Christmas Eve Carols 5pm

Nativity Photos

Here is a link to some rather stunning photos from yesterday's Nativity Play. 

click HERE to view NATIVITY PHOTOS

Christmas Music Video 2016

What you've all been waiting for... our Christmas Movie! This year we headed out to Woodend Beach, North Canterbury, to film a music video. The backing track is 'The First Noel', put together by Philomena, Berith and Monica - way to go guys!

Here is the link... please pass it on to all your friends and family and spread the love, peace, hope and joy.

click HERE to watch in YouTube

Awesome job this morning in our Christmas Children's/Youth Service too. I'll write up a special post about that with some amazing photos and video footage in the next few days. 

Blessings, 

Melanie.

Children's Christmas Service

FISH photos

Our last FISH night for the year was fast, fun and furious - as we competed in 'Minute to Win It' challenges.

Check out photos from the night and previous months by clicking on the link below.

Keep an eye out for details of 2017 FISH dates.

To view FISH photos click HERE

FISH this Saturday

Youth Church

 Last Sunday, Philomena and Monica played in the band at Youth Church, a district Methodist youth service, held at Beckenham Methodist Church.

The music was awesome! The company was great, and Siu lead a wonderful informal service. Hope to see you at the next one on November 27th!

FISH report

We had FISH night a few weeks ago, our family fun night. After a take-away tea we joined in some games. Father and son Bernard and Tom proved themselves to be champions of 'Hagoo' - where you 'walk the gauntlet', trying to make your opponent smile. Both of them, without a glimmer of a grin, were able to stare down the competition causing their opponents to explode in laughter.

Poisonous Ball and Bodyguard provided the chance to get a little more active, and our brains were challenged in The Mystery Box and Giant Pictionary games.

Our next FISH night will be on Saturday 26th November. Hope you can join us!

Surprise Visitors at Church

Last Sunday we celebrated St Francis of Assisi Day, and had a Blessing of the Animals.

We had some wonderful visitors at the Chapel Street Centre. The most surprising guest was a big green dinosaur... I'm not sure where she came from! There was also Butterscotch the toy horse, who neighed when you pressed her ear; Hadja the gorgeous cuddly teddy bear, a variety of animal puppets... and two real live animals! Gavin the Cat meowed through the service, and afterwards enjoyed exploring the Awesome Room, including the cupboards! Milo the rabbit hopped about our circle of children in church, as I told the story of the Mouse and the Lion.


Milo sat on my knee for a while as I talked, and I really enjoyed patting her soft silky fur. It made me feel very calm and happy (which was good, because I was a bit nervous about doing the children's talk!)


Thank God for the animals, for those that fly and roam free in the wild, and for our pets who give us comfort, companionship and help people in so many ways.

And as in the story of the Lion and the Mouse, even if we are young or small, we only need a little bit of faith to be able to share God's love in the big wide world and do amazing things.

As 6 year old Caleb so beautifully summed it up, "Even if you're small, you can do big stuff!"

Check out the photos below, and click on the link at the bottom to view more.

Milo the rabbit

Gavin the cat

Fingerprint animal artwork

click HERE for more photos.

Blessing of the Animals this Sunday

This Sunday we will be celebrating St Francis of Assisi Day / Blessing of the Animals. 

Feel free to dress up as an animal, bird or bug - and/or bring a furry friend to church (real or toy)!
Out in Awesome Time we will be making a fingerprint animal picture to frame and take home. Check out the sample I very quickly made up below (by the way, in case you can't tell, they are supposed to be frogs at the bottom!) I'm sure you will do a much better job than me!
Look forward to seeing you Sunday,
Melanie

Storm Bells ringing

I've got a hat!

Today was 'Hat Day' at Musikool Kids. There were all sorts of hats - plain hats, fancy hats, sensible hats, silly hats, witch hats, royal hats... we all had a hat on our head to sing lots of hat songs... including:

I've got a hat (Julie Wylie's Magical Musical Play CD)

Little Down Dance (Julie Wylie) "...he brushes his hair and puts on his hat..."

Dingle Dangle Scarecrow "...with a flippy floppy hat!"

"If you're happy and you know it wave your hat!"

Diane and Bill - two of our behatted helpers!

Storm Bells

As Caleb (pictured above) explained to everyone in church, we made storm bells to remind us that Jesus is always with us - in the calm and in the stormy times of life.

Spring Flower Art

Have you checked out the Chapel Street Art Gallery recently? Last Sunday our Awesome Kids created these spectacular works of art to celebrate Spring Flower Festival.

Click on the link below to view more photos.

Spring Flower Sunday photos

AbsolUKE (ukulele group)

The AbsolUKE had a jam last week. Join them again tomorrow for some more groovy uke music!

FISH photos!

James, Spencer and Andrew playing Beachtowel Basketball

A fun night was had by all at FISH last night... we played Scatterball, Beachtowel Basketball, Backwards Charades and a crazy time seeing how many balloons we could stick to Catherine and Tomas! Thanks to Alicia for providing the glo-sticks which were a fabulous way to end the night!

Check out the photos below.

click HERE for FISH photos

FISH this Saturday!

Join us for FISH (our family fun night) tomorrow night, Saturday 10th September, 5pm to 7pm. Turn up at 5pm with your own tea (f&c, pizza etc), then join in some madcap family games afterwards. Of course there will be ice-cream & chocolate fish - and the last of the glo-sticks!

click HERE for photos from previous FISH nights

AbsolUKE!

Join Monica and the AbsolUKE group for a ukulele jam next time, Sunday 11 September after church in the Awesome Kids' Room during morning tea time.

AbsolUKE - ukulele lessons with Monica

Faith families

God is with Us

Some days are better than others. Some days are great, and some days can be a bit rough. Some of us are having a few rough days at the moment, and that is very hard. It helps to have family and friends show their love and care. We also have our family of faith, our church family, to help us through hard times. Best of all, God is with us always, no matter what happens - loving us and helping us.

 

Family of Faith

We heard recently a story about Abraham and Sarah and learnt more about being part of a family of faith. 

In the bible story (from the book in the bible called 'Hebrews', chapter 11) Abraham and Sarah believed in God, followed God's way and God's love. They lived in tents and went on a journey. God promised Sarah and Abraham they would have many, many descendants (children, grandchildren, great grandchildren) - as many as the stars in the sky. Sarah and Abraham had faith and trusted God's promise. 

We remember God's promise to be with us always, and even if we can't see God with our eyes or touch God with our hands we can know and feel that God is with us, loving us.

Starry Night Art

We made some awesome starry night collage artwork... using black paper, fabric, metallic markers and of course tons of glorious, sparkly, messy star confetti! We replaced our artwork in the Chapel Street Art Gallery - go along and check it out!

Faith and fishing

The other week we continued the theme of faith. 

Dave had three chairs to lie on, and said that the centre one represented our faith in God.

If you take God away as our support, we would not be very stable and could fall anytime.

Dave tested the children’s faith in him. They all said that they knew Dave and trusted all that he did and that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt them. Dave and the children made a deal, if a bucket of water was placed on Dave's chest, and he fell, he would get wet.

However if it stayed, they would all get wet.

Dave drank water from the bucket and flicked some at them to “sample’ what could happen to them.

The bucket balanced and all was well, but Dave got a cramp in his little toe and sat up quickly, tippling the bucket toward them. They all screamed and ducked for cover, but the water was in fact only shredded paper!

Lots of fun, but a good lesson in having faith in what trusted people in their lives say and do.

We discussed the disciples' faith in Jesus when he told them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat.

And of course, we had to make fish!

If Jesus came to your house?

What would you do if Jesus turned up at your house? Would you hide? Scurry down to tidy up your room? Would you offer him a cup of coffee? Show him your tree-hut? Play a game with him? Sing or play a song for him? Ask him heaps of questions?

Last Sunday our Awesome Kids checked out the story in the bible about Jesus visiting the home of Mary and Martha.

It is a story about siblings, choices and consequences. Some choices are better than others, and before we act we need to think carefully about the consequences (what will happen).

Using M&Ms (Marys and Marthas) we answered questions about the Mary & Martha story. We played M&M bingo as well.

Next time you are in the middle of homework, or chores, music or sport practice or just kicking back or playing... remember that Jesus is with you. Share your thanks and your hope with Jesus. You can celebrate the presence of Jesus wherever, whenever and whoever you are... whatever you are doing.

First performance!

AbsolUKE and friends performed in church for the first time (after only two lessons!). We led the congregation in singing 'If You're Happy and You Know It, pakipaki' as it was Maori Language Week.

Glass painting

On 10 July our Awesome Kids painted glass jars to remind us to always let the love of God shine through us.

Teddy Bears Galore at Musikool Kids

Our last day of term two at Musikool Kids saw lots of gorgeous teddy bears descend upon us! Everyone brought a teddy bear or special furry friend to dance with. We did the tango, the cha-cha, the Rock-a-bye-your-bear, and some volunteers helped us sing the Goldilocks story.

You can view more photos by clicking here.

AbsolUKE in action

Our ukulele group, AbsolUKE, ably led by Monica began a few weeks back. The first lesson began with a range of ages and abilities, and great enthusiasm! 

Bring a teddy bear to music

As it is the last day of the term tomorrow we thought we'd have a teddy bear's tango! So, please bring your teddy bear (or any soft toy) to Musikool Kids. See you there! 

FISH and UKULELE

FISH NIGHT - Saturday 2 July

Join us for our family social night this Saturday, 5pm-7pm at the Chapel Street Centre. Bring your own tea (pizza or fish'n'chips or picnic etc) and then join in our all-age family games in the hall. Ice-cream (or ice block) and chocolate fish to finish!

ABSOLUKE

Join Monica at 4.30pm on Saturday 2 July at The Chapel Street Centre for a beginners' ukulele lesson. Bring your own uke or borrow one of ours. All welcome!

Five little speckled frogs

This morning five of our Musikool Kids became speckled frogs and made some big splashes in our 'pond'!

Relay fun photos

Here are a few more photos from Sunday's relay games, along with an explanation (thanks Sue!)

We started by playing ‘Follow the leader’.  Elisha stuck with Elijah, so we had to stick with the leader, and do everything they did. We then played some relays, remembering that we each had to complete the tasks we were given, but when out turn was up, we had to pass the baton on to the next person. We also played a team race with balls – but if any member of the team let go of the ball, the whole team had to start again!

Follow the Leader

Rev Neti shares with the Awesome Kids.
Emma leads us in prayer.

 This morning Rev Neti chatted to our Awesome Kids about what it means to follow in someone's footsteps, and take up the challenge of being a leader.

We watched a video of a relay race at an athletics track, where the athletes passed a baton to each other.

Neti showed us a special necklace that had been given to him by his father. It is a symbol and reminder to Neti of the 'passing of the baton' from father to son.

Sue and Belinda led the Awesome Kids in lots of fun relay races.

Parish Camp Movie - Enjoy!

All-Age Family Service 12 June

Join us this Sunday for a creative worship service, with an Olympic theme!

The service will be led by a bunch of us who were at Parish Camp earlier in the year. There will be awesome music with the Chapel Street Band, a dramatic presentation of Mem Fox's story, 'Koala Lou', the screening of our Camp Movie, and... it is even rumored there will be a synchronised swimming routine!

FISH this Saturday night

Bring your fish'n'chips (or pizza, or picnic) and join us at the Chapel Street Centre this Saturday 5pm-7pm for a fun social night for the whole family. All welcome!

Sing a New Song

Last Sunday, our Awesome Kids proved their skills at being composers and musicians.

With the help of Belinda, Philomena and Carol, the A.K.s taught us all some new songs they composed, about God's amazing love.

They broke out every percussion instrument they could find, distributed them among the congregation, and got everyone to join in.

It was noisy, it was joyful, it was fun, it was a little crazy... it was a new way to sing to the Lord! Thanks Awesome Kids!

FISH pics

Last month, it was all fun and games at our Family Fun Night (FISH).

There were a lot of laughs, a few fierce and hilarious competitions - and of course our scrummy ice-creams, ice-blocks and chocolate fish.

Here are a few pics - but if you'd like to see more then click here.

Our next FISH night is Saturday 11 June, 5pm-7pm. Come and check it out!

Moe getting rather competitive during the game, 'DeathBall'

Catch the Dragon's Tail

Pictionary: Tomas reckons this looks like an elephant...???

Look at that concentration!

"Really? That's what it is?!"

Playing 'Reverse Charades'