Serve 360
posted October 29 2008
During the month of November we are going to talk about service in Xtreme. For many, middle school is a very selfish time. Students are consumed by their own worlds and have little awareness of the needs around them. Our goal is to show that there is ample opportunity to serve those around us. Jesus shows us that we are to serve people in every station of life. Authorities, peers and those less fortunate are all people who have needs and whom we need to serve. We want you, our 6th, 7th and 8th graders, to know that based on the example of Jesus, we need to be well-rounded servants helping everyone around us.
Free Throws, First Dates, and Pop Quizzes
posted October 02 2008
This month we are introducing an idea for those wondering how faith, hope, prayer, and God’s plan come together. Before we talk about what God has and has not promised us, we need to stop and think about the idea of perspective. Have you ever had to babysit a little brother or sister? Those of you who have know that you spend a lot of time saying “no.” They want to do the craziest things. They want a Coke with dinner but you know that will make them not go to bed for hours. They want to go to the pool but you know the temperature is too cold and they will get sick. They want to play with shiny broken glass… As you have gotten older, you understand more stuff about the world and realize you can’t just do whatever you want; you have gained perspective. Your parents say you still need more. You want to go to a friend’s party but your parents know what is going on with that friend’s parents and they say, “No!” You want to rent a certain movie but your parents know that it has a scene that will remind you of some painful stuff going on and they say, “No!” They have a different perspective. This is also true of God in a big way. The oldest wisest men and women don’t have anything near the perspective of God. In this series we will talk about how our faith and our hope collide with what God will allow us to do. It’s important for us to understand He is God and we are not.Wear Love
posted September 20 2008
Wear Love 
During the final two weeks of September we will go through a series called “Wear Love.” Middle school students typically struggle with their identity and find self- worth in their appearance, talents, social status, and friendships. For the first time in their lives students are beginning to realize that they can choose how they act, with whom they hang out, and what they do. As they come to this realization, they often look to things like TV, magazines, and media to define who they are. By looking to the Bible, students will realize that there is more to their self-image than simply mimicking their pop culture icons. Our identity is found in Christ, and understanding that should affect how we treat ourselves as well as those around us.Hello?!?
posted September 03 2008
Middle school is the last opportunity to instill habits naturally into a student. By the time you enter high school, most routines and behaviors (good and bad) are already formed. You can learn habits as an adult, but those habits will never come as naturally as those adopted during 6th, 7th and 8th grade. With that in mind, Xtreme will be focusing on two specific aspects of prayer: how we are to talk to God and how we listen to God. We know that prayer is an important part of our Spiritual growth, so for the next two weeks we are going to talk about some helpful habits that we can adopt in order to open our communication with God!Hello?!?
posted September 03 2008
p>Middle school is the last opportunity to instill habits naturally into a student. By the time you enter high school, most routines and behaviors (good and bad) are already formed. You can learn habits as an adult, but those habits will never come as naturally as those adopted during 6th, 7th and 8th grade. With that in mind, Xtreme will be focusing on two specific aspects of prayer: how we are to talk to God and how we listen to God. We know that prayer is an important part of our Spiritual growth, so for the next two weeks we are going to talk about some helpful habits that we can adopt in order to open our communication with God!
Just Like the Movies
posted August 17 2008
If you could see any movie this weekend, what would you go to see? Most people love to go to the movies right? Picture yourself sitting in a comfy chair in front of a huge screen surrounded by the smell of buttered popcorn, an ice cold Coke, and maybe even a large bag of peanut M&M’s. It cannot get any better than that, can it? And the greatest part about the whole trip is that you are surrounded by a bunch of your friends. All of you are having a great time! We all love to invite our friends to go to the movies with us. Nobody wants to see a movie by himself. Unfortunately, sometimes church is not as exciting or entertaining as a movie theater, is it? In fact, for a lot of people, it is the last thing they want to invite their friends to. During the month of August we are going to look at the purpose church serves in our lives, and in the lives of those around us in a series called Just Like the Movies! The middle school ministry is committed to making Sunday mornings exciting and engaging for all of the students that attend, and we want it to be a place where students want to invite their friends, Just Like the Movies!COOTYSS
posted July 03 2008
COOTYSS: Characters Of Old Testament You Should Study. For the month of July we are going to study some Old Testament Good Guys! Daniel, David, Elijah, and Jonah all have incredible stories of faith in God and there is so much that we can learn from them. Each Sunday this month we are going to see what it was that made these guys so special. Why did they make the choices they did and what can we do today to learn from those choices? Be sure you don't miss COOTYSS as it is sure to be an exciting time in Xtreme!Got Wisdom?
posted June 15 2008
In the third week of “Gauges” we are going to talk about our wisdom gauge. Many students confuse wisdom for intelligence. Intelligence is your ability to remember facts and dates, while wisdom is your ability to reason and make wise choices. Luke 2 contains a very interesting story about Jesus being left in the temple by his parents. Was this story included so that we could be warned about neglectful parents? No, the most important verses are 40 and 52 in which Luke mentions the amount of wisdom Jesus has. This was not the case of a genius child’s ability to remember facts. This story is included to show the importance of being able to make wise choices (wisdom).What do you believe in?
posted May 29 2008
This week we are going to look at our faith gauge. Something in each of our lives causes us to get up in the morning to go to school or work. The question is, “What is powering you to get up and live?” Popularity, clothes, grades, and boyfriends will all go away, but one thing promises to last forever. At Xtreme, we want you to know that God powers your life. If money powered your life you would have disciplines like balancing your checkbook and working late all the time to make sure money remained at the center of your life. The same is true if God powers your life. There are certain exercises to make sure He remains at the center. You have to believe in something. In what do you believe?Blog 5.18
posted May 18 2008
The series we are talking about right now at Xtreme is called DRAFTED. We are talking about some important truths that we all deal with specifically focusing on family. Typically we don't get to pick who our family is, we get what God gives us. For some of us that's a great thing, for others it's not so great. The goal of this series is for our students to walk away challenged and encouraged by how God wants to use them in their families no matter their situation. After all, He drafted them there!
This is the Xtreme blog
posted April 22 2008
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posted April 03 2008
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