A Thanksgiving Story

When we started talking about a thanksgiving story in the bible, I found a few psalms and of course the Gospel lesson of the 10 lepers.  Having just done that recently, Pastor challenged me to dig a bit deeper and find a story less familiar that we could still make "Kid-Friendly."  Below is my attempt at doing that (and keeping it short and gore-less.  Chronicles may talk about Thanksgiving, but it was a bit tricky to take out all of the killing...) Let me know what you think :D  

Thanksgiving Eve Service

2 Chronicles 20—Learning to give thanks together

Narrator:  A long long time ago, there was a King in Judah named Jehosephat! One day, he learned that two of his neighboring countries were coming to fight with him.  He was surrounded and scared—and so the people of his country came together to talk with the King.  Jehosephat stood and spoke to the people and to God:

Jehosephat: Lord God in Heaven, you have watched over us for many, many, many years.  You brought our people into this land, and we built this temple for you, saying that no matter what, we would praise you.  We stand here now to say that we are overwhelmed and scared, but we stand here now watching you and knowing you will care for us.  Everyone say “We will praise you”

Narrator:  a prophet came and said to them,

Prophet: Listen!  This is what the Lord says to you—do not be afraid or discouraged because these people are coming to fight.  This battle is the Lord’s, not yours!  You will not have to fight, but go to this place, stand firm and watch as the Lord will come to help you.  Do not be afraid and do not be discouraged—go and see that God is with you.

Narrator:  Early in the morning, they left for the desert where they were to meet the neighbor’s armies.  Jehosephat addressed his people:

Jehosephat: Listen to me—have faith in the Lord, and he will uphold you.  Everyone, as we go into battle, let us sing the goodness of the Lord.  Repeat after me:

Give Thanks to the Lord our God

His love endures forever! (3X)

Narrator: as the people continued to sing thanks to God, a miracle happened.  Smaller groups of fighters from other countries snuck up on the armies coming to fight Jehosephat and his people. There was confusion in the fighting and soon, as Jehosephat and his people watched, their neighbors destroyed each other but left Jehosephat and his people alone.  They were safe!  They didn’t have to fight at all.  Hooray! Jehosephat and his people collected the treasures left behind by the armies, and then returned to the land of Judah, celebrating the goodness of God!

What about you?  What are some things you can give thanks for today?  Maybe you haven’t faced an army and come away without a scratch, but can you see the love of the Lord in your everyday life? 

Pondering Heaven

NOTE: Job, Thessolonians and this passage in Luke for this week.  WOW.  Not texts that translate easily into children's stories.  At first, we'd talked about skipping the lectionary and celebrating Martin Luther's birthday with stories on grace and a birthday cake.  But things have seemed sugared and hyped a lot the last couple of weeks, so I decided to try again.  I was surprised to find the gospel lesson in the spark bible (it covers 150 bible stories, so often some are left out.  For instance, Job?  not in there at all).  What stood out to me about the way they framed it for the kids is where I hope to go with this.

Luke 20:27-38
The Sadducees' Question

Pages 406-407 in the spark bible

One day, Jesus was walking with a friend.  WALK WALK WALK.  A group of people came to talk to Jesus and ask him questions.  You see, they didn't believe in living with God after death.  They weren't sure how the rules of life would work after death.

"Teacher, Moses said that if a guy dies, his brother should marry the widow if she has no children."  SOOOO, here's a question--There are SEVEN (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) brothers and the oldest one is married.  The oldest one dies.  The next one marries her and doesn't have kids.  He dies.  It happens over and over and over until she has been married to all 7 and they have no kids.  When she dies, who is her husband? She was married to all 7!" 

Jesus looked at them.  He sighed (can you sigh with me? SIGH) and shook his head.  "Don't worry about the brothers or the wife," he told them.    "After they die, they will all go live with God.  God has a place for us to live forever that's AH-MAZING!  They will be so busy praising God and enjoying Heaven that they won't worry about wives and husbands.  Live right now how God wants you to live!"

What do you think Heaven will be like?  Think about a REALLY good day--what was it like?  What did you do?  Now imagine Heaven is ten times BETTER than that!  Can you imagine?  That's why Jesus tells us not to worry about how things here on earth will be when we get to Heaven--it will be so different and so wonderful!