Sitting in different chairs, joining in at different times throughout the day, God’s people still gather for worship on this, the Lord’s day. Welcome, to Sunday worship.
Call to worship, to say aloud:
Holy God,
as your Son is the one who calls us into the fold,
welcome us,
receive our stumbling and our fears,
receive our responses and our worship.
HYMN – Great is Thy Faithfulness
Reading: John 10 v 1 -10 to read in your own bible at home.
Dramatized Reading:
All-Age Prayer:
Doors,
gates,
windows:
all designed to keep the outside outside
and the inside inside,
to keep us safe from harm.
Lord Jesus,
you too want to keep us safe,
to shepherd us into your family.
Help us let people know
when we are scared
or upset.
Help us to accept the help
of those who love us:
our families, our friends,
our church family.
Help us to let them protect us.
Amen.
Reflection:
HYMN – The Lord’s my Shepherd
Sunday School Activity:
One Sheep Went To Graze
Here’s a song for our theme today to sing to the tune of “One Man Went To Mow”:
One sheep went to graze,
went to graze a meadow,
one sheep and her lamb (baaaa!),
went to graze a meadow.
Two sheep went to graze,
went to graze a meadow,
two sheep, one sheep and her lamb (baaaa!),
went to graze a meadow.
And so on…
Even as the sheep go to graze all over a hillside, still the shepherd will call them all back, they follow the shepherd.
Jesus seeks that we follow him, but we are also free to engage with the world around us and make up our own minds what we will do.
Countryside Collage
You will need: some cardboard or pieces of wood or sticks to make a frame, scraps of fabric and paper, improvised collage materials, cotton wool, PVA glue or pritt stick, glue spreaders, scissors, card.
Ask the children to make a picture of hills, sheep, gate etc using the collage materials provided. The children should lay out their pieces onto the card till they have the picture they want before they start gluing the pieces in place, discuss with the children any visits they have made to the countryside and/or farm parks and what they have observed about sheep. Discuss with the children what they know about the work of shepherds today. A shepherd working in the west of Scotland, where sheep roam quite freely over a large area, says they cannot do their work without their dogs and their quad bike! Talk about the story and how, in Jesus day, part of the work of the shepherd was to protect and look after the sheep, lying like a gate across the sheepfold during the night. Talk about the ways we can look after others today.
Prayer for Others and Ourselves
Lord,
in a world when many search
for the protection you offer,
for a shepherd to welcome them in
and to sit by their side,
we bring our prayers for others.
We pray for those who wonder
where their next meal will come from,
and we pray for food justice
to become a priority in our world.
We pray for those who wonder
when and if they will ever wake in the morning to peace,
and we pray for an end to fighting
and for the courageous role of peacekeepers.
We pray for those who wonder
when they might be paid a fair price for their labours,
and we pray for fair trade practises to become the norm.
We pray for those who wonder
when they might see their family again,
and we pray for those working to reunite refugee families.
We pray for those who wonder
when they might be able to fully support their family,
and we pray for wages that are fair
and able to support individuals and families.
We pray for all those who wonder
where their help might come from,
and we pray for communities
that mirror your love and care.
For all looking for the shelter of a shepherd
we pray for your presence to be known.
Lord for all these people and situations
we pray and we offer ourselves to be part of the answer to these prayers.
We offer our minds and hearts, our strength and resources to the furthering
of your kingdom,
to help to gather in more sheep within the sheepfold
of our Shepherd King.
Amen.
HYMN – May the Mind of Christ my Saviour
Sending
The Shepherd knows us,
the Shepherd calls us in
and sends us out
to love and serve
the waiting world, Amen.