Parents meeting is in the lobby of the church office this Sunday at 7pm.

Youth group last week was not one of the best. I just find it hard to find fresh and new in the story of the birth of Christ. Our students went through the stories of the Old Testament to find any reference to the coming Messiah.

So, I wonder, did I pray enough? Did we pray enough?

I guess I liked the stories from the Old Testament because many students had fresh discoveries about God, who He is and what He does.

This Sunday night is about the baptism and temptation of Christ. We will see how it goes.

What does God want our students to know through this story? We do have students who will fully work to follow Christ. Should we go on a journey into the wilderness to spend time with God? Jesus went for 40 days and was tempted. Can we handle temptation in the way of Jesus? Why did Jesus get baptized? Why should we get baptized? If this identifies us with Christ and the church, why are so many who claim faith in God, not willing to die for the cause of Christ. Ok, maybe just live to the cause of Christ. That might be harder.

Its funny how times change. 2000 years ago there were people who would memorize the whole old testament. By the age of 9 the goal was to know the Pentateuch.

So today, it seems like it might be too much to ask a middle school student to read through the whole Bible. What do you think?

Last Saturday Nathan, Alex, Hayden, Garrett helped me work on someones fence and yard. Because of the dad's stroke he is not able. You should have seen these guys with screws and power tools trying to communicate on either side of a 6 foot fence. I should have had a video camera.

I had a single lady from one of our ladies Bible studies ask if anyone could help rake her leaves. I asked one of our high school guys small groups if they would like to help. They said sure. So, a week from Saturday we are planning to work for an hour or so to help. That is October 23rd around noon. They should bring a rake. They can jump in the pool after the work.