Godspell

Everyone had a great time at Longwood University's performance of Godspell this past Sunday!  We laughed a lot and loved seeing the Gospel of Matthew come to life.  We had a good discussion about the musical back at the church afterwards over dinner.  Take a look:

Don't forget: THIS SUNDAY, November 27th, we will NOT have a regular FUSION Gathering meeting.  Instead, you are asked to help serve the church and come help with the Kids Night Out event at church from 3-7pm!  We can use your help for all or part of the event...come for as much as you can!  Kids 4 years old and up from our church and community will be watching the new Veggie Tales movie, decorating gingerbread cookies and making Advent calendars.  We could really use your help with this great event!

Speak Series: Being Faithful for a Lifetime

This was the last Sunday in our Speak Series: Obeying the Call.  We've talked about what it looks like to live out God's call on our lives, what it looks like to be a disciple of Christ and what it looks like to make disciples of Christ.  Sunday night we focused on how we can continue to be faithful our whole lives.  We talked about things that make it difficult to have faith and be faithful in our world today.  We talked about things that challenge our faith.  And we thought about things we can do as faithful Christians to help others who are going through difficult times.

This past weekend, a freshman at Prince Edward High School committed suicide.  Several of our youth were friends with him and are obviously having a difficult time with his death.  FUSION Gathering on Sunday night offered them a safe place to mourn, to pray, and to be in the presence of friends who love them a lot.  What a blessing it is to be in ministry with youth who care so much for each other and have committed their lives to God.  Our prayer circle was filled with prayers for the student's friends and family, along with a praise that he is at peace and in a better place now.  May we all place this Scripture on our hearts this week as we pray together as a community in pain, "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:38-39.  May God be with you in whatever difficult time you may be facing right now.  Amen.

Middle School Conference Retreat

We had a blast at the middle school conference retreat at Eagle Eyrie this past weekend!  The theme was "Words with Friends" and we explored the words: Kingdom of God, Justice, Faith and Evangelism.  Amanda Garber, pastor at RISE: A United Methodist Faith Community, was an awesome keynote speaker, and everyone enjoyed the Logan Jones Band.  Take a look:

Don't forget the registration deadline for the High School Conference Retreat is THIS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18th!  Get your forms and money in to me this week.  It's going to be awesome!

Speak Series: I'm Supposed to Do What?

Up until now, we've been talking a lot in this series about how God calls us to live as Disciples.  This week, we focused on God's calling on our lives to go and MAKE disciples!  We took a good look at evangelism...what it means, how God calls us to share the good news with others, and what kinds of styles we should probably stay away from when we evangelize.  We took time traveling around the room writing our answers and thoughts to several questions:

• What reasons do Christians have for evangelizing?
• What are some of the common fears Christians have about sharing their faith?
• In your opinion, how should a Christian evangelize?  What methods or styles are most appropriate?
• What are the most important ideas to share--or questions to ask--when you're talking to someone about your faith?

After talking through our responses, we watched this video: The Skinny on Evangelism by the Skit Guys which is a great funny movie that displays a lot of the not so great ways to go about evangelizing, as well as a true story from their lives of a great example of evangelism.

Then we got into pairs and looked at two stories in the Bible of evangelism: John 4:27-42 and Acts 17:22-34.  Both of these stories have similarities and differences...can you name some?

God calls us to share the Good News using both our words and our actions!  How we live as disciples can be an important witness to others, and we are also called to talk with others about our faith.  What's important is that we do these things in love.  Pressuring someone into being a Christian or coming to church is not how God calls us to act.  We are to love others, encourage them and share in conversation with them.  Before closing in prayer, we came up with our "Most Wanted" list.  We prayerfully considered someone in our lives that we need to commit ourselves to sharing the Good News with.  We then wrote that person's initials on a specific side of the chalkboard.  We will continue to check back with one another to see what ways we have loved this person and shared the Good News with them.  Who would be on your "Most Wanted" list?  Prayerfully consider who that person might be, and comment on this post with their initials.  I will add your responses to our most wanted list as we continue to pray for those on the list and each other.

This Friday, I will be venturing to Eagle Eyrie in Lynchburg with 7 of our fantastic middle schoolers for the Virginia Conference Middle School Retreat!  Then I will see everyone else on Sunday night for FUSION Gathering at 6pm!  I hope everyone has a great week!

Chesterfield Berry Farm

We had a blast at Chesterfield Berry Farm on Sunday!  

Check it out:

See you all tomorrow night for Midweek Meal & Mission at 5:30pm, then on Sunday at 6pm for FUSION Gathering!