If you are meeting early in the day, ask everyone to look in their bag and find today’s activity. Ask:
- Do you like cakes?
- What things do we celebrate with cake?
- What did Ruth have to celebrate?
If you are meeting later in the day, ask:
- Did everyone enjoy their cake?
- What events do we celebrate with cake?
- What did Ruth have to celebrate?
Explain that while we are all together this week online, we have been thinking about the story of Ruth in the Bible. Each day we hear from Ruth. She tells us about what she is thinking and feeling as so many strange and unsettling things happened to her. We are at the end of the story and Ruth has a lot to celebrate!
Each day there will be a very short monologue written from Ruth’s perspective. You can simply have someone perform this as part of your video conference call or someone could film it for each day in advance, using different locations (there are suggested locations with the script. You can then share it as part of the conference call.
The script is available to download in the Downloads box below.
Ask everyone to go and get a photo of someone in their family who is a lot older than them. Hold the photos up to the screen and invite people to tell everyone else who is in the picture. If you have a large group, you might want to go into smaller break out rooms for this.
Once you have enjoyed doing that together, explain that at the end of the Book of Ruth there is a genealogy. There are lots of them in the Bible. They show how God is always with us, although things change, and years and years pass by. We are going to read the last part of this genealogy starting at Boaz (Ruth’s husband). Share Ruth 4:21-22 on the screen and start reading at “Boaz”.
Ask if anyone knows who David was. (shepherd, Goliath, King) The people of Israel thought he was the best King ever. After him, they were waiting for one of his descendants to be the greatest King ever. And a long time later, that greatest king was born. Ask if anyone knows who it was? A long, long, long time after Ruth and Boaz, and after King David, Jesus was born. He was God’s son, but also part of Ruth and Boaz’s family.
Tell everyone that God was with Ruth throughout her life. God loved Ruth. All the things that happened to Ruth were part of a much, much bigger story. Out of this wee family would come Jesus. Jesus would live and die and rise again for all of us – so we could all be part of God’s family. The best news ever!
Ask someone on the conference call to talk about why Jesus is so important to them and why it matters that he died and rose again. Ask them in advance so they had time to prepare.
Pray this prayer together:
Father God
Thank you for Ruth
Thank you that she knew
She was “under your wing”
Thank you that her family
Was who you used
To bring your son Jesus
Into the world
So we could all belong
In your family!
AMEN
Thank everyone for coming, and tell them how they can keep in touch now the week is over.