FILM FEST DATE CHANGE

Due to a writers strike. The Film Fest has been moved back two weeks to
Sunday May 18th!! This gives you two more weeks to make your films exceptional!!

Film Fest 08

Covenant of Grace
Film Festival 2008

WHAT? A Film Festival, which brings out Big Truths about God and Christianity through Short Films. The Whole Church is invited to come out on this wonderful night!!

WHEN? Sunday May 4th
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
WHERE? Covenant of Grace –Sanctuary
Desserts, Snacks provided: Donations taken for Missions

WHO? Films can be made by anyone in the church!
Simply form your group and submit your video to Jordan on May 4th AT church, the morning of the film fest.

2008 THEME
Take any Old Testament Story and make it your own! Modernize it, keep it historical, Be CREATIVE! And make sure you bring out the MORAL of the Story!!

Rules: 1. Clip length: 10 minutes or less!
2. Make a film based on the theme.
3. Films can be made in any genre you choose eg. Documentary, Sci Fi, Scary Movie, Drama, Action, Silent Movie, Music Video, Comedy, etc.

HS Teams: Seniors vs. Underclassmen
Plus one with all HS members
MS Teams: Boys vs. Girls
Plus one with all MS members

Different Categories being Awarded
1.Best Movie 2. Best Actor 3. Best Actress 4. Best Script
5. Best Cinematography 6. Best Music 7. Supporting Actor
8. Supporting Actress 9. Best Comedic Moment
10. Best Dance 11. Best Dramatic Moment
12. Most Church members involved
13. Most non-youth youth/friends involved
14. Best Gospel presentation
15. Best Spiritual Insightfulness

Questions? Contact Jordan jordanross@comcast.net

Christian Witness Reverses Damage of Hypocrites

One of the most often claims made about Christians is that we dont put into practice what we believe, basically we are hypocrites. The below story can help reverse the damage that hypocrites make.

Apologist and author Ravi Zacharias recounts a story found in Marie Chapian's book Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy (Bethany House, 1980). The book follows the Yugoslavian Christian church's suffering under a corrupt church heirarchy:

One day an evangelist by the name of Jakov arrived in a certain village. He commiserated with an elderly man named Cimmerman on the tragedies he had experienced and talked to him of the love of Christ. Cimmerman abruptly interrupted Jakov and told him that he wished to have nothing to do with Christianity. He reminded Jakov of the dreadful history of the church in his town, a history replete with plundering, exploiting, and indeed with killing innocent people.
"My own nephew was killed by them," he said and angrily rebuffed any effort on Jakov's part to talk about Christ. "They wear those elaborate coats and crosses," he said, "signifying a heavenly commission, but their evil designs and lives I cannot ignore."
Jakov, looking for an occasion to get Cimmerman to change his line of thinking, said, "Cimmerman, can I ask you a question? Suppose I were to steal your coat, put it on, and break into a bank. Suppose further that the police sighted me running in the distance but could not catch up with me. One clue, however, put them onto your track: they recognize your coat. What would you say to them if they came to your house and accused you of breaking into the bank?"
"I would deny it, " said Cimmerman.
"'Ah, but we saw your coat,' they would say," retorted Jakov. This analogy quite annoyed Cimmerman, who ordered Jakov to leave his home.
Jakov continued to return to the village periodically just to befriend Cimmerman, encourage him, and share the love of Christ with him. Finally one day Cimmerman asked, "How does one become a Christian?" Jakov taught him the simple steps of repentance for sin and of trust in the work of Jesus Christ and gently pointed him to the Shepherd of his soul. Cimmerman bent his knee on the soil with his head bowed and surrendered his life to Christ. As he rose to his feet, wiping his tears, he embraced Jakov and said, "Thank you for being in my life." And then he pointed to the heavens and whispered, "You wear His coat very well."

We reverse the claim of hypocrisy when we seek to be like Christ and through his power and grace we really love others.

Truth Project - What is Truth?

Sunday night, the 10th, we went over our first lesson in the Truth Project.
Below are some highlighted notes of that lesson, what did you guys think?

Lesson 1 - Veritology: What is Truth?

Introduction
In this initial episode, students receive a general introduction to the overall scope and purpose of The Truth Project. This series is designed to take participants on a guided worldview tour, following the points of the worldview compass, a tool designed to direct our thinking with regard to four fundamental issues: Truth, God, Man, and the Social Order. Along the way, we will attempt to build a logical, systematic framework of ideas by which to organize and evaluate the various truth claims to be encountered during the course of our tour. Our ultimate goal is not
simply to gain knowledge, but to look upon the face of God – and to be transformed in the process.

Themes
Our destination in Lesson 1 lies due North. The focal point for this first hour of discussion is the concept of Truth itself. What is truth? Why is it important? What role does it play in the biblical view of the world, God's purpose for the cosmos, His will for mankind, His plan of salvation, and the way we live our personal lives? In his comments on this subject, Dr. Del Tackett will demonstrate how truth was fundamental to the mission of Jesus Christ in the world; how it forms the heart of the Cosmic Battle that has been raging since the beginning; how this battle has divided the world into two opposing camps or sides; how lies, the antithesis of Truth, take human hearts and minds captive by the power of deception; and how every man and woman now stands in the position of having to choose between God's truth claims and the opposing perspective of the world, the flesh, and the devil. To answer the question "what is truth?" Dr. Tackett consults the 1828 edition of Webster's Dictionary which defines truth as "Conformity to fact or reality…" We will also see how popular notions of truth (represented by man on the street interviews) contrast sharply with the biblical concept (as articulated by Ravi Zacharias, Os
Guinness, and R. C. Sproul).

Points to Watch For
Dr. Tackett concludes that, in almost every case, the perspective of contemporary culture stands in direct opposition to the Truth-centered worldview presented in the Bible. In the process of making this case, he advances the bold claim that our culture is not only filled with lies but is actually heading in the direction of social insanity. As a result, he proposes that Pilate's query –
"What is truth?" – is the most important question facing our society today. He ends Lesson 1 by challenging his audience with this all-important question: "Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?"

In other words, are you living out your belief in God in the reality of your everday life?

Thoughts on Christmas

God became a man for this purpose: since you, a human being, could not reach God, but you can reach other humans, you might now reach God through a man. And so the man Christ Jesus became the mediator of God and human beings.

God became a man so that following a man—something you are able to do—you might reach God, which was formerly impossible to you. — St. Augustine
John 17:3, Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25

Our Lord came down from life to suffer death;
the Bread came down, to hunger;
the Way came down, on the way to weariness;
the Fount came down, to thirst.
—Augustine, Sermon 78

He so loved us that, for our sake,
He was made man in time,
although through him all times were made.
He was made man, who made man.
He was created of a mother whom he created.
He was carried by hands that he formed.
He cried in the manger in wordless infancy, he the Word,
without whom all human eloquence is mute.
—Augustine, Sermon 188, 2

Manhattan Immersion

Welcome back to Baltimore Earthlings!

So Manhattan Immersion is over for 2007. It was quite the trip. For those of you who had to do SAT's. We deeply regret leaving you behind.
Thus this post is dedicated to those who didn't experience the best weekend ever.
Well, one of the best weekends ever.

The winners of this years trip were:
Matt and Jenn Seda, Tim Logsdon, Alex Basalyga, JT Wojtowicz and Claire Maisel.
Runner ups: (although some could dispute and claim winners due to creativity points)
Jordan and Jessica Ross, Greg Hayes, Tyler Rees, Matt Neal, Josh Danko and Tim Hayes
And last but not least:
Jim Beachley, Jon Basalyga, Addie Beachley, Erika Houston, Caitlyn Danko and Amy B.

Highlights of the trip.
1. Mars 2112. A restaurant a la Chucky Cheese style but a Mars theme, a place that looked a lot like an 80's Sci-Fi movie set gone bad. (Ever seen Total Recall?)
But it had its perks. The glowing red light everywhere, the balloons littering the ceiling and the $2 entrance fee.
2. A new winner this year! Jim Beachley's team unfortunately lost both their clue sheets and couldn't finish the race. Instead they went shopping an entertained themselves by pretending to win.
3. Matt Neal last comic standing routine that kept us guessing and laughing!
4. Tim Keller's sermon was nothing short of stellar!
5. Watching each group Moo like a cow in the middle of a busy intersection while they stared admiringly at an old building.
6. Listening to Amy Beachley for some reason ramble on about Alexander Hamilton. That was weird.
7. Watching Tim Hayes act like a lame dinosaur and being tackled by his father on the front steps of the Natural History Museum.
8. It was priceless to see Alex play with Barbie Dolls in the Times Sq Toys R Us.
9. Watching Matt and Jenn's team play Marco Polo in slow motion and look like escapee's from the luney bin who needed a good fire extinguisher.


Now its time to include your highlights of the weekend.
Let everyone know what stood out to you!!

Missions Trip Reflections

Electric Truth

We often go on mission trips to bless others with our service, but often we come home having been the most blessed because of the example the receivers were to us. Paul, in I Thessalonians reflects this principle when he wrote in 3:1ff:

"We sent him (Timothy) to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith. . . but now Timothy has just returned, bringing us good news about your faith and love. So we have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. How we thank God for you!"

Here was Paul the Apostle, a veteran of mission trips, blessed because of the faith that the new believers in Thessalonica had. There are so many principles to be learned from this biblical example:

Humility: to accept your limitations and realize that there is much that you need that is a gift from others and has nothing to do with material things
Teachability: to realize there is much you can learn from others through the challenges they have faced in their own lives
Priorities: what is really important in life
Generosity: giving graciously and abundantly because you want to
Reciprocity: two way relationships are what's really important in any ministry
Flexibility and resourcefulness: making the most out of the least.
And the list goes on. In short, it is about character building, and hopefully as we saw the hearts and lives of those we served, we can begin to internalize what we've learned and demonstrate toward each other those same character traits.

With this in mind we can ask ourselves these questions:
Which of these traits is our strongest as a youth group?
Which is the weakest?
How can we build these character traits?
How would these traits help our Go Wide efforts?