 |
The sheep reunited and the collected prayers
|
Today was
an "All Together" All Age Service. Instead of a lesson, the young people gave a dramatised
reading of Luke 15. By the end of the reading, there were 99, furry toy sheep
and nine coins on the table at the front and one abandoned coin and one lonely
sheep at the distant end of the aisle.
The
reading had reminded us how Jesus had been criticised by the Pharisees for
associating with those whose actions have made them social outcasts. But he
explained to the Pharisees that the very reason that he had come was to retrieve
the lost – exactly those who were shunned by the Pharisees.
In his talk,
Steve explored the emotions that came with being lost and how Jesus wanted to
bring people back into relationship with him.
When Angie
Bailey then led the prayers, (having already istributed paper stubs with the outline of a sheep) she invited us to write on that sheep the names(s) of people who are “lost” for
whatever reason – emotionally, physically or spiritually, for whom we wanted to
pray. People then brought their “sheep” and left them within the sheepfold at
the front of the church. We united all our prayers in the Lord’s Prayer.
Thank you
to all who helped make this such a meaningful service. If the descriptions don’t
make much sense, you should’ve been there!
