Dear Mom & Dad

This month in Velocity we’ve been going through a series called LIFE.  We’re talking about some of the major parts of life and this week, both on Sunday and tonight at V-Groups, we talked about parents.  We gave kids a chance to write anonymous notes to their mom & dad and we wanted to share some of their comments with you.  They’re pretty powerful!

Dear Mom & Dad,

• Thank you for loving me and giving me the opportunity to have a relationship with God. I am sorry if I don’t understand where you are coming from at times. I love you guys.
• I wish that we talked about God more in everyday life.
• I wish my mom and stepdad would listen to me more after they get home from work instead of watching TV.
• I wish we could go out and do more things.
• I like it when you spend individual time with me, like playing basketball or going to lunch with me.
• It seems like you are never home.
• I wish that you would not yell.
• I just wish I could get you to sit down and actually listen to me instead of just saying “I’m the adult, you’re the child.” It makes me feel like you think I’m stupid.
• I wish you would spend time with me.
• Help me. Listen more often.
• I do not think that I say sorry enough.
• I wish you knew how much I really appreciate you.
• Make more rules.
• I am so happy that you give me so many rules. It helps me.
• I wish you knew how much I appreciate you and what you do for me.
• I love you. Thank you for being kind. I wish you could know that I want to spend more time with you.
• I can’t say how much I love you.
• I love you so much! You mean so much to me. I am so proud to be your child.

 Love,

Your Child

Weird Series – Matthew 5 1/2

This week we’re beginning a terrific series called “Weird.”  We’ll be following along with the rest of the church in this series, with some super fun Jr. High twists.  This week as we kick off we’ll be looking at Matthew 5 and we’ll see Jesus take many of the teachings of their day and turn them on their head.  Jesus called the people then to go against the norm and be weird.  He’s calling us to the same today. 

With the remaining four weeks, we’ll be taking a look at several specific ways Jesus calling us to be weird.  To go along with each, we’re crafted a New Revised Velocity version of Matthew 5 1/2 with some of Jesus’ potential teachings for each week. 

Weird Wear Sundays

This Sunday, along with the rest of the church, we’re beginning our Weird series in Velocity.  It’s a great opportunity to learn about the incredible, and weird, life Jesus is calling us to.  It’s also a chance for us to let a little weird out, always a good thing in Jr. High! 

Each week during our series, we’re challenging students to dress weird.  We’ve got a theme for each day, but most of all we just want you to be weird!

• 10/9 – The Case For Weird – Anything Weird Day
• 10/16 – Adopt a Weird Schedule – Dress Like You Parents Day
• 10/23 – Build Weird Relationships – Twin Day
• 10/30 – Very Weirdly Yours – Purple Day
• 11/6 – Carry A Weird Wallet – Celebrity/Costume Day

We’re looking forward to lots of fun stuff.  Just make sure you’re fully clothed and keep it church appropriate (don’t go to scary or violent).

Can’t wait to see lots of weirdos this Sunday!

Homosexuality

This month in Velocity we’ve been tackling some of the most difficult questions to face any Jr. High student. So far, we’ve discussed:

• Is it ok to have doubts?
• How do we know the Bible is true?
• Is Evolution fact?

This coming week we’re tackling one of our most difficult, but important questions yet. We’ll be covering the question, “What does the Bible say about Homosexuality?” In the culture our kids are growing up in, there aren’t many topics that will be much more important for our students to understand. However, since the topic is a little more sensitive than most, we wanted to make sure parents know ahead of time. If you don’t feel this topic is appropriate for your student feel free to have them attend adult worship or ABF with you this week.

Just Add Beach Balls

If you weren’t at Velocity on Sunday you missed a really fun morning. We signed close to 700 beach balls to send to our friends in Kenya. You can check out some of the pictures on our Facebook page now. We also watched a video shot in Kenya several years ago showing life in the Mathare slum and the difference the Missions of Hope schools have made in the life of several students we sponsor. Visit our Just Add Hope website to see the video and find out more.

And a quick video of our fun together:

Exposed Messages

We’re now two weeks into our Exposed series and we’ve gotten a great response so far. I’ve heard from a number of parents interested in more information about what we’re discussing so I wanted to pass on what I can to help best equip you to talk with your child. It could also be helpful if you’ve had to miss one of the weeks for any reason.

The series is based on something done at another church so I’ve attached their original outlines. I’ve also included mp3s of the audio for each message so far and even video (it’s a rough cut as we originally only intended to use the audio) of week two’s message.

1. 2/13- What was God thinking? -- Original outline,Message audio(right click to download)
2. 2/20- What went wrong? -- Original outline, Message audio(right click to download), Video (low quality…first try by one of our students but could still be helpful)
3. 2/27- What’s a Jr. Higher to do? -- Original outline, Message audio (right click to download)

PARENTS: This can be a tough topic to discuss with your kids but I’d encourage you to take advantage of this as an excuse to talk for the first time, or talk more in depth, about these topics. Look over the things we’re discussing in this series and then set aside a time now to get some ice cream or go to starbucks and talk things through. With such an important topic we want to make sure we address it with our kids at church but the real lessons will be learned, and lived, at home and throughout the week.

As always, if you’ve got any additional questions or if there is any way we can help, don’t hesitate to let us know.

Finally, as a little added bonus, you can check out our Jr. High band leading us in the song Like a Lion from this past Sunday.

*Post updated 3/1/11 to include final message audio

Exposed Series

In a world where students are bombarded with false messages about love and sex every day, it is vital that they hear the truth about God’s plan. On February 13th we will begin a new 3 week series in Velocity called Exposed: God’s Plan for Love & Sex. We’ll cover three big questions:

1. What was God thinking? – God’s plan, intended for man & woman inside marriage
2. What went wrong? – Four lies the the world tells about sex
3. What’s a Jr. Higher supposed to do? – Five steps toward purity

Parents: Obviously this series will address topics a little more sensitive than an average Sunday. They will all be Jr. High age appropriate but if parents have questions or concerns they are free to contact ChrisS@wschurch.org. If you feel your student isn’t ready to hear this material they are welcome to attend adult worship/ABF with you instead during the series.

R.O.O.T.S. Series

To kick off 2011 we’ll be going through a new series on spiritual growth called, R.O.O.T.S. It focuses on equipping students to take responsibility for their own spiritual growth. Each week kids will be challenged with a new way they can begin growing to develop their own faith. To help them, we’ve designed spiritual growth tools for each week’s topic. You can preview each of the tools right now.

In addition to the ROOTS tools for students, we’ve created a parent discussion guide for families to use together. You can download a copy here or pick one up in E205 this week. Then use it to talk with your family about how you are all growing and how you can help each other develop spiritually.

STUFF: Toast

This week we continued our series called “Stuff.” Each week we’re taking a look at a different everyday object to see how we can use it to apply God’s word to our lives.

This week we took a close look at Toast. We played Toast Toss, watched Toast videos and most importantly talked aboutwhat God can teach us through something as simple as toast. As we try to discover God’s plan for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11), we’ve got to learn to understand God’s timing. Just like with toast, if we try to rush it we end up with something undercooked and if we don’t watch and look for how God it working we can get burnt. In the end, the most important thing is learning to trust God’s timing (Proverbs 3:5-6) and know that he wants to lead us in an incredible life, even if we don’t always understand it at the time.

STUFF: Trash

This week we continued our series called “Stuff.” Each week we’re taking a look at a different everyday object to see how we can use it to apply God’s word to our lives.

This week we took a close look at Trash. One of the grossest chores we have to do can be taking out the trash. The key is not ignoring it and letting it build up on you. Our lives are the same way. We all have garbage in our lives (sin) and God wants to help us clean it out. Just like taking out our literal trash, we need to: 1) Look for the trash in our lives (ask God to show us our sin – Psalm 139:23-24), 2) Take out a load (confess to God and sometimes others – 1 John 1:9) and 3) Repeat that process regularly.