What's New in REFUGE

This Sunday we will begin a new teaching series in REFUGE. We will begin studying the same passages that will be used for the Sunday morning sermons in the main worship service. This is not a substitute for our corporate worship service but a supplemental message designed especially for middle school students.

Why are we doing this?

This fall we will be making significant changes to our ministry on Sunday mornings in order to help our students get connected to the rest of the church and participate in the corporate worship service. Launching this teaching series is a step toward that transition. If you have further questions, please contact me.

Happy Resurrection Day!

I hope that you are like me and looking forward to celebrating Jesus' death and resurrection this weekend. This is the best holiday ever! As a church we will commemorate Jesus' death in our Good Friday service this Friday (duh!) at 7 p.m. and celebrate his resurrection on Sunday.

Just a reminder that there is no REFUGE this weekend. We will have two services on Easter morning--9:15 and 11:15. Each service will feature drama, songs by our choir, singing together and the preaching of the Word.

Next Sunday we will continue with our teaching from the book of Proverbs. Starting in May, we will focus on the same passages of Scripture taught in the main worship service as a way to help our students prepare for our transition in the Fall.

The Race Is On, But Explorer Groups Are Not

The fabulous 4th Annual Amazing Race kicks off at 10am tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. Dress warm and dry, because it will be a bit chilly and wet, but that won't dampen the enthusiam as four teams of students (and leaders) dash through downtown Portland. New this year (besides some locations we've never hit before) is a post-race ice cream party at the church starting around 3:45pm (after the official awards ceremony), so all the shouting should be over by 4pm.

Also, as this IS Spring Break and as we ARE having a big 6-hour event Wednesday, there will be NO Explorer Group meeting tomorrow night. We will pick them up again on April 1st, (no foolin')! Please read Leviticus and half of 1st Zephania in preparation. (Okay, that may be not for real!)

If It's Almost Spring Break...

...we must be getting close to this year’s Amazing Race through downtown Portland. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, March 25th for this exciting “most-all-day” BCC Middle School event, (10am – 4pm). The cost is just $20 and includes everything, including Max fare to and from downtown Portland, lunch, hours of fun, a few cheap prizes and new this year, a post-AR ice cream sundae extravaganza. Students can pick-up a combination flyer/registration form any Sunday morning at Refuge or you can request a printable pdf version by emailing students@bcc.org and blast one back your way. Watch for a few more blog postings about this most Amazing of Races in the coming weeks.

REFUGE Re-cap

This past Sunday we showed a DVD produced by Creation Science Evangelism to start exploring the issue of origins and worldview. In other words...Where did we come from? How did we get here? And why does that matter?

Two weeks ago, we had an open forum Q & A session where I fielded questions from students concerning God, life, the Bible, or whatever. I didn't get to all of the questions, so I will begin posting some of the questions and answers here.


Are you still a Christian if you were not baptized, even though you believe with all your heart?

This is a great question. We make a big deal about baptism here at Beaverton Christian Church, but how does it relate to our standing with God? Another way of asking this question is to say: "What does it mean to be a Christian?"

Romans 10:9-10 states:
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

To confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord" is to tell Jesus that you are no longer in control of your life. You are now willing to let Jesus be the boss of your life. Of course, the problem is that we like to run our own lives and do what we want to do. The Bible calls that sin, and God cannot let that sin go unpunished. That is why Jesus died on the cross--to pay the penalty for all of our sin. The good news is that Jesus did not stay dead, but he came back to life 3 days later and now rules as King in heaven.

Baptism is God's way of acting out this belief in a very simple way. When a person goes under the water, this is their way of acting out the truth that their old life is dead and buried with Jesus. When a person comes out of the water, this is their way of acting out their belief that God has washed away all of their sins because of their faith in Jesus.

Getting wet in church doesn't make someone a Christian, but Jesus did instruct all of his followers to get baptized (see Matthew 28:19-20). So if Jesus is your new boss (your Lord) and you belong to him, what would keep you from being baptized?

Support the Famine

We are looking for parents who would be willing to help with the 30-Hour Famine in the following ways...

• Help set-up for Metro Area Rally at Beaverton Christian Church (Friday).
• Help with "security" and/or information during the Rally (Friday).
• Drive a vehicle for the canned food drive (Saturday, 11 a.m.)
• Serve as a group leader for the 30-Hour Famine (Friday and Saturday).

For more information, please contact me.

Foiled Again

As a belated birthday present, a group (maybe a gang) of middle school girls invaded my office and covered nearly everything in aluminum foil. The good part is that I am safe from aliens reading my email.