This idea works best with a small congregation, home group or youth group etc

Theme: This idea is based on the Beatitude in Matthew 5:9: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God”. The Message version of the same verse is: “You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.” The idea is to put Jesus’ message into action and get people to cooperate together to create a work of peace as a collective prayer.

Directions

Before the session starts lay out the sheet on the floor off the room you are using. Draw the letters P E A C E (each one A4 size) on the pages of an old magazine or newspaper and cut them out. Lay the letters on the sheet. Download and print out the Bible verse above and put a few copies around the sheet.

Explain the theme of the activity to the group, or if using as a silent prayer station, download the instruction sheet above, print out and scatter around the station.

Ask people to individually write, draw, collage etc, a prayer for peace on a subject of their choice. It could be a world issue or something going on locally or in their own life. It could be a poem or just a list, a cartoon or a collection of newspaper headlines … the choice is theirs.

After about 20 minutes ask everyone to put their ‘works of peace’ onto the sheet, to form one collective work of peace.

Get people to spend some time looking at what other people have done, then ask each person to choose one of the subjects depicted to pray about (either out loud or silently).

Chloe Axford lives in Devon with her husband Nick and their very new baby girl. They are volunteer worship leaders at their church and run an alternative worship stream in the evening service called Creative Space. Chloe spent two years working in creative arts ministry at a church in London and now works as a journalist (when not dreaming up imaginative uses for tea lights, post-it notes and stones).

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