Invite Night: Clash of the Classes

You won't want to miss out on this week's amazing night of fun.  Uturn Jr. High will be having a night of activity competitions as each of the Jr. High classes goes head to head in a variety of mini games.  Each grade has been assigned a team color so dress up in your team color and show some spirit.  Your team will be at an advantage if you have the most people on your team so INVITE your FRIENDS.  There will be prizes for the winning team that will include pizza and gift cards so you will want to come ready to CLASH against your fellow CLASSES.

Invite Night: Animal Shirt Night

Next Wednesday, May 23rd is a pretty simple but still hilarious theme night at Uturn Jr. High.  All you have to do is wear a shirt with an animal on it.  The graphic above shows you some awesome examples.  Whoever comes with the most amazing animal shirt will win a prize.

The night will also have games, small group talk time, and a thought provoking message.

See you on Wednesday Night.

2012 Jr. High Summer Camp

August 13-18, 2012

Cost: $250

if you register online before June 16th, otherwise its $270

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Join us for our annual summer camp at Lake Retreat Camp in Ravensdale, WA.  Each year we collaborate with a dozen other Puget Sound area Foursquare Churches to put on the best camp ever.  Summer camp is a great time to learn about being a Christ follower and have a blast at the same time.  This week long experience is full of engaging worship times, swimming, relevant teachings about the Bible, paintball, canoeing, small group discussions, fun group activities, and much much more.  Every Jr. High student has come back loving their camp experience and wants to return the next year.

Stay informed about Jr. High camp with a simple LIKE of the Facebook Page

Invite Night: Represent Your School

Join us this Wednesday for a fun night of REPRESENTING YOUR SCHOOL at Uturn Jr. High.  Wear any gear that represents your Jr. High or your favorite college.  Don't have a bunch of school gear?  Then just wear your school's colors.  We will have a prize for the most outrageously dressed.

We also will be having a special guest speaker, Omar Lara.  Pastor Omar is the youth pastor at Puget Sound Christian Center in Tacoma.  He also joined us this year on our Mexico Mission Trip.  He is an awesome dude that loves Jesus, his family and his iPhone.  

Movie Review: The Avengers

The Avengers

Rating: PG-13 

(for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, and a mild drug reference)

Running Time: 143 minutes

IMDb Page: Avengers

Overview:

The Avengers is the culmination of five Marvel movies made over the past few years.  The series has included the mega blockbusters of Iron Man 1&2, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, and Thor.  In an effort to defend the future of Earth the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization has assembled a this group of superheroes.  Unfortunately it hasn't always gone as planned.  The Avengers struggle to assemble due to rivaling egos and selfish personal interests.  Eventually this group of Super-Misfits must learn how to work together in order to defeat an intergalactic enemy.

Look at your Shoe Moments: 

Other than a few shots of Scarlett Johansen in her snug Black Widow uniform there were no inappropriate sex scenes or awkward moments.  There is some mild language, but for the most part it is an entirely clean movie that is fun to watch for the whole family.

Final Thoughts:

The Avengers was a highly anticipated movie that has made fanboys salivate over the idea of six superheroes sharing one screen.  Many wondered how they could pull off such an enormous cinematic feat.  I was even debating before I saw it, thinking that it would come down to the plot.  Everyone knew the CGI effects would be amazing, but if the plot fell short it would leave audience members unsatisfied.  I wondered how they could evenly share the screen time with so many lead characters.  I must give credit to the director, Joss Whedon, for pulling off a spectacular accomplishment.  The Avengers was non-stop fun, action, and excitement.  The plot kept you engaged and left you wanting more answers in the future Marvel flicks as the series continues.  

Not to over-spiritualize this summer blockbuster, but a verse that came to mind while watching this movie came from Paul's letter to the Philippian church.  

Philippians 2:1-4

"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also the interests of others."

Paul wrote this to a church full of people that were different in many ways, but he knew that if they could overcome their differences and unite around a common goal in Christ they could be an unstoppable force. The same is true for the Avengers, when they discarded their egos and self interests they became a wrecking ball of goodness.

Bottom Line: 

You'll be SUPER disappointed if you miss the chance to see this SUPERhero movie on a SUPER big screen.

Mama Talk

Today is Mother's Day and we all know that Jr. Highers don't have a lot of cash to buy elegant gifts for their mamas.  Instead of going to the store to buy something or whipping up some breakfast in bed try talking.  Moms love to talk.  Moms especially love talking to their kids.  We've created a cheat sheet of conversation for everyone to use this Mother's Day.  It is full of all kinds of questions for your mom that will hopefully lead to many great conversations between moms and their kids.  

Honor your mom by talking with her.

Superhero Night

Hope we see you this Wednesday for an awesome night.  We will all wear Superhero gear, we'll play Superhero games, and we'll talk about how God can use us all to do SUPER things for his glory.

2012 Mexico Mission Trip: Day 9 and 10

Day 9 in Mexico was Friday and it was definitely a great day to finish the trip. Our team woke up early to have breakfast and Bible study. Then we made our way to a local orphanage in Rosarito. This location is nearly finished getting prepped and certified to be opened for little kids. This particular orphanage will be used to house kids with illness, disease, and disabilities. Our team went throughout the facility cleaning and praying for God's blessing. After a quick break for lunch we got prepped and went to Vista Marina, a local neighborhood that HCR has been ministering in for over four years. We got to be a part of their Friday night church service with worship, preaching, sharing testimonies, and playing with the neighborhood children. We finished the night with street tacos and a game of futbol rapido.

Saturday morning was day 10 and it was our travel day. We woke up early to pack up and get across the border. Our border crossing went so quickly and smoothly that we were able to share a final breakfast at a local San Diego diner with the team and the Godwins. Once breakfast was over we made our way to the airport and got through security so we could fly back to Seattle.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support for this trip. The team did amazing work and saw great results for their efforts.

2012 Mexico Mission Trip: Day 8

Thursday was Day 8 and it was a big day for us. Thursday was the final day of painting. We finally finished the upstairs classrooms and room dividers. The students did an awesome job revamping these rooms.

Thursday was also our final day of Vacation Bible School. We saw the group grow this day in the number of kids in attendance and their energy was infectious. Our students did an awesome job leading the group of kids in a teaching about HOPE and how our hope in Christ cannot be robbed by anyone or anything. The kids learned that HOPE in Christ changes our lives forever and propels us to do amazing things for the Kingdom of God.

The night concluded with Pastors Don and Sandy Godwin sharing their gratitude and appreciation with the team for all of their hard work with the projects and the VBS.

2012 Mexico Mission Trip: Day 7

Day 7 was Wednesday and we spent it continuing our painting projects around the church and ministering to the kids during day 2 of our Vacation Bible School. It is so cool to see these painting projects come together after days and days of hard work on behalf of the team. They've put a lot of energy into these projects and we know it has a been a huge blessing to the church.

The VBS was a lot of fun for the students as we taught the kids about having FAITH in Jesus. They learned about Noah's Ark, colored beautiful drawings and made amazing Rainbow Rattles. The students have really come together as a team during the VBS and we've seen then rise to the occasion and give their best efforts in putting on the best VBS possible.

We finished our Wednesday with a trip to the futbol rapido game to support the Hope Chapel Rosarito Team as they began game one of the playoffs.

2012 Mexico Mission Trip: Day 6

Day 6 was the first day of our Vacation Bible School at Hope Chapel Rosarito. The students started the day by continuing our projects around the church, but then in the evening we were ready for all the kids to come and learn about Jesus. The first day of the VBS had 6 kids in attendance and all of them loved it.

VBS began with eating dinner together, we then had a group game where the kids popped balloons and received candy that had been hidden inside the balloons. Our students led the kids in a couple worship songs full of energy and hand motions. Then we began our rotations.

Different students led different rotations. We had a puppet show about the prodigal son, there was a coloring station, we had a small game, and we concluded with a craft. The theme word of the day was LOVE and so all of our rotations and teachings had to do with God's love for us. Our memory verse was 1 John 4:19, "We love because He first loved us."

It was a great day of ministry for the students and the kids. Our team really did an amazing job keeping things organized as they put on the VBS. It was really encouraging to see them not get discouraged when the turn out was lower than expected. They recognize that God is up to good work in this community and sometimes great things start small. We are a part of HCR's first ever VBS and we're a part of starting something for this church that could have lasting results.

2012 Mexico Mission Trip: Day 5

Monday was day 5 of our trip and it was our team Sabbath for rest and relaxation. After breakfast and Bible study we went out and hit the local shopping market so that the team members could buy Mexico souvenirs and trinkets. Who knew that boys liked to shop? Our team is almost all boys and yet we spent hours navigating the shops, haggling for deals, and browsing for great buys. The team was really excited when Sean told them that they all were going to receive a hoodie poncho of their choice.

Once we finished our shop time we grabbed some street tacos (including tacos de lingua), and then made our way to the beach. At the beach some of our team braved the chilly waters to play in the waves while others played in the sand or soaked up some rays.

Our team has been working really hard together so it was a lot of fun to see them play together and share some laughs. The day of fun was perfectly placed in our schedule because Tuesday marks the beginning of Hope Chapel Rosarito's First Ever Vacation Bible School. The students will be working hard to put it all together so your prayers are greatly appreciated.

2012 Mexico Mission Trip: Day 4

Day 4 was church day for our team. We had service at Hope Chapel Rosarito in the morning. Some of our team joined their worship team in leading the congregation in worship. Other members were greeters and ushers welcoming congregants. From HCR we made our way to Iglesia de Nuevo Esperanza to minister at another Foursquare Church. This has been our 3rd annual trip to Pastor Raul's church to preach, pray, and worship together. Pastor Sean preached about God as our Healer and the students got to pray for all the congregants suffering from physical, emotional, or spiritual wounds. It was a powerful moment for the entire team as the Holy Spirit worked through them to minister to the church members. We spent Sunday evening enjoying the company of Pastors Don and Sandy for dinner and games, which was a fun end to an amazing day.

Don't forget you can see more pictures from our trip by LIKING our Facebook Page

2012 Mexico Mission Trip: Day 3

Day 3 was a day of continuing projects around Hope Chapel Rosarito. Some of the team continued the painting project in the new children's classrooms. Other students were outside leveling, while the rest of the team prepped and cleaned the church for service on Sunday.

The majority of our meals are prepared by Pastor Sandy and her daughter Emily in their home. We eat together and share times of fellowship and food. These times are great also for mingling with some of the locals who volunteer around HCR. A handful of congregants have been serving alongside us and helping us learn our Spanish.

Saturday concluded with a team discussion time and a Q&A time with Pastors Don and Sandy Godwin. The team was able to ask as many questions as possible concerning missions, church planting, living in Mexico, moving to a different country, and following God's calling for your life.

2012 Mexico Mission Trip: Day 2

Friday was day 2 of our trip to Rosarito, Mexico, but the weather looked a lot like Seattle. In the morning it was overcast and cloudy and by the afternoon it was down pouring. Instead of weeding and leveling out the vacant lot next to the church we spent our time inside painting the new children's classrooms, new sound booth, and room partitions. There was a question of which ended up with more paint on it: the walls or the students? Overall they did a great job working together as a team and accomplishing the task at hand.

The team is really beginning to connect and build unity together. We see them laughing a lot and sharing life together. We created a buddy system that challenges them to spend the day getting to know one of their teammates and then sharing about them at the end of the night. It was really powerful to hear the students share about each other such kind and encouraging words. As you can see pictured above, some buddies are even helping each other with traveling from one location to the next.

Due to the rains we were unable to do an outreach in the Vista Marina neighborhood or attend the futbol rapido (arena soccer) game, but we're looking forward to good weather next Friday allowing us to enjoy these two facets to Hope Chapel Rosarito's ministry. In the evening we enjoyed some delicious tacos at a local hotspot. Students really enjoyed the tasty tacos and drinking Cokes from glass bottles. Friday may have left us standing in the mud, but it didn't stop us from being a part of God's ministry down in Rosarito.

2012 Mexico Mission Trip: Day 1

Day One of the 2012 Uturn Jr. High Mexico Mission Trip is underway. Today began at the early time of 5:30am as the team met at Sea-Tac Airport for our flight to San Diego. We were praising God as we got all of our bags checked under the 50 pound weight limits and smoothly navigated the security checkpoints. After grabbing some tasty breakfast at Wendy's and Starbucks in the airport food court we made our way to sunny San Diego. Thankfully all of our bags met us at the baggage claim and we met up with Pastors Don and Sandy Godwin on the curbside. What a joy to see them and their smiling faces. Before crossing the border into Mexico we made a quick pitstop at In-N-Out Burger for some lunch.

Later in the afternoon we were praising God for guiding us through a smooth border crossing. We had no travel hiccups or issues and we safely made it to our rental home that we'll be staying in for the duration of our trip. After unloading our luggage we had a brief orientation about the trip and then made our way to Hope Chapel Rosarito to begin prep work for upcoming projects.

Once at HCR the team went to work cleaning out offices, taping walls in preparation for paint, and weeding the adjacent lot for parking. Our team easily will put in a 17 hour day and they still remain positive, upbeat, and they're working hard. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as the trip has just begun.

Don't forget you can see more pics from the trip on our Facebook page

Razors or Band-Aids

Proverbs 12:18

Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.

We all know that our words carry power and influence, but it is so easy to forget the tremendous impact they can have on a person. It is so easy to find ourselves around our friends joking with each other and making fun of each other's flaws, insecurities, and mistakes. We don't always intend to hurt, but even without realizing it we are sending out words to our friends that are truly damaging. These jokes, one-liners, gossips, and quips come in the form of text messages, Facebook posts and quick audible jabs; but no matter their form they still can be like little razor blades slicing away at the hearts of our friends.

As Christ followers it is crucial to remember that our words not only have the power to hurt, but as this Proverb mentions, they have the capability of bringing healing to others. When everyone else is joking around and being mean we can encourage. When everyone is criticizing someone for their mistakes we can accentuate their successes. When everyone is talking smack about someone on Facebook we can choose to delete the post from our wall. The people around us are constantly getting ripped apart by the words of others, allow your words to do just the opposite and build someone up. Use your words to restore, encourage, edify, promote, and heal the hearts of your friends.

Our 2012 Mexico Team

April 12th - 21st

Our 2012 Mexico Team leaves for Rosarito, Mexico on April 12th. Please begin to pray for us to have an amazing trip of effective ministry.

Only a Piece of the Peace

Life is full of all kinds of stresses and anxieties. There could be relationship issues, friendship issues, parental issues, school issues, and many other kinds of issues. Let's be honest, there's probably something right now that is wearing you out and your patience, your strength, and your positive attitude is either stretched to the max or completely wiped out. What in life right now has you feeling overwhelmed, out of control, or stressed?

The next big question to ask yourself is how do you typically try to find comfort or relief from that stressful situation? Who or what do you look to for peace? Some may run to entertainment, things like movies, books, and video games can provide a temporary escape as they follow the twists and turns of their favorite fictional characters. Some turn to things like music because its a medium that helps channel and express their emotions. Some experiment with substances to try and numb the pain; thinking that something like drugs, alcohol or even junk food can take away the difficulties of their current circumstance. Many will try to find peace, comfort, and wisdom in a variety of people or things; but ultimately we all need to look to Jesus for peace. When we run to these things we are only discovering a piece of the peace that our hearts and souls desire.

Jesus is nicknamed the Prince of Peace, the Holy Spirit is called the Comforter, God is all about peace and he wants you to experience peace; even right now as you try to navigate that tough and stressful issue you're going through. Paul said it best in his letter to the Philippians, "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:6-7)

The next time you find yourself feeling stretched to the max, don't run to your usual comforts that are so easily accessible. Instead spend some quality time with Jesus. Whether its through a time of talking to God, sitting in silence, reading a Bible verse, or listening to worship music; try to find peace by spending time with the God of Peace. When we do that we are reminded that God hasn't left our side, God is hearing us when we speak to him, God is bigger than our circumstances, God cares about us, and God can use our experiences to shape us into the men and women of God that he desires us to be. In doing so you'll discover all of the peace that God wants you to experience.

Don't Give Up, SING!

Psalm 42:11

Why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God!

I will praise him again – my Savior and my God!

It can be so easy to give up on God and get distracted by our circumstances. We can easily find ourselves discouraged because things are going as planned. We can get frustrated because our situation feels overwhelming or too big to handle. We've all been there, we've all wanted to give up or throw in the towel.

This psalm can serve as a great reminder not to let your feelings dictate your faith.

Just because we're stressed, discouraged, frustrated, or overloaded we have to remain faithful to Christ. Our trust and hope needs to remain in Him and not in our feelings. To keep our trust in Him means that we may need to let go of our plans, relinquish control, and consistently believe that God is in control and He's bigger than our circumstance. One of the best remedies for a discouraged faith would be to spend time praising God. Go onto iTunes, download some of your favorite worship songs, and start singing. Sing praises in your room, sing praises while doing the dishes, sing praises while walking to school, just continue to sing praises.

As we honor God our trust in him increases and our faith strengthens so that we can endure those tough seasons in life.

RECAP: Winter Camp 2012

Winter Camp has already come and gone, and what's really funny is that we've had more snow at home over the last few days than we had all weekend at Winter Camp. This year we had 26 students and 16 adult leaders attend at Camp Koinonia in Cle Elum, WA. We were up in the snow from Friday night through Sunday afternoon and it was an amazing weekend. There was time for sledding, games, playing in the snow, making friendships, lots of laughs, and of course our annual snow football game.

Not only did we have a lot of fun and grow relationally, but it was also an amazing time of spiritual growth. We had great times of worship through songs as students took time to glorify God and focus on Him. Our guest speaker, Kyle Veach, inspired the students with messages from the book of James. In fact our theme for the whole weekend was AUTHENTIC and it was derived from the book of James. James' letter to the early church focuses so much on people putting their faith into action and being authentic in their worship, obedience, love of people, and their devotion to Jesus. Over the course of the weekend we covered various sections from the book of James and by Sunday afternoon we had all read and learned about the ENTIRE book. So whether it was through workshops, games, sermons, prayer times, or morning Bible times, every student had the chance to learn the practical lessons from James' letter. We can praise God that over the weekend we had a handful of students make decisions to become Christ-followers, plus we had over a dozen students recommitted to authentically follow Christ with their lives. Winter Camp 2012 was a great experience for the students and leaders and will definitely be a life changing and unforgettable weekend.

Tomorrow's New View of Today

John 13:3-7

³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Many of us are familiar with this text of Jesus washing the disciples' feet. In response to Peter's question he makes a very interesting statement that we can quickly overlook. Logically this didn’t make any sense for the teacher to be doing such an act of servitude for his students. On any other day it would have made sense for the students to care for their teacher/master. Then after this completely selfless and unorthodox gesture of servitude, Jesus says there will be things in life that we don’t always understand or don’t make logical sense. We can’t always make sense of God’s plan or intention, but we must continue to faithfully follow and obey; trusting that God's will is supreme. Especially since in the moment our narrow perspective can inhibit us from realizing the true magnitude and significance of God’s actions. The disciples were probably struggling the grasp the huge significance of having the Savior of mankind rolling up his sleeves and doing the job of a servant/slave. Isn't it true that in heat of the moment its easy to find ourselves questioning God and his master plan?

• "Why didn't He heal this person?"
• "Why can't He just provide the money for this situation?"
• "Why are my parents getting a divorce?"
• "Why shouldn't I mess around with my boyfriend/girlfriend?"
• "Why can't I smoke this or drink that? If I don't I'll get made fun of."
• "Why do I have to be nice to the awkward kid in class?"
• "Why can't I yell at my parents like my friends do to their parents?"
• "Why do good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people?"

It is super easy to question God, but it takes real faith to continue to follow Him when you don't get the answer you want. We can't forget this amazing promise that Jesus makes with Peter, we may not completely understand things right now, but there will come a day and time that we will. Can you imagine what it would have been for Peter when the lightbulb when off for him one day. "OHHH...now I get why Jesus wanted to wash my feet." One day we'll see the BIG PICTURE and we'll be able to understand why God allowed those things to happen, why He chose not to do a miraculous event in that moment, or what He was trying to teach us. The point is don't give up, instead ask God for HIS perspective so that you can see the world through his eyes. Then tomorrow you'll be able to have a new view about the things you're going through today.