Bible Reading: Luke 2:25-38
What do we do with a cracker?
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Item 1.
We crack it. wake up. Wake up to Jesus being
around. That is what was special about Simeon and Anna. They were in the Temple
but when Jesus arrived, God gave them a wake up cracker. This is the messiah
and they came to enjoy him being there. How do you go about enjoying Jesus
being here? Do you talk to him? Do you listen to him? Do you do things that he
would enjoy? |
Item 2.
the party hat is a crown. But Jesus is the king! He
invites you to be part of his family, a son or daughter of God, a royal title
indeed! | 
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Item 3. a joke! God
is full of joy because he has made a way for you to be in a relationship with
him. Think about that. God actually likes you!!! To hear you pray brings joy to
his heart. To see you listening or reading his word makes him happy. To see you
responding to his love sets the whole of heaven into party time, To see you
working out that love in practise gives him great joy. |
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Item 4. A gift. Each
one different to others. If yours is unsuitable for you, swap it with an adult
who has something more suitable. God is the giver. Our presents are a
reflection that he has given us his son. What else has he given? – His Holy
Spirit. And through his Holy Spirit, differing
gifts for each one of us to build up the church and to make a difference in our
community, if not the world at large. And those gifts are specially suited to
you. You don’t have to swap them like we did, as God knows what is best for us
now. Pray that we will receive the gifts that the Holy Spirit
gives. |
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Item 5. Two verses of scripture. First
one which we all have. We have chosen it to set our thinking going for next
year. Come next week and we will talk more about it. The second is a promise.
( A list of all the promises we used is CRACKER VERSES )Yours is different to others but you can share it. That way we all benefit and
learn from each other. That is what church is about. Sharing our experience of
God. Take it away, memorize it, think about it. Let it seep into your mind and
change your thinking. So at Coffee time you can ask each other what your verse
is. If can’t read it get someone else to read it to you. |
Item 6. A chocolate sweet. Jesus said “ I am the bread of
life” “He that comes to me will not hunger” You should be getting the idea that
Jesus is not about what you give up, which is shallow and fragile and short
term and hollow but about the richness of what you gain. Forgiveness, peace,
hope, joy, to find yourself loved, to know the presence of the Holy Spirit day
by day and the certainty of an eternity with God in the future. |
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So our crackers this morning are a second reminder of
what communion speaks of.
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