3 Ways Into Sunday’s Stories for Children: Pentecost

The Day of Pentecost

Do you remember when we talked about The Great 50 Days and the season of Eastertide? This Sunday is Pentecost, which is the fiftieth day. Like Easter, we celebrate it every year. Our nation celebrates other special days every year, too, like we did on Monday for Memorial Day.

The big feast days in the church mark the start of a new liturgical season. Pentecost is also known as the birthday of the church. It’s not about just Trinity Church, or any church building. It is about all of us — the people who follow in Jesus’s way of peace!

We’ll hear the story of that first Pentecost long ago when people from different lands with different languages and customs were gathered in one place and could suddenly understand each other’s languages. And there was wind and fire, but it didn’t hurt them.  

Print, fold, read, and color the story booklet of the amazing day of Pentecost.

1. Sing and Dance

When the Spirit says sing (or dance/stomp/jump), you’ve got to sing right along!

And, for Pentecost, sing this hymn to the tune of the Doxology:

Praise God whose breath fills all the earth,
Whose love reveals our sacred worth,
Whose Spirit forms one family,
Whose grace brings peace and harmony. Amen.

2. Play and Pray

Play Conversation Toss. Pair up! Sit a body length distance across from your partner. One person has a ball or stuffed animal, something soft that is easy to toss and catch. The person who has the ball asks a caring question of the other person — like, “How do you feel today?” — and tosses the ball to them when asking the question. The recipient catches the ball and answers, then tosses a question and the ball back to the partner. Continue as long as you can. If you have several pairs, you could challenge yourselves and try speed rounds. Set seats up in two rows facing each other. After the first Q&A, everyone moves one seat to their left. The people on the ends simply moves across to the other side.

Just before leaving his friends, Jesus says:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

Try to memorize Jesus’s words. Hold them in your heart as a prayer. You can say it out loud or in your head and heart anytime for anyone. When your parents drop you off someplace. When you see a stranger. When you are upset with someone.

I wonder how Jesus’s peace was different than “the world gives”? I wonder if the Holy Spirit helps us know God’s peace?

3. Create

Print and color the Pentecost flame. Cut it out and glue it to a piece of cardboard or stiff paper. Attach it to a stick with strong tape to make a fan. Use it to imagine that first day of Pentecost — or just to cool you off.