willamette students

We won’t be having our normal Middle School program on Sunday, February 12, because most of our students will be at Winter Camp.  We will be back at our normal time on Sunday, February 19th to launch a brand new teaching series, Get in the Game!

Thanks!

This past weekend was an awesome one for our Middle School Ministry. Our event last Friday afternoon was a great time. We took 68 kids to Bullwinkles, and basically had the whole place to ourselves. We had a blast! Then, on Saturday, two of our faithful volunteers, Ben Thompson (6th grade boys leader) and Caitlin Johnson (6th grade girls leader) got engaged. We are so excited for them!

We are also excited about some other upcoming events in our Middle School Ministry! Read on…

Wyldlife Event This Thursday Night
This Thursday, November 10th, there is a Wyldlife Event at Safari Sam’s, located at 16260 SW Langer Dr Sherwood, OR 97140. This will be an awesome event, and many of our Willamette Christian Middle School staff and parents will be on hand to help out. The event runs from 8:30-10:30 PM and the drop-off and pick-up is at Safari Sam’s. The cost is $15 and make sure to bring a pair of socks. Hope to see your student there!

Operation Christmas Child
We announced our annual partnership with Operation Christmas Child this past Sunday. This is an awesome opportunity to help kids in the community who are less fortunate. Students were able to pick up the cardboard boxes in the main church lobby last week, and they will be available this upcoming Sunday as well, or you can purchase the plastic shoeboxes at the Dollar Store. Any students who bring their filled boxes to our Middle School Program on one of the next two Sunday mornings (Nov 13 and Nov 20th) will have their name entered into a drawing for a prize. If you have questions, please email Andrew at ms@willamettechurch.com, or click here for more information about Operation Christmas Child.

Sunday Mornings:
We have been teaching a Series in our Sunday Morning Program called Transformers, which is based on 2 Corinthians 5:17, and the idea of being transformed into a “new creation” in Christ. We have been talking about the importance of Values, and how our values directly affect our behavior and show what we REALLY believe. Two weeks ago we talked about Integrity, and the importance of living honest and truthful lives. Last week we talked about Respect, and the importance giving others the value they deserve. This week we are talking about Responsibility, and the importance having the right attitudes and actions in our response to situations.

It has been a ton of fun to teach, and we have been breaking down into small groups to discuss what real-life application we can put into practice each week. Hope everyone can make it this Sunday!

Hope to see you Thursday night at Safari Sam’s!

Ryan Johnston shared an incredible message with the boys about being a

“Game-Changer”.  He talked about how there are so many people out

there chasing what the World has to offer, and pursuing all the wrong

things, and how the reality is that we were created to be in a

relationship with God and pursue the kind of life that He has for us.

Ryan showed an awesome video from the “I Am Second” website, featuring

Texas Rangers All Star Josh Hamilton who talked about his journey,

where he pursued a life of drugs and alcohol and was kicked out of

baseball, before giving his life to Christ who delivered him from his

addictions and then went on to get his life back on track and become

the American League MVP.

We then looked at Acts chapter 9:1-19, and

the story of Saul/Paul and his conversion from a person who hated and

persecuted Christians, to an incredible missionary and author of much

of the New Testament, all because Jesus got a hold of his life. Ryan

also talked about the guest speaker we had on Tuesday morning,

(Stanford Pitcher and projected first round draft pick Mark Appel) and

referenced his story, about how Mark wasn’t even starting on his high

school baseball team as a senior, but instead of getting upset, how he

kept a good attitude through it all, supported his teammates 100%, and just

trusted that God had a plan for his life.

We closed the morning talking about how all three examples, Josh

Hamilton, the Apostle Paul and Mark Appel were all “Game-Changers”

because they had trusted in the Ultimate Game-Changer, Jesus Christ.

The final challenge for the morning was to think about the difference

in our lives, that results from really trusting in Jesus Christ, and

how that affects our thoughts, our attitudes, and our interactions

with people.

We are encouraging the boys to bring Bibles every week,

and to get in their Bibles during the week and pick out a “Life Verse”

to memorize.  In the video we watched this morning, Josh Hamilton’s

life verse was James 4:7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the

devil, and he will flee from you”, which is a verse that has been part

of our Sunday morning series at Willamette Middle School, on the full

armor of God from Ephesians 6.  It would be awesome if you could help

your boys pick out a verse to share next week, or in future weeks.