Scary

When you ask your class of 6-8 year olds what are the scariest things they can think of, you don't expect Burke and Hare to be one of them :-)

Pumpkins did also feature heavily, though.
Serial killers. Vegetables. Yep - same category.

Light in the darkness

We made this on Sunday. Vaguely Hallowe'en related.

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.

Isaiah 9v2

Jesus said: ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’

John 8v12

A profound thought

Most cupboards do not contain cups.

Amazing

Amazing love; how can it be
That thou, my God, shouldst die for me!

~Isaac Watts

Kids' Christian posters

Did these a few weeks ago - forgot to post!
There's a few more designs than shown here.

Gospel symbols

A new Powerpoint! This one is a little different - it's a mix & match selection of simple symbols which people can use for a gospel overview, or add to other presentations.

Fiction

The Dreamer awakes
The shadow goes by
The tale I have told you,
That tale is a lie.
But listen to me,
Bright maiden, proud youth
The tale is a lie;
What it tells is the truth.

~ Traditional folktale ending

Of course, sometimes it doesn't. Which is why you need discernment. But you need that for non-fiction too.

It's a new new day

One of my customers told me about her brother's new album of kids' Christian songs.

Lots of fun songs for kids, but I liked this one for myself. When tempted to focus on failure, it's good to remember that his mercies are new every morning.

Buy from here.

East/West

A random thought I just had:

In Narnia, the sea is on the east, and beyond it, in the 'utter east' is Aslan's country.

In Middle Earth, the sea is on the west, and beyond it* is Valinor, the home of the immortals.

No idea of the significance of this - just interesting.

Anyway, I'd better get back to hoovering...

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* technically, since the world was made into a sphere, it is no longer on the surface of the globe. Still, you sail west to get there, should you have a boat capable of escaping the 'circles of the world'

New stickers!

I've added three more sets of stickers to the collection. More coming in 2018...

Ideal stocking fillers!

The 'Christmas' set has 12 stickers focussing on who Jesus is and why he came. It would be most suitable for older children or children who are familiar with the Bible.

The 'Nativity' set is suitable for everyone, and ideal for making nativity scenes. I've provided two Mary figures for pedants like me, so you can have the wise men coming separately from the shepherds, as they did in real life :-)

And finally, a set of 6 shaped cartoon stickers on the theme of God's word, and how it describes itself. Each has a reference for the Bible passage it represents.

New testament money (part 2)

You'll need to read part 1 for this to make sense.

Some examples

Judas betrayed Jesus 

for 30 pieces of silver - that's £1,800

Parable of the talents

He gave them 5, 2 and 1 talents - £30,000, £12,000, and £6,000 respectively. Not just a few pounds!

Parable of the two debtors 

One was forgiven a debt of 500 denarii, the other a debt of 50 - that's £30,000 compared to £3,000

Parable of the unmerciful servant

The servant was forgiven a debt of 10,000 talents, yet threw his fellow servant in jail for a debt of 100 denarii. The first debt was £600 million(!), the second was £6,000.

So it's important not to imply that the smaller debt was insignificant. It was a real debt - other people do us real wrongs (for some people - horrendous wrongs. And Jesus is not saying these don't matter). We should forgive, not because it doesn't matter, but because we realise how impossibly large is the debt God has forgiven us (do we?)

Widow's mite

She put in two small copper coins - that's 62p.

It was not 2p, as we sometimes imply. 2p is worthless, so you might as well put it in. 62p could buy something to eat, yet she gave it.

New testament money (part 1)

I find it really helpful, when reading (or teaching) passages that involve sums of money, to translate them into modern money. After all, what does 'silver coin' or 'talent' or 'copper coin' actually mean to the average 21st century person? Was it a lot? A little? How much? How little?

So here's how I do it. It's not foolproof, but it's helpful

Denarius

(aka silver coin/drachma*)

http://www.cngcoins.com

1 Denarius = a days's wage for a worker.
So take this to be minimum wage.

In the UK the minimum wage is currently £7.50 per hour.
Assuming an average 8 hour workday, that's £60 a day.

So 1 denarius = £60.

 

Talent

A talent was 100 denarii.
That's £60 x 100

So 1 talent = £6,000

 

Mite

(aka copper coin*)

This was the smallest coin at the time.
192 in a denarius (what a weird number!)

£60÷192=0.3125

So 1 mite = 31p


Of course, different things had different value in those days - clothes were incredibly expensive; rent was cheap. Some food was dearer than for us; I think some was cheaper. Still, it's a help.

Come back for part 2 of this enthralling story tomorrow...

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*Same thing, different translations

Premature

I know the bits in the middle of daisy-style flowers are seeds...

But I don't think they're supposed to sprout when it's still in the vase!

Sneak preview

Stickers coming soon...

A good reminder

A good passage to remember when tempted to put too much reliance on clever teaching ideas and fancy lesson plans in Sunday School:

When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

1 Corinthians 2v1-5