BBQ and Bonfire Night! Last Sunday's Outing

Well, that's what it was going to be - but God has a sense of humour!  When we were going to have a tobogganing trip, the sun came out and there was no snow.  When we were going to have a beach day, it poured.  This time, when we were going to have a BBQ and Bonfire night (doesn't that sound like a good choice for a chilly winter outing?!) we had wild wind, rain and thunder!

But the Youth Bible Group's motto is NEVER GIVE UP!!

SO... we had our BBQ and Bonfire at Katie's place - she doesn't have a BBQ, so we grilled the snags on the stove - and then rolled them in bread and tomato sauce in the traditional way;  and she doesn't have a bonfire, so we toasted marshmellows on the stove top - but hey, they went all crispy and black on the outside, and gooey and melty on the inside, just the way they do over a bonfire!  Someone ate so many he was feeling a little ill... or maybe that's because he prefers his marshmellows more charcoal than lolly...

AND we got to watch a rather peculiar animated movie - 'The Tale of Despereaux', which was definitely a warmer option than tramping through mud and long grass in a storm.

Next outing is scheduled for 15th September, and we're hoping to go to 'Bounce' in the city... what could possibly go wrong for that one??!

The Challenge...

OK, so I told the Youth Bible Group that their homework was to have a look at this blog... and that they would see something to their advantage...!  What could it be, what could it be?  ...  Here it is - this is a test of your ability to draw as well as whether you did your homework or not!

If you see this, sketch the pic. you see here, just a stick figure will do, as long as I can tell it's the same one - and show it to me after church on Sunday (you'll need  to be quick, I'm off to Ellinbank at 10.55!), or if (*gasp!* surely not!) you don't crawl out of bed in time for church, send it to me as an mms .... there's a chocolate frog in it!

This pic. tells us something about the big story of the Bible - it's not about a God who sits around hoping we'll like him.  It's about our God who comes looking for us, and does whatever it takes to rescue us.  Cool, eh?!

Term 3 in Full Swing - or Swim?

Today we started a new series - it's called 'Bible Overview', which is really random, because what it really is is an overview of the Bible.  Who knew?

Anyway, the plan is that in 15 sessions, we get a bird's-eye-view of the big story of God and human beings, through all of history, from when it all began up to now.  The coolest thing is that when we've got that big picture clear, it gets much easier to 'get' where different bits of the Bible fit in.
SO... we started by jotting down a whole lot of events from the Bible, 5 or so from each person, and put them in order.  We were pretty good at some parts of the Bible, but there were some shaky bits too!  Like, when exactly did Amos prophecy that Israel was in deep do-do?  Was it before or after Darius the Mede threw Shad. Mech. and Abed. into the fiery furnace??
And did Naomi sort out Ruth's love-life before or after Jonah went deep-sea diving in the first (fully organic) submarine???
The BIG question is, will we be able to answer those questions after we've done this series????
Anyway, if you want to get the jump on the course, click on the pic. at left - there's a website that takes you through it...
Or you can just turn up next week, for part two!