Sunday 30th August - Celebration
Holy Habits 9 - Celebration
Video
Worship:
Hopefully our ‘Holy Habits Theme Song’ is well and truly established in your homes by now!:
A great celebratory worship song is ‘Praise Like Fireworks’ (by Rend Collective). Join in the moves with The Well Actions Team!:
Word:
Celebrating is something we should remember to do often and if we’ve been practising all the other Holy Habits we’ve thought about over the summer, there should be even more to celebrate!! As we’ve practised focusing on the good things of God over the last weeks, we should be more aware of how amazing God is and how much He loves us. We have so much to celebrate!
Celebrating is about engaging with God in saying thank you, in praising God and worshiping Him. It is about realising all the great things that God does for us and allowing our heart to be joyful, to feel glad and to express it; let it out in a way that celebrates God! The Psalms can help us to celebrate. Read Psalm 100. Then look up Psalm 136 (see separate PDF for a version written for children from BRF).
Which other Psalms celebrate God?
Throughout the Bible there are examples of people celebrating, it was never God’s will for us to lead a dull or boring life. In the second half of the verse from John 10: 10 Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” We can choose to live with celebration and joy, we can practise it as a holy habit, so that even on a bad day, it should still be possible to celebrate God!
Can you find examples of celebration in the Bible? Here are two to get you started:
Nehemiah 12: 27 - here the Levites celebrated joyfully and dedicated the wall of Jerusalem.
Luke 2: 13-14 - here the heavenly host celebrated the birth of Jesus.
Activity Suggestions:
Try to think of what you know about God that makes you glad! Think of all God’s good gifts, the things he provides (food, water, safe homes, loving families) and especially of how much He loves you.
To celebrate God’s love and grace towards you express your celebration however you choose. Some ideas:
- write a song of praise and celebration
- make a collage that shows your joy
- write a poem of praise
- play music (or make music) and dance before the Lord
- memorise a verse of praise (eg; Psalm 100: 1) and repeat it over and over again during the coming day
- bake something tasty to enjoy eating as a family
- paint a picture that expresses joy
- do something that makes you laugh or have fun with your family
Reflection:
A prayer to say celebrating growing older and closer to God daily:
As You Grow
As you grow,
May our Heavenly Father
Guide you through,
Pouring down His blessings
Over you.
As you grow,
May you experience love
Never-ending,
And know that your life
On Him is depending.
As you grow,
May each breath
That you take
Be filled with the wonder
That only God can make.
As you grow,
Always be thankful for
Blessings unfolding,
Give Him your best
For your life He is still moulding.
(Taken from https://www.praywithme.com/christian-poems-for-kids.html)