Hey all,
Hope you had a great Easter Sunday. Many of you were away this week, so you can see what you missed, and find your homework questions in a few places on the blog. Here is what we did on Sunday
Our topic was "Can I do something so bad, it will keep me out of heaven?"
In class, we looked at a few notorious, infamous people. People that society may consider the worst of the worst.
Al Capone, Josef Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, Jeffrey Dahmer.
Have your parents share what they know about these guys if you want more informaton.
The real shocking story is that of Jeffrey Dahmer. His crimes were gruesome and head scrathing. He was sentenced to over 950 years of prison. While he was serving his time, he was murdered. But before that occured, Jeffrey Dahmer decided to ask Jesus to be his Savior. Some people, Christians included, found it hard to accept that God could forgive him.
In the story of Jonah, we see the same thing. Jonah has undergone a great ordeal to get to Nineveh. He ran from God, dealt with a storm at sea, was swallowed by a large fish, spent 3 days inside the fish's smelly belly, got vomited out onto the shore, and then walked across the huge city of Nineveh, calling for their repentance and a changing of their evil ways. Then, to his utter dismay, the people of Nineveh actually listened, and obeyed, turning from their sin and embracing God. And God showed them grace and spared them. We read this story as part of our discussion - Here are the other verses we discussed.
Jonah 3.10-4.2 Jonah reveals why he fled from God in the first place. He knew that God was a gracious God who could forgive the people of Nineveh, which apparently, Jonah was not prepared to do.
Hebrews 10.26-31 - God's forgiveness does not give us permission to do whatever we want. We are called to a pure and holy lifestyle. We will still make bad choices, we will still disobey God, but God's grace is not to be treated as a "get out of hell free" card, so we can continue deliberately sinning, and living life doing whatever we want to.
Luke 23.39-43 - One of my favorite parts of the Easter story. This shows us that it isn't the good deeds that we do that captures God's attention so He will extend grace to us. The thief didn't do anything but acknowledge that Jesus was innocent and ask that Jesus would welcome him into His' kingdom.
John 5.24 & John 10.27-30 - Listen to Jesus and trust God and you will have eternal life, and once they know me and have received eternal life, NOTHING can take them from my hand! What a great promise that is!
What a great way to spend Easter - discussing how God's grace will reach to cover all sin. Praise Him for His amazing plan, based on His love for us, and extending to anyone that will receive it.
Sorry for this late post - it was a crazy week.
See you tonight and/or tomorrow at church
~~chris
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
The Time has Come for Bonus Points (6 of `em!)
He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
It it time to earn some extra points for your team by answering these questions.
There are 4 special days during this "Holy Week" Can you name them all? .5 points for each one - total of 2 points available)
From Pastor Ivan's Sermon last Sunday
He called Jesus a _________________ servant. (1 point)
How many trials did Jesus face between his arrest and his crucifixion? (1 point)
Pastor Ivan suggested some reasons why Peter followed at a distance (and they are similar to us in our walk with God)
Fill in these blanks:
Peter is afraid of the ___________ of following Jesus too ______________ (.5 each for 1 point)
Peter wants to ____________ into the crowd
We may feel unworthy to recieve God's gift of eternal life That is why Jesus came !! What a great Savior!! What a great God we serve!
6 bonus points are there for you! listen online, talk to your parents or others who were in service, check your own notes because you were listening so closely. Find the answers and get the points, but more importantly, listen to the message and GET THE POINT of why Jesus died for you and for me, and CELEBRATE this weekend, and for the rest of your lives that you have a place in Heaven for Eternity with the God who created it all. Praise Him!!!!!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Review from April 17
Hey y'all
Hope you are having a good week and bracing for the snow!
In Club 56 on Sunday, we continued our look at sin. This time around, it was about the excuses we make,(What if I don't know its a sin?) and does God accept our excuses? To prove the point, we played a strange game where the point was to collect as many of 3 different items as you wished to in 1 minute. The items had different values that were not shared before the contest happened. In the end, there were some bits of information that you didn't know that affected the end result of the game. That lack of information was frustrating. God, however, doesn't withhold any information as to what is right or wrong. It is pretty well stated.
In our discussion groups, we looked at these passages.
Genesis 3. - This is the story of Adam and Eve being tempted by the serpent (and giving in to the temptation) When God comes along and asks where they are, they are hiding, because they know they are naked and they are ashamed. When God asks each of them what happened, they are ready for excuses. We don't like to accept the blame when we mess up either.
Proverbs 24.12, James 4.17, John 15.22-24
These verses speak about how we can't avoid responsibility for our actions. Ignorance is no excuse. James reminds us of an important fact, too - sin isn't just doing what's wrong. It also means not doing what is right. If God is asking us to do something (like live for Him) and we choose to live for ourselves, well, that is also sin. And John reminds us that this is the plan. Since we all have sinned and messed up, we need help. We need a savior. Jesus coming shows us our sinfulness, and at the same time, frees us from it.
John 16.5-15 - Jesus promised to send a helper after he returned to Heaven. This is the Holy Spirit. The very spirit of God that lives in us if we invite Him to. He will guide us in the choices we make, teach us from the scriptures we read, convict us of sin in our lives and filling us with hope of what is to come for the followers of the one true God.
There is a lot of reason to celebrate the verses that we read. God knows of our sin. He shows grace, mercy and compassion to save us from our sinfulness and then to help us live for Him. Our challenge this week is to stop making excuses or trying to justify our sin, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us and guide us in this life to live out our faith so we (and others) may be drawn closer to God.
Look for bonus points coming soon.
~~Chris
Hope you are having a good week and bracing for the snow!
In Club 56 on Sunday, we continued our look at sin. This time around, it was about the excuses we make,(What if I don't know its a sin?) and does God accept our excuses? To prove the point, we played a strange game where the point was to collect as many of 3 different items as you wished to in 1 minute. The items had different values that were not shared before the contest happened. In the end, there were some bits of information that you didn't know that affected the end result of the game. That lack of information was frustrating. God, however, doesn't withhold any information as to what is right or wrong. It is pretty well stated. In our discussion groups, we looked at these passages.
Genesis 3. - This is the story of Adam and Eve being tempted by the serpent (and giving in to the temptation) When God comes along and asks where they are, they are hiding, because they know they are naked and they are ashamed. When God asks each of them what happened, they are ready for excuses. We don't like to accept the blame when we mess up either.
Proverbs 24.12, James 4.17, John 15.22-24
These verses speak about how we can't avoid responsibility for our actions. Ignorance is no excuse. James reminds us of an important fact, too - sin isn't just doing what's wrong. It also means not doing what is right. If God is asking us to do something (like live for Him) and we choose to live for ourselves, well, that is also sin. And John reminds us that this is the plan. Since we all have sinned and messed up, we need help. We need a savior. Jesus coming shows us our sinfulness, and at the same time, frees us from it.
John 16.5-15 - Jesus promised to send a helper after he returned to Heaven. This is the Holy Spirit. The very spirit of God that lives in us if we invite Him to. He will guide us in the choices we make, teach us from the scriptures we read, convict us of sin in our lives and filling us with hope of what is to come for the followers of the one true God.
There is a lot of reason to celebrate the verses that we read. God knows of our sin. He shows grace, mercy and compassion to save us from our sinfulness and then to help us live for Him. Our challenge this week is to stop making excuses or trying to justify our sin, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us and guide us in this life to live out our faith so we (and others) may be drawn closer to God.
Look for bonus points coming soon.
~~Chris
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Here is the 100th Post on Live a Life ALIVE!!!
We launched this blog at the start of the school year. I hope that you have enjoyed what we've got happening here. It will continue to morph and change as we move forward.
Here is the review from last Sunday - a few days later then I planned to have it up. Hopefully some of you will have a chance to get to the bonus points by tomorrow.
We began a new unit last Sunday. It is a fitting one as we approach the Easter season. We are discussing Sin and our need for a Savior.
We started by looking at how easy it is to consider some sins as more serious and "worse" than others. But God doesn't see it that way. We know that we all have sinned and that the cost of our sins is death and separation from God. Now it is true that the consequences that we face for our bad choices, rebellion or unwillingness to do what God asks us may differ depending on circumstances, but the reality is that God cannot be around sin, and so our sin, however small it may be, makes us unworthy to be in God's presence. But His love for us is so strong that he made a way for our sins to be forgiven. We just need to understand our need to be saved, and accept the plan God put in place to rescue us.
Our discussion included these verses.
Luke 1.5-6, 18-20 - John the Baptist's parents are called righteous, but that doesn't mean that they are without sin. Likewise, we are called to be righteous, but still stumble and fail God.
Romans 3.10-13, 23 - God makes it clear here, through this passage that none of us measure up to God's standard. I heard it related this way. If we all jump as high as we can, those that jump the highest can feel happy that they were the tops, but if the standard is being able to jump to the top of Mt. Everest on one hop, well, we fall WAY short of that and there is no reason to be proud of our accomplishments.
Hebrews 4.14-16 - Jesus was fully God AND fully human. I don't get really how that works, but I don't have to. God made it work, and I know that it is truth. Jesus faced all the temptations and hard things that we faced, He can sympathize with us and He wants to help us. Sometimes we forget to seek his help, and we get ourselves in a bind. But He is ready to help us out. The closer we draw to God, the easier it will be for us to turn to Him for help against temptation.
Romans 5.6-11 & Romans 6.1-4 - We used this passage to focus in on what God is teaching us about our sinfulness, where we are in our relationship with God and where we want to go in that relationship. He wants us to be close to him, but he will not force himself into our lives. We need to choose Him
It was a wonderful time. Let's keep it going as we continue to discuss our sinfulness and God's grace in the coming weeks
And now for the Bonus Questions (8 points available)
1- Jesus and the disciples had the Last Supper on Passover. What event does Passover celebrate? (1 point)
2- The Religious leaders of the day felt like they were losing ________________ of the people. Rather than look at themselves and face the truth, they decided to __________________ Jesus. (2 points)
3- Satan's primary battlefield is in the ___________________ (2 points) Romans 12.2, Eph 4.17-19
4- The Gospel message can be stated in these 3 points (1 point for each)
1- Jesus has _________!
2- We are on His ____________
3- Satan is _______________
Here is the review from last Sunday - a few days later then I planned to have it up. Hopefully some of you will have a chance to get to the bonus points by tomorrow.
We began a new unit last Sunday. It is a fitting one as we approach the Easter season. We are discussing Sin and our need for a Savior.
We started by looking at how easy it is to consider some sins as more serious and "worse" than others. But God doesn't see it that way. We know that we all have sinned and that the cost of our sins is death and separation from God. Now it is true that the consequences that we face for our bad choices, rebellion or unwillingness to do what God asks us may differ depending on circumstances, but the reality is that God cannot be around sin, and so our sin, however small it may be, makes us unworthy to be in God's presence. But His love for us is so strong that he made a way for our sins to be forgiven. We just need to understand our need to be saved, and accept the plan God put in place to rescue us.
Our discussion included these verses.
Luke 1.5-6, 18-20 - John the Baptist's parents are called righteous, but that doesn't mean that they are without sin. Likewise, we are called to be righteous, but still stumble and fail God.
Romans 3.10-13, 23 - God makes it clear here, through this passage that none of us measure up to God's standard. I heard it related this way. If we all jump as high as we can, those that jump the highest can feel happy that they were the tops, but if the standard is being able to jump to the top of Mt. Everest on one hop, well, we fall WAY short of that and there is no reason to be proud of our accomplishments.
Hebrews 4.14-16 - Jesus was fully God AND fully human. I don't get really how that works, but I don't have to. God made it work, and I know that it is truth. Jesus faced all the temptations and hard things that we faced, He can sympathize with us and He wants to help us. Sometimes we forget to seek his help, and we get ourselves in a bind. But He is ready to help us out. The closer we draw to God, the easier it will be for us to turn to Him for help against temptation.
Romans 5.6-11 & Romans 6.1-4 - We used this passage to focus in on what God is teaching us about our sinfulness, where we are in our relationship with God and where we want to go in that relationship. He wants us to be close to him, but he will not force himself into our lives. We need to choose Him
It was a wonderful time. Let's keep it going as we continue to discuss our sinfulness and God's grace in the coming weeks
And now for the Bonus Questions (8 points available)
1- Jesus and the disciples had the Last Supper on Passover. What event does Passover celebrate? (1 point)2- The Religious leaders of the day felt like they were losing ________________ of the people. Rather than look at themselves and face the truth, they decided to __________________ Jesus. (2 points)
3- Satan's primary battlefield is in the ___________________ (2 points) Romans 12.2, Eph 4.17-19
4- The Gospel message can be stated in these 3 points (1 point for each)
1- Jesus has _________!
2- We are on His ____________
3- Satan is _______________
Monday, April 11, 2011
Brand New Pulse is Posted
The new pulse is up on the "pulse" tab, or by clicking here. Check it out, and be sure to look at the memory verse for next week, since I didn't draw any attention to it on Sunday Morning. I am going to double the value of it for this week,
So that means if you memorize those 2 little verses, it will be worth 10 POINTS for your team. It is a neck and neck competition so far, so this could be the chance to put some distance between you and the other team. Memorize these verses and challenge your friends to do the same!
Look for the lesson review, more bonus point opportunities and other news and notes tomorrow.
And as for our Club 56 meeting this Saturday. We will attend the 4:15 show of Soul Surfer the Carmike Winnsong theater in Mounds View on Saturday afternoon:
Here is the link to the theater.
So that means if you memorize those 2 little verses, it will be worth 10 POINTS for your team. It is a neck and neck competition so far, so this could be the chance to put some distance between you and the other team. Memorize these verses and challenge your friends to do the same!
Look for the lesson review, more bonus point opportunities and other news and notes tomorrow.
And as for our Club 56 meeting this Saturday. We will attend the 4:15 show of Soul Surfer the Carmike Winnsong theater in Mounds View on Saturday afternoon:
Here is the link to the theater.
It appears at this point that this is the only theater in the metro with a Saturday Show, if you are planning to come, you may want to buy your ticket in advance to ensure you get one. Tickets are $5.
See you then, and remember, parents are invited to come too.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Bonus Point Opportunity and SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Hey all,
Here are some bonus point chances for you, and I have a change of plans for our next Club 56 Saturday activity.
First - the bonus points. (9 available)
I will give 2 points to all who tell me a favorite bible verse and why it is one of their favorites.
And from Ivan's sermon on Sunday which was about Freedom.
About the year of Jubilee in Israel (google it if that helps)
1- How often did it come? (1 point)
2- What did it mean for slaves? (1 point)
3- We live as slaves, no matter what, but we are either a slave to ______________ or a slave to _____________________? (2 points)
Which are you? How do you know? (3 points)
And now for the special announcement.
Our next Club 56 Saturday activity was scheduled for April 16 at 6:30, meeting at church. Instead, we will meeting in the afternoon on the 16th to attend a screening of Soul Surfer. This is the new movie about the Christian surfer who lost an arm to a shark attack, but is now one of the top surfers in the world. Parents are welcome to come too. We will choose a theater and a showtime when we see what the show times are.
Here are some bonus point chances for you, and I have a change of plans for our next Club 56 Saturday activity.
First - the bonus points. (9 available)
I will give 2 points to all who tell me a favorite bible verse and why it is one of their favorites.
And from Ivan's sermon on Sunday which was about Freedom.
About the year of Jubilee in Israel (google it if that helps)
1- How often did it come? (1 point)
2- What did it mean for slaves? (1 point)
3- We live as slaves, no matter what, but we are either a slave to ______________ or a slave to _____________________? (2 points)
Which are you? How do you know? (3 points)
Our next Club 56 Saturday activity was scheduled for April 16 at 6:30, meeting at church. Instead, we will meeting in the afternoon on the 16th to attend a screening of Soul Surfer. This is the new movie about the Christian surfer who lost an arm to a shark attack, but is now one of the top surfers in the world. Parents are welcome to come too. We will choose a theater and a showtime when we see what the show times are.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Homework Questions from April 3 are Posted
The homework questions are up. Click on the "For Students" tab, or click here
Review from April 3rd
Here is what was going on in Club 56 this past weekend.
On Saturday Night, we had a great time with our April Fool's night theme. Wyatt picked up some bonus points for his team by being the first one to solve the word search puzzle. That pushed the boys to their first win in the new points competition. We also talked about how the Devil is a trickster, a roaring lion looking for souls to devour. He wants to trick us into not living up to the potential God sees in us. He wants us to be tricked into thinking our "little" sins are ok and judging others for their "big" sins, or he wants to trick us into thinking that our "big" sins are so big that God doesn't want to use us anymore. O he wants to trick us into doubting God's power or even God's existence. The best way to keep from falling to these tricks is to spend time with God every day, reading our Bible, memorizing and applying it to our lives, learning at church, serving others, praying, and building strength on God our foundation.
On Sunday, we continued our discussion on relationships by talking about boundaries. In groups of 5 we had 1 person stand inside a small circle and spin around 10 times, then keeping their eyes closed, they had to walk around in a small circle without stepping outside or on the line.
The others sounded an alarm whenever the boundary was crossed, and were also challenged to find ways to keep the person inside the boundaries. I like the symbolism of this. We don't always know the boundaries that God has for us, although often we do, but because we are human, it is hard to stay inside these boundaries.
God has set some boundaries in place for us to follow in our relationships both with a special someone of the opposite gender, and in other friendships as well.
We read these passages from the Bible for our discussion
1- Psalm 86.11 & Psalm 119.9-16 - These verses reveal that the most important relationship that we can work on, and where we should always be focusing our attention above all else is on our relationship with God. The second one talks about reading/studying the Bible, obeying God, memorizing scripture and applying it and telling others about God. Great things to work on and build!
2- 2 Corinthians 6.14-18 - tells us to be careful in our relationships with non-believers. I like the picture of this too. Some translations talk about being yoked together - But if our lives are not heading the same direction - if we are living for God and the other person is living for themselves, there will be hard journeys ahead. So don't attach yourself too closely to non-believers.
3- Romans 13.12-14 & 2 Corinthians 7.1 - These verses call us to be pure in our lives, fleeing from or ridding ourselves of all the things that pull us from God. As we talked about on Saturday - the enemy will never stop coming at us until he is dealt with permanently. So we need to be building up our defenses (asking for God's help) every day - many times per day.
4- Hebrews 10.24 - Lastly, we looked at this verse which shows us that we are also responsible to look out for others, spurring them to live a life alive in God, too. We are to challenge each other to be accountable to God's calling.
So there are some great things to think about from last weekend at Club 56. May God guide us as we look to Him for help in living as His witnesses, His light to the world around us. Let's take that responsibility seriously and build our relationship with Him first and foremost.
have a great week - check back tomorrow or thursday for some bonus point opportunities from Pastor Ivan's sermon on Sunday.
~~Chris
On Saturday Night, we had a great time with our April Fool's night theme. Wyatt picked up some bonus points for his team by being the first one to solve the word search puzzle. That pushed the boys to their first win in the new points competition. We also talked about how the Devil is a trickster, a roaring lion looking for souls to devour. He wants to trick us into not living up to the potential God sees in us. He wants us to be tricked into thinking our "little" sins are ok and judging others for their "big" sins, or he wants to trick us into thinking that our "big" sins are so big that God doesn't want to use us anymore. O he wants to trick us into doubting God's power or even God's existence. The best way to keep from falling to these tricks is to spend time with God every day, reading our Bible, memorizing and applying it to our lives, learning at church, serving others, praying, and building strength on God our foundation.
On Sunday, we continued our discussion on relationships by talking about boundaries. In groups of 5 we had 1 person stand inside a small circle and spin around 10 times, then keeping their eyes closed, they had to walk around in a small circle without stepping outside or on the line.
God has set some boundaries in place for us to follow in our relationships both with a special someone of the opposite gender, and in other friendships as well.
We read these passages from the Bible for our discussion
1- Psalm 86.11 & Psalm 119.9-16 - These verses reveal that the most important relationship that we can work on, and where we should always be focusing our attention above all else is on our relationship with God. The second one talks about reading/studying the Bible, obeying God, memorizing scripture and applying it and telling others about God. Great things to work on and build!
2- 2 Corinthians 6.14-18 - tells us to be careful in our relationships with non-believers. I like the picture of this too. Some translations talk about being yoked together - But if our lives are not heading the same direction - if we are living for God and the other person is living for themselves, there will be hard journeys ahead. So don't attach yourself too closely to non-believers.
3- Romans 13.12-14 & 2 Corinthians 7.1 - These verses call us to be pure in our lives, fleeing from or ridding ourselves of all the things that pull us from God. As we talked about on Saturday - the enemy will never stop coming at us until he is dealt with permanently. So we need to be building up our defenses (asking for God's help) every day - many times per day.
4- Hebrews 10.24 - Lastly, we looked at this verse which shows us that we are also responsible to look out for others, spurring them to live a life alive in God, too. We are to challenge each other to be accountable to God's calling.
So there are some great things to think about from last weekend at Club 56. May God guide us as we look to Him for help in living as His witnesses, His light to the world around us. Let's take that responsibility seriously and build our relationship with Him first and foremost.
have a great week - check back tomorrow or thursday for some bonus point opportunities from Pastor Ivan's sermon on Sunday.
~~Chris
Saturday, April 2, 2011
New Links added
Click on the Links tab at the top of the page to check out our whole list of resources and websites that we like and use frequently. I've just added links to Steph's personal blog, and my personal blog too. Check them out, share them around and let us know what you think!
~~Chris
~~Chris
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