Pockets

Read Isaiah 43:15-21.

One: We give thanks to God for new beginnings.

All: We give thanks to God for a new year.

One: We give thanks for a new year, but we know that with God …

All: … we can make a new beginning anytime.

One: When we do something that hurts someone else, we can ask God and the person to forgive us.

All: We can make a new beginning.

One: When we have a bad habit that is causing us to harm ourselves, we can ask God’s help each day to get rid of the bad habit.

All: We can make a new beginning.

One: When we want to begin something new that will help us to live more the way God wants us to, we can ask God to help us make the change.

All: We can make a new beginning.

One: God’s love for us is always new; God never gives up on us.

All: God always offers us another chance.

One: God is always ready …

All: … to help us make a new beginning.

Prayer: God of new beginnings, we thank that with you we can always begin again. Thank you for always loving us and giving us a chance to start over. Help us to see the places where we need to make a new beginning. Give us the courage and trust that we need to make those changes. Amen.

Together Time

Give each person a chance to talk about his or her hopes for the new year. Where do you need to make new beginnings? Let each person write a prayer asking God’s help in making the hopes real.

Let one person read 1 Chronicles 29:13-14 and another person read 1 Peter 4:10.

One: Let us give thanks to God and praise God’s glorious name!

All: God has given us so much!

One: All we have comes from God.

All: How can we show thanks for everything we have?

One: We can be good stewards of what God has given us.

All: We can give money, clothes, food, and other things to those who don’t have enough.

One: We can give our time to a busy parent, an elderly person, a younger child, or a family member who needs help.

All: We can give help to the earth by recycling, picking up litter, feeding animals, and making good use of the resources on our planet.

One: There’s a lot we can do!

All: We give because God gave to us.

Prayer: Dear God, we give thanks and praise your glorious name. Help us to be good stewards of all you give us. Amen.

Together Time

Part of stewardship involves giving because God gave to us, but that’s not all it is. Talk together about what being a good steward means. How are the people in your family stewards? Draw a picture together of ways that you are good stewards. Put it up in your home this month.

Let someone read these words from Matthew 5:14, 16:

You are the light of the world. … Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

One: Jesus said that when we follow his teachings we are the light of the world.

All: What did Jesus teach us to do?

One: Jesus taught us to love our neighbors and our enemies.

All: Jesus taught us to give food to the hungry and water to the thirsty.

One: Jesus taught us the give clothes to those who have no clothes.

All: Jesus taught us to visit the sick and those in prison.

One: Jesus taught us to be peacemakers.

All: Jesus taught us not to think of ourselves as better than anyone else.

One: Jesus taught us to love God and to try to know and follow God’s will.

All: When we do these things, we are the light of the world! Thanks be to God.

Prayer: God of light, we want to follow the teachings of Jesus. We want to be the light of the world. Help us to live each day trying to know and do your will. Amen.

Talk Together about ways your family can shine this month.

One: In the eyes of the world, success means having a lot of money, owning a lot of things, getting good grades, being good at sports, or having a job that pays well. But God’s way is different.

All: What does it mean to be successful in God’s eyes?

One: Listen to what the prophet Micah said about what God wants us to do.

Read Micah 6:8

One: We are successful in God’s eyes when we do justice.

All: That means treating others fairly and speaking up for those who are being treated unfairly.

One: We are successful in God’s eyes when we love kindness.

All: That means loving and forgiving people, even when we don’t think they deserve it.

One: We are successful in God’s eyes when we walk humbly with God.

All: That means trying to follow God in all that we do and not trying to make ourselves more important than other people.

One: If we do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God, we might not be successful in the eyes of the world …

All: … but we will be successful in God’s eyes.

Prayer: Loving God, help us have the courage to try to be successful in your eyes and not to worry about what people may think. Amen.

Together Time: Make a poster with these words from Micah 6:8: What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? For each week this month: Pick a way that your family can fulfill each of the commandments in Micah 6:8. (In other words, one week pick a way that you can do justice; the next week, pick a way that you can love kindness, etc.) As you carry out these plans, write what you did each week on your poster.

Read 1 Corinthians 12:24b-31.

One: Our bodies have many different parts.

All: God made us that way.

One: Even the parts that seem the least important are valuable.

All: God made us that way.

One: If one part hurts, we hurt all over; and if one part does well, the whole body is happy.

All: God made us that way — so that all parts of the body work together smoothly and each part cares about the others.

One: Our communities are like a body.

All: Each part is important.

One: God wants us to work together.

All: And to care about each other.

One: The world is like a body.

All: Each part is important.

One: God wants us to work together.

All: And to care about each other.

Prayer: Dear God. Help us to work together and to respect each other. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Let someone read Psalm 67.

One: God is gracious to us and blesses us.

All: Let all people praise God!

One: God’s face shines upon us.

All: Let all people praise God!

One: We want God’s way to be known by everyone.

All: Let all people praise God!

One: God is just and fair.

All: Let all people praise God!

One: God shows us what is good.

All: Let all people praise God!

One: God’s creation is wonderful.

All: Let all people praise God!

Prayer: O God, we praise you for all the ways you have blessed our family. Help us to help others to know your way. Amen.

Together Time

Work together to write your own psalm praising God for the ways God has blessed your family. Copy your psalm onto a big piece of paper. Then let family members illustrate it. Hang the finished work in a central location in your home.

Plan a family outdoor activity, such as a hike, this month. Before you leave, do this litany together. Then during your outing make a list of some of the things you see that God created and the days they were created in the creation story from Genesis 1 (for example, a bluebird, day 5). When you return home, place your list in your family Bible at Genesis 1 and repeat together the prayer at the end of this litany.

One: It was dark on that first day, so God created light.

All: And God saw that it was good.

One: On the second day, everything was water, so God created a dome between the waters above and below.

All: God called the dome sky.

One: On the third day, God gathered the waters into one place so that there could be dry land.

All: God called the land earth and put all kinds of plants on it.

One: On the fourth day, God put special lights in the sky to separate day and night and to make the seasons and years.

All: God made the sun, moon, and stars and said that it was good.

One: On the fifth day, God created living creatures in the waters and birds in the sky.

All: And God saw that it was good.

One: On the sixth day, God created living creatures of every kind on the earth and said that it was good.

All: And then God created human beings in God’s very own image and said that it was VERY GOOD!

All: And on the seventh day, God rested.

Prayer: Dear God, you made a great world! Thank you. Help us to love your creation and to be good caretakers of it. Amen.

Read Colossians 3:12-17

One: Living in a family is wonderful, but it can be hard sometimes, too.

All: We don’t always get along; sometimes we become impatient and frustrated.

One: Even though we’re a family…

All: …we are all different people.

One: We have  different likes and dislikes, different personalities and habits.

All: So sometimes we disagree. Sometimes we fight.

One: What does the Bible say about getting along with others?

All: That we should “let the peace of Christ rule in [our] hearts.”

One: How can do this?

All: By remembering that even though we won’t always get along, we will always love each other.

One: By remembering that even though we disagree, we will always be there for each other.

All: By remembering that God loves each person in our family and wants us to treat one another with kindness and respect.

Prayer: Dear God, help us to show love to each other even when we don’t get along. Amen.

Together Time

Week One: Talk about ways your family can “clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

Week Two: Talk about times when it’s hard for people in your family to be patient with each other. Are there ways you can make some of these times less stressful?

Week Three: Write the word patience on a large sheet of paper with the letters going down. For each letter in the word, write down at least one thing you can do to help you be more patient. (For example, the p might stand for pray.)

Week Four: Make time this week for the family to play a game or take a walk together.

One: Jesus came and walked among us

All: And told us about God’s great love for us.

One: Jesus came and walked among us

All: And taught and healed.

One: And then he was gone, killed by people who thought they needed to protect their power

All: And by crowds who let themselves be talked into turning against Jesus.

That day was very dark and very sad.

All: Our hearts were broken, and we felt empty.

One: But that was Friday,

All: And today is Sunday,

One: And everything is different!

All: Jesus is alive!

One: And because Jesus is alive, we are Easter people!

All: We have hope and joy and new life!

One: We are healers and peacemakers.

All: We are people who love instead of hate, forgive instead of get even.

One: So from this day on we proclaim

All: We are Easter people! Alleluia!

Together Time: Make a huge Alleluia! poster. Decorate it with things that make you want to shout “Alleluia!”

Prayer: Say a prayer, thanking God for all of the things you’ve drawn or written about on your poster. End your prayer with this: “We praise you, God! Thank you for making us Easter people! Amen.”

One: God says, “Before I formed you, I knew you. Before you were ever born, I made you holy.”*

All: God says, “You are precious in my sight, and I love you.”

One: God says, “You have my name. I created you for my glory.”**

All: We are God’s people, created by God and loved by God.

One: God doesn’t say, “I love you because people find you beautiful or handsome.”

All: Or, “I love you because you’re strong.”

One: God doesn’t say, “I love you because you’re a fast runner.”

All: Or, “I love you because you’re a good dancer.”

One: God loves us just as we are.

All: Even when we wish we were stronger or faster.

One: Even when we wish we were bigger or smaller.

All: Even when we wish we looked different or could do different things.

One: God loves us just as we are!

All: God loves us just as we are! Thanks be to God!

Prayer: Creator God, sometimes we wish that we were different in some way. Help us to remember that we are your precious children and that you love us just as we are. Amen.

*Jeremiah 1:4, paraphrased
**Isaiah 43:4,7, paraphrased