This week the adults are starting a new series on Philippians, a letter Paul wrote to a church to help and encourage them. These first verses of the letter is all about Being Thankful. Paul is thankful even though he is in prison and he still finds so much to be thankful for. Sometimes we can find ourselves in difficult and challenging situations… can we find something to be thankful for even in difficult situations? Give it a go… and see what happens.
Bible reading:
You can find the philippians reading here:
Here is a bible story about someone who was thankful. You can probably think of lots of other stories too.
Some questions to think about together
- Who or what are you thankful for today and why?
- I wonder how Naaman felt each time he came out of the water.
- I wonder how can we grow our Christian love so that it overflows.
- Paul talks about how ‘God has begun a good work in us’.. I wonder how that makes you feel.
Things to do together
Songs:
Prayer
Thankfulness is so powerful! It really does change how we see our lives, and encourages us when things are tricky. This activity is a way of identifying, focusing on and being thankful for the good things in our lives.
You will need a large, empty, clean jar. You can decorate it in any way you like.
Cut up lots and lots of little pieces of paper and hole punch through them all. Thread them onto a ribbon or elastic band and tie it around the top of the jar.
Make a label for your jar and write some instructions on the back, for example:
‘Thanks Jar: Spotted something GOOD in your life? Draw it or write it down, put the paper in here and thank God for it.’
Or you might like to put this verse on it:
Philippians 4:8 says: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things”… and draw or write them on a piece of paper and put them in this jar!
When you’ve created your jar, invite everyone to write or draw something which good in their life. It could be something they’ve done this week which they enjoyed, someone they love, something they enjoying doing, or a simple experience they love. Explain that the Thanks Jar is to collect notes about good things in our lives. This will help us remember them and thank God for them.
Encourage everyone to add things whenever they want to. You might like to add this as a mini-ritual to your family times together, or during a particular meal you eat together once a week. Some families like to read what’s in it each month or wait and do it at the end of a year.