Welcome to Term 2! I hope you have all had an enjoyable term break.
The lead up to Easter, as with Christmas, can be busy with end of term activities and family and other social get-togethers. We can run the risk of solemnly commemorating Jesus’ death and celebrating the resurrection and then … we often just stop.
But the excitement did not stop on Easter Sunday!
Over the last few weeks, we have had talks (in-person and online) looking at John 20, focussing on some of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances – first to Mary Magdalene, then to the disciples minus Thomas, and a week later to the disciples again including Thomas.
But Jesus’ appearances did not stop there. He was on earth for forty days before ascending into heaven.
Family Challenge this week: How many people do you think Jesus appeared to during those forty days? Take a guess and then spend some time throughout this week looking up and reading about appearances of Jesus. You might like to start with:
- John 20-21
- Luke 24
- Matthew 28
- 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
- Acts 1:1-5
What did you guess before looking deeper – 12, 50, 500?
Keep in mind, you will not get an exact answer to this question. At the end of his gospel, John himself writes that Jesus did many things other than what was recorded, ‘If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.’
Jesus appeared as proof that he was alive and to commission his followers to go and tell others about him. Jesus is still alive today and that commission is true for us too. Discuss who you might tell about Jesus this week.
This term in St John’s Kids: Our usual practice for our in-person program is to follow the talk series. This is so that parents and kids can connect outside of Sunday activities and discuss and compare what they have heard and learnt. This term the talk series will cover Galatians 1-6. However, before the series starts, we have two guest mission speakers: 25 April – Prison Fellowship and 2 May – Open House, and then the Galatians series will run through the rest of term and the July school holidays. As our kids’ programs do not run through the holidays, the kids will be starting the Galatians teaching this week and finish up at the end of term. So, keep in mind that your kids will be a couple of weeks ahead of you in the teaching series.
Have a great week,
Kylie – Children & Families’ Minister
St John’s is committed to Child Safety and welcomes your feedback on how we can keep improving.
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