Our New Footpath

Samuel says:

We have a new footpath. The workmen made the footpath. We asked them to have morning tea with us to say "Thank you for our new footpath." Their names are Joe and John. Joe lives down our street. The workmen were very happy that we said "Thank you".

The workman said "You can stick your hands into it and make a mark in it, or you can write your name. It will stick in it all the days and last forever." We drawed my name on it. Then I pressed my hands in the wet concrete. It felt like hard stone.

Now we can ride our bikes on it and ride our scooters on it. We will be safe from the cars that drive down our street. We are happy with the footpath.

xxoo Sam

Fairy School Dropout narration by Anna

Anna read at least one Rainbow Fairy book each day of the holidays. We borrowed a dozen from the library before the Easter long weekend and she had finished them all within a day of returning from Albany, a week later. Easter Sunday was her seventh birthday, and she used some birthday money to purchase a fairy-style b*rbie and is presently playing fairies in the Play Room. Fairies seem almost ubiquitous in the literature for her age and gender at the moment.

Some of Anna's birthday gifts were books. From her Uncle Michael, Anna received Fairy School Drop Out by Meredith Badger. This is the email she sent to Uncle Michael the day after she received the book:

Dear Uncle Michael,

Thank you for “Fairy School Dropout”. I received it in the mail yesterday afternoon, when we got back from camping with Grandma and Grandad. I have already finished reading it.

It was all about a fairy and she made friends with a human girl. It was mostly about the fairy and the girl. The fairy was called Elly and the girl was called Jess. Jess’ problem was that she had to do a school project about a volcano. Elly helped Jess make a model of a real volcano with wire, clay and red bubble bath stuff. When Jess returned it to school, her teacher was so excited, that he entered the volcano into the volcano fair. Elly’s problem was that her wand did not work properly. It did not work because her sister Kara bit it. Jess tried to fix it, but it didn’t work out properly.

I enjoyed reading it very much.

Love, Anna

Michael's comment upon hearing that Anna had read the book so quickly was "She's definitely YOUR daughter!" Yes indeed.

Since her birthday, Anna has moved on to slightly longer books such as Audrey of the Outback by Christine Harris (an Australian trilogy) and The Faraway Tree trilogy by Enid Blyton. I read the latter aloud to her and the other children several years ago and now she is able to read it herself. How cool is that?

[Image from http://us.macmillan.com/fairyschooldropout]

The First Pentecost

This is the final children's talk to end the series on The First Easter. It is based on the events Luke recorded in Acts 2:1-41.
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The First Easter ended with the apostles,
the men that Jesus had chosen to send out as His witnesses
to tell everyone about Jesus, waiting in Jerusalem.
Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

So listen quitely while I tell you the story of what happened next:

It was 10 days after Jesus was taken back to heaven,
50 days after Jesus rose from the dead,
and the apostles were still waiting, all together in one place.
Jesus had promised that they would get power when the Holy Spirit came upon them.
At last, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came!
There was a rushing sound: Whoooosh! Like a strong wind: Whoooosh!
Then the apostles saw a fire – and they saw little flames of fire.
The flames were resting on each of the people who had waited for the Holy Spirit.
Now, the Holy Spirit had come! The apostles weren’t waiting any longer!
The Holy Spirit was here, filling the apostles with power… and filling them with words, as well.
Words bubbled up inside the apostles like a fountain.
The apostles couldn’t help themselves,
suddenly they were all talking and talking and talking about Jesus!
Soon, a crowd of people gathered. And the apostles kept on talking, telling everyone about Jesus.

Everyone could understand what the apostles were saying:
people from many different countries, who spoke many different languages.
10 days after Jesus went back to heaven, the Holy Spirit came,
filling the apostles with power to tell people about Jesus.

“What does this all mean?” some of the people began to ask.
They were amazed and bewildered. They didn’t understand that the Holy Spirit had come
filling the apostles with power to tell people about Jesus.
So Peter stood up with the rest of the apostles, in front of the crowd,
and Peter began to talk to the people about the Holy Spirit.

“What is happening today is just what was promised in Scripture.
Long ago, through His prophets, God promised to send His Holy Spirit.
Today, God has filled us with the Holy Spirit so that we can tell you:
‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!’”

Peter told the crowd about Jesus:
“The Jews handed Jesus over to be put to death on a cross,
but it was all part of God’s plan to save you.”

Then Peter said, “God raised Jesus from the dead.
This is what David wrote about in Scripture, writing,
‘God will not abandon Me to the grave, God will not let His Holy One rot.’
David was writing about the King whom God would send, Jesus the King, Jesus the Christ.
God did not leave Jesus in His grave-tomb to rot. God raised Jesus to life,
and we – Jesus’ apostles – are all witnesses who tell you that this is true!”

Lastly, Peter told the crowd, “God has taken Jesus up to heaven,
to sit next to God on His throne. God has made Jesus the Christ-King of heaven.”

Wow! Everyone heard what Peter had said, and understood Peter’s words.
But the people in the crowd did not know what to do next!
“Since Jesus died to save us, what should we do to be saved?
Peter said Jesus is God’s King, the Christ, so what shall we do to obey Jesus as our King?”
Peter had an answer for the people who asked “What shall we do?”
Peter told them to turn away from their sins. Peter told them to be baptised.
Peter promised them that their sins would be forgiven in Jesus’ name.
Peter promised them that the Holy Spirit would come upon them
and fill them with power to tell everyone about Jesus as well.
And so many, many people believed in Jesus and became Christians on the First Pentecost.

Peter told the crowd that his promise was for children as well.
Peter said, “This promise – that your sins will be forgiven and you will receive the Holy Spirit
– is for you and for your kids, for everyone whom the Lord calls to Himself.”
You can choose to turn away from your sins as well.
You can choose to stop doing the wrong thing and start doing the right things.
You can choose to obey Jesus as your King.
If you do, your sins will be forgiven in Jesus’ name.

When you believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit will come into you as well,
just as the Holy Spirit came into Jesus’ apostles.
And you can tell people about Jesus.
You can tell people that Jesus died, and God brought Jesus back to life.
You can tell people that Jesus is God’s King in heaven, and Jesus is your King too!
Perhaps you can use the First Easter story book that you made
to tell your family and friends about Jesus.
The Holy Spirit will help you to tell people about Jesus.
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All illustrations are copyright 2011 Chrissie D. She drew them specifically for our program. (Isn't she wonderful?) The illustrations have deliberately been resized to about 10% of their original size to prevent people copying and re-using Chrissie D's original art without permission.

If you would like to use this story, the illustrations or the accompanying program including materials for activities and songs with your children or church or in some other way, please leave a message on the blog and I will get back to you directly.