  Flames Wind spirals Spoon Disciples
Blow Football
Crafting
Joan with dove collage at celebration time in church
 Rae tells the story
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| | | Messy Church 'Pentecost' - 27 May |
Report and photos - Jim Paterson
The Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost
 When
the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one
place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind
came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were
sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated
and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled
with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the
Spirit enabled them.
At this time, God-fearing Jews from every
nation under heaven were staying in Jerusalem. When they
heard all this noise, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because
each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed,
they asked: ‘Aren’t all these who are speaking
Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our
native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of
Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from
Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and
Arabs – we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own
tongues!’
Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, ‘What does this mean?’
Some, however, made fun of them and said, ‘They have had too much wine.’
In the first He was on trial for His life, when Peter denied the Lord three times,
just as Jesus had predicted, and fell into sin. In the
second Jesus has conquered death, and Peter affirmed his
love for the Lord three times, and was reinstated.
The
resurrected Christ forgives and feeds. Our responsibility is to be
forgiven, to be fed, and then to forgive and feed. What can we do when
we have doubts ourselves?
How can we support the folks who come
along who have doubts about Jesus and what he offers? and how can we
help them grow in understanding?
Our activities included
 Rockets - We made rockets from rolled paper then blew them using a drinking straw.
We thought how the Holy Spirit came (and comes) with power – letting some amazing things happen.
Dove
collage - The idea was to make a stained glass window, covering the
dove with the feathers and the rest with the coloured squares. It was a
team effort which we took over to the church later, for
celebration time.
We talk about the way that the Holy Spirit is
often described as “coming like a dove”. and why a dove is
a good sign. It’s the sign of peace, like the Holy Spirit.
Blow
football - Out in the garden in the sunshine we created a 'crazy golf'
type course made of cardboard tubes, from which we had to blow a ping
pong ball through to the finish. This was really just a bit of
fun, but we talked about how the Holy Spirit always comes with a
purpose, and gives us gifts to use with purpose – just as we have
to have some plan as we blow our ball around. Otherwise it would all be
just a waste of time.
Water bottle wind spirals - We coloured
plastic bottles with permanent markers using a variety of colours. We
cut the bottle into a spiral, then hung it to watch it rotate in the
breeze.
We talked about how the Holy Spirit can turn even the
most ordinary and apparently useless among us into someone who can do
great things for God. Did we ever feel a bit useless? Do we feel that
everyone else is better than us? How can we make this better? Just as
we are changing the bottles into something quite special, so the Holy
Spirit changes us.
 Flame biscuits - This was the one you could
eat. We spread crackers with the cream cheese then cut small pieces of
the cheese and red peppers to make flames.
We talked about how
the Holy Spirit came also like a fire.How might the disciples
have felt when they saw the flames around them. Is fire a good image
– what does it tell us about the Holy Spirit? (Think what fire
does – it cleanses, sets things alight, a sign for being
brought to life, clearing the way for new growth)
Peg / Wooden
spoon doll disciples - We used pegs and wooden spoons, transforming
them into a disciple, giving it a face and clothes, then making a
flame from the foam/felt and fix to the head, explaining that this was
what the disciples looked like on Pentecost Day – they
seemed to have flames coming from their heads.
We talked about
what this might have felt like (scary or what?), and what it
means to be “on fire for God”, and what this means in
our lives
 Celebration
Time in the church was led by Joan Cape and Rae Hunter. Through story,
song, video, and the crafts we had completed we heard the story of
Pentecost told once again.
We finished with a prayer before returning for a meal with all the families and talking of what we had learned today.
Next March Messy
church will be on Sunday 24th June
Published - 29 May 2018
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