Christ Episcopal Church
Children’s Chapel
June 18, 2017
·
Welcome: Good Morning
girls and boys! I am so happy to see you all this morning! Do we have any new
friends with us? (Welcome new friends.)
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Church Practice:
We are now in the liturgical season of Ordinary Time. The cloth on our Children’s Chapel altar is green today
which is the color we use during Ordinary Time. Who would like to move the arrow on our
liturgical calendar? (Allow one child to come up to the calendar to move the
arrow forward one week.) The arrow is now pointing to the second green square. You will also notice that in big church the
altar frontal, church dressings, and clergy stoles are green. (Light altar
candles.) We light these
candles to remind us that Christ is the light of the world. We remember that
God is always with us, that Jesus lives in our hearts and that we are inspired
by the power of the Holy Spirit. Before we begin our Bible lesson today, let us
pray.
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Children’s
Collect: Let us pray, Heavenly
Father, we are here to worship and praise you. Open our hearts and minds so
that we may hear your words spoken to us through the Bible story today. Draw us
near to you and give us strength that we may serve you through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives, and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and
ever. Amen
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Introduction: Have any of you
ever been afraid? What are some things that make you afraid? Where do you want
to go when you are afraid? Do you want to hide? Do you want to be with your mom
or dad? In our Bible story today we will hear about what God’s prophet, Elijah
does when he is afraid.
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Bible
Reference: 1 Kings 19:3-13 (Read Aloud)
3Elijah was afraid a
and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant
there, 4while he himself went a day’s journey into the
wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might
die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my
ancestors.” 5Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.
All
at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6He looked around,
and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water.
He ate and drank and then lay down again.
7The angel of the
Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the
journey is too much for you.” 8So he got up and
ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty
nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9There he went into
a cave and spent the night.
And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing
here, Elijah?”
10He replied, “I
have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected
your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the
sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
11The Lord said, “Go
out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is
about to pass by.”
Then
a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks
before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an
earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12After the
earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire
came a gentle whisper. 13When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face
and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to
him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
·
Response: In the Bible story we just heard,
Elijah is afraid and he runs away. He is told by an angel to go into the
mountains because the Lord God is about to come near. Elijah wants God’s help
and begins to look for him. He looks all over for God and thinks he sees him in
the strong winds and then in an earthquake, and then in fire. As he sits by
himself Elijah hears nothing but silence. The silence scares Elijah even more
and he covers his face. Then he hears a very small voice, almost a whisper say
to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah realizes this very still
small voice is God and that God has been with him all along.
God is also with
each of us all of the time in both good times and sad times and everywhere in
between. We can take comfort that God lives right in our heats and always gives
each of us unending love.
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Closing Prayer: Holy
God, faithful and unchanging: enlarge our minds with the knowledge of your
truth and draw us more deeply into the mystery of your love, that we may truly
worship you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
one
God, now and for ever.
