Faith
+Open: Once everyone in the household is gathered light a
candle to remind us of Christ’s presence with us always and open with prayer.
Pray this prayer, one of your own or a combination of the two. Dear God, we call to you for help and you
call back to us with words of healing and promise. We are grateful that it is
your call to us that draws us near to you in our times of helplessness, sorrow,
joy and gratitude. May we use our lives to call out to people around us to
share your voice with those who need to hear the healing words of your Son. We
pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.
Faith
+ Share: Read aloud Mark 10:46-52. With younger children read
from the Spark Story Bible, page 338, or your favorite children’s Bible. After
reading it through once have different people read the different parts:
Bartimaeus, Jesus, the crowds. Or even act it out!
With
children: Bartimaeus was blind and alone. He was probably
scared some of the time not knowing who or what was around him. Even though
Bartimaeus could not see Jesus with his eyes, he knew immediately when Jesus
was close and he called out to Jesus for help! Following the sound of Jesus
voice he jumped up and went to Jesus not worried about falling, running into
something or someone or getting hurt. Bartimaeus didn’t need his eyes to know
that Jesus was there! He knew in his whole being. Bartimaeus reminds us that we
only need to listen and follow Jesus’ voice and we know that Jesus is always
close to us even when we can’t “see” Jesus! What are some ways that we can help
us to “know” that Jesus is close? (Ideas: prayer (talking to God), reading the
Bible, family and friends who love us and care for us, helping to care for our
family, friends, and people we don’t even know!)
With
youth/adults: There is a lot going on in this short
story and feel free to ask your own questions and go down a different path than
the one I will take here! But some questions and thoughts that I have are about
the crowds in this story. The crowds wanted Bartimaeus to leave Jesus alone and
not bother him. Bartimaeus, as a blind beggar utterly alone, was not part of
the “in crowd.” He was to be avoided, unclean, a nuisance at best, and a scar
on society at worst. This “worthless” person shouldn’t be bothering Jesus! But
Bartimaeus ignores the crowd and continues to call out for mercy/help (best
translation would really be that he says “mercify me”) to Jesus. The crowds
must have been shocked when this cry stopped Jesus cold in his tracks! “The
least of these” is what caught his attention, not the rest of the crowds or
disciples with him! Jesus then calls out to
Bartimaeus and the crowds suddenly change their tune. Hey Jesus is calling you Bart! You had better go! This story is not
just about transforming Bartimaeus but transforming the crowd (us) as well. The
crowd around Jesus thought that they were the “in group” with the disciples and
were quick to try and keep the less desirables out. But Jesus transforms the
crowd from gatekeeper to conduit. By hearing Jesus calling to Bartimaeus, the
crowd then becomes the encourager of Bartimaeus to go to Jesus! I would like
to think that someone even took him by the arm and guided him for safety! Both
the crowd and Bartimaeus are transformed together to be all together with
Jesus. For Jesus, both the insiders and the outsiders were in equal need to
transformation and he brought them together for the purpose of a whole
community which then Bartimaeus became a part. So how are we sometimes the
“gatekeepers” keeping those we don’t think are desirable away from God? How can
we hear Jesus voice calling to those on the margins and become a conduit for
encouraging and pointing people to the one who can transform each and every one
of us and all of who we are to be
“made well” or whole with God? How might the person we least expect point us to
Jesus?
Faith
+Close: At the end of your Faith + Share time extinguish the
candle and share one word/phrase about the conversation on Mark 10. Leave a
little time for silence and then either use the Faith + Blessing below or close
with a simple “amen.”
Faith
+ Serve: We have lots of opportunities to serve here at LCM.
This month, let’s send 50 children from Molholm Elementary school to the
outdoor lab! Without some assistance many children at Molholm may not be able
to participate in the outdoor lab. We will be doing a baked goods sale in
October at LCM to support this project so look for more information soon! But
in the mean time have a jar or a glass set aside in your kitchen that you can
label “Called into the world.” Every time you or a family member eats a piece
of bread or other baked good place some spare change in the glass. Even a penny
will help! Collect this change throughout the month of October and bring it in
on October 28th-Reformation Sunday-and watch how a little bit from
each of us combines to great abundance!
Faith
+ Blessing: As you leave for work or school each
morning make on the sign of the cross on the back of each other’s hand and tell
the other person, “Remember Jesus is calling you.” Jesus calls us to him and
into the world to share God’s love with everyone!
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