July 2012
Holy Fools?
This April’s inc. service at St
Aldhelm’s caused some bemused faces at first due to some unusual snacks served
for April Fool’s day. The ‘April Food’ appeared to be takeaway pizzas,
Macdonald’s burger and fries or a huge mound of spaghetti and meatballs. On
closer inspection they actually turned out to be cleverly disguised cakes and
biscuits made by the two youth homegroups. We explored the idea of the
‘foolishness of God’ from 1 Corinthians 1:21 and celebrated God’s extravagant,
ridiculous love for us. The Tuesday homegroup did a presentation called ‘Fool
for you’ which illustrated a Nichole Nordman song about our willingness to be
fools for Jesus because, at the cross, he made himself a ‘fool’ for us.
Dangerous Christianity
The
11-14s group at St John’s have been exploring the world this term, looking at
some of the places where it is most difficult to be a Christian. As we look
ahead to welcoming athletes from all over the world to Weymouth over the summer
it’s worth remembering that some of them come from countries where it is
difficult and even illegal to hold a Christian meeting or own a bible. The
group has also begun work on a banner to welcome people to the church. Ideas so
far include a giant whale, a picture of St John’s church and a huge splash
containing the word ‘Welcome’. Look out for it in the coming months.
Oasis is in need of some new leaders to take on this group so please
pray that God would make it clear who this should be.
God Squad
The
Sunday morning group for young people at Emmanuel church has seen a big jump in
numbers this term as those about to go to secondary school have come up to join
them. They are badly in need of more
leaders to teach the bible and help with activities. Earlier in the year they
enjoyed (or should that be ‘endured‘) a night walk round Maiden castle in
torrential rain! Chocolate hobnobs by torchlight on a soggy and windswept
hillside made for a night to remember! They had more relaxing weather for their
walk and picnic in May as you can see in the picture.
Youth Homegroups
The
Tuesday homegroup for 11-14s (school years 7-9) and the Thursday group for
14-18s (years 10-13) have continued to meet at Catharine’s house over the last
couple of terms. The Spring term was all about sticking with God even when it’s
difficult as we looked at Peter’s first letter in the bible, written to
encourage Christians having a hard time. The summer term has been all about
Psalms. We’ve looked at Psalms expressing happiness, fear, trust, worry and
even anger. We’ve also done some crafts, film nights and a quiz about the human
body.
More
Psalms
Young people from St Aldhelm’s were able to
explore the Psalms even more at their church weekend away at Brunel Manor.
There we thought about what it means to praise God, wrote our own psalms of
praise and made a video focused on praising God for his creation. See it on the
parish website.
inc.
The inc. service on June17th was held
at St Mary’s church and celebrated the Fatherhood of God. Gavin taught us some
ancient Greek and Aramaic to show that we can actually call Almighty God ‘Dad’
when we talk to him. The service also included prayer ‘helicopters’ that came
fluttering down from the balcony and the psalm below written and read by the
Tuesday homegroup with help from Duane, Daniel and Stacy from YWAM, who were
visiting us.
My Dad...My
Father
A
psalm for Father’s day by the Tuesday Homegroup
My Dad loves me and so does my heavenly
Father.
My Dad fixes things with gaffer tape; My
Father in heaven fixes people’s lives.
My Dad wears an embarrassing tie, but my
Father, God, is really cool.
My Dad sometimes ignores me but my heavenly
Father is always interested in me.
My Dad isn’t really around much
but I have a Father in heaven, who will never
leave me or forsake me.
My Dad is always learning new things but God
is the creator of all things.
My Dad doesn’t understand me but my Father in
Heaven knows me inside out.
My Dad farts all the time but God loves him
anyway!
My Dad didn’t turn up when he promised
but my
heavenly Father is always there for me.
My Dad shows me how to do things
and God, my father, teaches me to live life to
the full.
My Dad sometimes forgets the things I tell him
but my father in heaven never forgets
anything.
My Dad tells me off sometimes
and God, too, loves me enough to care if I do
wrong things.
My Dad is easily frustrated by me
but my heavenly Father is slow to anger even
when I mess up.
My Dad makes me laugh – he’s great company.
I love spending time with my Father in heaven
too.
My Dad was late for my dance performance
but God my Father never disappoints me.
My Dad loves and cares for me, giving me a
taster of how much I matter to my heavenly Father who loves me and gave himself
for me.
Father God, thank you for the people who care
for us,
teach us, provide for us and love us.
Thank you for being a father to the
fatherless, a friend to sinners, a light in the darkness and a saviour to the
helpless.
You are our creator, our Saviour, our Lord and
our Daddy.
Amen
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