Pentecost all age eucharist 12th June 2011 Birthday of the Church

Is it anyone's birthday today? This week? This month?

Tell us.... who you are, how old you’ll be and what you expect will happen on your birthday.

Well, whilst I’m very happy that your birthday coming up, today's eucharist is to celebrate another birthday.

It's not really the birthday of another person (although some people do talk about 'her') and it doesn't seem right to call it a thing.

Can the children think whose birthday they might be celebrating today?

Ask one of the children to open the present with the Spanish dictionary in it.Are they any clearer?

Ask another child to open the card and read out the greeting: 'Happy Birthday, The Church'.

How can the Church have a birthday?

When Christians talk about the Church, they aren't just talking about a building – they’re talking about all the people in the world who follow Jesus.

Nowadays there are about 2,000 million Christians in the world but roughly 2,000 years ago there were only about 120. Not 120 million, but just 120.

On the day that the Church was born, a day which Christians call Pentecost, these 120 people were hiding in a house in Jerusalem.

It must have been rather squashed in that house.

Rather like a baby ready to be born is a bit squashed inside its mother's tummy.

These 120 people were all together because they were very anxious. In the previous month they had been through a lot. First, they had seen Jesus die on a cross. That had made them very sad.

Then they had seen Jesus alive again. That had made them very happy.

Then, before their very eyes, Jesus had gone up to Heaven.

Now they were very confused and concerned.

What was going to happen next?

So the 120 people went back to Jerusalem and waited.

Ten days later, something amazing happened. There was a great wind from Heaven...

Let’s blow very hard as if we were the wind

Along with the wind there was something that looked like flames. These flames fell on the heads of Jesus' 120 followers and, like a baby being born, they came out of their hiding place and into the big wide world.

Now children who can tell me the first thing they did when they were born?

No doubt you cried. Babies cry because they want people to take notice of them. The first followers of Jesus didn't cry when they emerged out of their hiding place, but they did get the attention of other people in the city by using their voices.

They told everyone in the city about Jesus. But they all spoke in different languages - languages that were different from their own and which they had never learned. This was one of the many birthday presents that God gave the Church.

That’s behind the dictionary. At Pentecost God gave people the capacity to share about Jesus in every language and nation and send them out to just that.

Church members read out one of the different translations of 'Happy Birthday'.

At that time in Jerusalem, there were many people from different parts of the world. They were so amazed to hear their own languages being spoken that they gathered around to hear what the followers of Jesus were saying.

After Peter, one of Jesus' followers, had spoken to the crowd, 3,000 of them became Christians. Like a newborn baby, the Church had started to grow bigger.

Well no birthday would be complete without a cake.

Server lights the candles.

While this is being done the candles can be a reminder to us of the flames that fell at Pentecost on the heads of the first Christians.

Invite children to blow out candles.

When the candles are blown out, remember the great wind from Heaven that blew the disciples out of their house and into the street.

That’s what Pentecost means today, it’s a reminder that the Holy Spirit who came on this day is still with us and is waiting to inspire us to share with others about Jesus.

Just as the first Christians shared their love of Jesus with people, the cake will be shared amongst everyone after the eucharist.