Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Homework questions for 10/24/10 posted
Hey, the homework questions from last Sunday are posted. Click here to get them
Review from Sunday, 10/24
Hiya 56ers
Here is the scoop from last Sunday's lesson
Our topic of the day was "How can God be everywhere?"
It is a hard thing to grasp that God can be everywhere, see everything, be interested and involved all over the place and be in control of all that is happening and all that is going to happen. But it is true and it has to be true. We can't figure that out because we are limited by our human bodies at being in 1 place at any given time, only.
Here is where our discussion carried us.
first we read Deuteronomy 4.39
God is in control. There is no other like Him. and still he wants to know us and to encourage us as we try to live a life that honors Him
Next, we read Psalm 139.7-12.
This is for me both one of the most encouraging and one of the most convicting passages in the Bible. We all have hard things to go through and it is comforting to know that God is with us and will always be. He is with us, anywhere we go and whatever our situation happens to be, we will not be removed from where God is and where He has power to intervene. However, there is another side to the story in this passage. Some of the verses make it look like David is trying to get away from God. That is not possible either, so that means that God is aware of all that we have done. He is everywhere and so there is no way to hide our sins and the deepest thoughts of our hearts. He knows them all. But the great thing is that He never gives up on us. We never stray too far for Him to find us.
Next, we read Jonah 1.1-4 & 2.1-6
Jonah is an amazing story! It is crazy. Jonah knows what God wants him to do, and chooses not to do it. He heads the other direction, running and hiding from God. We know that this is futile - there is no hiding from God. we know the story, Jonah is thrown overboard and a large fish comes and devours him. So there he is, in the belly of a large fish. This, in my mind is the perfect picture of "rock bottom" I've never been eaten by an aquatic animal, but I don't imagine that there is a lot of hope for survival or expectation of being saved from this situation. But here is the hope of the story - that we can apply to our lives. There at "rock bottom", in the most hopeless of situations, Jonah cries out to God and... ready for it... GOD IS THERE!!! In even the most hopeless situation - when we have nowhere else to turn, God is there. It was true for Jonah and it is true for us as well. And as the rest of the story plays out, we see that not only is there hope in hopeless situations, but God has a plan that can carry through seemingly impossible situations. There is GREAT hope in that. We just need to remember to look for God and hold on to that hope when we can't see a way out.
Finally, we read Matthew 28.18-20
Speaking of impossible situations, Here we see Jesus talking to his disciples after they have seen Him go through the impossible. He died on a cross, and now, a short time later, is back in their midst, risen! He has called them together and given them a task and a promise. The task is to spread the word to all the world about who Jesus is - this task has been passed along through the generations and now lies on our shoulders, too. But so does the promise - that He will be with us always, to the end of the age (to the end of history). God is with us, He will help us and will equip us to represent Him well if we allow Him freedom to work in our lives.
Our challenge this week is to remember that God is with us everywhere - and so each time we move to a different place, to think of Him, thank Him for his presence and ask Him help us to be faithful to Him in all we say and do, so others may know Him too.
Matt. 28.20 is our memory verse for the week, too.
Last week, I put some bonus points out there and did get some feedback from it. Thanks. This week, we have fixed the "leave a comment" problems, and so I will again offer a bonus point to anyone that leaves a comment anywhere on the livealifealive.
Have a great week!
Crispy
Here is the scoop from last Sunday's lesson
Our topic of the day was "How can God be everywhere?"
It is a hard thing to grasp that God can be everywhere, see everything, be interested and involved all over the place and be in control of all that is happening and all that is going to happen. But it is true and it has to be true. We can't figure that out because we are limited by our human bodies at being in 1 place at any given time, only.
Here is where our discussion carried us.
first we read Deuteronomy 4.39
God is in control. There is no other like Him. and still he wants to know us and to encourage us as we try to live a life that honors Him
Next, we read Psalm 139.7-12.
This is for me both one of the most encouraging and one of the most convicting passages in the Bible. We all have hard things to go through and it is comforting to know that God is with us and will always be. He is with us, anywhere we go and whatever our situation happens to be, we will not be removed from where God is and where He has power to intervene. However, there is another side to the story in this passage. Some of the verses make it look like David is trying to get away from God. That is not possible either, so that means that God is aware of all that we have done. He is everywhere and so there is no way to hide our sins and the deepest thoughts of our hearts. He knows them all. But the great thing is that He never gives up on us. We never stray too far for Him to find us.
Next, we read Jonah 1.1-4 & 2.1-6
Jonah is an amazing story! It is crazy. Jonah knows what God wants him to do, and chooses not to do it. He heads the other direction, running and hiding from God. We know that this is futile - there is no hiding from God. we know the story, Jonah is thrown overboard and a large fish comes and devours him. So there he is, in the belly of a large fish. This, in my mind is the perfect picture of "rock bottom" I've never been eaten by an aquatic animal, but I don't imagine that there is a lot of hope for survival or expectation of being saved from this situation. But here is the hope of the story - that we can apply to our lives. There at "rock bottom", in the most hopeless of situations, Jonah cries out to God and... ready for it... GOD IS THERE!!! In even the most hopeless situation - when we have nowhere else to turn, God is there. It was true for Jonah and it is true for us as well. And as the rest of the story plays out, we see that not only is there hope in hopeless situations, but God has a plan that can carry through seemingly impossible situations. There is GREAT hope in that. We just need to remember to look for God and hold on to that hope when we can't see a way out.
Finally, we read Matthew 28.18-20
Speaking of impossible situations, Here we see Jesus talking to his disciples after they have seen Him go through the impossible. He died on a cross, and now, a short time later, is back in their midst, risen! He has called them together and given them a task and a promise. The task is to spread the word to all the world about who Jesus is - this task has been passed along through the generations and now lies on our shoulders, too. But so does the promise - that He will be with us always, to the end of the age (to the end of history). God is with us, He will help us and will equip us to represent Him well if we allow Him freedom to work in our lives.
Our challenge this week is to remember that God is with us everywhere - and so each time we move to a different place, to think of Him, thank Him for his presence and ask Him help us to be faithful to Him in all we say and do, so others may know Him too.
Matt. 28.20 is our memory verse for the week, too.
Last week, I put some bonus points out there and did get some feedback from it. Thanks. This week, we have fixed the "leave a comment" problems, and so I will again offer a bonus point to anyone that leaves a comment anywhere on the livealifealive.
Have a great week!
Crispy
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Saturday Bonus Point Opportunity
The facts of this Judge can be found in Judges 8-9
- wrestled control of Israel by executing 70 half-brothers
- Jotham, the one half-brother left, after telling the people they had made a bad choice.
- This judge ruled for a very violent 3 years - ambushing others and being ambushed.
- Was killed when a large rock was dropped on his head, then he asked his assistant to finish him off
- did this so "it wouldn't go down that a woman had killed him".
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday Bonus Point Opportunity
OK, here is today's bonus opportunity.
Found in chapter 3 of Judges.
Here are the 5 facts about this Judge:
- was left handed
- brought a tax payment to wicked king Eglon
- assassinated King Eglon
- escaped and called in the armies to attack Moab to free Israel
- Israel lived in peace for 80 years after
Hunt away!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Thursday Night Bonus Time
Hope you are enjoying these crazy stories from Judges. Here is the bonus point opportunity for today.
Tonight's judge can be found in Judges 4.
The 5 facts about this judge:
- With the help of Barak, defeated the Sisera, the vicious Canaanite who had oppressed Israel for 20 years (warning: the actual death of Sisera is quite brutal)
- made judgements under a palm tree
- Barak, Israel's army commander, asked this judge to go with him into battle against Sisera
- After defeating Sisera, there was peace in Israel for 40 years
- Was also a prophetess of God and the only woman judge of Israel
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Wednesday BONUS POINT Opportunity!!!
Here are the 5 facts about today's Judge.
This story is found in Judges 6 & 7.
1- Called to action by an angel as he was hiding wheat so the enemies wouldn't get it.
2- Snuck into a temple of Baal (false god) and destroyed it at night so he wouldn't get caught.
3- double checked to make sure he was hearing God's leading correctly
4- cut his own army by 90% before going into battle
5- armed his men with musical instruments and lights, not with weapons
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Review from Sunday 10-17 + Bonus Point Opportunity
Here it is club 56ers, a review of our discussion last Sunday, about Where God came from. Stay tuned at the end of this review for a way to earn 5 bonus points for you and your team this week.
OK, so here we go.
As I mentioned, the topic this week was "where did God come from".
First, we read Genesis 1.1-2
This simply tells us that in the Beginning, God was already there, and set to create all that is around us from our planet and all the life on it to the ends of the cosmos. God has always been, there is no beginning to Him. This is more than our simple minds can understand, but we don't need to really get it. We can just trust that it is the case.
Next, we read Isaiah 48.12-13
God describes himself as the first and the last, the one who laid the foundation of the earth and who commands the heavens and the earth.
We compared this to a circle, how there is no start or finish, just continuous.
We then read Psalm 90.1-2 and Psalm 102.24-28
Again, this shows that God has been around since before the mountains were formed, and the world was created.
John 1.1-4 came next. Even the New Testament writers tell us that God created everything, and nothing exists that He didn't create. We also defined eternal.
Finally, we read Revelation 22.13
God is the Alpha and Omega (the A and the Z - the beginning and the end)
It is an easy conclusion to reach from the Bible verses we read - God has always been here. There has never been a time when he didn't exist. And He will never reach an end.
It is a simple conclusion, but a hard thing to wrap our heads around. That is the beauty of faith though. We don't need it to make sense - because it never will. We just need to trust that it is true.
OK, so here is the bonus point opportunity.
Each day that remains this week (Tuesday until Saturday) I will post 5 facts about the person but I will not reveal who it is that I am talking about. I will give some clues, if you figure out who I am talking about, you get a bonus point.
OK, so here we go.
First, we read Genesis 1.1-2
This simply tells us that in the Beginning, God was already there, and set to create all that is around us from our planet and all the life on it to the ends of the cosmos. God has always been, there is no beginning to Him. This is more than our simple minds can understand, but we don't need to really get it. We can just trust that it is the case.
Next, we read Isaiah 48.12-13
God describes himself as the first and the last, the one who laid the foundation of the earth and who commands the heavens and the earth.
We compared this to a circle, how there is no start or finish, just continuous.
We then read Psalm 90.1-2 and Psalm 102.24-28
Again, this shows that God has been around since before the mountains were formed, and the world was created.
John 1.1-4 came next. Even the New Testament writers tell us that God created everything, and nothing exists that He didn't create. We also defined eternal.
Finally, we read Revelation 22.13
God is the Alpha and Omega (the A and the Z - the beginning and the end)
It is an easy conclusion to reach from the Bible verses we read - God has always been here. There has never been a time when he didn't exist. And He will never reach an end.
It is a simple conclusion, but a hard thing to wrap our heads around. That is the beauty of faith though. We don't need it to make sense - because it never will. We just need to trust that it is true.
OK, so here is the bonus point opportunity.
Each day that remains this week (Tuesday until Saturday) I will post 5 facts about the person but I will not reveal who it is that I am talking about. I will give some clues, if you figure out who I am talking about, you get a bonus point.
All of the stories are from the book of Judges in the Old Testament.
Here is the first one:
Found in Judges 14-16
This person :
- Liked to speak in riddles
- once found food in a funny place
- escaped from capture by killing 1000 enemies with an unusual weapon
- got in trouble when he trusted someone who tried to capture him 3 times
- Is mentioned by name in the "faith chapter" in Hebrews 11
**When You figure out who it is, write it down and bring it to Chris on Sunday!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Homework questions for 10/10/10 posted
I've posted the new questions, plus a bonus point opportunity. Click here to see them.
Feed my starving Children happening soon
Hey,
Club 56 will be going to the Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) packing warehouse in Coon Rapids (here is their address and a place to get directions) for our next Saturday activity on October 23. We will meet there at 4:15pm sharp. Our allotted time is from 4:30 - 6:30. I have reserved 35 spots and would love to see them all filled. If you are interested in joining us for this great event, please let me know via message here, email (livealifealive@gmail.com) or phone (612.600.5845)
If you have never been to FMSC before, you really should come and check out what they do. Here is the FMSC web page, if you want to check out the organization.
Parents, I need your help, too. We need a 3:1 student:adult ratio for packing at FMSC. If you are able to join us too, that would be great. I would like to be able to get these places secured soon. If possible, let me know by Sunday please if you are able to come.
Thanks,
CP
Club 56 will be going to the Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) packing warehouse in Coon Rapids (here is their address and a place to get directions) for our next Saturday activity on October 23. We will meet there at 4:15pm sharp. Our allotted time is from 4:30 - 6:30. I have reserved 35 spots and would love to see them all filled. If you are interested in joining us for this great event, please let me know via message here, email (livealifealive@gmail.com) or phone (612.600.5845)
If you have never been to FMSC before, you really should come and check out what they do. Here is the FMSC web page, if you want to check out the organization.
Parents, I need your help, too. We need a 3:1 student:adult ratio for packing at FMSC. If you are able to join us too, that would be great. I would like to be able to get these places secured soon. If possible, let me know by Sunday please if you are able to come.
Thanks,
CP
Review from October 10
Another Sunday came and brought with it another great topic for Club 56ers to mull over. We finished our 4 week unit on friendship by talking about "what if someone needs something from me?" This week, we were challenged to look outside of ourselves, see needs of others and help them get those needs met, even when it is uncomfortable, hard, inconvenient or unnatural. Our whole focus for this unit on friendship brings into mind the difference between what God expects of us and what the world suggests we should do. The world tells us to only like people that are like us and look out for ourself first. Jesus instructed us to love everybody, even our enemies and look out for the needs of others first.
Here is where our discussion went on Sunday.
First we read Luke 10.25-37
This is the story of the good Samaritan. In this parable, The man from Samaria helped the Jewish man, even though the men were from groups of people that hated each other, it was a dangerous place (1 man had already been mugged), and it was an inconvenience and a sacrifice, (taking him to an inn, and paying the bill). What a challenge this is! We are more inclined to help if it doesn't cost us anything, but this event would cost time and money, not to mention the dislike these people groups had for each other. What is our lesson from this. Are we to help people even when there is a cost involved to us? How about if it may put us in a dangerous situation. What about if the person in need is someone that we don't like? Do any of these things exclude us from the responsibility of helping out?
Next, we read Galatians 6.1-5
This passage talks about helping someone who is caught up in sin. Help them but don't be tempted to join them in their sin. We can really help people out if they are struggling to make good choices by loving them and helping guide them to make right choices. This means that we cannot judge them though - which we are so easily tempted to do. Our memory verse is in this passage - verse 3. In the New Living Translation, it tells us not to think we are too important to help others, if we think that, we are fooling ourselves. But we need to guard ourselves against making the same bad choices that they are making. If someone asks you to steal something for them, should we? Can helping people actually hurt them in the long run?
We then looked at Romans 15.1-3
Here we talked about making others happy vs. making ourselves happy. Which is more important? Why does God want us to help others so much?
I really liked the part of the discussion when we were asked, what do you love to do more than anything
like playing a computer game, or reading a good book. If someone comes to you while you are doing this and asks for help doing something that you don't enjoy as much (like folding laundry or vacuuming the family room), what do you do? How easy is it for us to think of someone else's needs above our own?
And Finally, we read 1 Peter 4.11
This passage reminds us that God is glorified when we help others with all the energy and strength God supplies. God will give us what we need to help others out. Will we be obedient and do it, or miss the opportunity by keeping to ourself?
Great discussion everyone!
See you again on Sunday when we start our new unit - Who is God?
Check back later this week as I will post chances for you to earn some bonus points for next Sunday.
Remember, one way that you can earn some bonus points for your team right now is to leave us a comment somewhere on the blog and let us know what you are checking out, and what you like.
CP
Here is where our discussion went on Sunday.
First we read Luke 10.25-37
This is the story of the good Samaritan. In this parable, The man from Samaria helped the Jewish man, even though the men were from groups of people that hated each other, it was a dangerous place (1 man had already been mugged), and it was an inconvenience and a sacrifice, (taking him to an inn, and paying the bill). What a challenge this is! We are more inclined to help if it doesn't cost us anything, but this event would cost time and money, not to mention the dislike these people groups had for each other. What is our lesson from this. Are we to help people even when there is a cost involved to us? How about if it may put us in a dangerous situation. What about if the person in need is someone that we don't like? Do any of these things exclude us from the responsibility of helping out?
Next, we read Galatians 6.1-5
This passage talks about helping someone who is caught up in sin. Help them but don't be tempted to join them in their sin. We can really help people out if they are struggling to make good choices by loving them and helping guide them to make right choices. This means that we cannot judge them though - which we are so easily tempted to do. Our memory verse is in this passage - verse 3. In the New Living Translation, it tells us not to think we are too important to help others, if we think that, we are fooling ourselves. But we need to guard ourselves against making the same bad choices that they are making. If someone asks you to steal something for them, should we? Can helping people actually hurt them in the long run?
We then looked at Romans 15.1-3
Here we talked about making others happy vs. making ourselves happy. Which is more important? Why does God want us to help others so much?
I really liked the part of the discussion when we were asked, what do you love to do more than anything
like playing a computer game, or reading a good book. If someone comes to you while you are doing this and asks for help doing something that you don't enjoy as much (like folding laundry or vacuuming the family room), what do you do? How easy is it for us to think of someone else's needs above our own?
And Finally, we read 1 Peter 4.11
This passage reminds us that God is glorified when we help others with all the energy and strength God supplies. God will give us what we need to help others out. Will we be obedient and do it, or miss the opportunity by keeping to ourself?
Great discussion everyone!
See you again on Sunday when we start our new unit - Who is God?
Check back later this week as I will post chances for you to earn some bonus points for next Sunday.
Remember, one way that you can earn some bonus points for your team right now is to leave us a comment somewhere on the blog and let us know what you are checking out, and what you like.
CP
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Concert review
Steph and I went to a concert a couple weeks back. Click here to find out who we saw and what we thought.
last week's "pulse" is posted
It took a couple days longer than I planned, but the pulse from last Sunday is up. check it out by clicking the pulse tab above.
Boys football game
Hey club 56 boys!
We are having Club 56 this Saturday night for everyone, but I want to invite the boys to come early for a flag football game.
We will meet at 5:00 and play until our regular meeting starts at 6:30. Please come and bring a friend. Also, please have supper before you arrive, or bring your own food with you.
Hope to see you there,
CP
We are having Club 56 this Saturday night for everyone, but I want to invite the boys to come early for a flag football game.
We will meet at 5:00 and play until our regular meeting starts at 6:30. Please come and bring a friend. Also, please have supper before you arrive, or bring your own food with you.
Hope to see you there,
CP
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
new homework questions posted
Hey 56ers,
the homework questions for next week are posted in the students section. Click here to see them
the homework questions for next week are posted in the students section. Click here to see them
Monday, October 4, 2010
Review from October 3
Hey all,
Hope you had a wonderful weekend and that this week is starting out to be a great one too. Here is the scoop on Sunday morning if you missed it.
We continued our discussion on friendship and how to be a good friend, the way that God wants us to be. This week, we talked about what to do if someone is weird. The world tells us at every turn to like people that are like us and to stay away from people who are different. But God tells us to love others, and not to judge them. He loves each one of us the way that we are. Our challenge this week is to show love, kindness and respect to people, even if we think they are weird. Here is the recap of our discussion
First, we read James 2.1-9
This passage instructs us not to judge people by their richness, and not to give preference to people that seem better off. We are reminded that God chose the poor to inherit the the Kingdom and the rich will oppress. Paying special attention to the rich is a sin. We ask, based on this passage, if it is ever ok to discriminate against anyone?
Next we read Romans 16.17-18
Here, the apostle Paul tells us that anyone who causes divisions should be avoided. Is it ok to avoid people that are teaching weird things about Jesus?
Read Matthew 7.1-5
These verses tell us to be careful in judging others. In fact, don't do it at all. We have so much going on in our own lives that need to change are be cleaned up, we have no place in pointing out other's faults. It is a great image, having a log in our own eye, and trying to help someone take a speck from theirs. When Jesus says this, he is reminding us that we all have things in our lives that need to be cleaned up and we should not consider ourselves better than others. If we think someone is weird, how would Jesus want us to act towards them?
Finally, we read John 4.7-10
This is a story where Jesus shows he is willing to engage in conversation with people that he wasn't "supposed" to. Jews and Samaritans do not get along. Jews think Samaritans are low-lifes, and have no business being in the same place. They would just as soon never meet up with Samaritans. And Samaritans are no better, they have nothing by dislike for Israelites. It is a feud that has gone on for generations. And so here is Jesus, asking a favor of the Samaritan woman. She is taken aback by this and asks Him why He is talking to her. Jesus shows that he came for all people.
Our memory verse this week is Matthew 7.4-5. Remember, memorizing this verse will get you 2 points for your team on Sunday for the points competition.
I will be posting a few more things this week, including some bonus point opportunities. Check back!!
Hope you had a wonderful weekend and that this week is starting out to be a great one too. Here is the scoop on Sunday morning if you missed it.
We continued our discussion on friendship and how to be a good friend, the way that God wants us to be. This week, we talked about what to do if someone is weird. The world tells us at every turn to like people that are like us and to stay away from people who are different. But God tells us to love others, and not to judge them. He loves each one of us the way that we are. Our challenge this week is to show love, kindness and respect to people, even if we think they are weird. Here is the recap of our discussion
First, we read James 2.1-9
This passage instructs us not to judge people by their richness, and not to give preference to people that seem better off. We are reminded that God chose the poor to inherit the the Kingdom and the rich will oppress. Paying special attention to the rich is a sin. We ask, based on this passage, if it is ever ok to discriminate against anyone?
Next we read Romans 16.17-18
Here, the apostle Paul tells us that anyone who causes divisions should be avoided. Is it ok to avoid people that are teaching weird things about Jesus?
Read Matthew 7.1-5
These verses tell us to be careful in judging others. In fact, don't do it at all. We have so much going on in our own lives that need to change are be cleaned up, we have no place in pointing out other's faults. It is a great image, having a log in our own eye, and trying to help someone take a speck from theirs. When Jesus says this, he is reminding us that we all have things in our lives that need to be cleaned up and we should not consider ourselves better than others. If we think someone is weird, how would Jesus want us to act towards them?
Finally, we read John 4.7-10
This is a story where Jesus shows he is willing to engage in conversation with people that he wasn't "supposed" to. Jews and Samaritans do not get along. Jews think Samaritans are low-lifes, and have no business being in the same place. They would just as soon never meet up with Samaritans. And Samaritans are no better, they have nothing by dislike for Israelites. It is a feud that has gone on for generations. And so here is Jesus, asking a favor of the Samaritan woman. She is taken aback by this and asks Him why He is talking to her. Jesus shows that he came for all people.
Our memory verse this week is Matthew 7.4-5. Remember, memorizing this verse will get you 2 points for your team on Sunday for the points competition.
I will be posting a few more things this week, including some bonus point opportunities. Check back!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)