Hey Middle Schoolers -
I hope that you were planning on joining us for the fall fest today out at Maska’s. The bad news is that with all the rain and snow yesterday the area where we were going to be is basically a big snowy muddy swamp. So unfortunately, no Fall Fest this year. 
Brent
Well, depending on what grade you’re in and where you go to school you’ve got the first day or two or three under your belt now. While you may be bummed about going back to school, the good news is that with the beginning of the school year comes the kickoff for MS and HS student ministry.
The Middle School kickoff will be Wednesday Septermber 16th from 6:30 to 8:00. Don’t miss the start of the year as we dive in to who God is. See you there! There is no Wednesday night dinner this year, so if you show up earlier than 6:15 you’ll just get bored and be hungry!
HS will officially start on Sunday the 20th, but since I didn’t want to wait that long to kick something off, come to church on the 13th to eat pizza, play wii, shoot hoops, trade stories about your new teachers and watch the Packer game. If you don’t want to watch the game or play wii, you should still come for the pizza (i.e. huge Jeff’s Pizzas & smotherellas). I’m totally excited for this year to begin, so I’ll see you on the 13th!
I know that May of 2016 seems like an eternity from now (heck, maybe Jesus will come back before then!), but that is when the incoming sixth graders will graduate from High School. In order to welcome these stellar individuals into the Student Ministry here at the Alliance Church we will be having our annual 6th grade intro lunch. If you or your student is entering 6th grade this year put Sunday, September 13th on your calendar. We will meet in the youth room after second service (about noon), have some lunch, talk about what happens on Wednesday nights and let the parents throw balls at the students. The whole family is welcome, so comment on this post or send an e-mail to church to RSVP by Sept 10th so we can make sure we have enough food. See you then!
You’ve probably heard about the huge concert event that will be in St. Paul on Sunday the 16th of August called Rock the River. If you’re looking for a way to get there, look no further. We’ll be loading up a big old bus in the church parking lot at 12:30 for anyone who want to join us. Bring $10 for admission and some $ for dinner (they don’t allow you to bring food into the concert area, but will have vendors there) and the permission slip at the bottom. We should get back a little after 11:00. This is a great opportunity to enjoy some music with some friends and hear Franklin Graham speak about God’s love for us. Note that if you’re not going to be at least a freshman this year you need to have an adult come with you, since we won’t be able to keep an eye on everyone at the event. See you at RTR!
Hey High Schoolers (and anyone else who’s reading). We’ve been going over the book of Revelation this summer and it’s been good. I know that the book can get a little confusing, so I put together this summary of chapters 6-19. Hopefully it gives you enough of an overview to make it a little easier to read and understand. I know I was amazed that I could see some of the “flow” of the book as I was trying to summarize it. So click here to get the PDF, hope it helps and happy reading! Brent
Just a friendly reminder that middle school and high school summer nights are a little different the week of June 22nd because of the Middle School Summer Serve. Middle School will not have “summer nights” on the 25th, and High School will be at Chris & Casey Peterson’s. Check out the map below for how to get there (E5359 651st Ave, Menomonie)
If you have a question about the Summer Serve that might be frequently asked, check here and hopefully you’ll get the info you need. If not, give me a call!
High Schoolers, Tuesday nights throughout the summer join us at the Casa De Costello (Brent’s house, map below) to hang out, play wii, eat food and study God’s Word. We’ll be looking at Hebrews 11 and the faith of the people mentioned there. We start a week from today, June 16th at 7:00 PM. See you there!
Well, summer is finally here (or will be on Wednesday if you go to Menomonie). And I know some of you are wondering “Are we having youth group this summer?”, to which I can only respond “totally”. If you were in middle school last year (2008-2009) join us on Thursday, June 11th as we kick off middle school summer nights. We will meet every Thursday beginning June 11th through August 6th (except for June 25th, which we will take off for “The Serve”). The Brunstad’s have invited us to use their place again to meet over the summer, so follow the map below to get there. We will meet each week at 7:00 PM, and get done at 8:30.
We’ll be looking through the books of Philippians and Colossians this summer, to see what Paul had to say to these two churches, and what we need to do about it today. Of course we will also eat food, run around and generally have a blast. Friends, food and Philippians, sounds like a good way to spend summer nights to me. See you there!
Summer is just around the corner, and along with summer comes the Middle School Summer Serve. This year the serve will be Monday June 22nd through Friday June 26th. As in year’s past we will work hard, have fun and learn more about serving others around us with all of our lives. If you want to get in on “The Serve” this summer print out the application below and get it into Brent by May 31st. See you at the Serve!
It’s hard to believe that it’s already April and time for our end of the year Action City Bash! As always, a mere $15 gets you all the pizza and soda you want and all the go karts you can cram into two hours! (Although I recommend you leave a little time between the pizza and the go Karts). If you’re in Middle School, mark you calendars for May 1st and if you’re in High School mark it for April 26th (not the 24th as originally announced). Print out a permission slip below and sign up now!
It’s that time of year. You know what I’m talking about. Human foosball, capture the flag, Camp Chetek, the middle School Spring Retreat. This year the retreat will be April 3rd-5th (hoping that we don’t get snowed out like last year!). Be sure to sign up today if you haven’t already. If you have any questions, or want to go and need some help just contact Pastor Brent. I’m looking forward to our time on retreat and I hope you are too. See you there!
A couple of weeks ago I got an e-mail from a good friend who lives in Kansas. One of his friends had just found out that their baby girl Cora had cancer. Over the next weeks I prayed for the family as I read about their struggle on their blog. It was heartbreaking and encouraging to think about a couple dealing with the diagnoses and treatment of cancer in their 11 month old daughter. For those of you who were at youth group this week, you know that a week ago yesterday Cora went to be with Jesus. At this point you may be thinking, ”what’s encouraging about that?”, and rightfully so.
The encouraging thing obviously wasn’t that a little girl got horribly sick, but to see the response of trust and worship in her parents through the entire ordeal. I would encourage you to read their story on their blog here, pray for their continued perseverance in faith, and as you do ask yourself, “Would I respond like this? Would I greet this situation with a dependence on Scripture, a firm trust in God and a choice to worship?” None of us can really answer that question unless we are there, but we can examine our lives now and see if we are setting the patterns that would allow us to worship God in the most difficult of times. When life is good, or when little things go wrong do we choose to worship? If we don’t make the choice to worship now, why do we think we would make the choice to worship God then? Are we in the habit of choosing to worship?
I’m not trying to say that this couple are any better than any of us, I’m not saying they are spiritual superheroes, and that’s the beauty of it. I want to share their story with you because they are an ordinary couple who chose in extraordinary times to trust and worship our extraordinary God. I hope and pray that you and I can do the same.
Between the good times had on the hill with the high school students at Oasis and the good times on the hill at the Badlands with the middle school students, we thought “hey, let’s go tubing with again!” This time it’s for HS students only (sorry MS students, you had your shot this year). We’re going February 27th. Leave church at 5:00, be back around 10:00. Sign up now to get the early bird rate! Click here to download the permission slip. See you at the bottom.
For the last three weeks we have been talking about the letter that Paul wrote to Philemon, and how it helps us understand what we need to do in our own lives to forgive others, ask for forgiveness, or help two friends forgive each other. I know that some of you acted right away, taking steps to restore relationships that were broken. I want to encourage each of you though to remember that forgiveness is something that isn’t just a one time deal. Maybe two weeks ago you needed to ask for forgiveness and this week you need to forgive someone. Maybe when we first started looking at Philemon you helped two people to forgive each other, and this week you need to go ask for forgiveness. We are all sinners, so we will all hurt each other from time to time, and when that happens we need to ask for, and give forgiveness. Being an offender, forgiver or intercessor isn’t just a one time thing, so maybe you should ask yourself, “which one do I need to be this week?”
