Wrapping up February

Recent February happenings...

Children "gettin' their praise on" at Kids Klub:

Doing homework, painting, and enjoying our glorious weather at Rec Center:

Auction items arriving nearly every day:

Time will tell if this is catastrophic or brilliant, but Aim Right is officially entered into the Phoenix division of this contest:



You can visit our campaign "page" here to support us with cash or jumps.


The Monday night teen Bible study group has been challenged by the "Not a Fan" series by Kyle Idleman. He challenges youth (all of us, really!) to not just be a "fan" of Jesus but a committed "follower."



And, finally...youth will be wrapping up February by participating in the 30 Hour Famine this weekend, with a focus on being spiritually hungry. Please pray for strength to complete the fast, good attitudes, and a blessed time of learning and growing.

Saying Good-bye

The time has come.
Your days are done
Storing
Leaking
Peeling
Dangling
Clanging
Fighting entropy.

You will rest in peace
from our
Shoving
Slamming
Glaring
Staring
Scrubbing
Fighting entropy.

It's been a long time in coming, but Lord willing, a kitchen remodel will soon take place!

Friday Links

FAQ: Fear
The Stanley clan, a family living and serving in the inner city, answers a simple question and delivers some deep truths.

Bible Minded Cities: 2014
Out of 100 cities, Phoenix is ranked 93. Ouch.

Locally Grown: 58,000 Pencils
Give each of the kids at your church $2.00. Ask them to use it to earn money for missions.

Kids Klub 2.12.14

Yesterday evening, Christian taught the Bible lesson to the older grades.

Then we split into two classes and reviewed the memory verse using a balloon game. There's something about getting to pop balloons that is "cool" for 5 year old's to 12 year old's. As the balloons were popped one by one, the memory verse words disappeared, and the classes were soon saying the verse with little help at all.

Rec Center Action

The fun level seemed to be quite high at Rec Center this afternoon!

These girls were doing the cha-cha-cha.

Teen Night 1.31.14 and Christmas Project Items

The Rec Center snack stand is now open and has been a big hit already. As you can tell from our price list below, the corner store doesn't stand a chance. They may have a broader selection, but we keep our prices low, and that has gained us some customer loyalty. Extra-tall cans of flavored iced teas and Gatorade are popular items, but if you want a chocolate bar or a fresh-from-the-microwave Hot Pocket, we've got those, too.

The snack at Teen Night? Tostadas!

We encourage healthy eating by letting a cute 4-year-old serve the lettuce. You wouldn't deny her the pleasure of piling lettuce on your plate, would you?

Caleb's object lesson on Friday evening involved a large container, ping pong balls, and rocks. The rocks represented "meaningless" choices, like what kind of cereal you eat for breakfast or what color of socks you wear. Caleb explained that it's easy to go aimlessly through life, making lots of "meaningless" choices without taking the time to focus on the "important" choices. The "important" choices were represented by ping pong balls and included categories such as God, Health, Friends, College, Marriage, and Jobs, to name a few.

If you fill your life with only meaningless choices (rocks), the container fills up, with no room for the "important" choices. BUT if you focus on the "important" choices (ping pong balls), prioritizing a relationship with God, healthy friendships, and good habits, the ping pong balls and the rocks all fit nicely in the container.

Pictured below are a few of the items we were able to purchase with funds that donors contributed towards our Christmas projects. Thank you to all who gave!

An Object Lesson

The word on the street is that there will be another object lesson at Teen Night this evening.

A few weeks ago, Caleb did this experiment involving a candle and two balloons.

First, Caleb talked about the ways we try to be good and earn God's favor: we go to church, we read the Bible, we show kindness to others. Slips of paper with those good and noble actions were put inside a balloon; the balloon was blown up and exposed to the flame of a candle. Let's just say that the loud and explosive result had the attention of everyone in the room!

Next, Caleb talked about having a relationship with the living God, not just doing good things.
That relationship fills you with God Himself -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Caleb used water to represent the Trinity and poured a little water into another balloon and blew it up. When that balloon was exposed to the flame, guess what? There was no ear-splitting bang or pop; it remained intact.

"For My people have done two evil things: They have abandoned Me -- the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all." Jeremiah 2:13

"Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.' " John 7:37-38