Summer Beach Project 2008 Video

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Year in Review

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We recently published our 2007-2008 year in review.  It features an article by Ken Currie, a report of the number of students that are being impacted by God through our ministry, quotes from students, an update on Christmas Conference and Summer Beach Project, as well as things to be praying for for the next year of our ministry.   You can download it here.

Summer Leaders’ Retreat 2008

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The fourth annual summer leaders’ retreat was held last weekend (April 25-27) located about 30 miles south of Rochester.  The retreat was for the student leaders of the coming summer’s beach project and cross cultural project to India.  The students listened to seven different talks about Biblical leadership, methods of leading, challenges and pitfalls to watch out for when in leadership roles, and finally wrapped up with an introduction to the summer’s theme.  The summer’s theme is still a secret, so mum’s the word until May 29 - the first official day of beach project.  The students also had the chance to play games, take hikes in the beautiful surrounding woods and bluffs, and spend time in conversation with one another, all to prepare themselves to better lead this summer.  Another noteworthy experience of the weekend included being far enough south in MN to avoid the snow that covered much of the rest of the state this last weekend in April.

Everyone seemed to leave the retreat excited for what the summer will bring, but with more reliance on God to help them lead.  There was a common new understanding among them of the extra responsibilities that come with spiritual leadership.

The author of Hebrews summed up this important role with his words in Hebrews 3:7, ” Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”

Bethel/Northwestern Spring Retreat

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We had our annual Spring retreat for the campuses of Bethel and Northwestern Friday April 4 and Saturday April 5.  More than 80 students attended the retreat held at Covenant Pines Bible Camp.  Paul Poteat spoke on the Gospel, paying specific attention to the different attitudes we have as Christians that wrongly assume the good things we do can save us from our sin.

A number of students wrestled through the realization that all the “good” things they have done add up to nothing, when compared with the sinful beings they innately are.  They realized that no matter how good they look to others, they are sinful before God, and their identities need to be found in the righteous blood of Jesus, not in the things they do.

Many began to grasp more fully or for the first time in their lives the freedom they have in Jesus’ death and resurrection.  If their identity in Christ is not wrapped around what they do, there is forgiveness when they make a mistake.  Students reflected on these truths amid, quiet times, bonfires, group games, and the largest game of dodge ball I’ve ever participated in.

Chicago Christmas Conference

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We have just returned from our annual Chicago Christmas Conference. We had over 400 staff and students come together at the Chicago Hilton in downtown Chicago. Our theme was “All Things.” We learned from our speaker much about the God of all things and what it means to really be loved by Him, trust Him, and much more. You can hear talks from our main rallies and seminars by visiting our conference web site http://www.chicago07.org Within the next few weeks we should have pictures posted on our photo gallery of the conference.

B.U.L.L. - 11/28

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Andrew spoke, continuing our series called What is a Christian?, on how a Christian’s life is marked by repentance. He encouraged us to search our own hearts and see if there were things in our own lives that we needed to confront and repent. To hear the talk click here

Region Wide COW 11/7

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Students from all 4 campuses gathered together last Wednesday for a big COW meeting. We had praise and worship, skits, promoted our Christmas Conference in Chicago, heard a testimony from Lisa Chamberlain, and Ken spoke to us on growth. To hear the testimony you can click here, and to hear Ken’s talk you can click here.

Sunday School - North Campus

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We have a couple of sunday school talks that we have not uploaded yet, so here they are. A few weeks ago we took a short break from the story of salvation for Elliot Stokes to talk about missions. His talk can be heard here.

We missed recording Andrew’s talk on regeneration, so we pick up with Charlie talking on conversion. He talked about conversion in terms of faith and repentance and looked at what it means to experience true conversion. His talk can be heard here

BULL

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We have called our meeting for older students at Northwestern and Bethel, BULL (Building Up Leaders and Laborers). We are continuing our series on What is a Christian? On Wednesday (10/10), Ken Currie spoke about Christians being “inclusivists”. Because God is an inclusive God, we, as Christians, should seek to include those around us. To hear his talk click here

CO Update - U of M

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“Please continue to pray for our ministry to non-Christian students that we are ministering to.  We recently had a meeting at the U of M where we let the students ask questions in response to a talk titled, “Are Christians Intolerant?”  It was good to be able to speak directly to questions that students had on this particular subject.  Pray that God would use meetings like these and the relationships that are built during these meetings to call people to Himself.”