A good number of ladies - and some gents - came to the craft evening on November 29th. A wide variety of crafts were available for people to make Christmas presents and decorations. The desserts and cakes were a joy to behold - and eat - aswell. Lindsay gave a short talk based on the humble Christmas Cracker and how it can remind us of why Jesus Christ came in to the world - to be its Saviour.
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Events you may have missed...
Bake through the Bible - Feb 24th "I am the Good Shepherd"
We looked at Jesus saying “I am the Good Shepherd”, the second in our “I am…” series. The children made carrot cakes and decorated them to look like sheep. When the children arrived they had a lot to do, three different activities to complete: grating carrots for their mixture, creating sheep heads out of chocolate fudge and making cream cheese icing for the top of their cakes. The sheep heads looked really good! Matt then read to us from the Bible, from John 10. This is the chapter in the Bible where Jesus says that he is the “Good Shepherd”. We heard about the ‘hired hand’ who comes only to steal, whereas Jesus came to give life to us and lay down his own life. His sheep will have eternal life.
Then it was onto the main baking activity, making the cakes themselves! The children had to listen carefully to make sure the right amount of the right ingredient went in in the right order, as there were quite a few! Some of the children even added sultanas to their cakes. Then, after scooping some mixture into a muffin case for the children to have one each to decorate, the rest of the mixture was put into three big tins for cakes to everyone to eat at tea time! The cakes went into the oven whilst Matt explained more about what it meant for Jesus to be the Good Shepherd. In the passage Matt had read to us, there were three characters. One was the sheep, which is us, as the Bible says that all people have gone astray (Isaiah 53 v 6). We are lost just like sheep can get lost, which is a picture of what happens when people sin, they wander away from God. Then there was the ‘hired hand’, who was a bad shepherd. He doesn’t help the sheep and lead them back to safety; he tells them that they just need to try harder to be right with God or that our relationship with God doesn’t matter. Finally there is the “Good Shepherd”, Jesus. He knows his sheep and takes responsibility for them. He lays down his life for his sheep on the cross, and gives them eternal life. No one can snatch them out of his hand. What we need to ask ourselves is what kind of sheep are we? Are we sheep that go astray and wander away from God, or sheep that follow him?
After Matt’s talk, we had tea, with some carrot cake. It was also one of the children’s birthday so we sang “Happy Birthday” as well as giving him an iced muffin with a candle to blow out! Lastly it was time to decorate children’s muffins to make them look like sheep. As you can see, the end results were pretty amazing!
Our next “Bake Through The Bible” is on the 24th of March at 4pm, and all ages are welcome. We also have our holiday Bible Club coming up on the 10th to 12th of April, for primary school aged children.
Bake through the Bible - Jan 27th "I am the bread of life"
On the 27th of January we held our first “Bake Through the Bible” session of the year. Having done three of Jesus’ parables last year, we have now started a series looking at the “I am …” sayings of Jesus found in the Gospel of John. This time we looked at “I am the Bread of Life” found in John 6. Unsurprisingly, the main bake this week was bread! The children came in and weighed out their dry ingredients before sitting down to listen to Matt read from the Bible about what Jesus said when he made the claim about being the bread of life. Following this the children, with help from the adults, made their bread. Some of the children especially enjoyed punching and thumping the bread in an effort to knead it! Then all the dough was moved into the kitchen to be proved, whilst Matt taught the children about what Jesus meant with his claim. When Jesus said he was “the Bread of Life”, he was talking about the fact that he offered eternal life to those who come to him and believe on him. We can want things in this life, but they will never satisfy compared with the eternal life that Jesus offers.
As the bread needed to prove for an hour, the children then decorated some bread shaped biscuits, decorating them with Jesus’ I am saying. Then it was time for tea, including bread that Clare had made earlier, which was very tasty. Finally the children got to separate their dough into 3 rolls before they took it home to prove for another half hour and then put in the oven. This may be the first of our Bake Through the Bible sessions where we have used neither the oven or the microwave! The children and parents enjoyed the event. Our next session will be held on the 24th of February at 4pm, where we shall be looking at our next “I am..” saying: “I am the Good Shepherd”. Everyone is welcome.
Christmas Craft Evening - Nov 29th
Remembrance Evening - 8th Nov
On Thursday 8 November, we had an ‘Evening of Remembrance’, held in conjunction with the Dilton Marsh Historical Society. The focus was to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One. The evening featured WWI war film footage, songs, readings of poetry and war diaries. Colonel John Lewis (Serving officer and Chairman of SASRA Council) spoke on the how the message of the Bible has been of help to the military over the years. He brought some rare seventeenth century soldiers’ Bibles with him from the days of Cromwell’s New Model Army. Bibles were issued to soldiers in World War One. SASRA ensures that military personnel continue to receive a copy of the Word of God. The gospel message of Jesus laying down his life for sinners is one that resonates with people who may be called upon to sacrifice their lives for comrades and country. Refreshments were served afterwards, giving people who attended an opportunity to chat and have a look at the World War One memorabilia and displays.
The picture is of the war memorial outside the chapel where the names are recorded of those who lost their lives in World War One.