05
Feb
Calling all high school students! I know you are all so popular and have the next 16 Friday nights already booked with dates, movie nights or other fun stuff….BUT…cancel everything!!! Starting Friday February 6th, and every Friday after that, we will be meeting in the basement of the church from 6-9pm to hangout, play Wii, Playstation, Pingpong, boardgames, dodgeball and to just hang out. Bring your own food or snacks to share with your friends! Check out the high school page on the website for other info.
26
Jan
There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.I believe that the most lawless and inordinate loves are less contrary to God’s will than a self-invited and self-protective lovelessness…We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as a way in which they should break, so be it.What I know about love and believe about love and giving ones heart began in this.
25
Nov
Pray for rain! Pray for rain! Ok, you don’t have to pray for rain…but playing football in the mud is pretty fun! I hope you will all join us this Sunday, November 30th from 1:00-3:00 at Chaparral Middle School for a fun time of flag football. All ages and abilites are invited to come out! We even need cheerleaders! Directions to the school can be found at church. See you there!
17
Oct
Calling all Junior Highers!!! Saturday October 25th, meet at the church from 5:30-9:00 for pizza and a scavenger hunt. It only costs $5 so be there!! Make sure you have your permission slip turned in. Bring all your friends!
08
Oct
Every Wednesday night from 5:00-6:00 in the High School room at church, we will be having beginner guitar lessons. These are available for anyone in the church and the cost is free!! If you have a guitar and have a desire to learn basic chords, strum patterns and how to play some of your favorite songs, come join us! Give Brian a call at (909) 594_7604 for more information. See you there!
30
Sep
The alarm clock goes off to your favorite song. The sun is shining as you take in your first sip of coffee. The family is actually running on time for church! You arrive at church and there are actually a few parking spots still left in the lot but since you are on time, you decide to park across the street…how nice of you. Your Sunday is going flawlessly. Walking into the sanctuary, you are greeting with a warm smile and a bulletin containing new church events. The music pastor is leading everyone in praise to God and you can’t help but lift your arms to your Creator. The pastor comes up to pray and then encourages everyone to say hello to someone sitting next to them.
As the service continues and the pastor begins his message, you start hearing a strange noise…almost like someone hitting their hand against a wall. Others in the service also notice this strange sound. It almost sounds like someone is tapping their foot really loud against the floor. How rude can someone be by disrespecting the pastor’s message with unnecessary noise.
If you have ever had this experience in church, do not be alarmed. This noise is the noise of praise! Every Sunday morning, directly underneath the main sanctuary, the high school and junior high join together for their own praise through music. The music is faster. The music is louder. The music repeats the same phrase over and over again. That unnecessary “thud” you hear every Sunday is either our drummer banging on the bass drum or our bass guitar player worshipping God! It’s very exciting down below!
One more thing to be excited about…during the past two weeks, our worship has been led completely by our students! Boy, are they talented! Students are leading their friends in praise to God by using the gifts God has bestowed upon them!
So, the next time you are sitting in church thinking “What’s that noise,” just know that it is the sound of the next generation of believers singing praise to their Savior!
26
Aug
Dear Family and Friends
I want to personally thank you for your thoughts, encouragements, prayers and financial gifts which helped the High School mission team have a successful trip to Salt Lake City, Utah almost one month ago. The team consisted of six students, myself and our contact missionary Russ East who lives in Ogden, Utah year round with his family. This trip stretched us emotionally and mentally as we learned a great amount of information about the LDS church.
On our first Sunday in Utah, we went to church at another Evangelical Free Church and in the afternoon, we went to a Mormon ward (ward is another name for church) and experienced a Mormon worship service. It was very different from ours and our student’s eyes were opened when they saw that the LDS service taught only out of the Book of Mormon and not out of the Bible. As we left the ward that afternoon, one of our students and I had an interesting conversation with a LDS member about the definition of Christianity.
As the week went on, we were able to utilize the talents and abilities of our students by partnering with a local church through VBS activities. The church was grateful for such mature and responsible students. Other activities included meeting with Bill McKeever. Bill is a leading researcher in the field of Mormonism and founder of www.mrm.org. The team was able to attend a live television taping where a Christian host answers questions from call in listeners about the Mormon faith. The students also ate at a restaurant called “One World,” where they were able to eat food from all over the world. We attended a Pioneer Day Parade. Pioneer Day is when the entire Salt Lake City area practically shuts down to commemorate the pioneers who brought the Mormon faith to Utah.
The majority of our time was spent downtown in Temple Square. This is literally the Mecca of Mormonism and is where our students learned and grew the most. The students were able to take various tours, watch a Joseph Smith movie, and have conversations with Mormon missionaries. It was amazing to see how timid the students were at the beginning of the week and how their attitude transformed as they actively sought out dialogue on the last day of our trip!
This team would not have been possible without the help of our friends and family. We genuinely thank you for all your contributions!
01
Apr
Hey everyone!? I wanted to let you know of a great opportunity every Wednesday night for you to take advantage of.? From 4:30-5:00, in the high school room, we are having beginning guitar/worship lessons.? From 5:00-6:00, in the main sanctuary, Tyler Thompson is giving the entire church vocal lessons.? From 6:00-6:30, in the high school room, the HS praise team scheduled to play that upcoming Sunday will practice.? At 7:00, our normal HS program will start.? Hope to see you there!
01
Apr
Sunday 4/6: BNash (electric), Sam (Bass), Bgeil (Acoustic), Angela (Drums)
Sunday 4/13: BNash/Bmar (electric), Sam (bass), Bgeil (acoustic), Dale (drums)
Sunday 4/20: Same as previous week
Sunday 4/27: Same as 4/6
