This past week we had our first Alive! night of the school year. I spoke on the theme of "Why Friendship?" and talked about how God has created us to be relational beings because HE is relational. We are created in his image, and therefore should be 'mirroring' his image of love, compassion, grace, relationships, etc. We get better at mirroring his image by starting a relationship with him and learning about what he wants for our lives through the example Jesus has set for us.
I ended my talk by inviting anyone who does not own a Bible to help themselves to one of ours to begin learning about Jesus. I included a bookmark that explained a bit about how to read the Bible and where to begin. Three students took Bibles! That alone deemed the night a success for me!!! Please be praying for those students. The night was a success in every aspect - the adult and student leaders worked well on their assigned tasks to help the night run smoothly, worship was awesome, the snacks were great, and I've heard that the small group assignments worked well. Thanks to everyone who contributed to Alive!
This week we will not be having youth and preteen events because of Thanksgiving weekend. In the past, we've always taken the night off to give our volunteers a less-stressful weekend and to accommodate for the many different Thanksgiving dinner schedules that are taking place. We encourage everyone to reflect on how much God has given us! The other Friday ministries will still be meeting this week.
On October 14-16 we will be having an in-church retreat, called Stand Up! Stand Out! The theme for the weekend will be focusing on how God has called us to stand out from the crowd because of our faith, and stand up for it instead of staying silent. We'll be starting at 7pm on Friday the 14th and will finish up in time for the morning service on Sunday the 16th. We will be cooking our own meals and doing a variety of activities, including games in the dark, chapel time, service projects, an outing, etc. Students must hand in their completed brochure and $50 by the retreat weekend (they can bring it with them on Friday the 14th at the latest). However, we are encouraging students to hand these forms in early so they have their say in which activities we will be doing and which meal they'd like to help prepare. I'm also asking that students who are not bringing their forms and money until the 14th to RSVP by emailing me so I know how much food to buy.
Finally, our next Alive! night is October 21. It will be a special event because Pastor Stef will be joining us! Instead of our usual message and small group format, all students will be invited to submit any questions they have about Christianity (things they don't know or are confused about) either before the event or at the start of the night. Pastor Stef will then be answering these questions in a Q&A format for our students. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to bring friends who don't understand why we would want to go to church and follow God! Please be praying for this event!!!
Praying that you all have a wonderful week and turkey-filled weekend!
Amanda
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