I wanted to flag up two brilliant resources for churches and ministers to use over the next fortnight…

1. Platinum Jubilee Video from Go Chatter

This lovely video from Go Chatter picks up on the Queen’s own request for prayers for her time as Queen before her coronation, as well as using quotations from the Queen’s Christmas speeches. It finishes thanking God ‘for our Queen who serves her King’.

You can download a non-preview copy from Go Chatter here.

2. Queen Elizabeth II book by Alison Mitchell & Emma Randall (‘Do Great Things for God’ series)

We’ve enjoyed a few books from this ‘Do Great Things for God’ series of Christian biographies for kids. It kind of mimics the ‘Little People, Big Dreams’ series which you tend to see in the kids’ bookshelves of supermarkets, etc.

What I especially liked about this book was the level of interesting detail in the way Alison Mitchell tells Elizabeth’s story: from the surprise of her not expecting to ever be the monarch, to the different areas of her charity service, as well as fun little anecdotes that I’d not come across before, like when Elizabeth and Margaret sneaked out of Buckingham Palace when war was over to celebrate with the crowds. Emma Randall’s illustrations are bright and feel personable.

It ends with some snippets from her Christmas messages, a timeline of her life, and a quotation of Mark 10:45 – ‘for even [Jesus] did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’.

Full colour, full size illustrations are available to download for free enabling you to read the book in church, etc. You can also download a school assembly plan, as well as worksheets for different age groups.

You can pick up a copy of Queen Elizabeth II here.

3. Jubilee Object Lesson Set

This is interesting – not seen something like this for sale before. A set of visual aids (3D printed!) for your own all age Jubilee talk or assembly.

Available here from One Way UK.

4. ‘Rise Up & Serve’ Jubilee Song from Hope Together

A new anthem ‘Rise Up and Serve’ has been commissioned by HOPE Together and partners, and written by song writers Graham Kendrick, Mal Pope and the contemporary worship band Rend Collective. You could play the video or sing along in church.

More info and various versions, backing tracks and sheet music here.

5. ‘The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee 2022’ tract by Roger Carswell

A short folded tract explaining about the Queen’s 70 year reign, using examples from her speeches where she talks of faith in God, and the forgiveness only found in Jesus. Written by respected evangelist Roger Carswell, it also explains that one day every knee will bow before the King of Kings, even the Queen herself. Available for 15p for one copy, with reductions for bulk orders.

Available here.

Seven up…

1) Is there any justice for survivors of abuse? – Rachael Denhollander – Rachel Denhollander is remarkable. She was the first gymnast to go public with allegations against former US gymnastics team doctor, Larry Nassar, in 2016. Two years later Nassar was imprisoned for 300 years for molesting gymnasts. Denhollander was in the UK this week and gave this interview on Saturday night as part of Pillar & Step events, promoting the case for Jesus Christ. It’s a powerful and brave testimony on suffering, justice and forgiveness. The content of the interview includes references to abuse of a sexual nature.

2) Ukraine Crisis – How Psalm 31 is bringing comfort – This is moving from Bible Society in Ukraine. Also some amazing Bible outreach stories from Ukraine compiled here.

3) The good news of your God-given limits – Yes! Word!

4) Go Ahead. Pray for Putin’s Demise – I think this is really helpful from Tish Harrison Warren on the imprecatory psalms in the Old Testament: “Very often in the imprecatory psalms, we are asking that people’s evil actions would ricochet back on themselves. We are not praying that violence begets more violence or that evil starts a cycle of vengeance or retaliation. But we are praying that people would be destroyed by their own schemes…”

5) Making Meaningful Connections – Really appreciating these training videos on sharing your faith from A Passion for Life. This from Lizzie Smallwood is a really winsome, engaging & challenging 15 minute watch.

6) Podcasts for Church Leaders (2022 Edition) – Grateful to Joel Murray at FIEC for compiling this list.

7) Any member of Nsync that isn’t Justin Timberlake at a Justin Timberlake concert – For something a bit different, this tickled me…

Seven up…

1) How to Talk to Kids About the War in Ukraine – Some helpful pointers from Justin Whitmel Early.

2) Christian Charities Working in Ukraine – Christian organisation Stewardship highlight a number of their Christian partners working in Ukraine. Also, the Sanctuary Foundation also hopes to support new arrivals from Ukraine in the UK, as the UK government’s humanitarian sponsorship programme is designed. Register your interest here.

3) What’s the deal with Lent? – Some Christians mark the season of Lent, some don’t. Here’s a few thoughts about Lent, with a daily prayer for the season.

4) How to Nurture a Faith-Sharing Culture – This new book from James Lawrence and CPAS looks brilliant: “What if evangelism was a ministry of the whole church, not just a few? What if it was central to the life of a church rather than something done on the margins? What if it was part of the ‘way we do things round here’?” That’s the aim of this resource, a straightforward guide to nurturing a faith-sharing culture in your church, congregation, fresh expression or church plant. And CPAS have 3000 free copies to give away if you’re the leader of an Anglican church, Fresh Expression or church plant in the UK or Ireland. Register above.

5) Putin’s Spiritual Destiny – Fascinating take on the spiritual motivations behind Putin’s horrific actions in Ukraine.

6) New Album from Kingdom Kids – If this first track on Ephesians 1 is anything to go by, this seem like a fab new kids album from Kingdom Kids.

7) Top 5 wickets of Shane Warne – For something a bit different, this showcases one of the greatest bowlers in cricket history, Shane Warne, who died suddenly aged 52 this week.