A Walk in the Dark

For our first night back at CHYPS | CHapel Street Young People's YOUTH GROUP, our intrepid leader, Angie led us on a walk in the dark around the block. We paired up with someone we don't usually talk with, or someone we haven't seen in ages and had to discuss... (1) something interesting we noticed along the way, (2) something we did in the holidays and (3) something we are thankful for.

On our return to the church hall, we shared some of the things we'd talked about on our walk, and then launched into some ball games.

We finished with our 5 minute 'God-Time' where we made paper darts to throw, symbolising 'arrow prayers' (a short one or two word prayer). 

Our supper included scrummy hot pizza, chocolate fudge slice, chips and ice-creams with chocolate fish. 

We're looking forward to doing it all again next month!

Whatif...

Have you every had one of those nights when you're lying in bed and you can't get to sleep, because the Whatifs are going around in your head?

What if the bus is late?

What if my teeth don't grow in straight?

What if I flunk that test?

What if green hair grows on my chest?

We created a movie, inspired by the poem titled 'Whatif', by Shel Silverstein. You can check it out below.

We added an extra verse though... 

But then I remembered the words from Paul*

who said there is totally nothing at all

anywhere, anytime in all of creation

that would ever be able to cause separation

between us and the love of God, which is ours

through Jesus our Lord and His awesome powers.

So when I 'What-if' and I'm worried and scared

I remember God's with me and send off a prayer

and wherever, whenever, however I'll know

whatever the whatifs, I'm never alone!

We also read the book, Some Things Are Scary, by Florence Parry Heide - and created some illustrations inspired by some of the 'scary' things in her story. 

*In the book of Romans, in the Bible, a man called Paul made a list of all the things he worried could get between him and God's loving care. Our list was a little different... we talked about being late to school, going to the wrong class, getting the wrong day for Mufti Day, being bullied, not getting picked for a team, nightmares and not being able to get to sleep. In the end though, like Paul in the bible, we came to the same conclusion - that no matter what scary things we worried about, NOTHING can separate us from the LOVE of GOD. We are never alone... God is always with us, helping us get through. 

https://youtu.be/5kwquxUFEUQ

FISH is BACK!

It was wonderful to be back at FISH on Saturday night, after such a long absence. Our Family Fun Night was held at the Chapel Street Centre, as usual, starting at 5pm with take-away tea, followed by games and challenges for all ages.

We played GIANT pictionary, using the whiteboard and went on a wild chicken chase, looking for someone hiding with Ralph the Chicken. In the photos above, you can see our teams getting creative, in a paper sculpture contest.

We also celebrated Tevunga's 4th birthday with cake and candles.

Join us next month, Saturday 29 August, when we'll be back again, with a different range of games and activities.

Painting Rocks!

On Sunday, our Awesome Kids painted stones to remind us that God is always with us. We have to wait for the paint to dry before we can take the next step, which is to give a stone to people in the congregation to take home. They are then invited to leave the stone in a place where they strongly feel God's presence. 

A Prayer:

Loving God,

you are with us

every day, 

every single moment. 

You know our dreams and desires, 

our fears and failures. 

You love us.

Help us to welcome You

into our lives.

Help us to have the courage

to show Your amazing love

to others.

Amen. 

FISH returns!

Join us this Saturday at the Chapel Street Centre

Starts: 5pm

Ends: 7pm

BYO dinner

Parable of the Sower

This morning, Richard told us a story which Jesus told to a crowd of people, many years ago, while he was sitting in a boat! Richard even brought a boat along to church, which he sat in to tell us the very same story... the Parable of the Sower.

The farmer sowed... that's sow with an 'o', not sew with an 'e'! Sew with an 'e' is to sew with needle and thread. Sow with an 'o' means to plant seeds.

Anyway, the farmer sowed his seeds - some fell on hard ground, some on rocky ground, some on thorny ground and some on soft ground. Which seeds do you think grew the best? You can listen to the story in one of the videos below.

Jesus explained the parable like this:

Those who hear Jesus's stories but don't even try to understand them, are like the seeds that fell along the path. They easily get distracted and lose interest and do the wrong things. The seeds that fell on the rocky ground, stand for those who listen to Jesus's teachings for a short time, but when it gets a bit difficult to do the right thing, they give up easily and do their own thing. The seeds that fell among the thorn bushes stand for those who hear the message, but are more interested in having expensive toys and the latest gadgets than helping others, and what is right.

The seeds that landed on the good soil stand for those who hear and understand Jesus's message, and grow up to be strong people who love others and love God. They want to do what's right and help others to do the same.

We 'planted' M&Ms in some chocolate pudding (to represent sowing seeds of faith) - there were even a few gummy worms in there! 

We created some beautiful flower artwork, gluing seeds onto the centre of our flowers.

Watch an animated story of the Parable of the Sower:

Hear the Parable of the Sower explained:

Baby Shower

We are all so excited about the upcoming arrival of Mele & Samuela's precious child. It was great to all be together at the Chapel Street Centre on Sunday and have something so wonderful to celebrate. Thank you to everyone who made the baby shower so special!

Sharing God's Love

On Sunday, we made yarn hearts, which we turned into a mobile to hang in our church foyer. They are a reminder to share God's amazing LOVE with ALL we meet.

We heard the story, Time to Go, Hippo, written by Bob Hartman and illustrated by Kate Simpson. Just how do you deal with a big, bumpy, powerful grey monster with stomping feet, chomping teeth and a fearsome and SMELLY roar? 

Well, the farmers tried charging at it with their wheat-thrashers, rat-smashers and potato-mashers; the soldiers attacked it with their catapults and battering rams... but that didn't work. The hippo just watched them, went on calmly chewing his way through their vegetable patch and ROARED his great, smelly roar at them.

The old man, Barnabas knew. You'll have to find the story and read it for yourself to hear HOW he did it. But... it wasn't by charging or attacking or trying to scare the animal away. Barnabas watched and listened. He talked to the hippo. He said sorry for the way the people had treated him. He explained that we are all God's creatures, and that it is important to get along. Finally, he gave the hippo an onion (he had learned by watching the hippo that hippos love onions). "Something I would never have learned by chasing them away," he said. The old man befriended the hippo.

We talked about how hard it can be sometimes, to make that decision to befriend someone - if it is someone we wouldn't normally hang around with. Maybe it's the new kid at school, perhaps it's someone nobody else plays with, it could be someone who's a bit different or seems a little scary. But, God is with us as we make those hard choices, and God really wants us to show His amazing LOVE and KINDNESS to others, ESPECIALLY when it's hard.

It's pretty difficult to get to know someone if we're always chasing them away, or ignoring them. If we could be like the character of old Barnabas in the story, and make time to really listen and learn about the other person, let them know we see them, we hear them... and we care. And who knows...we could make a new friend! (Although, perhaps leave the raw onions at home!)

Friendship Pie

Last week, Heather read the wonderful story, Enemy Pie by Derek Munson. If you missed it, you can read it online at the link below.

Sometimes, it's hard to be friendly to people we really don't like, or who are mean to us. But, Jesus wants us to show God's love and kindness to EVERYONE. This story, 'Enemy Pie', is a great illustration of what can happen when we do. Even when it's really hard.

After the story, Heather made small apple 'friendship' pies. We decorated the pie baskets with positive words and handed them out at morning tea time.