Game of cards
And then the disciples are trying to prevent Jesus from going back because they are worried for his safety. He was chased out of town last time he was there.

There are several packs of cards on your tables.  Some of them are normal cards, others are happy families.  Please play a game using them.

I don’t know about you but sometimes families are anything but happy

Activity

Everyone will need a piece of paper and a felt tip pen.
Please draw round your hand.  Make it so you can see the pen line on the other side of the paper. Then turn the piece of paper over and trace over the hand you should just about be able to see on the other side. Mark an L and an R on one side of the paper and the other to show which is left and which is right.

Now everyone knows that sometimes the hand that we get dealt is not the one we always would want it to be.  Sometimes we look at the hand of cards we have and really wish we had someone else’s.

Life sometimes deals us a hand that we are not very impressed with, it might be the way we look or feel about a part of our body, it might be about some people that are in our life, it might be some circumstances in which we find ourselves.  It might an arch enemy or a team your team has to play against and always get beat by…

We would like you to come up with 5 things, one for each digit on your hand that you wish had not been dealt to you.  You might like to talk someone else about it or you are happy just to write down the 5 things that you are not impressed with.

When you have done that, turn your piece of paper over and write down 5 things that you are glad have been dealt to you, Things, people, teams, looks, circumstances that you are glad to have In your life,…when you have finished just share with someone else on your team.

Take the piece of paper and match up your right hand, now match up your left hand…

It looks like you are all praying.
Remember no matter what happens in life, which hand you might have been dealt, God is always more ready to listen to us than we are ready to talk.

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A man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. This was the same Mary who massaged the Lord’s feet with aromatic oils and then wiped them with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick.  So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Master, the one you love so very much is sick.”  When Jesus got the message, he said, “This sickness is not fatal. It will become an occasion to show God’s glory by glorifying God’s Son.”
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days.  After the two days, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”  They said, “Rabbi, you can’t do that. The Jews are out to kill you, and you’re going back?”

John 11;1-8 (The Message)
 
Sometimes people in our family do not do things how we would like, or at the speed we would like,…Can you imagine how Martha and Mary might have felt?  Jesus said, Oh don’t worry I will be along in a bit…But Lazarus is sick, and we are not sure how long he will last…!

Why is it that we think we can treat our own family members worse than a stranger sometimes?

Sometimes we are dealt a bad hand – people will not do as they are asked. Sometimes we get to see the real person inside and begin to wish that we hadn’t.

Can you ever remember saying in the playground to the bully that My Dad is bigger than your Dad, and if you don’t stop it I am going to go and get him…
We use it in our house, but it is not my dad or Jack and Daniel’s dad.  You see our family extends to a Dad who is powerful and resourceful beyond our own. Our Dad is the same Dad that Jesus knew.  The same dad that meant he could deal with whatever hand he was dealt.  The same Dad who was always more ready to listen than we are talk.

You see with the extended Christian family we can “My Dad is bigger than your Dad”

And if you think that means you can go around bullying other people because of the size of your dad read this;

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline.  Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you.  And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.  Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness.

Col 3;12-15 (The Message)

Being part of God’s extended family, with having the Father of all creation as dad comes responsibility.