This week’s readings celebrate God’s loving vision for healing, wholeness, and unity. In this Season after Pentecost, the readings invite us into deeper reflection on what this vision means for the life of the church. Think about experiences of division in your own life. What were the circumstances? How did these make you feel? What needed to be achieved? What were you able to do about the situation(s)? How might your church community offer a safe place to explore a new vision of unity in situations of division?

• Access Spirit Sightings for connections between current events and the focus passage.
• Read resource sheet “Exploring Ephesians” (all Age Levels, p. 87) that gives helpful background information on the letter to the Ephesians.

• Digging Deeper: Division in the Early Church (Adult & Ages 15-18) A worksheet that explores divisions in the early church.
• Option: Use the story, “A House for God” (p. 158) based on 2 Samuel 7: 1-14a or  “The Crowd Follows Jesus” (p. 160) based on Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 from the Lectionary Story Bible, Year B; available as mp3 and projectable art downloads

Some of the many options for celebrating being joined together by God’s love:

• Ages 3-5: early church block building or making gingerbread shapes
• Ages 6-8: clay building blocks or postcards
• Ages 9-11: making mosaics or banners
• Multiage: making mosaics, blocks, postcards or banner
• Ages 12-14: weaving (loom instructions p. 85), postcards or creating replica house church
• Ages 15-18: writing peace prayers or peace projects
• Adult: collage prayers or music reflection

• Poster: Pieced Together Continue to create a jig-saw collage of pieced together. This week add key words from this week’s scriptures for your own church community onto card stock puzzle pieces to add to the collage.
• Listen to the song: “Come Build a Church” (# 16) on the Seasons Music CD, Volume 7 or available as mp3 download.

July 29: “God Is with Us”
(Focus: Ephesians John 6:1-1)

The readings remind us that God is with us, working through our longings and our fears to give us exactly what we need. What might we do differently when we truly believe that God’s grace is sufficient−more than enough? What fears/anxieties could we let go of? What might change in the way we relate to one another?

For SeasonsFUSION (which inspires worship in a setting for all ages) see the SeasonsFUSION blog and sign up to receive the SeasonsFUSION tip of the week.