Joe MartinNew Life is a precious thing and we should celebrate it and protect it.
In our Music Resource we will think about how a new attitude can bring new life and our Picture Resource will help us to think about how forgiveness offers the opportunity of new life to everyone involved.
This week’s Action is a project to design a bootcamp that will help others to start a new life and to be a better person.
In our Video Resource we will see a very new life and we will think about how we would guide and educate someone in the important things that they need to know about life and faith.
Finally, our Scripture Resource shares a story of new life from the Bible and shows us how we can choose to be closer to God and to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
No matter what age you are there is the opportunity to start a new life with Jesus everyday – how will you do it?
Scripture Bank
If you would like to reflect on some more of the scriptures related to this topic then you can use some of the scripture references below.
Most of these are taken from Open Bible – you can use their Topical Bible Search facility to find lots more ideas! Just remember to change the Bible translation to ‘Good News Translation’ when you click on the link!
If you have found any pieces of scripture that you think link to our theme this week then please add them in the comments box below to share the Good News so that we can all enjoy them!
2 Corinthians 5:17
Jeremiah 29:11
Isaiah 43:18-19
Isaiah 43:19
Lamentations 3:22-24
1 John 4:18
Revelation 21:5
Matthew 7:7
Isaiah 65:17
Click here for the Music Resource
What does ‘hakuna matata’ mean?
What changes did you notice throughout the song?
If you decided to live your life by the motto ‘hakuna matata’ how would it be different from how you live your life now?
Why should Christians have no worries?
Joshua was a prophet in the old testament who was given a job to do which he was very worried about but the Lord said to Joshua:
Remember that I have commanded you to be determined and confident! Do not be afraid or discouraged, for I, the Lord your God, am with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9
As Christians we should not be worried because we have God to protect us and to care for us wherever we go.
Help us to have a new life in you as we understand that we can place our lives into your hands.
Amen.
Click here for the Picture Resource
Why do you think it has been painted onto a wall?
Do you think this image relates to new life? Who would be affected by this?
How does this image relate to God?
Please help us to make the most of our new life and to do the right thing once we have been forgiven.
Amen.
Click here for the Action
If someone wants to have a happier healthier life then they might take part in a “bootcamp”.
A bootcamp is a course that helps you to make a fresh start and to change the things that you would like to improve so that you can make a better life for yourself. Quite often it involves exercising and changing what you eat but it might also involve thinking about things in a different way and having a new attitude to situations.
We all want to be the best person that we can be and to be more like Jesus but that often takes some hard work before we can achieve that.
This week your Action is to create a bootcamp course to help people to be the best that they can be!
Do you want to help people to be healthier? To be happier? To be more confident? To learn to treat others nicely? To work as part of a team?
You should find some scripture to help you explain to others why it is the important to achieve these aims. (These websites are very helpful when you want to search for scripture easily: www.biblegateway.com and www.openbible.info )
Next you need to decide how you will achieve this aim.
Will you have workshops? Will you have videos? Will you have leaflets and posters?
Think about the different activities that your bootcamp would have and how they would help people to be the best that they can be.
It might be good to start your bootcamp by saying sorry for the things that we have done wrong and getting rid of any worries that we might have – just like we would do in a Mass or a Liturgy.
You’ll need to think about how long the course would be and where it would take place.
Would you do a lesson in school? A day in school? Or even a residential trip?
Bootcamps can be difficult and challenging so people will need some encouragement and some support.
Prepare a prayer that everyone on your bootcamp can use to ask for help and support from God who always wants the best for us.
Finally, when your bootcamp is complete how might you reward and encourage the people who have worked hard on your bootcamp to continue to be the best that they can be?
Click here for the Video Resource
This video below tells us a bit about him.
What do you think are the most important things to teach him as he grows up?
What would you tell him about growing up?
What would you tell him about God?
As we get older we should share our wisdom and knowledge with those who are learning. Think about those people that you can guide and teach and think about what you would share with them.
Amen.
Click here for the Scripture Resource
In this week’s scripture we will hear how the Holy Spirit (which descended on Philip and the other apostles at Pentecost), guided Philip to visit a man who was moved to start a new life through baptism.
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get ready and go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This road is not used nowadays.) So Philip got ready and went. Now an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an important official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia, was on his way home. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God and was going back home in his carriage. As he rode along, he was reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that carriage and stay close to it.” Philip ran over and heard him reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
The official replied, “How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?” And he invited Philip to climb up and sit in the carriage with him. The passage of scripture which he was reading was this:
“He was like a sheep that is taken to be slaughtered,
like a lamb that makes no sound when its wool is cut off.
He did not say a word.
He was humiliated, and justice was denied him.
No one will be able to tell about his descendants,
because his life on earth has come to an end.”
The official ordered the carriage to stop, and both Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The official did not see him again, but continued on his way, full of joy.
The Word of the Lord.
(Thanks be to God.)
How can we tell that the scripture from the book of Isaiah that the Ethiopian eunuch was reading is about Jesus?
If you had to explain the Good News about Jesus to someone who had never heard of Jesus before what would you tell them? What events would you include? Which messages would you share?
The official went away full of joy, what do you think was different about his life from then on?
He wanted to understand and to follow the right path.
We won’t always get everything right all the time but if we try to bring our lives closer to Jesus through our thoughts and actions then we are making a good effort to be closer to God and to make a new life where we are better Christians.
Help us to make the most of opportunities and to try to bring our lives closer to you.
Amen.