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Starting now, our own students will create content for and update this blog during Sunday "Service Teams" times.
In Element, we have a lot of great and exciting experiences and would like to share them with you! For the past couple weeks, we've been going through the Gospel of Mark in our Remarkable Jesus message series.
Here's Dan working on the message!
Our student Service Teams help to make lunch, play on the praise band, brainstorm and do fundraising ideas, and more each week.
Our praise band works hard and practices every Sunday right before performing for our praise time.
For the last week, our church has opened the Passion Experience. The Passion Experience shows the last moments of Jesus' life as an experience you can actually walk through. Middle School Element went through Passion Experience last Friday together in our small groups.
Last Friday, we started our Large Group night with a delicious enchilada dinner before our special talk on "How can you believe in a God you cannot see?" Kevin and Wayland explained how we use different types of knowledge to form our beliefs and how we can use the same types of knowledge to reasonably believe in a God whom we can't see.
After our special talk, all the students and staff geared up to play some awesome rounds of LASER TAG. We ended with an epic round of staff vs. students in which the students easily won!
Sam and Denny give us the rules before the games begin.
Team Blue&Red signal that they're ready to go!
Team Green is also ready to go! Hey, what's Justin doing there!
One of our students is in ready mode!
Team Blue&Red aim from the safety of their team headquarters!
We ended the Large Group night together with a big group picture!
On Friday 9/4, Element MS had their Welcome Night - just as the new semester started! Our students got to invite their friends, and we had a fun-filled time of yummy food, live music, message by Dan, some crazy games, and a photobooth station with wacky props. It was great to reconnect with old friends as well as to welcome many new faces to MSWN!
Welcome to Element Middle School!
Photobooth fun with the 7th grade girls and staff! :)
Wacky 7th grade boys! There are some intense beards goin' on...
The 8th graders took a group photo. Can you guys believe you're 8th graders now?
After dinner and photobooth, our band started off the night with the song "The Time Has Come."
Then, we watched a funny skit performed by our own MS students! It was about 4 different people who each pursued happiness in their own way but were left unsatisfied in the end. The students did a great job after all their hard work and practice.
After the skit, Dan gave a short message on John 5 about the Pool of Bethesda and how we often have our different "pools" that we look to for happiness and fulfillment in our own lives.
After Dan's message, we all cleared the room to play some fun and crazy games that involved throwing stuffed animals and popping balloons.
We split up into teams by grade to compete in a relay race to collect as many stuffed animals as possible.
Yum...Within minutes, we devoured all the snacks and depleted this chocolate fountain of goodness.
Erickson and John pose for the camera, as James and Alberto shamelessly photo-bomb!
The 6th grade girls also take some memory-making photos. It's our first MS Welcome Night!
The 6th grade boys take facial hair to another level!
As we end the night and hang out, some students check out the new instagram-inspired photo wall that shows what we've been up to in Element MS. :)
This past Sunday, we started Element Ops again to prepare for our upcoming Fall Welcome Night! We had fun getting trained up in guitar, drums, video production, sound/staging, Photoshop, and art/impressions. The skit team also started practicing our awesome skit.
The Art / Impressions team brainstorming ideas to make the Middle School room look fun and welcoming for the new year!
Guitar class training up future praise band musicians...
More future Middle School rockstars....
The Video team watching good examples of videos as they brainstorm ideas for some video trailers.
Last Sunday was our last MS Ops time with the Klesis Sophomores this semester! We're really thankful and proud of them for faithfully taking time out of their busy schedules each week to brainstorm ways to help you guys internalize that week's DT and teach you new skills in your Ops classes.
On their last day, we had a final presentation from each Ops team about all the things they had learned over the past semester. Let's see some highlights!
Hm, so have you guys ever wondered who makes all those delicious baked goods each Sunday? Well, maybe in your haste to cram those pastries into your mouth--you might not have. But as a matter of fact, they come from none other than our magnificent Baking Team! The next time you guys eat something that just magically appeared on a table, be sure to at least ask who the unsung heroes are who produced such deliciousness so that you can properly thank them!
Our Photoshop Team then presented some flyers they had been working on, and talked about design fundamentals they used--like contrast and spacing.
Our boy's Photography Team presented some hilarious photos exploring the principles of focus, motion, and perspective. There was also a photo narrative exploring the principles of light, which must be mentioned simply because it featured the most creative use of a desk lamp I have ever seen. Head + desk lamp + thievery = angler flsh melodrama.
Thankfully, the girl's Photography Team then supplemented the boy's presentation by actually explaining the real fundamentals of photography: ISO, aperture, and shutter speed.
For the final act, our students performed the song "God Is Able." Our band featured all of our instrumentals teams: bass guitar, acoustic guitar, keys, drums, and...
...ukulele! :D
Many other teams also presented, including Video Team, Sports Team, Coding Team, Singing Team, and Mural Team. Some have no photo evidence because it was too dark to capture photos during their powerpoint presentations. Sorry, had to be there to experience the awesomeness!
Afterwards, the students presented their thank you cards to their Klesis DT teachers for all of their hard work this past semester and got to pray and receive prayer from them.
THANK YOU KLESIS SOPHOMORES! We are grateful for all that you've taught us and all the hours you put into planning each session. It's not easy juggling college-level courses and ministry, but you guys have done it all with eagerness and cheerful hearts! You're always welcome back to Element MS!
And as for each of us, let us continue to be in awe, always filled with gratitude for all the blessings that we have received and all the teachers who have so concretely invested in us and loved us, remembering that each one of them was sent by God as His direct messengers to demonstrate just how much He cares for us.
This past Friday, the girls started on our Biblical Womanhood message series: "Defy."
We really hope that through this, you guys can get a clear picture of the unrealistic and contradictory expectations the world places on girls in our generation, and that you guys would be emboldened to defy the norms that our culture has told us we need to conform to in order to feel loved and accepted.
Each week, we'll look at different women in the Bible who defied the culture of their times in order to honor God. This week, we talked about 3 amazing women: Moses' mother, Shiprah, and Puah.
We watched a TED talk about how our culture tries to keep girls so distracted about their self-image and how they appear before others--that they have no more mental space to think about other people, global problems, social issues, or anything outside of themselves.
The consequence is that girls in our generation are growing increasingly insecure and self-focused--leading them to become less likely to do/say anything that might run the risk of making them look bad, require costly sacrifice, or demand hard work.
The dilemma: When we try to fight against these powerful pressures, we get looked down on or teased by other people. But when we conform, we become perpetually insecure. So what should we do?
After reading a passage from Exodus, we learned about Shiprah and Puah--two midwives who defied Pharaoh's orders to kill newborn baby boys at the risk of losing their very lives. Although they had very little power, and the situation seemed hopeless, they were able to defy the strongest power of the time out of their fear and reverence for God, recognizing that He was their ultimate judge. Similarly, Moses' mother also disobeyed Pharaoh's law out of her love for her son.
Our willpower alone is not enough to defy the social pressures that we face today. The only thing that can help us to overcome them is 1) greater love for God and 2) greater love for other people.
After the message, the girls started on a special craft--like Moses' mother, students paired up to weave a basket. Each week, they'll put in a new item that represents something they learned from that message, and at the end of the message series, they'll give the completed basket to someone at a local women's shelter, explaining to that person how each item in the basket relates to their hope in God.
I'm thankful that through these talks we can really reveal and discuss how foolish it is to believe in the lies our culture is trying to spoon-feed us each day. It's my prayer that as we study more of the women of faith in the Bible, we ourselves will grow more and more confident in the fact that a life spent honoring God--though it isn't always the smoothest or easiest life--is indeed better than a life spent following the ways of the world. Let's each continue to work hard and encourage one another, so that at the end of the race we can say that we've done our best to please our Lord!
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
- Jim Elliot
Last Friday, Ronke and Janet gave a special talk about the resurrection and why it's so important for our faith. The apologetics question they covered was: Did Jesus Really Rise From the Dead?
This is actually a very important question to know the answer to, because all of our faith is based on the fact that Jesus rose from the dead! If he didn't rise, then that means our faith is pointless, because it was likely Jesus was just a regular man and not God, and everything he said about conquering sin/death, being our substitute, forgiving our sins, and preparing a place for us in heaven...would be a lie.
So how do we know that Jesus really rose from the dead? Let's take a look!
Well Ronke and Janet talked about the 3 key facts that all scholars agree on surrounding Jesus' death: (You can remember them with the handy mnemonic--Jesus rose from the BED):
- Belief of the Disciples: The disciples couldn't have stolen the body and lied about it because most of them actually died very painfully for that belief. Many were beaten/stoned to death and even beheaded/crucified for preaching about Jesus' resurrection. If it was all a lie, they could have easily just admitted it and saved their lives.
- Empty Tomb: The tomb they laid Jesus' body in was definitely empty, according to all testimonies of the time, even from Jesus' enemies (Pharisees, Roman philosopher Celsus) as well as Roman historians. No one could find the body! If people were claiming to have seen Jesus' body walking around, it would be easy to prove them wrong by simply producing the body. But because they couldn't find it, it stands to reason that they weren't hallucinating.
- Death by Crucifixion: Jesus couldn't have merely fainted--he definitely died on the cross. The very process of crucifixion guaranteed death through the dislocation of limbs, asphyxiation, and if necessary, the breaking of the victim's legs. Additionally, even before the cross, we know that Jesus was brutally beaten and flogged, and that afterwards, the soldiers made sure that he was dead by piercing his side with a spear.
One of our very own Element students helped us to present Fact E: Empty Tomb. We're really proud of her, and we hope to have a lot more of you guys participate in our apologetics talks in the future so that you can really internalize the material for yourself!
After going over the BED facts, they showed that those 3 facts can easily debunk the most common alternate theories that people use to explain away the resurrection, like:
- The Stolen Body Theory: The disciples obviously stole the body of Jesus and then lied about it! (Refer to Fact B, yo!)
- The Hallucination Theory: Everyone hallucinated seeing Jesus' resurrected body at the same time! (Just pull out Fact E)
- The Swoon Theory: Jesus just fainted/pretended to be dead! (BOOM! Fact D)
"Hmmm...yes, you bring up some good points," your skeptical friends should be saying by this point.
So don't be afraid when people ask you to prove that Jesus really rose from the dead! Just pull out the 3 BED facts!
Because at the end of the day, if Jesus rose from the dead, that means:
- He was indeed God in the flesh
- All his Words were true, and we should obey them
- All of our sins have been forgiven, and we will one day be with God in heaven
And that means that not only do we need to know this stuff, but our friends do too! So now, let us be bold and confident, knowing that our faith is sound!
We're so proud of you guys for all of your hard work this past Saturday watching the kids during our first Movie Night Fundraiser! We raised a lot of money for the Mexico Mission Trip!
Here are some pictures to recap what we did:
First off, we had an enthusiastic welcome/registration team ready to check-in all the kids who came through our doors!
A lot of people worked really hard to set up snacks, make signs, and prepare balloon decorations!
All evidence of the popcorn team's labor was quickly devoured. Only this photo remains as proof.
After watching Big Hero 6, the Joylanders had an exciting round of games!
Meanwhile, in Joytown world, some of our middle school boys started off by leading our game time! Way to take initiative, guys!
Our round of Simon Says was unusually hard...for the adults. What do you mean "Simon didn't say to jump...?!"
The kids had a lot of fun, though!
Afterwards, we had a drive-in movie night, where we helped build box cars for the kids. Lookin' pretty awesome.
We're thankful for all of your labor of love! Although it was tough watching some of the kids, we're grateful for all of your cheerfulness and good sportsmanship throughout the entire time. You guys really worked hard and took ownership of your roles!
Looking forward to our next Movie Night Fundraiser! Stay tuned for Movie Night Pt. 2!