Thursday, January 26Get a free breakfast from the Cornerstone Student Ministry.
We’ll have a table set up near the flag pole outside LHS. Come by and get a donut and some juice before school on Thursday morning.
Over Spring Break Cornerstone Students will go on a mission trip to Joplin, MO. On May 22, 2011 Joplin was struck by an EF5 tornado. The tornado killed 160 people and caused nearly 3 billion dollars worth of damage.
The dates of the trip have not been finalized, but it will be the week of March 19.
More information coming soon.
You are encouraged to bring your 7th-12th grade students to the KNCSB Youth Worship Arts Camp. We are offering a variety of breakout tracks for participants in an effort to reach students with a variety of interests. These tracks are also designed to help strengthen existing ministries or to give you and your students ideas on how to begin these ministries in your own church. Tracks include:
If you would like additional track information, please click here.
DATE: March 9-10, 2012
LOCATION: Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kansas
COST: $30 per person (includes a pizza fellowship following the Friday evening session and lodging at Webster Conference Center; Saturday breakfast and lunch. Remember to bring a sleeping bag or bedroll and all personal toiletries.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: February 24, 2012
click here for registration forms; here for a medical release form; here for a sponsor form)
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE: Registration begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Chapel. The conference begins at 7:15 p.m.
For more information contact the Church Music and Worship Department at 785-228-6800.
We start our next series February 1.
Schedule:
This Wednesday we start our next series, “Lost in Translation”.
Schedule:
1. Be a Student of What They are Learning
We’ve all used words while being a little uncertain of the actual meaning. But when it comes to words like “belief,” “righteousness” and “salvation,” our understanding makes a huge difference in how we live our Christian faith and how we view God. So, we’re going to take a look at these commonly used words and figure out not only what they mean today but what they meant to the writers of the Bible thousands of years ago. And, in doing so, our aim is to let these new definitions teach us more about all God has for us and wants for us. In other words, over three weeks we are going to take what may have been lost in translation and recapture and rethink it in a way that could transform us in ways we never imagined.
2. Be a Student of Your Student
In the summer of 2008, Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith conducted a study which interviewed 230 young adults from across America. Columnist David Brooks summarized those findings in a recent article in the New York Times (“If It Feels Right …” September 12th, 2011). Smith’s findings revealed that young people don’t have the vocabulary to talk about issues of morality. In other words, when it comes to talking about morality and the meaning of life, young people generally find themselves at a loss for words to describe what they know and how they feel. As Brooks writes in his article, “The interviewers asked open-ended questions about right and wrong, moral dilemmas and the meaning of life. In the rambling answers, which Smith and company recount in a new book, ‘Lost in Transition,’ you see the young people groping to say anything sensible on these matters. But they just don’t have the categories or vocabulary to do so … It’s not so much that these young Americans are living lives of sin and debauchery, at least no more than you’d expect from 18- to 23-year-olds. What’s disheartening is how bad they are at thinking and talking about moral issues.”
For those of us who are invested in the lives of young people, this information can be a bit unsettling. But, we can also see it as a challenge to help our students by teaching them what the Bible says about who they are and what their lives are purposed for—by giving them the vocabulary to talk about these issues with clarity and thoughtfulness. As Brooks says, “Again, this doesn’t mean that America’s young people are immoral. Far from it. But, Smith and company emphasize, they have not been given the resources—by schools, institutions and families—to cultivate their moral intuitions, to think more broadly about moral obligations, to check behaviors that may be degrading. In this way, the study says more about adult America than youthful America.”And this is where we as parents pick up the challenge to help our students develop a vocabulary for the story of their faith journey.
While many students may not be able at this point to truly deal with the abstract ideas of “belief,” “righteousness” and “salvation,” there will come a time when they will be able to wrestle with these concepts and really understand their meaning in a way that will impact their understanding of the Christian faith and their lives. So, as you talk to your teen about what they are learning, keep in mind that we are sowing the seeds of a greater understanding of both their faith and who they are created to be.
3. Action Point
Stories are one of the greatest teaching tools we have to reach our students. One of the most powerful ways for us, as parents, to teach our students the power of faith is for us to share our own faith story with them. For some of us, our faith story is filled with lots of drama. For some, our story is one we haven’t really spent that much time considering before. For others, our faith story began when we were very young and has been a consistent narrative throughout our lives. Whatever your story, it is important that you share it with your student. Let them peek into your own journey and find some common ground. This may not come naturally or easily, but as you stumble through it together, keep in mind that your vulnerability is one of the most effective tools in furthering your child’s personal spiritual journey. Here are some tips to get you started:
Weve arrived in Topeka. We are staying at the Capitol Plaza Hotel. To hear each session check out at indepthpodcast.com. We should be home before noon on saturday.
Starting in December I will be changing up our lessons on Wednesday nights. We will do a new series each month, with the first two or three weeks being a lesson and the last week will feature an experience or “XP.” The XP is designed to help the students move past the information of the series and into an opportunity to experience it. Our schedule will remain the same each week, 6:30 – 8:30.
December 7 – “Unpacked” (Luke 2)
December 14 – “Rewrap” (Exodus 16:4; Luke 2:14)
December 21 – “The Experience”
December 28 – No Wednesday Night Activities
December 29-31 – INDEPTH 2011
Christmas is that feel-good time of year when the lights are up, the holiday music is flowing and the cheer is palpable in the air. It’s also the time of year when we go through the same Christmas routine as always and pass another holiday season without necessarily thinking through how the story of Christmas is meant to change us, not just be a backdrop to two weeks off from school. So, this Christmas we’re going to take a fresh look at the Christmas story with some new insights to help us understand how revolutionary Jesus’ arrival on Earth really was. When we think of the Christmas story this year, let’s be reminded that Jesus is more than we need during the holiday season, and for the rest of the year too.
What was it that used to make the holidays special when you were a kid? Was it the chill in the air signaling that Christmas break was right around the corner? Baking and decorating ginger bread cookies with a sibling or your mom or dad? Or, maybe it was that feeling you got on Christmas Eve as you waited for the morning when you could finally tear into those beautifully wrapped packages underneath your tree. Whatever may have made the holidays a special time for you, there is one thing that tends to define the Christmas season for most of us: family. When we are young, our families define what Christmas looks like from the traditions they keep to the way they express the story of Jesus to those around them. And, for those of us who are now raising families of our own, we are now defining Christmas for our families. It can feel a bit overwhelming establishing the values, traditions and attitudes that revolve around this idea of Jesus’ arrival on this Earth.
While most students may be able to tell us the “real” meaning of the season, they aren’t necessarily connecting it to the value of the Christmas story. Developmentally, our students are in a place where it is difficult to think outside of their own world and their own lives. They may have head knowledge of the Christmas story, but in order to take that and bring it down to heart level, there has to be an experience that they can call their own. This is especially important for those of us with middle school and younger high school students who are still in the developmental stage of egocentric abstraction. During this stage, your student is the center of his or her own world and is not easily able to identify with ideas and concepts that are not personally connected to their own feelings. However, when they have the chance to experience the joy of reaching out to others in the midst of other’s true needs, they can personally identify with the value of the Christmas story.
For those of us with older high school students, now is the time when they are beginning to widen their worldview and understand the world outside as more than the sum of their own feelings and experiences. For them, the experience of reaching out to others is a chance to put legs to the social and global concerns that are already stirring in their hearts. Once the meaning of the Christmas story is tangible through personal experience, it isn’t easily forgotten in the mind of your teen. Another thing to remember is that though developmentally your students are in a place where they may not fully “get” the meaning of the Christmas story, we as the adults in their lives are. It is necessary for us to set the example and show them the importance of the Christmas story. So, we may need to take some time on our own to reflect on the value of Jesus’ arrival on Earth before we can begin to define that for our students.
This Action Point is where we can start to define what Christmas is truly about through the traditions we establish and the way we express the Christmas story—in our homes, in our schools, in our churches, in our neighborhoods and to the world at large. This is not just an exercise for the Christmas season, but rather a great time to start refocusing our family’s attention on putting Christ back into His rightful place. So, this Christmas as you and your family settle into the usual gate of the holiday season, take a moment to pray, reflect and search your heart for how you want to represent the Christmas story to your family. And then, do something together as a family that will allow those values to be expressed in a way that will forever shape the way they “do” Christmas.
Here are some ideas for ways you and your family can connect to and define the Christmas story together:
This Christmas, as you celebrate the gift of Jesus and the story of God’s redemption in all of our lives, take the time to put that message into motion. Christmas is not just about giving things away so that we get that warm fuzzy feeling, or because we want to “share the wealth.” It’s about expressing God’s heart for justice, love and reconciliation.
As well, here is an encouraging blog post entitled “10 Reasons to Escape Excessive Consumerism” by Joshua Becker. Check it out at: http://www.becomingminimalist.com/2011/08/03/escaping-excessive-consumerism/
Get connected to a wider community of parents at www.orangeparents.org.
This Wednesday is the second part of a thirteen week series called “Growing in Christ.” It is based on a bible study created by The Navigators and is created for “new and growing Christians.” Each week we will have a memory verse for the students, if any of the students can recite all 13 passages by memory on November 16 they will get a $50 gift card to either Signs of Life, Target, or Best Buy.
Wednesday we start the first week of a thirteen week series called “Growing in Christ.” It is based on a bible study created by The Navigators and is created for “new and growing Christians.” Click Here to learn more about the book. Each week we will have a memory verse for the students, if any of the students can recite all 13 passages by memory on November 16 they will get a $30 giftcard to either Signs of Life, Target, or Best Buy.
This week we will be looking at how we are saved, how we know we are saved and why it’s important to memorize scripture. These questions are only suggestions, feel free to use some or all of it as you see fit. Most of our study will be in 1 John 5:11-12, which is also our memory verse. We will also be looking at Isaiah 59:2, Ephesians 2:8-9, and John 10:27-29.
The date for the Game Night has changed from August 12 to August 19.
Cornerstone Students will be hosting Game Night at the church on Friday Night, August 19. We will start at 7:30 and will go until the party stops (at 10:30). Our big event will be a XBox match with two rooms and two teams playing against each other. We will also have a ping pong tournament and will play some board games. Bring a friend, play some games and come enjoy some delicious snacks!