Note to parents:

This passage gives us an amazing opportunity to explore with our child(ren) the expansive reality of what becoming a Christian means. Paul writes in II Cor.5:17, ‘If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation’. That’s what Jesus is driving at here with his picture of good and bad trees. As He helps us think through how to respond to His teaching, He is helping us to realise what it will take for us to be the people He is calling us to be: He will have to give us a new nature. This is the promise held to us in our baptism.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Ezek.36:25-27 (You could easily use part of this for a memory verse...)

Having read Luke 6:35-37, download and cut out 2 tree trunks... and a lot of leaves. You might need to download it onto a Word Doc and resize it to get this to work. For the bad tree, write a behaviour on each leaf and stick it on the tree (if you want to stick more closely to the image Jesus uses, use pictures of (rotten) fruit

Repeat for the good behaviours that grows from a new nature. If you’re struggling – take a look at the fruit of the Spirit in Gal.5:22-23. Whilst you are doing this, chat through:

How can we store up ‘good things’ in our heart?

Do you think bad-tree people can actually produce good fruit?

What makes something you do ‘good’?

You may remember from the service, Liz talking about poke-weed! Can you remember what she said about ‘motive’? How can the same action be both good or bad, depending on who is doing it and why?

Or for a totally different angle!

Sunday was our Harvest Festival, and all the food donated will be used by the Top Up Shop. When we first started this ministry, I interviewed Marilyn about it. You can watch the interview here.