There’s a scene in the movie Evan Almighty where God (played by Morgan Freeman) comes to Evan’s wife and talks about prayer. It’s a very interesting scene, and for the students that were in Sunday school when we talked about prayer last month, they have all seen it and discussed it. The basic point of the scene is that maybe in God’s mind, instead of God simply giving us a lot of “perseverance”, “strength”, “peace”, etc. in our lives, maybe He gives us the opportunity to practice and grow those sorts of things. It’s an interesting idea.
Last week at Club56, we had the opportunity to hear from Taryne Lee, a former student with Club56 herself and has now finished her undergrad work at Wheaton College. Taryne challenged the Club56 community to consider how living life as a Christ-follower is more like a journey than everything, and in our journeys, we need endurance and perseverance to get us through the times that aren’t so happy and great. Taryne suggested that GOD GIVES US those opportunities to grow in our perseverance, our ability to thrive through the hard times.
A key verse is 2 Corinthians 4:17, where the Apostle Paul focuses on the fact that what gives us reason to persevere and endure is the fact that we are living in view of eternity and the awesomeness of God’s presence forever. Our journey with Jesus is moving us toward that vision.
Talk to your student about their journey. How do they envision their journey? What have been some key “chapters” or “opportunities” that have strengthened their journey? On the Winter Extreme retreat a couple of weeks ago, we allowed students to reflectively draw what their spiritual journey would look like. It was pretty powerful.
May God bless your family as you all grow in your perseverance as Christ-followers!
Serving is very misunderstood in our world. One the most important things we can do as followers of Jesus is to take hold of Jesus calling us to put on an attitude of serving others for the sake of the OTHER person, not ourselves.
One Big Thing
KEY IDEA: Taking hold of serving involves taking hold of becoming the least with people.
KEY QUESTION: What does ‘becoming the least’ look like in serving? How did Jesus model ‘becoming the least’?
Faith Challenge
Becoming the least basically means putting other people’s needs before your own. This is very hard to do, even as Christ-followers. This week, discover the very small ways that you can put other’s needs before your own, and put on a ‘Jesus attitude’ of service.
As MANY of you know I am a movie junkie. But more than that I am one who likes to use movies to foster spiritual discussions…to tease out meaningful conversation. I believe that the movie trailer for Sarah’s Choice above will do just that! And I have been invited to include our ministry in a private screening of it on February 18 at 7 pm in Aurora at the Total Living International Studio (2880 Vision Court Aurora — Right there near Rt 88).
Simply call 630-801-3838 to reserve your seats. Call around and let others know and certainly let me know you are coming so I can look for you.
Very creative and very inspiring! Please enjoy the two minutes and realize that more than you are aware of will step into the shoes of the adult community and GET IT. Get the impact that they will make on Society and Christ and His Kingdom. Be encouraged and influence a young person TODAY!
Applications are coming in quickly for the mission trips to Roseland, Mexico and Ecuador. Last Sunday morning we hosted a parent meeting to go over some of the specifics of the three individual trips and the financial make and requirements as well. If you were unable to make the meeting and are looking for more information, here are the links to each of the packets.
Sunday afternoon at 2 pm at the East Campus we will return from our Winter Extreme weekend where we will have studied the Life of Jonah in community with one another. We will obviously be totally exhausted with all the activities we will have done as well and great food we’ve eaten. My hope in this blog this morning is to remind you of a few Faith at Home principles that you can implement coming out of this retreat. The first is the opportunity to make a conference call and hear the details of our retreat together. From 1:30 to about 1:45ish I will be sharing with anyone who uses their phone to participate. Call (218) 339-4600 and then enter the access code 426137#. It is just a simple call no added fees. Make it on your cell most providers have free long distance on the weekend!
Additionally, I would like to share some Questions NOT to Ask:
Avoid yes/no, short answer, or very broad questions such as:
• How was your trip? (too broad)
• What did you do? (too broad)
• Did you have fun? (yes/no)
• Are you going back? (yes/no)
• Did you get along with your team? (yes/no)
• Did you like the culture? (yes/no)
Consider asking specific, open ended questions that begin with words such as: describe… in what ways… explain… or who/what/how/why
Some of these may include:
• What was the most meaningful thing about the weekend? The most fun thing?
• Describe three highlights of the weekend.
• What are the most significant lessons God taught you? How did you learn them?
• What did God teach you about Himself?
• How did your expectations for the weekend match up with what happened? Was this good or bad and why?
• How did you spend your free time?
• Describe one person who had an impact on you and why.
• How would you describe your relationship with the Lord before and after the trip?
• What next steps will you take spiritually? In lifestyle choices?
• In what ways do you think God wants your life to change?
You may feel like those were a lot. Yes…so pick the two or three that will be best for post retreat breakdown with your son or daughter and use this weekend to create more Faith at Home discussions!
Be at the East Campus at 4:45 on Friday.
Eat BEFORE you come
Bring one bag for clothes and sleeping bag (pillow if you like)
CLOTHES for ZERO degrees…leave the summer wear behind!
Garbage bag for wet items for return trip.
WRITING instrument. We are going to STUDY God’s word and take NOTES! Bring TWO and bless a friend.
Parents: For EVERY event we do off campus you can call 630-232-7068 x123 and get 24 hour updates on our arrival/departure details and safety! It’s been identified as a real blessing for parents of early adolescents.
Additionally on Sunday at 1:30 I will be hosting a conference call to share with you all about our time together in order to give you a bit of the 411 and be prepared to use the experience to foster additional Faith at Home discussions for you and your student. Please call 218-339-4600 and then dial access code of 426137#. Hope to hear from you on Sunday at 1:30 as you prepared to pick up your student. Use the cell phone as you drive to the East campus for 2 pm pick up!
First, let me say that the Winter Retreat was great. Anytime that we have that many students (there were 110+ of us on the weekend)skiing, tubing and just being in the snow and ice and we walk away with no major injuries, I consider it a success. Instead of trying to log my thoughts on last weekend, I have decided to share them with you via video. This is my first attempt at a video blog so be kind. Feel free to share your thoughts as well.
Winter Extreme 2010 is UPON US! We are all super excited about all that God is going to do in the lives of 7th and 8th graders this weekend. We have a great community of students and adults that will embark on a journey to discover the incredible story of Jonah in the Old Testament. This weekend WILL change lives. It’s exciting to anticipate the weekend!
I wanted to clue you in on a couple of things regarding Student Ministries, particularly with this weekend:
1. FBCG Student Ministries officially has a FACEBOOK group to enable students and parents to share pictures, videos, and talk about all the great stuff happening in Student Ministries. We’ll be encouraging students this weekend to join the group, but I also encourage YOU (if you’re on Facebook) to search for FBCG Students and join our group. We will be updating the media page ASAP but just so you have the heads up!
2. In an effort to creatively and effectively clue parents into all that God did this weekend, Pastor Bruce will be hosting a conference call with any 78er parent whose student participated in Winter Extreme. The call will take place as we are driving back from the retreat, so please call dial (218) 339-4600 and enter access code 426137# starting at 1:30pm. Pastor Bruce will share all the great things that God did over the weekend, as well as clue you in on some ideas to build faith at home based on the weekend. The call shouldn’t last for more than 20 minutes!
Be in prayer for our weekend together as we strive to point one another to Jesus. Thanks for all you do as parents in helping students grow in Christ!
This past Sunday…just last night I opened our DTP night up with a few Family Fued questions in order to address the volital topic of Movie Ratings! Always a HOT TOPIC for 12-14 year old students. But perhaps even hotter since I named our current Bible Study — PG13 Passages. We’ve been studying the passages of scripture that are fairly violent, steamy and general for a more mature audience. With an agenda to validate that the Bible is NOT boring! However, I began to sniff out that perhaps my “title” for the series was inadvertantly suggesting that I was commissioning early adolescents to view PG13 movies! WOW. That was NEVER my intention. So I asked this Family Feud question…What does (or ought to) Influence your Choice of Movies?
I surveyed myself ONE HUNDRED TIMES OVER and came up with the answers:
1. Yourself (discernment)
2. God
3. Parents
4. Others
I wanted students to recognize that God has given them great resources that ought to be used to get HIS paradigm for what fills their heads and ultimately their heart. Certainly a fabulous discussion considering the wide array of PG13 rating out right now from Blind Side and To Save a Life to movies like Drag Me to Hell and Ghosts of Girl Friends Past. Regardless of where you stand on the hot topic there are great web resources like Movie Guide and Plugged In. Please engage your student in the discussion and invite them to THINK. Asking would you want to be watching that with Jesus beside you. Just some thoughts…
bruce
We are a community journeying to love God, others, and the world with our heart, soul, strength and mind.
