Sunday 25th November 2012

The Real Nativity

The Nativity Story has many versions and is told from the view point of many of the characters in the original and traditional.

Just to make sure we knew the original from the traditional, we looked at the Bible version of the story.  There is no record of a donkey, an innkeeper, camels, stable or three Wise Men.  We looked at how the traditional story could have been developed and there is nothing wrong with it.  However, it is worth remembering from time to time, those characters mentioned in the Bible and no where else.

We then made a craft activity that included the original characters and then we chose whether to add the traditioanl ones too.

 

 

 

My attempt with just Bible characters

2 Sessions from November 2012

It's been sometime since I last posted information about Pioneer events, so I thought I should make an effect.

The week before Remembrance Sunday, we looked at the Armour of God.  To help us remember it, we made a picture like my attempt below.



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The others were much better than mine

On Remembrance Sunday we talked about whether soldiers freely give their lives for other or whether they have no choice.  During wars declared by governments that affect the whole nation (like the First and Second World Wars) many men were called up and expected to give their lives for others.  Not everyone was able to do this.

However, looking at John 15: 13, Jesus tells us: -

The greatest love a person can have for his friends is to give his life for them.

To help us remember this, we were asked to express this through a painting.  As I'm not very artistic, my attempt is shown below: -

 

Again, the others were much better than mine.

Weekend Away

Over the weekend of Friday 28^th to Sunday 30^th September 2012, a group of 8 young people and 5 adults spent the weekend away to Clacton.  The young people came from youth groups connected to Maldon Methodist Church (Pioneers and RAWR), South Woodham Ferrers and Springfield park Baptist churches.



The Weekend Gang

Friday evening was a relaxed time, getting to know each other as this was the first time the whole group had meet for the first time.  We had a take-a-way supper of fish and chips, burger and chips or something and chips, eating these as we headed down to the Pier.  When we got back to base, we spent time playing board games or UNO, getting to know each other and setting up beds.

Saturday morning was spent looking at the story Jesus told about the rich farmer who had to build bigger barns to store his crops, but died before he could reap the reward of selling it off.  The message is about storing up worldly riches which you cannot take with you when you died, so it is better to use the wealth to help others.

To help make the point, we made a bunch of cakes, decorated them and sold them on Sunday morning after the Harvest Service.  Thanks to the congregation, we raised £30 points.  One part of the session was deciding which charity to send the money too.  We looked at several recent adverts for some and finally chose UNICEF.  Another craft activity was to decorate a money box for home use to raise money for other charities of our own choosing.

 

After lunch we looked at two other stories of Jesus, both looking at how people dealt with money.  The first was the dishonest manager who misused his master money for his own gain and another rich man who threw a party to which the invited guests did not come to.

The dishonest manager was cleaver in trying to secure another job after he was sacked and we wondered how much Christians work in spreading the Good News?  Do they spend as much effort as the dishonest manager did in secure a new job?

The rich man’s party was eventually attended by those he did not know, the people off the streets and the down and outs.  Here we looked at sharing our wealth with those who have little to nothing.  During this time, the young people decorated a small box to contain a list of their abilities to serve God, a cake shaped invitation and painted a cup coaster.

 

The late afternoon and early evening was spent on the Pier and a great time was had by the young people.  We had a great evening meal and then played more games, some learning new ones.  Bed time came and sleep soon followed.

 

Sunday morning came and we all helped tidy up.  We joined with the congregation for Harvest Celebration and a Baptism service, after which we sold all the cakes made on Saturday.  We also joined with them for a bring-and-share lunch.  To finish off the weekend, we all (young people and leaders) made a small Owl to remind us about the wisdom (or lack of it) from the characters in Jesus’ stories.  The rich farmer was un-wise in trying to keep all his money, the dishonesty manager was un-wise to use his master money, but wise to try and secure a job in the future.  The rich man wisely invited anyone to his party, to share his money with others.

July 8th 2012

This week saw Pioneers joining with the younger group.  The previous week, Pioneers chose and planned some ideas about the old testament character, Samson.

After the welcome and news sharing, which is an activity the younger group regularly do, Pioneers presented a “reactive” sketch to the narrated (and shortened) story of Samson .  (No characters learning words, they just reacted to the story.  Those watching could also join in.  As we had no male Pioneers, the girls played all the parts.

We then built a tower (to represent the pillar Samson was chained too) which involved everyone and it ended up at nearly 7 feet tall.

Starting from youngest to oldest and with eyes closed (Samson was blinded by Philistines) each person tried to bowl the tower down.

Then we made the Hairy Samson Balloons, with everyone joining in or helping.  Towards the end, the short talk was given, concluding that God is always with us.  To finish with, a couple of colouring in drawings were available.

We had some “goodies” to share, left over from the sleep over service a few weeks previous.

Pizza Christian - 29th April 2012

Earlier in the year, one of the Pioneers members asked if we could "cook pizza" one morning.  This, I suspect, was a result of cooking pizza at the Messy Church held earlier.  This was a good opportunity to talk about being a "pizza Christian".

The pictures below are the results, with an explianation of the meanings of the food ingrediants.

The topping ready to be used

The main parts of the pizza

 We started by making our own pizzas and it was interesting as to how each pizza became very persanal to each Pioneers member.

We had a pizza that was piled high with toppings, one with a face, one neatly layed out with toppings, one with stuffed crust and one "folded over".  This really reflected the personality of each member.

Whilst the pizzas were cooking, we looked at how a pizza can reflect a christian.

The Base:                  All pizzas have a dough base; otherwise they would not be a pizza.  On the base is placed everything else.  Without the base, the rest of the ingredients would get stuck to the cooking tray and you would need a spoon to eat the toppings.

                                  For the Christian, the Bible is the base of their faith.  It is a written record of God and his love for us through thousands of years.  All you need to know (not experience) about God, Jesus, the Spirit is in the Bible.  There are many other books written about people’s lives in Christ, but all came from the basis of truth in the Bible.

Tomato Sauce:         During this part of the explanation, one of the Pioneers suggested that the red tomato sauce is the blood of Christ, something that was not considered during the preparation.  And how true this is.  The Bible has the death of Jesus as a central theme and builds upon the Bible guidance for our lives.  Without the sauce the pizza may be dry to eat and without Christ's blood being shed, no sins can be forgiven.

Cheese:                     With a quick re-think due to the sauce change of theme, the cheese is used to help secure the toppings on to the base.

                                  For the Christian, the Holy Spirit binds us to the Bible base.  God’s spirit is present in both the Old and New Testaments, but became available to everyone on Pentecost Sunday.  It lives in us and helps us live the Christian life.  Without it, our lives would be dry and unfulfilled.

Toppings:                  There are many toppings that can go with pizza from meat to fruit.  Some toppings are liked by some people and other toppings are not liked by some people.  Often, for large groups, a selection of pizzas with different toppings is ordered, so that everyone has a choice.  Sometimes, the choosing takes a long time and not everyone is totally happy every time.

                                  For Christians, we could say that the Church is like the toppings, full of different people with varying degrees of faith, experiences and views.  Church congregations do not always get along in complete harmony (bit strange considering what they believe) but at the end of the day we work together and support each other.

Just before we eat our pizzas, we said a short prayer based on what we had been making and think about, asking God to help us keep the bible as our base, the blood of Christ in out hearts, the Spirit in our lives to bind us together and the toppings of love compassion and understanding to all.

The first cooked pizzas

An early lunch and a time together.

The we joined with the creche while we waited for the main service to finish.

Sunday 22nd April 2012

The theme for this Pioneers session was "You've", which was chosen by them and was a bit of a challenge.
We started by looking at "you" being "second person singular" and is what is said by me to you.  "Have" is things like "to own, experience, possession.

We then looked at "you've" from a Christian position, as follows: -

You have an opportunity to lean about Jesus, God and their love for you.
You have been given guidance in the Bible on how to live.
You have been given a warning that if you are not for Jesus, you are against him.
You have been given a choice, to follow and live (eternal) or not.

These points sparked some discussion on the language used in the Bible and that many translations and versions are available, whether heaven and hell exist and whether Christianity is the "only religion" that is "right".

They young people were then given an opportunity to express their views and if they had learnt anything on a "graffiti wall", as shown below: -