We are excited to have Chris Nye join our Staff team as High School Pastor. This morning we borrowed him to teach our middle schoolers. Here are some of his closing remarks after preaching on “New Beginnings” from Colossians 2:6-10 [NLT, ESV].

What’s next …?

We are excited to welcome Chris and his fiancee Ali serve with the Willamette family. Chris has been faithfully helping to lead the youth since the New Year. (They celebrate their wedding this Summer, in case you are wondering what he was talking about in his story. Ali is the lady he mentions about the changing experiences of life to then live with his new wife once they are married.)

We ended Sunday morning reflecting on the words of “The Door,” a song by Leeland (album: “Love is on the Move“). What powerful truth in this song! [Read about Sunday's teaching lesson.]

The song alludes to John 10, where Jesus is the door, the gate for His sheep, and John 15, where He produces fruit through the vines that depend on Him for their nourishment.
Consider the chorus:

Jesus You’re the only One for me
There’s no way I’m leaving You
You’re the Love, the Way, the Life, the Truth
You’re the door I’m walking through

Watch:

THE DOOR
As the rain falls from heaven I’m lost in Your love
You’re overwhelming, Jesus
And we’re walking together, holding hands
Oh it’s just You and me, Jesus

Life is good hear food is growing
On the beautiful branches
There is rest and there is peace
Inside the shade of Your garden

Jesus You’re the only One for me
There’s no way I’m leaving You
You’re the Love, the Way, the Life, the Truth
You’re the door I’m walking through

Angels are lifting songs of praise
Oh they’re just singing Your story
And nothing can take me away from this place
Lord, I’m just lost in Your glory

Your love is the reason that I am here
And I’m running to you ’cause You’re all I need

Jesus You’re the only One for me
There’s no way I’m leaving You
You’re the Love, the Way, the Life, the Truth
You’re the door I’m walking through

Jesus You’re the only One for me
There’s no way I’m leaving You

Jesus You’re the only One for me
There’s no way I’m leaving You
You’re the Love, the Way, the Life, the Truth
You’re the door I’m walking through

Jesus You’re the only One for me
There’s no way I’m leaving You

Our High School Pastor Chris Nye has a quick word for all the current 8th graders (going to be freshman in high school):

We will welcome incoming freshmen to high school this month. On Wednesday nights the high school group is enjoying a study of The Story of God (beginning with Creation).

On April 30—May 2 about 35 of us went to the BELIEVE conference in Portland. We learned much, primarily:

1. Jesus is more // He’s not a vending machine
2. Jesus sees more // He sees our whole lives and yet still loves us to come and rescue us
3. Jesus does more // we can move past being “couch potato” Christians who just go to church on the weekend and do nothing else with our lives. He has so much more for us to enjoy and risk as we give our lives away in His mission

Here’s a little highlight video of our trip:

Last Sunday we launched a new series with your middle schoolers. “My Heart, Christ’s Home” centers around the booklet of the same title by Robert Boyd Munger. The goal is to explore each “room” of our lives to discover if Jesus is welcome there, and how He can take full ownership of our lives. We’ll be exploring through May. Parents: drop by and get a copy of the booklet each student is receiving, and see the front of a house John Sramek built in the Student Center.

View the discussion questions for week 1

Today we watched this clip from “The Wonder Years,” as part of our kickoff to a new series, My Heart, Christ’s Home.

• View the discussion questions for week 1.

Today we kicked off a mini-series on WORSHIP: Everybody’s Doing It!

What do you think of when you hear the word “worship”? Take a look…

Scripture: Nehemiah 11-12 & Hebrews 10:24-25

Ever wonder what the middle school students are being taught each Sunday?

Currently we are wrapping up a series in Nehemiah (just like in “big church”), and this weekend learned Nehemiah 9-10, entitled “Remember What Got Us Here.”

Here Chris Nye uses an analogy to describe our need for dependence on Christ: