WELCOME to ST JAMES' ONLINE SUNDAY SCHOOL!
When we can't gather in person, let's learn and play in a virtual way!
Sunday, August 2, 2020
Loaves & Fishes

The church color for this Sunday is still green - for many weeks!
This one's the ninth Su nday.

Here are the readings:
This week, we're wondering about this Gospel reading: Matthew 14:13-21

Jesus rode in a boat to go to a deserted place, to be alone for a while. But while he was traveling, the crowds followed along on shore, so that when Jesus got off the boat, he was surrounded by people, after all: over 5000 men, plus women, and children, too. Jesus felt compassion for them, and gave up his plan to be alone. He spent the day healing sick people, for hours.

Finally, at suppertime, the disciples came to Jesus, worried about all those hungry people. They were out in the middle of nowhere, with no place to buy food nearby, and not enough money, anyway. The disciples told Jesus that he should send everyone away.

Jesus told the disciples no. He told them, "You give them something to eat." But all there was, were two cooked fish and five loaves of bread, someone's picnic.

Jesus took the basket of bread and fish. He told everyone to sit down. He looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the bread. Jesus gave the loaves and fishes to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowd.

And everybody ate until they were filled up. After supper, when the disciples gathered up the leftovers, there were twelve baskets full of extra pieces.
How did that happen?! This is one of Jesus' miracles!

Have you ever wanted to be alone?
Why did Jesus decide to heal people, when he had really wanted to be by himself?
What's the largest crowd you've ever been in?
How does it feel to be hungry?
I wonder why Jesus told the disciples no.
Have you ever been invited to stay instead of go?
What's your favorite supper? (Do you like bread and fish?)
Who gave Jesus their supper, their bread and fish, to share? Would you have?
When Jesus looks up to heaven and blesses the bread and breaks it, does that remind you of what we do at church during Communion?
(Do you miss church? I do.)
What do you think the disciples thought when Jesus gave them that little basket of supper to serve over 5000 people?
AND. . .
I wonder what you think about how everybody got all they needed, and there were even leftovers, lots and lots of leftovers!
Some of our neighbors are hungry. What miracles can we help to create?

Pettengill House has asked for our help to serve our neighbors in need!

I wonder what plans you can imagine. What can we do, together, to help feed people? How can we gather and share?

Write to me to tell me how we can do a fundraiser for money, or a collection for non-perishables. Tell me your ideas!
Print out this PDF, and enjoy a coloring, cutting, and thinking craft (and I think it would look very nice displayed on a refrigerator!).
Click here for the link.
Not t o eat, of course, but to play with, display, and share: make these paper fish !
Bake some loaves - or egg men (shown), or hedgehogs, or more: try out these kids' "Top 5 Bread" baking recipes from BBC Goodfood. (Bonus math lesson: recipes are metric!)