Praise and thanksgiving As for me, I will always have hope;

I will praise you more and more,

My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,

of your saving acts all day long-

though I know not how to relate them all.

I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord,

I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.

Since my youth, God, you have taught me,

and to this day I declare your marvellous deeds.

Even when I am old and gray,

do not forsake me, my God,

till I declare your power to the next generation,

your mighty acts to all who are to come.

My lips will shout for joy

when I sing praise to you—

I whom you have delivered.

My tongue will tell of your righteous acts

all day long,

for those who wanted to harm me

have been put to shame and confusion

Psalm 71: 14-18, 23-24 (NIV)

NCS

Families

Sunday 24th May

Bible passage “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

Ephesians 6:10 NIV

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness

that comes from the gospel of peace. 16

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

17 Take the

helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:14-17 NIV

Paper aeroplane praise Write or draw lots of things that you are thankful for onto

a piece of A4 paper. Fold into a paper aeroplane and thank God for these things as you throw it.

WORSHIP “I spy” thanksgiving Curl your hand into a fist shape and hold it up to your eye. Make a tiny hole that you can peep through and search around the room for things that you are thankful for.

Dice thankfulness Take turns to roll a dice. If you roll a… 1 → Name a person that you are thankful for 2 → Act out an activity that you have enjoyed this week 3 → Choose something about creation that you are thankful for 4 → Describe a place that you are thankful for 5 → Fetch an object that you are thankful for 6 → Nominate someone in your family to roll two times in a row and be extra thankful!

Ping-pong praise Play invisible ping pong

miming passing the imaginary ball to each other

and hitting it back. Every time you hit the invisible ball

back, say something that you want to praise God for.

Person or thing Throw a ball or teddy around the room to each other and as you throw, say the word “person” or

the word “thing”. The person receiving the ball then says a person or a thing that they are

thankful for.

Musical prayers Dance to the music. Every time the music stops, shout

something that you are thankful for .

Thankful bodies Touch your head and thank God for making you just the way you

are.

Touch your lips and thank God for something that made you

smile this week.

Touch your hands and thank God for someone who has been

kind to you or helped you this week.

Touch your tummy and thank

God for a meal you have enjoyed this week.

Touch your feet and thank God for somewhere that you have

been this week.

Pictionary prayers Take turns to draw things that

you are thankful for and try and guess what each person has

drawn.

Pass it on Pass around an object and

take turns to say things that you are thankful for.

20 questions Write down something that you are thankful

for and then everyone else take turns to ask questions to try and guess what you’ve

chosen.

Retell the story Retell the Bible story using toys to act out the different

parts or dress up and act it out yourself.

WORD

Ask questions Choose a character from the

story. Write or think of questions you would ask them if they were alive today. What

might their response be?

Junk modelling Use recycling to create

something to remind you of the Bible passage.

Cut and stick Cut letters out of a magazine and arrange to make words linked to the Bible passage.

Act it out Play Bible character charades

and see if your family can guess who you are pretending

to be.

Create a cartoon Draw a cartoon strip of the story. Include speech and

thought bubbles for the different people.

Make a bookmark Choose a key verse from the

passage. Write it out and decorate it to make a

bookmark.

Make a bracelet Use a range of beads to

represent different parts of the passage or story.

Create giant art Use household items such as kitchen roll to create a giant picture linking to the Bible

passage.

Build something Use construction toys such as lego to build something that links to the Bible passage.

Design a quiz Write multiple choice questions

for members of your family about the Bible story or

passage.

Run a race Hold a relay race to find

objects around the house linked to the passage or story.

Make a gift Create a present to surprise

and bless someone you know.

Discuss the story What is God saying to you

through the passage? What action are you going to take

following this?

Record a video Share what you have enjoyed

or discovered about the passage by recording your own

video.

Make a wordsearch Write 10 words linked to the

story then hide them in a wordsearch grid for members

of your household to find.

Colour in Write out a Bible verse from the passage and illustrate it

then colour in.

Paint a picture Paint a picture to remind you of

what God is saying to you through the passage.

Going

Deeper...

Think

When we think of the armour of god we often rush over the shoes because they don’t seem that exciting. But I promise you they are. Often call these shoes the shoes of peace but really they are the shoes of the gospel of peace, that’s just a bit of a mouthful so we shorten it.

Why do we wear shoes? Write down every reason you can think of. Why do you think its important for a soldier you wear shoes?

When we go on a walk its really important that we have Good footwear that fits well and is right for the job as good shoes protect our feet and make the walk easier. So, in the same way the gospel of peace, the good news that Jesus brings, that brings us peace, fits us perfectly, protects us and makes our journeys easier. When you leave the house you would never forget to put your shoes on, so in the same way when we go anywhere, do anything difficult, or when we are fighting for god by doing his will, we should never forget to put on the gospel of peace. There is another reason I think Paul talks about shoes and the gospel. And that’s because wearing shoes says you are going somewhere.

What do you think that says about when we put on the gospel of peace? God wants to go on a journey with us and he wants us to take the gospel with us, to help us and so that we can take it with us. Have you ever heard the phrase ‘making ground’? In battles, quite often the aim is to push forward and take the land in front of you so that you took ownership of that land. God wants us to do that with the gospel he has given us. We have been entrusted with the gospel, and we are part of the kingdom of god, where God is king, and by taking the gospel of peace with us wherever we go, we are making ground for his kingdom. When we bring the gospel of peace we bring the hope, comfort and power of Jesus. How can we bring hope, peace and comfort to our friends?

NCS

Families

Pray

Thank you Jesus for the good news of peace that you bring and that you have given to us. We pray that we can help you to make ground, to bring your peace wherever we go. Amen

Act!

How can you take the gospel of peace with you in whatever you do? Why not try praying before going back to school that you take the gospel of peace with you, and

picture putting the shoes on?