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!