One thing that I love about this church is the emphasis on missions. Every year, we send out missionaries to spread the love of Christ and advance the Kingdom of God. Young and old alike take part every year to obey the commission given my Jesus in Matthew 28.

This year, we are focusing our missionary efforts with the Navajo Nation and VBS. We have been going out to Leupp and Flagstaff, Arizona for over a decade building relationships and solidifying kingdom work there. Navajo missions is a 2-week affair with a 1-week option for those that need to come back early. Programs are held for the children and youth in both the reservation in Leupp and in the border city of Flagstaff. Special evening sessions are also held for youth and adults as well.

And in Chatsworth, in our own community, we are setting sail on a high seas adventure with this year’s them for VBS. Young children come out for a week long program learning about God and the Bible in an engaging and fun experience.

Both opportunities are available to you for this summer’s mission. Pray about serving in one of these opportunities and fill out the application below!

Navajo Missions
1-Week: 7/10 – 7/18
2-Week: 7/10 – 7/23

Navajo Missions Info Handout
Navajo Missions Application (Due 5/2)

VBS
7/26 – 7/30

VBS Application (Due June 13th)

Alright folks, here it is.

As you all know, this Friday (4/9) is our first ever Nerf Capture-the-Flag event. Be sure to bring out your friends! And your Nerf gun!

Below are the rules written out by our very own Nerf nerd, Joe. Read them carefully!

NERF CAPTURE THE FLAG:

The setup:
2 teams based at opposite ends of the church, each with a flag at their base. Teams may place their flag anywhere within their base, but it must be visible from any entrance to the area and must be safely and easily accessible. Next to each base is a designated prison area, where eliminated players of the opposite team are held until they are either freed or the round ends. There will be designated areas of the church for game play. All other areas of the church are “out of bounds.”

The objective:
To capture the other team’s flag from their base and bring it back to your team’s base OR eliminate all players of the opposing team. [Tip: try using teamwork and strategy.]

If neither team retrieves the other team’s flag within 30(?) minutes, the team holding the most prisoners wins the round.

The play:
Before the round begins, flags must be placed and all players must be in their base. At the signal or designated time, the round begins and players are allowed to advance. [Suggestion: some should stay behind to guard the flag and prisoners, if any.] Teams are not allowed to touch their own flag once the round begins.

When a player is shot, he/she must walk his/herself to the enemy’s base and wait in the prison area. A live player can free a fellow teammate from the enemy’s prison by tagging them. The prisoner must have at least one foot in the prison area to be tagged. A live player can only free one prisoner at a time. Both players must go back to their home base before they can rejoin the game. They must hold their guns above their heads until they return to their base to let players know they have free passage. A player cannot free a prisoner and grab the flag; they must choose one or the other.

Once a player picks up a flag, he/she must be the one to take it all the way back to their own base. They cannot hand it off. If a player holding the flag is shot, he/she must return the flag to the place where he/she was shot before going to prison. After 30 seconds, the flag can then be picked up by the opposing team.

Defenders of the flag must stay 15 ft. away from the flag unless he/she is pursuing an enemy within the 15 ft. radius.

(Optional rule: If there are a lot of kids in jail and nothing happens in the game for awhile, a leader can yell “Jailbreak”, at which point all prisoners are freed–and must return to their home base before they can join the game–BUT they are immediately vulnerable to getting shot and returning to prison.)

Other rules:
1. If you get shot, you must walk yourself to the enemy’s prison. Honor system: if you know you got shot, even if no one else saw, take yourself to prison. If someone else says you got shot whether or not you agree, you must take their word for it and take yourself to prison.
2. Any player who goes out of bounds will be sent to prison. Players who go out of bounds or leaves the game for emergencies or other legitimate reasons (medical reasons, gun jamming or breaking, phone call, bathroom) can rejoin the game but must start from their base.
3. You can be shot anywhere, even in your own base. There are no safe zones.
4. If your gun jams or breaks, go out of bounds to fix it. (Remember you must restart at your base.) If you stay in bounds and are shot, you must go to prison. You can leave prison to fix your gun, but you must return to prison to join back in the game.
5. Your gun, your clothes, and anything on you–all count as “you”. If any of those are shot, you must go to prison.
6. You can bring other nerf-type weapons, such as swords. But they cannot block darts. See rule 5.
7. You can use stationary objects like tables and chairs to take cover. You cannot pick up objects to protect you as you move.
8. You CAN be shot by your own teammate. FF is on. Be careful where you shoot.
9. You cannot throw darts. (You can if you want to, but it won’t eliminate anyone.)

And to help you get a little teaser of what’s to come…

Read Day 1 recap here.

Our 2010 30 Hour Famine is now over. Day 2 was filled with information about issues that plague so many lives around the world. We covered topics like the complexity of poverty, teens infected with “affluenza,” and the impact of AIDS on hunger and poverty. Knowing so many lives are affected, it’s easy to lose hope in trying to make a difference. But one thing we learned is that it all starts with us taking little steps to change our attitudes. Maybe we give up eating ice cream for a day or two, knowing Americans spend $20billion a year on frozen treats alone. Maybe we say a prayer for the homeless person we just passed, instead of ignoring him.

In Day 1, we spent time creating crosses out of popsicle sticks. We planted them in the courtyard to help bring awareness to the rest of the church (see image above). The sign reads “Did you know…while you were in service, 1,812 kids died from hunger and treatable illness? What are you going to do about it?” We wanted people to notice, if anything to get them thinking, but we didn’t expect our members to want to donate money right then and there. Those crosses will stay up for one more week, next time with a table to accept all those donations.

We concluded our 30 Hour Famine with worship time. We knew everything up until then was a lot of information. But it was now time to plead to God for action. It was a wonderful time for students to place God as priority over their lives. Our actions to confront hunger and poverty will only be effective to a point. We must be led by God to bring true renewal and hope to this world.

We planned and strategized to take concrete steps to get involved as a youth group. Some of the things that are being planned are a clothes drive, a game tournament, and silent auction to help raise more funds to donate to World Vision. All of these events will be led by our students! Way to take charge of what God has impressed upon us over the weekend!

Day one of the 30 Hour Famine has come and gone. At the time of this posting (~12:30am) we are nearly 12 hours into our fast. Students began their fast at 1pm after their lunch. Thankfully, not complaining about hunger pains…yet.

Earlier, we discussed Jesus’ desire for us to shine His light into the darkness of hunger and poverty in this world. With 29,000 kids under the age of 5 dying from hunger and treatable diseases a day, the task seems daunting. But knowing that we now live in a generation that has the money, medicine, and food to eradicate hunger and poverty, it’s a wonder why so little gets done. It starts with a mindset – a change in attitude about what we can accomplish through the power of the church.

To help bring awareness to the church, we’ve built 1,208 crosses out of popsicle sticks. Each cross represents a young child that dies every hour from hunger and preventable disease. They will be planted in the courtyard of our church where we normally have snacks after service. The point is to bring awareness and hopefully stir up action amongst the church body.

Tomorrow brings a new day with more ways to see God’s heart towards the impoverished, and more importantly, strategizing to shine Jesus’ light in our communities and in this world.

Read about Day 2 here.

In 2 Samuel 24, King David declares “I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (v. 24).

This Wednesday is Lent. It’s the start of a 40 day journey leading up to Easter Sunday. Traditionally, Lent is the practice of giving something up (most people give up red meat) as a way to show God He is more important than that thing we are giving up. It’s also a call to go above and beyond what we expect from our “normal” Christian activities (group meetings, praying, devotionals).

Lent is fasting from something in our lives that can be replaced by prayer and “almsgiving” or service to our community. It is an opportunity to do some soul-checking and reflect on those things that distract us from getting close to God.

So what is one thing that could be preventing you from getting closer to God? TV..? Facebook..? In light of what Jesus had to suffer to restore our relationship with God, don’t you think we can give these things up to be replaced with a few more minutes of prayer?

To help you meditate on what God expects from our fasting, read Isaiah 58.

Just a reminder that there’s no Ark meeting this week due to the retreat going on all weekend long. See you all next week!

So in the meantime, enjoy the pic above of Emo Bunny.

There is unbelievable devastation right now in Haiti, the western hemisphere’s poorest country. A 7.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed office buildings, homes, schools, hospitals, international aid headquarters, and many many others. The amount of destruction set this island nation back an entire generation.

Haiti is in so much need right now. We will discuss in tonight’s ARK meeting how we can and will do our part in extending our love through action.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Jorge Cruz

This is the year of living courageously! As our yearly theme this year, we’re really going to see “giants” in our lives come tumbling down. Fear will no longer have a hold on our lives!

The theme verse for this year is Joshua 1:9, but what’s often overlooked are the two verses preceding verse 9. Verses 7 and 8 read:

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Isn’t that awesome? In living courageously, we’ll be “prosperous” and “successful” when we dig into the Word of God. From there, there’s no reason to be terrified or discouraged, for God will be with us wherever we go (v.9)!

As a church, we want to take hold of this promise. And to help make sure we live this promise together, the entire church will be going through the same devotional together! Make sure you come out to Ark to find out more info about this!

2009 was truly a memorable year. There are so many events that helped shape this past year. The end of the year is always a good time to reflect back on all that was accomplished, to celebrate God’s work in and through our lives, and look forward to continual growth and encouragement.

Join us as we celebrate 2009 and ring in 2010 in style at this year’s New Year’s Eve service! There will be worship, praise, food, and games! And of course, lots of celebration!

This year, Ark is in charge of setting up a couple video game stations! Along with everything else planned for this night, it’s really going to be a jumping place…especially for you night owls!

So be sure to come out!

When: 12/31/09 @ 10:00PM – 1:00AM
Where: The Garden Christian Fellowship | 20745 Nordhoff St. Chatsworth, CA 91311

THE
CHRISTMAS TREE
I KNOW WHO I AM
I am God’s child. (John 1:12)
I am Christ’s friend. (John 15:15)
I am united with the Lord. (1 Cor. 6:17)
I am bought with a price. (1 Cor. 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ. (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth. (Matt. 5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ. (1 Cor. 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation. ( Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant. (Phil. 3:20)
I am free from any charge against me. (Rom. 8:31 -34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God. (2 Cor.5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot be separated from the love of God.(Rom.8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God.(2Cor.1:21- 22)
I am assured all things work together for good.(Rom.8:28)
I have been chosen & appointed to bear fruit. (John 15:16)
I belong to God
And that is who He says I am. How about you?

“The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make His face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn His face toward you
and give you peace…”
Numbers 6:24-26

[Taken from Homeword Devotionals]