This week my son Garrett came to me and said he wanted to show me some video’s he had seen on YouTube that he thought I would appreciate.  Honestly my first thought was, “oh no, what am I in for?” Once he began showing me I realized he knows me better than I thought.

The name of the video is called, “Get Service.”  When I began watching it, I immediately welled up with tears and got “goose bumps.”  I confess I’m not much of a sappy person so I was surprised by my reaction.  I knew it was the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart about what I do, versus who I want to be.

Please, please take the 4.25 minutes to watch this video. As Christ followers I believe our hearts desire is to daily pursue a life that represents the Creator of the universe to each person we come in contact with.  This video depicts the struggle we ALL encounter daily.

When we are out and about during this busy month, put of the “glasses” of Christ looking for opportunities to speak love, respond with kindness and plant seeds of grace! 

Pastor Julie

Yes you guessed it; It's SEES CANDY time!

As a service to our church family, CHAMPS will be selling small gift boxes for $5 each beginning this Sunday as a fundraiser to help scholarship kids to Winter Camp in January.  We even have a few ONE POUND gift certificates available for $15 that you can use a gift for someone you just don't know what to give them.

Won't you consider supporting CHAMPS by buying Sees Candy?  Stop by our table in the breezeway beginning this Sunday.  We will be there each Sunday in the Month of December until the candy runs out!

1.     Kids Decorate Their Rooms.

Of course, you will need to help the younger ones. Keep it simple, but meaningful. Try a creche on top of the dresser or a string of lights or make a creative village scene.

2.  Make Birthday Cards for Jesus.

You can feature the different names of Jesus based upon Isaiah 9:6. You can do this on poster board or some index cards.

3.     Make a Christmas Mural or Banner.

Provide a blank piece of butcher paper or white felt and create your own version of the Christmas story, i.e., creche scene, Christmas banner, Christmas tree-base cloth, or poster.

4.     Decorate Your Windows.

Paint your front window with poster paint. Free form designs look very festive when light shine through. You select the appropriate window(s) and how much window to paint.

5.     Design Your Own Christmas Cards.

You could design an original one just for grandparents or special family friends. You can remake cards by cutting up old cards.

6.     Frame Your Children’s Pictures.

These make excellent and memorable gifts for adult relatives. You might want to add their school picture to it.

7. Posted By Julie Sandeen At 7:57 AM •

In a moment of reflection today, being Thanksgiving, I wanted to share with all of you, how grateful I am not only to be the Children's Pastor at the Sanctuary, but also how grateful I am to be part of a community of believers that want to make a difference in the Kingdom of God!

I pray that your day has been filled with joy, laughter, peace and God's love, that continually surprises us!

Blessings to you and your family!

Pastor Julie

Here is a GREAT idea for you and your family to do this Thanksgiving while you are sitting around the table about to give thanks for the meal that has been prepared.

Before the blessing is spoken over the food, begin by going around the table and have each person give thanks outloud to God for who they are!  Thank Him for your "talent," your personality, your voice, your mind, your ability to learn.

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made ... All the days ordained for me were written in your book" (Psalm 139:14, 16).

Then, ask a few at the table to say what they are Thankful for about someone else who is sitting around the table.

Even though there is stress and tragedy and complications in our lives from time to time, we ALL are Thankful for God who loves us beyond measure and without explanation and for who He has made us to be!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES!  I am extremely grateful and thankful for all of you!

Pastor Julie

I was told a story last week about one of our second grade girls in Champs who was in school one day recently and was aware that her teacher was sick and not feeling well.  As the rest of her friends went out to recess, she stayed back and and asked her teacher if she could pray for her.  Though her teacher is not known as a Christian, she said yes, she could.  I am sure it was a very simple prayer, then she went out to play with her friends. 

Fast forward to parent-teacher conference.  As the mom spoke with the teacher, she told her about the incident of her daughter praying for her.  The teacher said as she prayed she could not help but well up with tears! 

The mom had begun the conversation with me saying how great of a job we are doing in Champs, seeing the result of her daughters actions.  My response to her was, this is a result of what you and her dad are doing at home, laying a spiritual foundation!  We in Champs just get to come alongside of them as parents and reinforce what she is learning and being lived at home.

I could not help but be reminded of two scriptures, the first in Matthew 18:4 "So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven."  Mark 10:14 "...Let the children come to me.  Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children." (we often paraphrase this scripture; we need to have faith like a child)

How many of us are innocent and humble enough to offer to pray for someone who we know needs healing, or emotional help, or ??? that we may encounter through the day?  A checker in the grocery store, a neighbor going for a walk past our house, a sales assistant in a retail store. 

I am deeply challenged after hearing this story.  Not because I want to be the "greatest" in the Kingdom of Heaven, but because it is the simplist way to exude the love of the Father to a lost and hurting world!

“You can’t experience life until you give of your life to someone who can’t give back.  It tests your motives. The only reward you get back is ‘thank you.’”

~Brady Boyd (New Life Church) 

I can remember watching a T.V. show called Siskel and Ebert.  These were two guys who actually got paid to watch all the new movie releases and then sit in two “director” type chairs on national television arguing back and forth their opinions, where it all comes down to a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” rating.

How does one become an expert in reviewing movies and rating them?  Do people grow up striving to become Siskel or Ebert?  Not me!

Fast Forward….today I get asked often what I think about this movie and that movie.  Or did I hear about the latest release or review.  I do not consider myself an expert in movie reviews.  Nor do I consider myself and expert in telling you what is ok for you to take your child to see at the box office.

I am glad to say there are other agencies and solid organizations who do review movies from a Christian worldview that we can tap into to do our research and homework.  Take advantage of these prior to taking your children to a “seemingly” good movie.

Here are a couple of resources that I think will be helpful to you during this holiday season, where we are already being inundated with all the Holiday releases. 

Bella, winner of the Toronto Film Festival and the Heartland Film Festival, "is a powerful movie that reveals the beauty of sacrificial love," said Jim Daly, President of Focus on the Family^®.

The film has been supported by faith-based organizations worldwide for elevating the teachings of Jesus Christ and everyday practical Christian principles. These include the healing love of family, the power of redemption, forgiveness, and the preservation of life and love through relationships. It is a rare opportunity that a film with this much heart has made it into the mainstream, and its performance in the box office this weekend will determine whether its release is expanded. We encourage you to go to www.bellathemovie.com to see if it is playing near you. For more information on Bella and to see videos of the lead actor's testimony, go to www.bellafaithemails.com or visit our review of the film at www.pluggedinonline.com.

http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

http://www.goldencompassmovie.com

Snopes.com is a good website resource for you to look things up.  The Golden Compass is a movie being release on December 7, 2007.  It has a big cast (Nicole Kidman) and is being promoted heavily to kids along the same lines as the Chronicles of Narnia.  Please read the review on snopes and watch the trailers.  This movie is not what it seems.

…as for Siskel, he’s dead, now Roeper has replaced him (sometime back I know). I just can’t imagine leaving a legacy; being known as the “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” guy!

Posted By Julie Sandeen At 9:37 AM •

These give a whole new meaning to a picture is worth a thousand words, don't you think?!

This may be too long for some of you, but I couldn't resist.   

1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.

2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3.) A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.

5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late.
8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9.) A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies.

10.) Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old Boy.

11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12.) Super glue is forever.

13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.

14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15.) VCR's do not eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.

19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.

20.) The fire department in Austin , TX has a 5-minute response time.

21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.

23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

24.) 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.

25.) 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

Pictures to follow