Baselayers

Click to download as a PDF

Baselayers

What is a ‘baselayer’ ?! Here’s me wearing one (sorry for the pic!)

bloke with a baselayer on

A baselayer is like a t-shirt that is worn next to the skin. These are meant mainly for people doing sports and outdoor activities. Here is the thinking… When you do high intensity activities you sweat. If you wear certain types of t-shirts like cotton ones, when you sweat they get sweaty and then wet. They then stay that way! This can be sticky and horrible but can be serious in cold weather when a wet body loses heat many times faster than a dry one. 

A baselayer ‘moves’ moisture from the body through the baselayer and to the outside of the baselayer where it evaporates. This process is called ‘wicking’ and also means that the top dries much faster than say a cotton t-shirt. A wet cotton t-shirt may take over an hour to dry (in the sun) whereas a baselayer will take a few minutes at most.

Football players and rugby players all have clothes that are ‘wicking’. You’ll often see them wearing a top underneath their main top too. If you’ve ever done some sport or done some hiking, you’ll be amazed at the difference a baselayer and ‘breathable’ clothing makes and how much more comfortable you feel 🙂

Download

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 Powerpoint to download for the session

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 PDF to download to use in the session

A baselayer video

How exciting… (Hmmm…) No product recommendation here from us. This just shows a baselayer and talks about some of the features of a baselayer! You need to watch this carefully for the next part of the session!

Direct Link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sgf_e8_zHY

Baselayer Designs

In the PDF download, you’ll find this picture (above). Your first task is to design a baselayer for this woman and this guy. If you have some artistic skills, you can draw on a baselayer (there are a couple of examples provided in the PDF to let you practice!)

You also need to write down some of the things that you want to include in the baselayer. (also on the PDF provided). You get extra points if you can remember why you need them!

The final thing you need to do is to design a web page as if you were thinking of selling your baselayer (there are boxes on the PDF download to help you think this through).

Baselayer ‘Ministries’ Website

As a bit of fun, we recently put together a ‘Baselayer Ministries’ website…

This is a complete spoof but shows you an example of a website! (Thanks to Jamie & Sophie!)

Click to visit the spoof ‘website’ (!!)

The Bible – Romans 12.1-8

Romans 12.1-8 – Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

The Baselayer Breakdown

Nope this isn’t some kind of breakdance beat, it’s where we take a quick look at baselayers and what we can ‘learn’ from them – well, using some of the principles used to make baselayers!!

1. Types of baselayers – polyester, smartwool, polypropylene, merino wool, bamboo…

There are all kinds of baselayers used. God made you very unique. You are a one-off. There has never been anyone like you and there never will be. Don’t try to compare yourself with anyone. In the Bible verses above it says that in the church we don’t all have the same function, just as our bodies are made up of different parts but still belong to one body. Every part of your body is unique but you need every part in order to work properly! This doesn’t mean we can’t live if our physical bodies aren’t complete, it’s just an example to show how every part is unique. You may be an ‘eye’ or an ‘arm’ or maybe you’re a ‘toe’. Whatever you are, you are very important! All around the world and through time, God’s people have been made up of people of all colours, races, backgrounds, ages, heights, different levels of understanding about God. Just be all of who God made you to be!

2. ‘Breathable’ baselayers

2 Corinthians 2.15 says this, “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”

Imagine that you have a tasty cake. You can tell people you have a tasty cake, you can take pictures of the cake, you can upload a video to youtube of your cake. You can even eat the cake but unless you let other people eat the cake, they will never know what the cake really tastes like! The same is true for a baselayer – you won’t know what it’s like or if it works unless you wear it !!

God has put an incredible thing inside you – his Holy Spirit. God lives on the inside of you and you are God’s witness, example and ‘love letter’ to the world around you. But unless you let ‘Jesus out the bag’ from your life, people won’t have such an opportunity to hear about him and see their lives turned right side up! Whatever God has put in you, use it to show people God’s love and heart for them!

Romans 13.13-14 – ” Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness… Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

3. Getting rid of nasty niffs!

Some baselayers have ‘odour control’. Some have a treatment meaning that they smell better for longer! One of my baselayers even has a slight metal lining (you’d never know) called ‘Argentium’. In a spiritual sense, this relates to us purifying our body from unwanted ‘odours’ which God calls sin! God has forgiven us for all of our sins but we need to work hard to get right with God when we sin (say sorry) and do our best to live ‘clean and pure lives’.

The other good thing about some baselayers (like ones made from polypropylene) is that they are water-resistant. Other baselayers resists the sun rays – they have sun protection factors (just like sun cream) because some sun rays (UVB ones) can actually get through clothing. Other baselayers have insect repellent smells built in them to ward off bugs, midges and ticks!

God has given us freedom and released us from the old life of evil but we have to stand strong and resist the evil one. We have to become ‘enemy-resistant’ !!

Philippians 2.15 – Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

1 Corinthians 6.19-20 – Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.

James 4.7 – Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

4. Flatlocked seams (?!!)

This just means that the baselayer is made smooth in places like under your arms so the baselayer doesn’t rub and cause blisters or break the skin. Back in the Old Testament there is a famous story of David and Goliath. David used a slingshot and a stone to fire at the giant Goliath to knock him down and win the victory. But where did he get the stones from and what kinds of stones did he look for..?

He looked for smooth stones – these stones were in the brook and had rubbed together to get rid of the edges and the nasty bits that rub. The same is true for us when we meet with other Christians in church. We need to be in church so we can help others and so they can help us.

1 Samuel 17.40 – Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag…

Proverbs 27.27 – As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

5. Comfortable baselayers and ones that fit and look good!

2 Peter 1.3, “God’s divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

Did you know that God doesn’t just want to give you life in heaven – he wants you to enjoy your life here on earth too! Sometimes we don’t enjoy life because of difficult things. But God is a good God and wants you to have good things. He wants you to feel good, look good, enjoy life, have good things, do nice things and feel happy! 

Psalm 84.11 – For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose way of life is blameless.

Psalm 16.11 – You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

If you’re buying some clothes and you are able to, you get things you like; things that go with your style; things that fit you and things that look good on you! God wants this for you too and in every area of your life. This doesn’t mean being selfish, it’s just feeling comfortable in who you are.

This is also true in what you do in life and in church. God has given you unique skills and gifts (just like the first reading from Romans 12 tells us). You will be your best when you do things that you’re naturally good at and things that God has gifted you to do. So do those things and feel comfortable – just like you’re wearing a great baselayer 😉 

Matthew 7.11 – If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!