Sunday, 26 February 2023

Into the Wilderness

This morning, we read 'The Dark' by Lemony Snicket. 


We all have places that scare us, challenge us and tempt us. We might do everything to avoid these places, but sometimes we have to face the wilderness and walk through it.  Laszlo learns this, in The Dark. 

His 'wilderness' is the basement of his house. He is afraid of the dark and when the nightlight in his room goes out he has to venture into the dark basement. There he finds a drawer full of lights. After he finds the much needed light bulb, the dark is always still there, but does not bother him.

Like Laszlo, when we venture into our wilderness we find what we need to make it through as well as God’s reassuring presence. 

In our bible story today, Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness. We wondered what scary things he had to deal with. Maybe spiders? (Lukas didn't like the spider in my box very much!) Perhaps there were snakes? (There were a few people who shuddered when Lizzy pulled the wriggly, rubber snake from my bag!) Almost certainly Jesus had to cope with wild animals, being totally alone, and the deep darkness of the nights. After all of that, he must have grown fearless and ready to face whatever truly scary stuff came his way!

Sometimes, for us it can be tempting to take the easy road, to not push ourselves out of our comfort zone, or put our hand up to help others. Perhaps doing something that scares us (like speaking to someone we don't know, standing up for someone who’s being bullied would be a great challenge for Lent.

Let us pray:
Loving God,
Thank you for always being with us, everywhere we go.
Help us to remember that, and that even in the dark and scary, wild places in our lives, you are right there loving us.
Amen.



Check out our artwork, inspired by 'The Dark'. 

'With God's help, we can face our fears.'

'God is with me in the dark.'
This one was a father-son collaboration between Eric and Lukas. I love the ghost and spider! 

'With God's help, we can face our fears.'

'God is with me when I'm scared.'
Lukas has created his own artwork here, complete with a scary, green ghost!

Lizzy and Beth got creative with theirs.
'God is always with me.'
'God's love shines through me.'

The shading on this one is very clever. This poor guy looks like he's truly been in the wilderness!


Proud artists!

Friday, 24 February 2023

Get Well Soon!

Last Sunday, our Awesome Kids made 'get well soon' cards for Anne. Thanks Carol, for sharing these. 
Sending lots of love and hugs to Anne!





 

Saturday, 18 February 2023

Picnic pic!


We had a fabulous time at the park on our Parish Picnic last weekend. Here's an action shot of the lolly scramble!

 

CHYPS Youth 2023


Our first CHYPS Youth for 2023 kicked off with games at St James' Park. Such a beautiful night!




 

Awesome Time in action

 Check out these photos from Awesome Time last week... and the amazing bird feeders we made!













Wednesday, 8 February 2023

Parish Picnic!


 Join us after church on Sunday for a picnic at St James Park. See you there!

Chapel Street Youth is back for 2023!


 We're kicking off Youth Group with a walk to the park this Saturday night. 

Meet at the Chapel Street Centre at 6.30pm. Make sure you have shoes suitable for walking / running around. We'll head to the park for some games of frisbee and ball tag, and return to the hall for supper and devotion time.

If you know of anyone in school years 7 to 13 who might like to come, please invite them to join us!

See you there!

Monday, 6 February 2023

Blessing of the Backpacks

Last Sunday, we had our Blessing of the Backpacks. 

As is our tradition at Christchurch North Methodist, our young people brought along their schoolbags and gathered at the front for a special blessing to mark the beginning of the school year. 

Liam was presented with a bible as a reminder that the love of his church family at the Chapel Street Centre, and the love of God goes with him as he starts secondary school.



We invited our congregation to write a short note of encouragement, support, bible verse or snippet of advice for our young people. We photocopied them all and made little 'books of encouragement' for each young person to take home with them. 

Thank you to our congregation for being so supportive of our youth, we really appreciate you!








Happy Christmas from the Youth!

Last Sunday, our young people led a Christmas Youth Service. The focus was on peace , but there was a fair amount of joy  involved too! Than...