Back at Sermon Notes

I apologize that this is after the fact, but I have been back at sermon notes for the last couple for Sundays. But for the next couple weeks St. John's we will be using blank notes without a coloring strip  (which you can find under the sermon note tab). My husband and I will be traveling to Israel. We are beyond excited for our pilgrimage. And cannot wait to experience the impact it will have on our ministry. Here are the sermon notes for last week, Jesus' baptism and this week, Jesus the Lamb of God.

Jesus' Baptism Sermon Notes

Jesus the Lamb of God

Emphasis on Epiphany

Epiphany has always held wonder and magic for me. I love that in the church we celebrate the 12 days of Christmas and the tree does not come down right away, not even on New Years Day! Instead we recognize the delayed arrival of the magi. This helps to emphasize the significance of their part in the nativity narrative. The Messiah, the king of kings and lord of lords, is not just for the people of Israel. He is for all peoples to the ends of the earth!

So, if you are like me and want to linger in the light of the star of Bethlehem and ponder the significance of our savior's birth, then I encourage you to dwell in Epiphany. To sit in awareness of what an epiphany is, the manifestation of the divine. And maybe, just maybe, God will grant you a moment of sudden revelation into the amazing love he has for his creation.

I have created a praying in color sheet called Epiphany Prayers. It is for a short season, 10 days, but enough time to linger. Use the stars to pray for loved ones, yourself or give thanks and praise. You can download it for free by clicking on Epiphany Prayers.

I also found a nice coloring sheet for my faith book at bible-printables.com of the Wise Men. There are a few different designs in the Christmas section.

Another way to reflect is through Bible Journaling. Verses to look at are the Wise Men story in Matthew 2, the Bethlehem Star in Numbers 24:17 and Isaiah 60:1. If you have not heard of bible journaling I have an explanation under Visual Faith Resources tab or visit the Illustrated Faith website.

Some other suggestions for celebrating Epiphany are influenced by Sybil MacBeth's "The Season of the Nativity." To learn more about Praying in Color visit her website prayingincolor.com  You can also find her books there.

Celebrate Epiphany by:

* Read the story of the Wise Men in Matthew 2:1-2
* Just now let your nativity Wise Men figures arrive at the stable creche.
* Look up online why they brought gold, frankincense and myrrh.
* Make and decorate crowns to wear or display.
* Read T.S. Eliot's poem, "The Journey of the Magi."
* Decorate your home with stars, white candles and gold ribbons.
* Leave up your Christmas tree with a star topper on it and star ornaments.
* Read the bible stories about Jesus' baptism and his first miracle in Cana.
* Throw an Epiphany party or a 12th Night Party on the evening of January 5th.
* Bake a Kings Cake.
* Play a game of hide and seek with the baby Jesus figurine from your nativity scene.
* Listen to "We Three Kings" and look for other Wise Men songs to put on a playlist.

I really like "The Wiseman's Song" by Sawyer Brown and "How Many Kings" by Downhere.

There is also the tradition of chalking the doorway of your home with a special Epiphany blessing. Read more about it in an article written by Deacon Greg Kandra, Chalking the Door: Blessing Your Home for Epiphany. Click the article title for link.

It was that bright morning star the kings followed to find the young Jesus and where they recognized his sovereignty over all the earth. A reign of service, love and sacrifice. We are called to also follow his light and be light bearers to the rest of the world.

So, just as the magi returned to their land to tell of the good news, you too go and share the message of Christ's birth, death and resurrection.

Happy Epiphany!

Advent Devotion Booklet

Advent 2016

During the season of Advent St. John's will be using a Devotion based on the candles of the Advent wreath. On the back of each candle insert will also serve as the sermon notes for the Sunday and Wednesday of that week. There is also be a devotion for Christmas Day with the Sunday scripture readings.

Each devotion gives a background for the meaning of the candle, a scripture reading, a prayer and some activities to do during the week. The images found on each page are meant to be colored during your devotion time. The Christ Candle page is longer for the Christmas Day devotion.

Files to Download

Cover Outside

Cover Inside

Hope Candle

Peace Candle

Joy Candle

Love Candle

Sermon Notes
Christ Candle front
Christ Candle back

Make your own Advent Wreath
page 1
page 2

Random Acts of Kindness
This can be for kids or adapted for adults, too. Feel free to add it to your booklet. Color in the flames as you do each act from December 1st to the 25th.

For printing purposes there are two of each devotion on a legal size paper. If your printer or copier can do duplex or manually feed the paper for double sided, the sermon notes file goes on the back of each candle page. Except the Christ Candle devotion that has a front and back of its own. The cover is also meant to be printed double sided with the inside and outside files. Fold these sheets so that the cover with the plain wreath is on top, the Advent explanation on the inside left, then the full candle wreath on the inside right with the extra space for notes on the back cover.

cover outside

cover inside

candle devotion

sermon notes for the back of the candle devotions

What Is On Your Priority Plate?

People often say, "I have too much on my plate." We are all so busy and sometimes forget the important things. Well, the other day while having a family meeting, my husband suggested we illustrate our priorities based on a plate. What are the important things we should be feeding? Or taking the time to be fed by?

The focus of our discussion as a family was to list the things we find most important, what motivates us, what gives us hope. How to practice gratitude and how to encourage each other. These are the things that drive us. Then, we listed them as priorities. From there, we talked about how to remember our priorities and what kind of tools we could use to help us.

Then the kids really took off with it. The plates had different foods symbolizing different things. God is the meat, our protein. Veggies were health or people. Utensils became the tools we use to help us stay on track. Desserts or drinks were the fun things we love to do. Napkins contained thankfulness lists.

It was a very creative way to think of our priorities and the tools to help us stay focused. Like, our bibles, prayer lists, faith books, planners and check lists.

Today the youngest was asked if he had done one thing with each of his priorities before media time. He said he forgot what were his priorities. So, I decided to have us process our notes from our family meeting and draw out nicely on a sheet of paper to fit in our faith books, our priority plates. Hopefully, the pages will serve as a reminder of those things most important to us. The youngest, by the way, loved it so much he said we should do family projects like that more often. And he also decided to draw a house symbolizing his priorities in his journal.

Daily Affirmations

I created a new insert for my faith book, affirm - DAILY. Big reminders for in those times of suffering. Or just a daily encouragement. Sometimes when we look at the word of God or the doctrine of man, all we see are the rules or how we fall short. That is only part of the story. The other side, grace, says God loves us more than we can imagine. Our pain is not in vain. He really does fight for us. That we do not have to do one thing to earn His favor. We do not have to appease Him. Sometimes we need to turn to God and be affirmed. And be reminded that our behavior and what we do does not affect His love for us. He really is unconditional. May you rest in that truth today. 
The verses or phrases may not be the whole scripture reference but a summary or glance of His message. 
I wanted each affirmation to be rooted in scripture.

Here is the file if you wish to print it for yourself   affirm - DAILY

NEW FILES!

I finally got Memory Work done and the Confirmation Book files formatted into pdfs. I will post them here and under the Faith Book and Sermon Notes tab. Feel free to use these in your ministry or personal life.

I hope to start doing memory work along with my middle schooler. For the last couple weeks they have been working on the books of the bible. The adult me said, "Nah, I'll skip that. I know I learned those way back when. I'm too busy." No, excuses now! I'm posting it. My plan is to find out on Mondays what the memory verse is for the week. We have one for 5&6 grades and 7&8 grades, I can post both. I'm going to share them on my Instagram account. You can find me at melindaransdell the link is on the right =>

I have some suggestions on learning verses in the box in the lower left corner titled, practice it. Based on different research articles I've read these are some good hints to use. Also, not sure on the science behind it, but I have also read that if you want to remember something, it is easier if you write it in blue ink. Doesn't hurt to try!

Memory Work File

Being a Blessing

Weekly Prayers

Sermon Reflection

Worship Reflection
*edits have been made in file

Examples of Faith Book Inserts

Here are a few photos of some of the Faith Book prayer and scripture sheets I have completed over the last couple months. Hopefully this gives you more of an idea of what I do in my Faith Book. I use my weekly planning sheets to reflect on bible verses and record memories of events. The other sheets are time spent in prayer or study while using visual faith to connect with God. For more on how to interact with visual faith, I suggest checking out Sybil MacBeth's Praying in Color website, Illustrated Faith's website and the blog Vintage Grace. click on each title for link.

Each of these pages are free to download and print under the Faith Book and Sermon Notes tab.

What reflecting and recording my week last week looks like.

The Blessings Prayer Sheet

On the right is thanking God for something that is a blessing in my life.

On the left is a doodled prayer asking God to bless that someone or something.

Sermon Notes example

Sermon notes are in our church bulletin with a space to write,

draw and and outline to color. Blank ones and designed ones can be found

under the Faith Book and Sermon Notes tab.

A Verse A Day

I use the youversion bible app for a daily verse.

This is what stood out to me; colors and images that came to mind.

Visual Prayer Sheet

Each blob is a doodle I did while praying for the person or thing.

Weekly Prayer Sheets for our church

These pages are in the church bulletin every Sunday and can be

taken home to use for daily prayer.

To read more about my Faith Book, there is a post highlighted in the upper right of the blog and a short description under the Faith Book and Sermon Note tab.