Hi, Friends! Gavin, Tasha, and I had a blast with the youth last weekend as we explored what it means to seek God's Kingdom and manifest it today. We had an awesome speaker who brought scripture to life, a fantastic worship set led by our own Warren Tang, time to play in the woods and do archery, a low ropes course for team bonding, and a variety of reflection stations that included sensory and artistic activities. Praise God! See below for information about how you can eat tamales in order to offset the costs of the retreat and show support for our amazing youth.
Tasha and I also spent Tuesday and Wednesday at a summit with the Fuller Youth Institute. The summit marked the beginning of a two-year cohort experience with the goal being to develop new ways to disciple youth. Over the next few months we will be implementing a listening project with our young people to learn more about their current understandings of identity, belonging, and purpose (such important stuff!). Stay tuned for updates as we grow and learn!
Nursery - Elementary
This Sunday our kids will continue to learn about the Lord's Prayer because there's so much to explore about it and prayer in general! We can't wait for them to learn more about the way Jesus taught us to pray, what the prayer reveals about God, and how to make this prayer their own.
Family Discussion Starters:
What parts of the Lord's Prayer stand out most to you?
How does the Lord's Prayer expand your understanding of prayer?
What are some ways you pray throughout your day?
Prayer: Lord, help us to come to you in prayer honestly and often just as Jesus did.
Children's Choir
Children's Choir continues this week! They are learning songs for worship leadership in February and on Palm Sunday. I will send out more information soon with links to videos for practice. In the meantime, ask your child to sing the song they are learning about cloaks and branches!
Youth
This week after worship the youth will be making tamales and eating some Chinese food in honor of Lunar New Year. We will hang out until 3pm this week, but if your youth needs to leave earlier that's totally fine. Let me know if your youth needs a ride home. We can't wait to get our aprons on!
For Good Measure
Lunar New Year
Looking for some fun creative things to do to learn more about Chinese New Year? Check out Kiwi Co's 16 Cool Chinese New Year DIY projects! We will be doing some of them with the younger kids on Sunday. Happy Lunar New Year!
Tamales for Sale!
What’s the highlight of Superbowl Sunday? Tamales! Our youth will be making tamales this weekend for the Big Game, and they will be extra delicious this year! We are excited to join aprons with Cynthia and some local friends to make the tamales, and proceeds will support funding for our youth to attend biannual retreats. Talk about a community effort! You may order and purchase your tamales in advance by using this link before January 24th, or you can purchase some immediately following the worship service on February 2. Tamales are $3.50 each or $30 for a dozen, and you can choose between chicken, pork and beef, or cheese with chiles. If you do not wish to purchase tamales, you may still make a donation toward Youth Retreat Scholarships by check or cash during our offering time in worship service.
Parent Night Out and a Bonus Option for Parents!
We are hosting another Kid Party/Parent Night Out on February 7th, but this one has a special offering for couples! Mary and I are planning a night of fun for kids and youth, complete with dinner and activities. In addition, Pastor John Jay and Corrie Alvaro are excited to begin a series of conversations about marriage and relationships for adults. All couples are invited to join them as they talk about how (and why!) to make time for fun in your relationship despite demanding and competing schedules. Because it's also Parent Night Out, childcare is already taken care of for those of you who have kids (and you'll still have time to get out on the town!). All couples are welcome to join John Jay and Corrie for conversation from 6:15-7:15 PM. Kids can be dropped off as early at 5:30 PM and picked up as late as 9:00 PM.
Have a blessed Saturday, and I hope to see you Sunday morning!