Tuesday Homegroup

The Tuesday homegroup for 11-14s will be taking a break until after the spring half term holiday. If you or someone you know is interested in joining the group or if you just want to ask about it please get in touch with Catharine, the Youth Minister. In the meantime check out the latest video project. Could you take part? Sunday groups for young people continue as normal at St John's, Emmanuel and St Aldhelm's.

Youth Video Project

Anyone aged 11-18 is invited to join in with the latest youth video project. It's called 'SpaceQuest' and filming begins in February. For more details download the letter which tells you more about how, when and where we will be filming. You can also read and/or download the script. Any adults who would like to help us explore strange new worlds and boldly go where no man has gone before would be very welcome. Do get in touch with Catharine if you can offer assistance. Thank you. The finished videos will be appearing on a screen near you sometime this year...watch this space!

The Ups and Downs

What was 2013 like for you? What were the high points? What were the low points? Perhaps you had a brilliant holiday or made some new friends. On the other hand perhaps you had to say goodbye to some loved ones or face failure or disappointment. At this time of year we often look back over the ups and downs of the past year and wonder if the next will be better or worse. Jesus has promised his followers that he will be with us whatever happens. His love for us stays strong in the ups, the downs and the kind of boring bits in between.

In Romans 8:28 we have a really encouraging promise to hold on to in the ups and downs of life. It says, “...in all things God works for the good of those who love him...” God is at work for our good in ALL things, fun things AND miserable things. Even things we thought were a complete waste of time: somehow God is using them for good. How great is that?!

So let’s remember God’s promises as we get stuck into 2014. There may be things ahead that we are dreading. There may be things we’re really looking forward to. Perhaps there are changes coming up in your school life or your home. God will be with you every step of the way, working for your good. I wonder what HIS plans for you are this year? I guess that we can trust him to use all the ups and downs of 2014 to make us just a little bit more like Jesus by the time 2015 rolls around!

Good News TV!

What would Jeremy Paxman ask Joseph? Would Kirsty Wark catch the wise men out with her difficult questions? In preparation for Christmas, the young people from St John's Church looked at some of the bible passages about Jesus birth and thought about what they would ask the people who who were there seeing it all first hand. These questions were developed into the script for 'Good News TV': a retelling of the nativity story. The presentation included some video clips showing on-the-spot reports and some background images created by all the different age groups.  In the presentation we heard from Joseph about his royal connections and his surprise at becoming dad to the King of Kings. Then we heard from Mary how strange it was that her little baby boy was also her Saviour. Some of the younger children showed us the enthusiasm of the shepherds and their excitement at getting to meet the Messiah. Another group showed us the how the wise men discovered a child who was more than a king and responded to him in worship. We also interviewed someone from today to see what relevance Jesus birth still has for us. Sometimes, as we tell the story of the nativity each year it somehow becomes more and more like a fairy story. We add tinsel and cuteness and inkeepers and donkeys in an effort to make sure everyone has a part but the danger is it can become less and less real to us. But what the young people got across in their 'Good News TV' presentation is that Jesus is good news for us today. He is still King and Saviour. He can be our Messiah and our Lord. Are we going to respond to him in worship this Christmas?

Bible Cake

Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’ Matthew 4:4

The decrees of the LORD... are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. Psalm 19:9,10

This bible-shaped cake reminded members of the youth homegroups that we need God's word to keep going as Christians, just as we need food to keep our bodies going. If we make time to read and digest God's word each day we'll find that it's not just 'good for us', like spinach or vitamins but actually 'good' like chocolate cake! God's word is not just holy and encouraging and challenging it's also delicious!

Like me!

Like me!

I want people to like me! I want you to click that little thumbs up to say that you have noticed my article, like what I’ve written, admire my sentiment, maybe even agree with me. We all want to be liked, admired, noticed and valued. Teenagers, probably even more that the rest of us, struggle with this longing for love and recognition. Some post pictures of themselves (the infamous ‘selfies’) online hoping for positive responses but leaving themselves open to horrible comments and responses that can make them feel unlovable and worthless.

‘We’re worth it’

‘Self esteem’ and ‘confidence’ have become buzz words in our culture. If advertisers can persuade us that their products will give us confidence or boost our self esteem then they are on to a winner. So we buy our expensive hair gel, safe in the knowledge that ‘we’re worth it’ and we gaze longingly at a friend’s iphone4G knowing that if only we had one of those then we’d really be someone worth knowing.

‘You’re beautiful’

Those who are not just after our money try to reassure us by telling us that we are ‘amazing’ or that deep down we are ’good people. If you are a girl you may well get told that that you are ‘beautiful and those haters are just ignorant’, which is really nice, but sadly, not always true. You see, the thing is, if my self-worth is build on the fact that I am really nice looking and a very good person, what happens on the day when I’m ...not? It only takes a bad haircut or an unfortunate scar to undermine that illusion. And if we’re really honest we know that underneath the ‘nice’ exterior we can all find our own store of selfishness, meanness, pride, greed, lust....oh dear!

‘You’re sinful. I love you’

But the bible has a solution to our self esteem issues. God doesn’t lie to us and tell us that we’re all lovely and not to worry about it. He tells us the truth – ‘You’re sinful’. But he also tells us the most amazing thing – ‘I love you anyway’. This is such fantastic news! God doesn’t love us because we are beautiful or good. He just loves us! There’s a children’s song which sounds a bit twee but is actually full of great theology. It starts, “I’m special because God has loved me...” That’s the point. God doesn’t love us because we’re special. Phew! Because I may not be feeling or acting that special today! No, I’m special because God has loved me.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

See a video about one guy’s take on the struggle for perfection and God’s grace here:

http://fervr.net/videos/imperfect

Christmas giving

Anyone of secondary school age is invited to join in with our Christmas giving project. You can join in as an individual, with your church group or even with your family.
The idea is to buy some fun-size sweets or other little gifts, wrap them up and attach our special labels that explain why we are doing this. We'll then meet on Saturday 14th December at St Mary's and give them away to people in town...just to give the people of Weymouth a little hint of God's love and generosity.

Download a form here for the full details.

We're using the 'Christmas starts with Christ' logo which is a national campaign that people might see popping up on bus stops, noticeboards, Facebook etc.