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: -