Weekly Update May 13

It's time to pre-register your children for VBS. We have classes for nursery age, all the way through high school. Here is the pre-registration link! There are more details for our VBS in the photo.

This Wednesday at Hyfi, we continue with our theme "Amp It Up" and the Simple Truth, “I Am Here to Share Jesus.” Part of God’s purpose for us and our identity in Him is to point others to the joy of knowing and following Jesus. Your children will see this in our Bible story from Acts 3–4. In Acts 3-4, two of Jesus’ disciples, Peter and John, saw the power of Jesus heal a lame man. They used this as an opportunity to tell the people around them about God. In the same way, we should tell our neighbors about Jesus and share Him with people around us. How well do you know your neighbors? Do something kind for someone who lives near you this week with your children. Bake cookies, offer to do chores, or simply make a nice card. As a family, make a connection with a neighbor and show them the love of Jesus. If you feel comfortable, invite them to church!

This Wednesday at Refuge Students, we will be starting a four-week series on the book of Jonah titled "Salvation Comes from the Lord." In this series, your students will by God's grace:1. See that God has great compassion for them, and the nations, despite our disobedience.2. Understand that God is sovereignly working to redeem a people for Himself.3. Be encouraged to share the gospel because God is at work in the lives of others, and because God has a great passion for the nations to know Him.

This week we will be studying Jonah 1:1-16, in which Jonah gives us a picture of our disobedience and sin. Just as Jonah defied God, and attempted to run away from His presence, we have all disobeyed God and gone astray! There is nothing we can do to escape the justice that we deserve for breaking God's law because God is all-powerful (sovereign). Like Jonah, we deserve to be thrown into the sea of God's wrath, but praise be to God that he provided a substitute. Jesus Christ was thrown into the sea of God's wrath so that we might live!

This week at Sunday School and at Refuge Hangout, we will be taking a look at Acts 10. In Acts 10 we see that Cornelius, a God-fearing Gentile centurion, was not welcome within Jewish social circles and wasn't considered clean according to Jewish custom. Even still, God used him to open Peter’s eyes to the reality that the gospel builds bridges between people groups rather than divide them even further. As Peter preached the good news to Cornelius and his household, the Holy Spirit fell on all who believed the gospel––confirming God's desire to save anyone who trusts in Jesus. The story of Peter’s revelation in Acts 10 reveals a core tenet of the gospel of Jesus Christ: God saves all who come to faith in His Son, regardless of their past, cultural differences, or their upbringing. The gospel is for all people, and it took Peter—just as it will require us today—great humility to see that God shows no favoritism. The ones whom God calls clean are clean; the ones He brings into His family are in His family forever. Explain to your kids that the good news of Jesus Christ is for all people, and we are all called to faithfully invite others to believe the good news of Jesus Christ. May this reality be as true in our churches and social circles today as it was in Cornelius’ home all those centuries ago.