Winter Retreat Information!

Greetings BASIC parents: Here is a copy of an announcement we handed out last night.

BASIC is going on their Winter Retreat Friday 2/8/2013-Sunday 2/10/13 to Cran Hill Ranch.  The cost is $83 per student.  If the student sold pig-in-blankets, the cost can be taken out of their account.  By February we should have plenty of snow to enjoy sledding hills, snowshoeing, broomball, icewall climbing, and cross country skiing.  Horseback riding (trail rides) are available for $15.  The Adam Lockr band will be leading the worship and Chris Gibson (from Christ Memorial in Holland) will lead the speaker sessions.

Please sign up by 1/4/13 at the church office bulletin board or e-mail Rhonda Lameyer at rslameyer@att.net

Pigs in a Blanket!

Once again, a HUGE thanks to all who came and helped with the Pig in a Blanket fundraiser.  It was a great time and extremely beautiful to see God's people coming together to serve with one another.  Enjoy the Pictures!

Apology for Problems

Dear Reader,
Please accept my apology for the technological difficulties that have kept some information from being spread through this site.  I think I have all the bugs worked out at this point, and the blog should be restarting a weekly update the first week of January (BASIC does NOT have meetings Dec. 26 or Jan. 2). 

For a quick run through of recent announcements:
- This Wednesday, December 19, BASIC will be having a fun night.  7:00 PM until 8:00 PM (but I will keep the gym open until 8:20).  We will play volleyball, dodgeball, and have a white elephant gift exchange.  Please have your child bring a wrapped $1 gift (either from the dollar store or around the house). 

-Sign ups for the BASIC retreat to Cran Hill Ranch will begin shortly.  The dates are Feb. 8-10 and anticipated cost is right at $90.  Stay tuned for further details!

-If you have any questions or comments about BASIC, please e-mail me at danunekis@gmail.com or contact any of the other sponsors (Bill, Nancy, or Katie Velhuizen; Melissa Smit, Bill or Amy VandeBunte, or Rhonda or Steve Lameyer).

11/28

This Week

Genesis 6:5-22 was the section that we covered this past week.  We all have heard that parable "Noah's Ark," but how many of us have really taken the time to truly understand what it is God was getting across to His people?  In this section of the Bible, God had grand plans of wiping the earth of all creation, however, one man found favor in the eyes of the Lord: Noah.  God decided to spare Noah and his family, and He also asked Noah that he take two of every land animal on the giant ark that he was supposed to build.  Noah blindly follow's God's request, not knowing what exactly is going to happen, but because he has FAITH in God, he does what he is told.  There is a difference between obedience and faith.  We need to start doing God's will because we have faith in Him, not because we feel obligated.

Announcements

Making Pig-in-a-blankets went fantastic!!! Thank you to everyone who helped out!!!

Don't forget about our Christmas party on December 19.  Bring your $1 gift, and there will be lots of fun games and good times had together!!

BASIC 11/14

This Week

This week we covered Genesis chapter 3, and the main focus of this chapter was temptation.  To summarize chapter three goes like this:  First, the serpent tempts Eve and gets her to eat the forbidden fruit.  Then, she convinces Adam that he too, should eat the fruit.  When God comes, he asks if they had eaten the fruit, and Adam blames Eve for them eating the fruit.  Eve proceeds to blame the serpent for the reason why they ate the fruit, and God casts them out of the Garden of Eden.  How many times do we find ourselves blaming others for why we sin?  "I didn't want to gossip about Cindy, but everyone else was."  Think about this:  If Adam and Eve had not sinned, everything would be perfect.  Football would be on every night.  No one would have to struggle with death and disease.  There would be candy for everyone!!  However, God gives us a choice, just like he gave Adam and Eve a choice.  We can choose to lives being Christ-like, or we can choose to sin.  

Next Week we will continue our lesson and talk about sin. 

Reminders

December 1 we will be making pig-in-a-blankets at Forest Grove Hall.  Please arrive around 8:30.  We hope to be done around noon.  It is a great time with friends and treats will be provided!!

Also, December 19 we will be having a Christmas Party for BASIC!!  It is going to be a great night with games, sports, and treats.  We ask that you bring a $1 gift from the dollar store.  If you have never played Dirty Santa you are in for a treat.  Again, buy a $1 present from the dollar store, it can be funny, weird, and something unexpected!!!

BASIC 11/7

Sorry for this week's late blog.  We had some technical issues with getting the blog uploaded.  Hopefully, we will be back on track after BASIC this week.

What we covered this week:
This week, we talked about how Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.  Many people tell us that it is old, unimportant, and outdated.  However, we believe that Jesus did not do away with the Law and the Prophets, but fulfilled them (Matthew 5). 

What we will cover next week:
This coming week, we will be taking a look at human nature and our sinfulness.  Primarily using Genesis as our main text, we will consider the way in which Jesus saves us, and our inability to be good enough for salvation.  We will also be planning ahead for the next few weeks, as well as talking about a potential game night before Christmas.

Announcements:
Students should be selling Pigs in a Blanket to raise money for their retreat at Cran Hill (Feb. 8-10).  If they raise more than is needed for that trip, the money will stay in their student account (through senior year of high school).

Quick to listen, slow to speak

This Week

This week we covered James 1:19-27.  Right off the bat, this verse says we need to be "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry."  How difficult is it to be slow to become angry? EXTREMELY!!!  Some of us have very short tempers, and we get angry quickly, and immediately speak our minds.  Being understanding and slow to anger is something we can all work on.  James goes on to tell us that not only do we need to read God's word, we need to live it.  Many of us go to church, attend youth group, and pray at dinner time, but how often are we setting a Godly example in our everyday lives, like at school, work, sports etc.  Living God's word includes watching what we say.  Gossip and bad-talking can sometimes get the best of us, but we need to "watch our tongues."  In closing, these verses mention that we need to "look after orphans and widows."  This does not actually mean that we need to go through the neighborhood and find widows, but we need to help those in need.

Next Week

Next week we will continue on through our study in James.  In the next section, James talks a lot about how we should not show favoritism and worldly possessions do not mean anything to God, and they shouldn't to us.  He also talks a lot about judging people.  Too often we look at what someone is wearing, what they drive, how nice their hair is, and what that person owns, and we are so quick to judge them and put them in our little categories.  "They are rich."  They must be poor. Look at their tattered clothes."  "That person acts weird."  It needs to be our goal to not care about such things, and focus on who that person is.  God made each one of us in HIS image, and HE does not make mistakes. 

Announcements

On Halloween Night, BASIC will be going to the Forest Grove Corn Maze!!!  We will meet at the Hall at 6:00pm, and we will arrive back at the Hall at 8:30pm.  If you are getting some other form of transportation to or from the Corn Maze, please let one of the sponsors know.  Thanks!

Everyone should have been given a pig-in-a-blanket sales sheet!!! If you did not, get a hold of one of the sponsors so you can SELL, SELL, SELL!!!  In a couple weeks the sheets will be collected, and we will add to your account how much you earned.  On December 1, we will get together and make all of the lovely pig-in-a-blankets :D YAY!!!

10/17/12

This Week

This week we covered James 1:13-18.  These versus talked about how "God does not tempt." It is the devil that tries to tempt us, and the devil has even tried to tempt Jesus in the desert.  It is not a sin to be tempted, but to give in, is a sin.  Another theme of these versus was how God does not change, and that "every good and perfect gift is from above."  Too often we think to ourselves, "wow, I worked really hard to be able to buy these new clothes," when in fact, it is God that gave us the gifts to work and blessed us with our gifts.  Remember to give thanks every day for the gifts that God has blessed us with.

Next Week

Next week we will be finishing up the first chapter of James.  This will include James 1:19-27.  Listening and doing is the overall theme of these versus.  They talk about how we should be quick to listen and slow to become angry.  We are not being Godly when we let our anger get the best of us.  To follow along with this, it is not enough to simply listen to the word of God and go about our daily lives.  We need to live a life in a way that people can see Christ through the lives that we live.  When we hear the word of God, we need to take what we've just learned, and apply it to our own lives.
-also, Amy will be in the hotseat, so think of some good questions :)

Praises and Prayers

-pray for healing for Olivia Hoppen's grandpa as he is dealing with cancer
-pray for Elliot's family as his grandpa just passed away

-thank you that MEAPs are done!!
-praises that we are able to meet and praise God freely without persecution
-we can live to see another day
-Rachel's grandma is still here, as she had a heart attack last year

Perservere!!! 10/10/12

This week

This week we read James 1:9-12 and really talked about when we go through trials and stand the test, we get eternal life, but also a chance to give back to got.  It is always important to look for ways in our own lives that we can give back to got, whether it's showing someone kindness or bringing someone to youth group.  We also discussed how our hope needs to be in God, and not in worldly possessions.  It's little things like these that we can work on everyday in order to be closer to our Savior.

What to expect next week????

Next week we will continue our study through James.  To prepare, read through James 1:13-18.  These versus focus on how we are tempted in our everyday lives.  These can be things like gossip, or wanting things we don't have, and other things.  We need to try to resist these temptations and focus on God, because HE will reward us.  We are blessed, and sometimes we need to take the time and thank God for our blessings.

Prayers

- continued prayers for Spencer Meyer and family
-MEAP testing

BASIC 10/3/12

What we covered this week:
This week, we talked about the first 6 verses of the book of James.  The themes we highlighted were the need for perseverance in the Christian life, and the ability we have to ask God for wisdom when we need it.
James tells us we should be joyful even when we go through trials in life.  Christians must continue to trust in God even when our life is hard and we are faced with different challenges or trials because it is in these times in life we will develop perseverance.  Only when we have developed this perseverance can we be "mature and complete, not lacking anything".
Also, James tells us that if we lack wisdom, God will give it to us if we ask with faith.  Wisdom is more than just knowledge, but it will help us understand more about God's love for us and our love for him.

What we will cover next week:
The goal for next week is to continue working through James starting where we left off.  The major theme we will focus on are trying to reorient ourselves in how we define success.  Often times, the world encourages us to be successful by making a lot of money, being famous, etc.  James on the other hand says that "the rich man will fade away like a wild flower."  We need to reorient ourselves to make our number one focus on Loving God and loving others as ourselves.

Announcements:
BASIC members are encouraged to bring their own Bible each week.  If they do not have one, they can tell any of the adults at our weekly meeting and we will find them a Bible to keep.

I will try to have the Hall unlocked each week by 6:50 PM, and I will have it locked up again by 8:20 PM.  We want kids to feel free to come early or stay late to get out some energy, but these are the general times we will work within.

Prayer Requests:
Last night, we spent time taking prayer requests from the youth.  This is a list of some of their requests:
-Safety concerning the escaped fugitives
-Healing for Spencer Meyer
-Prayers for comfort for Grace's family as her mother recently passed away
-Healing for teammates and friends with sports injuries
-For Gerrit's grandpa
-Healing for Chance's mother
-Healing for a friend of Becca's dealing with Anorexia

Introduction!

Greetings, readers! Welcome to the new B.A.S.I.C. blog for FGRC.  My hope is to use this blog to communicate quickly and easily with both student participants in B.A.S.I.C. as well as their families and other church members who want to know what B.A.S.I.C. is up to. 

My goal is that each week after our meeting, there will be a new post to identify what were the key points of that week's lesson, briefly say what we'll cover the next week, and put up any pertinent announcements.

In that pursuit, let me start by saying that at this week's BASIC meeting, we will focus on the first half of James chapter 1.  Hope to see you there 7th and 8th graders!