Cedar Creek Banks Mill Blog

This Sunday we continue our Starting Point material and looked at the story of Creation and the reason why God created everything!

We were helped by Louie Giglio as we watched a message from him that he did a while back called, “Glory.”

The bottom line of the message: The reason God created was to show His magnificent worth and His power, and the reason He created us was to do the same thing! So, the purpose of everyone’s life is the same: to glorify God, to show His worth, to be a mirror and reflection of His wonderful glory – and that’s where we find our greatest satisfaction in living.

DON’T FORGET! Second Sunday is coming on October 9th, and the goal for our students is to invite/bring at least one friend who did not come last time,and to get involved that Sunday morning volunteering in the church. If you are a student and want to volunteer, just send us an email @ jeffp@cedarcreekchurch.net! More info is coming REAL soon on Second Sunday – its gonna be AWESOME!!!

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Help Christ Central Aiken to FEED THE HUNGRY!

 BRING CANNED GOODS to Cedar CreekBANKS MILL On Sunday, October 2, 2011

 Food items may be dropped off at trucks parked near entrances.

 ITEMS SUGGESTED:

PEANUT BUTTER     JELLY     SPAGHETTI SAUCE

CANNED MEATS LIKE TUNA OR CHICKEN

RAVIOLI, SPAGHETTI O’S, OR OTHER PASTA’S

 Christ Central Aiken is a faith-based, Christian mission working with area churches to enrich our community by helping families in need thru food, clothing, education and job skills training.

Mission: To declare the hope of Jesus Christ and to offer help through community volunteers to those in poverty.

Vision: To establish centers of hope and help throughout the world;

to educate Christians in care ministry; and to promote unity among Christians. 

 Food items may also be delivered to Christ Central.

Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 10 am to 1 pm.  Wednesday, 5 – 8 pm.

Christ Central Aiken

3605 Richland Avenue, Aiken, SC 29801
803.640.1708

www.christcentralaiken.com

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Kidz Creek Parent Connection

September 25, 2011

PRESCHOOL:

Memory Verse: “I can do all things through Christ.” Philippians 4:13, NCV.

Story: God Promises to Help Israelites • Exodus 5:1-6:8

This Week The Israelites had to work hard and make bricks all day for Pharaoh. Moses cried to God to help the Israelites, and He said He would help them.

Bath Time: Give your child a bubble bath one day this month. While in the bath, see if they can make bricks out of bubbles like the Israelites had to make bricks out of mud and straw. Can they make a big tower of bubbles? Making bubble bricks is fun, but making real bricks is hard. Who did Moses ask to help the Israelites? He asked God to help. God can help me do anything!

ELEMENTARY:

Virtue: Knowledge – Discovering something new so you can be better at whatever you do.

Bible Story: Jesus Teaches in the Synagogue (Luke 4:14-30)

Bottom Line: When I discover what God says, I know how I should treat others.

Memory Verse: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God

and man.” Luke 2:52, NIV

MEAL TIME: Use these simple open-ended discussion questions to lead your family.

Ask a kid: What does Jesus say about how we should treat others?

Ask a parent: What do you know about Jesus and how He treated others?

PARENT TIME: To keep up with what is going on at Kidz Creek follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/KidzCreekCCC and subscribe to our blog. And to learn more about this month’s virtue, and discover helpful parenting insight, check out www.orangeparents.org.

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Imagine that you have heard about wonderful news that could change the lives of your family and town, but you really don’t believe it because you can’t read it for yourself.  This news is only available in a foreign language so it must not be that important.  This is the feeling shared by over 340 million people today, those whose heart language is one of 2,252 languages without any Scriptures translated. 

Thanks to those of you at Cedar Creek Church, the Irula people are no longer counted among those who are missing out on the good news!  Through a series of events that only God could orchestrate, you have been a part of helping the Irula hear God’s word in their heart language for the very first time!

To get the whole story listen to the second message from the Starting Point series.  But the short version is that our founding pastor, Richard Swift, through a series of events that only God could orchestrate (invitation to teach Purpose Driven Church in India, conference dates being changed after tickets purchased, Richard Googling unreached people groups, contact being made with Ebenenzer, etc) came to meet and form a relationship with Ebenezer, a guy that had been working with the Irlua tribe for years.

Since 2007, we have sent several teams that have taught our HOME group strategy to lay pastors.  Ebenezer has translated our HOME group manual into several tribal languages and is working on translating it into Hindi.  His team has started 13 small groups (house churches) using this manual.

Most exciting has been our opportunity to bring into the partnership trained Bible translators that accelerated the process for translating the Scriptures for the Irula.  On September 4, 2011, the Gospel of Luke was dedicated in the Irula language.  For the first time over 200,000 people have the opportunity to realize that the Good News that Jesus the Messiah is personal to them, and that He came for them.

Because you are a part of Cedar Creek, you are a part of this story – God’s story for the Irula.  Thanks, from the bottom of our hearts!

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Sunday morning we continued our Starting Point series and discussed where we should start when trying to understand and know God.

You see, there are a lot of varying opinions on how God primarily communicates to us in this world. Here are some of the options:

1. Through our experiences – the problem with this is that our experiences can be misinterpreted! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought one thing about a situation and then it turns out to be totally different!

2. Through other people (friends, family, pastor) – the problem with this is that other people can be mistaken! Have you ever been mistaken? I think everyone has!

3. Through popular opinion – the problem with this is that popular opinion can be misguided! Culture can easily lead you astray and tell you things that just aren’t true!

If you allow one of these three to guide your understanding of God, you are risking the possibility of believing in a God that doesn’t actually exist! So, where do we start? The answer is God himself! If you really wanted to know me and have a relationship with me, you would have to come to me and talk to me, and get to know me – the same is true with God – we learn about Him primarily from Him telling us about himself!

And that is why Scripture is so important in our lives as Christians – God is communicating to us, telling us His story and who he is!  We use the big word “inspiration” to explain exactly how God did that – he, through His Spirit, guided people to write down the thoughts, ideas, and words that he wanted to for us to have – and that is what we have in the Bible.

Here’s the problem – there are a LOT of people in the world who would say that the idea that God speaks to people like that is absurd, and there is no reason we can trust that the Bible is actually true and reliable. I’m not going to go into all the details on this but there is a ton of resources out there to help with this objection. Here’s a couple of links:

- this is one from the Starting Point website!

- Good info here!

-  an outline that we used Sunday morning to discuss!

So, Scripture is God’s way of revealing himself to us, and our primary way of knowing Him. It is real. It also speaks to us in our need, brokenness, and search for purpose and meaning. It has been written over 1000s of year, and yet even today, in 2011, it is still relevant!

As we begin to look at God’s story from Creation to Revelation in the Starting Point series, we are going to look into the real and relevant Word of God, and be challenged to allow our stories to be a part of God’s bigger story!

ALSO – We had 6-7 student baptized Sunday night at Gem Lakes which was AWESOME!! Congrats to you guys! If you are wanting to know more about baptism, click here!

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Kidz Creek Parent Connection

September 18, 2011

PRESCHOOL:

Memory Verse: “I can do all things through Christ.” Philippians 4:13, NCV.

Story: David is Strong in Battle • 1 Samuel 18:7; 12-14

This Week David sang and danced for God because God had helped him win battles. Then, King Saul sent David into yet more battles. God helped David win all of them.

Cuddle Time: Spend some time cuddled with your child thanking God for helping us with anything. “Dear God, thank You for helping us no matter what we need help with. Thank You for helping me take care of (child’s name). Thank You for helping us have a home and food to eat. Thank You for loving us, God. Amen.”

ELEMENTARY:

Virtue: Knowledge – Discovering something new so you can be better at whatever you do.

Bible Story: Jesus is Tempted in the Desert (Luke 4:1-13)

Bottom Line: When I discover what God says, I can make wise choices.

Memory Verse: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God

and man.” Luke 2:52, NIV

MEAL TIME: Use these simple open ended discussion questions to lead your family.

Ask a Kid: What’s the hardest decision you’ve had to make recently?

Ask a Parent: How can knowing what God says help you make wise choices?

PARENT TIME: To keep up with what is going on at Kidz Creek follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/KidzCreekCCC and subscribe to our blog. And to learn more about this month’s virtue, and discover helpful parenting insight, check out www.orangeparents.org.

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Starting Point Has Begun!

I left the Banks Mill campus this past Sunday, September 11, with one puzzle piece in my pocket – wondering what the completed puzzle looked like that contained my puzzle piece.  We were reminded that it is helpful to see the big picture to gain a better understanding of the part we play in life.  We began the Starting Point series with some help toward taking steps to find our place in the story – God’s story.

As we begin to look at God’s overall story to get a better understanding of our purpose, we will go to the Bible for the script that reveals His reality and our purpose.  But why should we believe the Bible? This Sunday, September 18, we will explore the relevance and reliability of Scripture as we continue the search to find our place in God’s story. 

I hope to see you at Baptism at Gem Lakes this Sunday night, September 18, at 6:00 pm. Thanks, David Hardy

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 PRESCHOOL:

Memory Verse: “I can do all things through Christ.” Philippians 4:13, NCV.

Story: David Anointed King • 1 Samuel 16:1-13

This Week (September 11) God helped Samuel choose the boy who would be the new king.

Car Time

While driving around town this month, talk about things that are really hard to do. It’s really hard to learn to tie our shoes. Who can help you? God can help me do anything. It’s really hard to eat our veggies sometimes. Who can help you? God can help me do anything.

 ELEMENTARY:

Virtue: Knowledge – Discovering something new so you can be better at whatever you do.

Bible Story: Jesus is baptized by John (Luke 3:21-23)

Bottom Line: When I discover what God says, it helps me trust Him more.

Memory Verse: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God

and man.” Luke 2:52, NIV

MEAL TIME:

Ask a Kid: Name one person you know you can trust. Why do you trust that person?

Ask a Parent: How do you know you can trust God?

PARENT TIME:

To learn more about this month’s virtue, and discover helpful parenting insight, check out www.orangeparents.org.  And to keep up with what is going on at Kidz Creek follow KidzCreekCCC on Twitter and subscribe to our blog.

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Memory Verse: “I can do all things through Christ.” Philippians 4:13, NCV.

 Story: David Anointed King • 1 Samuel 16:1-13

This Week (September 11) God helped Samuel choose the boy who would be the new king.

Car Time

While driving around town this month, talk about things that are really hard to do. It’s really hard to learn to tie our shoes. Who can help you? God can help me do anything. It’s really hard to eat our veggies sometimes. Who can help you? God can help me do anything.

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WOW! What an amazing night at our first ever Sunday night student worship at Centerpoint – Banks Mill. Hundreds of students gathered to enjoy food, games, and most importantly an awesome time of worship led by our student worship team.

We stuffed some pizza down our throats, saw some not-so-amazing sumo wrestlers  , got free t-shirts, and lifted the name of Jesus high in our worship!

We talked about that not-fun word “repentance” and how it’s not a pronouncement of judgment or an indication that God is mad at you, but instead when God tells us to repent it is actually an invitation to recover, restore, and regain everything that has been lost in all the brokenness that has resulted from our sin. You see, our sin is just us believing the same lie that Satan has been putting out there all along – that life is best lived when it’s all about us. And when we believe that, and make it all about us, we damage our relationships with our family, friends, and God. And so God invites us to repent and begin to fix all the damage. That’s why in Romans 2 Paul says that God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance! Last night we all took a good look at our lives and thought about what we needed to repent of, where we needed restoration and recovery. And when that happens we can begin to live life as God intended for us to live!

Thanks to all the awesome volunteers who came out and rocked it for us, and for our students who stepped up and invited their friends to come join us for Second Sunday – I can’t wait until next month!!

Songlist:
You Deserve – Hillsong
Like a Lion – David Crowder Band
This is How We Overcome – Hillsong
With Everything – Hillsong
Baby – Justin Biber (Ben Bieber on vocals)

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Preschool Kidz Creek Parent Connection

Memory Verse: “I can do all things through Christ.” Philippians 4:13, NCV.

Story: The Lion and the Bear • 1 Samuel 17:34-37

This Week (September 4) God helped David, a shepherd, save his sheep from both a lion and a bear!

Play Time

Use your child’s plush or plastic animals to retell the story of David and the lion and bear. The lion and the bear tried to take a sheep, but God helped David to save the sheep from the lion and bear. God can help me do anything! After telling the story several times, have your child tell it.

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Knowledge - Discovering something new so you can be better at whatever you do.

Bible Story:

Jesus in the Temple) • Luke 2:41-52

Bottom Line:

Since God knows everything, I should discover what God says.

Memory Verse:

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God

and man.” Luke 2:52, NIV

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