At the movies kids edition week 3
Hello everyone! We have been having such a great time with your kids in Kidz Rock and our new series, “At the Movies: kids edition.” We are teaching them some bible truths using clips from movies that they have seen. We have seen, “Horton hears a Who,” and we focused on faith, believing what we can not see, and next was “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium” focused on faith in believing in God to help you do the impossible.
But now if you are reading this means that you are going to accept our Kidz Rock mission and watch the latest movie with your children entitled, “Meet the Robinsons.” I am so happy that some of you have decided to accept this challenge in spending time out of your busy week and sharing it with your family. You are the biggest spiritual influence that your children will ever have, so thank you for participating with us. Below are a the questions we gave your child that are on the Take Home Sheet plus a few extras. Have a great time of learning together with your child and may you all have a fun and blessed week.
Discussion Questions
- In the film, Lewis kept trying new inventions even after previous ones had failed. Why do you think he continued to persevere? What would you have done?
- Lewis’ roommate, Goob, blamed Lewis and others for his problems in life. He spent his whole life trying to get even with Lewis. How should he have responded instead?
- When Lewis met Wilber’s family in the future, what lessons did he learn about acceptance and perseverance?
- After his many failed attempts to hide the truth about Lewis and the time machine from his family, what did Wilbur Robinson learn?
- Honesty and trust are two qualities that are important to have in friendships. What happened when these qualities were missing between Bowler Hat Guy and his hat, Doris? What about between Lewis and Wilbur? How was the relationship between Lewis and Wilbur restored at the end of the movie?
- Why do you think that Lewis chose not to see what his birth mother looked like when he finally had the chance? What changed his perspective?
Let’s begin.
Wow…it’s been a while since I have been here to share some things with you all. Life has a way of sneaking up on you, but I think we kind of allow it to sneak up. We a lot of times loose perspective of what is really important in our lives. Not to say that blogging is really all that important to me and to the world, but living life is. I believe it is time to live my life, not the way I want but the way that Christ wants me to live it. My favorite verse is John 10: 10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE, AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL.” As I reflect on a month’s worth of God allowing me to be a part of things that may seem kind of …new to me one thing has come to the forefront of it all. God wants me…He wants me to live my life FOR him and THROUGH him. If I am to have the life that He has intended for me from the formation of my body inside my mother’s womb, I must get back to what it fundamental not to my life but to everyone’s life and that is….falling in love with Him, Jesus.
So as I restart, reboot, refocus, or whatever you would like to say, remake my life, I would like to journey with you. My prayer is as I discover new things in life, concerning God, family, and ministry, that I would be determined to share what I have learned with you and may you be blessed and inspired to reach new destinations in your life and that you would have a wonderful life, a life that is lived to the fullest, through Christ Jesus.
Moving forward,
James
Lesson learned…Beatitude #1
I am struggling on this great challenge that I have been given. Teaching our kids about the Beatitudes. One at a time, as I take these wonderful truths and create lessons simple enough for our children to understand, I get stuck, writers block…it feels like creativity has ceased, and nothing is happening for me. Why can’t any ideas come out? Why am I not feeling it? What is the deal here? Why can’t I….As I think and sit this word or more simplistic, this letter “I” sticks out. Could it be in the middle of MY struggles to write MY ideas down the God, the creator of all and the giver of all creativity and inspiration is teaching me the truest lesson concerning the first beatitude.
God blesses those people who depend only on him. They belong to the kingdom of heaven! Matthew 5:3 CEV
May my life never find significance in my own self and abilities. May the plan that HE has placed out in front of me never be about me and what I can do. In MY efforts to express truth to children the the best of MY ability, God has taught me the truest meaning of the first beatitude. I must never depend on me, even I must never see myself as worthy of His treasures, I must keep in mind what Paul said, “in Him I live and move and have my being.” Acts 17:28 I am not worthy of the great responsibility he has given me, I am not worthy of anything that he may have, my dependence must be on him. I must push myself aside and allow him to be in control.
In order to be filled with his Spirit, I must empty myself. I must have nothing to gain everything. This is my prayer.
Off the Wire 8-2-09
T.W.I.S.T WEEK 6
We are very excited to come to a such wonderful climax in our series of training to be more like Jesus. Today our ever creative and entertaining trio of Eric, Amanda, and Mario brought a great message in spending time with God though studying His word. We emphasized how important it is to study God’s play book, the Bible, and that it is not good enough to just know it but to obey what it says. This is what makes you more like Him.
Bottom Line
If you want to be the best you can be, you must study and obey God’s word!
Whose Line Visits Kidz Rock!
Our kids were treated with to a great surprise with the story of Jesus in the Wilderness…Our Trio presented the story in 3 different styles and the kids pick how they wanted to see the story. The kids chose…Western, Samurai, and Ballet. this was creative and fun to watch…I look forward to seeing this again…and hopefully take part.
Austin Rocks
We want to extend a great thank you and major props to Austin Burns and his friends Charlie and Chris for having the audio set up before 8 am and also helping tear down after service so we could exit quickly. Also thanks for playing in our games and participating in our service…We will miss ya when Velocity starts…they are getting some great guys!
A wonderful break!
Since Eric, Amanda, and Mario were in charge of our Kidz Rock service I was able to enjoy worshiping led by Josh M. and listening to JVP bring a great message and show his passion for God’s word. We should all have such a passion and respect but not just for study but to put God’s word into practice.
Journals for All!
We feel so strongly about children studying God’s word and developing a love for the Bible that we provided all the children with a Kidz Rock journals so they could have a place to write down their discoveries of God’s wonderful treasures. As you spend quiet time with God during your journey, help develop this discipline in your kids and help them discover the blessing it is to spend time with God in studying his wonderful, awesome, powerful Word!
Off the Wire 7-26-09
T.W.I.S.T Week 5
An new word…This Week In Spring Traing…nice! Well anyway this week we studied something awesome…we learned about serving. This is hard for us because we like to be served…but we learned how to serve from the greatest example of servant-hood. Jesus! The bible says in John 13 that he showed the full extent of his love to his disciples with the action alone. Jesus, the Creator and son of God got down on his knees and cleaned a little toe jam! That’s right he cleaned his disciples feet and he gave us some pretty tough instructions after that. If he could do it, we should follow his example and do the same. We can show God’s love to others by the way we serve others, and if you want to be an all star for his kingdom you must be a servant to all.
Bottom Line
Serving Others is the Best Way to Serve God!
Service with a touch of Bev!
My wife is wonderful, she leads worship for the kids, she has smile that could light up the darkest room, but she also loves to act and tell stories. Today, we put aside the puppets and skits and Bev brought our “sticky situation” through narration. She did a great job and all the kids were fixed on every word she said. Thanks for telling the story in your way Bev…Love ya!
Donnell Withdrawals
I feel kind of weird saying this…but my family has become close to Chris and Jaime Donnell and their kids, that is not the what is weird, they have been in San Diego for the past approximately 2 weeks…I think that is the longest that we have gone without spending time with them and we find our selves bored at times. Like I said last week, friends are a valuable gift in life and we take it for granted that certain people will always be there, but God never designed us to ride out life solo. He loves it when his children get together and have fun and enjoy life. Chris and Jaime, we love ya and miss ya, but be safe on your way back and look forward to going to Bahama Bucks with ya soon! 
Off the Wire 7-19-09
Spring Training Week 4
This week in Spring Training we focused on hearing Gods voice. God is talking all around us, but with all the stuff that distracts it makes it hard to listen and respond, we adults have so much stuff, but are kids busy too? Of course they are, with vacations, camps, TV, video games, swimming, summer sport leagues, VBS’s and what ever else they have going on…sometimes God gets pushed out of the picture. Our kids focused on how, Samuel, as a kid, heard God’s voice and how he responded. God spoke to Samuel because he had great things planned for him. But Samuel would have never heard and been the best God wanted if he wasn’t listening.
The Bottom Line
Get quiet! Listen to what God wants to say to you today!
We miss ya!
This summer has been fun, but it has also been kind of difficult. As school gets closer we are seeing more and more families go out of town for vacation, as we are sad that the kids have to miss our services we know that they are have great times and making memories. To all of you who are out of town we miss ya, stay safe and have fun…see ya real soon!
Brianna and Jakob are in a Sticky Situation!
Our new friends, Brianna and Jakob…(who are puppets) have been sharing a piece of their very entertaining and unusual world. They have given us some funny outtakes on some tough situations in their lives that help tie in our services each week. We look forward to having them back with more sticky situations in the near future.
Good Friends are Hard to Find
In our time here at Gateway Fellowship, we have made new friends, but we have also kept some precious friends along the way that we love and our kids love very much. When we have staff meetings and need a baby sitter or just need some time alone, our wonderful friends Mary and Joe Hernandez very eagerly take our 5 kids and entertain them and love on them. Some times in life we are privileged to have wonderful people who are given of God, and we may never say thank you to them. That is a big mistake…think about those people that make your life a little easier and better, and thank God for them constantly. True friendship is a gift that should never be taken for granted. Thanks for every thing and love ya Mary and Joe!
Off the Wire 7-12-09
Spring Training Week 3
We are focused on the Discipline of Prayer. Everyone has a tough time with this. No matter what age or what maturity you have, prayer is tough to do faithfully. Every person that plays a sport has a coach, someone who they can talk to to get advice, correction, and encouragement. The athletes not only just talk but they listen to what the coach has to say and they do it so they can be the best. Coaches, teachers, parents are important to us so that we can grow and become the best that Jesus wants us to be.
Our kids discovered that prayer is more than just talking to God but it is also listening to what he has to say. Prayer is a direct line to Jesus, in this day and time where more and more kids are becoming on line with computers and cell phones it is easier to make contact with those we love. We should be in contact with our Coach, Jesus. Jesus is as close as the mention of his name. He is willing and waiting for us to talk with him and share our lives with him. Call on Jesus he’s waiting for your call.
Our Big Idea: When you pray , don’t just talk but listen to what God has to say.
Power Memory Verse: Spend a lot of time in prayer. Always be watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2
Kids Off to Kidz Camp
Our kids are going to camp on Monday. They are very excited and pumped up for this experience. I am so pumped for them as well, the only bummer is that we couldn’t go with them as we had prior commitments. Please keep them in prayer as they have fun and grown in their commitment with Jesus. We pray that this would be a turning point in their journey of becoming life long followers of Jesus. Paula, Eric, Amanda, Mario, Veronica…you guys have fun.
What IF!
Bayley, Brielle, and Emma will be performing in the Camp talent show…keep them in your prayers and good luck girls and have fun. They are singing and dancing to the Pure NRG song What if! You girls are so AWESOME!
Registration Centralized
I am excited to see a new change in our CM team, as we try to make the most out of our volunteers and try to serve parents better, we have combined the check in site for Kidz Rock, Wee Kidz, and Kidz Corner. This is a centralized location and we hope that this will be a better service for all kids and parents involved. Let me know what you think.
Rock Stars Rockin it!
Our Rock Star program has been a great incentive for our kids, little did we know that our kids would look forward to this every Sunday. What is the Rock Star? Well our volunteers pick kids that stick out and have made a great impression with attention, participation, and being exceptional in our service. As Rock Star…they sit in a cool lawn chair, and they get to munch on their favorite snack and drink. The most popular stuff…Hot Cheetos’s and Dr. Pepper! Sweet!
Off the Wire 7-5-09
Spring Trainig week 2
We are on the way with our Spring Training with Kidz Rock. We have been transformed into a spring training camp. Our kids have discovered the first week about what we are going to be doing in this camp. We will focus on becoming All-Stars for Jesus and to become the best we can be. Discipline is tough, but in the end it pays off. Just like an athlete sacrifices his his desires, he gives up his time…to work out, his diet to eat the right food for proper nourishment, but their goal is to get their bodies to be the best it can so they can have the best player they can be.
Our kids have discovered this week to get rid of stuff that holds them back. The bible calls the things that holds us back, weights, Hebrews 12:1, “throw off everything that hinders us…” What is a weight? A weight can be anything. Anything that we put in front of our relationship with Jesus. Our time should be his, and when we discipline ourselves to put things we like aside, it may be difficult, but the more we do it the easier it becomes. That is discipline, this is what starts us to becoming the best that Jesus wants us to be. What kinds of things hold you back from being your best? Now what holds you back from being your best for Jesus?
Our Big idea “to get the crown, chunk that junk that holds you down.”
Power Memory Verse: Joshua spoke to the people. He said, “Set yourselves apart to the Lord. Tomorrow he’ll do amazing things among you.” Joshua 3:5
Fourth of July Weekend!
We were so excited to be celebrating our freedom in our country…I enjoyed a great family time with our family at our house…, swimming, grilling, and just hanging out. Thank God for just those wonderful times with family and friends. Also keep in prayer all those serving our country by keeping it safe.
Family Visit
We loved having my brother in law from Dallas and his family visiting us this weekend. We loved sharing with them our beautiful Gateway family. We can’t help but brag about our pastor and our church family and they felt the love, and the different DNA our church makeup. Thank you for everyone who made them feel welcome and made their visit special.
Off the Wire 6-28-09
Spring Training On the Way
We are excited to be starting a new series, Spring Training. In sports, spring training is a time of getting in shape and getting ready for a new season. Many players practice and work hard to try and get into shape and get ready to be the best they can be, maybe even become an all star. To be the best it takes commitment and more importantly, discipline.
Kidz Rock is being transformed it Spring Training Camp for God’s Team. We will be digging deep into God’s word, our playbook, to discover different disciplines that we need to learn to become All-Stars for his team. As a reminder we will also be teaming up with the Adults to combine as families and focus as a church on spending time with Jesus, our coach.
The Big Idea!
We are so excited to be starting Spring Training, and our Big Idea for the next 6 weeks is to focus on the word DISCIPLINE! Our Kidsz Rock definition for this word is:
Discipline:training to do what is right even when you don’t feel like it.
Our kids take home some sheets that reinforce what they learned this week, help them complete the handouts and spend the week finding teachable moments with your kids in helping them spend time with Jesus. Along with Jesus, parents are the most important link in developing life long followers of Christ. Let’s get ready to have some fun in Training Camp!
Looking Forward for Change
Our goal is to provide our kids and parents a great learning experience where your kids will experience fun as well as lay a foundation for building life long followers of Jesus. We have been looking at each level of our Kids ministry and we want to make it all a wonderful experience with both fun and education for kids and a great place for anyone willing to be apart of our team in our mission to develop world changers. Keep us in prayer while we look to make our ministry with your kids even better. May God continue to give us creativity
Much Needed Nap
God works in wonderful ways. I enjoyed a great lunch with my family and the Cass’s at Jasons’ Deli, but on a rare occasion we were not expecting to have guests and nothing was on the schedule for today, so as I laid down on my sofa in our living room, I enjoyed a Sunday afternoon nap. This was great. Even the simplest things can be a blessing.
Off the Wire! 6-21-09
Run from Temptation
Today are kids discovered the truth of a topic that everyone has endures. Yes even Jesus went through this. TEMPTATION! Our kids realized that we don’t have to stay and play with it, but we should run. It is not wimpy to run from sin…this was our bottom line. We equipped our kids with tools to use when temptation comes along and here they are:
1.Recognize-sin, see what is in front of you and realize that it is bad. Don’t entertain the idea of being selfish and doing something that is wrong.
2. Remember-Remember what you have learned, the bible gives all sorts of help when trouble is around the corner or even when we are in pressure situations.
3. Resolve-Choose to do right. Every thing we do comes down to a choice. Choose what Christ would want you to do, the decisions become easier the more we study the bible and talk to Jesus. It may be easier, but you have to choose.
4. Resist–Turn away from temptation, resist giving into yourself, resist giving into the enemy (the devil). The bible says that if you resist the devil, he will flee from you. Resist making the wrong choice and make the the right one, even if it is a hard choice to make.
5. Run–Get away from what is tempting you. Get out of the environment and once you are away from this, fill your mind with what Jesus wants, give thanks to him for giving you the strength to withstand the tough time you were in.
Rock Stars
We have had fun and we think the kids have enjoyed being our Rock Stars in service. What is this? The staff of Kidz Rock choose a boy and a girl who have been exceptional during service and the following week they get special privileges. They get to sit in a special chair and have their favorite drink and snack, which is chosen from the Kidz Rock Menu. Here is a list of the past Rock stars
Girls Boys
Bayley Rios Garret Donnell
Emma Van Pay Houston Burrell
Hanna Grace Van Pay Diego Molina
Mercedes Reyes Baer Heck
Erin Humble Morgan Long
Brielle Rios Vaughn Quinlan
Rachel Quinlan Aaron Delgado
Spring Training
My favorite sport is baseball, and I love everything about. But to get ready for the season players spend weeks getting ready to be the best they can possibly be for the season. Our new series is called Spring Training, using this to teach our kids how to spend time with Jesus, and to discover how to be the best Jesus wants them to be. Get ready and lets have some fun.
