was a table quiz where tiny parts of Disney characters were shown and the children had to guess who they were.
After news time, we had another quiz on the screen, where you had to guess the object when shown a picture of part of it magnified many times. There were not many wrong answers!
We linked the quizzes with our story today and how some things might not be clear to start with, like when Jesus walked with the followers on the road to Emmaus and they didn’t recognise him until he sat down to eat supper with them and broke the bread and blessed it, then he was gone! The two followers rushed back, in the dark, the 7.5 miles to Jerusalem to tell the disciples (who were hiding in a locked room). They told them the good news and also shared with them the explanations of the scripture which Jesus had revealed to them, foretelling the death of Jesus and his resurrection.
Then suddenly, Jesus appeared in the room with them and started talking to them – some said it was a ghost but Jesus asked for something to eat and they watched him eat some fish – ghosts don’t eat!
One of the Disciples, Thomas, was not there at the time and, when the others told him that Jesus had visited them, he would not believe them.
A week later they were all together again (this time with Thomas) and Jesus appeared – Thomas fell at his feet and Jesus said Thomas believed because he had seen; happy are those who cannot see Jesus and still believe.
Jesus took the time to show them it was really him, he was really alive.
Jesus wanted his friends to be sure he was alive and that his death and resurrection were all part of God’s plan. He wanted them to believe so that they could tell others about God’s love and forgiveness
They saw, they touched, they watched him eat. Jesus had risen from the dead, just as scripture had said. Once his followers were sure of that, and had received the Holy Spirit, Jesus could send them out as witnesses to tell others that he had risen from the dead.
We then showed parts of The Miracle Maker, sang and did actions to “Sign the Cross” by Nick and Becky Drake, you can see it on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REWpX147iWI
We followed this with “May the God of Hope” by Doug Horley available on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXZYzXNJnEY
The bible is full of impossible things -the virgin birth, feeding of the 5 thousand, Jesus walks on water, turns water into wine…
Jesus in our story today arrives in a room when the door is locked and he does it twice.
What if the impossible can happen. What if what we see as impossible is really seeing what Jesus or God can do?
We then prayed.
Some of the older members then performed a play about someone not believing his friends when they said his football team had won – he had left 10 minutes before the end when they were losing and there seemed to be no hope.
We played a card game – “I doubt it” which is rather like cheat.
We made some laminated crosses, as some of the JAM members had missed the chance last time.
Watoto
Later that day a group of JAM members, leaders and church members went to Soul Church to see the Watoto Children’s Choir; as well as seeing their amazing energetic dancing and heard their fantastic singing, we learned a lot about the organisation based in Uganda which looks after orphaned children, feeds & educates them as well as give them a loving home in their special orphanages.
It was a very special event and it was obvious to see how much fun the choir had performing and how much the huge audience enjoyed it, especially our young people.
This charity does a really good job of helping children who have been disadvantaged by loss or abuse. They are given a loving home, they teach them about God’s love and support them to achieve their aspirations. It is possible to sponsor a child and this costs £23 per month; we are discussing the possibility of doing this with fundraising by the JAM members.
Comments by JAM members about the Watoto visit:
“I really liked it; it was really energetic and upbeat and the choreography was so big and noticeable and so cook and all the songs were really catchy and you could sing along to it without knowing the words. It was so loud.”
“It was crazy how they were so flexible, their arms and legs were wild and the songs were also really good and when they talked about a girl from Watoto how she had been sponsored by someone from Soul church since she was a baby, and now she was there and they met for the first time! I couldn’t believe how people would just leave their babies, and they end up as orphans.“
“I think the dancing was really unique and it was pretty exciting to see the different things people are able to achieve when they get the push, the head-start they need.“
Sunday May 18th
In this session we followed on from our previous session on the events after the resurrection and focussed particularly on the Breakfast on the Beach and The Great Commission.
We started with the youngsters arriving and us serving a breakfast (egg and bacon roll) – we know that Jesus was waiting on the beach, cooking fish for the disciples, after a weary night fishing, but we thought this was similar!
A 13 year old member of JAM will be performing in an all women’s and girls choir at Norfolk Show Ground to raise money for Breast Cancer and Alzheimer’s research on Sunday 1 June. She has enjoyed singing with other young people from a mixture of schools and is looking forward to performing a variety of songs from the Sound of Music, West Side Story, ABBA and more. It’s a great cause and nice way to find solidarity and community with others.
Two of our youngsters (together with a bunch of older members and parents) will be abseiling off The Forum on Saturday 19th July, in support of the YMCA – you will have a chance to sponsor them!
We asked for feedback from the trip to see the Watoto Children’s Choir and talked about the charity together and decided our beetle drive fundraiser would go towards starting the process to sponsor a child.
We then started our session by asking each young person what they were passionate about and invited them to talk for a minute on that subject, which most of them did, including our youngest member, Amelia. There were some very interesting subjects!
We then thought about how hard it is sometimes, as Christians, to speak to others about Jesus and our faith, and how this is what Jesus asked his disciples to do and has asked us to do too.
Our session then followed the story of Jesus cooking breakfast on the beach followed by the very last time the disciples see Jesus. Jesus asks the disciples to meet him on a mountain, and it is here that Jesus says he will be leaving them this time for good, he tells them he will be returning to his Father in heaven, but Jesus gives them a special promise that he will be with them always.
The disciples must have been rather confused-how can Jesus be with them always and be leaving too!
Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit would come to them soon; he wants them to wait in Jerusalem.
And then he gave them that special job to do! “Go into all the world and share the good news of God’s love, tell everyone about me” he says “and what I have done. Tell them that everyone who trusts in me and is truly sorry for the wrong things they have done will be forgiven. I will give them a new life and a new start”.
Then Jesus disappears, in a cloud- and that is the last time the followers see him.
The disciples had spent 3 years with Jesus, they had witnessed all the miracles and amazing things Jesus had done they had experienced his love, his power, his message. They were certainly the best people for the Job!
Thanks to the commitment of those disciples the story gradually spread all over the world, the disciples made followers and then they made followers…
And now it’s our turn to tell others. God doesn’t expect us to do it alone; we have the same promise that God’s Spirit will be with us always.
Jesus also told his disciples that people would find out about him by the way his friends, (and that’s all of us), how we behave and love one another. As others see how we live out our faith, they will come to know Jesus.
Jesus doesn’t want us to keep it to ourselves, the good news of God’s love and forgiveness is to be shared with everyone.
We watched saddleback kids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcFw8pLBSIo
We encouraged the children with info from Bible society regarding a revival amongst young people……..
Generation Z is leading a turnaround in the popularity of Christianity and a rise in church attendance in England and Wales, according to research published today.
A survey by the Bible Society and YouGov finds those aged 18-34, which includes Gen Z and Millennials, are newly drawn to Christian beliefs, with renewed interest not only in being part of a church but also in prayer, reading the Bible and social activism based on faith.
After years of declining congregations, the most dramatic increase in churchgoing, according to the research, is among young men. The image of churches being filled by elderly women and few others is no longer true, the society says.
Dr Rhiannon McAleer, the report’s co-author and Bible Society’s director of research, said: “We are seeing something we have never seen before.
“The results are pointing to community being the key. We are looking at young adults coming along with friends. They are not totally unchurched; sometimes grandparents have had an impact on their faith.”
The survey, The Quiet Revival, was conducted by YouGov among 13,146 people in England and Wales, and is an update on the Bible Society’s previous research conducted in 2018. It shows that in 2024, 5.8 million people were attending church at least once a month — 12 per cent of the population — compared with 3.7 million, or 8 per cent in 2018.
The most significant upturn was among the 18-24s (Gen Z) with 16 per cent of them attending church at least once a month; six years earlier, only 4 per cent did so.
We spent some time sharing what our faith meant to us and, as leaders, how we are able to share our faith with the children, they also were able to think about what their faith meant to them what they would say to others should they be asked.
We prayed together with a focus on praying for someone who they would like to want to know God’s love and then sang a song we have done before but this time with signing Every Step< > by Nick & Becky Drake https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuM4nBTpOOo
We played Fish drive game -another made up game! Using fish not beetles!
Still just as frustrating to throw the right number.