Well, the excitement just
continues to build downstairs in the Stadium!! After having the opportunity to
train 26 student leaders at our “Leading from the Lockers” retreat on Friday
and Saturday, this past Sunday we again, had record attendance all across the
Stadium not to mention our Early Childhood Carnival area which continues to
grow and grow and grow! I want you to know in the last two weeks we have
connected 17 new team members to our ministry! Just plain awesome!
We still have great needs; especially on Wednesday night and Sunday
morning with our youngest of children in the Carnival. I encourage you to
get involved in KidZone somewhere!
This past Sunday, we gave our
regular opportunity for a response for kids to receive Jesus as their leader
and Savior and we had 30 plus children respond. God is up to great
things among us!! I encourage you to talk to your children about this
most important decision in their life. I also hope the change we made at
check in alleviated some pressure and made things a bit easier for you.
Please let me know your thoughts on this. Thanks! I got an opportunity to
breathe a bit on Sunday afternoon and look ahead with some team members at my house and
we have some exciting things coming down the road to facilitate the growth and
excitement that we expect to continue in the months ahead!!
Here is the teaching overview for the week of 3-23-09!!
My Father’s House
Virtue: Hope—believing that something good
can come out of something bad.
Memory
Verse: “We know that
in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” Romans 8:28,
NIV/NIrV
Bible
Story: My Father’s
House (Jesus promises heaven) • John 14:1-11a
Bottom
Line: Whatever
happens, remember what Jesus promised.
Life can bog us down. We deal with the not-so-pleasant-but-mundane things all the time, like paying bills, surviving traffic, and having cavities filled. They’re not what you’d call “biggies,” but they just don’t seem to go away. Then there are the truly heavy punches, like cancer, bankruptcy, or divorce.
Sometimes, in the midst of it all, we can forget what has been promised to us: Heaven.
Highlight this word—promise—and read the definition that pops up for its noun form. (If you’re not reading this in Word, “promise” is an “an assurance that something will be done or not done.” Even better, it’s “an indication that somebody or something will turn out well or successfully.”)
Hope
is believing that something good can come out of something bad. God’s
desire and plan for humankind—that NONE should perish and ALL should have
eternal life—is the ultimate example of hope.
God
wants us to be filled with real hope that can only come from Him: the hope that
assures us salvation and heaven through Jesus. Life is hard, even for Christ follwers, but
if we hang on to Jesus’ promise, we don’t have to wallow in hopelessness, no
matter how bad things get. If we believe in Jesus, we KNOW that things will
turn out right! What better message to share with the fallen, despairing,
hopeless world around us? Let’s model this to our kids!
How exciting!
God is working . . . and you are surely using the gifts He has given to you!
Blessings,
L
Posted by: Heart of a Ready Writer | March 30, 2009 at 02:33 PM