FOR PARENTS OF MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

DATESSeptember 8

toOctober 6

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OroNaz Student Ministries2238 Monte Vista AveOroville, CA 95966

MSN meets every Thursday evening at OroNaz from 7-8:30.

CONTACT INFORMATION KURT LIBBYStudent Ministries Pastorkurt@thenaz.net530-282-5151

JOANNA O’HANLONStudent Ministries Leaderjrohanlon@gmail.com530-531-5018www.thenaz.net

WHAT IS MSN?Middle School Night is a living room environment for middle school students. Our hope is that as students continue to develop a sense of self throughout their middle school years, that we can help them own their faith and put it to good use now. We hope that MSN isn’t merely a fun place to get together and learn about God, but that it will actually spur the students on to love and good deeds in the rest of their lives. Every week, your student can expect to have fun, laugh, sing worship songs, hear a teaching that relates to their lives, and be challenged to do something with what they have learned. MSN is an intentional environment designed to help your student grow closer to God. It is about reconciling students to God through Jesus and sending them out to be light and salt in their homes, at their extra curricular activities and on their campuses.

WHAT IS THIS PARENT PACKET?We know that you love your kids. We love that you trust us enough to speak to them about God. We also have no intention of raising your kids. We think that God asks parents to do that. We do, however, believe that many things that are taught by loving, God fearing parents fall on deaf ears sometimes, and it helps for students to hear those things from others in the church. Every series, we will send out a parent packet that will keep you informed on what is being taught at MOTUS each week. There will also be references to the scriptures that are taught for each week, as well as some suggested questions that you might use to help engage your son or daughter. If you have any suggestions or comments about what would help in this packet, please feel free to contact either of us through one of the ways listed below.

The Good God! series will run every Thursday

night for five weeks from September 8th to

October 6th.

Look for the next Parent Packet for the series on healthy friendships in the middle of October.PARENT

PACKET

FOR PARENTS OF MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

PARENTPACKET

RESOURCESPRAYERYou can be praying for your student during the next five weeks in these ways:• Pray that your student would begin to

truly think about God for themselves, that they would wrestle with these real questions about Him, and that they would be open to encouragement along the way

• Pray that they would seek God’s comfort when they are having a bad moment, a bad day, or a bad year

• Pray that they would honestly dialogue with God, and ask Him to reveal Himself to your student in new ways each week.

• Pray that your student begins to own their faith, and that through these weeks, God would assure them that He is good, and that their faith in this good God would blossom.

ON THE RADAR• The next series will begin October 13th

and be on healthy friendships.• Axiom Thanksgiving wil l be on

Wednesday November 23rd.• No MSN the week of Thanksgiving.

PARENTINGCheck outwww.thesource4ym.com/parentsfor some great insights and parenting resources.

OVERVIEW

www.thenaz.netPARENTPACKET

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Good God!

Our first series is called Good God! Our goal is to teach how to search for a faith that matters and promises that won’t shatter. In this series we’ll be diving into Hebrews 11 and talking about what it means to live with authentic faith in God.

In the middle school years, it seems that the secular world cries out louder and louder, and it can begin to be confusing to think about what faith really is, and why it matters. Another struggle that many middle schoolers deal with is wondering about if God is trustworthy, because their eyes are beginning to be more opened to the hard and painful things that inevitably do happen in life. We’ll be wrestling through this question together, and trying to point out through the stories of the people of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11, that though the world has a lot of pain, and though life looks different than we wish it sometimes would, that God is still good, and his p r o m i s e s a r e s t i l l t r u e a n d trustworthy.

WEEK 1 - 9/8What is faith?Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” We’ll be talking about what that verse really means. What do we hope for? What do we not see but still believe in? And then we’ll be looking at the story of Abel, and how, even though he hadn’t seen God like his parents, he still was willing to sacrifice to Him in faith. Abel is the first and perfect embodiment of what it looks like to begin to trust a God you have only heard about, but a God that we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1

WEEK 2 - 9/15Why do/should we have faith?Hebrews 11:5-6 talk about Enoch being taken from this life before death by faith, because he pleased God. It also talks about how it’s impossible to please God without faith. We’ll be looking at how having faith pleases God, and the things about God’s nature that that reveals.

Hebrews 11:5-6

WEEK 3 - 9/22Hoping for God’s PromisesHebrews 11:9-10 and 22. These verses talk about Abraham being willing to leave his home because God called him to, because he had faith that God would come through on his promise that this new land would be better. Verse 22 talks about Joseph, and his faith in God to someday free the Israelites from Egypt and bring them back to a promised land. This night we’ll be talking about how receiving and putting your hope in God’s promises is really an act of trust and faith, and though it is hard, it is what we have to do if we want to partake in this life with God.

Hebrews 11:9-10, 22

WEEK 4 - 9/29Leaning not on your own understanding This night we’ll be focusing on the men listed in Hebrews 11 who all were called to do things that didn’t allow them to act in ways they understood. Noah built an ark when there was no sign of rain -- illogical. Abraham was hoping in the promise of becoming a father -- but he was old and it seems impossible. And more and more. These stories are to help remind us that God never promises that we’ll understand, yet he still asks for our faith in Him, sometimes even especially when we don’t understand.

Hebrews 11:7,11-12,17-19,24

WEEK 5 - 10/6Is He safe? Is He good?Hebrews 11:32-40 -- This night we’ll be talking about the men and women that God used, who had faith in him, and who don’t have typically “happy endings”. The bottom line is that our God is not safe. He doesn’t promise that we will be OK in this world if we have faith in Him. But He is good, and he promises love, hope, salvation, rest, comfort, joy, and so much more. Is it easy to trust God when everything is going wrong? No. But it pleases Him, and He’s the best thing we have to hope in.

Hebrews 11:32-40

In search of a faith that matters and promises that won’t shatter