Word Alive is canceling services for July, but that doesn’t mean there will be nothing for youth to do! We have two big events in the month of July:

City-Wide Scavenger Hunt
Saturday, July 10
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm @ Our Connection

a. Meet at Our Connection. We’ll start the scavenger hunt there.
b. Bring anything and everything you think you may need for the scavenger hunt. You never know how random the list might be!
c. Dinner will be provided in Our Connection upon completion!

Hawaiian Luau
Saturday, July 24
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm @ Kent & Bev’s House

a. Park/meet at the church. We’ll walk up to the house together
b. Bring your swimsuit, towel, and sunscreen.
c. Food and drink will be provided.
d. Dress in your best Hawaiian Luau outfit! Best-Dressed Award to be given out at the end of the night!

The next Wednesday service will be on August 4 at 6:00 pm in TAMAHall!

Hidden 2010 is finally upon us.  Tomorrow (Sunday) we will be taking almost 70 students to Ocoee, TN for our very first ‘Word Alive Youth’ summer camp.  Tons of hours have gone into this camp!  We are so grateful to have the awesome opportunity of reaching out to young people, sharing the good news that God loves them at a dynamic camp like Hidden 2010.  Believe with us that God will do a work in all of our hearts while in Tennessee.

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Important Info for Campers:
1.  If your parent/guardian hasn’t filled out a Word Alive Release Form it needs to be filled out, signed and turned in on Sunday morning (May 30th)
2.  If your parent/guardian hasn’t filled out a NOC (Rafting) Release Form it needs to be filled out, signed and turned in on Sunday morning (May 30th)

****We will have extra copies of these available in the youth room when you register at 10AM.

We will be having a special youth service this Wednesday from 6pm-6:45pm.  We believe God is going to pour out His Spirit on our young people and they will move in the power for His glory.  We believe God will unite the students heart to continue the mission set before them by Jesus and His disciples….That all nations will hear and embrace the gospel!  Come prepared to worship and encounter the God who created the heavens and the earth and……YOU.

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This Wednesday, May 26th, at 6:30pm all students participating in Hidden 2010 summer camp are required to attend an orientation.  We will discuss important details of the camp as well as announce Tribes.  This meeting is mandatory for students going to Hidden 2010. While the students are meeting we will have a parent meeting for those parents who would like to know more about the camp or have any questions.  The parent meeting is not mandatory but encouraged.

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Important Details:
1.  Release Form – If you haven’t turned one in you need to do so by this Wednesday, May 26th.

2.  Payments – If you owe money for the camp, please pay this by this Wednesday, May 26th.

We are so excited to announce that Pastor Kent will be hanging out and sharing with us Wednesday, May 19.  Make plans to attend!  Our service will begin at 6:30pm.

It’s not too late to sign up for Hidden 2010 Summer Camp.  All payments are due by May 2nd.  If you have any questions choose the link to your left “Hidden 2010″ and if you still have a question email Blake at bmayo@wordalive.org.  We want ALL of our students at Word Alive to attend this camp, which is why the cost is only $150.    Several of us traveled to Horns Creek (home of Hidden 2010) yesterday and the place is awesome.  Those who go will have a blast.

Honestly there are very few books that have been written for teenagers that I would recommend but I am excited to inform you (teenagers) and parents of teenagers of two awesome books.  Both of these are in our bookstore and I highly recommend both of them.  I am an avid reader and don’t wish to promote any book above the Bible, but I really believe these books can be life changing.
1.  Do Hard Things – Harris  (This book is about how American culture encourages teens to be mediocre.  This book is written by two teenage twins who decided to rebell against medocrity and settle for the higher callings God had for them.  God’s plans for us are much greater than mediocre.  They are out of this world.)

2.  Frenemies – DiMarco (Frenemies is, for the most part, for girls only.  It reveals the mean spirit that is so rampant in American teenage girls.  One day your best friends and the next day they’re your worst enemy.)

Very Important:

All payments ($150) are due by May 1st.  For more information about the camp click on the link to your left titled “Hidden 2010.”

Congratulations Graduate!  We are so pumped about this HUGE accomplishment!  We want to throw a party in honor of YOU.  If you would like to be a part of this celebration, please come by the church and fill out a graduation form.  Graduation forms are located at Grand Central (located in the Connection) and must be filled out and turned in by April 29.  We are also asking that you send us 4 pictures of the graduates (i.e. baby, elementary, middle school, and graduation picture) to Blake Mayo at bmayo@wordalive.org by April 29.

If you have any questions please contact Blake at (256) 831-5280 x. 156

Last night was an amazing night! If you weren’t with us hopefully these few words will give you a little taste into what happened.

            Everyone (me, you, and everyone else on the planet) has some moment when life becomes painful, painful to the point where it leaves you feeling like life can’t and won’t go on, you have no one to turn to and nowhere to go, and it leaves you hurt, crushed, BROKEN. No matter how small it may be (wrecking the car, failing a class or a break-up) or how big it may be (you’re abused, your parents got a divorce or someone close to you died) we all go through something painful in this life that leaves us utterly broken. But, there’s something that happened many years ago that still trumps even the biggest kind of pain we can go through: about 2,000 years ago a man named Jesus walked the Earth. He was a carpenter who went into full-time ministry at the age of 30. Everything was going great until one day one of his best friends literally betrayed him. He was put on trial for something he didn’t do and was finally executed. His friends and family, despite a few, left him alone to die a miserable death. You can read about this in Isaiah 53:1-6.

            If you go back to verse 4 we read something very interesting though: “Surely he has borne our grief and carried our sorrows”. If he took our pain to the cross then that must mean that we don’t have to go through the pain of carrying it ourselves! Jesus is freely saying “I’ve already carried it for you, now all you have to do is let go of it”! I don’t know about you, but that excites me like crazy! However, it’s not saying that we won’t go through pain in life, cause we most definitely will, especially if we are believers in him. But, even though me may go through pain we don’t have to let it take us down!  Please read 2 Corinthians 4:8-12.

            Not only did he carry our pain for us, but also through his resurrection he has made us complete! He has taken all of the broken pieces of our life and through him put our life back together! Please read Colossians 2:10.

            For believer and non-believers there is hope. For the believer the great news is that your savior has freely carried your grief and all you have to do is let go of it and trust him with everything. For the non-believer there is hope in Jesus! All you have to do is trust in the fact that he has paid the ultimate price for everything, including the pain you refuse to let go of.

            If ever you find yourself in a situation when your whole seems to be falling apart, because it will happen multiple times, please remind yourself that he has already carried your pain for you. And if you need help remembering read these scriptures to assist you: Psalm 55:22; Psalm 34:18; Romans 8:28-39; Psalm 18:1-3.

Clay

Considering we cannot even attempt to save ourselves or accomplish anything good outside of God helping us, why do we hope in ourselves or in the world and all that it offers? I’m puzzled at how I so quickly engage in this battle of being an overcomer when God is the One who overcomes. My hope, your hope, everyone’s hope can only be realized in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:3-9
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

We can’t, though it is so easy to do, put our hope in what we are doing, what we would like to do, and/or in what we want to accomplish for the Kingdom. Our hope is in Him and Him alone! May our hope in Him cause us to proclaim the great Name of Jesus Christ to all people!