Hello everyone –
We just received an important announcement from the GEMS service center - the Hand 'N Hand program is only happening in the Fall.
Due to circumstances beyond their control we will not be offering it in the Spring of 2011.
Thanks for understanding!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Workshop Follow Up
- In your blue folders there is a booklet “Threading the Theme Through the Year”. This booklet of information is full of ideas and suggestions for you to use in your club to integrate the theme through different activities etc. We hope you take the time to review this – you don’t have to use ALL the ideas, but hopefully a few will be useful to you. If you have any questions after reviewing this please contact us.
- In need of a "Fire Chief" for your theme night? Contact Amy! If she's available the night you are doing theme, she'd would love to come and help your club with the Theme Experience.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Thank you to every counselor who attended the Fall Workshop on August 14.
It was wonderful to meet and fellowship with new counselors and clubs and also to catch up with old friends!
We will be praying for you and your clubs throughout the season. Please let us know of any specific prayer requests.
Continue to live lives of PASSION by
Praying constantly
And
Studying God's Word
Serving others
Interacting with God's people
Opening up and talking about God
Noticing God in the ordinary
It was wonderful to meet and fellowship with new counselors and clubs and also to catch up with old friends!
We will be praying for you and your clubs throughout the season. Please let us know of any specific prayer requests.
Continue to live lives of PASSION by
Praying constantly
And
Studying God's Word
Serving others
Interacting with God's people
Opening up and talking about God
Noticing God in the ordinary
Friday, August 6, 2010
Weekly Devotion - "DO WHAT YOU CAN" - August 3, 2010
- from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager
God has given you gifts! We have different gifts, according to the grace given us (Romans 12:6).
Use whatever gifts He’s given you! Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms (1 Peter 4:10).
No matter what your gifts, gratefully do your best. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3:23).
Lazarus and Martha’s sister Mary (John 12:1-7) was described in Luke as a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town (Luke 7:37). With that kind of reputation, she could’ve duped herself into thinking she was useless to the Kingdom, too. Instead she took the gifts that she had – a passionate love for Jesus and an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume – and anointed her Lord. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head (Mark 14:3).
Using our gifts to passionately pursue God and zealously serve others will not always be received well by those around us. There’s a risk when we serve in out of the ordinary ways, and being His disciple comes with a cost (Luke 14:26-27).
That was Mary’s experience. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly (Mark 14:4-5).
Jesus saw her heart and came to her defense. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. She did what she could” (Mark 14:6, 8a). Mary’s wholehearted devotion and service to Jesus is her legacy. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” (Mark 14:9).
If you look around at other people’s gifts, you’re sure to find a gift that’s not part of the way God wired and designed you. That’s OK. He’s not asking you to serve Him with gifts He hasn’t given you! Instead, follow Mary’s example: She did what she could (Mark 14:8).
PASSION Step: What will you do to passionately pursue God and zealously serve Him today? Do what you can (Mark 14:8).
DO WHAT YOU CAN
She did what she could.
Mark 14:8
She’s said it dozens of times over the years: I don’t have any gifts. I’m not good at anything. And each time this subject pops up in our conversation, I counter the lies with His truth:God has given you gifts! We have different gifts, according to the grace given us (Romans 12:6).
Use whatever gifts He’s given you! Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms (1 Peter 4:10).
No matter what your gifts, gratefully do your best. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3:23).
Lazarus and Martha’s sister Mary (John 12:1-7) was described in Luke as a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town (Luke 7:37). With that kind of reputation, she could’ve duped herself into thinking she was useless to the Kingdom, too. Instead she took the gifts that she had – a passionate love for Jesus and an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume – and anointed her Lord. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head (Mark 14:3).
Using our gifts to passionately pursue God and zealously serve others will not always be received well by those around us. There’s a risk when we serve in out of the ordinary ways, and being His disciple comes with a cost (Luke 14:26-27).
That was Mary’s experience. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly (Mark 14:4-5).
Jesus saw her heart and came to her defense. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. She did what she could” (Mark 14:6, 8a). Mary’s wholehearted devotion and service to Jesus is her legacy. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” (Mark 14:9).
If you look around at other people’s gifts, you’re sure to find a gift that’s not part of the way God wired and designed you. That’s OK. He’s not asking you to serve Him with gifts He hasn’t given you! Instead, follow Mary’s example: She did what she could (Mark 14:8).
PASSION Step: What will you do to passionately pursue God and zealously serve Him today? Do what you can (Mark 14:8).
You are not a reservoir with a limited amount of resources; you are a channel attached to unlimited divine resources.
Unknown
Weekly Devotion - "HEED THE WARNING SIGNS" - July 12, 2010
-from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager
Warning alarms come in all shapes and sizes. There are smoke alarms that alert people to the danger of fire, house and car alarms to warn if a break-in or theft is attempted, back-up warning alarms signal that vehicles are going in reverse, and civil defense sirens warn communities of approaching danger.
Second Chronicles 29 contains multiple warning signs that the fire was extinguished in the Temple and in their hearts. It’s a chapter that details how King Hezekiah purified the Temple in the first month of the first year of His reign.
1. The doors were closed (2 Chronicles 29:3). Closed doors, closed hearts, closed eyes and ears all indicate that the fire has grown cold. God told Judah through the prophet Jeremiah, “To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it” (Jeremiah 6:10). Open wide your mouth and God will fill it (Psalm 81:10), open your eyes to see wonderful things in His law (Psalm 119:18), open your lips and declare His praise (Psalm 51:15). Feed the fire by opening the doors of your heart!
2. The lamps were put out (2 Chronicles 29:7a). When we put out our lamps by hiding them under a bowl, we fail to be the shining lights in this dark world that God intends for us to be (Matthew 5:14-15). Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Feed the fire by shining brightly in your home, your neighborhood, your workplace, and your church!
3. The incense altar was cold (2 Chronicles 29:7b). No burning incense indicates that there were no prayers. May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice (Psalm 141:2). Leonard Ravenhill wrote, “This much is sure in all churches, forgetting party labels; the smallest meeting numerically is the prayer meeting. If weak in prayer we are weak everywhere.” If you typically prayer for 10-minutes a day, pray for 15. If you pray for an hour a day, pray for an hour and 15 minutes. No matter how shallow or deep our prayer life, we can and should pray more (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Feed the fire by being a woman of prayer!
PASSION Step: Are there warning signs that the fire in your heart has been extinguished? If so, purify it (James 4:8).
HEED THE WARNING SIGNS
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners,
and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
James 4:8
Warning alarms come in all shapes and sizes. There are smoke alarms that alert people to the danger of fire, house and car alarms to warn if a break-in or theft is attempted, back-up warning alarms signal that vehicles are going in reverse, and civil defense sirens warn communities of approaching danger.
Second Chronicles 29 contains multiple warning signs that the fire was extinguished in the Temple and in their hearts. It’s a chapter that details how King Hezekiah purified the Temple in the first month of the first year of His reign.
1. The doors were closed (2 Chronicles 29:3). Closed doors, closed hearts, closed eyes and ears all indicate that the fire has grown cold. God told Judah through the prophet Jeremiah, “To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it” (Jeremiah 6:10). Open wide your mouth and God will fill it (Psalm 81:10), open your eyes to see wonderful things in His law (Psalm 119:18), open your lips and declare His praise (Psalm 51:15). Feed the fire by opening the doors of your heart!
2. The lamps were put out (2 Chronicles 29:7a). When we put out our lamps by hiding them under a bowl, we fail to be the shining lights in this dark world that God intends for us to be (Matthew 5:14-15). Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Feed the fire by shining brightly in your home, your neighborhood, your workplace, and your church!
3. The incense altar was cold (2 Chronicles 29:7b). No burning incense indicates that there were no prayers. May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice (Psalm 141:2). Leonard Ravenhill wrote, “This much is sure in all churches, forgetting party labels; the smallest meeting numerically is the prayer meeting. If weak in prayer we are weak everywhere.” If you typically prayer for 10-minutes a day, pray for 15. If you pray for an hour a day, pray for an hour and 15 minutes. No matter how shallow or deep our prayer life, we can and should pray more (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Feed the fire by being a woman of prayer!
PASSION Step: Are there warning signs that the fire in your heart has been extinguished? If so, purify it (James 4:8).
The Pharisees minded what God spoke, but not what He intended . . . They were busy in the outward work of the hand, but incurious of the affections and choice of the heart. So God was served in the letter, they did not much inquire into His purpose; and therefore they were curious to wash their hands, but cared not to purify their hearts.
Jeremy Taylor
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