Two Scoops Of Chasing Daylight
It’s crazy to think that this past weekend has come and gone already. FUSION has officially begun. It seems as if we have spent the last six months trying to unpack what FUSION would or would not look like. It was an amazing night. The Lord’s presence was moving amongst our students and staff. Seeing the way the students responded to the Word, their sincere worship, and their heart to “just do it” when it comes to taking initiative with their individual divine moments. This journey that we are embarking on this year with discipling these young students has begun, and I could not be more excited to see where the Lord leads us. This next week we will be on Chapter 3 from Chasing Daylight on “Uncertainty”.
If you were not at last weekend’s UNITED service, then you missed this gem that Chris Nye, Branden Campbell, John Finnerty, and Myself put together for the series launch! Enjoy!
Tyler
Promoting God with Pure Teen
Recently, I was thinking about how many reasons the world gives us as Christians for being “against” something. And then I realized how encouraging it is that we also have the opportunity to be for Someone who is far greater than all the problems we feel compelled to fight. Of course it’s important to fight many of life’s battles; but isn’t it refreshing to spend even more of our time promoting God and His goodness?
I had the privilege of teaching a class called Pure Teen for 6th and 7th graders in January. Another class will start next week. Pure Teen teaches students to put God in charge of their hearts, minds and bodies. I want to promote God to these students as they enter the turbulence of adolescence. They will face some fast-paced changes in the next few years but with God at the center of their thinking and doing, there’s no limit to the good that He can accomplish through them!
Will you join me in praying that students will come and learn to let God be their primary influence in this confused and media-driven culture? They have many battles to fight, but also a mighty God to promote.
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life in love, in faith and in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12
Melinda Taylor, Pure Teen Facilitator
Additional Donors Needed!
We had an amazing first night at Fusion with over 162 students coming and 57 leaders who were loving the kids and investing in their lives! It was a night of high energy, powerful worship and the kids really responded to the message about seizing our divine moments. God is really good!
We also had a challenge. After doing one meal night, we found that our total meal cost would be closer to $500.00 compared to our original estimate of $350.00. Part of the reason for the difference is that the pizza cost more than our original quote and we had more people come (which is a very good thing!) If we can get two additional people to sign up and donate the original $350.00, we should be able to cover all the costs of meals for this ministry year.
God has blessed us with 9 different families who have either donated already or have pledged to donate and we are so grateful! This investment is so much more than food, it’s an investment in the outreach to our kid’s friends who need Christ. If you can help us out, just send in your check for $350.00 payable to RHCC with “Fusion Meal Night” in the memo area. You can send it to RHCC c/o Mark Began and I will make sure it gets to our bookkeeper.
Thanks,
Pastor Mark
Chasing Daylight Messages
I wanted to share a brief overview of the upcoming messages during the Chasing Daylight series so our families can be more informed about what to look forward to during this next 8 weeks.
Message Topics
9/28 at Fusion, Sunday Night- I will be sharing the story of Jonathan and his Armor Bearer and how they took the Initiative and did something when they were in a hard situation. We will challenge the students to go this week and make an impact by following God’s lead.
10/5 at Elevation, Sunday Morning- I will be looking at the story of Moses leading the Israelites to the Red Sea as they were pursued by the Egyptians. As they faced Uncertainty, I want the students to learn how to trust God when we don’t have all the answers.
10/5 at Fusion, Sunday Night- I will be summarizing the morning message and the topic of Uncertainty, but we will also be playing the short message that Erwin McManus, the author of the series, prepared to introduce this topic.
10/12 at Elevation, Sunday Morning- I will be sharing from John 4, the story of the Woman at the Well. The topic of Influence will be what is shared and the students will be praying for 300 plus students who need the touch of God in their lives.
10/12 at Fusion, Sunday Night- We will hear the McManus DVD message and do most of our application and processing in our first small group night.
10/19 at Elevation, Sunday Morning- Jen will be sharing a message on Risk, encouraging each of the students to live before they die and vice versa.
10/19 at Fusion, Sunday Night- We will hear the McManus DVD message and do most of our application and processing in our small groups.
10/26 at Elevation, Sunday Morning- I will be sharing about how important it is to Advance in our quest to chase daylight. My story will be from Numbers 13 where the spies were sent and came back with a divided report.
10/26 at Fusion, Sunday Night- We will hear the McManus DVD message and do most of our application and processing in our small groups.
11/2 at Elevation, Sunday Morning- Tyler will be speaking on Impact and the importance of leaving a mark wherever we go.
11/2 at Fusion, Sunday Night- Jen will be moderating as the students hear the McManus message from the DVD and Jen’s summary of the morning message. At this Meal Night, the students will be challenged to make an impact in the place God leads them.
11/9 at Elevation, Sunday Morning- I will be sharing about Movement and how our impact can go from isolated effects to united and powerful. I will be sharing about the story from 1 Kings 18 where Elijah confronted the evil prophets and turned the tide of a nation.
11/9 at Fusion, Sunday Night- We will hear the McManus DVD message and do most of our application and processing in our small groups.
11/16 at the United Services on Sunday Morning- We will be wrapping up the Chasing Daylight series with a United Service on the idea of Awakening. We will get the opportunity to hear about the great things God did during the series and worship as one body in praise to God!
11/16 at Fusion, Sunday Night- We will hear the final McManus DVD message and do most of our story sharing in the groups and have a more Junior High focus to our stories.
Email me at mark.began@rollinghills.org if you have any questions,
Pastor Mark
Help Students Chase Daylight
Hey Parents,
With our whole church starting a new series of messages on Chasing Daylight, I wanted to give you some pointers on how you can help your student get the most out of this important series. Just an FYI, Chasing Daylight is about everyone of us seizing those divine moments in every day and making them count for Jesus. The series is based on a relatively obscure story from 1 Samuel 14. Here’s how you can help your students:
1. Dinner Chats- Choose a night each week when all of you will be home and talk about how you are each trying to apply that week’s topic to your life. Be intentional and try to relate to where they are at as they try to express how they are growing in that area.
2. Quiet Time Challenge- Have each person in the family get familiar with the story about Jonathan, but also with the stories around it from 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. These two books are fast moving and full of good examples of doing the right thing and making mistakes too. Maybe during your Dinner Chats you can also share what you are each learning as you read 1st and 2nd Samuel in your daily time with God.
3. Step Out- As a family, step out and serve in some way a few times during this 8 week series. By serving, you learn and model how valuable it is to give back and care about others. Some ideas might be to donate time at your local school. You could also collect food for a local food bank. Another way would be to pick up trash at a local park. The best way is to find a personal “people” need and try to be used of God to meet that need.
These are just a few ideas for you and your family to make this season of Chasing Daylight a valuable, life-changing experience you will never forget!
Pastor Mark
Students Stepping Out
Just wanted to let everyone know that we have a couple of students, Konnor C. and Nicole A., who have started a student-led Bible study at Hazelbrook Middle School on Wednesday mornings at 9:15am in the Commons/Cafeteria. What is cool about this study is that it was started out of a desire to listen to God at the Peak and do what he was calling them to do. They have met the last two Wednesdays and it would be great if more of our Hazelbrook students could take advantage of this rare opportunity. When students take the initiative, they seize the divine moments that God made them for and Konnor and Nicole are definitely doing that. Pray for them as they learn about leadership by doing leadership!
Losing Never Feels Good…
I was grieving my poor fantasy football team today. I’m 0-2 and have not started the season off with anything close to a bang. It makes me want to give up and not even try. I shouldn’t have such a bad attitude, but for some reason, my intellectual reason and my subjective feelings are at odds.
I think this is why being a growing disciple of Christ can be so hard. I never feel like I do enough. I wish I could talk about Jesus everytime I open my mouth, but I don’t. Sometimes I don’t think about it. Sometimes I think about it and rationalize my way out of saying something. If spiritual growth was only about winning, I would feel better, but would I be better? I don’t know…
What sticks in my mind is how many people in the Bible ended up having lives that were not marked with continual success. Even David, the man after God’s own heart, had an affair and gave orders that amounted to murder and had major family troubles! That can encourage me if I only compare myself to him, but what if I am not supposed to compare myself, but actually listen to what God is telling me as I know what I know about David. He doesn’t want me to be David or live David’s life today. God wants me to be Mark Began, follower of Christ, lover of Rhonda, Jaelyn and Lexie, leader of students, and servant in Tualatin’s community. That I can do. That I want to do.
Now what was I writing about? Oh yeah, I need to get my fantasy team to turn things around this week…
Mark
Watch For The Drift
When our kids drift spiritually, it’s easy to dismiss it as an anomaly. Countless times during my 14+ years at Rolling Hills, I have seen strong, spiritual students start to make small but significant decision that lead to a slow, steady drift. I want to alert you to a few things that hopefully will help you to recognize and stop a drifting student before the downward spiral gets away from you.
1. Make 8th Grade Count- More students fade away from Jesus during their 8th grade year than any other time. Popularity becomes very important. Girls can tend to be very obsessed with guys and relationships. You may not realize this is happening, but one big sign is that they spend a ton of time on social networking online and an unusual amount of texting. Ask to see who they are communicating with. If you don’t know names, ask questions and find out about who they are. When you find out about the different “dramas” that are part of your kid’s lives, help them include God in the situations by bringing spiritual wisdom into addressing the problems friends are facing.
2. Does Faith Activity = Church Alone?- As students start to physically and emotionally mature, they will also start to own their own faith. Some obvious ways that your child may demonstrate that they own their own faith is by spending time in the Bible on their own, praying regularly, and growing more Christlike in their attitudes and character. In fact, any time a kid exhibits faith outside the church/ministry setting, you should affirm them. This is where the rubber meets the road since the goal of our faith is full integration into our lives. If they only live a Sunday faith, you are witnessing the momentum of a faith that is well into drifting away.
3. Unresolved Painful Experiences- When a student has been abused or has gone through the loss associated with divorce or death of a loved one, they can easily question the presence of God in their situation. When they see suffering around them and wonder why it happens to some and not others, they can start to drift away. Often it is because we want God to fix our pain and be a bandaid to our suffering. God has shown us throughout the book of Job that he doesn’t cause the suffering, but he is present in all suffering. In fact, when Jesus encountered the death of his close friend Lazarus in John 11, it says that he weeped and those who witnessed it were amazed at how much he must have loved Lazarus! God’s goal is not freedom from painful experiences, but He loves to be close to us IN our painful experiences.
What Can You Do When You See The Drift?
1. Pray for wisdom and act on what God impresses on your heart in your time in the Word and when you are learning spiritual truths.
2. Depend on the Spirit to change the heart or you will only get outward conformity.
3. Be engaged as long as you have your kids in close proximity. This window of time is short so make sure you don’t miss it. They will move on in life and usually sooner than later.
4. In the event of painful experiences, don’t be afraid to seek wisdom about having your child in a short-term counseling situation. Some pain kids just don’t get over. They need someone to help them process through it. Other situations where a counselor is needed include when a kid’s personality hinders the healing process. By avoiding a “perceived stigma” of going to counseling, you might be hurting your child’s maturity and development.
I hope this helps you be more aware of the spiritual development of your student. We want to see them walk with God for life and stopping a spiritual drift is a great way to keep them going strong!
Trusting Jesus With You,
Pastor Mark
Keep Praying For Us!
We have two really big prayer needs right now that any and all of you reading our blog can support us in. We still need 6 adult women who will commit to discipling our girls in small groups for Fusion this year. We want women who have a love for girls and want to see them grow deeper in their faith and have a desire to impart their life onto the lives of these precious girls. The commitment is for Sunday nights from 5:45pm to 8:30pm during the school year. If you are interested in being part of our team and need more information, email Jen Gulbrandson at jen.gulbrandson@rollinghills.org or call Zoe Anne Pilger at the church(503-638-5900) and she will help you get ahold of someone who can help you get answers.
Another big need is for us to find 7 more people to pay for a pizza feed for a Fusion Meal Night, which is one of the ways we want to reach unchurched students on Sunday Nights at Fusion. Each meal night costs $350.00 which covers the pizza and drinks for a group of 250 people. If you can help us cover a meal, either individually or as a community group, just email Mark Began at mark.began@rollinghills.org or call me at the church number above for more information.
Please continue to pray for these needs and I will update you as we get answers in the days and weeks to come.
Serving Him,
Mark
FORWARD MOTION
September Teaching Series
We’ve all made resolutions and set goals, but too often we fall short of what we expected to accomplish. Unfortunately it’s often the same when we try to become the Christian we really believe God has called us to be. We fall short of the goal and become increasingly discouraged. In this series, your student will learn that following Christ is more about the small steps we make every day, not about the huge leaps of faith that we think we need to make. They will set a goal, determine the first step and then make it. The series will end with a celebration!
Week One (9/7/08)
Following Christ is about steps, not leaps. This week your students will be introduced to the myth: that Christianity is all about taking big leaps of faith. They will encounter some of Scripture’s most daunting verses, and wrestle with what it means to have a life of spiritual growth. Each student will set a goal for himself or herself, and the next few weeks they will revisit their goals.
Week Two (9/14)
The way you get from where you are to where you want to be is one step at a time. This may sound ridiculously obvious, but we all forget it. We want to go to the gym one time and look like a model; we want to make one smart comment at work and be promoted right to the top. But we know deep down that isn’t the way things work. The good news is that in our spiritual development, God has not left us alone to work out the mess. He has sent His Spirit to guide us. This week, students will look at the power of the Holy Spirit to guide their paths, and they will make a plan for beginning to take the first step toward their goals.
Week Three (9/21/08)
Celebrate the steps you take in your relationship with God, and celebrate the steps others take as well. It’s all about celebration, not the cheap kind of celebration that comes from making a big deal out of nothing, but the real party that comes naturally when we know that we have made even the slightest move in the right direction. Your students will talk this week about what it looks like to encourage each other and celebrate with each other whenever they make progress toward one of their goals.
EXPERIENCE:
Many of you crave forward motion in your family. You know what you want your children to be. You want them to be kind, respectful, responsible, intelligent, creative individuals. You want them to be able to succeed when they grow up and leave your home. But sometimes you look at them and you think that it may never happen.
This month, think about helping your student make one step. Think of one new thing that you would love for your child to do. Maybe it’s to improve his or her science grade, learn how to do laundry, cook a meal or change the oil in the car. Once you have decided on one goal for your child, communicate your desire to teach this skill and let your child know why it is important to learn it. Then spend time during the month helping teach your child how to accomplish the goal.
If you want your student to improve his or her science grade, sit with him and study flash cards. If you want them to know how to do laundry, do a load or two together until he or she gets the hang of it. By communicating to your child why you want him or her to know or do a certain thing, you communicate respect. By spending time helping them learn, you are letting him or her know of their importance to you. You will also alleviate your child’s fear of disappointing you if they get it wrong.
The most important thing that fuels forward motion is celebration. Make sure that you celebrate your child’s step! Tell him or her that you are proud of them for working so hard or for learning something new. When your child knows that they can make you proud, they will be much more motivated to continue working on their new goal.
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