A Wonderful White Sunday

What a wonderful job our Awesome Kids, Youth and Young Adults did this morning, as they led our White Sunday Worship Service.

https://youtu.be/qaatvbxLlJo

More photos and videos to follow, keep an eye on the blog!

CHYPS October 13th

Calling all youth in years 7 to 13...

Join us for CHYPS YOUTH GROUP at the Chapel Street Centre, Saturday 13 October, 6.30pm to 8pm. A night full of fun, friends and a fabulous supper. See you there!

Welcome

Last Sunday we talked about ways to make visitors feel welcome at church. Our Awesome Kids made some posters welcoming everyone to the Chapel Street Centre.

White Sunday 14th October

Join us at the Chapel Street Centre this Sunday 14th October 10am-11am for our White Sunday service. We will be celebrating our young people, and the church family who loves them, prays for them, supports them and encourages them.

We will have a Teach Me Something part of the service, where we will each teach something to someone from another generation. It may be that you would like to show someone a knitting stitch, or how to put on a tie, a dance move, a note on a musical instrument or an easy way to do long division! You may like to bring along a favourite recipe, a gardening tip or the best piece of advice you've ever received. You might like to teach a prayer or poem, your favourite bible verse, or show a small child how to tie their shoelaces. it doesn't matter what it is, but it is the spirit in which it is shared.

Mud Runners!

Congratulations to Isabella and Sophia, who competed in the Rangiora Mud Run last weekend. It takes true grit, perseverance and determination to do an event like this, so HUGE WELL DONE to these awesome young ladies!

AbsolUKE - a right royal performance!

Congratulations to the 9 ukulelists and 3 vocalists and 3 solo dancers who performed on the big stage in front of HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS, and the Tongan Princess at the Methodist Multi-Cultural Festival tonight. Wow!

Here are a few photos of our amazing AbsolUKE performers waiting to go on stage. In the background you can spot the princess.

We will put up some pictures of our performance in the next few days.

Thank you so much to our AbsolUKE team and all our amazing supporters. You were stars!

Fruits of the Spirit song

Here is the link to the song we are doing on Sunday, if you need a refresher!

Methodist Multi-Cultural Festival Saturday 29 Sep 6pm

Join us at St Andrews College (in the gymnasium) for a brilliant concert, featuring our own AbsolUKE and some of our awesome dancers!

FISH this Saturday

Join us for FISH this Saturday 22 September

5pm to 7pm

at the Chapel Street Centre

all welcome

Words are like Toothpaste

With the very willing help of some of our Awesome Kids, Carol emptied an entire tube of toothpaste onto a plate. We observed how easy it was to get the toothpaste out. But then Carol asked if someone could put all the toothpaste back into the tube. Izak volunteered to have a go, and it proved rather tricky.

Carol said that words are a bit like toothpaste. They come out very easily, but they are hard to put back. Sometimes we say things without thinking, and our words can be hurtful. 

We then have to stop and say to our neighbour, I'm sorry, will you forgive me? 

Hopefully every time we brush our teeth, we will be reminded that we need to think before we speak, and use kind words that build one another up.

Check out the toothpaste video:

https://youtu.be/94qpNv092e0

James 3:1-12

Sky Sunday

We celebrated Sky Sunday by creating some galaxy jars and night sky paintings.

Bella led us in prayer:

Loving God, Thank you for your amazing creation. Thank you for the sky, for sun, moon and stars. May Your love shine through us and around us. Help us to go out into the world knowing that You are with us, rain or shine. May we shine like the stars in Your sky! Amen.

The Chapel Street Band began leading worship with the beautiful song by Louis Armstrong, What a Wonderful World and the hymn, Here I Am Lord (or, I the Lord of Sea and Sky).

Psalm 19:1–6 (a paraphrase) 

The heavens are telling the wonders of God. The skies are telling all that God has done. 

Each day announces to the next day: “God is amazing!” 

Each night passes on the same news. They do this without words. 

We can’t hear them speaking. But the message, “God is amazing!” 

goes out to the whole world. 

The sun shines in the sky, warm and joyful, like a person on their wedding day. 

The sun shines in the sky, strong and sure, like an athlete running a race. 

The sun travels across the great wide sky, from one end of the heavens to the other.

The heavens are telling the wonders of God. The skies are telling all that God has done. 

CHYPS and bread

Eating challenges at CHYPS!

Mother and Daughter Team

Amanda and Dorothy teamed up to lead Musikool Kids last week. Thanks to musical mum and daughter for a fabulous session!

Windmills, Spring and a Giant's Garden

Last Sunday we heard the story of the Giant's Garden. 

The giant was so selfish, he didn't let the children play in his garden. He built a big wall around it to keep them out and put up a sign, 'No Trespassers'. The trees and flowers and birds missed the children so much. Spring forgot the giant's garden, the flowers didn't feel like blooming, the trees didn't blossom and the birds disappeared. The giant's garden became wintry, grey, cold and lonely. The giant was miserable.

When the children crept back into the garden through a hole in the wall, Spring returned. The trees and flowers bloomed and blossomed and the birds sang. The giant's heart melted when he noticed a small child who couldn't reach to climb a tree, and he went out into the garden and gently lifted him up into the branches. The child threw his arms around the giant's neck and kissed him. The giant tore down the wall and the sign, and welcomed the children back into the garden.

We talked about opening our hearts to others, welcoming people into our lives and sharing God's love and kindness.

We made windmills (in the giant's garden, the flowers "bloomed like stars") and created a tree on canvas, which we added our thumbprints to. We are all different, each one of us is special and unique, loved by God and has a place in the church family and in the world. We need to remember to welcome others into our "garden" and share what we can.

CHYPS this Saturday 8 Sep

Join us at the Chapel Street Centre for CHYPS Youth Group

Saturday 8 September

6.30pm to 8pm

Gold coin donation appreciated

Multi-Cultural Festival

Come along and be part of the cultural festival on Saturday 29 September! See our fab AbsolUKE team perform! They would really appreciate your support!

Bird Feeders

Check out the amazing bird feeders our Awesome Kids made last week, with Heather and Dave.

Henry the Rooster

Henry the Rooster.
Drawn by Dave the Artist & Storyteller Extraordinaire.

We began celebrating the Season of Creation, starting with Planet Earth Sunday. 

We talked about some of God's amazing creatures on Earth. Dave told a fabulous (true) story from when he was a kid... 

The story involved a rather unusual rooster named Henry and an outdoor loo. Dave had us in giggles over an unfortunate incident in the nighttime.

We marveled at how amazing our planet is, in terms of the incredible variety of life it supports. We remembered there are animals that are beautiful and wonderful, and some that are quirky or annoying, but they are all part of God's incredible creation.

Just as there is an enormous range of people on our planet - each individual so unique, with their own gifts and talents. Each person is created equal, each person is loved and treasured.

We are blessed to be surrounded by a bunch of amazing people in our church family, who love God, who love to meet together to sing and pray, and laugh, and help one another along this journey of life.

Dylan and Monica led us in prayer:

O God, thank you for this amazing world, for plants and galaxies, for oceans and birds. Thank you for the gift of your creation. Amen. 

Our Chapel Street Band led the congregation in singing Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World', helped along by Monica playing saxophone. 

Jillian's Recipe for Pretzels

Pretzel Cookies

50g melted butter

½ cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1¼ cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

Sugar/cinnamon mix (approx 1 Tbsp sugar/ 1\2 tsp cinnamon)

Mix together butter and sugar

Add vanilla and egg and mix well

Add flour and baking powder

Mix all together, then mix with hands to combine

Roll small spoonfuls into a snake in the sugar/cinnamon mix and shape into a pretzel

Place on baking paper on a baking tray

Fan bake 180˚C for 10 mins

Dizzying

Monica and Tevunga just love spinning around in the hall after church on a Sunday morning!

Pretzels

Last Sunday our Awesome Kids made PRETZELS. It was a lot of fun, and they tasted delicious! The shape of the pretzel reminded us of God's loving arms around us, loving us and protecting us. 

Some of our Awesome Kids and some "bigger kids" in the congregation helped act out a skit, explaining the Bible reading about The Armour of God.

Some big meanies came up to Monica and said some unkind things, whilst hitting her with balloons! How terrible! But... the Awesome Kids were able to help Monica find pieces of "armour" to put on, and she was able to deflect the bullies and their taunts, and popped their balloons. They went back to their seats looking very defeated :o)

We were reminded that God's love is always with us, not matter what we face in life...and although we might still get a bit bumped and bruised along the way, the never-ending strength of God's awesome love is with us, helping us to get through life's challenges.

August FISH

Check out the videos and photos from this month's FISH. We had a fabulous PERCUSSION BATTLE, where teams found ordinary household items to use as instruments in a battle of the beats. It was HOME vs OFFICE... 

The Home Team used kitchen and laundry implements such as buckets, pots, teapot lids and wooden spoons, even a few packets of dried food! The Office Team used pens, coffee cups, stapler, tissue and paper boxes and a computer keyboard. It was LOUD and it was FUN! 

Percussion battles at FISH!

Tonight's FISH (Family Fun Night) was joyfully noisy - 22 awesome kids plus an assortment of awesome adults... lots of hoops, balls, the Fruit Game, a Family Feud game, and a Percussion Battle!

We had the 'Home' Team and the 'Office' Team. The 'Home' team were given a bucket full of kitchen implements, pot lids, teapots and packets of food. The 'Office' team had a computer keyboard, stapler, tissue boxes, pens, rubber bands, coffee cups, rulers and other items you might find in an office. Each team had ten minutes to compose and rehearse a percussion performance piece - and were judged by some special guest judges, Gracie's parents.

The rhythm was spot on, the enthusiasm and creativity outstanding, and in the end the judges declared it a draw. Keep an eye on the blog and we'll upload videos of the performances soon.

FISH 5.30pm

FISH is at the slightly later time of 5.30pm this Saturday, so bring your dinner and meet in the Awesome Room for a fun night with a mix of games and challenges to suit all ages and abilities. Something with a musical flavour this time!

See you there!

Musikool Kids Fun

We had an influx of fathers at Musikool Kids this morning, and it was lovely to hear the deep voices as the Dads sang with their sons and daughters around the rainbow ring.

There were lots of giggles and cackles as some Dads lifted their children up as we sang the Hey Dum Diddle song with our scarves, "Stretch up high.... and come down low..."

Lovely to have grandparents there too, enjoying this special time with their treasured tamariki.

Wise Owls

This week is all about owls and bread.

We talked about what it means to be wise. Caleb pretty much summed it up: He said, "Being wise is being thoughtful, and making good decisions."

We discussed wise decisions, and what it is to know right from wrong, and to be able to figure out what to do in difficult situations.

Jesus used stories called 'parables' to explain how God wants us to live. Sometimes in Awesome Time, we use modern-day stories, picture books or plays to help explain God's messages from the Bible. This week, our Awesome Kids helped act out a story based on a picture book written by Robin Tzannes, called Sanji and the Baker.

There was a poor man, called Sanji, who lived in a small room, it was simple but quite cosy. The best thing about it was it was right above the baker's shop. Every morning, Sanji would step out onto his balcony and take a deep breath, and whiffed and sniffed the heavenly aroma of freshly baked bread. Mmmmmm....

Sadly, Sanji couldn't afford to buy the bread from the bakery. He had to make do with standing on the balcony and inhaling the lovely smells coming from the bakery.

One day the grumpy baker insisted Sanji pay him for the smells he had been enjoying. But Sanji was poor and had no money so the baker took him to court. The wise judge told Sanji to return the next day with 5 silver coins. Sanji had to borrow from everyone he knew for the five coins, but... the coins were not to pay the baker. Read the book and find out how the wise judge used the 5 silver coins to teach a very valuable and amusing lesson. 

Whilst the Baker made some bad decisions and did not live in God's way, Sanji's friends were compassionate and generous, lending him the coins even when they knew he probably wouldn't be able to pay them back. And the judge, well he was super wise... you'll just have to read the book to find out why!

The lesson for us was, to think about what it means to live wisely. To live in God's way of love and kindness, sharing what we have with those in need.

Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." 

Jesus was always concerned about the physical needs of people. That's why he spent so much time feeding the poor, healing the sick. But he wasn't just concerned about empty stomachs, he was even more concerned about empty hearts. 

As we share our bread together, with the hungry, let us also share the story of Jesus, the Bread of Life, and celebrate that God's never-ending LOVE is for everyone, no matter how poor or rich. Let us share that LOVE and kindness and generosity with everyone too.

To help us remember...

We made some cool, crafty, wise owls - some to take home and some to go up in the Chapel Street Art Gallery. And we enjoyed some beautiful freshly baked bread!

Thanks to Ella and Daniella, we had some lovely pine cones to make some wise old owls with!

Introducing our newest Awesome Kid:
Jack!

Not only was it YOUTH SUNDAY, and we were so happy to have lots of youth leading our service, but Sunday was extra special as we got to meet Rev Anne Preston, who will be minister at Christchurch North Methodist from early next year. Anne's son Jack joined our Awesome crew for the day. We look forward to seeing you again next year, Jack! Ka kite ano!

Smiling Sisters

Some beautiful smiling sisters at the end of another Musikool Kids Friday morning session.

Musikool Kids, our Music and Movement Classes for Pre-school aged children, runs during school term time on Fridays at 10am.

Our sessions are usually 30 to 40 minutes and include a variety of traditional and modern children's songs, percussion instruments, scarves, rainbow ring, puppets, parachute, bubbles and much more.

At the end of our session we have a morning tea and play time, which is a great opportunity for the adults to get to know one another.

If anyone would like to help serve the cups of tea once a term, please get in contact with Melanie or Merilyn, we would love to hear from you! Thank you!

Seed Sowing at CHYPS Youth Group

CHYPS, is the Chapel Street Young People's YOUTH GROUP, for youth in school years 7 through to 13. CHYPS meets once a month, on a Saturday evening, from 6.30pm to 8pm at the Chapel Street Centre.

The purpose of CHYPS is:

* to welcome youth from our church and community to connect in a fun, relaxed group with Christian values

* to build relationships between our church leaders and the youth in our church & community

* to be primarily a social group, enabling youth to make new friends and strengthen existing friendships within the church & our community

A typical CHYPS evening consists of a mix of high-energy and quieter games and concludes with supper & a 10-minute ‘God-Time’ (low-key, informal, bible-based chat/devotion).

Our current group has a wide range of ages and a mix of youth who attend church and many who don't. We provide a safe, friendly and caring environment where the youth feel valued and respected.

We aim to be 'Seed Sowers', in the words of Siu Williams-Lemi, Regional Youth Co-ordinator for the Sth Island Methodist Church:

"The one thing I have learnt is that although everything we teach is important, what is more important is the relationships we build with the children and the atmosphere we create."

We warmly invite new members to CHYPS, and if any parents are interested in helping on our supper roster we would love to hear from you!

Merilyn's Little Helpers

Last Friday at Musikool Kids, Merilyn was thrilled to have some lovely little helpers when it was time to wheel the tea trolley back to the kitchen!

AbsolUKEly Fabulous!

Last Sunday our UKULELE GROUP, AbsolUKE, led our worship with an oldie but a goodie, JESUS LOVES ME.

Some of our ukulele players have only been playing for a couple of months, wow, they are fast learners! The group sounded amazing and the congregation loved singing along to this classic with the ukes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzEcrhq5rIQ