Good morning friends! 

This past week we pressed on in our Gospel Project study of the Old Testament! We took a look at the book of Hosea and the parallels that exist between his persistent and unconditional love for Gomer and God's love for us. Hosea is a fairly graphic book of the Bible, using strong imagery of prostitution and unfaithfulness to describe how we "sell" ourselves to things other than God. Your students all have a copy of a daily discipleship guide that might make for an interesting talking point at home! 

At youth group we talked about the importance of living in Biblical community. That's a pretty big buzz word right now, because social media makes it easy to feel connected to someone without any depth of relationship. I encouraged students to think about the support that their friends provide. the Bible often refers to us as sheep and God as our shepherd. Sheep are not particularly bright, but they survive much better in flocks, and we do too. Being friends with someone often doesn't require a depth of trust that could lead to accountability and many friendships are conditional, but we need that unconditional love and support. I encouraged students to let their close friends know that they held them in high regard and try to establish that kind of community. 

Next week we have our Costa Rica fundraiser on Saturday, and business as usual on Sunday! Thanks for stopping by! 

 Good morning and happy snow day! 

This past Sunday we spent our Sunday School hour in the book of Jonah! Jonah is a character that we usually hear about as children and don't properly revisit later in life.​ It's a story that causes us to think honestly about how we view God. If the God you believe in capable of having a man live in a fish for three days? If throwing Jonah overboard caused the seas to still doesn't raise any flags, why does the fish?

Furthermore, Jonah is a very relatable character. He is given a mission from God to go and bring God's law to a godless and violent people. He gets scared, and tries to geographically run from God's call. God miraculously stop and turn him around, even as Jonah is fleeing His call. Jonah is not a perfect servant, but God is persistent in making use of him! 

Jonah arrives in Nineveh and begins to tell the people about God's law and much to Jonah's surprise, they repent! Jonah doesn't expect God to have mercy on them (ironically, considering God just had mercy on Jonah in his own disobedience,) and gets a little snotty when God doesn't act like Jonah wants Him to. Some people might think of Jonah as a drama queen here, but I think we are often guilty of similar feelings. We all have an idea of how we think God should act, and tend to get frustrated when He doesn't do what we think He should. 

We didnt have youth group because of the fall service weekend, which was a huge success! Thanks to all those who came and helped! 

See you next week!

Good morning parents! 

This past week we spent out Sunday School hour in 2 Kings and talking about Elisha's encounter with the Syrian army! We saw Elisha and his servant looking out at a surrounded city, and Elisha's servant was scared. Elisha prayed for God to open his eyes, and he was able to see chariots of fire surrounding the Syrians. Elisha prayed fro God to strike them with blindness (or confusion) and led them into the middle of the Samaria. Instead of slaughtering them, Elisha told the king of Israel to feed them instead and sent them back home. 

Instead of using his power to smite the Syrian army, God demonstrates his power and his mercy! This isn't "fair" though, and we often think of God as unfair in the punishments he dishes out. Rarely do we look at stories like this where God stays his hand and shows incredible mercy where none is deserved. Next week we are moving out of 2 kings and pushing into the prophets! 

In youth group we spent some time talking about how God's Justice and our concept of fairness are two separate things. 
We spent some time in Matthew 20, talking about the laborers in the vineyard. The people who worked a full day were given the same pay as the ones that worked only a few hours. Depending on what side of the equation you are on, we would feel very differently about that. Salvation often works the same way, and our concept of fair cannot understand God's infinite grace. 

Next week we have the service retreat! Thanks for stopping by!