...and after a few technical difficulties (due to the talks being too large for me to post them on the blog directly) my lovely husband has found a way to put the talks on Youtube so you can click these links to see them... 

Paul's letter from lockdown - reasons to PRAISE...

Ephesians 1v4 He CHOSE us...  

Ephesians 1v5 He ADOPTED us...  

Epheisians 1v7 He REDEEMED us and forgave our sins!...  

Ephesians 1v8 the riches of God's GRACE which He LAVISHED on us... 

Sorry I haven't posted on this blog for a while - the school holidays ended and homeschooling my two boys has been all consuming in the past few weeks!

In the next few blog posts I want to show you the kids talks from the last 3 Sundays so you can watch them again if you'd like to!

Introduction to our new series in Ephesians 1 'Pauls letter from lockdown'... Ephesians 1v3 reasons to PRAISE...

How to make an Easter garden!

Hi there!

Here are the instructions for how to make your very own Easter garden!

1) Fill a container with soil (we used an old painting tray, but a tupperware or earthenware dish would also be great)

Place an empty jam jar on the soil and bury the base to form the start of your tomb...

Cover your tomb in a layer of soil to form a hill...

Cover all the soil with moss (we found some lurking in one of our un-weeded flower beds!)

Ta da!

Find a stone large enough to cover the entrance to the tomb...

We made 3 crosses out of bits of wood (you could use lollypop sticks) and put them on the hill...

 We've put this on the centre of our kitchen table and at breakfast each day we're thinking about what happened in the week leading up to Easter.

In readiness for this weekend, we've made a felt Jesus figure that we will put on the cross on Friday to remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us. We've also prepared a little piece of linen that we have splatted with red paint. On Friday evening before the kids go to bed, we will take the 'body' down from the cross, wrap it in the linen and lie Jesus in the tomb. Then we will roll the stone over the entrance to the tomb and wait for Sunday morning!

I wonder what we'll find when we come down for breakfast on Sunday morning! Hallelujah! He is RISEN (while your kids are asleep, prepare the scene so it's a surprise on Sunday morning...stone rolled away, body gone, linen folded inside tomb)!!!

Have fun!

Kids talk from Sunday!

Hi there!

This is the video of the kids talk from this Sunday's service, complete with the memory verse song for the memory verse for this week...

'God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us! So that in Him we might become the righteousness of God' 2 Corinthians 5v21

I hope you enjoy learning this and chatting through what it means for us in your families this week!

 After the service, a friend mentioned to me that it would have been better if I had used red paint rather than black to avoid any chance of causing offence. I am deeply sorry for any offence I may have caused. I will use red paint if I ever use this illustration again. I hope my thoughtless blunder doesn't take away from the incredible good news of what Jesus has done for us!

Here is the kids talk from this morning!

Here is the full memory verse for this week...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ8SUHKNE_U

Or you can learn the simplified version that we sang during today's kids talk:

'Don't let any nasty words come out of your mouth, but only what is useful for building others up' Ephesians 4:29

If you want to have a practice at using words that build others up at home, why not try this activity...

1) Write the name of every member of your household on a separate piece of paper
2) Pass these pieces of paper and either WRITE something encouraging or kind about that person, or DRAW a picture of something you love about that person
3) Keep passing the papers around until everyone in your household has written or drawn something kind about each person in your home
4) Give each person the piece of paper with their name at the top and let them read all the words/pictures that will build them up

Enjoy!

Here is a little booklet i've created to help talk with our kids about the Coronavirus. It's also maybe helpful to chat through with friends who are not yet Christians. If you'd like me to send you a printable version, do just email me and I can send it to you! nicci@emmanuelcanterbury.org.uk