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Hey Everyone,

No Club JV May 15th because of the Pastor’s Conference here at Parkside.  You and your parents are more than welcome to come to the evening sessions of the conference if you would like!  A pastor named Mark Dever from the Washington DC area will be speaking at 7:00 pm in the main auditorium at the Parkside.  If you don’t come to the conference have a great night and spend some time with friends!

See you soon!

Hey Parkside Middle School,

We have a really cool opportunity coming up.  On April 14th we’re meeting at the warehouse @ 9:00am to head over to Laura’s Home for a few hours to do a service project.  Laura’s Home is a place where women and their children can go during a crisis.  It’s a place where people can be cared for and loved when they’re going through an especially hard time.  We’re going to be cleaning windows and doing some yard work.  So meet us at the warehouse, bring some money for lunch on the way home and bring some Windex and paper-towels.  We’ll head home around 1:00pm and be back to the warehouse around 1:30!

Can’t wait to spend the morning with you guys serving God and helping out at Laura’s Home!

Grab a friend and join us on Friday, March 2nd for a night of broomball, dodgeball & ice-skating at The Pond in Chagrin Falls (9999 E. Washington St). We’ll meet at the ice rink and you can be picked up from there as well. The cost is $15 for yourself or $20 for you and a friend that you invite, payable at the door. The price includes all activities (and the necessary equipment required), plus pizza and drinks! See you there!

On Monday, July 9th, a group of Parkside middle school and high schoolstudents will pack up our things and head to a Cleveland-area school where we’ll be spending the week as part of ClevelandWorld Changers project. Once there, we’ll be split into work crews and sent to work on houses in and around Cleveland that are in desperate need of some TLC.

Here are a few other details that might come in handy: first, the cost of the trip is $250, but for those who can’t pay this entire amount, we can help you write support letters to cover the cost. Second, we’ll return from the trip on July 14th, so plan accordingly. And finally, there are only a limited number of spots (42), so please sign up ASAP!

If this trip sounds like something you’d like to be a part of, please fill out either the application you received in the mail and return it to us by April 15th or you may fill it out online HERE. After we have received all of the applications, we’ll put together a team and then start to prepare for the summer by having a number of meetings. If you have any questions, feel free to visit the World Changers website (http://www.world-changers.net/) or contact Dan and I!

“Hey Gang,

I was reading Matthew 10 today and it talks about Jesus sending out the twelve Apostles. It got me thinking about missionaries (people who go all over the world to spread the Good News of Jesus). It’s cool to think about how many of us may one day be a missionary in some faraway place, but it is also cool that we can be missionaries’ right here where we live – in our neighborhoods, at school, or any place! Did you know as a local church, we support missionaries in Bolivia, India, Peru, Mexico, Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria? We have teams in place in these locations that are teaching others about Jesus.

It is pretty awesome that in Matthew 10 we are told what to expect as missionaries. Let’s take a quick look at the ESV headings in Matthew 10 …

The Twelve Apostles (Verses 1-4)

As I read through the names of the twelve Apostles it reminds me that Jesus used everyday people just like you and me to spread the Good News! Jesus used fisherman and tax collectors and it helps me to know that no matter how small or big I am, how smart I may or may not be, what I look like or if I am popular or not, God has made me and I am perfect in His eyes and he has given me the ability to share Jesus with others.

Persecution Will Come (Verses 5-15)

Missionaries have it easy right? NOT! Matthew 10:16-25 tells us that the Apostles (and us) will face persecution. What does persecution mean? Good question! It basically means people will treat someone bad or cause them problems. Being a Christian does not mean we will not go through trials (hard times). Sometimes at school or when you are hanging with your friends it can be hard to talk about Jesus because you are afraid you will be made fun of. I get it. Matthew 10 even tells us some people may even hate us! WOW! But it also tells us “But the one who endures to the end will be saved”. One thing I do know, unless I try to tell someone about Jesus, I will never know how they will respond – they may have no idea about Jesus and have never read the Bible, and God may be using us to introduce them to Jesus. And hey, don’t forget – do not worry about having all the right answers to the questions about Jesus your friends may have, we just need to tell people about Jesus and the rest is up to them and God. And don’t forget Pastor Jon and all the Adult Leaders can help with either talking with you about how to tell a friend about Jesus or talking to a friend you brought to Club JV or UTurn for the first time.

Have No Fear (Verses 26-33)

Matthew 10:26-33 is just pure awesome! I love verse 32 “So everyone who acknowledges me (Jesus) before men, I (Jesus) will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven”. When we tell others about Jesus, Jesus knows and lets the Father know we are one of his children!

Not Peace, but a Sword (34-39)

Whoa…this is some pretty heavy stuff! What does it mean when it states “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” Does that mean we are not to love mom or dad? WRONG! Jesus came to earth and showed us what true love was. Of course we are to love our mom and dad! Jesus wants us to love him with all of our heart, not just when we can fit him in or when we feel like it. He died on a cross for us so our sins could be forgiven and we could become right with God – the greatest act of love that we will ever know and we should love Him more than anything!

Rewards (Verses 40-42)

This is really cool…check out verse 40…”Whoever receives you, receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me” Say what???????????????

Look at it this way: …”Whoever receives you (TELL SOMEONE ABOUT JESUS), receives me (JESUS), and whoever receives me (JESUS) receives him (GOD) who sent me”.

How awesome would it be if you told someone about Jesus and they came to faith and will have eternal life in heaven? It would be Super Awesome!

CHECK IT OUT: Remember I told you we support missionaries in Bolivia, India, Peru, Mexico, Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria? Take some time and research these places, its fun learning about what food the people eat there, what the weather is like and other random stuff! Who knows…you could be there one day!

Also take time to check out www.parksidechurch.com/missions/ to learn more about our missionaries and their families!

Finally….The BIG Idea for this week: Take time this week to be a missionary and tell someone about Jesus or to invite someone to church or Club JV…remember we are all missionaries even if we do not travel to far away places!

Harry

Want to read along?  Visit YouVersion and sign up for the Outreach New Testament reading plan.

Chapters 5, 6, and 7 of the book of Matthew record Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (his teaching and preaching).  ”The crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority. . . ” (Matt. 7:28).  And in today’s reading of chapter 8, we see Jesus’ authority even more clearly displayed.  He cleanses lepers, heals the sick, calms a storm, and casts out demons.  In doing these things we are able to witness his incredible power and authority over everything in this world.  The disciples start to get it right when they exclaim, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey him?” (vs. 27).  Jesus’ power and authority are amazing, shocking, mind-blowing, and extreme.  They should impress us!  We cannot allow these stories of Jesus’ miracles to grow commonplace.  We must picture ourselves following Jesus.  We must see a smelly, gnarled, leprous hand outstretch, a stormy sea turn to glass, and demons leave a man, enter pigs, and run off a cliff.  These things need to shock us, and cause us to stand in awe of Jesus - who has authority over literally everything in the universe - and they need to cause us to trust him.  He who has the power to calm storms on the sea, has the authority to calm storms in your life too.  Trust Him.

Thanks Tim!  What did you think?  Join the conversation and comment below.

Want to read along?  Visit YouVersion and sign up for the Outreach New Testament reading plan.

I mentioned last night at Club JV that I was going to post something new that we’re doing here at Parkside Middle School.  Starting today we’re working on reading sections of the New Testament together.  Once a week or so we’ll have someone who helps out at Club JV post on the passage for the day - things they noticed for the first time, what they learned, etc.  And then you can join the conversation and see what other people are saying too.  All you have to do is sign up for the plan and go ahead and read! Here’s a link to the reading plan we’re doing together.  It’s called the Outreach New Testament Plan.  I’m really looking forward to all the good discussion and all that we learn from the Bible this year.

I asked the Adult ministry Team leaders to led us their talents from time to time and tell us about what God is teaching them.  Our friend Courtney has been kind enough to do just that! She sent me this great piece on what God’s been teaching her about worship.  It’s really good.  When you’re done reading spend a little time thinking about ways that you can worship God this week, even in the everyday things.  Maybe you could even post one of your thoughts below.  Thanks Courtney!

It’s only been a couple days, but I still can’t stop thinking about this past Sunday’s lesson (To refresh your memory, it was Dan’s lesson about worship). The notes I wrote down, and the questions we discussed have been popping back in my head ever since that morning. I’ve been thinking a lot about what worship means to me, and how I can apply it to my daily life. It’s been a challenge, but one I can’t wipe out of my mind!

One of my most favorite things to do in my spare time is sing. And dance. Definitely dance. Granted, I am no professional in either, but my favorite way to pass the time is to let loose. ESPECIALLY when I have to do chores. It really lightens the mood (I recommend trying it!).

It was great to hear someone bring up dance at U-Turn on Sunday, and ways that they can better use it for worshiping God. But for me, I don’t dance like it’s a sport, or something I’d be on Broadway for, or end up as someone famous. But then there’s your non- Christian friends, who dance a way you know isn’t right, or criticize you for dancing too stiff, or too loose. So I keep asking myself, how do you fully devote yourself to worshiping God when the dance moves are something that can be ungodly and looked down upon?

You may think it’s impossible, but, according to the Bible, IT’S NOT!

What if I told you the Bible wants us to dance? That it’s possible to worship God and dance at the same time???

Check out 2 Samuel 6:12-14a.

“And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. And David danced before the Lord with all his might.”

Did you see the words I italicized? David was so overwhelmed with joy and love for the Lord, he didn’t know what else to do but dance. Do you know what that feels like? If not, I sincerely pray and hope you experience that feeling, because it is the most exciting and breath-taking feeling in the world. I’ve worked at a camp where we stay up late the last night before campers go home, singing and dancing with joy as we rejoice in God’s amazing love for us. I even STILL get that feeling when I turn up the volume to my favorite Christian songs in the car, whether I’m on my way to Club JV, or driving to and from school.

Now I’m not saying that when you’re in “big church” for evening service, or in U-Turn on Sunday mornings, that you should run up and down the aisles waving your hands and screaming like a mad man. What I want you to realize is that when you’re lifting your head up high, closing your eyes, and jumping for joy at a really exciting song that opens you up, that’s when God looks down on you with a big smile for getting it. For completely opening up your heart to Him so He can come in and fill you with his overflowing love and compassion. And if you’re home, blasting a song that really opens your heart up to Him, and jerking a dance move (if you call it that) while you’re folding laundry, that’s awesome! You’re glorifying Him, and that’s what He wants.

I want to end with just one more passage, and a song for you to listen to. Read the lyrics as it plays. I pray that you’ve been thinking about the lesson you heard on Sunday, and that you try and apply it to your life, whether it’s completely silly like mine, or if it’s strengthening your habit of praying to Him. God loves your efforts no matter what!

Here’s Psalm 150…

“Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”

David Crowder Band: Undignified