TOY SERVICE

Welcome:

Today we are going to look at the theme of “The Church” and what does it mean?

Opening Prayer:

Jesus said, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them”

(Matthew 18:20)

As you promise to be with us Lord Jesus,

We welcome you here today.

Help us Lord to worship you,

To listen to your Word,

And to pray in faith,

That we might grow in our love for you and for one another.

Amen.

Opening Songs:

Come now is the time to Worship

The Church is one foundation

Quiz:

I have a quiz called “What is this?”

I am going to show you some pictures of everyday objects in close up. See if you can guess what they are.

What is this? (Show picture 1 in Appendix 2) Any ideas? (Receive suggestions)

It is actually one of the following: a candle stick, a piece of spaghetti, or lip balm. Which of those do you think it is?

What is this? (Show picture 2 in Appendix 2) Any ideas? (Receive suggestions)

 It is actually one of the following: Carpet, a teabag or cotton wool. Which of those do you think it is?

What is this? (Show picture 3 in Appendix 2) Any ideas? (Receive suggestions) It is actually one of the following: An apple stalk or a cigarette end or a twig.

Which of those do you think it is?

And finally what is this? (Show picture 4 in Appendix 2) Any ideas? (Receive suggestions) It is actually one of the following: Bubble wrap, crystal glass or soap foam.

Which of those do you think it is?

Sometimes we think we know what something is but we may get it wrong. If I asked you today the question, “What is the church?” I wonder what you

might say. We may all think we know what the church is, but we may get it wrong, like we did with some of the pictures we have just looked at.

Let’s hear what the Bible says the church is as we have our first reading.

Bible Reading:

The Bible reading is 1 Peter 2:4-5

“As you come to Jesus, the living Stone —rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Talk1:

For this talk you will need a cross and some willing volunteers!

We are going to build a church now, and then we can see if we all have the right picture of what the church is.

Our reading says that our church begins with Jesus, the living stone, the most important stone of all.

Because we can’t see Jesus, although He is alive, I have brought along a cross which reminds us of Jesus and what He has done for us, as the cross

and resurrection are actually the foundation of the church – the Cornerstone.

(Hold up cross) Let’s put Jesus here. (Place cross on a table so that it is very visible and where people

can gather around it)

The reading then says that as people come to Jesus, they too become like living stones that God puts together to build His church.

I am going to call out some of your names now. When I call out your name I would like you to come forward and gather around this cross.

(Call out approximately twelve people ensuring that your volunteers are a mixture of people of different sexes, ages, nationalities etc. Position your people around the cross so that they form a couple of fairly haphazard circles….make sure that there are gaps in the circles, signifying that there is space for other people to join in.)

Great – we have our church…..a group of people of different ages and backgrounds, With different life experiences and gifts, who have all come to Jesus to receive

forgiveness of their sins and his gift of life.So if I asked you to draw a picture of the church now…..I wonder what you would draw.

Would you draw a building like this, (Show a picture of a church building) or would you draw a group of people like this? (Point at the group of people around the cross)

The church is the people of God isn’t it…..not the building we meet in?

Now if you are observant, you will notice that there are gaps in our circles of people…That is because the church is not a closed group of people, like a club, but it is welcoming to all.

So, if the church is the people of God, what is God’s purpose for us - His church? To keep it really simple, we can use three short words to describe God’s purpose for us, His church.

Those words are UP, IN and OUT

So the 1st word – UP.

Would you please all make sure you are facing Jesus…..now put up your hands. What do you think these people are doing? (Receive answers from the congregation)

That’s right they are worshipping God……

1 Peter 2:9 says this: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who

called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

The 1st purpose of the church is that we WORSHIP GOD….to declare His praises…..to life up His name…..to focus UP, which is what we are going to do

now. (Send your volunteers back to their seats) Begin the time of worship with Psalm 100, withdifferent sides of the congregation saying different verses as below:

(Service leader) Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

(One side of congregation) Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

(Other side of congregation) Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

(One side of congregation) Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; Give thanks to him and praise his name.

(Other side of congregation) For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Follow immediately with a song.

THE SPLENDOUR OF THE KING

Talk

The UP purpose is to WORSHIP God.

The IN purpose is GROWING A COMMUNITY on earth that looks rather like the community of God in heaven.

Show the painting called Rublev tried to show us something about what God is like by painting this icon of the Trinity. (Show picture of Rublev’s icon)

We see God the Father on the left hand side; next to Him is God the Son, and next to Him is God the Holy Spirit.

This picture helps us to see that God himself, the Holy Trinity, is a community of relationships.

For example at Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit was present in the form of the dove, and the Father spoke from heaven. (Matthew 3:16-17) They were in

relationship with one another. So what sort of relationship do you think exists within the Godhead?

Well we only have to look at Jesus’ life and his relationship with His Father to see that the relationship in the community of the Godhead is one of love, unity, and self-giving.

The church is to be a community on earth that looks rather like the community of God in heaven.

So it is a community where people love each other, accept one another, serve one another, encourage one another, live in harmony with one another and submit to one another.

Can you imagine how attractive this sort of community is to people outside thechurch?

When the church looks like the community of the Holy Trinity, it will bring glory to God and it will grow as people are drawn to it.

And notice, in Rublev’s icon, although the Trinity are in close relationship, there is this space at the front….room for others to join in and be welcome.

To recap then, the UP purpose of the church is WORSHIPPING God and the IN

purpose of the church is GROWING A GOD-LIKE COMMUNITY on earth.

And finally let’s look at the OUT purpose of the church.

Jesus told his disciples to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. (Mark 16:15)

The church’s third purpose is to go into the world and SHARE THE GOOD NEWS about Jesus with those who haven’t heard it yet. (At this point two people get up and go to the Chocolate at the front of the church where the tub of sweets is hidden. They help themselves to one sweet each which they eat as they walk back to their seats. As they walk they make loud comments like, “delicious,” “just what I needed,” “wonderful” etc)

Those two people knew some good news that the rest of you didn’t know!

They knew, because I had told them before the service began, that there was a tub of sweets hidden They chose to keep the good news of the sweets to themselves and not share it.

The church isn’t to be like that.

We have good news to share that is much better than the good news about a tub of sweets.

We have the good news to share that God loves us and has sent Jesus to die for our sins so that we can become His children, both now and for all eternity.

That news is to be spread to our families, our friends, our neighbours, the people of this town/city, nation and all over the world.

To remind us of that, we are going to share the sweets around to everyone at the end of the service.

So today we have discovered that the church is the people of God with the three purposes of:

 WORSHIPPING GOD – “UP”

 GROWING A GOD-LIKE COMMUNITY – “IN” and

 SHARING THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT JESUS – “OUT”

Prayers:

 The first prayer could be praying for the Worship life of the church

Dear lord, help us to understand that praying to you is really important.

So, we pray now for the Worship life of our Church.

We thank you that you love everyone who belongs to your family,

Thankyou God for our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world.

Father bless us now, may we except one another, and find strength and joy in our lives together.

My we be a family open to all people.

Father may we take what we have heard today, as we have shared this day with one another during this time of worship.

And remember to raise our praises UP to you.

Amen

 The second prayer could be praying for the Growth of a God-like community,

Father God, we thank you for the beautiful world you have created,

May we do nothing to spoil your awesome handywork, help us to search out the good things.

Show us how to fill this community with kindness and loving words let this place bring you honour.

And bring you glory.

We thank you for all the things we have schools, shops, hospitals, that provide for all our needs.

Lord Jesus, let us grow IN our relationship with you though our prayers to you that you will help us also grow in our love for you and our community.

 The third prayer could be praying for the Sharing of the Good news about Jesus.

Help us to show care for those less fortunate than ourselves, to show a caring heart to this community and beyond.

Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness.

Help us to share the light of Jesus Christ who came in great humility, as we prepare to celebrate his birth.

Born in a stable, born to save us all.

Dear Lord help us to look OUT, help us to share the news of Jesus with all we meet, as the generous donations of gifts for those less fortunate than ourselves.

Lord’s Prayer:

As our Saviour taught us, so we pray

All Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours

now and for ever.

Amen.

Invite people to come forward during the final song and lay their stone at the foot of the

cross as a way of saying that they “belong to the people of God;” that they are “a living

stone” in God’s church. Write their names on the stones before laying them at the foot of the cross.

During this song people bring their stones and lay them at the foot of the cross.

Final Song:

SHINE JESUS SHINE

Blessing:

The LORD bless you and keep you;

The LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

The LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. Amen.