Prowler, Mamba and Patriot here we come! Get ready for a Worlds of Fun trip on Saturday, August 28th. Cost will be $24.00. Bring a lunch–we’ll make sure we’ve got coolers. Students from a few of our sister churches, including Oak Hills Presbyterian Church and Woodland Ridge, will be joining us.
We’ll be leaving from the McDonalds parking lot at Metcalf/I-435 @ 9:00 a.m. Plan on being back there around 7:00 p.m.
PARENTS: If you would be able to drive one-way (taking us there in the morning, or picking up around 6:00 p.m.), please let me know. bhough@redeemer-pca.org or 913-439-9319 (text or call)
STUDENTS: We’ll need to know if you’re coming by Thursday, August 19th because we’ll be ordering tickets ahead of time, and because we want to make sure you’ve got a ride.
Four years ago Wednesday night youth group was for students in 2nd grade through 8th grade. Over the past four years we have added high school students which has made for an enormous gap between student’s ages. We’ve wanted to split the evening into two separate groups for quite awhile but were waiting for the right time. Now is the right time.
For the sake of making this as least complicated as possible we are changing our Wednesday nights to two separate events with two separate names.
Grades 2nd through 6th Wednesday Night Youth Group is now called “Iota” (E-OH-TA). Iota is a letter in the Greek alphabet…the very smallest letter in the Greek alphabet. Iota runs from 6:30 to 8:00 every Wednesday night school is in session. Students will meet in the Redeemer/HCA gym. Pick up will be there as well. The format will be: supervised free time in the gym, gathering together for prayer and teaching and lastly games and dismissal. (Like last year minus the singing at the beginning).
Grades 7th through 12th Wednesday Nigh Youth Group will continue with the name Breakaway. Breakaway will also run 6:30 to 8:00 every Wednesday night that school is in session. Students will meet in the basement of the south building which we are going to refer to as The Underground from now on. The format is a bit different this year. We’ll have live worship music lead by Dennis Patterson and various students to begin the night, followed by teaching, time of prayer and games. We are going to end each night with dessert which we are looking to families to provide on a rotation. I’ll be asking for volunteers soon, please consider serving in this way whether you have children who attend or not.
Today began a new history in Soccer around here. We had the first practice in HCA history. Here are some pictures and a video to check out. Above Pastor Tony is going through our Philosophy.
1. Christlikeness – We represent our family, our school, and Christ’s Church
2. Discipline – We work hard for glory of God.
3. Love of Game – This is a game, the greatest game on earth.
Our Last Summer Gathering is this Wednesday at 7pm. If possible read Crazy Love chapter 10 before coming. We’ll bring it all together as we consider what the challenge has been and how we respond to this. We’ll also have hotdogs and grilled chicken and play a game of blind taste test with coke (soda pop).
This week we finish our summer study on Francis Chan’s Crazy Love. As it comes to an end my prayers have gone up for our students to live beyond concern for themselves. There is no doubt living in Johnson County conditions us to be about us where the gospel changes us to be about God first “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’” (Mark 12:30 ESV). And also to be about loving others. “‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31 ESV).
And we know this and think, I certainly want to be the person who is sold out to Christ someday. Why not today, right where you are? I guess we have stuff to do, errands to be run, homework to be completed, movies to see and simply an overwhelming list of stuff that unfortunately has priority over the one that matters. I know this because everyday is a batter between my list of priorities (TV, Soccer, Bicycles, Reading News, Shopping, etc) and God’s list of priorities (love God, love others).
The quote at the top of this post comes from the last chapter of Crazy Love and kinda puts things into perspective on how we live a life that is all about the Glory of God. The question isn’t what should I do someday for the cause of the gospel, but what might I do today for glory of God? Dream big, but live out the gospel today and then wake up tomorrow and live for the glory of God again. I am praying for our families and our students and invite you to pray for Laura and I as we fight the good fight, as we pursue a life lived in the gospel of grace each and every day.
This morning I’m thinking about the resurrection. I’ve been studying the raising of Lazarus from the dead and how this points to the resurrection of Jesus after His death on the cross and then to the resurrection of all people. The saints alone to eternal life with God. What a great doctrine we learn from Scripture. Even greater yet will be the reality of that day. Above is a photo of Beckham with my grandmother who died shortly after that photo was taken.
When she was ill with pancreatic cancer I asked her questions of who Jesus is to her. I knew she had grown up in the church, I knew she was a faithful member of the United Methodist Church in town, but I wasn’t interested in where she had spent her time so much as where she had placed her faith.
Grandma knows Christ today better than any of you who are reading this and as I ponder the resurrection this morning I look forward to that day when we will meet again with unveiled understanding of Jesus Christ. When we will worship in eternity and whatever else that entails. In our family worship we have a day set aside to pray for family and friends and even Beckham prays for many of you to love God more than anything else. More than career, more than stuff, more than family, more than life itself.
Aristotle, the Greek Philosopher once said, “Death is a dreadful thing, for it is the end.” What a sad existence it is for those who remain apart from God through Christ. Sadder yet is Aristotle learning how wrong he was. I am thankful this morning for the grace to know the precious doctrine of the resurrection.
