Share the Word

Exodus 14:19-31

You will need: simple props (blue fabric, staff/stick, white shawl, torch).

• Display the fourth piece in the Moses jigsaw series. This can be displayed in large format or given to individuals as a print-out (either in colour or in black and white to colour in). There are 10 jigsaw pieces to build up as the Exodus story progresses over the weeks.
• Introduce the reading by recapping last week, asking people questions or providing a summary.
• Then, dramatise the reading with some simple props for volunteers to act out the passage as it is read. A group representing the Israelites could start at the back of your building (Egypt) and move up to the front (the Red Sea). Two pairs hold up long lengths of blue fabric/sheets representing the Red Sea. Shake them up and down to represent waves. A figure in a white shawl with a bright torch leads the way from the back as God/the pillar of cloud, then moves between the Israelites and another group representing the Egyptian army. Moses with a staff leads a group of Israelites. The ‘waves’ part to let the group pass with the Egyptians chasing the Israelites. As the Egyptians enter the sea, the ‘waves’ move back together and cover them with the fabric. All can join in making swishy wave noises.

Matthew 18:21-35

You will need: a bag of 77 coins (these could be actual pennies, card or wooden craft discs, or chocolate coins), one single coin.

• Ask some volunteers to help you count the coins.
• Explain that the story today has many meanings. It is about someone who owed a little money (the single coin) and someone who owed a lot (the bag). It’s about slavery, which is when people are made to work for their ‘owners’, as though they are just possessions, and often treated very badly. It’s about how we treat each other when we follow God.
• Invite people to listen carefully and see what they think it is about. Use an accessible language version to read out the passage.