4 Corners!

Well this week we had (again) another fabulous, wonderful, awesome week in the Zone! I know, I know, "you say that every week!" Yeah, I guess I do...but it is what I have come to expect from each week in the Zone! Perfection? No discipline problems? No pukes/bleeding? No shows for classes? Hey we got all that and more! It's children's ministry man...it's dangerous, hilarious, fun, scary, messy and every other colorful word you can think of I am sure it applies in some way! But it is awesome for one reason and one alone! We ask and expect God to show up each week and totally (try) to let the Holy Spirit lead and direct our morning...and with that kind of start I don't care what happens it is going to be a "good, good, good, good, good, good morning" man that song gets stuck in ones head!
On to this next week, first, we are breaking up the team and sending reps all over the world, Cole is heading out to Kenya for 10 days to take the kids offerings and stuff they collected to the kids in the slum we will be adopting...I am heading off to Dallas to see/listen/hear/allow God to pour into me what He has for us next here and am so excited about that! And this week upcoming we will be talking about sacrifice!
Kids get it, we all as kids were in a sitch where someone "took the hit" for something we did and rightfully deserved punishment for. And this week we will examine the greatest of all examples of such sacrifice and that is Christ's punishment for our sins...pray with us we can make this come alive to the kids and they will leave with a full understanding that the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ should result in nothing less that a total sacrificial abandonment to the Lord every day of our lives!
Later friends, thanks for the kind words, thoughts and prayers! I look forward to being with the kids next week in the Zone and sharing what God reveals this week in Dallas...I need a hat!
Pastor Darren

Obedience/Everlasing God!

What a great Sunday we had this last week...I had hoped to show a pic of the kids and all the stuff they had collected for our church's mission trip to Kenya in just a few weeks (will have to get that posted later).
But what a great week learning about the blessing of obedience to Jesus...as I taught the second hour this last week I truly believe it takes more effort and alot less benefit to disobedience than to just submit and obey God when he calls and asks of us!
This week we will be telling the kids of how worthy God is of our worship, and He is when......

• He has paid for our sin.
• He levels rough ground and smooths rugged places in our lives.
• His Word will eternally stand.
• He is a powerful, sovereign Lord.
• He is a gentle, loving shepherd.
• He measures earth's waters and weighs it's mountains.
• He needs no counsel or instruction.
• H sits on His throne above the earth and spreads out the heavens.
• He brings leaders and rulers of this world to nothing.
• he is unequaled on earth and in heaven.
• He created all the stars in the heavens and summons them by name.
• He is the everlasting God and Creator of the whole earth. He never tires and never grows weary.
• He infuses the weak and weary with His power.
• He renews the strength of those who place their abandoned hope in Him.

All this from Isaiah chapter 40 (and I wish I could claim this but copied it from a devo for our mentors in this week's curriculum!) But is it not awesome to think that God is all these things and even more? I pray we are able by God's Spirit...His Holy Spirit to be able to get this message across to the kids this week and that (even more) you would get this message down in your hearts, that OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD!

Later for now, looking forward to having a Blast this week in the Zone!

Congrats to our kids on a wonderful job of reaching their goal in our Kenyan giving project and cannot wait to tell you in a few weeks about our special book drive to support a local school here in Z-ville!

Darren

WARNING

I am forgiven because of Jesus.

I am guided by God's Word.

I am created for a special purpose.

I am loved and accepted by God.

I am strong with God's help.

We began a new unit of study this last week and will last till the first of December, and it is on the three major prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. And the point of the three prophets was to bring warnings from God to His people Israel! This last week we focused on repentance and this week we will be taking up the topic of obedience! And we had the prophet Isaiah come and hang out with us this week and tell us about what it was that God had for him to tell the people!

We had a blast this last week and way to go kids in raising over 1200 dollars for our Kenya trip in just a few weeks to help the kids of the community we are adopting over there! With that money we will be buying supplies for the kids there to share the gospel and to help fix up a school over there for the kids, and we also raised over 700 boxes of crayons for the kids! Way to go kids and way to go Cole in sacrificing your head (he got a mohawk) to inspire the kids to reach their goals!

See ya this week as we will have a Blast again worshipping God and praising Jesus!

Darren