Howdy folks, there are a ton of announcements so read them carefully also pay special attention to the “Something for your heart” section – it’s one of my favorite articles to read during Holy Week.

- F2F –NO F2F THIS WEEK- enjoy Easter with your family and come out to the Bowling Fundraiser at 8:30.
- NCAA March Madness Challenge – go to http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/group?groupID=34207 and fill out a bracket then join the group CBC YOUTH and enter the password central. Winner gets: a couple cds (one of those being Dave Barnes' new cd that is coming out April 1), a sweet trophy, and a $15 giftcard for Buffalo Wild Wings and the person that comes in last place gets: a sweet trophy and some breath mints. You have to fill it out by tonight or it will be too late!!
- Joy Box – Remember that one of the disciplines we are practicing during Lent is almsgiving. The things that we fast from should free up some of our money to give to transform the lives of other people.
- Big Stuf – July 5th – 11th in Panama City Beach, FL. Forms are available now so get them filled out and turned in along with your $50 deposits. Forms and deposit must be in by April 27th.
- Big Stuf fundraisers – The awesome mentors have done a great job putting together some fundraiser opportunities for Big Stuf:
- March 26 – Cosmic Bowling Fundraiser – this Sunday (Easter) 8:30 – 11 PM at Strike N Spare West – cost is $15 which includes shoes and all the bowling you can do – in order to have a portion of the fundraiser money applied to your account you must come and bring a friend.
- May 31 – CAR WASH – 9 AM to 3 PM – it will be held at Ace Hardware on Wabash Ave. The amount applied to your account will depend on how many hours you are able to volunteer. Come help and invite as many friends and family members as you can!
- Sonic Cards – We will be selling Sonic coupon cards for $5 each. For every card you sell $5 will be credited to your account.
- Pizza Hut Cards – These cards are similar to the Sonic cards, they sell for $10 each and for every card you sell $6 is credited to your account.
- Boxes of Candy Bars – more information coming soon.
- April 5 – Lincoln Memorial ½ Marathon Water Table – those of you who have volunteered need to be at the corner of 7th St and Cook by 7 AM, our water duties should be over by 8 AM at which point we’ll go get some breakfast.
- April 6 – Invite your parents to Face 2 Face, Wade will be a leading a workshop and a time for parents to connect with one another.

March 19, 2008
Contents
1. Memorization - Verse of the Week
2. Something for Your Heart
3. Video of the Week
4. Surf Report
5. Forgettable Fact
6. Potent Quotables
7. Parting Shot

===========our|sponsor===========
WHO WAS JESUS? A GOOD MAN? A LUNATIC? GOD?

There's little question that he actually lived. But miracles? Rising from the dead? Some of the stories you hear about him sound like just that--stories. That's why Lee Strobel--an award-winning legal journalist with a knack for asking tough questions--decided to investigate Jesus for himself. An atheist, Strobel felt certain his findings would bring Christianity's claims about Jesus tumbling down like a house of cards.

He was in for the surprise of his life. Join him as he retraces his journey from skepticism to faith. Like Strobel, you'll be amazed at the evidence--how much there is, how strong it is, and what it says.

Learn more about "Case for Christ" here.
https://shop.youthspecialties.com/store/product.php?productid=93
=================================
1. MEMORIZATION VERSE OF THE WEEK
John 3:17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
Seven Days to Live
What can we learn from Jesus' last week on earth?
by Bill Hybels
When some celebrity dies—such as Princess Diana or Sonny Bono—filmmakers often scramble to put together a documentary that examines the last hours or days of that person's life.
What if you knew you had only one week to live? What actions, what priorities, would be captured on film?
Passion Week—the last week of Jesus' life, before he faced a criminal's execution on a cross—was an extraordinary week. Jesus knew he was going to die in seven days. He knew it would be an excruciatingly painful death. But there's much we can learn from what Jesus taught and from how he acted in the week preceding Easter Sunday.
Saturday
The weekend before his death, Jesus stayed at the home of three of his closest friends in the small town of Bethany, about two miles outside Jerusalem. These people weren't among his 12 disciples; they were personal friends—Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Jesus chose to spend his last days of freedom with them.
Throughout Jesus' teaching ministry, he emphasizes the importance of community. Jesus continually told all who would listen, "You were created for community with God and others. You were created with a yearning to know and be known, to love and be loved, to serve and be served, to celebrate and be celebrated."

What are you doing with the one and only life God's given you?

Have you found this kind of community in your life? It's more than good relationships with your family. You need an inner circle of friends who are fellow believers—just as Jesus had—with whom you can be honest, with whom you can "do life" together.
Sunday
On Palm Sunday—six days before Jesus' death—people lined the streets, waving palms as he entered Jerusalem. It was the first-century equivalent of our ticker-tape parades for heroes down the streets of New York City.
Jesus' popularity was at an all-time high; his teaching had astonishing power. Jesus had changed people's hearts and healed them physically. He'd even recently brought someone back from the dead! By far, Jesus was one of the most popular people in the entire Middle East.
But everyone who lined the streets had a different reason for waving those palms. Some were political activists; they'd heard Jesus had supernatural power, and they wanted him to use it to free Israel from Roman rule. Others had loved ones who were sick or dying. They waved branches, hoping for physical healing. Some were onlookers merely looking for something to do, while others were genuine followers who wished Jesus would establish himself as an earthly king. Jesus was the only one in the parade who knew why he was going to Jerusalem—to die. He had a mission, while everyone else had an agenda.
A couple of weeks ago, I spent some time between flights looking at books on spirituality in the airport bookstore. I discovered things haven't really changed in two thousand years. People are still trying to push their agendas for what the power of God can do. What about you?
Monday
On this day, Jesus did something that shocked people. Known for his love, gentleness, and humility, Jesus came into the temple, saw all the little arcades set up for commercial business, and cleaned house. He overturned the merchants' tables and kicked them out of the temple. People had never seen this side of Jesus before.
Why did Jesus act with such passion? Because he saw worship at the temple in Jerusalem going awry. Jesus knew he had to straighten out the situation before he died, was resurrected, and returned to heaven. The message of his transforming power was going to be left in the hands of worshiping communities. Jesus couldn't afford to have any church get distracted and caught up in questionable activities. They alone would possess the message that would change the world. Jesus sent a signal: Don't get sidetracked. Stay on target. Stay on the mission of spreading God's love.
Tuesday
Jesus taught from early morning till late at night. When the sun went down on Tuesday, his earthly teaching was done.
As dusk approached, Jesus taught the parable of the talents. In those final moments before his teaching ministry came to an end, he told his listeners, in essence, "You have one life. That's it. Some of you have all kinds of gifts and abilities; some of you have less. But don't squander the one and only life God's given you; do something noble and great with it." How poignant it is that as Jesus talked about this, he knew his life was almost over.
Jesus also spoke about the day of reckoning. But Jesus referred to the day when all moral accounts will be settled. He taught that when that day comes, either people will pay for their evil by being separated from God forever, or they'll be rewarded for having accepted Jesus' payment on the cross for the evil they committed. \
Wednesday
Most scholars believe this was a day of solitude for Jesus. He was doing the most important thing he could—getting alone with God. As he quieted himself, he heard the still small whisper of his Father say, "You're on a mission, and it's going to be difficult, but I'm asking you to endure. I'll be with you."
Some would call it a wasted day. Others would say it was a day that gave Jesus strength to do what he needed to do.
We live in a culture that no longer values solitude. We go from one meeting to the next, one deadline to the next, one activity to the next. Too often we fail to quiet ourselves enough to hear what God would say to us—if only we were listening.
Thursday
This day, Jesus took a normal Passover meal and changed it forever. All the arrangements had been made, but then the foot-washer didn't show up! The disciples came to dinner with dusty feet, and stood around asking who messed up the arrangements. It never dawned on them that maybe one of them could humble himself to do that for anybody else.
Jesus came, took off his robe, put a towel over his arm, filled a basin with water, then knelt down and started washing the disciples' feet. They couldn't believe it! The Son of God, the Savior of the world—and he had the humility to wash their feet.
In today's words, here's the lesson: True fulfillment never comes from a life of self-gratification. The way to the top in God's economy is through serving. It's finding God's mission for your life and engaging in it. It's finding people you can humbly serve in daily, down-to-earth ways. And when you find God's purpose for your life and pursue it in a spirit of humility and servanthood, your heart spills over with love and gratefulness.
Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, and when he was done, he said, "Now, you go out and live this way."
Friday
On Friday, Jesus voluntarily submitted to be nailed to a cross.
The Bible says at noon the skies got dark. There was an earthquake. The temple veil was torn. People suddenly realized that when Jesus cried out, "It is finished," and then died, he was no ordinary man.
Jesus was taken from the cross, prepared for burial, and put in a tomb.
Thankfully, the story doesn't end there. But what follows next—Saturday—is most difficult of all, because it's the day between the promise and the fulfillment of the promise. Jesus had predicted he'd be crucified, and that he'd rise from the dead. He was dead all right. But would he come back?
On Sunday, Jesus burst forth from the tomb exactly as he'd predicted. The guards at the tomb saw him, went back to tell the officials, "He's alive!" and were paid to keep quiet about it.
Jesus appeared to more than 500 people—cynics as well as believers—before he ascended into heaven. There was no question about whether or not Jesus was resurrected.
I once spoke to a Muslim who knew I was a Christian. He said, "How come you won't convert to Islam?" I said, "'Cause I won't follow a dead guy. It's that simple. Your prophet Mohammed is in the tomb. How can you get behind anything where the leader, the founder who claims to be something, has no evidence for being any different than any other man?" Jesus Christ is the only religious leader whose tomb says "unoccupied."
With his resurrection, Jesus proved he is the Son of God. And by what he did during his last week alive, but most importantly, on Easter Sunday, your life—and your eternity—can be changed forever.
Bill Hybels is senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois.
Saturday: John 12: 1-11
Sunday: John 12: 12-19, Mark 11: 1-11
Monday: Mark 11: 12-19
Tuesday: Mark 11: 20- the end of Mark 13
Wednesday:
Thursday: John 13, Mark 14: 12-72
Friday: John 19, Mark 15
Saturday: John 20 and 21, Mark 16
**

3. VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Brian Fellows – SNL – this is pretty funny stuff courtesy of Scotty Kinkade
http://www.zippyvideos.com/9516046754102066/snl_-_brian_fellows_devil_go...
* If you know a good video and want to share it, let me know.

4. SURF REPORT
~ Sheepherding: Test your reflexes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/sheep/reaction_version5.swf

~ Send a SpoonTone to a friend
http://blizzardfanclub.com/spoontones/

5. FORGETTABLE FACT
If you shake a can of mixed nuts, the larger ones go to the top.

6. POTENT QUOTABLES
"Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection."
~Watchman Nee

"If the [resurrection] happened, it was the central event in the history of the earth."
~C.S. Lewis

7. PARTING SHOT
Fill out your bracket – right now!

Grace and Peace to you, have a great week. josh

copyright 2008 :: Youth Specialties