Dedicatorias | Dedications

This week has been very kind to most – with Manchester United winning the Football (it was close though!) and no more work until September…. wait, thats just me! … although it is Half Term so we were in a more relaxed mood than usual – because we have no school, no homework worries and we can look forward to a nice break before finishing up for Summer. – and wait… it doesnt stop there adults. Bank Holiday Monday!

Before the meeting we all let off some steam – playing a bit of SingStar, Pool and Buzz! before we joined the rest of the congregation upstairs… and some welcome visitors were here too Neil, Liz and Family came to worship – and they made an impact ‘Jordan, We have a new drummer’  ’Whos Drumming Jordan?’. 

I always enjoy worshipping together at the start, because it is very light-hearted and everybody takes anything in their stride and everything seems to be possible – we are a family and anybody who has a problem with that can jog on! – We sang some very uplifting and powerful Hymns today, some of which are my favourite… because of their words, and the messages they convey. 

Before we travelled downstairs to explore the world of God, we prayed together, thanking him for the week just gone – and of course the week ahead. Anne led this weeks Junior Soldier class, talking about – Dedicatorias, or in English Dedications we even acted out a mock Dedication Ceremony to show the kids what the Salvation Army does to welcome brand new life into the family of our oh so Awesome God… and we learned some embarrassing facts about Kim in the proccess, it was fun! 

During todays session, we also spent some time exploring the Word of God in our brand new Bibles which make the scriptures seem fresh, and exciting while keeping the meanings there and giving the Children a true taste of The Bible (reminds me a bit of Harry Potter… odd).

After we rejoined the adults in the Worship Hall. (Flags and all) we told them what we had been doing – and Anne got quite a hard slap from Kim – we prayed together, sang together.. and Neil ran drumming lessons (hes quite good you know)… as usual (thanks to Maureen) we had a nice meal after the meeting, it was pretty quiet afterwards cause everyone went off to pay 40:40 (Even Roy and Kelvin!), as everyone enjoyed the company of some of their best mates before venturing off into the world of no school, homework or moaning teachers. 

I apologise as this weeks Blog isnt the usual Quality – but I will get it back soon – im just a bit tired. 

Have a brilliant week – check back next Sunday for another dose from your favourite church youth group!

                                                                                                                         This is the best Church! Period. 

 

Jordan

Sensational Soldierships

Today (Sunday 18th May) really had a double meaning for us at Clifton Community Church because not only is it The Day of The Trinity but we also welcomed three more Junior Soldiers into the fold. – hence, I have called this weeks blog Sensational Soldierships. These three young people were supposed to be enrolled during our Easter Sunday Extravaganza, but unfortunately couldnt make it, so we gave them their own special day instead. 

Todays Worship was led by Victoria & Kelvin and through the mediums of Song, Prayer and Scripture we celebrated The Day of The Trinity, which is a day in which we explore more about how God can be three. The Father, The Son And The Holy Spirit. This is important to Christians because they can draw comfort and love from these three elements of our Oh So Awesome God!, The hall was alive with praise this morning and we worshipped together – more like a family than a congregation, and that is one of the many things that attracts me to Clifton Community Church, and has kept me part of it since I was a young child. 

You can meet with people who you know hold real respect and love for you, and you dont need to hold back any part of yourself, which to me, is one of the most important things about a real friendship – I can draw support and love from any member of the Church at any time – this is what I hope the new Junior Soldiers will soon find out as they journey with us. They are at the foot of the Jesus Wave – just waiting to dive in.

and with the help of members of our Corps, and most importantly God – they will find out things about themselves and Jesus that will change their lives forever. They have become Gods Children. Saved from Sin and bathed in Hope.

Hannah, Jordan & Morgan took this step today, making a heartfelt promise to God at the Mercy Seat and reading that promise aloud, receiving support from both the adults and children which surround them. Roy Prayed for them as Young Peoples Sergeant Major – and as a friend – bringing them to God through a prayer which everybody has prayed at some point in their lives. After the Enrollment Ceremony they sat down to applause, and a sea of hands, raised to show who will be praying for them – I have experienced that myself when I was Enrolled, and it is a sight that fills you with love for even those you may dislike or not even know. 

After all the Junior Soldiers had been given their Badges we went downstairs to our Sunday School Classes, our Junior Soldier group was lead by Kelvin and the returning Dean and together we read some scripture in the brand new Exciting and Colourful Study Bibles and played a game Directions which illustrated how – even through all the noise and bustle of Sin, and our daily lives we must still listen to the Word of God, because he knows the way we should go, and never makes mistakes.

After we had finished exploring the Bible we shared a small, creative Prayer Time – in which we just asked God for help for the week ahead, as we do not know what we will face – some people will have a rotten week, others a really brilliant uplifting week but one thing stays constant and is living in our hearts whatever WHATEVER is thrown at us. 

We finished the meeting off as one group – singing ‘How Good is The Lord’ as our final song before going downstairs to enjoy a good meal – and to do what Kids do best, Have fun together weather its Church & Chips News, A Game of Pool or a Thrashing on Guitar Hero…. also, Our Wii Froze… 

Have a Brilliant Week – See you next Sunday for More C&C Blogness….

Jordan

Locked & Loaded: Prepare For The Pentecostal Revolution!

Sunday, 11th May – Alot has happened to us in the past couple of weeks – We have been Liberated and had our first proper Music Festival but one of the most important things happened just today, all those years ago after Jesus had ascended back to his rightful place in Heaven his apostles followed his commands and started to spread the messages and teachings in which God had given us through Jesus – our medium for God to Human Contact, God in human form as it is said. – this event is called The Day of Pentecost – I could say it was the formation of the Christian Religion but that happened hundreds of years after the Death of Christ.

Today I was one of the first Church & Chipper’s to arrive, due to the fact I thumbed a lift to the hall with Victoria, Kelvin and the Girls, and as people started arriving – the Guitar Hero started going and the clatter of those poor pool balls on the table as the Rives got hold of them and played the first game of the day was like (this is going to seem old and soppy) a warm hug on a cold day! for me because I enjoy sundays very much – as does Dean, who again was missing due to work in one of our neighbouring Channel Islands.

In Church we celebrated this together by really getting to grips with The Trinity – and the concept of God being three things – The Father,  The Son & The Holy Spirit as a group and in our Sunday School Classes. We started the meeting by having what I would call a ‘Creativley Open Discussion’ about what we thought the Spirit really was, and some of the words and phrases such as Carer and Helper really put this concept into context for me… as a young person who is not even at the crest of his journey with Jesus.

Before Victoria got into all the sermony bits of todays meetings which dont really translate into child-friendly teachings we sang a few hymns which just illistrated what we would be exploring together and of course, shared a prayer time to prepare for whats ahead and to thank for the week which has passed.

In Our Sunday School Class – Junior Soldiers – we explored the Trinity in our usual attractive and creative way, and read the Grace, which was a first for some of our JS’, Todays class was lead, as always by Anne LM and Kelvin, with the welcome addition of Sara who is over on a flying visit to the Corps – today’s little fun activity come Scientific Experiment (that sounds like what my Mum calls me!) was to see who could keep a single ice cube and ice cube for the longest (we used the three stages of Water to illistrate the point of the Trinity to those who had trouble understanding the full version) – after this we met some transformers… odd that I cant remember what we used them for, but still and finally drew out circular family tree thingies to show that we are more than one person:

Jordan Dodsworth

Is a Son

Is a Nephew

Is a Brother

Is a Friend

Is an outstanding Blog Writer – (sorry just had to put that in!)

After we did this Anne ventured into an area in which she has never tried during Sunday School before – and I have to admit she managed to carry it off rather well, A quiet Prayer Time in which we sat in a circle on the floor (Rather like Circle Time, Man! I havent had to cross my legs like that since Primary School!) and wrote personal prayers to share with the group – Even Emma (Who is very shy) plucked up the courage to speak during that time of intimate communication with God, you could really feel God near (another Cup a Soup Hug type moment for me).

After all this we went back upstairs and joined together to sing a final hymn, and a prayer time which included Grace – led by the Junior Soldier Group, then – as suspected we had an ill-fated (for me) discussion about the Sunflower growing Compettion, which I am losing! – I have never found something im better than Victoria at!, she even checks my grammar in our text conversations, no doubt she does it here as well!

We left the meeting behind as we went downstairs to finish the morning off with a well recieved meal – this included the family favourite Fish Fingers – (I could have done with two slices of bread!) and chips, or in somebodys case Chicken Nuggets!, but the meetings messages were never forgotten (so I tell myself every week)!

783 Words: Its offcial – I have no life!

Jordan

God Is……. [Insert Really Good Adjective Here]

Today (Sunday, 4th May) is the day of the Ascension, and Jesus returned to the Heavens to take up his place on the throne – on the right hand of the Lord. We came together to worship and celebrate this momentous occasion in which Jesus completed his task to show us the error of our ways and bring the world back to God.

During the time in which we were together celebrating Jesus’ amazing descent back to the kingdom in which he is ruling as a king – we prayed, sang and played a weird game of Runaround with loads of pointless questions that could only have come from the brain of Victoria. 

The Children then came downstairs into their sunday school groups to continue work on either Bubbles or Mobilize – the Junior Soldier’s worked on how you can show respect to God through Prayer and Worship – Together, in groups of two we paired some statements from The Bible to descriptions of God, and I have to admit – I got most of them wrong, (Thats Monkey Brains for you, Eh Victoria!)  We also let our artistic sides loose by creating Posters showing some really BIG words with real IMPACT to describe God.

I would like to mention Johnathon Barnes – who is the only Junior Soldier who has completed every Bible Reading Challenge Anne has set, which in total amounts to about 5, I know he enjoyed the box of Snaps Anne gave him – thanks for Sharing mate! 

I titled this weeks blog ‘God Is….. [Insert Really Good Adjective Here] and would like you to leave your responses on the Comments. page.

After we were called back upstairs to rejoin the meeting, we cast our minds back to the Sunflower Challenge – not many peoples Sunflowers have actually come up (that sadly includes mine!) – we then closed the meeting in Prayer and Kelvin read out this weeks Benediction. 

Of course I dont remember much after that as we all stampeded down into what I am beginning to call the Zoo Area for feeding time, courtesy of Dean & Maureen – today we dined on Chicken Fingers and Chips. and even through the cackles of laughter, punchlines of bad jokes and the reppetive lyrics of ‘Shout At The Devil’ you could tell that the messages were still in the hearts and minds of those around.

I hope you have a good week and enjoy celebrating the Liberation of Guernsey in a sensible way on Friday and check back next week for another dose of Church & Chips 

Jordan