Oranges are the only fruit

After the less than perfect sermon last week I was pretty pleased with myself yesterday after a good talk to the young people at our youth club. As you know, I'd been wracking my brains about what to do to talk about community but I came up with something pretty special.

Firstly I talked about our community at our youth group and how we would be having a chance to discuss that further with some of the young people talking about their experiences of being in community. I said that the community was about the coming together of individuals and becoming something more. It was about sharing and growing from what we are as individuals to a community together.

Then I asked:

"Who'd like an Orange?" quite a few hands shot up and I gave away around 8 oranges.

Then I asked:

"Apart from those who already have oranges... Who'd like some cake?" Lots of hands shoot up ths time and a few of those with oranges make slight objections along the lines of "I din't know there'd be cake!" Of course there were some who preferred the orange anyway (and some who loudly proclaimed that they did but were probably kicking themselves realy, bless em!)

I looked around the circle of people with cake and grinning faces and some people with oranges with grinning faces and a couple of decidedly grumpy faces of people with oranges.

Then I asked
"Apart from those of you who already have oranges and cake..." slight groan from some of the cake people, slight grins from those who had oranges with a note of "aaaah so u haven't go the best deal after all, hah!"

"Apart from thos people, who'd like some chocolate?" MUCH grinning on the part of those sensile enough to hold out! LOTS of objection from people with oranges and some form people with cake.

So I let them eat what they had and I said:

"The thing is that oranges and cake and chocolate are all great things. Each one of you is like cake or orange or chocolate. You're all great. Yet as great as oranges, cake and chocolate are on their own, when they come together they can be something SO much better..."

A certain hush descends...

I bring out a plain cardboard box and say:
"Just as when each of us come together to form our youth group so when you put together oranges, cake and chocolate you can get: JAFFA CAKES"

OooooOOOooooaaaAAhh

"And because Jaffa cakea are what you get when you put together oranges, cake and chocolate... everybody gets one!"

"Yay!"

A slight tip of the hat to Wayne Grewcock who suggested the Jaffa cake as a symbol of the Holy Trinity at his session at Greenbelt.