New Quarter is Underway

Hello everyone.

I just wanted to let you know that the newest Pulse is posted, and with it are the homework questions.  Also, I just wanted to remind you that the cushions that you all enjoy sitting on and fighting over will be reserved for homework doers, so if you want a comfy seat, answer those 4 questions.

Also I want to let you know that this points competition will look a little different from the others.  We will be having an individual point competition (as opposed to boys vs. girls) the top 5 or 7 point earners from the summer quarter will receive a reward for their work.  Now you have the info you need, what will you do with it?

Check back tomorrow for a review of the verses and things we discussed as part of the mission experience.

Register on-line for Missions Experience

Hey!  Hope you are planning to come to the Club 56 mission experience this weekend.  10am Friday - 1:30 pm.  Click here to go to the on-line registration form.  Cost for this event is $15.  See you then!

~~Chris

Club 56 Mission Experience

The Club 56 Mission Experience is coming up this week.  We will meet Friday morning at 10am at the church and we will be done at 1:30 Saturday afternoon.  Cost for this activity is $15.

The point of the mission experience is to give the 56ers an opportunity to experience a mini-mission trip to serve and share God's love in and around their community.  This year, we will have service projects that include:  making sandwiches for a homeless shelter, volunteering at an elderly care home, helping get the summer programing ready for the Edinbrook church's Lil Kids ministries, and neighborhood cleanup. 

 

56ers will need to bring with them the following things:

- clothes for the whole event (a change of clothes for Saturday, sleeping clothes for the night, maybe an extra shirt if it is a hot day.

- a bible and a notebook

- written permission allowing 56er to travel with us around the area as needed (to the park, street cleanup site and elderly care home)  I will email a sample permission slip to parents.

- Sunscreen

- hang-out activities for more than one person (board games, etc) 

- sleep stuff (pillow, sleeping bag, air mattress or foam pad, etc)

- a flexible attitude and a desire to learn

Please do NOT bring 

- MP3 player/iPod /DS/ Gameboy or other personal gaming/music devices.

- messy prank material (i.e. silly string, stinky sprays, etc)

I am excited about this and I hope that lots of you are able to come.  please let me know that you are coming by emailing me at livealifealive@gmail.com

If you have any questions, you can email me, or call me at 612.600.5845

Review from Sunday, june 12

Hey all,

Hope you have had an amazing week. Here is what we talked about last Sunday.

We were discussing "What Really Matters" and asking if being happy is what really matters.

We read these passages
Colissians 3.10-11 - We read that faith in God is the most important thing.  belief in God is the most important thing that can identify us.
2 Corinthians 6.4-10 - This passage doesn't paint a very happy picture.  It mentions many things that would not make someone happy.  So is it possible to be happy in the midst of this hardship?  What is the difference between happiness and joy?  I see happiness to be very temporary and relevant to what is going on.  but Joy is a state of mind - a choice to find peaceful contentment whatever comes along, because as mentioned in the earlier faith in God is the most important thing we can have. It can help us find joy in hard times because we can trust that God is with us and can overcome whatever we are going through.
Philippians 4.11-14 - Paul writes about having dealt with many situations (having plenty and living in poverty, well fed and hungry) and that we can do anything through Christ who gives us strength,

It was a good unit for discussion because the meaning of life and what it is all about is something that everyone searches for and ponders.  Once we come to know that life is all about having a relationship with God, we can help others understand what is really important in life.

See you tomorrow.
CP

Slight Change of Plans

Hey all you out there in 56er land!

The review from last Sunday will be coming tomorrow but I wanted to let you know today that there is a slight change in our plans for the Club 56 end of year party at our house. It will still be at our house on Saturday June 11, but we will meet at 1:00pm instead of 6:30 as mentioned on the blog and in the bulletin. We will finish up at 3:00 pm. The change is because Steph is going to Miami with the youth group on the mission trip, and so we are moving the event earlier in the day so the evening isn't so rushed for her. Please come at 1:00 we will have hot dogs and drinks. If your 56er could bring a snack/dessert to share, that would be great. If you have any questions or need directions, please email me (lifealivealife@gmail.com) or call (612.600.5845)

Thanks,

Chris

Review from May 15, and some bonus points too,

Hey all, hope you are having a good week, and not feeling too sad that it is so long still until our next Club 56 get-together. In the meantime, here are some things to chew on from our last meeting, plus some bonus points that are taken from Pastor Ivan's message last Sunday. Please note, if you were not there, the questions that I am going to ask are solvable with a little poking around in the bible, or in your own brain. Anyway, on to the review

We discussed "Is being right what really matters?" We all like to be right and we don't like to be wrong. Sometimes, we get so convinced that being right is important that we state and restate how right we are, not thinking about others feelings or perspectives. What should our reaction be? What should we do when we know we are right and others are wrong? How important should being "right" be to us? That was the basis for our discussion.

From the Bible we looked at these passages.
Jonahc4.1-4 - here Jonah is right about God's grace and it is not a happy moment for him. He knows that God will forgive the wicked Ninevites, and Jonah thinks that they shouldn't be forgiven. How quickly Jonah forgets his own disobedience and need for God's grace to be extended to him.
2 Samuel 9.3-7 Here, we read a story about David welcoming Mephibosheth to his household. Mephibosheth is a decendant of King Saul, who tried on several occasions to kill David. It would have been easy to (and in some ways "right") to shun this boy for all that Saul had done, but David chooses to show kindness instead. Is there ever a time when being right is more important than being kind?
Colossians 3.12-13 God has chosen to let his followers (us) be his representitives here on earth. In this passage Paul instructs readers to bear with one another accept each others faults and show love to each other. It is easy to put others down, God challenges us to hold our tongue and not let being right be most important. Remember how God has forgiven us, and treat others like He would treat them.
Galatans 5.22-23 The fruit of the spirit. Fruit is what grows in our life If we want the fruit listed in this passage to come out in our actions and interactions, we need to have the Holy Spirit in us and with full reign over our actions, words and emotions.

Hope you are reading lots of cool things in the Bible about God and how he has been working in the lives of the people. Post a comment about what you are reading and I will give you a bonus point.

I will also give bonus points for anyone who can answer these questions from Pastor Ivan's sermon.
(worth 1 point each)
1- Who were the 2 people that attacked the massive Philistine army in 1 Samuel 14.
2- What was Nehemiah's job before he went to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
3- Abraham had 2 sons. What were their names?
4- (worth 3 points)
What is one way that you can invest in the Kingdom of God?

Have a wonderful week, and a great Memorial Day weekend. There is NO Club 56 this weekend. See you in June.

~~Chris

More Bonus Points

Remember that you can get bonus points by answering the questions that I posted last Saturday about the Club 56 leaders.

Here are a couple more bonus points.

Each is worth 1 point
1- What is the name of the Poet whose free verse video is posted on the livealifealive blog?
2- Tell me what your favorite thing is about Club 56.
3- Tell me one thing you are most looking forward to about summer

Write the answers to these questions and bring them to me on June 5, or email them to me anytime between now and then.

~~Chris
Tune in on Saturday to get the review from Last weekend.

New Pulse is posted

And it is posted with a big Oops! I realize that I forgot to change the date on the Pulse. So please know that it is the current one. Remember you have 3 weeks to get the questions done. Have a great service Sunday week and Memorial day weekend and we will see you again on June 5.
Check out the new pulse here!

New video is posted

We watched a video tonight at Club 56. You can check it out in the "For Students" tab. Let me know what you think!

Pulse is finally posted and so are BONUS POINT QUESTIONS

I am sorry to just get the new pulse put up now, it has been a pretty busy week, and there were an inexplicable number of technical difficulties, but we are overcomers, right!

Anyway, check out the most recent Pulse here


Bonus points (how well do you know your leaders time)
1- What is Chris' favorite candy?  (1 point for knowing it, 2 points for bringing it!)
2- What is the name of Steph's blog about her family
3- What is Kathleen's favorite football team
4- Where is Traci from?
5- Where does Alex work?
6- What is Andrea's youngest son's name?
7- How many children do Mike and his wife have?
8- Tell me one bible story that you read this week and something that you thought was cool about it.
9- Tell me 1 song that you heard this week on KTIS, AIR1 or your iPOD, etc. that you really like!

Have fun, answer what you can and get points for your team!

See you tomorrow!

Review from May 8

Hey guys,

Sorry this is a little late getting out, there were some technical difficulties with Blogger that kept me from posting last night.  They are fixed this morning, so here we go!

We began our new unit last Sunday.  We will talk about "what really matters".  One thing that matters is reading your bible and spending time with God every day.  We really challenged you to make the choice and find the time to do that this week - even in the face of homework and busy schedules.  Where your time with God falls is an inicator of how important He is in your life.  I know that this challenges me all the times that I want to say that I am too busy to spend time with God.  I need to choose to give Him the time and make Him a priority. 

The boys are winning the points competition by quite a large margin.  The girls have pulled out 2 in a row in the final weeks, but this is the largest gap to overcome so it will really test the girls mettle this time. 

Anyway, on to the review.

Our first thought about what really matters were all about "Is being liked what really matters?"
We all like to have friends and are willing to go through a great deal to be liked by others.  But at the end of the day, we really can't completely control what others think of us.  When we follow Jesus, we will have character traits that draw some people and repel others. So we will not always be liked by everyone.  How much should that concern us. 
Here are the passages that we read to help us figure out how much being liked really matters.

John 5.16-18, and 36-44 - Here, we read one of many instances where it is mentioned that people don't like Jesus.  They thought he was doing and saying things that were offensive, and they wanted to silence him, and later on, we hear him say that because they don't know God, their approval or disapproval means nothing.
What lesson is there in this for us about friends that we have that may make fun of us for believing in God. Whose approval matters the most to you?
Galatians 1.10 - This verse (our memory verse for the week - 5 points to all who memorize it!) is all about making God the most important judge in your life.  Don't live to please man - it will be impossible to please everyone anyway - if we strive to please man, we are not servants of God.
Matthew 20.29-32 - Jesus is sending out his followers to go and tell others about Him.  He is telling them that there will be some dangers and hard times ahead, but not to worry,  God watches and takes care of sparrows, he knows everything about us - even the number of hairs on our head, and He considers us more valuable to Him than sparrows. That is how much HE loves us - what should it matter what others think of us.
Psalm 139.17-18 -  Here, we read that God, who controls all the universe - it seems like He would have a lot on his mind - thinks about you and me all the time.  What do we think about in our spare time?  God thinks about us!
2 Corinthians 10.12-18 - This passage reminds us how silly it is to compare ourselves with others.  We have nothing to be proud of in our own lives that we have done on our own power.  Instead, spend your boasting energy boasting about your God. He has done amazing things, see them, recognize them and boast about them, so that others will come to know Him by what He is doing in your life.

So there are a lot of great lessons to take from last Sunday's discussion.  Stop comparing yourself to others.  If you find yourself doing that, use the opportunity to compliment them, build them up and let God speak through you to them. God loves us each more than we can imagine.  Spread His love around!

Tune in tonight for bonus points, the new pulse and who knows what else!

~~Chris

New Pulse is uploaded

Click here to read the new pulse from last Sunday.  Or click on the Pulse tab at the top of the page.  Homework questions can be found there, and will be posted later on this week.

Review from May 1

Whassup!

Here is the stuff we covered last Sunday at Club 56.  We finished our unit on sin, talking about whether we can sin without worry because Jesus forgave us, even for sins we have not yet committed.  

We talked about the part of sin that seems like it is fun.  That is an important consideration because we wouldn't be tempted to sin if there was no gratification in it for us. 

But we were talking about the little ones that seem like they wouldn't be hurtful to others.  Things like staying up past the bedtime our parents have given us, or jaywalking/speeding because we are late, but these can definitely be sins.  It all comes back (like it always done) to what's going on in our heart.  It isn't about the rules, it is about the reasons why we choose to disobey them.  

Here are the passages that we read:

Psalm 51 - King David had messed up big time.  He had taken another man's wife, and then arranged the death of the other man.  But he was a man known to chase after the things of God, a man after God's own heart.  And he knew that his life needed to reflect that.  So he asked God for a clean, pure heart,  a renewed spirit and a life that reflects God's presence.  Being forgiven doesn't mean we don't face consequences of our sins, but to be in right standing with God produces peace on the inside and a weight lifted.

Romans 6.12-15 - This is a tricky passage, we are not to be slaves to sin - We have been freed from sin's power, but that does not give us the right to sin as we wish.  We can do whatever we want, but as true Christ followers, what we should want is to do what is right, and good, and holy and pure.  We have been freed from slavery to sin and choose now to live as slaves to righteousness.

Psalm 32 - This passage reminds us of the blessing of being forgiven.  It challenges us to constantly confess our sins to God - He knows all about it anyway, and ask for his forgiveness.  When we hold our sin inside and do not confess it, it can be harmful to us. We have a mighty and amazing God who will forgive us for what we do.  Take him up on his offer.  Celebrate His love for you.  Do not let the sin in your life get in the way of your relationship with Him. Confess, be forgiven and rejoice.

And now,  for some bonus points from Pastor Ivan's sermon (8 points available)

1- What passage did Pastor Ivan preach from on Sunday ___________________

2- What were the 3 truths about following Jesus that he gave us,  fill in the blanks below

        a- It is the way to start a great  _________________ of God

        b- Following leads to a whole, new ___________

        c- Following God is never a tack-on, but always a life-_______________ choice.

Who were the first 4 disciples that Jesus called to himself

_________, ___________, __________, ___________

~~Chris

Review from Easter Sunday

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

The Time has Come for Bonus Points (6 of `em!)

It is time for some bonus points. Hope you are having a great start to your long weekend and are again amazed at the extent of God's love for you as we focus these days on the death and resurrection of Jesus.
 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!!!!!

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

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 _______________

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.

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.

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.

Homework Questions from April 3 are Posted

The homework questions are up.  Click on the "For Students" tab, or click here