SOLES4SOULS - HAITI

The news about Haiti’s disaster has surprised and shocked all of us. Please bring your gently used shoes to any SoftMoc location across Canada. SoftMoc has partnered with soles4souls to deliver your shoes to Haiti. Click on the link below for more details.

http://www.softmoc.com/

JUNIOR HIGH SUNDAY SCHOOL

Yesterday our study was, "A Not-So-Random-Act-Of-Kindness. We looked at some simple, practical ways to demonstrate God's love and kindness to the world around them.

Our main passage was Matthew 5:43-48
Love for Enemies
43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

For our hands on activity we made thank-you cards and committed to doing something kind to someone in our lives in need of kindness. We tried not to pick our immediate family or best friend.

For thought:
Do you think something as simple as an act of kindness can point someone towards Jesus Christ?

Take Home Challenge:
1. Give your card (and present if possible) to the person you decided this week
2. Try to do one random act of kindness per day for the next week and report back.

SENIOR HIGH YOUTHQUEST

On Friday we looked at session 4 of our Following After God series. The topic was, "How does believing in God affect my morals?"
The scripture we looked at was
Matthew 25:31-46
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025:31-46&version=NIV

Here are the questions for self-reflection:

1. What is it that determines your moral behaviour? Is it rooted in anything concrete, or (in all honesty) does the way you happen to feel today influence what you believe is wrong or right?

2. What stops you from looking to Jesus for moral guidance?

3. How would your life look different if you decided to follow Jesus' words?

4. Consider asking God to be the one who guides you. Then take a step to help care, "for the least of these."

* taken from: Following after God - What difference does it make? By Daniel Hill

CORNERSTONE YOUTHQUEST BASKETBALL

Tonight was our first night of 2010. We had over 30 boys out and lots of fun as usual. Congrats to Mostafa and Andrew, who won Raptor's jersey's from our welcome back draw. Congrats to Osei and Ajay who won Raptor's Tickets donated from Auto Niche http://www.autoniche.ca/ Congrats to Preston and Felix who won MVP honours for showing fairness (our character trait of the month) both on and off the court. We talked about how it's important to be fair, but more important to be generous and gracious as God as been generous and gracious to us.

DEEP THOUGHTS

When you deal with human beings, you have come to the "as-is" corner of the universe. Think for a moment about someone in your life. Maybe the person you know best, love most. That person is slightly irregular. That person comes with a little tag: There's a flaw here... One of the great marks of maturity is to accept the fact that everybody comes "as is."
(John Ortberg)

JUNIOR HIGH SUNDAY SCHOOL

GOD'S VIEW VS. THE WORLD'S VIEW

The World's View: You're not good enough. You don't have enough. You don't have what it takes to succeed. You don't look right. You need... (fill in the blanks)

God's View: You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.

Dialogue:
1. What do you think the world (or our culture) thinks of you?
2. What do you think God thinks of you?

How does this apply:
1. What do you think the world wants you to be?
2. Can you admit that God created you to be a masterpiece?
3. What are some ways that you can learn to love who God created you to be and to take some pressure off yourself to live up to the world's standards?

Take home challenge:
Make a collage of words, pictures (you can draw or use magazines) that represent how God thinks of you from Psalm 139 and put it someplace where it can remind you how God sees you and what you are intended for.

* Taken from Active Bible Studies

STARTING THE NEW YEAR ON A SOLID FOUNDATION

As we enter 2010, a new decade and new opportunities arise. Here are some thoughts on the Bible - the greatest book ever written, to help build that foundation on which life can be lived the way it is designed to be lived.

How to study the Bible
1. Look for purpose - God's plan for salvation
2. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you
3. Read attentively (the Bible can be read from Genesis to Revelation in 80 hours)
4. Make a reading plan - do you want to read through the Bible? Leave 80 hours for it. Schedule that time. How much time can you give each day? How many days a week?
5. Appreciate the Bible's uniqueness - The Old Testament is the foundation; The New Testament is the superstructure. A foundation is of no value unless a building is built upon it. A building is impossible unless there is a foundation. So the Old Testament and New Testament are essential to each other.

One Book, One History, One Story
- The Bible is one book, and you cannot take it in texts and expect to comprehend the magnificence of divine revelation. You must see it in completeness.
- Each book has a message, and we should endeavour to discover what that message is.
- In one sense, we should treat the Bible as we treat any other book. When we get a book from the library we would never treat it as we do the Bible. We would never think of reading just a paragraph, taking some ten minutes, reading a little at night and then reading a little in the morning, and so spending weeks, perhaps months, in reading through the book. No interest could be maintained in any story by such a procedure.

Christ, the Living Word
- The Old Testament is an account of a nation (The Jewish nation)
- The New Testament is an account of a Man (Jesus)
- Christ lived the most perfect life ever known... Then He died... Then He rose from the dead. he is alive today. He is not merely a historical character, but a living Person - the most important fact of history and the most vital force in the world today. And He promises eternal life to all who come to Him.

* taken from "What the Bible is all About - Bible Handbook by Dr. Henrietta C. Mears.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the [person] of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" - 2 Timothy 3:16-17