Schedule of Activities... Winter '10

Winter/Spring Theme: STICKY SITUATIONS

January
7 Jesus Knows What It’s Like When Friends Turn on You!
14 Jesus Knows What It’s Like Being Treated Unfairly!
21 Jesus Knows What It’s Like to Be Bullied!
28 Jesus Knows Your Sins But Still Loves You To Death!

February
4 “So…Does Jesus Really Understand Me?” & Sticky Stuff
11 Mini-Event/TBA
18 You Can Talk to God About Anything.
25 Winter Break

March
4 You Can Take Your Worries to God.
11 You’ll Think Better.
18 You’ll Find God’s Peace.
25 “So…What’s So Great About Prayer?” & Sticky Stuff

April
1 Mini-Event/TBA
8 God’s Holiness is Awesome!
15 God Never Runs Out of Time!
22 God’s Power is Ginormous!
29 God Always Sticks With You!

May
6 God Your BFF!
13 “So…How Big is God?” & Sticky Stuff
20 SuperStart Café (Family Night)
27 Mini-Event/TBA

Parent Letter... Winter '10

A Newsletter for parents of our Preteen Kids, 9-12 years old,
4th-6th grade

By Toni Aurig, Leader of Preteen Midweek Discipleship Group

This fall we discovered what it meant to be a Spiritual Champion. We want to act and think like Jesus. We want to be His Disciples. Just as He chose His first twelve disciples, He continues to invite His creation to be His disciples. I am excited to continue this journey with our children. In prior posts from the Fall, you will find an entry on each JEWEL. Perhaps, you could take a couple of minutes for each JEWEL and review them with your preteen. Thank you for your partnership!

As I am personally reaching another “milestone” age in my life, I am reminded that this Earth is temporary? All of the people who are born will someday die. Of course we know this is true, but how often do we think about where we are headed once we leave this planet. My children are reminding me more with the questions they ask. Most recently their questions were because of a funeral we attended.

Jesus said when He left 2010 years ago that He was going to make a home for us. And, that whoever chooses to receive Him as their Savior and Lord would have their name written in the Book of Life. You know… 2010 years is not that long when you think about Forever. Someday we will have the chance to live with Him Forever and someday He will return one last time.

The first time… He came as an infant, He was killed on a cross, He conquered death by rising from the grave, and He ascended into Heaven. The next time… He will come as a Warrior King to gather His children, His disciples and take us Home. Wow! Simple, yet Full and Truly Beautiful!

In the meantime, I know I have to remind myself that He really knows and understands my stuff. Growing up in the church, I took this for granted. Of course, He could do all those things He is God. But, the longer I live and the more aware of my own sin and struggles I find that I wrestle more with truly understanding that He can relate to this stuff.

COME join us on our QUEST, this winter and spring, where we will discover How Much Jesus Knows our Situations, What’s So Important about Prayer, and How Big is God? Thank you for joining us in the fall. I look forward to continuing the journey with you and your family.

WE NEED EACH OTHER...

Week 7
SIXTH JEWEL, we discovered the reason that WE NEED EACH OTHER.

In every human body, billions of cells live together and work together. Every cell has a part to play. When a cell is healthy, it does the work it is supposed to do. All those healthy cells together make a strong, healthy body. Every member of God’s family is like a cell or a part of a body. Each of us is important and together we are the Body of Christ. When each of us grows strong in knowing God, the Body of Christ is strong and healthy.

Barnabas was known as the great ENCOURAGER. To ENCOURAGE means to fill with courage. He was given the nickname Barnabas because it meant Son of Encouragement. He was always looking for ways to help others. Can you think of someone who ENCOURAGES you?

Can you think of how it feels when someone makes you feel special? Then you have experienced the blessing of ENCOURAGEMENT. God has given us all the gift of being able to ENCOURAGE each other. WE NEED EACH OTHER so that we can ENCOURAGE one another. When we become disciples of Jesus, He gives us His Holy Spirit to live in us so that we can love as He loves. God has given each one of us a special gift. I am praying that He will show us how we can ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER.

ANSWERS...

Week 6
FIFTH JEWEL, we discovered where we can go for ANSWERS. We can go to His Word for ANSWERS.

Knowing God’s Word… gives us a firm place to stand. When things are confusing, hard, and we don’t know what is right, we can go to the Bible. Once we discover the ANSWER and then obey the ANSWER, God will help us to stand strong. When we don’t obey, we are saying we do not TRUST Him.

Joshua and Caleb TRUSTED God. God told them that He would give them the land. And even though the people looked too tough to conquer, Joshua and Caleb TRUSTED God and were willing to obey. The ones who were afraid and chose not to TRUST wanted to go back to Egypt. They were showing by their words and actions that they did not believe that God was telling the truth.

Joshua and Caleb showed that they believed God by TRUSTING Him. They chose to obey by doing what God had said to do and they encouraged others to obey God too. God rewarded their TRUST and those who did not TRUST missed out. Once you know His ANSWERS, will you TRUST Him by obeying Him?

SIN...

Week 5
FOURTH JEWEL, we looked at what happens when we SIN.

SIN means to choose my way instead of His way. We all fail, sin, and do wrong things. No one in History has ever been perfect except for Jesus. Even though we are His disciples we will keep struggling with SIN as long as we are on this Earth.

Peter passionately loved Jesus. He thought he loved Jesus enough to die for Him. But when Peter thought he was in danger… he lied, and said that he did not even know Jesus. He sinned and he failed his dearest friend. **** What happened when Peter SINNED? Jesus could have said, “Well, Peter denied he even knows Me. I’ll just forget about him.” But Jesus did not give up on Peter. He forgave Peter. Jesus loved Peter and gave Peter a great future. We read in Acts about the great things Peter got to do.

God’s forgiveness is bigger than all of our failures. Jesus doesn’t give up on any of us, either. His Word says that if we admit our SINS, He will forgive us, and He will help us to obey His Word. His forgiveness is what makes it possible to be members of His family. Let’s admit we fail. Let’s celebrate that He will forgive and He will never give up on us.

TRUTH...

Week 3
THIRD JEWEL, we thought about how knowing the TRUTH… makes a difference in our lives.

When we discover what is TRUE, we have a choice. We can do something with IT or we can ignore IT. Many people talk about the value of reading God’s Words, but it’s just as important- to DO WHAT IT SAYS. It’s not enough to just know the Word or even know that IT is TRUE. WE MUST DO WHAT IT SAYS!

Satan and his demons believe in God. They believe and they tremble. They know He is TRUE. Yet, they did not choose to do what He said. They chose to be ruled by themselves and the Prince of Darkness. The Pharisees were the leaders in the Church at the time when Jesus came. They worked hard to know the Word of God so that they could receive praise but they did not DO WHAT IT SAID.

God’s Word, the Bible, is TRUE and it is a mirror. In the New Testament of God’s Word, James wrote that knowing what is TRUE is not enough. We can look and see… if we see ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word. If we don’t look like the TRUTH… we can DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Will you?

Some day we will, all, stand before the King of Kings and He will ask what did you do with THE TRUTH? Jesus says, “I am the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life. No one can come to the Father, God, except through Me.” John 14:6 Let’s join together, receive Him, and follow Him.

PRIORITIES...

Week 2
SECOND JEWEL, we talked about what is most important in our own lives.

The things we choose to do everyday shows what is important to us. Those things are called our PRIORITIES. Even, if you say one thing is important, if you do other things then those are the things that are truly important to you. The things you actually do are your PRIORITIES.

Mary and Martha showed what was important to them. Mary made time to be with Jesus. Martha was so wrapped up in her PRIORITIES that she did not make spending time with Jesus her FIRST PRIORITY.

God wants us to put Him first in what we think, what we do, and what we say. When we choose to put God first in everything we do, we are showing that getting to know and loving God is our TOP PRIORITY. We can make Him our TOP PRIORITY by getting to know Him through His Word, His Church, and His Creation. And, we can make Him our TP by imitating Him whether we are playing, working, or resting.