How we Celebrate Christmas

This past Saturday youth and leaders went to Kane nursing home to deliver presents to some of the patients from MPC members. It was a lovely time of wandering around trying to find the right rooms and people and watching them get to open a gift. We stayed and talked in the rec room and had a great time! A few of the students played the piano and the residents were very happy to share stories and talk Steelers. It was nice for them but it was also a good reminder to us to serve and share and get out of what this world makes Christmas to be and remember that we celebrate God putting on flesh and coming to us to show His love. And so we love one another.

The Senior High students also celebrated at our annual Christmas Party and white elephant gift exchange. This year it was an ugly sweater contest as you will see from the pictures. A great time was had by all! The Student ministry staff and leaders wish you all a blessed Christmas season!

This years winner for the guys

winner for the girls

Jr High Laurelville

One of the best times of the year in Student Ministries is the time for Fall retreats! A time for us to spend away from home and focus on relationships with God and each other. A time of great fun as well as a great opportunity to get to know each other better ,worship together ,learn more about God, and play in the mud. Thanks to Rachel Weaver, Jr high student leader for writing about the weekend.

The fate of dance throughout the galaxy layed in the hands of Optimus Jive who is sta-sta-staying alive and MC3PEO. As the evil aliens filled themselves with tang, leaving themselves not fully satisfied, our robot friends were able to save dance and restore peace throughout the galaxy.
 As outrageous as the skits were at Laurelville last weekend, the spiritual warfare taking place in the hearts of the Jr. high students of MPC was even more amazing. The twenty minutes of silence was the battle ground as God's voice rang over the distractions Satan attempted to place in their hearts. The maturity and truly unique identities of each Jr high student shined through in the way they treated each other, their leaders, and the other kids at Laurelville. Although there was some drama, I mean lets not forget this is a retreat for middle schoolers.  As a leader I couldn't feel more proud of the students of MPC this weekend. Though our football team did not prevail (only having seven guys) and we did not take the Dance champion title, God won over the hearts of these kids through Benny's talks, which were easily understood, and cabin time.
Now that the future of dance has been secured, it's time to secure the continuously growing faiths of the Junior high youth group and not let the "God High" momentum die. The battle wages on...

Pumpkin Olympics

Many years ago at Memorial Park Church the tradition of using up leftover pumpkins for sport known as Pumpkin Olympics came to be. In recent years this tradition was brought back with the Jr High students. Thanks to Jr high student leader Jen Kerr for writing about the fun evening.

 You walk into the youth center, not knowing what to expect. Jr High Youth Group's annual pumpkin olympics tonight. But what you find is kids having a blast with their leaders dressed as farmers. A typical youth group night includes fun, games, an awesome talk and great small group time. But once a year during the Pumpkin Olympics, the normal schedule is tossed aside to make room for pure fun in an environment where kids can be themselves while growing in the Lord. At the start of the Olympics, the kids break up into their grades and make crazy, ridiculous pumpkins to be their mascot. Throughout the night, pumpkins are destroyed and salvaged all in the hopes of winning a medal. The night was cool and crisp and we had plenty of light thanks to the fire department lending us a firetruck for the night, which was its own fun. And as the pumpkins became scarce, and the gold, silver and bronze handed out, the kids thought their night was winding down. But us leaders had another suprise for the kids. We brought back something we hadn't done in awhile: The Gutter Ice Cream Sunday! A gutter stuffed with ice cream and every sundae topping that can be imagined. The kids went wild. It was a great end to a fun filled night. I cant wait for next years Pumpkin Olympics!

Who knew Hay was so much fun?

The Senior High students had fun at the Cool Springs Farm in Mercer PA going through a corn maze, sliding on burlap sacks, racing tractor carts and of course the hay maze.  It is great to get together and have some fall fun!

Jr High fun!

At Junior High we have been talking about our godview; how we see God and when we try to make Him into something we want Him to be and how that ends in dissapointment. We have been discussing that we need to trust God the way HE IS and along with that comes blessings. And of course along with that playing games and being silly!  (special thanks to Caitlin Ewing for the pics!)

Sr High fun!

In Senior High we have been talking about being a lukewarm Christian, and how this is not how God desires that we live. We have been trying to discover what it means to love and live like the Master, Jesus. We have been discussing scripture and praying that God would show us how to love the Lord our God  first and love our neighbors as ourselves (Matt 22:36-39). Of course along with the study and the fellowship we also love to play and have fun!

serving, loving, laughing

Last week at senior high everyone was asked to bring a specific item to put in a bagged lunch, such as bread, fruit, juice boxes, etc. This week we gathered together early to make and put together 150 bagged lunches as a service project for one of MPC mission partners, Light of Life ministries. Light of Life is located on Pittsburgh's northside and provides meals and services to the homeless of our city. You can learn more about them here : http://www.lightoflife.org/

Tomorrow these lunches will be dropped off at Light of Life and distributed to people needing a meal.

We then played some games.

And Bob shared about God's incredible love for us and how unfathomable that love really is. We discussed Ephesians 2 :10 - ¹⁰For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
We talked about being compeled to share the love of God and what that means for us today and where we are placed now.
It was such a blessing to have an evening of serving together, fun, and discussing the magnitude of God's love for his children.
 ¹¹If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! -Matthew 7:11
Have a blessed week, and take some time to ponder how much God loves you and what that compels you to do!