Posts from December 2023

Posts from December 2023

Confessions of a Planner

Are you guys planning stuff for summer right now? Fun fact, I start getting Vacation Bible School stuff ready in January! The dust has barely settled on Christmas and I’ve ordered the curriculum! When it shows up in January, It’s like Christmas again! I get to open the tin, sort through the items, and start planning!  I recently learned that I LOVE to plan things. I’m not sure why. I think it’s the anticipation of what is to come – How COVID has affected us

A Christmas Story Quiz

In October, we shot a Christmas video with children from our Wednesday After School Program (WASP). These are kids in Kindergarten through 2nd grade. We’ll premiere the video at our church’s Christmas Eve program this month. We sat the children down and asked them questions about the Christmas story. Overall, they did quite well recalling the story of the Nativity. However, some of their answers raised an eyebrow.  Here is a quiz on the Christmas story based on some of the children’s How COVID has affected us

Margin

As Christians, we are commanded to love. It’s not always easy to love others through the hurt and challenges. God’s love serves as the ultimate example, the purest expression of selflessness. It is a love that knows no bounds, embracing us in our flaws and imperfections. Love is not passive; it is an active choice. In choosing to love, we align ourselves with a force that has the power to heal wounds, bridge divides, and bring light into the darkest How COVID has affected us
Hands in the shape of a heart

The Power of Love (Not Huey Lewis)

As Christians, we are commanded to love. It’s not always easy to love others through the hurt and challenges. God’s love serves as the ultimate example, the purest expression of selflessness. It is a love that knows no bounds, embracing us in our flaws and imperfections. Love is not passive; it is an active choice. In choosing to love, we align ourselves with a force that has the power to heal wounds, bridge divides, and bring light into the darkest How COVID has affected us
The Amazing Grace Race from Octane kid's ministry in Kalkaska.

Amazing Grace Race

Last week was one of my favorite weeks that I do with the Octane kids. We did an Amazing Grace Race. It is similar to the Amazing Race show, where teams have to complete tasks. At each challenge, they received a food item to put together a Thanksgiving basket. After the baskets are compiled the teams made cards to go with the baskets.  The kids all enjoyed the game, but the best part was knowing that they were doing something How COVID has affected us
Teaching the youth the Bible is as important as ever

The Talk

This past week we tackled a big subject at youth group…Pornography. I’m sure some of you just ran and hid under a piece of furniture, started sweating, or just got really uncomfortable. Don’t worry!! That is not what I am talking about in this article. Some of you might ask, “Why are you talking about that in youth group?”. 30+ years ago I might be asking the same question. However, in the culture we live in today, there are so How COVID has affected us
Faith and a mustard seed

Boosting Your Faith: 3 Practical Steps

Faith is defined by dictionary.com as “confidence in a person or thing.” When we are talking about the Christian faith, we are putting our faith in God (the person) and the Bible (the thing). Confidence is a term that can be increased or decreased like a thermostat. We can turn a thermostat in our home up to give us more heat. Likewise, if someone turns the thermostat down, the temperature will change accordingly. Placing our confidence in a person or a thing can How COVID has affected us

Be Strong and Courageous

During a recent mission trip to the Dominican Republic, I was introduced to Moise (not sure I am spelling his name correctly). He grew up in Haiti and moved to the Dominican I think in his late twenties. He was planted by GO ministries as a pastor to a small community that is part Dominican residents and part Haitian refugees. He has a school that last year had 30+ students and this year has 5. We walked the neighborhood and prayed for the How COVID has affected us