Time for All Ages
Perhaps the highest praise is that our teenage son asks
"Is Rev. Megan talking?" when we are forcing him out of bed on Sundays.
- The Emanuelson-Plumb Family, The Universalist Church
"Is Rev. Megan talking?" when we are forcing him out of bed on Sundays.
- The Emanuelson-Plumb Family, The Universalist Church
I believe that all of us come to church to have our hearts moved,
our spirits lifted, our assumptions challenged,
and our humanity embraced. (Especially if we are forced out of bed!)
I use the portion of a worship service known as the "Time for All Ages," "Children's Time," or "Story for All Ages" to delve creatively and deeply
into the day's spiritual theme.
My interactive and conversational style, skits, song, and dynamic storytelling help insure that worship is truly engaging for people of all ages.
our spirits lifted, our assumptions challenged,
and our humanity embraced. (Especially if we are forced out of bed!)
I use the portion of a worship service known as the "Time for All Ages," "Children's Time," or "Story for All Ages" to delve creatively and deeply
into the day's spiritual theme.
My interactive and conversational style, skits, song, and dynamic storytelling help insure that worship is truly engaging for people of all ages.
"Guide My Feet"
NARRATOR: This morning, we’d like to tell a story about a kid named Jaime. Now, Jaime hated running. Jaime hated field day and gym class. When Jaime ran, he got out of breath really quickly and his throat burned and he always got a cramp in his side. He hated running.
One day, Jaime’s good friend Sarah called him. She told him that she was sick and in the hospital. Sarah told Jaime that the doctors and scientists were looking for a cure for the disease she had and that to raise money for the disease, they were holding a big race in town in a few months. Jaime’s friend asked him if he would run in the race for her.
“If you ran in the race, Jaime,” she said, “It would mean so much to me. It would be like you were standing beside me and holding my hand as I fight to get better.”
Jaime said:
JAMIE: “I’ll think about it,”
NARRATOR: Remember, Jamie hated running. Jaime searched his heart. He wanted to support his friend, but he didn’t know what to do. He told his mom about it. He said:
JAMIE: “I probably couldn’t even finish the race. I’m a terrible runner.”
NARRATOR: His mom said:
MOM: “Well Jaime, if you’re going to do this, it sounds like you’ll have to practice and you might just need to ask for help.”
JAMIE: “How?”
MOM: “Well, you could start by just running down our street. And you can just ask for help – from the universe, from God, from Sarah, from your friends and everyone who cares about the kids who you are running for. You can sing in your head:
SINGER: Guide my feet while I run this race.
NARRATOR: Jaime thought his mom was a little bit kooky, but he decided he would try it. So he started running down the street. And he started breathing heavy – like he always did when he ran. He looked back at his mom who was still standing on the porch. He could hear singing:
SINGER: Guide my feet while I run this race.
NARRATOR: So he kept running. He had almost made it to the end of the street when he got a cramp in his side. Argh! He hated running! And he was about to give up. And then he heard the singing even louder:
SINGER: Guide my feet while I run this race. For I don’t want to run this race in vain!
Jaime thought about his friend Sarah and how brave she was, and he was filled with determination. He took a deep breath and the cramp went away. He turned at the end of the street and ran all the way back to his house, shouting:
JAIME: “I can do it! I’ll run a little more each day and then I’ll be ready for the race. I’ll ask other friends to run with me and we’ll raise money for a cure. We will stand by Sarah just like she said.”
NARRATOR: And so he did. Jaime practiced running every day, and every day it got a little easier and he went a little bit farther. And when the day of the race came, Jaime and his parents and friends and a whole bunch of people came out to run in solidarity with Sarah…
And they sang:
CONGREGATION:
Guide my feet while I run this race.
Guide my feet while I run this race.
Guide my feet while I run this race,
for I don’t want to run this race in vain!
Hold my hand while I run this race…
Stand by me while I run this race….
Search our hearts while we run this race…
Guide our feet while we run this race…
NARRATOR: This morning, we’d like to tell a story about a kid named Jaime. Now, Jaime hated running. Jaime hated field day and gym class. When Jaime ran, he got out of breath really quickly and his throat burned and he always got a cramp in his side. He hated running.
One day, Jaime’s good friend Sarah called him. She told him that she was sick and in the hospital. Sarah told Jaime that the doctors and scientists were looking for a cure for the disease she had and that to raise money for the disease, they were holding a big race in town in a few months. Jaime’s friend asked him if he would run in the race for her.
“If you ran in the race, Jaime,” she said, “It would mean so much to me. It would be like you were standing beside me and holding my hand as I fight to get better.”
Jaime said:
JAMIE: “I’ll think about it,”
NARRATOR: Remember, Jamie hated running. Jaime searched his heart. He wanted to support his friend, but he didn’t know what to do. He told his mom about it. He said:
JAMIE: “I probably couldn’t even finish the race. I’m a terrible runner.”
NARRATOR: His mom said:
MOM: “Well Jaime, if you’re going to do this, it sounds like you’ll have to practice and you might just need to ask for help.”
JAMIE: “How?”
MOM: “Well, you could start by just running down our street. And you can just ask for help – from the universe, from God, from Sarah, from your friends and everyone who cares about the kids who you are running for. You can sing in your head:
SINGER: Guide my feet while I run this race.
NARRATOR: Jaime thought his mom was a little bit kooky, but he decided he would try it. So he started running down the street. And he started breathing heavy – like he always did when he ran. He looked back at his mom who was still standing on the porch. He could hear singing:
SINGER: Guide my feet while I run this race.
NARRATOR: So he kept running. He had almost made it to the end of the street when he got a cramp in his side. Argh! He hated running! And he was about to give up. And then he heard the singing even louder:
SINGER: Guide my feet while I run this race. For I don’t want to run this race in vain!
Jaime thought about his friend Sarah and how brave she was, and he was filled with determination. He took a deep breath and the cramp went away. He turned at the end of the street and ran all the way back to his house, shouting:
JAIME: “I can do it! I’ll run a little more each day and then I’ll be ready for the race. I’ll ask other friends to run with me and we’ll raise money for a cure. We will stand by Sarah just like she said.”
NARRATOR: And so he did. Jaime practiced running every day, and every day it got a little easier and he went a little bit farther. And when the day of the race came, Jaime and his parents and friends and a whole bunch of people came out to run in solidarity with Sarah…
And they sang:
CONGREGATION:
Guide my feet while I run this race.
Guide my feet while I run this race.
Guide my feet while I run this race,
for I don’t want to run this race in vain!
Hold my hand while I run this race…
Stand by me while I run this race….
Search our hearts while we run this race…
Guide our feet while we run this race…
“Easter Sunday”
This morning is Easter Sunday. Today we celebrate Spring, as people have done for many thousands of years.
What are some of your favorite things about Easter? [responses]
So many of us love the Easter eggs and Easter bunnies that come with this holiday. These are symbols of life that come with Spring.
At Easter we also continue to remember the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth. Last week on Palm Sunday we talked about Jesus as a teacher who worked to bring justice, courage and love to all people. But that wasn’t the end of the story.
Remember how Jesus rode into Jerusalem with all the people waving palms knowing that he might be captured by the authorities who were not happy with his teaching and preaching? Well, the biblical story tells us that Jesus was captured and executed. But that wasn’t the end of the story.
Because today on Easter Sunday, we tell the story of what happened after Jesus died. His body was taken to a tomb – a cave with a very large stone covering the entrance On the third day after his death, women came with spices and perfume to clean their teacher’s body. They were nervous about how they might roll away open the tomb. The stone in front of the cave was so big that it took many, many people to move it.
When the women arrived at the tomb, they were amazed and awestruck to find….
What do you think they found? [responses: including "A bunny!" and lots of laughter]
Well, maybe they did find a bunny! We just don't know. The story goes that they found that the heavy stone was rolled to one side and the tomb … was empty! And they saw a young man sitting in near tomb who told them that they wouldn’t find Jesus’s body because Jesus been raised from the dead!
Now, to the women who loved Jesus this was both very scary and very exciting.
The story goes on to tell us that something happened that first Easter and soon after in the hearts and minds of Jesus trusted followers. Because they believed that Jesus’s death was not the end of the story, and that he was raised from the dead and lived on, they had the faith and courage to keep his teachings alive too.
We celebrate Easter today because, like his friends and followers so long ago, we believe that Jesus’s message about love and justice was too powerful to die with him. And as we celebrate Easter and the coming of spring, we open our hearts, like the empty tomb was open.
We remember that death and injustice are never the end of the story.
We open our hearts to love and care for others and for our world. And we open our hearts to the love that is freely given to us.
Happy Easter!
This morning is Easter Sunday. Today we celebrate Spring, as people have done for many thousands of years.
What are some of your favorite things about Easter? [responses]
So many of us love the Easter eggs and Easter bunnies that come with this holiday. These are symbols of life that come with Spring.
At Easter we also continue to remember the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth. Last week on Palm Sunday we talked about Jesus as a teacher who worked to bring justice, courage and love to all people. But that wasn’t the end of the story.
Remember how Jesus rode into Jerusalem with all the people waving palms knowing that he might be captured by the authorities who were not happy with his teaching and preaching? Well, the biblical story tells us that Jesus was captured and executed. But that wasn’t the end of the story.
Because today on Easter Sunday, we tell the story of what happened after Jesus died. His body was taken to a tomb – a cave with a very large stone covering the entrance On the third day after his death, women came with spices and perfume to clean their teacher’s body. They were nervous about how they might roll away open the tomb. The stone in front of the cave was so big that it took many, many people to move it.
When the women arrived at the tomb, they were amazed and awestruck to find….
What do you think they found? [responses: including "A bunny!" and lots of laughter]
Well, maybe they did find a bunny! We just don't know. The story goes that they found that the heavy stone was rolled to one side and the tomb … was empty! And they saw a young man sitting in near tomb who told them that they wouldn’t find Jesus’s body because Jesus been raised from the dead!
Now, to the women who loved Jesus this was both very scary and very exciting.
The story goes on to tell us that something happened that first Easter and soon after in the hearts and minds of Jesus trusted followers. Because they believed that Jesus’s death was not the end of the story, and that he was raised from the dead and lived on, they had the faith and courage to keep his teachings alive too.
We celebrate Easter today because, like his friends and followers so long ago, we believe that Jesus’s message about love and justice was too powerful to die with him. And as we celebrate Easter and the coming of spring, we open our hearts, like the empty tomb was open.
We remember that death and injustice are never the end of the story.
We open our hearts to love and care for others and for our world. And we open our hearts to the love that is freely given to us.
Happy Easter!