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We’re Talking About This…
How many hours are you technologically connected on a normal day? If you were to add up your hours online, your glances at text messages, your streaming music, your perusing social media, your Netflix addiction, how many hours could you count? It’s probably a lot. Our culture is obsessed with technology—and with good reason. Technology keeps us connected to each other and to the world around us. Nearly every device we own transmits signals to something else, somewhere else. Why? Because that’s how they’re wired to function. Our phones, tablets, smart watches, gaming systems—they all are wired to connect to something outside them.
And the same is true for us. We are wired for connection. It’s in our design. As we take a closer look at what Jesus called “the greatest commandment”, we discover that we were wired to have three vital relationships: with God, with ourselves, and with others. And when those connections are made, everything else begins to function as it was designed to.
WIRED: Week 1 Sunday, October 4
SESSION TITLE: Wireless
BOTTOM LINE: The image of God is all around us.
WIRED: Week 2 Sunday, October 11
SESSION TITLE: Weird
BOTTOM LINE: God loves you exactly as you are.
WIRED: Week 3 Sunday, October 18
SESSION TITLE: Wires Crossed
BOTTOM LINE: You can love God by loving others.
Wurst Sunday October 25 – Our first BIG TENT EVENT 9am to 12pm
Middle School and High School Students WEAR YOUR SCHOOL COLORS!
SEE YOU AT THE POLE PRAYER MOVEMENT
Of all the events that are taking place in America and the world, nothing is larger than what is happening Wednesday morning, Sept 23. It’s See You At The Pole, the largest prayer gathering in the world, and it’s led by students.
Everyone can be part of this massive prayer thrust, just take a few minutes first thing Wednesday morning, wherever you are, and pray for students, schools, our nation and world. Can you think of anything more important right now than prayer?
“The great people of the earth today are the people who pray. I don’t mean those who talk about prayer… but I mean those who take time and pray. ” SD Gordon
Other prayer resources:
Check Out The Campus Alliance Partners
See You At the Pole is THIS WEDNESDAY!
everyschool.com campus prayer guide link
Prayer is priority when it comes to campus ministry and outreach. Students, youth leaders, parents, everyone can get involved. A team of praying people will have a significant influence at your school. Below are specific ways to pray.
The campus is made up of a tapestry of many different students, all of whom have the need to experience the truth of Jesus Christ and be loved unconditionally. Christian students on campus are in a strategic position to communicate this love and truth. Here is how to pray for students:
for the safety of the students and faculty at the school.
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What if prayer in your school went from scarce to abundant and God was invited into the building, what could happen. Imagine if this wasn’t just your school, but the school down the street, across town and the entire country.
The partners of the Campus Alliance are extending a Call For Prayer inviting churches, youth groups and ministry organizations across America to fervently pray for every high school and middle school student and campus.
Prayer is vital in bringing Gods presence and power to the lives of over 25 million students throughout our nation. It can literally change the spiritual atmosphere at a campus. Through prayer God opens hearts, brings blessing to a school and removes the spiritual blindness that keeps students from seeing and understanding the gospel message. Prayer is often the only thing that will change things and advance the Kingdom of God.
The GOAL – every school and student is prayed for asking God to bring his truth, blessings and love to their campus and personal lives. If every church and youth ministry in every community joins in this nationwide call for prayer, an entire generation will be covered.
What can each of us do?
1. Every local church, youth group and campus ministry mobilize a dynamic school prayer effort.
2. Schedule a Sunday in your church and youth group to pray for schools.
Three Sunday opportunities are coming this fall that you can use to mobilize prayer and ministry for local schools:
3. Go to www.everyschool.com and ADOPT the school(s) in your area.
By adopting your school you are joining a national movement to pray for and reach out at every campus.
4. Spread the word through social media.
Through your Facebook page, texting, emails and websites invite friends to join the movement and pray for their school. Direct people to everyschool.com and encourage them to adopt their school.
We believe the time is now for transforming prayer to be raised over our schools and we are asking you to join in this courageous call for prayer.
The Campus Alliance is a coalition of more than 50 national church denominations and youth ministry organizations working together to serve schools and share the gospel of Jesus with every student in our nation.
* Quote from D.L. Moody, American Evangelist 1837-1899
Think About This
When you first became a family, you likely thought that you would never have a fight.
You would be a perfect couple.
Your son would discipline himself, and your daughter would, well, never sin because she’s your daughter.
How’s that going? Hasn’t really turned out that way, has it?
The sad reality is that every family fights. As much as we don’t like it, we do. Most of us realize fighting is destructive and likely unChristian, but we don’t know what to do about it.
And the stakes are high. Families, break up or break down as a result.
So what do you do about fighting?
Well, if you’re going to fight, just fight differently. There are actually two ways for a family to fight.
•You can fight with each other.
•Or you can fight for each other.
These two small words—for and with—represent a world of difference in how you fight.
Most of us have only ever had someone fight with us.
If someone fights with you, it’s a zero sum game. They need to win and you need to lose or you need to win in order for them to lose. The people who fight care more about themselves than anyone. Both eventually walk away feeling diminished.
Contrast that with fighting for someone. When you fight for someone: You’re fighting for them so you want to see them better off. The fight is happening because you want to see them win, not because you want to win. You care more about their interests than you do about yours. Both walk away replenished—with the relationship stronger in the short and long term. Even if the other person doesn’t respond well, you have done everything in your power to help them, not hurt them.
Fighting for your family means you want their best interests to prevail, not yours. It means that when there’s conflict, the conflict is about moving through an issue so that person is better off, not so you feel right or vindicated. And finally it means that everyone leaves better than before the fight, rather than depleted. Relationships are stronger and the issues got dealt with in a way that actually helped your family move forward.
From How To Have A Family Fight by Carey Nieuwhof
http://www.theparentcue.org
TRY THIS
Sometimes fighting for your student means choosing which battles matter most right now and which can be walked away from, even if it’s just for a little time. A heated argument, fueled with teenage sarcasm, can make any issue feel like a battle you must win—but that doesn’t mean it is. When you choose to fight for your student, to fight for something that really matters in their life and their future, they’ll be more likely to listen if they know you don’t fight with them over everything.
Think about the last month with your student. Write down the four areas where you experience the most conflict with them. Maybe it’s how they keep their room or how they drive the car. Maybe it’s how little time they spend at home or how much time they spend with friends.
1. ______________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________
4. ______________________________________________
Now, take a look at your list and think about which ones matter most—not only to their high school career, but also to their future and the future of your relationship with them.
If you could only choose to fight one or two of these battles with your student, which would one(s) would you pick?
Next time you feel the power struggle start to rise in your house, take a quick peek back at this list. Is a fight brewing over something that really matters? Then, choose to fight for them. If it isn’t, give yourself the permission to let this one go.
Millions of smart phones, tablet computers and other portable devices are being sold every month (sometimes even in a single weekend), and more and more are making their way into the hands of our sons and daughters.
A lot of this is catching us parents off guard as we try to figure out what to do with it. On the one hand, there’s the innocence and education value of some pretty amazing apps. And then there’s the fear in every parent’s heart that happens when their eight-year-old starts asking for a smart phone.
For some of us, there’s a temptation to go drastic and disconnect the Wi-Fi, banish phones and Facebook, and decide our children simply won’t have access to any of it. While you could possibly ban technology in your home, you wouldn’t be able to ban it at school, or from your kids’ friends. They can access it anywhere!
So, what do you do?
Well, limits are a great thing. And there should be limits and rules on almost anything our kids use, from cars to TV, to cell phones and internet. And the limits will vary depending on your beliefs, your family culture, and frankly, the personalities of your individual kids.
But you are probably discovering what your kids are discovering:
Externally imposed limits don’t carry the power of internally owned values.
Most of us resist externally imposed rules. That’s why you pushed against bedtime when you were a kid or finishing your plate because your dad insisted. There’s something inside all of us that pushes back against rules we didn’t make up.
So, what has power in our kids’ lives? The same thing that has power in your life as an adult. Internally owned values do. While laws are necessary, most of us are not swayed in our failure to murder by a law: We are motivated by our belief that it is wrong to kill someone. That’s the power of an internally owned value. It’s your character that determines how you live.
And that’s why, even in kids, it’s so important to develop character early. Because character corrects what technology reveals.
It’s easier than ever to venture into great things and questionable things online. Character keeps you moving toward what’s good and avoiding what’s bad.
So, how do you teach the character needed to handle technology in a responsible way?
1. Start the conversation early. Begin talking about life online before they need the conversation so that the dialogue is there when they need the conversation. Starting a dialogue young (even before your kids are online themselves) about what’s good and what’s bad is a way of normalizing the conversation about character.
2. Be honest about the good and the bad. Sometimes we’re so afraid of what could go wrong that we paint a very negative picture. Our kids will figure out pretty quickly that there is good and bad online. When we are honest with them, it makes the dialogue easier. Being overdramatic never helps honest dialogue.
3. Teach them that their choices have long-term implications. Help your kids to see the choices they make today impact the kind of person they’ll become tomorrow. If you can help your kids see what’s so easy to miss (that our choices today impact our life tomorrow), they’ll thank you for it later.
4. Connect the dots between what and why. Parents are legendary for telling kids what to do. I wish we would become legendary at explaining why. Your kids can’t often connect the dots about why their choices are so important. That’s where you can help so much. When you explain why pornography is bad, or why gossip or bullying is damaging, or why self-control is such a valuable skill to develop, you just helped your kids become far more motivated to do what’s best and avoid what’s not. When you understand why, you become motivated to do what.
Our kids are going to make mistakes. But it’s character that corrects what technology reveals, because internally owned values carry much more power than externally imposed limits (even though limits are important).
What are you learning about limits, character, technology and kids?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6_dJDPgac0
Parents, Honoring Your Parents
Exodus 20:12
One of the 10 Commandments goes like this, “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” It’s important to remember that there’s not an asterisk in that commandment but there is a condition.
In other words, it doesn’t say “Honor your father and your mother unless they tell bad jokes.” Or “Honor your father and your mother unless they are annoying.” In fact, it’s not as if God didn’t know that parents might sometimes be annoying to their children or full of bad jokes when He gave that commandment to Moses.
Why? Because ultimately honoring your parents isn’t about their behavior towards you, that’s usually out of your control. Instead it’s about your attitude towards them.
Is there a difference between honoring your parents and respecting their authority?
Q What is Fusion? Fusion offers a loving and accepting environment geared for Middle School Students Grades 6-8. We have events, weekly meetings, and exist to Intentionally Engage Middle School Students by leading them to the heart of the Father. Fusion happens when two elements become a whole new element. As the elements of the Natural and Supernatural collide in the power of Jesus, a NEW CREATION is formed!
Q What do Middle School Students do for Dinner Wednesdays? Oakwood offers a complete meal in the Student Worship Center between 5:15pm and 6:15pm. Special Wednesdays like All Access Nights and Fuze Nights offer free pizza around 6pm.
Q When and Where does Fusion Meet? Fusion Meets Sundays 9:15am in the Kickstart RM 100 as well as Wednesdays 6:30pm in the Middle School Kickstart Room.
Q What happens on Fusion Wednesdays? Student hang out time is 5:30 to 6:30 in the Kickstart RM 100
6:30 Bible Study Begins in the Kickstart Room with random door prize giveaways, a mixer game or video. After Worship and Talk Time, students then move to break out discussion groups. 8pm is dismissal time
Q What is happening Wednesday, October 7 for Fuze Night?
WE will have FREE PIZZA around 6pm in the Kickstart Room.
6:15 – Students will help turn the Dinner room into the Student Worship Center
6:45 – Renevus Band
7:20 – Speaker: Toby Shockey
8pm we dismiss from the Student Worship Center
OakwoodMS Parents 