Smart Stuff Week 3

We continued our video series at Breakfast Club based on the Book of Proverbs, called Smart Stuff. Today we talked about who we tend to hang around, who do we call our friends? Are they typically people who build us up and make us more like Jesus or less like Jesus?

Proverbs 22:24-25
Don't befriend angry people or associate with hot-tempered people, or you will learn to lie them and endanger your soul.

Since our friends influence the way we speak and act, choose wisely.

Your challenge this week is to take a moment and think about your closest friends. Create a list of how these friendships have helped you become a better person and a more dedicated follower of Jesus. Pick some ways you can "return the favor" this week to two or three friends. Look for real-world ideas that can help your friends grow closer to Jesus - or discover what it means to follow Jesus. And if your friendships seem to be pulling you away from Jesus, pray that God would help you develop healthy friendships with other followers of Christ.

In Christ,

Nancy

Crop Walk

Church World Service works with partners to eradicate hunger and poverty and to promote peace and justice around the world. Together we reach out to neighbors in need near and far--not with a hand out, but a hand up. So, if you’re looking to help build a better world—a world where there’s enough for all—you can do it!

Around the world, Church World Service supports sustainable grassroots development, disaster relief, and refugee assistance, and we educate and advocate on hunger-related issues. In the U.S., they help communities respond to disasters, resettle refugees, promote fair national and international policies, and provide educational resources.

I invite you to join me and other Geneva Youth on Sunday, October 17 for the Plymouth-Canton Crop Walk. I have created a Geneva Youth Team at the Church World Services site. You can sign up to walk and ask people for donations. Sign up here: Crop Walk Search for Geneva Church Youth

I hope you can walk with me!

October Events and Activities

In an effort to make my weekly emails to you a little shorter I am going to explain some of the upcoming activities and events here. I hope you can add these to your calendar.

Here are the ongoing opportunities for you to come to church and strengthen your relationship with Jesus Christ:

Sundays we meet for Breakfast Club (every week!) from 9:45 to 10:45. For the next 3 weeks I will continue to lead the group in learning about the SMART STUFF God has shown us in Proverbs. On October 24, Stephanie Edgerton will lead the group for a while. Yummy food and relevant discussion takes place during this time.

Wednesdays, beginning September 29, we will have LIfeStream. Our first topic will be 'tough choices.' We will look at the difficult decisions you, as middle school students, have to make in your lives right now. I hope you can join us on Wednesdays to search, question, and join the discussion. We will also be using time on Wednesdays to plan and prepare for our youth-led worship services.

Speaking of Youth-led worship... every 2nd Sunday (starting October 10) the youth will lead worship at 11:00 in the lighthouse area. You are invited to participate, or just come to this age-appropriate worship. Youth will be leading worship with song, prayer, dramas, puppets, messages, and scripture reading.


Fellowship activities are perfect opportunities to bring a friend:

Sunday, October 3 - right after the 11:00 service we'll have lunch in the youth room and watch a movie. Bring your own lunch and sign up on the bulletin board to suggest a movie.

Sunday, October 10 - CORN MAZE! We will head over there after the 11:00 service. They have hotdogs, and chili and stuff like that for lunch. If you don't want that you can bring your own. After we eat there, we'll have fun in the corn maze.

Sunday, October 24 - Bowling! We'll walk over to McDonalds for lunch after the 11:00 service then head over to the SuperBowl for bowling.


Help to be the hands and feet of Jesus at these mission activities:

Sunday, October 17 - Crop Walk in Plymouth. Sign up and get a few pledges to help Church World Services hunger programs. We can go out to lunch before the walk, then all walk together.

Saturday, October 23 - Wayne Family Center dinner. Remember when we helped at the Wayne Family Center this summer? This is a family homeless shelter. They don't have any food provided on the weekends, so we're going to bring dinner and fellowship with the residents.

Saturday October 30 (around 4:00?) - Trick or Trunk (Trunk or Treat?) - Technically, this is a mission activity but you're going to have fun! The children of Geneva are invited to come to church for "trick or treating" from the trunks of members cars who are parked in the parking lot. We (though youth groups) will plan and provide games and activities for the children to do before they go trick or treating. After the kids trick or treat, you can, too!

I hope that I see you at these events. Don't forget to bring a friend!

The complete October calendar is on the bulletin board at church. Let me know if you want a copy in calendar form.

Blessings,

Nancy

Smart Stuff Week 2

We continued our video series at Breakfast Club based on the Book of Proverbs, called Smart Stuff. Today we talked about how our words can hurt other people whether we are talking to them specifically or even about them (like gossip.)

Proverbs 25:18 (NLT)
Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow.

One of the best strategies for stopping negative talk in our lives is to intentionally use positive, encouraging words.


Your challenge this week:
Choose three people—family members, friends, or classmates—and find a way to communicate something positive to them this week. Send a text, write a letter, post a comment online, or express your thoughts verbally. See how your words impact those people’s lives, and consider making it a habit to say or write something encouraging to at least one person each day.

God's Way is the Best Way

Yesterday we started our 5-week video series at Breakfast Club based on the Book of Proverbs, the series is called Smart Stuff. We talked about how God wants the best for us, and that we should listen to him. We learned that the book of Proverbs are wonderful tidbits of wisdom from God.

Proverbs 1:1-3 (NLT)
These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair.

We need to read and understand, but we also have to use what we know to live!

Your challenge this week:

Think about one area of your life where you sense God would like to see some changes. It might be something big, or it could simply be an area where you need to take some small acts of obedience. Write down two or three steps you can take this week to grow in this area. Share those steps with a friend who can help you remain accountable.

I'll check in with you next Sunday to see how you did...

Gearing up for a new year

Hey everyone,

I use this blog to write about events, information, thoughts and ideas about the middle school ministry at geneva Church. I encourage you to share your ideas and thoughts and questions with me here in the comments section or in person. Check back often!

I'm making plans for middle school ministry. I'm excited about journeying together as we get to know more about Jesus Christ and each other and the church. I've got a few events listed (on the right) and I'll be adding more. Some events will just be the middle school and some events will be with the high schoolers *they aren't scary!). I'll have a sign up for Breakfast Club on the middle school bulletin board at church, or you can email me and tell me when you want to bring food.

See you at church,

Nancy

Detroit Day Five and Final Reflections

We're back!

Our final day in Detroit was filled with laughter and tears, joy and sadness. We are tired, and yet also feel revived. We woke up this morning, packed up our stuff and cleaned up the areas of the church we were using. I was happy that Keith McBain, our property elder had spent the night with us, so he could get the cleaning supplies ready for us. at was definitely good scheduling! After a brief stop at Starbucks for coffee (just for the adults) we were headed downtown to have breakfast served at Fort Street.

After breakfast, we set up for a special closing worship service. The service was lead by the Youth from the Presbytery of Detroit (POD), the church from Indiana and us. We praised God, sang, read scripture and listened to a message by one of the youth from Calvary Church. The kids from Geneva acted out the story of the Good Samaritan. It was a wonderful way to end our week together - worshipping and praising the Lord that opened our eyes this week and gave us this wonderful opportunity to serve Him through the people of Detroit.

After many group pictures and good byes we walked over to my favorite downtown Detroit restaurant, Lafayette Coney Island and ate lunch. It was a beautiful day to walk the streets of Detroit once again. On the way back we saw a few people in need, not too far from Fort Street. We were able to hand out our last two sack lunches! What a joy that was.

We spent a few hours after lunch at the Detroit Science Center. We were very happy to be able to see our friend, Rick Russell, who helps a lot with Geneva Middle School Ministry and also works at the Science Center. We had lots of fun together laughing at Marilyn's hair sticking up with electricity (though it was NOT much fun when she shocked me!!)

When we came back to Geneva we gathered together, read from scripture the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples and we had a foot washing/prayer ceremony. This ceremony is very emotional for many of us. We have time to reflect about the love of Jesus Christ, the joy of being a servant and what it means to serve Jesus through serving others. This was a great way to end our week together.

I had a fantastic week. Watching the youth and adults working together, seeing the joy on everyone's face, being open to wherever God was leading them this week renewed my heart. Our kids, and the youth from Indiana and the POD brought a little bit of hope to Detroit this week. More importantly, Detroit brought hope to them. In this desolate, violent, poor, blighted city, we saw joy, and laughter, and love and giving spirits.

Our youth once again blew me away with their spirit and willingness to help (except some of the 'not-so-morning people had a little harder time....) They never backed away from a challenge. They never complained about the hard work, they never complained about who they were working alongside. They did everything with joy and compassion. It was such a pleasure to see the attitudes of these young people. They pushed themselves way past their comfort zones and did more than they possibly thought they could. Speaking and praying with strangers, 'farming' for hours on end in the hot sun, leading worship, and seeing God in EVERYONE they met.

I'm very happy we chose to do our mission trip to Detroit this year. I am especially excited because we've made connections and friends with people we can see and serve and be with again, not just for a week every few summers. We can see what impact we have made in the community garden when we go back to harvest it. We can catch up with the friends we met eating at the soup kitchen, and we can work alongside and fellowship with our new friends from the churches in Detroit. We can serve this city again and again and again.

We thought we we would find sadness and down-filled spirits. We thought we'd see a city falling apart, losing hope and with no future. Instead, we met people who were proud of their city, who were working to help make it a better place through shelters, community gardens, youth programs, domestic violence programs, educational programs and hunger programs. We understand that with enough hope, with the help of God, with the commitment of God's people working together, the city of Detroit can have a future. It's going to take some time, and I hope we can continue to be a part of Detroit's future.

Thanks for praying for us and blessing us with your support for this trip. We hope that next time you can join us!

Once again, good night.