Now THIS is what I call an organized desk. Get the whole set from @grovemade. #thingsorganizedneatly flickr photo by designmilk shared under a Creative Commons (BY-SA) license. This image has been cropped from the original.

If you had to rate how well organised you are on a scale of 1 to 10, how organised do you think you are? Have a discussion with the person sat next to you about the following things:

 

How organised are you?

How would you describe an organised person – what would they do?

Why is it important to be organised? What happens if you are disorganised?

Watch this film clip – it goes through 6 habits to help you be more organised.

 

 

Now have a think about these questions on your own:

 

1. Why do you need to be organised?
2. Being honest with yourself – how organised are you now?
3. Which ideas from the film clip are you going to use?
4. Now turn to the person next to you and tell them what you are going to do.

 

Find a spare page in your planner then copy and complete this sentence…

 

‘This year I am going to improve my organisation skills. I will do this by ……’

 

Now turn to 11th Feb and write, ‘Review my organisation skills’ – this will remind you to think about whether you have stuck to your plan of being more organised.

In the gospel of Luke there is a verse that says:

 

If you want to build a tower, you first sit down and decide how much it will cost, to see if you have enough money to finish the job. If you don’t, you might lay the foundation, but you would not be able to finish. Then all who would see it would make fun of you, saying, ‘This person began to build but was not able to finish.’

Being organised is the key to success. Success doesn't come from what you do occasionally it comes from what you do consistently.

 

Prayer:

Dear Lord, my life can sometimes feel very hectic and messy. I always seem to run out of time. Please help me bring order to my mind and to my life. Help me to prioritise and focus on what is essential. Show me when to ask for help and when to say no. Give me the strength to resist distractions and stay focussed. I know that I am precious to you and that you care about all the details of my life. Help me to live my life remembering this truth every day.

Amen
 

 

 

Wizzard sang ‘I wish it could be Christmas every day.’

I’m glad it isn’t.

But there are some things about the festive season that I would like us to keep all round, like this:

 

 

There are certain songs I’m happy to leave in December, but I will keep playing this banger all year:

As we head into 2019 what are your hopes and fears? Whatever they are, remember God is with us.
I’m going to be taking this Christmas poem into the rest of the year !

Come, Immanuel, God with us to be.
Come down from paradise and occupy
this dirty stable of humanity.
Come and live rough, as we do: come and die.
Come and be lonely as an orphaned child.
Come to where grief is harvested and stored.
Come to where empty agèd minds run wild.
Come to the hospice and the cancer ward.
Come, flee from tyrants as a refugee.
Come, be betrayed by those you counted friends.
Come and be tortured with no amnesty.
Come as the means to justify all ends.
Come and be broken like a Christmas toy.
Come, be completely human—then we’ll know
your sorrow may bring hope of lasting joy
and God above is God with us below.
Amen

Have a great start to 2019!

 

 

 

 

What happens in your house on Christmas day?

What happens in your church at Christmas time?
How do you celebrate Christmas?
What do you look forward to at Christmas?

Watch this clip:

Christmas is a great time to think about God and how he understands our crazy, messy life….Jesus’ birth was quite crazy and messy too!

When we think about the Christmas story we often think about Mary. But today I want us to think about Joseph. Watch this film clip to get you thinking about what it was like for Joseph…

Our ALIVE value this week is, I Value Faith. Joseph had to have a lot of faith to marry Mary when she was pregnant. He had to believe that everything was going to be OK and trust God. We don’t really think about Joseph much at Christmas because he didn’t really say much (or not much of what he said is recorded in the Bible). But he did a lot! He looked after Mary as they travelled to Bethlehem and probably did a lot of the organising behind the scenes. He did all of this because he had the faith to believe that Mary was doing what God wanted.

 

Joseph’s actions showed that he had faith…even if he didn’t say anything….

 

Reflection:

What do your actions say about you?
Will the way that you behave this Christmas help others to see that you are celebrating the birth of Jesus?

 

Prayer:
Dear Lord, Thank you for being born in a crazy, messy way. I realise that sometimes my actions have not shown others that I value my faith in you and I am sorry. Please help me to live my life in a way that shows others what I believe to be true. Help us this Christmas to remember that we are celebrating your birth. Let us show this through our actions. Amen

 

 

 

I must confess I get bored at Christmas.

The same songs, food and decorations.

So it's important for me to keep finding creative ways to engage in the most wonderful time of the year.

Watch this spoken word about Christmas and ask yourself what stands out to you?

 

At Christmas we remember God's creative plan for the mess of planet earth, in John 1:14:

 

The word became flesh and pitched his tent amongst us.

 

God got involved. Who could you get alongside this Christmas?

I love finding reimagined carols. Have a listen to this and discuss what you would like to reimagine or remix this year.

 

Dear God.

May we hear the Christmas story in a fresh way this year.

May find you in the mess of life and may we become a message of hope to others, using all our creative gifts.

In Jesus name,

Amen

 

 

 

Here are two pictures of the same item – a small sieve – sometimes used to strain tea. However, it could have other uses. In pairs, list as many unusual and wacky uses for a tea strainer…what else could you do with it? Try and come up with the longest list in your tutor group.

What is creativity? Is it wearing funny hats? Is it being strange or unusual? No.

Creativity is simply our ability to make something new, something that didn’t exist before. The ability to do things in a new way. Creativity happens any time we stop doing things the way they have always been done and think of how to do them differently.

This week sees the start of Advent. The season that helps us prepare for Christmas. How could you be creative this Christmas? Have you started preparing for Christmas yet? Here are some ideas about how you could prepare for Christmas more creatively:

• Donate some presents to a charity – there are lots of charities that will take toy donations for children who will not get any presents this Christmas. Here is a link to the Salvation Army website where you can donate presents: https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/christmas-present-appeal
• Instead of buying presents for your family, pledge to be helpful and do something for them next year. For example, promise to load the dishwasher every day.
• Invite a friend to celebrate Christmas with you – especially if you know that they are not going to have a great day.
• Make your Christmas cards instead of buying them
• Choose a Bible Verse or quote that would suit the person you are buying a present for, then write it on their gift tag
• Make (or buy) some mince pies and give one to every person on your street wishing them a Happy Christmas
• Go carol singing

This film clip is a creative way of telling the Christmas story using sand. It is by a famous sand artist called Joe Castillo. If you like it, there are many more available to watch online.

 

As you watch it, think about how you can be creative this Christmas. You could think about one of the ideas mentioned above – or come up with your own.

Prayer
Creator God, we praise you for giving us the ability to be creative, just like you
We thank you for all the creative ideas that you give us
Please help us to use our creativity to help others and ourselves
Help us to look for ways to be creative and appreciate the creativity of those around us.
In this season of Advent, help us to prepare and plan creatively with our family and friends.
In Jesus Name
Amen