How to Fight Giants

1 Samuel 17, Psalm 18:2 "The Lord is my rock!"

"You come against me with sword and spear, but I come against you in the name of the Lord!" (1 Samuel 17:45) Jesse sent his 3 oldest boys off to war but it was his youngest, David, who conquered the giant. How did he do it? Yes, yes...with a slingshot and a well-placed rock. But more than that, David conquered the giant because he knew without a shadow of doubt that God was with him. While the rest of Israel's army quaked, David boldly said - "I'll go. Send me. Because God goes with me."

David gives us all something to think about. As adults, how willing are we to step up and say, "I'll go. Send me." I wonder if we've forgotten the child-like trust, faith, and confidence the child David had? Maybe this is what Jesus means when he challenges us to have faith like a child?!

But we started our Messy Church off with the story of David and Goliath not just to remind the adults - but also to show our kids that they can fight any giant that comes their way. At the start of the new school year, this seemed like a good starting place for Messy Church. Because our kids face giants. Every day. And we cannot fight their giants for them...they have to learn to do it themselves. But we can teach them that God goes with them! That God can take their faith and move mountains.

So this is it. Our first Messy Church is in the books. The Fellowship Hall is (almost) back to normal. Here are some highlights of Messy Church:

Making slingshots

 Our fearless Goliath!

 Some Goliath feet

 What would it be like to be as tall as Goliath? How big is God?

Story time!

 And for a little fun, nail Goliath with a wet cotton ball!

Thank you to all our volunteers who made Messy Church happen! We did not send home any kind of "Take Home" sheet - we figured between the stones, the shield, the slingshot, the feet - well, a take home sheet would get lost! But check back here for some more reflections and activities you can do at home with your kids.

And remember - the next Messy Church @ Aldersgate is October 27. Come see what happens on "A Dark and Stormy Night!"

It's Almost Here!

This is it! Aldersgate's first Messy Church is only a few short days away! Supplies are organized. T-shirts distributed. Props gathered. We are ready to take over the Fellowship Hall on Saturday morning. Sunday morning is going to be great!

I've had some calls this week from people asking about what Sunday will look like exactly. In a nutshell, it's going to be messy. Ha! But that's not what they meant I don't think...

So here's the schedule for Sunday - and this will be our schedule for any Sunday morning Messy Church event:
9:30 - registration begins (We'll have registration tables at both entrances to the Fellowship Hall. Please make sure you register your kids - even if we already have all that info, it's good to double check! And we also ask about allergies - that helps us plan future activities)
9:45 - the FUN BEGINS! When you go in the Fellowship Hall, you'll see activities all around the room ready for you to explore. Kids pick! There is no order to the activities and there is no plan. You don't need one. Kids can do one or they can do all. They can do one activity twice. It's up to them. All of the activities - even the snack - relate to the story of the day. This is the time for parents and kids to really enjoy playing together.
10:25 - Around 10:20, you'll notice a countdown start on the screen letting us know that we have 5 more minutes before story time. Start helping your kids wrap up what they are working on. When the countdown stops, it's time for the story! Activities stop and kids and adults can take a seat on the floor (yes, we'll have some chairs available!) The story will help pull all the activities together.
10:45 - Prayer and dismissal. Now it's time to head to worship! And yes, the scripture lesson in worship is going to sound pretty familiar!!

We're hoping for a pretty relaxed atmosphere but there are a few rules. As we were working on these rules, funny enough - there are more rules for the adults than for the kids!

For the kids:

• Be respectful: Don't use all the supplies, take turns, honor the adults that are helping. 
• Be creative! 
• Have fun!

For the adults:

• TURN YOUR CELLPHONES OFF!!!!
• Kids get to set the pace.
• Help when you are asked - but don't do for your kids what they can do by themselves.
• Play with your kids! Engage! Be present! Don't take this time for granted...
• Unless you are an official Messy Church volunteer, adults must have a child with them to participate. 

We look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday!

The Mess Before the Storm

Apparently it takes quite a bit of organization and planning to create a space for messes to happen! Who knew? (Well...actually, anyone who's ever worked a Vacation Bible School knows about the mess before the storm!)
My office is resembling a VBS-type disaster area. Too many people are walking by, stopping, staring, and then looking at me like I've lost my mind. Of course, it's been a great way to tell people about Messy Church since I feel obligated to explain the mess!

We're about ready to start our one-week countdown to our first Messy Church at Aldersgate. Our volunteers are working hard preparing activities and games. We've got our t-shirts in the works. And I've even started working on the NEXT Messy Church (Oct 27) before we've survived the first one!
Creating a space for kids and adults to make a mess, create, and explore definitely takes a bit of discipline, planning, and quite a bit of hard work. Seems like a contradiction, and yet, pretty much anything that demands creativity also demands a balance of discipline. Writers have to sit down and write. Painters need to set aside time to paint. Musicians have to practice. And Messy Church needs some preparation!
Discipleship is like that, too. God inspires us to create, build, live, love - but it takes discipline to follow Christ. Like everything in life, we have to find that balance.
I hope everyone is getting excited about Messy Church next Sunday. And I hope everyone is inviting friends, neighbors, family - whoever! Word of mouth is the best communication method we have. And if the mess before the storm is any indication, it's going to be a great Sunday!

All Together Now

We are at a very odd time in our church history. In any given congregation on any given Sunday, we have 6 generations worshiping together. Think about it. Six generations saying the Lord's Prayer or Apostles' Creed together in one voice. What an amazing witness!

We have the GI Generation (those 85 and older) who grew up facing the Great Depression and World War 2. The Pioneer Generation (67-85) faced the Korean Conflict, the start of the Civil Rights movement, and the beginnings of Rock'n'Roll. Then comes our Baby Boomers (49-66) who were influenced by the time between Kennedy's assassination and Nixon's resignation - a time of counter-culture and the Vietnam War. Postmoderns or Gen Xers are next (31-48). We remember watching the Challenger disaster on TVs in school, the fall of the Berlin Wall, grunge music, and the Internet revolution. Millennials (13-30) were shaped by the Disney movies of the 90s, 9/11 and the Great Recession and the rise of social networking. And then our Digital generation - those under 12 now. Their generation will be defined and shaped in the next few years but we do know that they now spend on average 56 hours a week with media and are the most diverse generation in our country's history (almost 50% non-white). These ages aren't hard and fast rules, but are pretty good markers for looking at the make up of our country and our church. 

At Aldersgate, we are blessed in that those generations are encouraged to worship together. Though we have Children in Worship for some of our kids for certain parts of the school year, on the whole, our children, teenagers, middle adults, and older adults worship together.

But outside of worship, it's a little different. We have a tendency to split up into age groups for almost everything else. To be fair, that's not always a bad thing. We know that while some generations compliment each other well, other generations mix like oil and water. But while it's not always a bad thing, it IS a bad thing when it's always the case. Yes, it's messy to mix all 6 generations up in the same room! But well, we've already established that messy isn't necessarily a bad thing!

Messy Church is one place outside of worship were all generations are encouraged to be together, to explore faith together. Grandparents, parents with young kids, parents with teenagers, youth, and children all playing in the same room, at the same time, for the same purpose.

It's going to be messy - but boy is it going to be fun!