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Christine Clover

@knittedjesus

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Diary of a new Children's Minister 🙏👨‍👩‍👧‍👦
Featuring the exciting adventures of knitted Jesus and all his woollen friends! ✝️⛪️

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Matthew 5: 1-12 Jesus Teaches the People
Jesus saw 👀 the crowds, he went up on a hill and his followers came to him. Jesus taught 🙏 the people and said: 🙌
"Those people who know they have great spiritual 🙏 needs are 😊 happy.
The 🤴 👑 🦁 kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
Those who are 😔 sad now 😢 are happy. 😊
God will comfort 🙏 ✨️ 💖 them.
Those who are humble 😌 ✨️ are happy.😊
The earth 🌎 will belong to them.
Those who want to do right ✅️ 😏 🤔 more than anything else are happy. 😊
🥺 Mercy will be given 💓 to ✝️ 🕊 them.
Those who are pure in their 🤔 thinking are happy. 😊
They will be with God.
Those who work to bring peace are happy. 😊
God will call them 🙏 his sons.
Those who are treated 😢 badly for doing good are happy. 😊
The kingdom of heaven belongs ✨️ ❤️ to ✝️ 🕊 them.

People will say bad 👎 🙄 😒 😪 😑 things about you and hurt you. They will lie and say all kinds of evil 😈 things about you because you follow me. But when they do these things to you, you 🙏 ✝️ 🕊 are happy. 😊 Rejoice and be 😊 glad. You have a great reward waiting for you in heaven. ❤️ People did the same evil 😈 things to the prophets who lived before you.

#storytelling #knittedtoys #kidschurch #sundayschool #jesusteaches by @knittedjesus

Matthew 22: 34-46
The Most Important Command
The Pharisees met together. One Pharisee was an expert in the law of Moses. That Pharisee asked Jesus a question to test him. The 😕 Pharisee asked, "Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?"

Jesus answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your ❤️ heart, soul and mind. This is the first and most important command. And the second command is like 👍 the first: 'Love your neighbour ❤️ as you love ❤️ 😍 yourself'. All the law and the writings ✍️ of the prophets depend ❤️ on these two commands."

The video was taken during our Harvest Festival, the children all had 🫧 bubble blowers and every time they heard words of giving and generosity in the reading they blew bubbles to illustrate abundance. The reading 📚 was from 2 Corinthians 6-15.

#harvest #storytelling #kidschurch #sundayschool #familyworship by @knittedjesus

Matthew 22: 15-22 The Pharisees Try to Trap Jesus
Then the Pharisees left the place where Jesus was teaching. They made plans to trap Jesus with a question. They sent some of their own followers and some men from the group called Herodians. These men said, "Teacher, we know 😒 🙄 that you are an honest 😉 man. 👨 We know that you teach the truth about God's way. You ✝️ are not afraid 😏 of what others think 🤔 about you. All men are the same to you. So tell us what you think. 🤔 Is it 🤨 ✅️ right to pay 🤔 taxes to Caesar or not?

But Jesus knew that these men were trying 🙄 to trick him. So he said 🤔 "You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me? Show me a 🪙 coin used for paying the tax." Then men showed him a silver coin. 🪙 Then Jesus asked, "Whose picture is on the coin? 🪙 And whose name is written on the coin?" 🪙

The 😕 men answered, "Caesar's."

Then Jesus said 🙌 to them, "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. And 💕 give to God the things 🙏 that are God's."

The 😕 men heard what Jesus said 😳 🙌 🙏 and 💕 they were 👏 😲 amazed. They left him and went away.

#storytelling #knittedtoys #kidschurch #sundayschool #jesussaid by @knittedjesus

Matthew 22: 1-14 A Story About a Wedding Feast.
Jesus said, "The 👑 kingdom of heaven is like a king 🤴 who prepared a wedding feast for his son. The king 🤴 invited some people to the feast. When the feast was ready 😋 the king 🤴 sent his servants to tell the people to come. But they refused to come to the feast.

Then the king 🤴 sent other servants. He said to them, 'Tell those who have been invited that my feast is ready. I have killed my best bulls and calves for the 🍽 dinner. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.'

But the people 🙄 refused to listen to the servants. They went to do other things. One went to work 😪 in his field, and another went to his business. Some of the other people 🙄 grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them. The 😕 king 🤴 was very angry 😠 he sent his army to kill the people who had killed his servants. And the army burned 🔥 their city.

After that, the king 🤴 said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready. I invited those people, but they were not worthy to come. So🚶‍♂️go to the street corners 🙄 and invite 🤔 everyone you see. Tell them to come to my feast'. So the servants went into the streets. They gathered all the people they could find, both 👍 good and 👎 bad. And the wedding hall was filled 👌 with guests.

Then the king 🤴 saw a 👨 there who was not dressed for a wedding. The king 🤴 said, 'Friend, how 🤔 were you allowed to come in here? You are not wearing the right clothes'. But the man said nothing. So the 🤴 king told some servants. 'Throw him out into the darkness.'

"Yes, many people are invited. But only a few are chosen."

Matthew's version of this story is full of 😠 anger and no assurance of a happy ending even for those who have made 🙂 it to the banquet. It is all about the way in which Jesus' audience are passing up their chance to share 🙏 in God's kingdom. What about us? Are we like the man without a wedding robe, along for a free ride, but not really interested in the king or his son! The warning is unless we have come to rejoice with the Son, there is nothing for us here.

Throwback to my son, Michael's wedding - we are all wearing 💙 our wedding clothes! 😃
#weddingday by @knittedjesus

Matthew 21: 33-46 God Sends 🙏 His Son
"Listen to this story, there was a 👨 man who owned a vineyard. He put a wall 🧱 around the vineyard and dug a hole 🕳 for a 🍷 winepress. Then he built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. Later, it was time for the 🍇 grapes to be picked. So the 👨 man sent his servants to the farmers 🤔 to get his share of the 🍇 grapes. But the farmers grabbed 😕 the servants, beat one, killed another, and then killed a third servant with stones. So the man 👨 sent other servants to the farmers 🤔 He sent more servants than he did the first time. But the farmers did 😕 the same thing to the servants that they had done before. So the man 👨 decided 🤔 to send his son to the farmers. He said, 'The farmers will respect 🙏 🫡 my son'. But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the owner's son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, then this vineyard will be ours!' So the farmers grabbed 🤔 the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. So what willl the owner 🤔 of 🙏 the vineyard do to these farmers when he comes?"

The priests and leaders said, "He will surely kill those evil 😈 men. Then he will lease the vineyard to some other farmers 🙄 They will give him his share of the crop at harvest time."

Jesus said 😳 to them, "Surely you have read 📚 this in the Scriptures:
'The stone that the builders 👷‍♂️ did not want
became the cornerstone.
The Lord did this,
and ❤️ it is wonderful to us'. Psalm 118: 22-23

"So I tell you that the 🤴 👑 🦁 kingdom of God will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who do the things that God wants 🙏 in his kingdom....

The leading priests and the Pharisees heard these stories that Jesus told. They knew he was talking 👄 about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid 😨 😱 of the people 😏 because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.

Let's think about how 🤔 the story relates to us today. Are we the perfect tenants for God's vineyard or are we also the villains of the piece? Food for thought! 🤔

#storytelling #knittedtoys #kidschurch #sundayschool #parables by @knittedjesus

Matthew 21: 23-32 A Story About Two Sons (Leaders Doubt Jesus' Authority)

Jesus said, "Tell me what you think 🤔 about this: there was a man 👨 who had two sons. He went to the first son and said, 'Son, go and work today 😒 in my vineyard'. The son answered, 'I will not go'. But later the son decided he should go, and he went. Then the father 👨 went to the other son and said, 'Son, go 🚶‍♂️ and work today 🙄 in my vineyard'. The son 🙄 answered, 'Yes, sir, I will 🚶‍♂️ go and work' 👍but he did 😉 not go. Which of the two 🤔 sons obeyed his father?" 👨

The priests and leaders answered, 'The first son.'

Jesus said 😳 to 🙏 them, "I tell you the truth. The tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the 🤴 kingdom of God before you do. John came to show you the right ✅️ way to live and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed John. You saw 👀 this, but you still refused to change and believe him."

Jesus' ironic little story about two brothers is his answer to the leaders questioning his authority. He refuses to answer any questions about himself, but instead begins to probe his questioners. What was their real reason 🤔 for asking? What would 😳 constitute an 'authority' that they would recognise? His answer: they need to learn to be obedient to God, nothing else.

Photo taken on a beautiful autumn 🍂 day at Chapel Down Vineyard where we had a wonderful lunch followed by 🍷 a wine tasting 😋 😀 experience!
#chapeldown #vineyardvines #storytelling #winetasting🍷 #chapeldownwinery by @knittedjesus

Matthew 20: 1-16
"The 🤴 kingdom of heaven is like a man 👨 who owned some land. One 🌄 morning, he went out very early to hire some people 🙄 to work in his vineyard. He agreed 👍 to pay them one silver coin. 🪙 About nine o'clock the man 👨 went to the market place and saw 👀 some other people standing🧍‍♀️there. He said 🤔 to them, 'If you go🚶‍♂️and work in my vineyard, I will pay you what your work is worth'. So they went to work in the vineyard. The man 👨 went out again about twelve o'clock and again at three o'clock. Both times he hired people to work 🙄 in his vineyard. About five o'clock the man 👨 went to the market place again. He 👀 saw others 🧍‍♂️ standing there. He asked them, 'Why did you stand🧍‍♀️ here all day doing nothing?' They answered, 'No-one gave us a job'. The man 👨 said to them, 'Then you can go 🚶‍♂️ and work in my vineyard'.

At the end of the day, the owner of the vineyard said to the foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them. Start by paying the last people I hired. Then pay all of them, ending with the workers 🙄 I hired first'.

The workers who were hired at five o'clock came to get their pay. Each worker received one silver coin. 🪙Then the workers who were hired 🙄 first came to get their pay. They thought they would be paid more than the others. But each one of them also received one silver 🪙 coin. They complained and said, 'Those people were hired last and worked 💪 only one hour. But you paid them the same as you paid us. And we worked 💪 all day in the 🔥 hot 🌞 sun'. But the man 👨 who owned the vineyard said to one of those workers 🙄 'Friend, I am being fair to you. You agreed 👍 to work for one silver 🪙 coin. So take your pay 😏 and go, are you jealous 😏 because I am 👍 good to those people?'.."
*******
The workers got exactly what they had been promised, but somehow it felt diminished because others also had it. Why work hard all day, if they could just turn up at the last moment and get a day's pay!

So then, how should we respond to God's generosity to others? By remembering just how much we also have been forgiven!
#storytelling #knittedtoys #kidschurch #sundayschool by @knittedjesus

Matthew 18: 21-35
Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, when my brother 🙏 sins against me 😢 how 🤔 many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?"

Jesus answered, "I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he does wrong to you 77 times.....forgive your brother from your ❤️ heart.

We all require a lot of forgiveness 🙏 and that should make us more careful in holding others to account.

Talking of brothers, I thought I would share a photo of my brother and his lovely family. My son Michael is also in the picture on the left! This was Sports Day at St Margaret's Prep School when whole families were invited to take part in all sorts of events. At the end of the day all the points added up and they were triumphant! What a moment 👏

#storytelling #sportsday #kidschurch #sportingfamily #familysport by @knittedjesus

Matthew 18: 15-20 When a Person Sins Against You
"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him what he did wrong. Do this in private 🤔 If he listens to you, then you have helped him to be your brother again. But if he refuses to listen, then go🚶‍♀️to him again 🙄 and take one or two other people with you. Every case will be proved by two or three witnesses'. If he refuses to listen to them, then tell it to the church ⛪️ If he refuses to listen to the church ⛪️ then treat him as you would one who does not believe in God....

Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth 🌎 agree 👍 about something, then you 😉 can pray 🙏 for it. And ❤️ the thing you asked for will be done ✔️ for you by my Father in heaven. This is true 👍 because if two or three people come together ❤️ in my name, I am there with them."

We cannot always be united, but the end of the passage shows us the vision of what our unity might do. If we come together in Jesus' name then our prayers 🙏 will be answered!

#storytelling #knittedtoys #kidschurch #sundayschool #unityindiversity by @knittedjesus

Matthew 16:21-8 Jesus Says 🙏 That He Must Die

From that time on Jesus began 🙏 telling his followers that he must go to Jerusalem. He explained that the otherJewish leaders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the law would make him suffer many things. And he told them 🙄 😒 that he must be killed. Then on the third day, he would be raised from death. 💀

Peter took Jesus aside 😳 and began to criticise what he had said. Peter said, "God save you from those things, Lord! Those things will never happen to you!"

Then Jesus said to Peter, "Get away 🙄 from me, Satan! You are not helping 😒 me. You don't care about the things of God. You care only about things that men 🤔 think are important."

Then Jesus said to his followers, "If anyone 🙄 wants to follow me, he must say 'no' to the things he wants. He must be willing even to die on a ✝️ cross, and he must follow me. Whoever wants to save his life will give up true life. And whoever gives up his life for me will have 👍 true life.....

Whilst on holiday in Norway 🇳🇴 we visited a stave church ⛪️ one of 28 surviving. It was built c.1220. They are so called because they are made of stave walls comprising vertical posts and wall planks resting upon sills(ground beams). No nails were used, all the joints were dovetailed. The crucifix is from the 13th century.

#storytelling #Norway #stavechurch #crucifix #ringebu by @knittedjesus

Matthew 15: 13-20 Peter Says Jesus Is the Christ
...Jesus asked them, "And who do you say I am?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus answered, "You are blessed, Simon Son of Jonah. No person taught you that. My Father in heaven showed you who I am. So, I tell you, you are Peter. And I will build my ⛪ Church on this rock. The power of death ☠ will not be able to defeat my Church ⛪ I will give you the 🗝 keys of the 👑 kingdom of heaven..."

#kidschurch
#knittedtoys #storytelling #sundayschool #keystothekingdom by @knittedjesus

Matthew 15: 10-20 Obey God's Law Not Men's
Jesus called the crowd to him. He said, "Listen and understand what I am saying. It is not what a person puts into his 👄 mouth that makes him unclean. It is what comes out of his 👄 mouth that makes him unclean."

Lord of all,
bless the work we do,
the words we say,
the 💏 love we share
and the grace we show,
on our daily walk
through this beautiful
and precious world 🗺
Amen.

Throwback to our holiday in Gambia 🇬🇲 It was Adrian's birthday 🎂 and we had a wonderful evening enjoying local music 🎶 and 💃 dancing. As a coincidence today is also my birthday and we are off to see the Fjords in Norway 🇳🇴

#storytelling
#Gambia #birthdaycelebration♥️ #birthdaydinner❤️
#churchfamily by @knittedjesus