Worship/ Sun 17 May: 'Love is...'

WELCOME and CHURCH NOTICES/
Hello and welcome!
Our worship is online once again over on our YouTube channel.
Don't forget to have a quick look at our notices before you click on the link...
WORSHIP LINK HERE

CHURCH NOTICES/
'Heart and Soul'/ General Assembly:
This time of year is normally when the Church of Scotland holds its General Assembly.
As we know, ‘normally’ is not quite where we’re at right now, with lockdown, so the Assembly has been cancelled, however, one event that happens on the Sunday of Assembly is a big gathering in Princes St called ‘Heart and Soul’ – and it’s a great event. Now, while that won’t be happening in Princes St, technology has stepped in and this afternoon, there’ll be an online version of it - on livestream. Just click this LINK FOR THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND website and you'll find yourself at the right web page... all you have to do then is click on the live link to join in.
It begins at 2pm, and there'll be music, some good conversation and the chance to have a look around at what the Church of Scotland is doing in the many presbyteries and parishes around Scotland.

Worship - music:
A wee note about worship: I’d planned this year on having two Songs of Praise services – one for spring and one for autumn. So, those plans have come a little unstuck, but I was wondering... it doesn’t have to stop you nominating some of your favourite hymns – we could have a go of it online, I think – or, at the very least, I could include them in our online services over the next wee while. So, do get in touch with me by phone or email, and let me know what hymns or other praise songs you’d like. Also, for those of you who do readings, and, who have a mobile phone, I’m wondering if we could do some recording of readings by you, so that it’s not just my voice throughout worship. You’ll hear a little later that we have managed to have a go at that this week. So do let me know if you’d be willing to record a reading. Thanks in advance.

Pastoral matters:
From the pastoral side of things, again, just the usual thank you for all you’re doing while we’re in lockdown: I know that some of you have been supporting community groups like the foodbank, some donated to Christian Aid last week during Christian Aid week, some of you are saving your stamps for Crossreach...
There are those of you doing the work of prayer, others who are ringing around and checking in on folk. In the many ways you’re doing it, thank you for showing your love and your compassion for friends and neighbours both near and far – practising love in action.
The usual request from me: if you know of anyone who might need a referral for the foodbank, or who might just like a listening ear, do let me know.

All-age, family-friendly worship resources:

What Is Love?  all age 
You will need: highlighter pens, copies of 1 Corinthians 13
(you can readily copy the text from https://www.biblegateway.com/ ... print off)

Two different ways of doing this:
as a family, or each child individually...
make sure everyone has a copy of 1 Corinthians 13 and a highlighter pen.
Look through the passage and find all the things that love is or does (all the attributes of love)
and when you find something about love highlight it with the highlighter pen. 
Compare your findings as a way into the story today.

Crafts
Heart Badges  age 3-5
You will need: red card cut into heart shapes, coloured pens, coloured pencils,
self-stick stickers, sticky tape, safety pins, clear self-adhesive plastic.
Give each child a heart shape and ask them to decorate it using the materials provided.
Make the heart shape into a badge with the children by helping them to cover their heart
with self-stick clear plastic, which also helps to keep their design in place, and by attaching
a safety pin to the back of the badge with sticky tape.
The children can then wear their heart badges.

Talk with the children about love and how a heart is often used as a symbol for love.
Talk about the people who love them and how they know that they are loved.
How do people show they love them?
Talk about God’s love and how they might show God’s love to others.

Love Biscuits  age 6-8 
You will need: a supply of small heart-shaped biscuits, tubes of coloured icing, paper plates,
doilies, felt pens, cling-film, stick on parcel bows.
Give each child four heart-shaped biscuits and ask them to pipe with the icing the letter ‘L’ on one,
‘O’ on another, ‘V’ on another and ‘E’ on the last one. While the icing on their biscuits is setting
ask them to decorate the border of their paper plate.
Give each child a doily and ask them to place it on their plate.
Now they can arrange their biscuits on the plate to spell out ‘LOVE’ and then wrap the whole
plate in cling film. A decorative bow can then be added to the top of their cling-film.

Talk with the children about love and the people they love.
Discuss the different ways we can show someone we love them.
Talk with the children about who they might like to give their ‘Love’ biscuits and why they
chose that person or those people.

A Gift Of Love  age 9-12
You will need: red card, a box, pencils, scissors, coloured felt-tip pens, PVA glue,
glue spreaders, heart shaped stickers, tissue paper, either small red scented tea-lights
or small packs of love hearts.
Give each child a box and ask them to decorate it.
On the lid use decorative writing using 'Love is...'
(e.g. you could use bubble writing which is then coloured in using the words ‘Love is...’)

Now explain that they are going to complete that phrase by using words from the passage
(for example: patient, kind, not jealous, not boastful, bears all things, never ends and so on)
and write one of their different endings to the phrase on each face of the box again in decorative
writing. They can then decorate the other spaces on the box using patterns or stickers.
The box can then be filled with a little tissue paper and either a scented tea-light or some
‘Love Heart’ sweets and be given to someone they love.

Talk with the children about love and how we can show love to others.
With this age-group it would be interesting to ask them to read some of the verses aloud but
replace the word love with their name and then discuss with them what that should mean for
them and how they should behave and show God’s love to others.

Growing Love all age
You will need: white paper towel, plastic disposable plates, pens (not felt tips, they will run!),
cress seeds, water.
Give each child a sheet of paper towel and ask them to draw a heart shape in the centre of the sheet.
Ask the children to place the sheet on the plastic plate and then using some of the water dampen
the paper. Giving the children cress seeds ask them to sprinkle them carefully within the heart
shape only. Explain that if the paper is kept damp the cress seeds will grow in a heart shape and
when grown the cress can then be cut and shared with others in the family.
Talk with the children about love and how a heart is often used as a symbol for love.
Discuss different ways we can show God’s love and ask them to think about how God’s love can
be grown. Talk about how the seeds they have sown could be seen as seeds of love and how
these seeds of love will grow and how that love can then be shared with others allowing
God’s love to grow even more.