Messy Church, 18th May - Pentecost

'When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.'  Acts 2:1-4

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, appearing to the disciples as a rushing wind and tongues of fire, transformed the disciples into bold preachers and healers and enabled them to begin Christ's Church. Without the Holy Spirit within them, they wouldn't have had this transformation. From this, we know that without the Holy Spirit filling us, we can't do God's work very well. We need to be constantly re-filled with God's blessing and with the Holy Spirit.

We spoke about things that are invisible but are essential in our lives. Our senses – smell, noise, breath but also air, love, electricity and power – and of course, the Holy Spirit.

We decorated candle holders and everyone got a candle to celebrate the Church’s Birthday at Pentecost. We wrote invisible messages that became clear when painted over. We had a sensory zone with wire buzzer games, sea shells to listen to the sea in, smelly stuff to test out our noses and crinkly and popping stuff to have fun with. We also made a real mess with the blow painting!

We then flew paper aeroplanes up to God. We danced in bubbles. We ran around with red and yellow streamers (symbolising fire) and made wind tunnels with fans. We let off untied balloons all at the same time (air and noise!) and then tied them and batted them about. All this sensory fun was brought together in the story of Pentecost sitting around our artwork and candles.