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Mark 6:14-29

Passing On The Good News

July 14, 2024

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Year B

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ASK (a.k.a The On-Ramp)

Good morning!
I have in my hand a picture, but it’s folded up for the moment so that you can’t see it.
In just a minute, I'm going to pass it to the person next to me.
Once you receive it, look at the picture and then pass it to the next person.
While you do that, I'm going to keep talking and making noise and doing whatever I can to make you forget about the picture you just saw.
[pass out the picture]
[For a distracting song and dance, consider doing the Hokey Pokey (sorry for the cheesiness of the video) -- it is easy to sing, easy to dance to, goes for however long you need it to go, and is kind of funny to watch]
Ok, now that you've seen the picture, do you still remember what it was? (yes)
Can you tell me what it is? (a smiley face)
Very impressive! Even though I tried really hard to make you forget the picture, you still remembered it!
And, even though I was trying to be distracting, you also remembered to pass the picture to the person next to you – well done!

TELL (a.k.a. The Freeway)

In some ways, our activity is a lot like today's story.
In the story, we hear that Jesus is sharing the message of the good news with lots of people.
We also hear that what he's doing and saying is so exciting that the people from far away are hearing about him.
And, what these people are hearing about Jesus makes them then think that he might be like other people who shared the good news, like John the Baptist or Elijah.
But, what we also hear in the story is that it was dangerous for Jesus and other people, like John the Baptist, to share the good news.
It turns out that not everyone liked the good news of God's love, healing, and forgiveness.
And the people who didn’t like the good news often tried to stop others from sharing the good news.
But that didn’t distract Jesus or others from passing on the good news, just like I wasn’t able to distract you enough to stop you from passing on the note with one another.

SHARE the Good News (a.k.a. The Destination)

And, just like you kept sharing the picture today, people throughout the years have kept sharing the good news about God's love, healing, and new life.
Because all of these people kept sharing the good news of God's love, healing, and new life, we at [name of church] are able to hear and receive the very same good news that Jesus shared.
And, the more we learn of and then live the good news, the better we’ll be able to share (in both word and action) the good news with others – the good news of God's love, healing, and new life.
When we do that, we’ll be passing on the same things that Jesus, his disciples, John the Baptist, Elijah and many others did.
That’s some good company to keep!
And that's the good news for today. Let's pray.

CLOSING Prayer

This is a repeat-after-me prayer.

Dear God,

Thank you for Jesus...

...John the Baptist...

...Elijah...

…and the many others…

…who shared your good news...

…so that we could hear it…

…and then pass it on, too.

Thank you and Amen

Originally posted June 24, 2018

Updated on June 14, 2024

Written and edited by Nathanael Vissia

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This material is the copyrighted property of rfour.org and Nathanael Vissia. It is also free. Please use, improve and share this material. But you may not sell it or require any personal information for it.

Supplies: Have a picture of a smiley face on a folded piece of paper, like the one at the end of this .pdf. If you have 10 or more children, consider passing out multiple copies of the picture.

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