Jammy News 26th June 2023
This was the start of a several sessions on the life of Jesus and the people he helped and healed.
We started the session by making heart cookies for our snack, but also to have some to take to people we knew who were unwell as a gift.
We had a news time together where everyone shared things good and not so good that had happened since our last session.
We then began the session with a Powerpoint reminding ourselves of how Jesus began his ministry, and how his teachings were new and the fact that he spoke with authority, much of which was challenging and upsetting for the religious leaders and teachers of the law. He had started to draw really large crowds especially when news spread that he could heal people and make them well again. The day on which our story was based was no exception; a house packed to the rafters with people wanting to hear what Jesus had to say. Our story was about the paralysed man and how 4 very special faith-filled, innovative and determined friends managed to get their friend directly in front of Jesus.
You can read the story in Luke 5:17-26 and Mark 2:1-12
Our focus was on friendship and caring as well as Gods power forgiveness and love for us.
We went through the story again with everyone having 4 strips of paper that they had to make into a “4” a door, a mat, a house, a flat roof and a pointy roof, steps and a hole ….. it was a challenge for the JAM members to keep up with the story, at the same time as them making all the shapes!
We watched the part of the Miracle Maker that portrays this story so well and the way Jesus had compassion on this man and how he responds to the religious leaders.
We talked about being a good friend to others and the ways we can help and care for others, as followers of Jesus.
We prayed using a blanket (mat) using heart and hand post-it notes. On the hearts we wrote the names of all the people who needed God’s help and healing and on the hands, things that we could do to help, like pray, make cards etc.. While we did this, we listened to “We are the World/Heal the World” sung by the Voices of Hope Children’s Choir which you can watch on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tRLowGHh4c
We played a game in pairs of lowering an egg (hard boiled) in a plastic dish with two pieces of string as ropes off the stage into a house with a hole in its roof (a box with a hole in the top!) We timed our efforts to see who managed to do it the quickest. We were very glad the eggs were hard boiled!
We ate heart biscuits as our snack and then made get well cards for the people we knew were unwell.
We also cut heart shaped paper chains with the people’s names on to take home to remind us to pray in the weeks ahead. The linked hearts symbolised the fact that we are all joined together by God’s love.
