Night of Champions @ APU

Next month we will again invite High School and Jr. High youth to join with hundreds of other youth from around the Inland Empire for Night of Champions at Azusa Pacific University.  The event costs just $10 if you sign up by March 15.  The cost includes a T-shirt, In-N-Out, Concert, & All Entertainment (including a Car Show, Games, Bands, and Speakers).  To sign up contact Dave Rueter.

Baby Sitting/Lock-In

On February 13, we will be offering babysitting starting at 6:30 pm for parents who would like to have a night on the town for Valentine’s Day. Donations for this service will go to help those who need assistance affording the Rebel Retreat. After the kids are all picked up we will adjourn to the church house for a lock-in until 7:00 am. Please bring a snack to share and $5 for additional food as well as your favorite movie (appropriate). If you will be helping with the babysitting please make sure that either Dave or Barb knows.

Song of Song Series

February 4 – March 4, 2009, Wednesdays from 7:30-9:00 p.m.

Of all the things distorted by sin, relationships—especially romantic ones—rank near the top of the list. In fact, youth face more and more pressure every day to conform their relationships to ungodly standards. And it’s not enough to provide a negative reason to not do something. There has to be a plan. A hope.

The Song of Songs Series breaks down the Bible’s sexiest book to reveal positive, godly principles for couples. Each of the five lessons reaches beyond a typical “5 principles of dating” message and is packed with practical information that students can apply to current and future relationships. From dating to divorce-proofing a marriage, this is a lesson series that can dramatically change the way people live their daily lives.

Lesson include:

• Introductions to Song of Songs
• Dating Relationships (Part 1)
• Dating Relationships (Part 2)
• Marriage – The Wedding Day
• Divorce-Proofing Your Marriage

REBEL Retreat 2009

This year’s REBEL retreat is coming up fast.  We already have close to 30 youth already signed up.  We will get heading to Midoriland on the shores of Big Bear Lake Feb. 27-March 1, 2009.  The cost for the weekend is the same as last year, $70.  All youth need to have a current medical release form on file (Medical Release Form), a signed Covenant, as well as a release for Snow Play Hill (Waiver).  To get an idea about what takes place at the REBEL retreat enjoy the video below from last year.

Hangar 18

This week (Jan. 28, 2009), for ICTHUS, we head out to go rock climbing at Hangar 18. The cost will be $20.

All participants MUST have a signed release that can be found HERE.

Please meet at Hangar 18 at 7:00 p.m.  We will climb from 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Simplify Your Life

If there was ever a time the people might be ready to hear the message to “Simplify their lives,” Christmas might just be that time.  Before I was married, today would have been a great day to start Christmas shopping.  Not that I would have run out to the mall (I am nuts, but not crazy), but I would generally wait until the last minute, making the process of shopping either overly difficult to accomplish, or as sometimes happend, very simple (once I got everything at one store).

When all the parties are finally over and the new year has begun and we get back to our normal lives, will we find that we finally have time for all those things we have been pushing off until after the holidays, or will we find that we are just as busy.  Will we be just as overloaded in mid-January as we are in mid-December?  Our American culture tells us that in order to appear successful we need to work to the point of exhaustion and make sure to tell eveyone about it.  Don’t believe me?  Ask anyone what they have been up to and you are likely to get a litany of all the things that they have filled their lives with and complaining about being tired.  We almost seem to believe that being tired is a sign of our own value.

We have a deep need to rest in God (see Psalm 46:10).  In January, for ICTHUS, we will be running three week series on how to “Simplify Your Life.”  Make this year’s resolution to simplify your life in worship of God, and join us Wednesday nights at 7:30 p.m. to learn about how to do so.

REBEL Retreat

The REBEL retreat might not be until Feb. 27 – March 1, but planning is already underway.  We have a great group already signed up to attend and we haven’t even finalized that theme or the cost yet.  As in the past the REBEL retreat will be held at Midoriland.  You can join the list of those already commited to the retreat by contacting Barb or Dave.

Here is a video from last year to give you a flavor of what you might expect.

REBELS Supplemental – More on Mormons

I thought that I would put together a couple resources to help you further look into the Mormon’s and understand the distinctions between them and Christianity.

http://www.christiananswers.net/menu-ar1.html#mormonism

http://www.lifeoftheworld.com/believe/mormonism.php

http://www.carm.org/lds/compare.htm

http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5144

http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5282

Changes for December’s Schedule

The original plan to begin the new series “How Not to be a Fool” have been reevaluated.  We will be postponing that series for the following special events:

Dec. 3 – Christmas Tree Decorating for the Chapels at church. Early start time of 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 10 – Decorating Pastor Kevin’s House – Meet at church at 7:00 p.m. or Pastor Kevin’s Home at 7:15 (contact Dave or Barb for directions).

Dec. 17 – Touring the Christmas lights on Thoroughbred Lane.

Giving Thanks

“Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
Sing to him; sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!” Proverbs 16:8-9

This is the beginning of David’s Song of Thanks.  The Ark of the Covenant has just been returned to Israel and God’s central position in the nation has been restored.  There was much the praise and thank God for in those days.

You might think that in a down economy, with any number of challenges in life, that it would be far more difficult to give thanks to God today.  However, I challenge you to pause in the coming days.  Think about all that you have and all the ways in which God has blessed you.  Spend sometime in prayer offering thanks just as David did.  He might have had an obvious reason to give thanks, but I am confident that given a little thought you too will have just as much reason to celebrate and give thanks.