Dear Messy Family
Please let us know that you will be attending by emailing
nmcmessy@gmail.com
As you know, Messy Church has happened monthly on a Wednesday from 4-6 p.m. for many years. It’s a time for children and their carers to have a fun and creative time together while learning more about the Christian faith and events from the Bible. There is a celebration time in church which is usually led by our minister and this is followed by a meal which we all share together.
April Messy Church
It’s the second Wednesday in April and it’s time for Messy Church! This month we were thinking about following Jesus – by looking, listening, and doing!
Last month, we planted seeds as part of looking after God’s beautiful creation. They are growing well, and next time when they are a bit bigger, we will put them in pots around the church grounds. Today we’ve planted even more seeds.
Jesus said, ‘Come follow me’ and the challenge this time was to roll a marble around a labyrinth, following the footprints. We timed how long it took us, to make it more fun, and, with practice, we got faster.
Jesus talked about us being his sheep, and how his sheep follow him.
We decorated biscuits to make smiley sheep faces.
We made sheep pictures. Jesus is The Good Shepherd, who loves and cares for every single sheep.
That means you and me!
And just as sheep follow their loving shepherd, so we will follow Jesus, and try to become more like him.
Sheep might look all the same to us, but they are all different and shepherds can tell them apart. We each made a cross with our own decorations. We talked about everyone being unique and special and celebrating our differences.
In church we thought a bit more about following Jesus
It is a bit like going on a journey. If you go on a journey in the car – you have to look out at the road signs – to take you to where you need to be, and to keep you safe on the roads.
How else might we find our way on a journey?
A compass will help you find the right direction
For a Treasure Hunt, a map is very useful
To find our way we need to look and listen carefully. We played a game which was all about listening carefully!!
When Rev John said ‘Rev John says STAND UP’ – we had to do it.
But if he just said ‘STAND UP’ – we should not do anything, or we will be OUT of the game!
We did quite well for the first few times, but then we forgot to listen and a lot of people were out!
To find our way in the world, we can look out to follow Jesus every day, and listen to him!
Jesus is sometimes called the Good Shepherd. Sheep need to be looked after and a good shepherd will look after his sheep. They listen and follow him, so we must listen and follow him.
Jesus is like a lighthouse shining out for us in the darkness so that we can follow him safely.
We sang song called MY LIGHTHOUSE . It has actions which we joined in with.
Then we went to enjoy a meal of filled jacket potatoes (with a special parsley garnish which we had grown), cakes and fruit.
See you next time, on Wednesday 8th May!