The Church Calendar Part 3

The Church Calendar: Part 3
Call to Worship
(Sung to “The Bear Went over the Mountain”)
Let’s worship God, let’s worship God, let’s worship God,
With joyful hearts, with joyful hearts, with joyful hearts,
Let’s worship God with joyful hearts!

Joys and Concerns
Have the children share a few joys and concerns they have and follow with a prayer thanking God for our joys and asking God to be with us in our concerns.

Sharing
Ask: Do you remember last week’s lesson about the Church Seasons? Can you tell me something you remember? (We celebrate Easter, the color of advent is purple, etc.)
Listening
Last week we talked about the church calendar. We learned that we celebrate Jesus’ life and ministry by following Church Seasons. We begin with Advent, a time in the church year to get ready for Jesus' coming to earth. Followed by Christmas, the celebration of Jesus' coming to be our Friend. Then we celebrate Epiphany, the season when we celebrate the three kings coming to find Jesus. Jesus came for all people everywhere. The next season is the season of Lent, the time when we remember Jesus’ death. After Lent comes Easter, when we celebrate with great joy that Jesus rose from death to live again. Then we celebrate Pentecost, when we celebrate God's sending the Holy Spirit to us. The Sundays after Pentecost remind us how to live and grow in our Christian lives. It is important for us to learn about the church calendar. It helps understand what God has done, what God is doing, and what God will do.
Today we are going to explore the church seasons with different foods and learn more about colors.
Exploring
Have the children eat a small portion of each of these to help them remember the colors of the church seasons.

Advent: purple grapes
Christmas: white marshmallows
Ordinary time: green celery
Lent: no food because of the tradition of fasting
Holy week: red apples
Easter: popcorn
Pentecost: strawberries
Ordinary time: green grapes
Benediction
Say: Loving God, thank you so much for all of the seasons we celebrate you. Amen.