Thanks to Sue for this week's Awesome Kids' update:
Who doesn’t love to be loved? It makes me feel very happy and special
to know that someone loves me. God’s love is extra special – he loved me
before I was even born! And regardless of what I do or say – NOTHING I
could do could ever stop God from loving me. So now I really need to
share what I know about God, so that everyone else can know that very special
love for themselves.
On Sunday, our Awesome Kids made JOY GERMS. These special little critters were created to spread joy. They had a message attached: 'God Loves You'.
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!
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!
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."
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.
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.
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!
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!
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 justknow, 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.
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!
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?
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.
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!
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!
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.
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!
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
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.”
