Christmas Service

Hello Community,
If you would like to worship God with us this Sunday, we will do so through giving gifts to the River Haven Community in Oxnard. We will be meeting at River Haven at 10:30am to give the water containers that were donated, and possibly to sing carols with our friends there. If you need directions scroll down and you will find a map from when we last held a service there.

Hope to see many of you there, if not, have a wonderful day celebrating the birth of our king.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

Do you think you know the story of Daniel's three Hebrew companions? If do you great, if not, fear not soon you will.
This Sunday we are going to watch "Rack, Shack, and Benny" a video which will tell the story of these three Hebrews in exile, a bit better than Darren and my videos and skits. After watching this amazing musical, we will be exploring the implications of Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego's actions on our lives.

Morality of the World

The New Testament is never interested in conduct and behavior in itself. I can go further to say that the New Testament does not make an appeal for good behavior to anyone but to Christian people. The New Testament is not interested, as such, in morality of the world. It tells us quite plainly that you can expect nothing from the world but sin, and that in its fallen condition it is incapable of anything else. There is nothing, according to the New Testament that is so fatuous and so utterly futile, as to turn to such people and appeal to them to live the Christian life…. The Truth is that it only has one message for people like that—the message of repentance.-Martin Lloyd-Jones (Faith on Trial)

I mentioned this quote in passing last week, (not super sure if anyone caught it though) and it has been challenging me. I have two questions relating to it:
1. What does this quote imply for Youth Ministry, especially for teens parents who hope that youth groups/summer camps will produce such morality?
2. Without giving much credit to the religious right, does this effect our role in politics as voting Americans? Do we vote for morality that will be regulated on others?

Living in Captivity

AMERICA

My country, ‘tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountainside
Let freedom ring.

Our fathers’ God, to Thee
Author of liberty
To thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!

Should God be America's king? Not should God be the king of some individuals living in America, but should we desire for God to be king over the politics of the Nation-State of America?
I don't think so, but feel free to disagree. Although many Americans feel that America has more in common with Ancient Israel than its enemy Babylon, I believe that we live in a country that is not a theocracy, and in which we must learn how to live as sojourners, as aliens. To do so, we began our study of Daniel today, looking at Daniel chapter 1, as an example of a God fearing man living an exemplary life in a "sanctified subversion" fashion. It is in the book of Daniel that we can see a man of God, living under the rule of a "pagan" King choosing not to rebel, not to fight for Godly moral standards for the land which he now occupies, and choosing not to live on the sidelines either, holding a meaningless Godrepresentative office, but rather striving to give glory to his creator, and striving to bless others. It seems like a nice model, so off we go, examining the life of a God fearer in captivity:

History of Judah's last kings

In preparation for our study on Daniel and the Exilic period, we examined the lives of the Kings of Judah, leading up to Nebuchadnezzer's victory. Rather than reading through 5 chapters of text out loud, each group was assigned a king and a narrative which they had to act out. Unfortunately we had no recording devices present to capture the moments forever, but Freddy's portrayal of King Josiah DEFEATING pharaoh Neco was inspiring.

2 Kings 23:29
29 While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Neco faced him and killed him at Megiddo.

Labyrinth

This Sunday we are going to go through a Labyrinth

No, not David Bowie's Labyrinth, but I would like to see that movie again. I haven't seen it since I was in the third grade, and I remember hearing that it had a Mesianic message or something. Recently a student challenged that statement, so I think that I need to watch it. Hopefully it's out on DVD.
This Sunday we are going to participate in a different type of Labyrinth. We are going to participate in the virtual labyrinth online together. I thought about actually creating a labyrinth on the floor like this one,
but instead will bring objects to the table to contemplate with at different points of the labyrinth.
If you unfamiliar with the Christian history of labyrinths, google Christian Labyrinths and see what you can discover.

A Holy Walk

To walk the labyrinth is to touch God
and let God touch us.
It is a matter of presence
and response. The labyrinth
does nothing to make God more
present... for God
is always present.
The labyrinth can make us
aware of the presence of God
in our lives.
So be silent.
Walk.
Listen.
Wonder.
Receive God's gifts.
Go in peace on your journey.
From: http://www.redemptoristretreat.org/news/labyrinth2.htm

Ojai Film Festival

This Sunday, we will again not be meeting at the youth sanctuary, but will instead be gathering together at the Ojai Playhouse. If you were unaware, this weekend is Ojai's Film Festival, and on Sunday from 10:00am to 12:00pm the Ojai Playhouse will be showing films made by So. Cal teens. Hosting the event will be a successful young filmaker, Taron Lexton who will be sharing his music video, United, which, "ranks as one of the largest human rights film productions in histroy. Filmed throughout 14 countries and involving over 2000 volunteers, this video was created as a project for Youth for Human Rights." Sounds like a worthwile thing to experience together, so here we go. Try to arrive a little before 10:00am so that we can sit together, and then after the event, those who are available can go to Libby to discuss.



You must provide your own ride both to the playhouse, and home, we will not be meeting at the church. If you need a ride, be sure to e-mail me so that I can set you up with one.