JUNIOR HIGH SUNDAY SCHOOL

Today we look at, "Poor Mama, The Giving Queen (the poor widow on giving).

Our main passage is Mark 12:41-44 and our goals are to: understand how God is less interested in how much we give and more interested in why we give as well as to choose a way to give this week.

Our memory verse for the month has been Hebrews 4:14-16

CORNERSTONE YOUTHQUEST BASKETBALL

We had another full house with over 50 boys out!!! Congrats to Bassel and Nirogen for MVP honours today. They displayed perseverance on and off the court. Great run guys. See you next week!

JUNIOR HIGH YOUTHQUEST

SPONTANEOUS MELODRAMA

SAM THE MIGHTY MAN - check out this skit done by Cornerstone's finest junior high youthgroup. It tells the story of Samson and points towards making choices based on values rather than experience.

Remember - spontaneous melodramas means... no rehearsal!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi51FAp-d98

SENIOR HIGH YOUTHQUEST

Check out our senior high youth group fooling around. This is Jam session #1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38gogXL4iCY

JUNIOR HIGH SUNDAY SCHOOL

Moe's Mom - The Cruise Director
Moses' mother, on trusting God in difficult circumstances

Today, we look at the story of Moses' birth. Our goal is to understand that God will take care of us in difficult situation and to make a commitment to trust God in those difficult times. We look at Exodus 1:22-2:10, do a trust activity with a blindfold, and get bookmarks with a verse on them to help us trust God (Proverbs 3:5-6).

MY YOUTHQUEST

YouthQuest exists to EQUIP the youth of Cornerstone and the Markham community to GROW closer in their relationship with God; to MAXIMIZE their talents and potential; to SHARE their Christ-inspired lives through winsome activities and God-honouring SERVICE in Markham and beyond.Your challenge is to create an event which will incorporate as many of these bold objectives as possible (EQUIP, GROW, MAXIMIZE TALENTS, SHARE CHRIST-INSPIRED LIVES, SERVICE). The deadline for your idea will be March 22. The winning idea will receive a $25 gift certificate to Markville Mall and the group will do your idea! Ideas can be handing in to pastor Kevin in person or by email: kevin@cornerstonechurch.on.ca Rules: Ideas must be able to be done by a majority of the group and must keep the safety and well-being of the group members in mind as well as those we will come in contact with.

JUST FOR LAUGHS!

A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they were on their way to church service, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?" One bright little girl replied, "Because people are sleeping."

5 MINUTE DEVOTIONS

Psalm 139:14
Thank-you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous--how well I know it. (NLT)

You are a wonderfully amazing, one-of-a-kind, handcrafted, utterly unique, beautiful, gifted person in God's universe. There has never been someone like you. There will never be someone like you again. What is so wonderful about you?

* 2009 Devotional Day Planner - The Bible League of Canada

MAYOR'S YOUTH TASK FORCE

Time to Rock It Out!
The MYTF is here to serve the youth of Markham and for the past two years over 800 youth have participated in our highly anticipated Battle of the Bands. Allowing you to view your fellow peers rock it out! If you have a musical talent we provide you the venue for you to showcase it. This year the Markham Battle of the Bands is taking place on April 24th, 2009 at the Milliken Mills Community Centre - Ice Arena. If you are interested in showing your stuff then send us your online auditions to Jesse Coluatti, BOTB Manager, at j.colautti91@gmail.comHowever, if you do not have a video or an audio recording attend our live auditions on March 27th, 2009 at the Markham Civic Centre. If interested fill out this online form:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/embeddedform?key=pDw5czEthqia_0I17sHaZeA
For other youth events, check out this website http://www.markhamyouth.com/

JUNIOR HIGH SUNDAY SCHOOL

Whiny Bro – The Fair Share Demander
Today we looked at the prodigal son’s brother, on demanding your rights. Our goals were to understanding that demanding their ‘rights’ has selfishness at its core and to identify a right of theirs they’d be willing to give up. We did a skit, "a spontaneous melodrama" about the passage to help bring it into perspective. Our memory verse for the month is Hebrews 4:14-16.

JUNIOR HIGH YOUTHQUEST

Tonight we looked at our values and beliefs - TO DO OR NOT TO DO. It's hard to walk the talk. It's one thing to say what we believe, it's another to do it. The more we practice doing the right things, the easier it will be. Failure is normal. Being a Christ-follower doesn't mean that we are expected to be perfect. It means when we do fail, we don't give up. We keep on trying to improve ourselves and how we live. God is there for us, waiting for us to come back to Him. Our key verse was Romans 7:15 - I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

DEEP THOUGHTS

Acceptance is an act of the heart. To accept someone is to affirm to them that you think it's a very good thing they are alive. - John Ortberg

JUST FOR LAUGHS

After the blessing of Jason's baby brother at the church his family attends every week, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, 'That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys."

One particular four year old prayed, "And we forgive us our trash baskets, as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.

CORNERSTONE YOUTHQUEST BASKETBALL

After a week off, we came back in a big way. 50 boys showed up today! Congrats to Vasu and Kapilan who won MVP honours for displaying perseverance (our Character Matters trait of the month) on and off the court. Remember guys, no ball next week because of March break.

KIDS IN CHURCH - JUST FOR FUN!

3 year old Reese:

Our Father, who does art in heaven,

Harold is his name.

Amen.

A little boy was overheard praying: Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am.

DEEP THOUGHTS

You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do. - Anne Lamott.

TAKE IT HOME TRAINING - FAMILY BLESSINGS

Today marked the launch of our family ministry @ Cornerstone. This first seminar was for parents of 2 years olds. We had over 30 people! Our goal for this event was to establish the ritual of praying God's blessing over our children on a daily basis. The key to blessing is obviously the Lord and we bless so that God's name will be on our children Numbers 6:22-27. We also talked about what God's blessing looks like (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). We shared an inspirational story that inspired the family blessings seminar and handed out bookmarks with blessings on them as well as a book of 100 bedtime blessing ideas. Our next seminar will be for parents who have children in S.K. We'll be teaching them how to pray. Look out for our family sermon series in May!

5 MINUTE DEVOTIONS

2 Corinthians 5:7 - We live by faith, not by sight (NIV).

Maybe you are struggling to believe in a God you cannot see. Faith is a struggle. Faith is a battle. If there is a war going on within you, then there is faith. And faith is all you need. How goes your faith battle? What doubts do you struggle with? What beliefs have become more certain?

*2009 Devotional Day Planner - The Bible League of Canada

SENIOR HIGH YOUTHQUEST

Today we looked at Joseph - the perseverance lesson. Our main point was that trials and temptations are meant to make us strong. Staying power is what separates those who make it through life successfully from those who buckle under pressure. Helping you hang in there when the going gets rough is God’s way of giving your spirit a workout. We did a reader's theatre version of Joseph's life, then talked about how we would respond in real life situations ourselves (fight or flight).

MARCH BREAK MYSTERY AT MARKHAM MUSEUM

March Break Mystery
Date: March 16 - 20, 2009
Time: 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Admission: Regular admission prices
Join us during March Break for our Museum March Break Mystery.Unsolved to this day, an historic crime was committed at Markham Museum. If you can follow all the clues around our historic village and maybe you’ll be able to become a great Museum Sleuth!Drop in and see if you can solve the Mystery. Suitable for Sleuths under 12 years old.

For more information, check www.MarkhamMuseum.ca
9350 Highway 48 (Markham Rd.) 905 294-4576

5 MINUTE DEVOTIONS

Ephesians 6:12

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (NIV).

The battles you fight might seem to be around you. But the action is taking place on another plane - a spiritual one. And prayer is the weapon of choice for those who want to win. How is prayer going for you lately?

*2009 Devotional Day Planner - the Bible League of Canada

DEEP THOUGHTS

If you think you can fit deep community into the cracks of an overloaded schedule--think again. Wise people do not try to microwave friendships, parenting, or marriage. You can't do community in a hurry - John Ortberg.

ARE TEENS ETHICALLY PREPARED FOR THE BUSINESS WORLD?

80% of U.S. teens believe they are ethically prepared to make moral business decisions. but nearly 40% believe they need to "break the rules" in order to succeed, finds a Junior Achievement survey. More troubling, 27% think behaving violently is sometimes, often or always acceptable. 20% report to have personally behaved violently toward another person in the past year. Among those who say they are ethically prepared, 49% say lying to parents and guardians is acceptable. 61% say they have lied to their parents or guardian this past year. This should prompt concerns about teens' future workplace behavior and forecasts serious challenges to businesses as to how they will need to prepare and train these future leaders.

5 MINUTE DEVOTIONS

Ecclesiastes 5:18
Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labour under the sun during the few days of life God has given him - for this is his lot. (NIV)
Life is short. Work hard. Have fun. Do good. Walk in God's grace. What do you like about the work that you have to do? What don't you like about it?

JUNIOR HIGH SUNDAY SCHOOL

Flaky Jakes, The Thankless Bunch - the 10 lepers on thankfulness

Today we look at understanding that being a thankful person adds incredible happiness to life and our challenge is to write a letter of thanks and mail it or hand deliver it this week.

Our memory verse is Psalm 106:1 - Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.