All Change Please!

ALL CHANGE PLEASE!

CONNECT - for mid-week/Home League groups

Fellowship Session - Special Days

Reflect on moving and change - including Farewell/Welcome Sundays.

Summary

Play the Generation Game conveyor belt challenge
Craft/decorate an anchor shape
Take courage in the knowledge that our lives are held steady by our anchor God

Prepare to play the video Generation Game conveyer belt challenge by Christopher Frost
Print an anchor shape on to blue card for each member, using the template from patternuniverse.com
Provide scissors and craft materials: shells, buttons, glue sticks and/or pens
Find an object for members to hold while speaking – ideally anchor shaped

Moving and change can mean different things for each of us.

Some of us might have recently stopped our paid employment or may be considering a change of direction in what we do with our days. Some of us may have grandchildren or significant children who are connected to us who may be moving schools soon – perhaps they are starting a new nursery or primary school, secondary school or even college. Some of us may be considering down-sizing and moving home, maybe even moving to a different part of the country.

In The Salvation Army in the UK and Ireland, July is a month filled with change. It is a time for many officers – often with their families – to leave their appointments and to relocate to somewhere new. This can mean a new role and/or a new city or even to a new country. Many churches and corps start July with a special goodbye meeting – Farewell Sunday – and end the month with a Welcome Sunday for the incoming officers. This ‘all change, please’ practice aims to keep The Salvation Army energised and open to new ideas, to meet the needs of local communities and transform lives.

However, change can feel very unsettling and even frightening, no matter the reason for it. So this session is intended to reassure us that God is our anchor in the times when everything around us seems to be moving about. In fact, not only do we have God with us in those times, but we also have each other to depend on.

GAME

The Generation Game was a British TV quiz show. At the end of the show there is a memory game: a conveyor belt of prizes is paraded before the winning pair – they just have to remember the items to win them!

Play a memory game with the video Generation Game conveyer belt challenge by Christopher Frost. This could be done in teams, but it may be more fun to try to remember them all together. How many items from the conveyor belt can your group remember?

Thought

Did anyone remember the cuddly toy? Every time this game was played, amongst all the moving items there was always a cuddly toy! When we feel as though everything around us is moving, there is always an anchor – and that anchor is Jesus. Sometimes that means we will feel him near us when we are on our own, but sometimes it means we will know he is with us when we are in fellowship with each other.

CRAFT

Download and print out copies of the anchor template on to blue card, then decorate the whole shape with buttons or shells. You may also wish to cut out the anchors.

Alternatively, ask members to write on the bottom part of the anchor shape ‘God is my anchor’. The top of the anchor is a cross shape, so ask members to highlight this by confining the decorating to only that part.

Thought

Draw attention to the cross within the overall shape and reiterate that God is our anchor.

Invite the group to share a story of a time when they have felt the support of either members of this fellowship or other close friends. If it’s helpful, provide the group with an object, such as an anchor shape; when they hold it they have the authority to speak.

Remind the group that we are more than just ‘a club’; we are a fellowship of people who will support each other when our lives seem to be moving around as if we are in the middle of a stormy sea.

SERVE

Ask the group to consider someone they know who is experiencing change. Perhaps the change is welcome, or perhaps it is unknown and unfamiliar. Either way, challenge members to get in contact and ask how things are going; to be supportive – especially by listening.

Is there someone in your group who is moving through change at the moment and may be finding it difficult? If you have refreshments as part of your session, why not simply offer to get their cup of tea for them. Perhaps you might also be able to phone them in a couple of days, too, to make sure they are doing OK.PLAN

Is your church/corps undergoing a change of leadership? Encourage your group to plan a way to be involved in your Farewell Sunday / Welcome Sunday events. Perhaps someone could perform a song or poem, or your group could make a card or provide refreshments. What can you do to make this period of change easier for others?

‘These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. These things encourage us who came to God for safety. They give us strength to hold on to the hope we have been given. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and strong. It enters behind the curtain in the Most Holy Place in heaven.’

Hebrews 6:18-19 (NCV)

Moving through change – be it by choice, or because of family circumstances, or because of ill health, or something else completely out of our control – can be very unsettling and in some cases quite frightening. Everything we used to know about how life works has changed.

For example, Tuesday afternoons are no longer your time with your grandchild because now they go to gymnastics after school. Planning a visit to see a friend is more difficult because even though they used to live in the next street, now they have moved further away. The small, friendly shop you used to go to for your grocery shopping has closed or moved to a new, bigger location and it’s harder to find what you need. A close family member’s relationship has broken down and you feel caught in the middle of it.

Life is full of lots of moving parts, which is partly what makes life so wonderful but also is what can make it tough.

Our Bible reading reminds us that when we feel as though we are being tossed about in the sea of life, we should remember that God is our anchor, faithfully and steadfastly holding us in his love. The hope we have is not a wish – that implies something flimsy which would blow away with the slightest wind. Instead, our hope in God is certain and confident. He loves us, he is with us, he goes before us, he knows us, and he never changes. ‘We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and strong’.

Today we encourage you to take hold of the anchor that is immovable. It will weather the worst storm because God is sure and strong. Take courage in the knowledge that when our lives are held steady by our anchor God, we will find peace – even in the middle of a storm! Let this promise sink into your heart:

'You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!’

Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)

PRAYER

Loving God who never changes,

When my world feels like it’s moving out of my control,

Help me to know you as the anchor of my life.

When I need the support of my friends and family,

Help me to hear you as the anchor of my life.

When things are happening to me that I don’t understand,

Help me to see you as the anchor of my life.

When I just don’t know which way to go,

Help me to feel you as the anchor of my life.

Loving God who never changes,

Fill me with your peace.

Amen.

REFLECTION

If your group is able, invite the members to stand in a circle and sing the song ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace’. Acknowledge that your group sings together as a fellowship who support each other and help each other to find in God the anchor of our lives.