weekend wrap-up 04.27.08

this week was a little different as it was a road trip to mt vernon for the 5:10 showing of EXPELLED! Never quite know who and how many, but we ended up with 54 - 45 youth and 9 young at heart. road trips are always fun. once we arrived i went in to purchase the tickets en mass which almost caused the attendant to pass out...you want HOW many? guess they don't do many group showings. and it took them awhile on how to figure out how print the discounted tickets. but they got it done... ( we may go back and give them more excitement when prince caspian debuts on the 16th!)
the movie was very good. i wasn't sure how it would play out being a documentary but the students seemed to enjoy it. the adults thot it was very good too. the conversation on the way home was mostly centered around the world view of an evolutionist versus that of a creationist or at least having a belief in intelligent design. I'd give the movie a A- minus. one of ben's interviews was with a professor who, dying of a brain tumor, suggested that this life is all there is. very sad.

off to the movies this week -EXPELLED!

This is the week we're taking the.evolution to see Expelled. I've heard that Expelled has had a good start (from the whole "how Hollywood measures" standpoint) and has caused a few things to happen
... Standing Ovations in theaters
... Scathing Criticism
... Enthralled viewers
and a lot of GREAT questions and conversations.

we're headed out from the church @ 4:25 sharp. be there by 4:15. Cost is $5.25 plus what you may want for snacks. we will return by 8:15pm

weekend wrap-up 04.20.08

Lesson Topic:
Jr. Hi ~Expelled! Week 3
Sr. Hi ~All out War - Week 5 - Helmet of Salvation
Attendance: Average - LHS production of the sound of music cost us a few folks.
Fun Factor: Different kind of fun. Jr. High: Getting to Know You - a kind of get up and wander and meet new folks and something about them. Scott was in the Army, Jake plays Baseball, Daniel broke his Collarbone, Brody has a Dog...you get the drift. fun stuff really. For sr. high it was a mix up on learning what the Hoover and Hansen siblings knew about each other. Some interesting moments there.
Volunteer Involvement: Average - some had too much sun and were tired from the day, others had family duties.
Music: EXCELLENT! veneration mixed it up well. even did their own rendition of "indescribable".
Lesson Quality: Above Average
Length of Lesson:
Jr. Hi - 25 minutes. We're on week three of this journey using Ben Stein's new movie, Expelled to look at the issue of intelligent design vs. evolution. Walked through the idea of life having a purpose in God's design, but being all chaos with out Him. Some deep questions about hell and heaven.
Sr. Hi - 35 minutes. Week 5 - All out War - Helmet of Salvation good stuff with Scott McCartney sharing his story starting in high school and then heading off to the military. Have a better understanding of the need for head gear in battle and how that applies in real life.

A few new visitors last night too...glad to have them around.

iband

weekend wrap up 04.13.08

Lesson Topic:
Jr. Hi ~Expelled! Week 2
Sr. Hi ~Walking with God Simulcast
Attendance: Above Average'Fun Factor': Above average: Bologna Toss & Bologna Artists
can't understand what's all that gross about bologna but despite some of the jr highers had fun making snowflakes (it got cold yesterday) using their teeth. i sort of messed up on giving the prize out...gave it to the wrong "B" the first on left in the second row. such creativity. micah (rod's beast got the blessing of consuming the end product.) btw ever read the label on bolonga? interesting...
Volunteer Involvement: Average
Music: EXCELLENT! Our youth worship team is rocking.
Lesson Quality: Above Average
Length of Lesson: Jr. Hi - 30 minutes. We're on this journey using Ben Stein's new movie, Expelled to look at the issue of intelligent design vs. evolution. this nite we saw a clip where "darwinists" accuse those that hold a "religious" view to be dangerous to science. to help and settle in our mind just how big the universe is we watched part of louie giglio talking about God being Indescribable yeah...Big God...little us...but amazing love from our creator to know each one of us by name. amazing God. this image of the sombrero galaxy some 400 light years from earth blows your mind...

Student Response: Above Average

For jr. high -WOW! words sort of pale when you have it all put into perspective...our place in the "known" universe. the discussion was good and the jr. highers said they were encouraged by knowing better how big God is and even more how much bigger his love for them .

For sr. high it was a little different as we joined a international audience via satellite to hear John Eldredge talk about his newest work Walking With God we stayed on for the first hour and then when they went to the Q & A in Brentwood, TN we jumped back to home... munched on pizza and had a great dialogue about what he shared. Excellent questions from students. One student thought i had collaborated with je as the first question john answered (and the last before jumped off) was a preemptive one from je's perspective to his simulcast audience, but was actually a continuation of some questions that had surfaced during our current series all out war~investigating spiritual warfare. a few weeks ago during the third week we wrestled with finding the shoes of peace (Eph 6)which we translated as fiXing our eyes on Jesus and letting him speak to us....so the question 'how do you know if the answer is really from God?' je sent our answer around the diamond again. very good stuff.

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Elbow tag

tried a new game tonite. great way to start the evening. just too nice not to chase around outside for a bit. ht to jeff for the idea.

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the latest buzz...Girls of Grace

in february we hosted the Girls of Grace simulcast. just got an email and they've slotted new hope as their church of the week on their webpage. go here to see

expelled!