Archive for June, 2010

Thanks so much for your family’s participation in Chase The Light this summer. We are looking forward to learning together about the people that Jesus came in contact with and how their lives were changed forever.

Each week, your child will learn about one of the “misfits” that Jesus met through both video and live storytelling. We will focus on one main principle, or Bottom Line, each week, and each Bottom Line will build on the previous week’s Bottom Line. By the end of the series, we want the stories of the “misfits” that Jesus spent time with to have a marked impact on your child’s life: Wise Men (Matthew 2:1-9), John The Baptist (Mark 1:9-11), The Disciples (Mark 1:16-20), The Blind Man (John 9:1-23), Nicodemus (John 3:1-21), Mary Magdalene (Mark 15-16), the men walking along the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) and Day of Pentecost (Acts 2).

For your family to get the most out of this experience, please use these resources to continue to teach your child at home about what they are learning at Chase The Light. Together we can make a greater impact on your child’s life than either of us could do alone.

Refrigerator Door Cards: These cards have the week’s Bottom Line, the Bible reference for the story, and a conversation starter to help you dialog with your child about what was taught at church.

GodTime Cards: GodTime cards encourage the children to begin the habit of setting aside special time with God each day. They include a verse to read, a question to answer and a short activity.

Thank you again for allowing us the opportunity to partner with you as you encourage your child along his or her spiritual journey. We are looking forward to spending time with your child as we learn how to Chase The Light.

On June 6th, we will launch a new series for High School entitled Prison Blues. Darren will be communicating this series on the book of Philippians. One of Paul’s prison epistles, Philippians was written to the church at Philippi, and focuses on the idea of joy. The words “joy” and “rejoice” are scattered all over the book!

We believe Philippians is a great book for students to get to know. Just read what the Teen Study Bible has to say about it, “Most people want to have fun and be happy. The trouble is all those emotional ups and downs. You feel happy, and then something goes wrong… Paul knew the secret of an inner joy that won’t quit when things go wrong. That’s a secret worth knowing!”

Teenagers often view freedom and authority as opposing concepts. But the Bible teaches that true freedom is found under authority. This principle focuses on students’ need to recognize God’s ultimate authority and respect the earthly authorities He has placed over them.

Principle: Maximum freedom is found under God’s authority.

Critical Question: Are your students submitting to the authorities that God has placed over them?

Key Passage: Romans 13:1-2

In June, Quake will be focused on the checkpoint of Ultimate Authority. Teaching topics will include:

June 6: What is Freedom? Maximum freedom comes from living under God’s authority (Luke 15:11-24).

June 13: Let God be God. Only God can be God (Daniel 4).

June 20: God’s Plan for Freedom. When we let God be God, we become free to be God’s people (Exodus 6:7).

June 27: Human Authority. We can’t be right with God if we are rebelling against human authority (I Peter 5:5).

What in the World Are You Doing?
Can you hear your mother’s voice saying that? Go ahead: let those words run through your mind a few times, trying out those different parental voices. With a touch of exasperation: What in the world are you doing? Perhaps in her last-straw, you-have-gotten-on-my-very-last-nerve voice: WHAT in the world are you DOING?! Or even in amusement: What in the world are you doing? Inflection, emphasis, tone of voice, they all communicate meaning as much as the words themselves. Here’s what we mean by those words: What. In the world. Are you. Doing

What = A word used to ask for more information, often about the purpose of something or the nature of somebody.

In the world = Can refer to planet Earth; the earth, including all its inhabitants and the things in it; society as a whole; or particular areas of human activity.

Are you = Meaning an individual you’re conversing with or people in general.

Doing = This agile little word can refer to things that one does every day, as in “Everyday doings.” It can suggest actions that require more out of us than the everyday stuff, like “That will take a great deal of doing.” It can also mean a position of accountability: “This is your doing, your responsibility.”

Put it all together and you get: Tell me more about our nature and purpose here and what we’re meant to do and be. Sounds like a big hairy philosophical question, doesn’t it?

What about our nature and purpose? God said we are made in His likeness and that we are to “fill the earth and bring it under [our] control” (Genesis 1:28, NIrV). But what does that mean exactly? Is the earth ours, to do with however we please? Or is it God’s, even though He’s made us accountable for it? Genesis 1 has some answers (which we will examine in week 1), so the question of the day will be: What in the world are you doing to take care of what God made?

But there’s more than one kind of “natural resource.” Because God created each of us in His image, we have certain qualities like His and certain abilities like His. Therefore, each of us has talents, abilities, and possessions that God has entrusted to us and that He wants put to good use. Jesus even told a parable about that (Matthew 25:14, the Bible lesson for week 2). So what in the world are you doing to use what God gave you?

Words, like talents, abilities, and possessions, can be used wisely or unwisely. They can be leveraged to build or to tear down. Ephesians 4:29 (the lesson for week 3) says, “Don’t let any evil talk come out of your mouths. Say only what will help to build others up and meet their needs. Then what you say will help those who listen” (NIrV). What in the world are you doing to encourage others with your words?

Jesus said, “‘You are the light of the world’” (Matthew 5:14, NIrV). That’s what God means for us to be: lights atop a dark hillside that draw people in, to God. In week 4 we’ll explore what that looks like in a kid’s world. What in the world are you doing to show others God’s goodness?

So, what… in the world… are you… doing? We’ll explore those and related ideas in a special two-month edition of 252 Basics designed to help kids see connections between responsibility (what we’ll be talking about in June) and service (what we’ll focus on in July).

By Melanie Williams. © 2010 The reThink Group * www.rethinkgroup.org * All rights reserved. Used by permission.