St John’s Kids (Page 3)

St John’s Kids & Families, 30 May 2021

Sigh … lockdown is back! Hopefully just for a week, but even that can be a source of disappointment as events are cancelled and families face the reality of juggling working from home with supervising their kids. It is okay to get annoyed, sad, or angry – we were made to have lots of emotions. But it is easy to get in the habit of grumbling, which can lead to lives that are unsatisfied and unhappy. The bible calls us…

St John’s Kids & Families, 23 May 2021

St John’s Kids – Photo Reminder This week, our Grade 4/5/6s will be creating a church family collage, which the wider congregation will be invited to add photos or drawings to in following weeks. It would be much appreciated if each child in those year levels would bring a family photo with them to St John’s Kids. Note: For privacy and child-safe reasons, no names will be displayed with the photos. Going Bananas 2021 is happening! Last week we announced…

St John’s Kids & Families, 16 May 2021

St John’s Kids Photo Request On Sunday 23 May, our Grade 4/5/6s will be creating a church family collage, which the wider congregation will be invited to add photos or drawings to in following weeks. It would be much appreciated if each child in those year levels would bring a family photo to St John’s Kids either this week, or on the 23rd. Note: For privacy and child-safe reasons, no names will be displayed with the photos.   Going Bananas…

St John’s Kids & Families, 09 May 2021

Over the past two weeks, we have had guest speakers from Prison Fellowship and Open House tell us about their mission to share the love and truth of Jesus with others. This week, set yourselves a Family Mission. You may like to do something for someone else: Bake a cake or biscuits for a neighbour (include clean up!) Do some gardening for someone you know that is not well or plan some time together: A family movie or games night,…

St John’s Kids & Families, 02 May 2021

Family Discipleship is not so much about cramming more into busy schedules as it is about being intentional and leveraging the time parents already have with their children, to help them become friends and followers of Jesus. If you would like to utilise some time you spend in the car on the way to school, or swimming, or music lessons, etc., you may be interested in The Word On The Street – an Australian, Christian devotional podcast for families. Each episode is…

St John’s Kids & Families, 25 April 2021

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…

St John’s Kids – Easter 2021

Click here for details of our Easter services, in-person and livestreamed. At our in-person services, we will have some free resources to help you investigate the life and death of Jesus further. One of these is specifically for kids: Who, What, Why of Easter. This has also been made available as a digital resource which you can watch here: https://vod-progressive.akamaized.net/exp=1617267892~acl=%2Fvimeo-prod-skyfire-std-us%2F01%2F512%2F21%2F527563268%2F2480047302.mp4~hmac=fc4a282d97d753de0e5be1ba21f5da2071f1cc49a2022bb413392ebcb70c22d9/vimeo-prod-skyfire-std-us/01/512/21/527563268/2480047302.mp4?filename=Who+What+Why+How+of+Easter.mp4 And there are some related activity sheets available too: 1, 2, 3, 4. Please connect with us if you are not…

St John’s Kids, 28 March 2021

Sunday 28 March You can access our digital services here and/or attend in-person at 10am or 5pm. This week we conclude our current talk series. Read Jeremiah 31:27-34 in preparation. This passage points forward to God making a new covenant with his people – one that would not write his law on tablets of stone, as in Moses’ time, but where he would write his law on their hearts. This prophesy was ultimately fulfilled through Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the…

St John’s Kids, 21 March 2021

Sunday 21 March You can access our digital services here and/or attend in-person at 10am or 5pm. This week we continue our current talk series. Read Jeremiah 23:15-32 in preparation. Jeremiah had to contend with false prophets who were telling the people that everything was going to be okay – that they were God’s people and had nothing to worry about, when in fact God had told Jeremiah that they were heading for military defeat and exile. We might be…

St John’s Kids, 14 March 2021

Sunday 14 March You can continue to access our digital services here and/or attend in-person at 10am or 5pm. This week we continue our current talk series. Read Jeremiah 15:10-21 in preparation. Jeremiah is feeling very sorry for himself in this passage – to the point of wishing he had never been born. He feels as though he has done what God asked of him, but that his message has been rejected and the people curse him for it. He feels…

St John’s Kids, 07 March 2021

Sunday 7 March This week we continue our talk series, looking at the book of Jeremiah. You can continue to access our digital services here and/or attend in-person at 10am or 5pm. The people of Judah had put their trust in the temple and the associated sacrifices and rituals. But outside of that system, they were overtly disobeying God in other areas of their lives. Are we sometimes guilty of attending church ‘religiously’ on Sundays and forgetting that a relationship with…

St John’s Kids, 28 February 2021

Sunday 28 February This week, we start a new talk series, looking at the book of Jeremiah. Quite often, children are referred to as the future of the church. While it is true that our young’uns are likely to outlive the current leadership of the church, referring to them only in terms of the future undermines their role in the present and can leave kids thinking that they need to wait before they are of any use to the church…

St John’s Kids, 21 February 2021

Sunday 21 February Over the past couple of weeks, we have been looking at Songs of Joy in the Psalms – specifically singing for joy and sharing the joy. This week, our focus is on living with joy. I was reading this morning about the overview effect – the intense emotions and awareness that astronauts experience because of their unique perspective of the earth from space. It can be so overwhelming that some have built ‘awe-time’ into their schedule. Before…

St John’s Kids, 14 February 2021

Sunday 14 February The Sad News is … There will be no in-person services this week. Melbourne is heading into 5 days of lockdown. While sad, I believe it is far preferable to have occasional short, sharp ‘circuit breakers’ than to end up back in 6+ months of lockdown. So, I give thanks to God for the lessons learnt last year and the leadership that we have. The Good News is … Our made-for-digital service is still up and running,…

St John’s Kids, 07 February 2021

Sunday 7 February You can access our digital services here or attend an in-person service at 10am or 5pm. If attending in person, please take the time to scan the QR Code on arrival and enter your details. Keeping electronic records is mandatory. As are masks again this week, for the whole service! Thank you for your willingness to adapt to changing regulations.   This week we start a new talk series, looking at the Psalms and the topic of JOY.…

St John’s Kids, 31 January 2021

Sunday 31 January You can continue to access our digital services here. We are no longer requiring pre-registration for our in-person services – 10am and 5pm. We do still need to maintain electronic records, so scan the QR Code on arrival and enter your details. This will take a few minutes the first time, as you need to register with a password, but will be simpler thereafter. St John’s Kids will be resuming in-person this week! We won’t start our teaching…

St John’s Kids, 24 January 2021

Sunday 24 January: Access our streamed services here. If you would like to attend our in person service at either 10am or 5pm please register your attendance here. Our St John’s Kids program will remain in recess during the holidays and will resume in-person with the school term. If you are attending in-person services with kids this week, the activity sheets provided in the blog will be available in physical form for you to collect when you arrive at church. However,…

St John’s Kids, 17 January 2021

Good News … We start in-person services this week! Head here for more info and to register for in-person attendance at either 10am or 5pm. Bad News … Actually, there isn’t any bad news because we are keeping our digital services running too. So, if you are not ready/able to join in-person, you can continue to connect with us digitally. WIN/WIN! Our St John’s Kids program will remain in recess during the holidays and will resume with the school term.…

St John’s Kids, 10 January 2021

Sunday 10 January: Access our streamed services here. This week’s reading and talk include one of my favourite miracles. We can fall into the trap of thinking that all of Jesus’ miracles were pretty much the same – conducted in public with one word or touch, to ease the pain of individuals, and to demonstrate Jesus’ power over nature, illness or even death. But this time, Jesus leads a blind man away from his village and the miracle is conducted in…

St John’s Kids – 03 January 2021

  Happy New Year everyone! 2020 was full of unforeseen challenges and tough times for many. It’s quite natural to be relieved that the year is behind us and a brand new, fresh start, lies before us. I pray that as we transition into the new year, we don’t automatically reset to the pre-COVID busyness, but that we can reassess our activities and embrace the lessons that we’ve learnt from lockdown. I doubt anyone wants to return to the remote…

St John’s Kids, 25-27 December 2020

 Merry Christmas everyone! At the end of what has been a tumultuous year, in which we’ve all had to face many unforeseen challenges, I pray that we can still our hearts and reflect on all that God has done for us this year, always, forever. However you celebrate this season, may God fill you with great joy and peace as you trust in him, and experience overflowing hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)   Christmas Services: All…

St John’s Kids – 20 December 2020

 Sunday 20 December: Access our streamed services here. This week is the fourth Sunday of Advent – the season in the lead up to Christmas, when we prepare for the coming of Jesus. In our services, we have been lighting a candle each week to remind us that Jesus brings light into the world. Today we light the fourth candle, LOVE. We worship a God of love. He shows his love through his plans for our lives and all that he…

St John’s Kids – 13 December 2020

 This week is the third Sunday of Advent – the season in the lead up to Christmas, when we prepare for the coming of Jesus. In our services, we have been lighting a candle each week to remind us that Jesus brings light into the world. For those of you who have created an advent wreath at home, light the third candle, JOY, this week. (If you have used coloured candles, this is the pink/rose one.) Discuss together what you…

St John’s Kids – 06 December 2020

 SUNDAY 6 DECEMBER   Save the Date: Sunday 13 December, Stars in the Shire – Community Carols service, 6:30pm live on YouTube. Find more details about all our Christmas services here. And … We will be having an IN-PERSON social get-together for our St John’s Kids families! Sunday 20 December, Anthony Beale Reserve Playground, 277 St Helena Road. Some of the St John’s Kids team will be there from 11:30am-3:30pm with Christmas activity packs for the kids. Come for lunch…

St John’s Kids – 29 November 2020

 SUNDAY 29 NOVEMBER Today’s Services: Access our streamed services here. Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the season leading up to Christmas, when we prepare for the coming of Jesus. We light a candle each week to remind us that Jesus brings light into the world. This week we light the candle of HOPE. We can have hope because the bible assures us that God is faithful and will keep his promises. We celebrate the truth of God’s promises in…