The River Church Community

Parents,

Martin and Meredith continued our Digging Deep lesson, "Service: building faith by humbly serving others," this last Sunday.  We looked at the story of Jesus in Mark 9:33-35 where Jesus says we must be servants and John 13:1-15 where Jesus humbly washed the disciple's feet.  We asked the youth which ways they could serve others around them.  Kassy mentioned that she wanted to not just serve in a soup kitchen as she has done in the past, but she wants to build relationships with people she serves.  Some other ideas that the youth came up with were to pick up trash and/or do laundry for their family.  We then asked the youth to use one of the ideas they mentioned, or to think of an idea that they want to serve in and write it on a cloth.  The cloth is a reminder of Jesus washing his disciples' feet, and the type of attitude and willingness that we are to develop as we serve others.  Lastly, I mentioned that The River is engaging our local communities through Kindness San Jose projects.  The challenge is for them to find one project that they can get involved in.

Small Group:
Girls Small Group (From Amy, Kristy, Stacy):
Today in small groups we studied evolution versus creation.  We were very encouraged that all of the girls were focused and participatory.  They were really solid about their beliefs, even though they all expressed that they have friends who believe in evolution.  Kassy suggested that we find somebody who believes in evolution to discuss the topic.

We also read Psalm 104.  When we were finished, we asked how the Psalm made them feel.  The response was that creation was really planned.  We did not focus on whether the 6 days of creation were literal or figurative, but whether or not God is the Creator.  No worries...they all believe God is the One. :)

Just a heads up, the next small group on November 9th will not be at Amy and Kyle's house, but it will be at the ministry center.  

Please let us know if you have any questions.  Thanks for entrusting your daughters to us for small group time!

Amy, Kristy, and Stacy

Guys Small Group:
Today we looked at Evolution and Creation.  One of the goals from this lesson was to get the guys talking about questions that they have concerning creation.  In our limited amount of time, we really wanted to find out what the guys thought about creation, and to encourage them to have ongoing conversations with their families and us.  Many of the guys expressed that they believe God is the creator of everything.  Many side questions popped up such as, "Who were the first people group?" and "Did God create the earth in literally 6 days or did it take years?"  

Here are some specific questions that we asked them:
- Should the creation story be taken literally or figuratively?
- Did God create the world in seven days or millions of years?
- Do you think the scientific community is purposely trying to disprove Christianity?
- Should science and theology be kept separate?  Why?

These questions really got the guys talking.

Upcoming Events:
- Saturday, November 1st:  Pizza, Game, and Movie night at my house!  We cancelled the Halloween Party for Friday night, but we are getting together on Saturday from 6:00-9:00 pm.  There will be pizza, soda, and fun!  Everything is free and friends are invited!  Please let me know if you can make it so there is enough food.  My home address is 1140 Magnolia Ave, San Jose, CA

- Sunday, November 9th - Sunday, November 14th: Kindness San Jose.  This last Sunday, I asked the youth to sign-up for one event.  There will be a volunteer or myself at each event.  This will be a great opportunity for them to meet other people in the church and to serve the community around them.  Please let me know if they are interested or they can sign-up at church.

Parent Involvement: I still need someone for this activity!!!  Let me know if you are interested.
- Fundraising:  This year I would ideally like to have one fundraiser a month to help pay for events and supplies.  If YOU are interested in helping, please let me know!  I have a few ideas and I would love to work with you to raise money for Student Ministries.

Youth Blog:  
If you still haven't seen it, you are missing out on all the cool things that are happening in Student Ministries.  Check out the Student Ministry Happenings here!  Clara Martin was on TV!  Check it out on our blog.

Kyle Guerrero