Thank you to everyone who came out to the missions overnight! It was great to get the team together to continue to prepare for our upcoming trip to Nashville!
In our pre-trip meetings, we are studying Genesis 32, and in our last meeting we left Jacob afraid and uncertain about what was about to happen with his brother Esau. We learned that the man that Jacob entered into a wrestling match with was actually God. In the midst of the chaos and fear that Jacob was experiencing, he was not seeking God; however, God came to him and began this wrestling match when he was alone. As we begin to think about how this story of Jacob relates to our lives, it is apparent that many times when we go searching for God, he has been trying to get our attention for a while. In fact, God is usually the one initiating with us way before we even think about turning to God.
In Williamsburg, it is easy to get distracted by friends, school, sports, etc. and overlook areas where God is pursuing us. As we went into small group time, we challenged the students to think about whether or not they would recognize the presence of God as he initiates to us in Nashville.
Small Group Questions
Nashville Checklist #2
Our next meeting will be WEDNESDAY JUNE 15th from 6:30-8:30 in the Student Ministries Worship Room. Please bring any forms or money you have to turn in to that meeting. We are excited to see how God will show up in the lives of everyone on our team this summer!
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Nicaragua Meeting #3 (6.3.16)
Thank you to everyone who came out to the missions overnight! Despite a busy weekend with sports and SAT's, we were excited to get to meet together and continue to prepare for our upcoming trip.
In our pre-trip meetings, we are studying Genesis 32, and in our last meeting we left Jacob afraid and uncertain about what was about to happen with his brother Esau. We learned that the man that Jacob entered into a wrestling match with was actually God. In the midst of the chaos and fear that Jacob was experiencing, he was not seeking God; however, God came to him and began this wrestling match when he was alone. As we begin to think about how this story of Jacob relates to our lives, it is apparent that many times when we go searching for God, he has been trying to get our attention for a while. In fact, God is usually the one initiating with us way before we even think about turning to God.
There will be a lot of situations in Nicaragua where we will have mini wrestling matches with God as we encounter situations and scenes that we aren't used to seeing here in America. As we went into small group time, we challenged the students to think about whether or not they would recognize the presence of God as he initiates to us in Nicaragua.
Small Group Questions
Nicaragua Checklist #3
Our last meeting before we leave for Nicaragua will be TUESDAY JUNE 14th from 6:30-8:30 in room 156. Please bring any money you have collected and any donations that you have, we will be packing our donation bags for a portion of the night.
In our pre-trip meetings, we are studying Genesis 32, and in our last meeting we left Jacob afraid and uncertain about what was about to happen with his brother Esau. We learned that the man that Jacob entered into a wrestling match with was actually God. In the midst of the chaos and fear that Jacob was experiencing, he was not seeking God; however, God came to him and began this wrestling match when he was alone. As we begin to think about how this story of Jacob relates to our lives, it is apparent that many times when we go searching for God, he has been trying to get our attention for a while. In fact, God is usually the one initiating with us way before we even think about turning to God.
There will be a lot of situations in Nicaragua where we will have mini wrestling matches with God as we encounter situations and scenes that we aren't used to seeing here in America. As we went into small group time, we challenged the students to think about whether or not they would recognize the presence of God as he initiates to us in Nicaragua.
Small Group Questions
Nicaragua Checklist #3
Our last meeting before we leave for Nicaragua will be TUESDAY JUNE 14th from 6:30-8:30 in room 156. Please bring any money you have collected and any donations that you have, we will be packing our donation bags for a portion of the night.
Norfolk Meeting #1 (6.3.16)
Thank you to everyone who came for our first official meeting of the 2016 Norfolk Missions Team! The Overnight was a big success and a great first meeting for our youngest team members.
In the meeting time, we started off with a team mixer in order to get everyone on the team a little more comfortable with each other and make sure everyone had an opportunity to meet one another. After this we had the first of our three pre trip talks for our summer character study. Each summer before the mission trips, we study a character of the Bible who had some sort of encounter with God and by studying different characters, our hope is to see just how uniquely God works in people's lives and how He can and will use anyone to further the Kingdom.
This summer we are studying Jacob in Genesis 32. Jacob is an interesting character as he actually wrestled with God. In our first study on Jacob, we looked at some of the back story that got Jacob to the point of wrestling with the Lord. Specifically, how he stole his father's blessing from his brother Esau and how he lived in fear of seeing Esau again and avoided confronting him at all costs. The passage ends by Jacob having a wrestling match with God when he is finally alone and away from his family and messengers. We know that we are going to have moments on this trip when we are going to wrestle with God over something we are seeing or experiencing. But this encounter with God happens when we allow ourselves to get alone. It is sometimes hard or uncomfortable, but it is in these moments that we are able to see what God wants to teach us and change us into the people he wants us to be.
Small Group Questions #1
If you have any questions before our next meeting on TUESDAY JUNE 14th please email Nick at nmercer@wcchapel.org.
Norfolk Parent Reminders
In the meeting time, we started off with a team mixer in order to get everyone on the team a little more comfortable with each other and make sure everyone had an opportunity to meet one another. After this we had the first of our three pre trip talks for our summer character study. Each summer before the mission trips, we study a character of the Bible who had some sort of encounter with God and by studying different characters, our hope is to see just how uniquely God works in people's lives and how He can and will use anyone to further the Kingdom.
This summer we are studying Jacob in Genesis 32. Jacob is an interesting character as he actually wrestled with God. In our first study on Jacob, we looked at some of the back story that got Jacob to the point of wrestling with the Lord. Specifically, how he stole his father's blessing from his brother Esau and how he lived in fear of seeing Esau again and avoided confronting him at all costs. The passage ends by Jacob having a wrestling match with God when he is finally alone and away from his family and messengers. We know that we are going to have moments on this trip when we are going to wrestle with God over something we are seeing or experiencing. But this encounter with God happens when we allow ourselves to get alone. It is sometimes hard or uncomfortable, but it is in these moments that we are able to see what God wants to teach us and change us into the people he wants us to be.
Small Group Questions #1
If you have any questions before our next meeting on TUESDAY JUNE 14th please email Nick at nmercer@wcchapel.org.
Norfolk Parent Reminders
North Carolina Meeting #2 (6.3.16)
Thanks to everyone that came out to our second meeting for the North Carolina Missions Team! The Overnight was a success and we are one step closer to the trip!
In our second meeting we continued our character study of Jacob in Genesis 32. We learned that as Jacob wrestled with "a man" during the night, that he was really wrestling with God. As Jacob struggled with the Lord, his hip was disjointed and yet he did not let go of God. In their small groups, the team talked about what wrestling with God could look like in North Carolina and how we can take our experience with God with us, similar to Jacob always having a reminder of his encounter through his hip. Finally we asked ourselves if we were going to be able to recognize God as he undoubtedly "messed" with us on the trip and discussed some ways to prepare ourselves to recognize him in ways that we haven't before.
Small Group Questions
Meeting #2 Checklist
Just a reminder that the next and last meeting is WEDNESDAY JUNE 15th from 6:30-8:30 and to please bring any and all forms and money to this meeting! We are excited to see how God is going to work in and through our team this summer!
ReCreation Forms
Packing List
In our second meeting we continued our character study of Jacob in Genesis 32. We learned that as Jacob wrestled with "a man" during the night, that he was really wrestling with God. As Jacob struggled with the Lord, his hip was disjointed and yet he did not let go of God. In their small groups, the team talked about what wrestling with God could look like in North Carolina and how we can take our experience with God with us, similar to Jacob always having a reminder of his encounter through his hip. Finally we asked ourselves if we were going to be able to recognize God as he undoubtedly "messed" with us on the trip and discussed some ways to prepare ourselves to recognize him in ways that we haven't before.
Small Group Questions
Meeting #2 Checklist
Just a reminder that the next and last meeting is WEDNESDAY JUNE 15th from 6:30-8:30 and to please bring any and all forms and money to this meeting! We are excited to see how God is going to work in and through our team this summer!
ReCreation Forms
Packing List
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Nashville Meeting #1 (5.11.16)
Thank you to everyone who came out to the first meeting for the 2016 Nashville Mission Trip! The first half of the meeting was for the parents and the second half was for the students.
Here is the information from the parent section of the meeting:
Nash Parent Meeting
We also handed out folders with information that you need as we get closer to our trip:
Meeting #1 Checklist
Support Letter Writing Guide
In the second half of the meeting, we began to look at the character in the bible that we will be studying during all of our pre-trip training meetings, Jacob. We read through Genesis 32:2-24, but before we dug into that passage, we had a look at the background of Jacob and his brother Esau. Jacob was the youngest of two brothers and therefore was not in line to receive his family's inheritance. One night, he tricked his brother into giving away his birth right and then, with the help of his mother, fooled his blind father into believing he was Esau so that he could receive his father's blessing. The last thing we read before we get to the passage we study is Esau saying that he was going to kill his brother Jacob.
Then, 20 years later in Genesis 32, Jacob is traveling and sends his messengers before him to tell his brother Esau of all he has in order to earn favor with his brother. In our lives, we tend to act like Jacob does in this moment. There are many places we try to elevate ourselves, to make ourselves look good to our peers, families, coaches, etc. We want to seem important so we try and control the way people view us.
When Jacob's messengers return, they tell him that his brother Esau is coming for him with four hundred men and Jacob begins to panic. He screwed up his relationship with Esau when he stole his birth right and he thinks that he is still going to be mad at him. When we are faced with conflict or fear in our lives how do we respond? Do we run away or fail to engage? It is in these moments that God is showing us that there is a something in our life that he wants to work on. We can't run away from these things that we are afraid of when we are preparing for the trip because God is already showing us areas in our life that he wants to grow us.
The passage ends by Jacob having a wrestling match with God when he is finally alone and away from his family and messengers. We know that we are going to have moments on this trip when we are going to wrestle with God over something we are seeing or experiencing. But this encounter with God happens when we allow ourselves to get alone. There are so many benefits to going on these trips as a group and ways this group will impact you on the trip but will you allow yourself to get away and have alone time? It's sometimes hard or uncomfortable but it is in these moments that we are able to see what God wants to teach us and change us into the people he wants us to be.
Meeting #1 Small Group Questions
Here is the information from the parent section of the meeting:
Nash Parent Meeting
We also handed out folders with information that you need as we get closer to our trip:
Meeting #1 Checklist
Support Letter Writing Guide
In the second half of the meeting, we began to look at the character in the bible that we will be studying during all of our pre-trip training meetings, Jacob. We read through Genesis 32:2-24, but before we dug into that passage, we had a look at the background of Jacob and his brother Esau. Jacob was the youngest of two brothers and therefore was not in line to receive his family's inheritance. One night, he tricked his brother into giving away his birth right and then, with the help of his mother, fooled his blind father into believing he was Esau so that he could receive his father's blessing. The last thing we read before we get to the passage we study is Esau saying that he was going to kill his brother Jacob.
Then, 20 years later in Genesis 32, Jacob is traveling and sends his messengers before him to tell his brother Esau of all he has in order to earn favor with his brother. In our lives, we tend to act like Jacob does in this moment. There are many places we try to elevate ourselves, to make ourselves look good to our peers, families, coaches, etc. We want to seem important so we try and control the way people view us.
When Jacob's messengers return, they tell him that his brother Esau is coming for him with four hundred men and Jacob begins to panic. He screwed up his relationship with Esau when he stole his birth right and he thinks that he is still going to be mad at him. When we are faced with conflict or fear in our lives how do we respond? Do we run away or fail to engage? It is in these moments that God is showing us that there is a something in our life that he wants to work on. We can't run away from these things that we are afraid of when we are preparing for the trip because God is already showing us areas in our life that he wants to grow us.
The passage ends by Jacob having a wrestling match with God when he is finally alone and away from his family and messengers. We know that we are going to have moments on this trip when we are going to wrestle with God over something we are seeing or experiencing. But this encounter with God happens when we allow ourselves to get alone. There are so many benefits to going on these trips as a group and ways this group will impact you on the trip but will you allow yourself to get away and have alone time? It's sometimes hard or uncomfortable but it is in these moments that we are able to see what God wants to teach us and change us into the people he wants us to be.
Meeting #1 Small Group Questions
Our next meeting is the Missions Overnight June 3rd at 6:30 pm until 11:30 am on June 4th.
Contact Luke Kincaid at lkincaid@wcchapel.org or Abbey Sams at asams@wcchapel.org if you have any further questions.
North Carolina Meeting #1 (5.11.16)
Thank you to everyone who came out to our first meeting for the 2016 North Carolina Missions Team! The first half of the meeting was for the parents where we looked at some of the details for the trip and handed out packets with forms and information about the next two team meetings.
Here is the parent meeting powerpoint:
Parent Meeting Info
And the information that was handed out in the folders:
Meeting #1 Checklist
ReCreation Forms
Support Letter Writing Guide
Packing List
The second half of the meeting was for the students. We began to look at the character in the bible that we will be studying during all of our pre-trip training meetings, Jacob. Before we dug into our passage, we had a look at the background of Jacob and his brother Esau. Jacob was the youngest of the two brothers and was not entitled to receive his family's inheritance. One night, he tricked his brother into giving away his birth right and then, with the help of his mother, fooled his blind father into believing he was Esau so that he could receive his father's blessing. The last thing we read before we get to the passage we study is Esau saying that he wanted to kill Jacob.
We pick up the story about 20 years later in Genesis 32:3-24. This is the first time that Jacob will be encountering Esau since he had stolen the blessing and Jacob tries everything he can think of to try and appease Esau's anger, but goes about it in the wrong way. In our lives, we tend to act like Jacob does in this moment. There are many places we try to elevate ourselves, to make ourselves look good to our peers, families, coaches, etc. We want to seem important so we try and control the way people view us. Jacob surrounds himself with his family and friends, takes everything he has left, and attempts to flee. But we cannot flee from God.
The passage ends by Jacob having a wrestling match with God when he is finally alone and away from his family and messengers. We know that we are going to have moments on this trip when we are going to wrestle with God over something we are seeing or experiencing. But this encounter with God happens when we allow ourselves to get alone. It is sometimes hard or uncomfortable, but it is in these moments that we are able to see what God wants to teach us and change us into the people he wants us to be.
Here is the parent meeting powerpoint:
Parent Meeting Info
And the information that was handed out in the folders:
Meeting #1 Checklist
ReCreation Forms
Support Letter Writing Guide
Packing List
The second half of the meeting was for the students. We began to look at the character in the bible that we will be studying during all of our pre-trip training meetings, Jacob. Before we dug into our passage, we had a look at the background of Jacob and his brother Esau. Jacob was the youngest of the two brothers and was not entitled to receive his family's inheritance. One night, he tricked his brother into giving away his birth right and then, with the help of his mother, fooled his blind father into believing he was Esau so that he could receive his father's blessing. The last thing we read before we get to the passage we study is Esau saying that he wanted to kill Jacob.
We pick up the story about 20 years later in Genesis 32:3-24. This is the first time that Jacob will be encountering Esau since he had stolen the blessing and Jacob tries everything he can think of to try and appease Esau's anger, but goes about it in the wrong way. In our lives, we tend to act like Jacob does in this moment. There are many places we try to elevate ourselves, to make ourselves look good to our peers, families, coaches, etc. We want to seem important so we try and control the way people view us. Jacob surrounds himself with his family and friends, takes everything he has left, and attempts to flee. But we cannot flee from God.
The passage ends by Jacob having a wrestling match with God when he is finally alone and away from his family and messengers. We know that we are going to have moments on this trip when we are going to wrestle with God over something we are seeing or experiencing. But this encounter with God happens when we allow ourselves to get alone. It is sometimes hard or uncomfortable, but it is in these moments that we are able to see what God wants to teach us and change us into the people he wants us to be.
Our next meeting is the Missions Overnight which starts June 3rd at 6:30 and goes until 11:30 the next morning, June 4th. Can't wait to see everyone then!
If you need anything or have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to Nick: nmercer@wcchapel.org
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Nicaragua Meeting #2 (5.10.16)
At last night's meeting, we began to look at the character in the bible that we will be studying during all of our pre-trip training meetings, Jacob. We read through Genesis 32:2-24, but before we dug into that passage, we had a look at the background of Jacob and his brother Esau. Jacob was the youngest of two brothers and therefore was not in line to receive his family's inheritance. One night, he tricked his brother into giving away his birth right and then, with the help of his mother, fooled his blind father into believing he was Esau so that he could receive his father's blessing. The last thing we read before we get to the passage we study is Esau saying that he was going to kill his brother Jacob.
Then, 20 years later in Genesis 32, Jacob is traveling and sends his messengers before him to tell his brother Esau of all he has in order to earn favor with his brother. In our lives, we tend to act like Jacob does in this moment. There are many places we try to elevate ourselves, to make ourselves look good to our peers, families, coaches, etc. We want to seem important so we try and control the way people view us.
When Jacob's messengers return, they tell him that his brother Esau is coming for him with four hundred men and Jacob begins to panic. He screwed up his relationship with Esau when he stole his birth right and he thinks that he is still going to be mad at him. When we are faced with conflict or fear in our lives how do we respond? Do we run away or fail to engage? It is in these moments that God is showing us that there is a something in our life that he wants to work on. We can't run away from these things that we are afraid of when we are preparing for the trip because God is already showing us areas in our life that he wants to grow us.
The passage ends by Jacob having a wrestling match with God when he is finally alone and away from his family and messengers. We know that we are going to have moments on this trip when we are going to wrestle with God over something we are seeing or experiencing. But this encounter with God happens when we allow ourselves to get alone. There are so many benefits to going on these trips as a group and ways this group will impact you on the trip but will you allow yourself to get away and have alone time? It's sometimes hard or uncomfortable but it is in these moments that we are able to see what God wants to teach us and change us into the people he wants us to be.
Our next meeting is the Missions Overnight June 3rd at 6:30 pm until 11:30 am on June 4th.
Bring any remaining forms you have to turn in (ONET form, copy of passport, parental consent form) and any money you have received to the overnight.
ONET Consent Form
Parental Consent Form
Meeting #2 Checklist
Meeting #2 Small Group Questions
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