Joy!

 I think this photo sums it up.

Happy Christmas, everyone!

Youth Christmas Service

 

On 11 December, the children and youth from Christchurch North Methodist Parish led a Christmas service at the Chapel Street Centre. 

The theme was ‘Joyful Giving’ and we explored how we can give joyfully; spreading love and hope this Christmas. 

We focussed on the Christian World Service appeal, raising awareness and support for climate action and access to clean water. We were also grateful for donations towards our Support A Family appeal and the child our parish sponsors through World Vision. 

Our young people were generous in sharing their time, gifts and talents to spread the joy of Christmas too. Highlights were our brass ensemble, a sister act singing ‘Silent Night’, and some talented young poets. We’re fairly sure we’re the only church in Aotearoa to have a resident ventriloquist-donkey act! 

We also had the premiere of our 2022 Christmas short-film, which you can watch on YouTube at: 

https://youtu.be/G0JG3pvKuSY

Here is a link to the service:

https://youtu.be/0hYev_VAy4g

or you can watch the full service on our Facebook page:

Christchurch North Methodist Facebook

Massive THANK YOU to all our young people!

Christmas Movie 2022

This year's Christmas movie is brought to you by the young people of Christchurch North Methodist Parish. Thank you to our Awesome Kids and our Chapel Street Youth (CHYPS). Big thanks to our intrepid leader Angie, and to Izak for all his filming and editing!

Enjoy!

Click HERE to watch the Christmas 2022 Movie

Christmas crafts

 We've been getting Christmassy over the past couple of Sundays, making Christmas gifts for our family and friends.

Candy cane & chocolate Santa sleighs last week with Jill & Richard, and hot chocolate jars and herb & spice seasoning jars with Carol this morning. 

Youth CHRISTMAS Service coming soon...

Join us on Sunday 11 December

10am

at the Chapel Street Centre

for a wonderfully joyful Christmas celebration!

All welcome!

 

Courage

 

This week, we read the wonderful story JABARI JUMPS by Gaia Cornwall. 

We talked about what it means to have courage. We agreed that courage doesn't mean not being afraid... it's about stepping up and doing stuff even if we are feeling scared, anxious or nervous.

God says, have courage, for I am with you.

Livvie said, it's a bit like someone cheering you on saying, 'You've got this!' I think that's a pretty good explanation, and as Livvie said, we can help others find courage by saying, 'hey, you've got this!' and being a cheerleader for them too.

God's our biggest cheerleader. God's always with us, loving us. God's got us!

We created some pictures of scared faces to remind everyone that it's ok to feel afraid, and to just remember that God is with us, giving us courage and strength to do hard stuff.

A big thank you to Ella for leading our prayer this morning!

Chalk Artists

Last week, Carol got our Awesome Kids outdoors enjoying the sunshine to do some fabulous chalk art on the footpaths and carpark outside church. I love 'Zaccheus' in the tree and the heart art too! 

 

Blessing of the Animals

This week, it's St Francis of Assisi Day and Rev Anne will be doing a Blessing of the Animals.

Here are some photos Awesome Kids Emelia and Lily sent in of Storm (their latest edition to the family) a 14 week Border Collie; Tiggy, who turns 1 today and Soxy (2 years old). We think they are just beautiful!

Lucky

Meet Lucky!

As you know, we at Christchurch North Methodist Parish sponsor Lucky, through World Vision.

Here is a video Lucky has made for us.

World Vision thanks you for your loving and generous support.  

 
Please continue to pray for the safety of the children and that this life-changing work will continue for Lucky and all the children and families in Lucky's community in Uganda. 

 
Thank you for helping to change children’s lives for good. 
 
Kia tau te rangimārie - Peace be with you.

Storm Sunday

This week is Storm Sunday. 

The Bible describes many storms and 'stormy times' Jesus went through. We all know the story about Jesus stilling the storm (Luke 8.22-25) when he was in the boat with the disciples. Jesus calmed the stormy sea. 

In the storms of life, we can know that God is with us. God's loving presence gives us comfort, strength and hope.

I read somewhere that God's love is like an umbrella... just like an umbrella can give us a little shelter and comfort as we go out and brave the weather, God's love helps us to face all the storms of life. 

Jesus wants us to share God's love with others, and be a comfort and strength to people who are going through their own storms.

It reminded me of this book, "Tiny Miss Dott and her Dotty Umbrella", written by Michelle Osment and illustrated by Sarah Nelisiwe Anderson. Miss Dott works at the charity store, just like our very own Dot at the Budget Boutique! When Miss Dott goes to work at the op shop, she takes her umbrella in case it might rain. She leave it outside the door, and while she's inside her umbrella provides much needed shelter to a number of people. 

I hope that we can be like Dott's umbrella, and help give shelter and comfort to those who need it.

Prayer:

Lord, help us to remember; 

that when the winds are wild and clouds are dark, You are with us.

When the lightning flashes and the thunder booms, You are with us.

In the rain and hail and snow and gales, You are with us.

In the crashing waves and swaying trees, You are with us.

When we are frightened, anxious or stressed, You are with us.

When we are upset, angry or confused, You are with us.

Thank You for being our shelter and strength, 

for helping us in times of trouble.

God, help us too to calm storms, 

to bring healing and peace to people 

and all creatures on our planet. 

Amen

We Belong

It’s the first Sunday in our Season of Creation, today is Ocean Sunday. Mum and I thought we'd get into the mood by taking a visit to Sumner beach!

The book 'You Belong Here' by MH Clark and illustrated by  Isabelle Arsenault celebrates all the marvellous creatures God created… and reminds me of God’s most incredible and most loved creation - you! 

Our bible reading from Ephesians reminds us that we belong to God. We are loved, cared for, forgiven and encouraged to be more like Jesus. 

It’s not always easy… and of course we sometimes make mistakes. But God never gives up on us and no matter where we go or what we do, God is always with us, loving us - all the time.

The other bible reading this week is about Jesus calling us to go fishing. Appropriate for Ocean Sunday! But, he wasn’t meaning actual fishing for fish… but for people. Jesus wants us to share God’s amazing love with others, so everyone can know that feeling of belonging and know God’s love.

Challenge

To celebrate the beginning of our Season of Creation celebrations, go for a walk somewhere. It could be your local park, school playground, or you might take a bus to the beach for a stroll along the sand. 

Do something to celebrate and give thanks for that place. You might take a photo, draw a picture in the sand, do some leaf rubbings, collect pinecones or shells, or write a poem. You could even make a message in a bottle!

Prayer

Awesome God, thank You for stars and starfish, winds and waves and whales and sand. Thank You for all the magnificent and marvellous creatures in our world. Help us to remember that wherever we go, whatever we see and do, we will always belong with You and You will always be with us, loving us no matter what.

Amen.

Have an awesome week!

Blessings,

Mel

Everyone's invited!

This week's Awesome Time is brought to us by Jillian and Richard:

This week for Awesome time, our bible story comes from the New Testament book of Luke, chapter 14, verses 1, 7-14.  It is the story about when Jesus was invited to a wedding party. He watched some of the guests trying to puff up their own importance, by sitting in the best place at the table. They didn’t think they should have to sit next to people or leave space at the table for people they didn’t know, or ordinary people like you and me. But that could be embarrassing, because they could be asked to move to another seat.
 
Jesus tells us that God invites everyone to God’s party. God wants us to remember that God not only loves us and cares for us but cares for all people no matter who they are, what they look like, or how they act.  And God wants us to be kind to those people too. 
 
If you have a new person that doesn’t know anyone in your class or in an after school activity you’ve been going to for quite a while, it is so hard for them.  But if you talk to them, show kindness, and make them feel welcome and part of the group, it will feel amazing and so good for them and also for you.  It’s a great thing if we work towards including everyone and not having people feel like they’re being left out.   
 
For an activity this week, plan a ‘Celebrate Spring’ party and play some fun games with your family and/or some friends where everyone feels included all the time. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Bouncing Ball:  

Take a large sheet outside and stand around the edges, holding it taut like a trampoline. Choose a light weight ball and toss it into the middle. Keep the ball bouncing using the sheet alone. See how long you can keep it up!

The Human Ball of String:  

Stand in a big circle in a wide open space. Everyone puts their hands in the middle and grabs hold of someone else. One person is the ‘the end,’ and they let go with one hand only.  Everyone has to try to untangle themselves without letting go of anyone’s hand. No one is left out and everyone wins together.

Charades:  

Everyone thinks of one something that reminds them of spring, and they have to act it out with no talking, so the others can guess what it is.
 
Prayer:
Thank you God for loving everyone.
It doesn’t matter to you what we look like, or what we have. 
If we come first in a competition, or have a new toy, those things do not make us more important than anyone else, because everyone is important to you. 
Help us to show kindness to everyone, and make everyone feel important. 
Amen.

Just Do It

Here's Dave's message from last Sunday... Just Do It!

Sunday's service 10am

Watch Sunday's service at 10am live on Facebook.

Follow Christchurch North Methodist Parish on Facebook, or you can watch through your browser by clicking on this link:

Christchurch North Methodist Parish Facebook

This Sunday marks Youth Sunday and we want our young people to know how much we value you! Each one of you are treasured and loved. You are an important part of our church family and community and we appreciate you. 

We look forward to seeing you again soon in person, but until then, know that you are loved. 

The Good Samaritan

This week's Awesome Time Online is brought to you by Carol.

The story of the good Samaritan

What would you do if you were walking along and found someone in distress? Someone that was obviously suffering and needed help. You might be in a real hurry? Stopping would mean that you are late for something very important.

Would you stop and offer help?

The good Samaritan did just that – he stopped to help, while others didn’t. Tune in to the church service to hear the story of the good Samaritan.

Good Samaritan Prayer:

God of love,

May we always see the world through the eyes of the Good Samaritan and be filled with your deep compassion.

Help us to be kind to our neighbours even when it is inconvenient, when we don’t have time, or when we have other responsibilities to attend to.

Grant us the insight to see the need in those around us, the wisdom to know how to respond, and the strength to do so willingly.

We pray for those we might cross the road to avoid - the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalised. Those, who in many and various ways, have been stripped, beaten and left for dead. Open our eyes, that we might not cross the road from human need. May our love of you and love of our neighbour call us to be people of peace and justice in the world. And may we, like the Good Samaritan, always ‘go and do likewise.

Amen.

Word Search:

Play the word search online at https://thewordsearch.com/puzzle/3914961/

You can play it again and it will be a different puzzle. Let us know how long it takes you

to complete.

Watch a cool video of the bible story:

Love Your Neighbour Paper Heart Garland:

Make a paper heart garland like the one below. Click on the photo to go to the website for instructions.

Peace Sunday

 

There’s a story written by Ruth Paul, a kiwi author, about a king who loved bubbles. He loved them so much, he wanted to keep them all to himself. He spent so much time trying to figure out how to do that. He even had a big treasure room built to keep the bubbles in, all to himself. I’m sure you can imagine how that turned out! The rather silly and quite selfish king eventually finds out that letting the bubbles blow free and sharing with others was a far better idea.

There’s another story about a princess, who is not interested in the usual princess stuff. She changes her name to Princess Pulverizer, and tells her father, the king, she intends to become a knight and ride off on exciting adventures. The king tells her that there’s a lot more to being a knight. It takes great honour, kindness and sacrifice. 

In the bible, we’re told that there’s a lot more to being the people of God too… it takes things like doing good, seeking justice, standing up for others.

And earthly treasures - things, stuff - don't matter. It’s God’s treasures that are worth clinging onto. 

We are so deeply loved. God values us and gives us joy. God’s love is always with us. God wants us to celebrate that gift. Wherever we are, through happy times and sad times… whatever comes, God is right here with us. So don’t get distracted, or waste time worrying about the wrong things. 

God wants us to live amazing lives. To share, to love our enemies, to serve others and to live in peace. So let’s wake up to the job we’ve been given - watching for God’s presence. Look for joy breaking around us. Celebrate the love of God. 

Listen to Melanie read the story, All of Us, by Carin Berger. It's a great one for Peace Sunday!

You can watch Ruth Paul read The King's Bubbles here.

Awesome Time Online with Sue!

This week's message is brought to us by Sue:

You can’t drive a Ferrari to heaven!

 

In this week’s story from the bible, someone asks Jesus to help him get his share of his inheritance from his brother.  Jesus refuses, and warns him about being greedy.  Then Jesus tells him a story about a rich fool.

A man had plenty of food growing in his fields – more than he needed.  So he decided to build bigger barns to keep it all in, so that he could relax and enjoy all his wealth.  But God told him he was being foolish.  He wasn’t going to be able to use it all – and then what would happen to it?

 

I read a story about a girl.  There was a special pair of roller blades that she really wanted – pink, sparky ones.  Imagine her joy when she opened her birthday present and saw the exact roller blades she had been wanting!  She was so excited!  She decided that she was going to look after them really well, and treasure them.  She wouldn’t use them in case they got dirty. And she wouldn’t let anyone else use them either, just in case they damaged them.  She kept her rollerblades in perfect condition.  Finally, one day she decided that she would try them out.  So she got them out of the box, and very carefully untied the laces to put them on.  BUT…  her feet had grown, and the rollerblades didn’t fit her anymore!

 

God’s NOT telling us that we can’t have nice things.  But we need to remember to ALWAYS thank God for all the things we do have, and to find ways to use what we have to help God.

 

·       We can share our favourite toys with our brothers, sisters and friends

·       If you have one biscuit left and your friend doesn’t have any – break it in half and have half each

·       You can use all your craft supplies to make a card for someone who needs some cheering up

·       You can use the ingredients in your pantry to bake a cake for someone

 

Pretend you won Lotto.  You have now got $5000 to spend on anything you want. 

Write a list of all the things you will spend it on.

Now, go through your list, and think about how you can use those things on your list to help God.

 

Take some time to thank God for what you have – family, friends, food to eat, clothes to wear, schools, holidays, toys, bikes etc. 

And remember… you can’t drive a Ferrari to heaven!

 

Take care,

Sue

Happy holidays!

Hope everyone is enjoying the school holidays!

We'll be back with another Awesome Time online at the end of the holidays, so watch this space!

In the meantime... if anyone has made one of Jillian's little origami suitcases please do send us a photo. Or, if you've been busy with any other art and craft, or up to anything else interesting, please let us know!

Keep warm, be careful, have fun, be happy and be kind!

Go and Share the Love

This week's Awesome Time Online is brought to you by Jillian and Richard.

You can watch the video HERE.

What kinds of things do you like, or need to pack to go away on holiday? I know that when we go to church camp some people take lots and lots of stuff!!!! How much of what you take do you really need, or even use?

This week’s bible story is from Luke 10:1-11, 16-20.It tells us about when Jesus sent some of his followers, or workers, out to go into every town and place where He was about to go to share the good news of God’s love. And do you know what Jesus told them to take with them? Nothing!! They didn’t need anything, because they had everything they needed to be successful: they went with love and peace and blessings. Could you go away with nothing?

The important message here is that just as Jesus sent out his followers, we too can go and share the love of Jesus through stories, songs, making music, or just telling others. Whatever happens after that is up to God. He just wants us to do the doing, and he’ll take care of the rest.  

Below is a link to a You Tube video you may like to watch on making a little origami suitcase to keep tiny things in.

Note from Mel:

Thanks, Jillian and Richard for this week's Awesome Time and the link to the origami. Paper folding is definitely NOT my strong point... but I thought I would give it a go (see below picture! Oh dear!) 

Here's my challenge to all our Awesome Kids: I would absolutely LOVE to see some photos of your attempts! Have a go, take a photo and send it in to me. All entries will go into the draw for a chocolate-y prize!

Prayer

Thank you Lord for making us part of your family

You remind us every day how special that is

Help us be ready and willing to be your workers,

to spread your love to others,

to share the Good News,

and to give the thanks and praise to you for all that you have done. 

In Jesus name we pray,  

Amen

Children of God

You can tune in to watch Carol's Awesome Time talk this Sunday by going to our Facebook page. We'll post it here after Sunday too.

Here's a prayer from Carol...

Loving God,

You care for us and love no matter what we look like,

where we are from,

or what we like or dislike.

We are ALL children of God.

Thank you for loving us for who we are.

Teach us to love and care for each other with that same unconditional love.

Amen.

A Message from Rev Anne

Hey Awesome Kids!

Our theme for this Sunday is Trinity Sunday. God has given us pictures in the bible to help us understand who God is. Trinity is understanding God as our parent, God as Jesus and God as the Holy Spirit all at the same time. A bit tricky I know. I want you to try something at home to try and explain what this might mean. You will need a big piece of card, a small metal car and a magnet.

You might want to try this in front of your family and see if they can work it out. Hold the card vertically on a flat surface with the card on one side. On the other side hold the magnet against the car and move it along. The people on the other side won’t know how the car is moving!

If you don’t know how this is happening it might first seem like a magic trick. 

Now of course it isn’t magic, magnets attract metal objects like the car. Anyone in front of the car can’t see the magnet but we know that it is there because we can see its power by what it does. 

Did you know that we have something like the power of the magnet in us that will guide us just like the magnet guided this car across the card? That power comes from the Holy Spirit. 

The bible says that when Jesus knew it was time for Him to leave the earth and return to Heaven, He called his friends, the disciples together. He said that he would leave his Holy Spirit to live in them. When we believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us too. 

We can’t see the Holy Spirit inside of us but we know that it is there because we can feel its power. Just like we could see the power of the magnet guiding the metal car, we can see the Holy Spirit guiding us each day. 

Maybe when someone is being mean to someone at school and something inside of you says, ‘Hey this is wrong!’ and you tell them to stop and find a teacher to help. That might be the Holy Spirit guiding you to do the right thing. Or if you are tempted to peek at someone else’s work during a test and a little voice inside says, ‘No, Stop, you don’t want to do this’. And you are able to realise that you were about to do something wrong and you stopped, that too could be the Holy Spirit inside of you. 

The car has to be close to the magnet before it feels the effects of its power. Like that, when we stay close to God, we feel the power of his Holy Spirit guiding us. Let’s pray and thank God for sending the Holy Spirit to be our guide.

God, thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to guide us in the way you want us to go. Help us to stay close to you, so that we can feel the power of your Holy Spirit in our lives. Amen. 

The Ascension Story

Even though we can't see Jesus, we can know his love, know that Jesus is with us and share that love with others.

This week's Awesome Time Online is brought to us by Carol.

Check out her Awesome Time talk by going to the church Facebook page.

You can watch the video below for this week's story from the bible:

Jesus lives with God and continues to love the whole world. Jesus wants us to share that awesome love with everyone.

Prayer

Loving God,

On this special day we remember that you sent your Son Jesus, who died on the cross and then rose again, and on Ascension Day Jesus went up to Heaven.

We thank you that you are always with us and we are never alone, because we are surrounded by your love.

When we see the sun in the sky, we remember you are there.

When we feel the rain on our faces, we remember you are there.

When we watch the birds flying, we remember you are there,

When we sing and pray together, we remember you are there.

When it is dark and we feel alone, help us to remember you are there.

Amen.

Make a Kite!

Try making a kite... there are easy to follow instructions in this video tutorial:

Have Courage. Be Kind.

Check out this week's Awesome Time Online video where I read the story about Rose and Mr Wintergarten. 

You can find it by clicking HERE.

This week's bible story is found in the book of Acts, chapter 16, verses 9-15. It is about Paul and Lydia. You might remember hearing about Lydia - she was a seller of purple cloth. Both Paul and Lydia had to be brave. Paul was moving to a new place and had to speak with lots of different people. Lydia listened and opened her heart to God's message, welcomed the visiting preacher and invited Paul and his friends into her home.

She showed hospitality to these strangers - even though it might have been a bit scary.

In our Awesome Time Online story today, Rose meets Mr Wintergarten - and I think in the beginning both of them are just a little bit scared of each other. But, with a little courage (and some fairy cakes!) the barriers are broken and a friendship is forged.

Rose showed courage by going through the rusty gate into the very unwelcoming garden next door. And it took a lot of courage for Mr Wintergarten to open his curtains, his front door and his heart to the neighbourhood kids too.

Sometimes, it's hard for us to show friendship to others, especially when it's people we don't know very well. We might have to cross boundaries that make us feel uncomfortable. God wants us to be brave in loving and welcoming others... this might mean inviting a new student or lonely kid to come and join your game or group, or sit with you and your friends at lunchtime. 

Or, it might mean being warm and friendly to the grumpy neighbour, like in the story I read. The flowers and fairy cakes Rose takes to Mr Wintergarten I think are a bit like a 'peace offering'. 

Peace is mentioned in the other bible reading this week (John 14:27). Jesus says, "I give you peace." Jesus reminds us that we have each other to help us remember that we are never alone. Even if our friends or family aren't around, Jesus is always with us!

So even when things are hard, when we don't feel especially good or brave - remember that Jesus loves us. Just the way we are. 

Jesus's peace and love is with us always and we need to share that awesome love and peace with others.

You can also Watch the bible story HERE:

Challenges

Why not give one of these challenges a go?

1. Fairy Cakes

Bake some fairy cakes, cookies or muffins. Take some to a neighbour or someone you know who might need them. (Remember to wash those hands well, and mask up and social distance when making a doorstep delivery!)

2. Courageous Kindness

Show some kindness to someone at school. Maybe it's someone who is sitting by themselves - invite them to have lunch with you or join in your game.

3. Make a Kind Call

Phone someone just to say 'hi' and ask how their day is going. Listen, and let them know you care about them.

4. Unexpected Kindness

Surprise someone with kindness. Maybe you might leap up after dinner one night and do all the dishes and clearing up, even if it's not your turn!

Let us know if you complete a challenge. We'd love to hear from you!

Have a wonderful week!

A New Commandment

This week's Awesome Time Online is brought to us by Jillian and Richard.

John 13: 31-35  A New Commandment

In today’s bible reading, Jesus gives his disciples a new rule to live by: “Love one another as I have loved you.”  It is the greatest and most important rule (commandment) of all.

 

You see, back in those days there were a lot of rules. People had rules for what to wear, who to talk to, things they could or could not eat, places to go…rules for everything.  The rules were much, much more strict than the rules we have at home or school today. 

Have you heard the saying: “Actions speak louder than words”?

Jesus was reminding his disciples that they needed to love one another in the same way that he loved them.  And he wants to remind us of the importance of showing love, kindness and consideration towards other people too. By doing that, others will see the love of Jesus in our actions.

Let’s pray

Thank you God for the amazing stories about Jesus, 

that help us learn and understand more about his love 

Thank you for the love that Jesus brings to us, 

We want others to know we are Jesus friends 

So help us to share that love with others everyday.

Amen.

 

 

 

Psalm 23 | and a Ragged Sheep Story

Here is a link to watch Heather and Dave's story from Sunday - about Shrek the Sheep, and The Ragged Sheep.

This week's bible reading is Psalm 23. It compares God to a shepherd, who loves and takes care of his sheep. We can trust God to always be with us, loving us and guiding us on the right path. Even when we go through rough times, we don't have to be afraid, because God is with us, loving us no matter what.

The Friend Who Forgives

Do you ever mess up? Do you ever hurt a friend's feelings or let someone  down? We all make mistakes and get things wrong sometimes. This week's story is about Peter who messed up - a lot. Who would want to be friends with someone like that? Well, someone very special... as Peter found out. You can find out too, by watching this week's Awesome, Time Online!

Watch Video Here

Challenges

Pick one of these challenges to do with your friends and/or family.

1. Breakfast Picnic

Pack a picnic and go somewhere outdoors for a breakfast picnic. Monica did this on Anzac day - a sunrise picnic at the beach (followed by an icy swim! Although I don't recommend the swim at this time of year!)

2. Carol's Cross Challenge

See my last post with some crafty crosses... have a go at creating your own. You could make a cross craft to hang on the wall in the Chapel Street Centre, or you could take a photo of one you've found or made and send that to us to share with everyone. Maybe you could make a cross from items around your home or garden, or draw an arty cross with chalk on your driveway.

3. Breakfast Prayer

As you have your cereal or toast or porridge or whatever you eat for breakfast... say a little prayer. You could make up your own, or you could use this one:

Morena God!

Thanks for being with me this morning, through the day and the night. 

Thanks for loving me always, no matter what.

Amen!

4. Find the Story in the Bible

Read the story in the bible - you can find it in the book of JOHN, Chapter 21, verses 1 through to 19.

Cross Craft Challenge from Carol

Look at this amazing selection of crosses Carol found...

Your challenge over the holidays is to create your own cross art, either inspired by one of the options below, or come up with your own original idea. Send me a photo of your cross and we'll put them on the blog and share them with everyone at church.

Here's a message from Carol:

And the risen Christ is why we have crosses on and in our churches – to remind us that Jesus died for us, and more importantly, he rose again. 

And remember when you are eating Easter eggs – they symbolise the stone that was rolled away revealing the empty tomb.

Let us pray

God, you loved this world so much,

That you gave your one and only Son,

That we might be called your children too.

May we realise today what Jesus’ death and resurrection mean to us.

The risen Jesus has given us new life and renewed hope.

Help us to live in the gladness and grace of Easter Sunday, everyday.

Let us have hearts of thankfulness for your sacrifice.

Grant us blessings of love, hope, peace, good health and happiness.

Help us to walk in Your grace and share the good news of the empty tomb.

In the name of Jesus, the Risen God,

Amen.

Thanks, Carol! You can check out Carol's full Awesome Time message on our Parish Facebook Page.

Check out the previous blog post which has a video of the Easter story to watch. You can also read the Resurrection story for yourself in the Bible. You can find it in the book of Matthew, chapter 28, verses 1-10. 

Easter Sunday!

Happy Easter, everyone!

The tomb is empty! Jesus is risen! 

Even though we can't see Jesus, we can know the love of Jesus, which stays with us everywhere we go. You don't have to look far to see Jesus's love.

This beautiful book, 'You'll Find Me', by Amanda Rawson-Hill and illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff reminds me of this. You can watch a video of me reading it below:

Here's a great video on the Easter story: Click HERE to watch

Often we use the symbol of a butterfly to remind us of the transforming love and power of the Easter story. A caterpillar transforms into a butterfly... new life.

We have made many butterfly themed crafts over the years, and this year Monica found a caterpillar craft we thought was pretty cute. Check out the video below and have a go yourself!

Make this moving Caterpillar!

Wordle

Try this week's Awesome Time Wordle, by clicking HERE!

Prayer

Loving Lord,

Thank You for your Easter love. 

Thank You for the JOY and mystery of Easter. 

Help us to share Your awesome LOVE with others.

Amen.

Easter is coming…

Awesome time online | Easter edition is coming this Sunday! We’ll hear the Easter story and discover a new book titled “You’ll Find Me” by Amanda Rawson Hill and illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff.

We have an Easter craft and a challenge. Check out the blog on Sunday morning!

Hosanna!

HOSANNA! Welcome to Awesome Time Online for Palm Sunday!

I love this photo of William and Harry, taken on Palm Sunday quite a few years ago! 

While we can't meet in person right now, you can still watch and listen to this week's Awesome Time Online message from Dave and Heather. Check it out on the church Facebook page. We will also add a link to it here after Sunday's service.

In the meantime, you can check out the Palm Sunday story in the video below, and also learn how to make a palm leaf cross (you could do this with flax).

WATCH the story of PALM SUNDAY

MAKE a palm leaf cross

Blessings to you all!

Be Kinder

This week's Awesome Time Online is brought to you by Carol.

Today, we learn about how we can show the love of Jesus to others by doing acts of service or acts of kindness for others.

Watch the Awesome time part of the worship service to hear about how two women show their love for Jesus in two very different ways.

With everything going on in the world today, we need to create a space where people can find harmony, and where we treat each other with compassion and kindness.

Everyone has different skills and abilities so everyone has a different way of showing love, and kindness.  One really easy thing you can do is random acts of kindness.  And a cost-free thing you can do is to send people kind thoughts – you can do this anytime – for anyone.  Putting positive kind thoughts into the world will make the world a better place.

Activity: 

Practice sending kind thoughts – watch this video below which explains how to do this.

Let us know what your random act of kindness was – you could take a photo, or send Mel an email or text.

And lastly remember everyone at church misses you and loves you!

You can listen to the bible story for this week at the link below:

Try this week's Wordles:

Carol's Wordle

Mel's Wordle

Let's Pray:

Dear God

We thank you for examples of acts of love and kindness in the Bible – the examples of Mary and Martha. 

Fill our hearts with kindness and compassion.

Inspire us to show your love through acts of kindness.

Let us create a space around us where people can find harmony, and we treat each other with compassion and kindness.

As we continue in this day and the week ahead, grant us the wisdom and strength to act kindly and let others feel loved and respected.

Bless us so we can represent your love and kindness

We ask this in Jesus’ name

Amen

That's our Awesome Time Online for this week... hope you all have a wonderful week ahead and hey - let's all be KINDER out there! :o)

Wild Things

This week's story from the bible is the story of the Prodigal Son. It's about a son who runs away from his father, and behaves rather badly, like a wild thing. Eventually, he misses his father and returns, just hoping his Dad will let him come home. His Dad does more than that... he shows overwhelming love and forgiveness and welcomes his son home with open arms.

This reminds me of the book 'Where the Wild Things Are', by Maurice Sendak, where Max misbehaves and 'runs away'. 

Watch this week's Awesome Time Online by clicking HERE.

Jesus didn't tell stories about perfect people who never mess up. Instead, Jesus told stories about people who made mistakes, but who were loved and welcomed home and forgiven. We too mess up and make mistakes, but like Max's return to his Mum, and the prodigal son's return to his Dad, as children of God, we are always loved and forgiven.

Watch the story of the Prodigal Son here:

the Prodigal Son (Lego version)

the story of the Prodigal Son

Create a Wild Thing:

Make a paper bag Wild Thing... draw a 'wild thing' face and add some googly eyes, wooly hair or fur.

Use an old holey sock to create a 'wild thing' sock puppet (don't use a good sock though!). You could use buttons or scraps of fabric for eyes and mouth.

Wordle:

Click HERE for this week's Wordle!

Caleb's Prayer:

Dear God,

Thank you for loving us always, even when we mess up.

Help us to remember we ALL make mistakes.

Teach us to show love and forgiveness to others, just like you do for us.

Amen

Thanks to Izak & Caleb for their help with this week's Awesome Time Online!

Harvest Festival

This week's Awesome Time Online is brought to you by Dave and Heather:

According to Google’s Scrabble dictionary, there are 161 words that can be made from the word Harvest!

14 x Two letter words

41 x Three letter words

61 x Four letter words

33 x Five letter word

10 x Six letter words

33 x Five letter words

Some examples are :-

SAVE, VEST, HARE, SAT, RAT, HAT,

How many can you find?

But there are 4 words that jump out at me, says Dave, which truly remind us of what Harvest Festival is about:

The first word is HAVE.

Harvest is an opportunity to remember and thank God for the many things that we have. When we go to the supermarket , the shelves are full of lovely food to buy (at the moment the shelves are not all full, so this helps us to appreciate what we HAVE more).

When we turn on the tap, there is plenty of water that flows out of them.

The second word is EAT.

Harvest isn’t just an opportunity to thank God that the supermarket shelves are full, it’s a chance to thank God that our tummies are full too! We have plenty to eat. There might be food that we find boring or we dislike, like Brussell Sprouts or Marmite, but we still have enough to eat and drink.

The third word is STARVE.

As we think of all the lovely things we have to eat and drink, it should make us think about those who don’t have as much as we do. 1 in 6 of the world's people  (that’s over 1 billion people) are hungry. Many children are dying of starvation. Harvest is a time to remember those who are not as fortunate as us.

Then the fourth word is SHARE.

Harvest is a time to help poor and hungry, and those in need. And also those  who are isolating at home and can’t get out to the supermarket.

Why should we share? The bible verse from Galatians chapter 6, verse 10 says that; 

“as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people....especially those who belong to the family of God.”

Jesus told a story about the fruit tree that didn’t grow fruit for 3 years. Just as the farmer was going to chop it down, he decided to give it another year …and it grew lots of fruit. Jesus was really talking about us - and about God. God has "planted" us on this earth and he expects us to produce good fruit in our life. What kind of fruit does God expect? Things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and gentleness. When God doesn't see these things in our life, God is possibly disappointed -- but is willing to give us another chance.

God tells us that we are to do good to all people. It pleases God when we look out for others. There are so many different opportunities to do this.

So... Harvest is a time when we can remember and praise God for all we have- food / drink / clothing / family and especially for Jesus who God sent to be our savior. But also a time when we can share by helping those in need!!

This week’s challenge:

Take the word AWESOMETIME  and see how many words you can make from this.

(Once again, Google tells me that there are 465 words to be made)

All I want you to find is:

1 x 7 letter word

3 x 3 letter words

And a special 4 letter word that you all need to find – clue: it’s very tiny.

Prayer:

Dear God, each season brings us something new for us to see and enjoy. With sunny days, and rainy days, our crops grow larger, Fruit and vegetables ripen, ready for us to harvest. Thank you for all  the food we have to eat, let us remember people who may not have enough.

Help us to be kind to others, in our thoughts, words and deeds

Amen