Happy St. Patrick's Day!

On this day where you may have enjoyed some green eggs and ham, some green ketchup at Burger King, a green beverage (like a Shamrcok Shake!), or have taken in some parades or irish dancing, remember that today can be more than just another excuse for the world to eat, drink, and be merry. The man celebrated today (which is widely recognized as the anniversary of his death), Saint Patrick, was a missionary.

There is not much known about Patrick's ministry and there are a lot of unconfirmed legends associated with him, so he is somewhat of a mysterious figure, but from what I have read, he was taken as a slave at around sixteen years old and was a captive for several years before fleeing and returning home in his early to mid-twenties. During his time of captivity, his faith grew. Some of his writings have been recovered, including several letters. It seems that he was known for rebuking his fellow Christians and it is said that he used the shamrock to teach others about the Trinity.

So as we wear our green shirts and see all those shamrocks around us, let them remind us of the life that Jesus' death and resurrection give us and keep us thinking about who God is as we continue to grow in Him each day. Let it also give us a reason to praise God for those who came and went before us who gave their lives to advance His kingdom!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Todd

It’s time to have ‘the talk’ with your kids – the money talk.

I came across this article today and thought it was very useful. It provides helpful guidelines on how to introduce your children to the concepts of Earning, Spending, and Saving wisely. Of course you can add Giving to that as well.

We The Savers: Having the Money Talk with Your Kids (I found the article was slow to load, but it eventually will.)

They include a helpful chart of how to introduce these concepts by age:

• Age 3-5:
• You need money to buy things
• You earn money by working
• You may have to wait before you can buy what you want
• There’s a difference between what you want and what you need
• Age 6-10
• You must make choices about how to spend your money
• You should shop around for the best deal
• It’s dangerous and costly to share too much information online
• Put your money in a bank account to protect it and earn interes
• Age 11-13
• It’s smart to save 10% of what you earn
• Entering credit card or Social Security numbers online puts you at risk of identity theft
• The earlier you save, the more you’ll have in the long run
• A credit card is a loan and you’ll owe more than you spent if you don’t pay your bill in full each month.
• Age 14-18
• College is expensive and you should choose a school and student loans based in part on your career expectations
• You should avoid using credit cards for things you cannot afford in cash
• You pay taxes on your income and should budget for take-home pay, not gross pay
• A great place to save and invest is a Roth IRA
• 18+
• You should never be without health insurance
• You should use a credit card only if you can pay off the balance every month
• You should always diversify your investments and pay attention to the costs associated with various investment products

~Susannah

Lesson Loop 3.8.12

This week in our student ministry:

Third Place: "Students share about missions:"
We had 3 of our students share about how God used them this past year on missions endeavors.
Brendan B. - Habitat for Humanity
Tiffany F. - Missions Trip to Russia (teaching English and sports camp)
Emily B. - Missions trip to Dominican Republic

It was so awesome to hear how God is using our teenagers for His glory around the country and even around the world!

Lucid: "Transforming, not Conforming"
We looked at Romans 12, and we considered how God calls us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we are not caught up in all the ways that the world thinks. We do this by filling our heads and hearts with the Word of God.
Here are some of the ways that the world thinks about things according to our students:

The temptation to use shame and guilt as a parent

Parents -
Check out this video  - it is a very good reminder.
I know I was blessed by it.

How Shame and Guilt Can Enter into Parenting

Sometimes by Step

Many of us know the worship chorus, "Step by Step" by Rich Mullins...but I think the words to the verses (the full song is called "Sometimes by Step") are pretty awesome as well...

Sometimes by Step

Sometimes the night was beautiful
Sometimes the sky was so far away
Sometimes it seemed to stoop so close
You could touch it but your heart would break
Sometimes the morning came too soon
Sometimes the day could be so hot
There was so much work left to do
But so much You'd already done

CHORUS:
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days

Sometimes I think of Abraham
How one star he saw had been lit for me
He was a stranger in this land
And I am that, no less than he
And on this road to righteousness
Sometimes the climb can be so steep
I may falter in my steps
But never beyond Your reach

CHORUS

And I will follow You all of my days
And I will follow You all of my days
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days
And I will follow You all of my days
(Sometimes the night was beautiful)
And I will follow You all of my days

Lesson Loop 1.27.12

This Week in our student ministry:

THIRD PLACE: "Difficult Responses to the Gospel"
We wrapped up our study on evangelism by studying some of the difficult responses that we face when we share Christ with people. We looked at the following:

Anger
1 Corinthians 13
Romans 12:18-21

What if God isn’t real?
Romans 1:18-25
Genesis 1-3

Why does God allow bad things?
Genesis 3
Romans 5:12-14
Romans 8:18-39
Romans 9 - vesses of honor and vessels of dishonor - but all for God's glory

Why are there so many religions?
Ecclesiastes 3:11
Romans 1

Maybe they are all correct?
John 14:6-7
1 John 5:11-13
Acts 4:10-12
Hebrews 2:3-10
Matthew 7:13-14

I’m not a sinner
Romans 3:11-23
Romans 5:12-14
Jeremiah 17:9
Ten Commandments

Bible is just a book
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Hebrews 4:12

LUCID: "Follow Me"
We looked at how Jesus called His first disciples, and they left everything to follow Jesus. We talked about the trends that we follow in this day and age, and how unfortunately for some people following Jesus is like following a fad. If we are going to truly follow Jesus, we need to have faith in Him, and be willing to follow wherever he takes us, even though it will be difficult at times.

We ended by considering what following Jesus is all about - it is about relationship. I had students think of what has made their friendships great, and then realize that these are the very things we need to have in our relationship with Christ - communication, trust, time, etc...

An illustration on receiving...

Here is a quick story…

He heeds the call to go. He runs the route planned out for him. He is open. His arms go up, wanting you to look at him. You see him and you find him because he is where you want him to be. He keeps running, all the while, he is being chased by those who want to bring him down. There you are, clearing his path. They cannot get to him and he reaches the goal. He celebrates where he is now and there you are standing by his side. He embraces you. You celebrate together because you could have done this yourself, but you chose him to be here and he wouldn’t be here without the one who found him.

Is this story about football?