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

 

Trust that God is with us!

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

You can watch Carol's talk in church here:

God’s promise to Abram & Sarai

You may know Abram better as Abraham.  When we first meet Abraham in Genesis, he is called “Abram.”  The “ha” came later.  Abram was old really old and so was his wife, so he was surprised when God promised that Abram would have many descendants.

You can watch a video of the story here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rrcqpgEoug

Click HERE to try Izak's KAHOOT!

How do you think Abram felt when God came & spoke to him?

How do you think Abram & Sarai felt after God promised to give them a child?

Carol's Challenge: Go outside & count the stars!

Draw a picture of the stars – write down the number of stars you counted – you could use black paper & white chalk for the night sky picture.

On the back of your picture of the stars, list the names of your whanau members - your family & friends – the people who are important to you.

Prayer

Dear God,

God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thank you for including us in your family tree.  

Thank you for the truth of your Word

Help us to trust in that

And to keep our faith in you

Even when we can’t feel or see you

Thank you for taking care of us

We love you, God!

Thank you for Jesus

In His name, Amen!

This week's Wordle:

Click HERE for this week's Wordle!

As you go out into the world this coming week, remember that God loves you, and you can trust God to always be with you, guiding and supporting you, and loving you.  

Thanksgiving Box

Hi there, Awesome Kids! This week's Awesome Time is brought to you by Sue and Anne. It's all about what it means to be tempted... and how Jesus wants us to make the right choice, and do the right thing. 

Welcome to Awesome Time Online for 6 March 2022.

Challenge from Sue & Anne:

Find a box, paper bag, or something lying around.  This will be your ‘Thanksgiving box’.  Decorate it with pictures or words of things you are thankful to God for – it might be things like our families, friends, homes to live in, or food to eat!

Then, each day, put something in the box to be given away.  It might be an item you don’t need anymore (a toy you no longer play with, or an item of clothing that no longer fits you – our second hand clothing shop, Budget Boutique would love to receive donations or there is a whanau table at Aratupu!)  

Or it could be something home-made (like a card) to be given away as a gift to someone who needs some cheering up.  It could even be a note recording something you did to help someone else – like taking an extra turn at doing the dishes.

Bonus Challenge - Can you keep this up until Easter Sunday?

Wordle:

Click HERE for this week's Wordle!

Storytime: 

Here's a fabulous story about temptation... poor George the dog is tempted to eat the cake, to chase the cat, to dig the soil... it's so hard to say no, when they are all things George LOVES to do! Enjoy 'Oh No, George!' by Chris Haughton:

Enjoy this beautiful story, 'LOVE', by Matt de la Peña and Loren Long.

“A slice of burnt toast tastes like love,” and other lines like this remind us that love exists in places we don’t think to look. No matter where we are or what is going on in our lives, in the world... remember that God's faithful LOVE is with us, always.

Prayer:

Dear Lord,

Thank You for all the good things

You give to me.

Help me to say Thank You

with a grateful heart

and help me to show generosity

to others.

Amen

Shine Bright like the Son!

This week's Awesome Time Online is about something pretty awesome that happened to Jesus... and what it means for us.

CLICK HERE to watch. 

Haha... those lights! Not the ones I'd originally intended to use... we had a few technical issues (isn't that always the way with Christmas tree lights!) Anyway, I thought the lights were a good reminder of the message in this week's bible story. 

We are called, as the body of Christ, to shine like Jesus, sharing God’s grace and love to the world. In the circle of grace and warmth of God’s love… and through the light of Jesus, we are powered to spread and share that amazing love. God wants us to shine bright, reflect the Son (S-O-N), and spread God’s never-ending love with others.

You can watch a cool video about the bible story of the transfiguration of Jesus by clicking here:

Or, you can watch this Lego version by clicking here:

Activity Challenge:

I love the Lego bible story... who doesn't like playing with Lego? You can take a bunch of random blocks and create the most incredible things. Transforming a pile of ordinary little bricks into something quite marvellous, is quite a cool link to the transfiguration story. 

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it... is to create your own transformation 'story'. Begin by taking a photo of your pile or box of bricks (if you don't have lego, you could use books, tin cans or other recyclables, or paper or card). Next, transform your stuff into something spectacular! Take a photo. Send your 'before' and 'after' photos to me, and we'll post them on the blog.

Let it remind us that God's awesome love can transform us, and by shining the love and light of Jesus wherever we go, we can help make the world a brighter place.

Wordle:

Try your hand at this week's word puzzle... click HERE

Prayer:

Here's a cool prayer Anne found for us... written by Bruce Prewer:

Shiny, Like Jesus

Dear God,

When will people become more love-shiny, 

like Jesus?

I hope it won't be too long,

'cos things are in a big mess here on Earth.

Please put the Spirit of Jesus into billions of hearts,

so that his shininess can change us from inside out.

You know, You can start with me and my mates,

if You like?

Amen!

The Golden Rule

Hi there! 

Last week, Dave talked about Jesus's miracles and his biggest commandment: to love one another. 

Often in the bible, we read how God loves everyone, even people who are really mean and ungrateful. In Jesus’s sermon on the Plain, we hear about how we are supposed to love our enemies and show kindness to people, even if they are being unkind to us. That’s not easy! 

It’s a lot easier to love and forgive someone who is kind and loving. It’s pretty hard to forgive someone who has done us wrong. Sometimes the hardest person to forgive can be ourselves. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. We need to remember that everyone makes mistakes, and no matter what, we are loved and we are forgiven too!

Let’s try to follow the Golden Rule: treat others how we want to be treated. 

I thought you might enjoy this story, Enemy Pie, written by Derek Munson and illustrated by Tara Calahan King. I've read it in church before, so you may remember it. But it is such a good story, about treating people as friends, even if they act like our worst enemy. 

Challenge from Dave:

Dave's challenge for each of you... is to do an act of kindness for someone this week. It might be someone in your family, or perhaps someone at school. 

Activity:

Make a collage using pictures from magazines, newspapers or advertising fliers... of all kinds of people, showing that God's love is for everyone.

Here's a prayer...

Loving God,

Help us to treat others with love, as Jesus taught us. 

Amen.

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

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

This Sunday we are learning about some 'I WILL' statements from Jesus. You can read about them in the Bible, in the book of Luke, chapter 6, verses 17 to 26.

This is Luke’s take on the beatitudes.  It is about hope when you are in those times when hope seems so far away.

First, watch and listen to the story of  'Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day' by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Ray Cruz on Read Aloud Children's Books.

What a great story, Carol! Thanks for sharing that. I wonder if anyone has seen the movie? My favourite scene is when Alex's older brother is going for his driving test. Hilarious!

Next, listen to Carol by clicking HERE.

The Seven “I Will” Statements from Jesus

These seven statements are precious promises that give us the perfect assurance, rest, hope, and joy that can only be received from God.

My favourite 'I Will' is the one that says, 'I will love you.' No matter who we are, where we are or what we're doing, Jesus promises to love us always. How awesome is that! - Melanie

A Challenge from Mel...

Did you give the Wordle a try last week? Here's this week's Awesome Time Wordle... try to guess my 5 letter word. You get six guesses. Correct letters will show up in orange, and if it's in the right place it will be green. 

Click HERE for WORDLE!

A Challenge from Carol...

There are also seven I AM statements from Jesus.

What are they?

Create a poster or a video illustrating these.

Or make something out of hearts – a wreath or a chain of hearts, a card or a bookmark to give to someone special, to remind them how much YOU love them, and how much JESUS loves them too.

More challenges coming... keep an eye on this blog!

Crafty Kids!

 Check out these gorgeous cards, made by Kyla and Samara with some of the resources in their Awesome Kids craft goodie bag. Let us know if you'd like one too!

Just the Way You Are

 

Listen to Heather read, 'I Love You Just the Way You Are (George and Bartholomew)' by Virginia Miller. It's a great reminder of the way God loves us, just the way we are!

Let's Go Fishing!

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

Fishers of People (Luke 5:1-11) 

In this story  we see Jesus work a miracle, and learn that he called ordinary people to be his disciples and teach others about the love of God.

Watch Jillian tell the story, 'Fishers of People' from an inflatable boat by clicking HERE.

Next, Richard has a challenge for you... watch by clicking HERE.

Richard's Challenge | Sink or Swim?

The fishermen in this story caught such a large load of fish that their nets became so heavy and they began to sink.  Fish normally float so would you really expect a whole lot of fish to sink a boat? 

For a bit of fun, you can search for a number of things around the house, and guess whether you think they will sink or float.

You need:

• a bucket of water 
• small things you have at home that you are allowed to put into water

BEFORE you put anything into the water, make two groups.  One with things you think will float, and another group of things you think will sink. 

Take a photo on someone’s phone so you can remember which group things were in.  

Carefully place each item into the water

What floats, and what sinks?

Take each item out of the water and put them into two new groups. One with things you know float, and another group of things you know sink.  

Some suggestions to try: fruits, vegetables, paperclip, coin, wooden block, lego, crayon, key (not the car key!!), stone, ice cube, drink bottle, jar of jam (lid tightly on!), cork, cotton ball, spoon.  There are endless things to try!

If you’d like, you can send your photos to Mel for the blog, and tell us if there were any surprises!

Prayer

Dear God,

You have created all the wonders of this world and beyond.

No matter what we do, no matter where we go,

You are always here, reminding us how much you love us and love others.

You always listen to us, and always care for us

Thank you Lord

Amen

Wordle

For those who enjoy a word puzzle (adults included!) how about trying this Wordle challenge. Try to guess Mel's five-letter word... taken from Richard & Jillian's talk today. If you've never played Wordle before... here's how it works. 

Try to guess the word in 6 tries. Each try must be an actual word (you can't just type random letters). After each guess, the colour of the tiles will change to show you how close you are to guessing the correct word. If you guess the right letter in the right spot, that tile shows up as green. If you have the right letter but in the wrong spot, the tile shows up as orange. If you've guessed a letter that isn't in the word at all, the tile shows up grey. It's a little bit like hangman, but you're guessing a whole word at a time rather than just single letters. Remember if you guess a letter correctly, it's possible it might appear in the word more than once. Ready to give it a try? Great! Click here for this week's WORDLE CHALLENGE!

If you'd like to try a word search, crossword puzzle or colouring page, here are some links:

Word Search:

https://sermons4kids.com/fishing_for_people_luke_wordsearch.htm

Cross Word

https://sermons4kids.com/fishing_for_people_luke_crossword.htm

Colouring Page

https://sermons4kids.com/fishing4people_colorpg.htm?fromSermonId=82

Thanks Richard & Jillian for this week's Awesome Time Online! Stay tuned for next week's edition with Carol!