Fall Retreat @Somerset Beach

Who? SpiritFire teens and leaders
When? 4:30pm Friday, November 5th  through 7:00pm Saturday, November 6th
(those driving in on their own should meet us at SBC @5:30pm and plan to pack up by 6pm Saturday)
Where? Somerset Beach Campground. One hour west on M50 and US-12.
What? A time to unplug from our noisy society to experience God in the beauty of fall, enjoy friendship and worship, take hikes,,build bonfires, and more.

The Details: Each attendee will need $10 and will be asked to sign up to bring food items to cover our meals. This will be a camping/rustic cabin experience so students will need sleeping bags, pillows, lots of layers to keep warm, good walking shoes, shower and toiletry items, towel and washcloth, etc. (Great bathhouse/shower facilities will be available.)

We are going to “unplug” by keeping cell phones, iPods, and other electronic devices  turned off for the duration of the retreat. (Don't freak out...it'll be great, we promise!) Leaders will have cell phones on if a parent or student has need.

Contact Kevin or Melanie to get a registration form!

Packing List
$10 Registration if you haven't paid yet
CAMP CHAIR
Sleeping bags, extra blankets, pillow (It will be cold!)
Warm pajamas
Lots of layers to keep warm during the day
Good walking shoes
Extra socks
Toiletries--especially deodorant please!
Shower items--shampoo, soap, etc
Shower shoes--flip flops!
Bath towel/washcloth
Flashlight
Water Bottle (w/ your name on it!)
Bible
Notebook/Journal
Pen
Recreational equipment of any sort (fishing, frisbee, football, volleyball, etc)
optional: extra snacks to share

Youth Membership and Baptism

Baptism

If you have received forgiveness for your sins by believing in Jesus--believing that He is God's son, was sent to earth as a human baby, born of virgin, that he lived a sinless life, that he was crucified and rose again and is now in Heaven with God--then the next step is to proclaim your faith to all by participating in baptism.  

Baptism signifies dying to your old self--your old, sinful, selfish way of life

being cleansed by the blood of Jesus because He died to pay the penalty for our sins

and rising (up out of the water) and being reborn into a new life in Christ Jesus. 

Pastor Dale will be inviting people to publicly take this step of faith on Sunday, November 14th during the morning service. If you are interested in participating in the baptism then talk to use in the next week and Pastor Dale with meet with you briefly. On Sunday morning, you will asked a few questions in front of the church to ensure that you know Jesus as your Savior and that you want to live your life for Him (questions are listed below). Then you can have Pastor Dale or Kevin baptize you.  (Note: parents, friends or other family members are welcome to be baptized as well.)

We are so excited for this baptism Sunday and we pray many of our teens will take this next step in proclaiming their faith in Jesus.

Here are the questions you will be asked in front of the congregation:

1.  Do you believe that your sins are forgiven through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord?

2. Do you renounce the devil and his works, the lure of this ungodly world and the sinful desires of fallen humanity, so that you will not follow nor be led by them?

Let us repeat the words of the Apostles Creed together:

I believe in God the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, dead, and buried;

the third day he rose from the dead;

he ascended into heaven,

and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

3. Do you believe these things?

4. Is it your desire to be baptized into the Christian faith?

5. In the fellowship of the church, will you obediently do God's will and walk in His holy commandments all the days of your life?  

check out these passages for more on baptism:

Acts 2:38, 41; 8:12-17; 9:18; 16:33; 18:8; 19:5; 

John 3:5; 

1 Corinthians 12:13; 

Galatians 3:27-29; 

Colossians 2:11-12; 

Titus 3:5

Youth Membership in Monroe Free Methodist Church

On the same Sunday as the baptisms (November 14th), we would like to invite our teens to come into membership at our church. By becoming a member you will be identifying yourself with our church, you will be committing yourself to grow in your faith in God by participating in our church and its functions, and you will find a place of belonging--a home as a part of the Body of Christ. If you have received God's gift of eternal life by believing in His Son, Jesus Christ, if you know Jesus died for you sins and you desire to give Him control of your life, if you want to live for Him and tell all of your friends of God's greatness and of His forgiveness, then this is a great next step in your faith--identifying with a local church in membership.

Listed below are the questions Pastor Dale will be asking of those who decide they want to become youth members at Monroe Free Methodist Church. 

If you or your parents want to know more about our church, feel free to talk to us or Pastor Dale (dkaufman@monroe-fmc.org). OR check out our church website or the information about our denomination. 

1. Do you believe that Jesus Christ has forgiven your sins and is now your Savior?

2. Have you received Christian baptism? If not, are you willing to be baptized?

3. Will you attend church, Sunday School, and youth group to receive instruction on living the Christian life and serving God through your church?

4. Can the Free Methodist Church count on you? Will you pray for the church, attend regularly, give to your church and help wherever you can?

5. Will you show your friends by the way you life what it means to be a Christian and will you try to win them to Christ? 

GIRLS: plan ahead

Next year's Women's Retreat (for the southern Michigan FM churches) is still a year away, but we should start planning NOW! This is the first year some of the sessions are going to be specifically geared toward high school and college aged girls and the retreat committee is encouraging moms to come with daughters. (The speaker is Jennifer Beckham--learn more about her here)

I would LOVE to have a group of our teens come to next year's retreat along with their moms. This is wonderful weekend--so much fun! There's plenty of time to spend time with one another all while spending time with God and experiencing His work in your life.

pampering. delicious food. special sessions. awesome facilities. great worship. and more! 

Mark your calendars for September 30-October 1, 2011

Cost is $99 for adults and only $89 for teens (if you register by August 1, 2011)! This includes lodging, food, and sessions. 

The retreat is held at the beautiful Gull Lake Ministries. There are great hotel rooms or condo style housing we can stay in (if we have 8 people). The more women attending from Monroe FMC the better the experience is for everyone--and the higher our chances our of winning an amazing prize basket for our group. 

So start saving now! Put away $10 each month and when retreat rolls around, you'll be all set! 

I'll be there--I hope you'll join me!

(For more info, talk with me or Pam Kaufman!)

quote-a-thon

Thank you for supporting the Monroe Free Methodist Church Bible Quizzing program. Our quizzers are raising money to cover the cost of Quiz Nationals in June 2011 (approximately $300). Every dollar you donate, helps us inch closer to that goal. If you have questions, please call Kevin or Melanie.

How the Quote-a-thon works: There are 40 Scripture verses from the book of John that quizzers are urged to memorize during the 2010-2011 quiz season. This is approximately 6 quotes per monthly quiz. If you sponsor a teen for $1.00 per quote and they memorize all 40 quotes, your total donation would be $40.00 (due in April). The goal is not only to raise money, but to give each quizzer an even greater incentive to memorize God's Word.

teens! Light the Night!

This is a super awesome event our church hosts each year for families and kids from all over! Members from our church decorate their vehicle trunks, get dressed up in a fun costume, fill their trunks with baskets of candy and the children and go car to car trick or treating! How fun!

This year, the teens are in charge of a car trunk! Kevin and Mel are out of town for the weekend but we're going to leave our car parked at the church and ready for it's trunk to be decorated by all of YOU! So brainstorm, collaborate with each other, and bring your plans together by 5:30pm Saturday the 30th! 

We'll supply the candy and the trunk!

You dress up in your best costume and come with fun themed props to decorate the trunk!

I'm thinking Katie could make a big poster with our Spiritifire logo on it--but other than that, it's a blank slate for your great ideas! We need one or two of you to volunteer to coordinate everything--any takers???

LAST 5th Qtr/FIRST Bible Quiz!!

Don't forget that THIS Friday is our LAST 5th Quarter Event!
It's the perfect chance to invite all of your friends and have them see a glimpse into your youth group.
The night is for fun!
Play air hockey, foosball, ping pong, Wii, ultimate frisbee!
Check out the large collection of games.
Meet new friends!
and don't forget a couple extra dollars if you'd like to buy something delicious from the snack bar.
See you Friday!

And if you're a Bible quizzer, don't forget to bring your overnight gear.
We're leaving our house at 6:00AM on Saturday morning to head up to West Branch, MI.
This is our first Bible Quiz of the season and we're so excited!
Registration starts at 9am and the first quiz round will begin around 10am--please be praying for our quizzers---that they might have peace, clarity of thought, and have fun along the way!
We should return around 7pm.

Students need $3 for lunch the church and additional cash for a dinner stop at McDonald's (etc).

Thanks to everyone's great selling skills and your friends and families' generosity we were able to purchase a BRAND NEW SET OF QUIZZING SEATs!!!
Come ready to practice "jumping" on these new seats tonight at our last quiz practice.

Work on polishing those quotes and learning unique words in your portions.

Meet Josh!

So you've already met Amanda--one of our amazing new youth workers!

Now it's time to meet Josh. He just so happens to be Amanda's boyfriend. He's super cool and ready to introduce himself to all of you!

Joshua Edward David Kraus' tale began just over 23 years ago, in the epic year of 1987. It is hard to believe that a year so awesome (U2’s famous album “The Joshua Tree”, the creation of “The Simpsons”, and the release of the very first “Final Fantasy” game,) was in fact about to get even better. It’s been said that Mr. Kraus was birthed during the heat of an epic battle. Although this has never been truly confirmed, many say this is true due to the fact that Sir Joshua Kraus is destined for heroic grandeur.

Since this time, Sir Kraus has tried to live a life that would please Jesus Christ. Ever since he was a young man, he had always had the feeling that he was supposed to work with youth in one way or another. Growing up in church, Joshua has always had a close relationship with God; however he never really got involved with any type of ministry at his own church. Fast forward to present day. Sir Kraus and his fair maiden of 3 and a half years (Miss Carter) have kindled a love that the stars sing of. But then through a chance of curious fate, Miss Carter is reintroduced to friends from Spring Arbor, the Eccles. Eventually, both Amanda and Joshua feel God leading them to helping out with the youth group that forerunners Kevin and Melanie lead. And since, the rest is history, so to speak.

When Mr. Kraus is not helping out at youth group, he can most likely be found spending time with his inamorata, toiling away at his job, Little Caesar’s, or blasting away enemy SPARTANs with his comrades on Halo: Reach. On a professional level, Joshua attends Eastern Michigan University where he studies English, Psychology, and education. It is his goal to one day teach English at a high school level, and then hopefully at a college level as well. Sir Kraus’ favorite hobbies include basketball (watching and playing), writing either blog entries or fictional stories, gaming with friends (and foes alike), partaking (watching and filming) in motion picture shows, and of course writing bios in a third person narrative.

it's girls' night!!

RSVP here. 

Serving and 5th Quarter: Friday

This Friday is jam packed of awesomeness!

Come out to Prince of Peace Church (in Ida at Lewis Rd. and Dunbar Rd.) at 4:30pm!
Wear white shirt with black pants.
Be ready to serve the wonderful individuals who are developmentally disabled and served by the MonARC of Monroe.
This should last until 8pm.

After that, come over to our house for the best 5th Quarter yet!! In honor of Monroe HS homecoming, we are extending the hours of the event to midnight! Feel free come and go as you need to. Don't forget a few extra dollars to enjoy the awesome snack bar items!!