This Week at MAD Skates & Rec

This Week:
Monday Skate & Rec Night 6:00-8:30. Pizza tonight!
Thursday basketball 3:30-4:30.

This Week At MAD Skates & Rec Center

Tonight - 6:30 - 8:30pm - Skate & Rec Night
Wednesday - 4:30 - 5:30pm - Pizza at Uncle Pete's
Thursday - 3:30 - 4:30pm - Jr./Sr. High and Adult Basketball Open Gym

Christian Suicide Prevention

This link has been added to our blog under Merch, Music, Ministry and More.  If you or anyone you know needs a suicide prevention hotline or just someone to talk to about the rough road you're on, go to http://www.christiansuicideprevention.com/.

7-16-12 Bible Session Notes

These are the notes I took from Monday Night's Jr/Sr High Bible Session led by Jeremy Drew:

Exodus starting in Chapter 7 vs. 8

• The beginning of the exodus from Egypt.
• Aaron throws his staff down; it becomes a snake.  Pharaoh's sorcerers and wise men are able to duplicate that, but then Aaron's snake eats the Pharaoh's snakes. 
• Plagues begin: blood, frogs, gnats, flies, death of livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, death of the firstborn which takes Pharaoh's son.
• Why didn't God just tell Pharaoh "You are going to do this!" and then it happens?  We may never have an answer to this question, but think about it.
• Some things to remember...

                      Aaron and Moses kept having to go back to Pharaoh and ask him to let the people go, but Pharaoh kept  making it worse and worse for the Israelites.
                      Each plague shows God's immense power.  It reminds us that He can do anything!
                      Persistence and knowing God's plan pays off.

Questions asked:
What is your favorite plague?
Do you think God would use this technique again?
What do you think of countries with massive earthquakes and droughts?
Do you think God uses natural disasters to prove he is really God?
What about the plagues in Egypt?

This Week At MAD Skates & Rec

Monday - Skate & Rec Night - 6:00pm - cupcakes, dinner by the Jones family, message by Jeremy and Melody.

Thursday - Jr High/Sr High/Adult Basketball - 3:30-4:30

My notes from Bible Session Monday - July 9th - WORK

Work

1.    The word “work” is defined as

1.1.  Exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something

1.2.  A task or undertaking

1.3.  Productive or operative activity

1.4.  Employment especially as a means of earning ones livelihood

2.    Now we’re going to do a little “work” or “workout”

2.1.  Everyone get into the “plank” position and hold it for as long as you can

2.2.  And the winner is?  John  (3 Laffy Taffy given to the winner)

3.    America today seems to have developed a money for nothing mentality.  The work ethic I see in many young people makes me wonder what this county will look like in 10-20 years.  What I see and hear from teenagers is that they don’t want to work hard, but they want all the benefits of having worked hard.  What this says to me is “I will NOT be hiring you any time soon.” If you want to get a good job, move up in that job, and hopefully get into something you’ll enjoy doing, work the way the Bible says to work.  Let’s see what the Bible does say about work.

4.    The word “work” including workmanship, works, worker, working and workman is listed 25 times in the concordance of my Bible.

5.    Time to look at 6 of these instances

5.1.  Ecclesiastes 5:19 – enjoying your work is a gift from God

5.2.  Colossians 3:23 – work as if working for the Lord not men

5.3.  I Thessalonians 5:12 – respect those who work hard among you

5.4.  II Thessalonians 3:10 – no work = no eating

5.5.  Luke 10:7 – the worker deserves his wages

5.6.  I Timothy 5:18 – again… the worker deserves his wages

6.    Let’s do the plank challenge again.  This time keep in mind these 5 points…

6.1.  Enjoying your work is a gift from God

6.2.  Work as if you are working for God

6.3.  Respect those working hard around you – for this game, this means no making fun of each other, no harassing, no name calling

6.4.  If you don’t work, you don’t eat

6.5.  A worker deserves his wages

7.    And the winner is?  John (First person out got 1 Laffy Taffy, 2nd got 2, and so on.  Winner got Laffy Taffy and a chance in the mystery box.)

8.    The next time someone asks you to help them whether you are getting paid or not, try to keep these Biblical principles about work in your mind. 

9.    End in prayer.

Basketball Open Gym Starting Thursday

Basketball Open Gym

Co-Ed

Jr. High, Sr. High, Adult

Thursdays 3:30-4:30pm Starting this Thursday, July 12th

Bring 2 shirts: 1 black or dark and 1 white

Must sign a waiver for first time participants.  All regular MAD Skates attendees are automatically covered under the Monday Night waiver.

5K

5K MUD RUN!

The World Concern 5k Mud Run is a fun, easy way to do something good! You’ll not only have fun slogging through the mud with your friends, but you’ll also help provide clean water for people in some of the hardest places in the world. Through water wells and rain water catchment systems that can serve entire communities, every $15 raised provides sustainable clean water for one person.

What

5k Mud Run, plus water slide, giant blob, kids run, T-shirt and BBQ lunch included!
When: Saturday July 21, 2012 (Check in 9:30 a.m., race starts at 11:00 a.m.)

Notes:
Sign up by July 15th for the discounted pricing.
Register with our team - M.A.D.
Team Goal - Get our entire team through the 5k.
If you want to attend to cheer on your runner or just enjoy the festitivites, it is free.  It is $7 if you want to share in the BBQ lunch.
Who is doing the event so far?  Brett, Jason (Brett's husband), Bev (Jason's mom), Paula (Jason's aunt), Karen (Brett's mom)
Who is coming to cheer?  Isaac (Brett's son), Russ (Brett's dad), Wes, (Jason's dad)

SIGN UP TODAY!

http://www.worldconcern.org/mudrun/

Slaying Giants - 7-2-12

I realized recently that I haven't posted any of our lessons lately, so here is the lesson the 12+ group got last night.  It is adapted from a recent devotional I read.  For our guys, I included at the end a game where they tried to hit a target using an old style slingshot and a tootsieroll instead of a stone.  The idea was for them to see what it might have like to learn to use a slingshot like that and be accurate enough to high Goliath in the forehead.

The lesson notes...

Slaying Giants

Giants.  We must face them, but we don’t have to face them alone.  We need to focus first and most on God. 

Read 1 Samuel 17

The Enemy:
·         David did not focus on the enemy.
·         In I Samuel 17 he only makes 3 comments amount Goliath. 

o    One comment to Saul about Goliath – this uncircumcised Philistine will be like the bear and lion that I killed while protecting sheep (v. 36).

o    One comment to the men standing near him at the battle front - Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? (v. 26)

o    One comment to Goliath – you come against me with sword and spear and javelin, today I will kill you  (v. 45-47)

·         He did not ask about Goliath’s age, skill, social standing, IQ, tactics.
·         He did not ask about the weight of the spear, the size of the shield, or why Goliath is the only one standing there to fight on behalf of the Philistines.



God:
·         David focuses on God.
·         He speaks about the “the living God” (vs. 26 and 36)
·         He calls him the “Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel” (vs. 45)
·         He proclaims what God will do.  “This day the Lord will hand you over to me.” (v. 46)
·         He states why God is going to do this. “the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel” (v. 46)
·         He says how God is going to win. “for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands” (v. 47)

Instead of focusing on his enemy or his “giant problem,” he focuses on God and God’s solution to that problem.

When you are facing a “giant problem” do you think about God or your problem?

Do you ponder God’s grace more than your ponder your guilt?

Is your list of blessings longer than your list of complaints?

Is your mind full of hope or it is full of worry?

Are you more likely to describe the strength of God as you are to describe the demands of your day?

Lift your eyes to God.  You are a giant slayer. The God who made a miracle out of David, a boy with a sling and a stone, stands ready to make one out of you.



Focus on giants—you stumble.                                              Focus on God—your giants tumble.


  

Random Update 6-28-2012

Well, summer is upon us, and yes, the sun is finally shining in the Seattle area.  That must mean we are getting close to the 4th of July! 

Saturday June 23rd, we were able to visit the Seahawks Training Center for a private tour set up by my sister-in-law, Crystal.  Prior to driving to Renton, we met for pizza at Uncle Pete's new dine-in location near Safeway in Bothell and had some yummy pizza. Thank God for coupons! Upon our arrival at VMAC 12 Seahawks Way, we were met by an awesome man named Mike Flood who gave us a wonderful tour and sent everyone home with goodies - stickers, a mini-helmet, posters and t-shirts.  Below are a few pictures of the tour. You can see additional pictures on Facebook and www.madskates.shutterfly.com.

This past Monday was a bit of a bizarre experience for the MAD Skates & Rec crew as Bev (our 6-11 year old leader) messed up her back and shoulder and could not come.  I (Brett - 12+ leader) had a wicked headcold that started Saturday just before our tour of the Seahawks Training Center.   I called in Jeremy and Melody to help out as I knew it was going to be a rough night for me.  Robb and Jeff both came as well, so in all we had 5 volunteers able to work together to get things set up. 

When we arrived, we discovered that there were people staying overnight in the church and they had left a ton of stuff in the gym.  I freaked out and called my brother who attends church there and said, "It's way worse than last year!  I don't even know how we can make this happen tonight."  He was trying to think.  His three girls were running around the house making noise, and there were no thoughts that could help at that moment.  I took a deep breath, and began moving stuff around waiting for the rest of my team to arrive.  We managed to get the skate area up and still have room for some recreational activity.  There was nowhere left for us to do our Bible session as it was video night, and we had nothing else planned as backup.  None of my skaters showed up, so we just had the younger kids who like to play soccer, basketball, dodgeball, etc. 

So..... this is sounding pretty jacked up right. 

Funny thing happens.  The people staying in the church show up at 7:00!  They had 70 kids plus staff!  We had just finished dinner and started playing some games at the other end of the church.  The lady running the overnight thing apologizes for the mess, and I tell her to let her teens know if anyone skates, feel free to come in and skate.  So the next thing I know the skate end of the gym is absolutely packed with people, and we've got kids from Cali skating away having a blast.  All around the skate area the rest of the teens are having a laugh and asking about what we're doing, etc.  It worked out well for them to have something fun to do while waiting for their dinner after being out on the streets working with the homeless people in Seattle all day.  A few teens stayed and helped us pack up the ramps, our younger kids go home at 8:00, so in the end we were all home about 20 minutes sooner than we normally would have been.

God works in mysterious ways...