Third Sunday of Easter

Year B: April 15, 2018

First Reading: Acts 3:12-19

Crazy Hair Day by Barney Saltzberg

(Written for ages 5-8)

Comment: In his speech, Peter rebukes his listeners for the mistakes they have made, namely their rejection of Jesus. Yet, Peter does not stop there. At the end of this pericope, Peter says “Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped away.” The mistakes that the Israelites made don’t get the final word. Perhaps they can even learn from their sins? In Crazy Hair Day, young Stanley gets his days mixed up. He showed up to school with a new hairstyle for crazy hair day, only to find out that crazy hair day is next week. And, just to add to Stanley’s dilemma, it turns out that it is actually picture day. Stanley spends part of the day wondering what to do, before turning his day around and making the most of his mistake. Invite your congregants to reflect on what they have learned from their sins and how they’ve repented of those sins.

Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-7

Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

(Written for ages 4-8)

Comment: Little Spoon finds himself struggling to make sense of who he is, especially in comparison to his other utensil friends, Knife, Fork, and Chopsticks. He looks to all the different activities that his friends get to engage in and that he can’t do. But then his mom reminds him of his own unique talents and abilities, emphasizing what makes him special. While Spoon doesn’t know what it would be like to be Knife, Fork, or Chopsticks, he does know what it is like to be himself and how he belongs in the larger community of utensils. The writer of 1 John reminds us that we are all children of God, even if it has not been fully revealed what we will one day be. This text and this story explore what it means to belong, including celebrating what makes someone a unique and special child of God.

Gospel Reading: Luke 24:36b-48

I Feel a Foot! by Maranke Rinck and Martijn van der Linden

(Written for ages 4 – 7 )

Comment: In this text, Jesus appeared to the disciples and frightened them. The disciples did not know who he was. In response to their fear, Jesus invited the disciples to touch him and see him, so that they may know that it was really Jesus, their Messiah, who is standing in front of them. In I Feel A Foot!, a group of animals have a similar fear to the disciples as they are unable to decipher where a rustling noise is coming from in the middle of the night. Each animal takes a turn to touch the mystery animal and try and figure out the animal’s identity. In a way similar to the disciples trying to figure out Jesus’s identity, the animals cannot figure out the mystery animal’s identity without stepping out of their comfort zones and being willing to seek out the animal’s identity. Once the animals figure out who the mystery animal is, they can be at peace, like the disciples.

Thanks to Union Presbyterian Seminary dual degree student Rosy Robson for writing the Revised Common Lectionary Links this week.

Lectionary Links (RCL): April 15, 2018 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.