Easter crafts, stories, puzzles, games… from TeacherHelp.org

Our Easter Links sidebar has been quite “skimpy” since we first created it in 2009.  So yesterday I did some research to find more links to add.

I found a great site that is worth a stand alone entry:

“A Glorious Easter” - a page of Easter Resources for Christian Teachers, from the website TeacherHelp.Org.

It’s chock full of craft ideas, stories, puzzles, games, puppet shows, songs, recipes, sermons for kids’ services.  Etc. Etc. Etc.

Definitely this is a must-visit site for Sunday School teachers, home-schoolers, and any parent wanting ideas to help celebrate the 50 days of the Easter Season.  This provides LOTS of ideas!

There is also an Advent – Christmas page at the same site which I will be adding to our Advent links collection.

The Cradle of Prayer – Daily ANGLICAN Prayer services online

My friend and blogging colleague Jill has in the past linked this site, but it never made it’s way onto our sidebar or into my own “mental” blogroll.

But this is a great site for daily Anglican prayer services (audio files)

http://cradleofprayer.org/

Take some time to browse and discover the great resources here!

[This IS now linked on our sidebar under prayer resources]

A Lullaby

By Janet Lewis
1899-

Lullee, lullay,
I could not love thee more
If thou wast Christ the King.
Now tell me, how did Mary know
That in her womb should sleep and grow
The Lord of everything?

Lullee, lullay,
An angel stood with her
Who said, “That which doth stir
Like summer in thy side
Shall save the world from sin.
Then stable, hall and inn
Shall cherish Christmas-tide.”

Lullee, lullay,
And so it was that Day.
And did she love Him more
Because an angel came
To prophesy His name?
Ah no, not so,
She could not love him more,
But loved Him just the same,
Lullee, lullay.

Praying for the Church – “turn Your steps toward these everlasting ruins”

Lately I’ve been thinking and praying a lot about the brokenness and weakness and seeming fragility of the Church.  I left a comment on the blog Stand Firm yesterday which sums up some of my frustration and grief over the Church’s failure on this side of Heaven to be the radiant Bride, pure and victorious, which Christ died to redeem for Himself.  Here’s part of what I wrote:

I’ve been mostly off the blogs in recent weeks and very much hesitating to jump into this discussion [about the AMiA break from the Province of Rwanda], but I was struck by [a previous commenter's] heart cry:

I know it sounds trite and simplistic, but I only want the church Jesus is building.  Can someone please tell me where it might be today?

It echos a cry raised in Africa as well in circumstances and a context about as far removed from the Anglican Communion, TEC and AMiA messes as you can get.

The context I’m thinking of a 1st generation church in what has been an unreached people group, where the nascent “church” is very much a network of local cell groups, underground, about as close to the Pauline 1st century context as it’s probably possible to find today.  There is much to rejoice in.   Twenty-five years ago there were no known believers in this people group.  So the fact that there are believers and a nascent church is a wonderful miracle.  And yet at times it’s tempting to despair at the pride and sin and immaturity and divisions in the lives of these new believers and their leaders.  Our cry is for a pure, spotless, radiant church that reflects the fullness and perfect measure of Jesus, where believers speak the truth in love, where they serve out of love for God, not for personal gain, etc. etc.  We see so little maturity and so little transformation “from glory into glory.”

This morning, I read Psalm 74 as part of my devotional reading, and I was struck by how it could be used as a cry for the Church, a cry for God’s rescue & care and deliverance for His people from the enemies that seek to ruin Her and make Her an object of scorn and mockery instead of a display of His glory and splendor.

These verses particularly resonated with me and I poured them out to the Lord in prayer as a cry for the Church – the Church and believers in the nascent church described above, the AMiA, ACNA, TEC and the Anglican Communion – and also as a prayer for my own life and heart, as one of the sinful broken people who is part of the Church Christ died for.

Ps 74:2-3, 18-19, 22a (NIV)
Remember the people you purchased of old, the tribe of your inheritance, whom you redeemed– Mount Zion, where you dwelt.    Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.

Remember how the enemy has mocked you, O LORD, how foolish people have reviled your name.  Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts; do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever.

Rise up, O God, and defend your cause …

“Turn Your steps toward these everlasting ruins.”  Yes, the Church oftentimes seems to be very aptly described as everlasting ruins, in need of God’s restoration, rebuilding, renewing.  O Lord come near.  Defend Your cause, do not forsake us!

Psalm 74 reminds us of the Lord’s power and sovereignty, that nothing is impossible for Him, giving us hope to trust that He can (and WILL) build, keep, protect, defend, restore and redeem His Church, His people:

But you, O God, are my king from of old; you bring salvation upon the earth. It was you who split open the sea by your power; … It was you who opened up springs and streams; you dried up the ever flowing rivers.  The day is yours, and yours also the night; … It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth…

The rest of my comment at Stand Firm yesterday tried to focus on our Hope in Christ and His promises:

And yet if we believe God’s promises we WILL see it [that transformation from glory into glory].

I keep coming back to over and over again the wonderful truth and promise in Eph 3:10-11

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God’s purposes never fail, they are ALWAYS perfectly fulfilled, and God has willed and designed through this awful fragile fallible sin-ridden Body called the Church to display His wisdom and greatness and glory to the powers of hell.  He will have the victory!  He will complete the work He has begun in His people.

One of my hopes and prayers in this AMiA mess, thus, is that God would somehow get greater glory. As the utter weakness of all church structures and leaders, and the ugliness of sin is once again visibly on display for all to see, may God shine forth out of these cracked clay pots and astound the world at the beauty He is able to bring forth out of what looks to be an unredeemable mess.  He is the God of redemption, He Himself is our redeemer.

Come Lord Jesus.  May our redemption not only be a confession of words, but a reality demonstrated in transformed lives.

So Yes Lord, we cry “turn Your steps toward these everlasting ruins!”  May they, may we, may I be a display for Your glory, built on the foundation of Christ, exalting Him, even in our weakness.

—-

By the way, for those who want to reflect further on God’s eternal purpose for the Church and the passage I’ve quoted above from Eph. 3, I highly recommend listening to John Piper’s exegesis of Ephesians 3 from the Lausanne Conference in South Africa last year, which I had the awesome joy and privilege of attending.  That exegesis, along with the amazing experience of being gathered together and worshipping with 4000+ other believers from virtually all the countries of the world did so much to expand my vision for the Church and to help me catch a glimpse of its beauty, stirring up my passion to pray for the fulfillment of God’s promises to complete His work and fulfill His purposes in us.

The links to John Piper’s talk (broken into two videos) are here:

Part1,  Part2

A blessed Advent to all.

Hubble space telescope Advent calendar

From The Atlantic

The stones on the road to Bethlehem

An Advent poem, reflecting on the parallels between the road to Bethlehem and the road of the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Were the stones on the road to Bethlehem shouting praise? Thanks to my bishop, whom I had asked to pray for me on the day that I wrote it. –JW

But he said, “If they kept quiet, the stones would do it for them, shouting praise.” Luke 19:40 The Message

Anthem unto anthem
The angels sang.
Star unto stones
Proclamation rang.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Follower to follower
Would echo the cry
While Pharisees among them
Did decry.
Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

Donkey and man
Plodded along,
No coats and palms
To soften the stings.
What song, what song
Did you sing
As footfalls mounted on eagles’ wings?
Psalm 19:1-4, Isaiah 40:31, Luke 19:35-40

Advent Favorites: Within Our Grasp (St. Leo the Great)

Originally Posted Thursday, December 8, 2005

Within our grasp

Filed under: Advent Devotionals, Saints & Church Fathers — Karen B.

Invisible in His own nature,
God, in His great love
became visible in ours.

Beyond our grasp
in His great love
He chose to come
within our grasp.

– St. Leo the Great
(1002-1054)

Advent Favorites — Henri Nouwen: Teach Me to Pray

Originally Posted Monday, December 5, 2005

Henri Nouwen — Teach Me to Pray

Filed under: Prayers & Prayer Themes, Advent Devotionals — Karen B.

This prayer by Henri Nouwen was included in an Advent Devotional Guide that Truro Church published a few years ago. It is very appropriate for Advent with its theme on waiting on the Lord, resting in His presence, and asking the Lord to “create new doors” in our lives that we might draw closer to Him.
———–

Teach Me to Pray
Henri Nouwen

Every day I see again that only you can teach me to pray,
only you can set my heart at rest.
Only you can let me dwell in your presence.

No book, no concept or theory will ever bring me close to you
unless you yourself are the one who lets them become the doors to you.

But Lord, let me at least remain open to your initiative.
Let me wait patiently and attentively for the hour when you will come
and break through the walls I have erected.

Create new doors.
Teach me, O Lord, to pray

Spurgeon: Thou Art My Lamp, O Lord

Another Advent post I owe to Pat Dague.  She posted this devotional from Charles Spurgeon in August. The reflection and verses I have posted after the Spurgeon excerpt are my own. (KB)

***

For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness. 2 Samuel 22:29

Am I in the light? Then Thou, O Lord, art my lamp. Take Thee away and my joy would be gone; but as long as Thou art with me, I can do without the torches of time and the candles of created comfort. What a light the presence of God casts on all things! We heard of a lighthouse which could be seen for twenty miles, but our Jehovah is not only a God at hand, but far off is He seen, even in the enemy’s country. O Lord, I am as happy as an angel when Thy love fills my heart. Thou art all my desire.

Am I in the dark? Then thou, O Lord, wilt lighten my darkness. Before long things will change. Affairs may grow more and more dreary and cloud may be piled upon cloud; but if it grow so dark that I cannot see my own hand, still I shall see the hand of the Lord. When I cannot find a light within me, or among my friends, or in the whole world, the Lord, who said, “Let there be light,” and there was light, can say the same again. He will speak me into the sunshine yet. I shall not die but live. The day is already breaking. This sweet text shines like a morning star. I shall clap my hands for joy ere many hours are passed.

CH Spurgeon

***

In my opinion, Spurgeon’s opening question is crucial.  Am I in the light? I think there are two senses to Spurgeon’s question. It is important not merely to ask “Are my circumstances joyful and sunny? Can I see my way clearly?” But more importantly to ask: Am I walking in fellowship with Christ? If so, I can cling to His promises, even in the darkest times. The key is whether the darkness internal or external?

Here are a few NT passages on light and darkness to meditate on this Advent. (All texts from NIV)

John 3:19-20
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

John 8:12
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

2 Cor 4:6-8
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

Eph 5:8-11
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.
11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

Col 1:13
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

1Thes 5:4-5
4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

1 Pet 2:9
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

I Jn 1:5-7

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Lord, help us to live as children of Light, to walk in fellowship with You in obedience to Your commands, to allow Your Spirit to work in our lives this Advent to expose any dark and hidden motives and sins in our hearts. May we not only look to You to be our light to guide us in times of darkness and confusion, but allow You to fill every part of our hearts and lives with Your light that all who know us will truly see the Light of the Glory of Christ shining forth from our faces and our lives.

image credit

(posted by Karen B.)

Advent Favorites — Lord, Let Us Receive Your Clear Light

Originally Posted: Monday, December 20, 2004

Lord, let us receive Your clear light

Filed under: Advent Devotionals — Karen B.

The Word made flesh for us gives us the greatest hope
that the murky night of darkness will not overwhelm us,
but we shall see the daylight of eternity.

Lord, let us receive your clear light; be for us such a mirror of light
that we may be given grace to see you unendingly.

If we are overcome, you have the power to forgive us;
Therefore, in my sin I call on you,my Lord, my Light, for help.
For you were sent into the world to enlighten my heart,
to nurture true repentance and to make the Holy Spirit’s
work grow more powerfully in me.

With the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign for ever!

–Hildegard of Bingen

Advent Favorites — Canon John Heidt: An Advent Meditation

Originally posted: Friday, December 2, 2005

Canon John Heidt: An Advent Meditation

Canon Heidt is the Canon Theologian for the Diocese of Fort Worth. This is taken from his blog Transfiguration.
—————-

art credit: web gallery of art. Sandro Botticelli, Adoration of the Child, 1495. Click here for background on this painting.

***

An Advent Meditation

By Canon John Heidt

A Virgin conceives and now gives birth
And God becomes a helpless child:
Infinity now in an infant found
And Majesty now on a manger throne
Becomes the site where angels sing.
Where a star leads wise men to a simple inn,
And turns this night into the world’s light.
For in cattle’s crib a child is born,
And the world’s turned upside down.

Another Christmas; the Christ Mass here
Where our labor and joys, the bread and the wine,
Become the flesh and blood of God.
Where souls and bodies offered to Him,
Become His living Body again.
For in us He is reborn today,
As first He was in Mary’s womb.
We are the manger where angels sing,
Simple children that wise men seek,
For On our altars God has come
And the world’s turned upside down.

Humility conquers the world’s pride
And kings pay homage to the servants of God
An Empire crumbles before a saintly man
Tyranny ridiculed by the world’s damned.
Peace conquers war; the poor become rich
The weak become strong and the wronged become right
For a child is born; a son is given
And nothing shall ever be the same again.

***

Graham Kendrick, a worship leader and prolific songwriter from the UK, also echos Canon Heidt’s refrain “nothing shall ever be the same again” in one of his Christmas songs:

So many centuries of watching and waiting
But when the moment came well nobody saw
Traders and travellers hurried by
And life went on just like before
Just like before
In all the clamour just a new baby crying
One more poor family shut out in the cold
Nothing unusual sad to say
Hasn’t it always been this way?

But nothing will ever be the same again
This night has changed everything
Nothing will ever be the same again
Since the night he came

You can read all the words here.
Listen to a clip of the song sung by Graham Kendrick here. [A longer clip sung by another artist is here.]

The poem and the song have both got me thinking… What do I need to allow Christ to change in my own life?

Liturgical Yard Art?!?

Ok, I’m a huge advent-o-phile as this blog attests.  But this is just wild!  Liturgical Yard Art. That takes some guts.  I love it!

Advent Favorites — Will We Be Ready? (Madeleine L’Engle)

Originally published Wednesday, December 8, 2004

Will We be Ready?

Filed under: Advent Devotionals — Karen B.

When will he come
and how will he come
and will there be warnings
and will there be thunders
and rumbling of armies
coming before him
and banners and trumpets?
When will he come
and how will he come
and will we be ready?

Madeleine L’Engle
Advent, 1971

Advent Favorites — John Henry Newman: To Watch with Christ

Originally posted: Wednesday, December 21, 2005

To Watch with Christ: John Henry Newman

Filed under: Advent Devotionals — Karen B.

To watch with Christ
A reading from John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, 19th century

——————————————————————————–

Let us consider this most serious question – What is it to watch with Christ? I consider this word watching a remarkable word; remarkable because the idea is not so obvious as might appear at first sight, and next because our Lord and his disciples inculcate it. We are not simply to believe, but to watch; not simply to love, but to watch; not simply to obey, but to watch; to watch for what? For that great event, Christ’s coming…

Now what is watching?

I conceive it may be explained as follows: Do you know the feeling in matters of this life, of expecting a friend, expecting him to come, and he delays? Do you know what it is to be in unpleasant company, and to wish for the time to pass away, and the hour strike when you may be at liberty? Do you know what it is to be in anxiety lest something should happen which may happen or not, or to be in suspense about some important event, which makes your heart beat when you are reminded of it, and of which you think the first thing in the morning? Do you know what it is to have a friend in a distant country, to expect news of him, to wonder from day to day what he is now doing, and whether he is well? Do you know what it is so to live upon a person who is present with you, that your eyes follow his, that you read his soul, that you see all its changes in his countenance, that you anticipate his wishes, that you smile his smile, and are sad in his sadness, and are downcast when he is vexed, and rejoice in his successes? To watch for Christ is a feeling such as these; as far as feelings of this world are fit to shadow out those of another.

He watches with Christ, who, while he looks on to the future, looks back on the past, and does not so contemplate what his Saviour has purchased for him, as to forget what he has suffered for him. He watches with Christ, who ever commemorates and renews in his own person Christ’s cross and agony, and gladly takes up that mantle of affliction which Christ wore here, and left behind him when he ascended. And hence in the Epistles, as often as the inspired writers show their desire for his second coming, so often do they show their memory of his first, and never lose sight of his crucifixion and in his resurrection.

Source: http://www.rc.net/wcc/advent.htm

Advent Favorites — Lord, Revive Us! (Charles Spurgeon)

Originally Posted: Friday, December 3, 2004

Lord, revive us!
All our help must come from you.
Give to your people your love,
Your confidence,
Your holy daring,
Your consecration,
Your liberality,
Your obedience,
Your holiness.

Walking among the golden candlesticks,
Trim every lamp and make every light,
even those that burn feebly now,
Shine out gloriously through Your Spirit.
– C.H. Spurgeon