Christmas Party

Christmas is only five weeks away, and the next Net (which takes place on December 17th at 4pm) we will be getting into the Christmas spirit with a very special Christmas Party. This will be a longer Net than usual, starting at 4pm and finishing at 6pm. We'd love to see as many people there as possible, whether you have been to The Net before or not.

Also on December 17th is our extremely popular Carols by Candlelight service which takes place in St Martin's at 6.30pm - why not come to The Net and stay on for this beautiful carol service, as we celelbrate the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ.

What friends are for

There is a Jewish saying which goes, 'Who finds a faithful friend, finds a treasure.' Friends are important, without them life is not the same. This month we consider 'What friends are for' at The Net, we began the Net by playing some parachute games, before watching a clip from the film 'Shrek' where Donkey and Shrek meet for the first time, and begin their friendship. Following on from this there were different activities based around the theme of friendship, and we finished the session by thinking about what sort of friends we are, and above all remembering that Jesus is our friend too.

It's good to talk

Martin showing different places in the world that we were praying for at The Net

In October out theme was 'It's good to talk'. There were different activities based around this theme, creating prayer bracelets, making telephones out of string and paper cups, and of course the YMCA song! You may be wondering what the YMCA song has to do this theme, but the idea was that people would dance to the song using semaphore to spell out the letters YMCA (the St Martin's dance troupe are also available for weddings, babarmitzvahs, parties etc.)

David

After a break for summer, The Net started again in September. Clues were placed around the church and hall and people were asked to identify a certain mystery person. Eventually this mystery person was revealed as King David, we then thought about the way in which God chose David to be King of Israel (because he seemed an unlikely choice), and how we shouldn't judge people on outward appearances, but look for what is on the inside.

‘People judge others by what they look like, but I judge people by what is in their hearts’ (1 Samuel 16.7).

Recreation

'All work no play, makes Jack a dull boy', so goes the saying. In the book of Genesis we are told that after six days of work, God rested. Recreation, taking time for ourselves away from work, having fun is important for our physical, emotional and spiritual well being. At the July Net, we focused on this theme of recreation, with lots of activities designed to encourage to think about what this means for us as Christians, and how to maintain a healthy balance in life.

It is not a Mars bar that helps us 'Work, rest and play' but God!

The Net finished with a BBQ on the lawn outside St Martin's, as we enjoyed the fantastic summer weather.

Creation

In June we focused on the theme of creation, in particular God the creator. Genesis 1 and 2 tells us that God created all things, including you and me! We thought of issues related to the theme of creation, in particular our responsibility to care for the environment, and to understand what it means for us to be created and loved by God.

As you will see from below, one of the activities included face painting!

New Beginnings

The first Net took place on Sunday May 21st 2006. The theme of this Net was New Beginnings which seemed particularly appropriate as The Net was a new beginning for St Martin's, as nothing like this had been tried before.

As you will see from the photos the emphasis is on having fun, because we believe that learning about God should be fun, and relevant.

During the hour that The Net meets, there are lots of different activities to get involved with - these vary from month to month depending on the theme. Over the last few months we have done dance, face painting, cooking, art work, quizzes, etc.