theHOUSE Weekly 6/23/09
Hey all!
here’s what’s going o this week…
DINE ‘N DASH
Well, our Dine ‘N Dash is this week… For those who think this is an event where we all go to a fancy restaurant, eat, and not pay the bill…YOU ARE WRONG! Dine ‘N Dash is where we load up into cars, competition style, and race around (following the traffic laws of course!) to different parents houses, where THEY COOK the food, and we eat and run! First car/team back to the church wins the ultra awesome prize!!! WE STILL NEED SOME HELP! Right now, We have two host homes (salad and dessert) which means we still need at least two more homes to cook and host a stop, one for bread (dinner rolls of some kind) and the main course (cooked is ok, or simply a bunch of pizzas… be creative!) If any of you are able to help drive, that would be AWESOME! As of today, we have room for only 30 students (we typically run 40-50 on wednesdays) and need some more seats! if you have a big car/van/suv you would let us use, or if you are willing to drive, please email me back (albert at nvcf dot com) as soon as you can! this always proves to be a GREAT night, not just for our regular students, but visitors as well to get connected! any help would be appreciated!
THE CHURCH IS OUT OF THE BUILDING
June 30-July 1 we will be doing some service projects around Milpitas, including Russell Middle School! We will be meeting at Mt Olive Church on the corner of Calaveras Blvd. and Piedmont Rd. at 10am June 30 and ending at NVCF with our WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE gathering. Cost is $10 plus money for 2 fast food meals.
SR. HIGH SUMMER CAMP
SIGN UP TODAY!!! Space is extremely limited! http://summer.morethanpirates.com
JR. HIGH SUMMER CAMP
We’re back at camp Oakhurst with our 6th-8th Graders! Grab a registration form and sign up today! http://summer.morethanpirates.com
MEXICO MISSION TRIP 2009
Head to http://mexico.morethanpirates.com to get more up to date info and to download the application!
ONLINE RESOURCES
Web: http://morethanpirates.com
Summer: http://sumer.morethanpirates.com
TXT: http://tatango.com/profile/thehouse
Email: youth at nvcf dot com
Weekly Updates: http://thehousenews.org
Blog: http://thehouseblog.org
Albert’s Blog: http://sixminiutesofbanter.com
NVCF: http://nvcf.com
have a great week!
-Albert Alcorn, Youth Pastor
a little exercise
Last night, at our youth worship team practice, we did a little exercise where we read through Psalm 13, talked a bit about David, and challenged everyone to write their own psalm to God. we encourage them to be brutally honest about our thoughts, our troubles, our trials and our praises. here’s mine:
Where are you? Sometimes it’s like your not even there! You are so hard to find in my everyday life.
But I have seen and experienced you before. I know you’re there and you’re good. You are faithful to your word and to your people.
Then why don’t I get it? Why do I try and live without you, when I know life with you is better?
I am too busy. I live like I don’t need you. I live like I don’t care about my creator, my savior.
But you’re still there! Why do you keep coming back for me? It makes no sense!
But your grace is evident and your mercy is life-changing… if I let it.
You have already chosen me… I need to choose you.
You have already paid the price for me… will I live like I am redeemed?
take some time and reflect. be honest with God and yourself, and take the time to wait on the LORD and find out what he is saying to you.
-A
theHOUSE Weekly 6/16/09
Hello parents, youth and everyone else!
Here’s your need-to-know info for this week!
DINE ‘N DASH
Next Wednesday, june 24th, we will be having our Dine ‘N Dash event. For those who think this is an event where we all go to a fancy restaurant, eat, and not pay the bill…YOU ARE WRONG! Dine ‘N Dash is where we load up into cars, competition style, and race around (following the traffic laws of course!) to different parents houses, where THEY COOK the food, and we eat and run! First car/team back to the church wins the ultra awesome prize!!! IF YOU CAN HOST A PORTION OF THE MEAL (bread, salad, entree, etc) please email me back to arrange this. we need food for about 50 people at each home. If you do not want to cook, but would want to drive, THAT WOULD BE GREAT! we need extra drivers to handle moving our entire groups around milpitas/san jose!
CAMPS
We have two camps coming up this summer, and both have LIMITED SPACING!!! Head over to http://summer.morethanpirates.com for details!
MEXICO
for all the latest info, updates, applications and everything else you need for this years mexico missions trip, head over to http://mexico.morethanpirates.com
ONLINE RESOURCES
Web: http://morethanpirates.com
Summer: http://sumer.morethanpirates.com
TXT: http://tatango.com/profile/thehouse
Email: youth at nvcf dot com
Weekly Updates: http://thehousenews.org
Blog: http://thehouseblog.org
Albert’s Blog: http://sixminiutesofbanter.com
NVCF: http://nvcf.com
have a great week!
-Albert Alcor, Youth Pastor
theHOUSE Weekly 6/9/09
hello all!
thanks to all who came out this sunday to our parents lunch! it was an awesome time talking about summer and talking about your students! heres whats coming up…
NEW TEACHING SERIES
We are starting a new series titled “Magnetism” where we will be talking about one of our five purposes: REACH or evangelism. We will be talking about what it means to LIVE a life following Christ in a very real way.
DINE ‘N DASH
June 24th will be our Dine ‘n Dash. We will meet at church NO LATER than 630pm. If you are not familiar with a Dine ‘n Dash, its where students all pile in a leaders car and race (safely and of course following the traffic laws) from house to house, following clues, for their dinner. we will have multiple houses hosted by PARENTS serving one dinner item (for example, one house will have salad, another will have bread, so and yada yada). the first car to return to church, having completed all dinner stops, wins! Soooo, we would like to ask three things from you, the parents. We need volunteers to host dinner stops and have enough food for approx. 50 people. We are also needed students to be dropped off BY 6:30pm so we can start on time. all teams will be back at the church at 9pm. Dinner stop options are: salad, bread (rolls, etc.), appetizer, main course, and dessert! and finally, we will need some extra drivers for this event! if you are able to hang out with us that wednesday evening, that would be great! Please let me know if you can help with this awesome event!
CAMP REGISTRATIONS
Registration is officially open for Jr. and Sr. High summer camp. as mentioned at the parents lunch, we are limited, for camps, on spaces. please get your registration and non-refundable deposit in ASAP. info about summer camp can be found online at http://summer.morethanpirates.com
BOOMERS CANCELLED
Our Boomers go kart event on June 13th has been cancelled due to graduations and scheduling conflicts. thanks for your understanding.
ONLINE RESOURCES
Web: http://morethanpirates.com
Summer: http://sumer.morethanpirates.com
TXT: http://tatango.com/profile/thehouse
Email: youth at nvcf dot com
Weekly Updates: http://thehousenews.org
Blog: http://thehouseblog.org
Albert’s Blog: http://sixminiutesofbanter.com
NVCF: http://nvcf.com
have a great week!
-Albert Alcor, Youth Pastor
day after
the day after is one of the roughest days pastors can have, says a friend of mine. i trust this friend. he has been doing was i attempt to do for many years. and he claims, rightfully so, that when there is a “big” day for pastors; Christmas, Easter, etc…, the “day after” tends to be less than jubilant.
many were saved. many were baptized. service went well. new folks were reached for Jesus. but for some reason, i feel like crap. why?
why does this phenomenon occur?
in my limited experience i have but a few thoughts to offer on the subject.
you see, when we have had a tiring day, most of us come home, plop on the couch and flip on the tv. some may take a nap, stuff our face with burger king, or just sit there staring at the wall like a cat, but so few of us come home, especially us pastors, and find our rest in God. we associate “God” with our jobs or work and when we come home, we just “want a break from all that.”
the scriptures tell us over and over that we find our rest in God. not tv, naps, food or friends. those are all great, as a matter of fact i experienced each one of those yesterday. But, when those become our replacement, in rest, for God, we come to a problem.
a large problem.
one so large in fact, it not only shakes our lives up, but our relationship with Jesus. when we think we can only experience the grace, mercy, and peace God has on “work days” or “when i go to church” or “when i go to my small group” we’re really not experiencing Jesus.
which is quite unfortunate.
because when we seek Jesus for rest, we are fully rested. we not only find rest, relaxation and comfort, but he gives us strength. strength for our job, school and ministry. strength we cannot find on our own. we can only go so long on our own strength.
think of it like this…
our own strength = a battery. we can power ourselves for a while, but eventually we need to be recharged. some of us may have a long battery life, others may run out very quickly. whatever the scenario, we all run out of juice at some time.
Gods strength in us = plugging into the socket. God has an infinite supply of power for us, but we need to make the choice to plug in to God’s power. and yes, it will charge our battery, and we will be able to operate away from the wall, but always for a finite time.
john 15 chapter 5 says: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
my encouragement to all, in light of this, is to plug in to God. plug in to his power, his strength. and to all, don’t let the “day after syndrome” hit you and fall back on whatever “comfort” things we have in our life, but fall back on Jesus, and his everlasting life.
it takes 21 days to form a habit. create a habit of leaning on Jesus for rest.
it’s the only rest that gets us through the day.
-A
trekkies vs techies
i would consider myself a techie, or basically someone who knows and wants to knows way too much about computers, computing, and all things electronic. for some reason there is a fascination deep inside me with how things work, how to take them apart and piece them pack together, sometimes for very different purposes in which they were intended. a quick example, i was hanging out with someone, particularly someone i was, for lack of better word, trying to impress. and for some reason, i started talking about new google product: google wave. now, most normal people, when trying to impress someone, don’t usually jump right to computers! but the teckie inside of me just couldn’t stay hidden!
but, i would also consider myself a trekkie. i was raised on captain kirk and captain picard, and whenever they happen to be on TV, chances are, I’m watching it. now, i have never been to a convention, but chances are i will end up at one in the future.
most people lump these two “personalities” into one group: “nerd”, which i will gladly claim. but as i thought more about it, they’re actually two very opposite mindsets. to be techie, you focus on the reality of things, and you don’t have your head all up in the clouds. instead your focused on the task at hand, you know what needs to be done, and you get it done!
to be a trekkie though, it’s more a fantasy, dreamworld situation. even though i thoroughly believe we will have transporters in my lifetime, i have accepted the reality that i will not be piloting a starship anytime soon. but to be more than entertained, but to buy into the star trek world, you have to remove yourself, ever so slightly (for some, not so slightly) out of our own reality and into the one created by gene roddenberry.
as my mind was processing these things, i started to make a connection to my own life, then to my walk with Jesus. there is a part of following God that is very practical: feeding the hungry, clothing the homeless, taking care of the widows, the orphans, the oppressed. but there is a “larger than life” attitude that accompanies Jesus and everything he is about. love your enemies? pray for the sick? miracles? these are all things beyond the comprehension of our mind, but very real for Jesus.
the merging of these two crazy ideas make up the kingdom of God. that’s what it is! not being conservative in our lives because we are conservative at the poles, but instead being liberal in our lives! Jesus was liberal in his giving of time and resources. living the “Christian” life is about serving, it’s about following Jesus and everything he taught, and the reality of that in our lives!
for me, to continue to live as a Christ follower, my human side needs constant proof that Jesus existed, or that he is God, or that God is even real. but my soul cries out for something bigger than this world, something bigger than what this world has to offer. and that’s where the “techie” and “trekkie” of my soul converge as the kingdom of God.
being a Christ follower cannot just be about serving, neither can it be just about praying or worshiping. our faith needs the good works, and our good works need the faith.
the book of James has something to say about this convergence:
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. [James 2:14-17]
let the two collide in your life.
the seemingly impossible and the very practical, that you and i CAN do.
let them collide.
let the kingdom of God be ever present in your life in the very real way Jesus did.
may the reality of God, and the dreams, visions, and hopes you may have collide in a wreckless fashion to cause an outflow of pure, unadulterated love for our savior and the ones he loves…
…the rest of us.
-A
theHOUSE Weekly 6/2/09
Hello again!
we are well into June, which means summer is right around the corner! but, thats what the summer calendar is for! you can download it by going to http://summer.morethanpirates.com. but here’s whats happening for this week…
BIG WEDNESDAY
this week we will be at SKY HIGH for our BIGwednesday, not in the youth room. the address is 2880 Mead Ave. Santa Clara, CA. the cost will be $10 for a 2 hour session, 7-9pm. All are welcome to come, parents you are welcome to join us as well! If your student does NOT want to jump, they are welcome to come and hang out. this is an outreach event, so we are encouraging ALL students to bring a friend with them!
GRAD SUNDAY
this sunday is GRAD SUNDAY, where we recognize all high school and college graduates in our church family! if you have a graduate that has not been added to the list, respond back to this email and we will add them!
PARENTS LUNCH
after service THIS SUNDAY is our annual summer parents lunch! we will be raffling off $50 of a camp or mexico for all parents in attendance! come to get info on what the youth department is doing this summer and get a free lunch! all are welcome!
MEXICO MISSIONS TRIP 2009
Applications are available in the youth office for this years mexico missions trip. http://mexico.morethanpirates.com
SUMMER INTERNS
Applications are available to be a summer intern in the youth office.
ONLINE RESOURCES
Web: http://morethanpirates.com
Summer: http://sumer.morethanpirates.com
TXT: http://tatango.com/profile/thehouse
Email: youth at nvcf dot com
Weekly Updates: http://thehousenews.org
Blog: http://thehouseblog.org
Albert’s Blog: http://sixminiutesofbanter.com
NVCF: http://nvcf.com
have a great week!
-Albert Alcor, Youth Pastor