THRIVE: ElementMS Summer Breakaway!

I don't know about you, but I thought the summer breakaway this past week was packed with pure awesomeness, coolness, funness, and other great things that end with "-ness"! But seriously though, this year's summer breakaway was a highlight for so many of us. Not only did we play some ridiculously fun games and get our blood pumping with aerobics, but we also learned about the amazing and extravagant love that God has for us through the parable of the prodigal son. Many of us committed to strengthening and honoring our relationship with God at this retreat; now that we're back in good ol' Bay Area, let's spur each other on to love God and love other people!

Anyways, here are a few snapshots of what our retreat, we'll hopefully show a really cool video recap at our Sunday service!

It may be hard to tell from this picture, but the 8th grade boys climbed 65 feet up a tree, and then jump off the platform to catch a trapeze bar hanging about 5 feet away. No wonder this course was called "Leap of Faith"...

Our very own MS staff gave the messages based on the parable of the Prodigal Son, found in Luke 15. Lots of us were impacted by just how merciful and compassionate God is to us. 

Small group times were a great opportunity to recap the messages and pray over the themes.

Don't forget about the fun games we played! The "Blanket Game" is always a classic. Somehow, participants always end up dressing up like desert nomads...

Another good ol' classic is Tug of War. Here, the guys pump themselves up to defeat their archnemesis: the girls...

Well, things didn't go according to the boys' plan. As you can tell from this picture, the girls celebrate wildly over their overpowering defeat of the boys team. It was like watching Germany playing against Brazil in the semifinals...

Hopefully you can join us next time! Keep your eyes open for our winter retreat in a couple months!