Update on the rebuild of our church

Three of our Awesome Kids checked out the progress on the rebuild of our new church. They made this video to share with you. Exciting stuff!

Dave plays The Last Post

A very stirring rendition of The Last Post by our very own Dave. Thanks Dave!

ANZAC Day with Awesome Kids

The poppy reminds us of sacrifices made – both past and present. Poppies were the first flowers that grew in the battlefields of Flanders in Belgium during World War One and are a symbol of remembrance and hope. 

Our Awesome Kids made felt poppies to wear and enjoyed some scrumptious Anzac biscuits.

Check out Hamish's amazing creation!

All experts at sewing on buttons now!

Mmmmm... Anzac biscuits with a difference - chocolate! Thanks Aunty Bee!

Musikool Kids starts this Friday

Just a reminder that Musikool Kids' music group for pre-schoolers starts this Friday, 10am in the Falkingham Centre. Suggested donation $2 per child.


The street is very busy due to all the construction work going on at Wesley Care so please allow plenty of time to find a car-park.


Remember if you want to request a song this term, please let me know! See you Friday.

Happy Earth Day!

Celebrating Earth Day (22 April) with Awesome Kids. 

Celebrating Earth Day

This Sunday we will be celebrating Earth Day. Join our Awesome Kids for some fun discussion and activities on conservation and looking after our amazing planet!

Peace be with you

This morning our Awesome Kids made paper cranes. The origami crane has become an international symbol of PEACE. Some of our children made doves - which are also a peace symbol.

In our story from the Bible today, Jesus made a surprise visit to his friends and said, "Peace be with you."

Easter Hat Parade

On Easter Sunday we transformed some plain, ordinary hats into unbelievably fabulous creations. Milliners in the making, all of us!

This was followed by an Easter Egg Hunt in the garden outside.

(See post below about the cutting of the tie!)

Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe!

Do you like surprises? I do! On Easter Sunday we had quite a few surprises. I will post some photos in the next day or so, of some surprising hats which went through quite amazing transformations, but in the meantime read about one of our surprises in church:

First, I scoured the congregation for someone dressed in their Easter best (it was Mr Mardon), and brought him up the front. He looked very dapper in his black and charcoal striped shirt, and shiny grey tie.

I had the congregation shut their eyes (except for the children) and something rather unbelievable happened. When the adults opened their eyes, the eye-witnesses (the Awesome Kids) tried to convince the adults that I had cut Mr Mardon's tie in half. Of course, they wouldn't believe that - as if I would do such a thing! It sounded ridiculous! Outrageous! UNBELIEVABLE!

We shared the Easter story from the bible.

God is proven the most powerful being in the universe. 

On Friday the bad guys thought they had won.  They had killed Jesus and sealed his dead body in a guarded tomb.  On Easter Sunday, Jesus totally surprised them and blasted out of that tomb proving that God and God’s ways are the most powerful power in the universe.  It is the ultimate good guys beat the guys story. It might sound pretty unbelievable, but WE know the truth.

And the tie?

Now, back to Mr Mardon. Had I cut his tie in half? It sounds pretty unbelievable, really. And yet... when Mr Mardon turned around, the truth was revealed...

Blessed are those who have NOT seen and yet believe.

Bring a hat on Sunday!

This Easter Sunday we will be decorating our own Easter hats. So, please bring along a plain, old hat or cap if you can.

The Rock Concert that Never Happened

This morning, Carol led our Awesome Kids, for our Palm Sunday celebrations: This is what Carol had to say:

PALM SUNDAY – A ROCK CONCERT

The same Palm Sunday story is in Luke and it has a little bit more detail of the story and this is how it goes…

As Jesus rode through the streets there were crowds lining the streets and they were shouting out "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

They were creating quite a stir and some of the religious leaders didn't like it. They asked Jesus to keep his followers quiet. Jesus answered them and said, "If they remain silent, the stones would immediately begin to cry out!"

Did you catch that last line? What did Jesus say when the religious leaders got upset with all the people calling Him the Messiah? He said, “If the people didn’t praise Him on that day, THE ROCKS WOULD CRY OUT.”

How many of you believe those rocks lying there on the ground would have really cried out that day if the people didn’t praise Jesus and recognize Him as the Messiah? On that day the rocks didn’t cry out, do you know why that was? 

It was because the people worshipped Jesus and recognised Him as their Messiah. 

So Palm Sunday is the rock concert that never happened!

Neti got us some rocks from the Chapel Street site of our new church and I wonder what these rocks would cry out this morning? One might tell how a little shepherd boy named David used a small stone to slay a giant to show that we can do anything when God is with us! 

Another might tell how the prophet Elijah used stones to build an altar to God. The altar was used to offer a sacrifice to God to prove that He is the one, true God.

This rock might tell how Solomon had used stones to build a beautiful temple for people to worship God.

Still another rock might remind us that Jesus once told a story about a wise man who built his house upon a rock.  When the storms came, the house on the rock stood firm.

Upstairs, during Awesome Time, we let those rocks cry out – we had a rock concert and to get us in the mood we sang a rock song, complete with air guitar and air drums. Rock on!

Easter Hats Galore!

This morning we had an Easter hat party... there were some fabulous creations as you can see in the photos below! We enjoyed some hot cross buns and Easter eggs for morning tea, and had a very special visit from Cookie the Bunny! So cute!

 

God's love written on our hearts

What are some of the things you know "by heart"?

Some of the things our Awesome Kids suggested were; phone numbers, the alphabet, times tables, pieces of music or songs for school choir, script for drama audition.

We learnt about something that God wants us to know, "by heart":

We talked about what it means to live in God's way, and I asked how we know how to do "the right thing"? Our Awesome Kids said, "you just know, deep down inside." 

In our Bible Story today, Jeremiah told the people God loves everyone, all of the time, and we need to know that and remember that deep down in our hearts. 

Ella led the congregation in prayer;

"God of love, I am listening for your voice deep inside my heart.

Show me how to share your love with others. Amen."

Owl Babies

Upstairs during Awesome Time we shared the story Owl Babies by Martin Waddell (click here to watch a video version of the story). In Owl Babies, the baby owls Sarah, Percy and Bill are worried without their mother and are not able to calm themselves until their mother returns. When we have worries, God and Jesus are with us and when we pray our worries can be calmed. We need to know, deep down inside, God's love for us is real and strong and forever.

Solomon Islands

We watched a video of some children in the Solomon Islands, making their own fun and their own toys from their natural surroundings. We made cards, which Rev Devanandan will take over to them.

Making cards and hearts

Easter Hat Parade

Easter Hat Parade at Musikool Kids - 

On the last Friday of this term, 27 March please wear an Easter bonnet or hat. There will be prizes for the best decorated hat (child and adult), so get creative!

Dylan's Harvest

Check out Dylan's impressive pumpkin harvest! Unfortunately Dylan was away the weekend of Harvest Festival (see previous post), but I was so amazed by his green fingered success I just had to share this photo with  you. Dylan has been sharing his pumpkins with family and friends. I wonder how many different ways Dylan has eaten pumpkin these past few weeks?

Dylan's pumpkins!

Harvest Festival

Last Sunday was Harvest Festival. Dave and Heather shared a story about a boy who threw apple cores away, until he realised he might be able to grow a tree.

The boy got upset when it didn't happen quickly enough. His Dad told him to have patience, as not everything happens when and how we want it to.

Camp Photos

Click here to view camp photos (then click on the folder called 'Camp 2015')

Happy 4th Birthday, Andrew!

One of our highlights was celebrating a very special birthday... Andrew, who was born on 22.2.11 turned FOUR on the Sunday of camp. We all enjoyed a delicious cake and lots of birthday treats. Happy birthday Andrew!

Our theme for the weekend was 'Amazing gRace'. Like the T.V. programme, we raced 'around the globe' to different locations, completing challenges along the way. Our three groups each tried to work well together as a team, and race with 'grace', showing fair-play, humility and good humour! 

Our teams created high fashion garments (from newspaper and tape) in 'Paris', and participated in an ava ceremony and played kilikiti (cricket) in Samoa. We visited the Master Chef kitchen in 'London' where amazing sponge cake creations were made, and there were other food challenges involving eating raw chili, dry weetbix and sardines!

One of the most hilarious challenges was in 'Mumbai, India' where teams were shown a video of a Bollywood dance routine, Jai Ho, from the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Teams were given 15 minutes to create their own version of the dance and then performed it to the other teams. Below are a couple of photos - and you can find more by following the link above.

Bollywood dancing - Christchurch North Methodist Style!

Tortoise, Hare and Bollywood

Scenes from our Camp Service - Tortoise and the Hare (top left) and our Bollywood Dance!

We brought our Camp Creative Church Service to the rest of the church family... by recreating our camp worship service.

Philomena (the Tortoise) and Dave (the Hare) gave Oscar-deserving performances in the story of the Great Race... and once again, Tortoise proved that slow and steady wins the race and we must keep our focus on Jesus as we journey through life.

Many of our fearless campers teamed up to present our Metho-wood version of the Indian Bollywood dance routine from our Amazing Race challenge at camp - to resounding applause and laughter from the congregation!

We hope the 'Camp Service' gave everyone a taste of what the weekend was all about and expect to see you all registering for next year's camp!

Amazing Race Camp was Amazing!

We had a fantastic weekend at our Parish Camp, held over the weekend at the Waipara Boys' Brigade Campsite. Young and old* joined together in an 'Amazing Race' themed weekend, with hilarious team challenges, fantastic food, chillin' out time and lots of laughter.

*Our youngest was 3 years old and our oldest attendee was in her nineties! 

Here are a few photos... a link to more will be posted soon. 

Sharing God's Smile

Last Sunday we chatted about our first week back at school and kindy, and shared 'the best and worst' part of our week.

For some, the worst thing was getting homework, not being able to sleep-in, and for some it was hard having a friend or sibling move to another school.

The highlights of the week included playing with friends, getting to know new teachers and learning new games.

We talked about 'terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad days' and how to cope with them. We talked about cheering others up when they are having a bad day, and about sharing God's smile. 

Our Awesome Kids made up some decorated boxes which they filled with tasty treats. 

We shared our treats with the congregation, and brought smiles to many faces! 

Musikool Kids' is back on Friday 13 February

If you're coming back for another fun-filled year of Musikool Kids please take a moment to fill in the enrolment form by clicking on the link below. Thanks!

Click here to enrol or re-enrol at Musikool Kids

Back to School

Blessing of the Backpacks 2015

Last Sunday we had our Blessing of the Backpacks.

Upstairs, we made bag tags for our school-bags, and talked about starting the new school year. Most of us will have new classrooms, new classmates, a new teacher, and some are starting new schools or beginning school for the first time this year. Exciting!

“As these students carry these backpacks, may they be reminded of the love and care of this congregation that surrounds them each school day.”

Blessing of the Backpacks

Blessing of the Backpacks 2014

This Sunday - Bring your schoolbag to church!

Wow, the holidays sure have flown by and it's nearly back-to-school time.

Some of you will be starting school for the first time, moving to a new school, new classroom, or have a new teacher and new classmates. Some of you will feel excited, happy, some may feel a little nervous. One thing you can count on is... God will be with you every day at school!

Students, preschool through adult, bring your backpacks, book bag or lunch boxes to church this Sunday, for our special Blessing of the Backpacks. The service will lift up children and students of all ages, with a special blessing as we begin a new school year. 

All welcome!

The Amazing gRace - Parish Family Camp 2015

View Camp Info, Programme & Costs here

To register, click here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gebjYQCtds