Author Archive
Thats my King!
Posted by: | Commentsan amazing video: That’s My King! from Albert Martin
Moodify with the teens
Posted by: | CommentsThis last week we had one of the best times in our fusion group in a long time. I found a resource called moodify on the embody website. The resource is described as this:
MOODIFY is a portmanteau (a new word formed by joining two others and combining their meanings) combining the word mood with modify
In the series there are 7 small activities that challenge how you see the mood you are in. That your mood isn’t all who you are. That there are surface moods and deeper feelings. One makes you look at where the mood you are in comes from and asks the question what will be the consequence of the mood and is this all I am?
This led to conversations about who we are and who God made us to be and that moods don’t make us the people we are.
Here are the links to the different Moodify’s that we looked at in the order that made sense:
Moodify 1
Moodify 2
Moodify 5
Moodify 4
Moodify 7
There are 2 others that didn’t fit to the session but are equally as good.
The real encourager was how it had an effect days after. Just ask some of the older teens what they thought and perhaps give it a go yourself.
A Westbrook review
Posted by: | CommentsI was recently asked to go and support two Crusader groups that I used to work with when I was the Area support worker for Essex Crusaders. We had a fantastic time on the Isle of Wight at the Westbrook Centre. (if you are looking for a place to take a youth group or church it is well worth a look).
I was given 3 sessions over the weekend and i thought that it would be really beneficial to give the young people an opportunity to experience worship, prayer and the bible in ways that they have never done before. In some ways this was easy as so many of them did not come from church backgrounds but interesting as they, like so many young people, have set expectations of how they should behave in these situations.
All 3 sessions supprised the young people in that they were not expecting to a) enjoy themselves b) get into the sessions like they did c) get something from it personally.
The worship was kept simple with using the children’s worship material that i tend to use at church whilst also talking about why we worship and who we worship in different guises. Their perception was that of the Mr Bean clip of him in church falling asleep and were astonished that they were alowed to have fun and enjoy worship.
Prayer was about engaging the young people with prayer away from the, get down on your knees and silently pray, vision they had of it. 4 stations of creative prayer that they did for 45mins with out knowing that they were praying.
The Bible was to brak myths and perceptions of what the bible was and how it can be read.
In all the weekend was a success all round. No injuries, good weather, engaged young people in the sessions and fun throughout the whole weekend.
Below are some photos of the weekend:
Sunday service
Posted by: | CommentsEvery so often i get a real feeling that something needs to happen during the time at the beginning of the service that is usually taken up with corporate singing. This Sunday is one of those days! This coming Sunday i am giving some time over to prayer, and i hope in no small measure.
There are two areas where i would like us to focus:
first is simply giving thanks and praise to God,
second to to pray for us to be moving in perfect step with God. Not just in a Sunday morning but a wider and bigger view than that. This will probably be different things to different people; an obvious move of God’s power (again this will mean different things to different people), healing, salvation, our involvement within our community or a building for RCC to dedicate to Rochford.
Whatever this may me be, the goal is for us to seek God, to see Him moving in his Kingdom and for us to be in step with Him.
The challenge therefore is for you to bring somthing on Sunday. This could be prayer or bible verse that can help focus our prayers. Ultimatly though I am excited about the possiblility of our worship being transformed and our focus on God being firm.
Westbrook Ho!
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s today that i am off to the Isle of wight with Colchester and Ramsey Crusaders youth groups. I have been asked to run the worship and teaching sessions for their young people. My understanding is that there will be around 45 -50 of them.
When i last was away with them for a weekend, close to 5 years ago now, i was a very differnt person. My time in RCC has given me a completly new skill set. Especially in the area of children’s worship and i’m really looking forward to bring that to the mix this weekend.
One thing that i am looking forward to is to see some of the young people that i met there 5 years ago and seeing how they have moved on.
If Westbrook has wireless then i am going to keep you up to date with all that i am doing. If not then i will be twittering my time there. If you also use twitter then follow me
Thursday House group
Posted by: | CommentsAt one of the house groups tonight we are looking at 1Thessalonians 5:11-23 i would recommend it as a challenging read. Already i am feeling there are areas i need to tighten up in in my life. The benifit of meeting with people tonight is that i know that i am not going to be alone and i also know that i will be encouraged.
The Discovery course starts
Posted by: | CommentsThis Friday the Discovery course starts. Even though it is only a couple of days away if you are anyone you know would be interested then please let Tony Thomas know by sending him an email
It will be a 4 week course that will help you understand the basics of the Christian faith. With food and conversation this relaxed time will be helpful if you are looking to understand more.
Discovery: What's it all about?
Posted by: | CommentsStarting of Friday the 6th of March Rochford Community Church are running a 4 week Discovery course. The purpose of this is to give a short introduction to the Christian faith in a non threatening relaxed atmosphere. The evening will start with a meal together and go into a time of conversation and discussion.
If you are anyone you know would be interested then please let Tony Thomas know by sending him an email
DISCOVERY
The ongoing adventures of ALF!
Posted by: | CommentsALF Has been interesting in the last couple of weeks. The group Dynamics has changed as some of the older children have moved up and are now closing in on being teenager’s. So the average age has dropped. This has made the material we have been using not the most suitable. We did, however, get to the end of ALF 1 by recapping in a mighty craft exercise!
The vision was to create something that showed a snapshot of God’s plan with 4 – 9 year olds! Not the easiest task in the world but as you can see we had a remarkable outcome:
The photo shows, from left to right: Creation, God’s Promise, Birth (Star), Death & Resurrection. This took out kids 2 sessions to complete. And they were all really pleased with the out come.
Watch this space for further updates on the future of ALF at RCC.
Worship Group nosh up!
Posted by: | CommentsSo on Sunday the worship team went out for a bit of a feed up. Straight after church we made a bee-line for East, a Chinese Restaurant in Southend-on-Sea. It was great to get out together and just enjoy the company of each other. I can thoroughly recommend the restaurant as well as going somewhere with you church team. Food is a great way to do this.
