Children's Museum

We forgot to mention that it will be $8 total for both mom and toddler. Hope to see you there.

Toddler Day

Hey guys! Toddler day at the Children's Museum is this Monday. Feel free to join us for some fun.

Here is the schedule:

Mondays, 9am-noon
Toddler Storytime - 9:30am
Sing-a-long - 10:30am
The Smartest Artist Studio - 11:00am
All activities take place in the rotunda.
It costs $8 per parent & child.

We are going to meet at the museum in between 9am and 9:15am so the kids can be there in time for story time. Hope you can make it!

Review of last time; blurb on this time

Hi every one, Here's a quick review of what we talked about last time.

Problem of pain = The world is full of futility, pain, injustice, suffering. If there is a God he must not care, or he is good but not powerful. Either way...it's a problem!

Response 1: Recognition of the problem is evidence for a moral law/God's presence. If there is no God, then pain and suffering are SUPPOSE to happen... all of biological evolution/survival of fittest, etc is built on the competition for resources, struggle for power. So when we say, "that action is wrong!" you are invoking some sort of rule that is not implicit from the natural world..where did you get that rule? (Rom 1:20) (This doesn't even come close to a good recap)

Response 2: The God of Christianity can't be called uncaring, look at all he did to make things better, God in the flesh, died on the cross, taking our shame and sin...etc.

Response 3: Most would agree that at least some pain is "beneficial" such as the soreness of a good work out, or that some pain is "necessary" to bring about a better end, or prevent further pain (childbirth, pain that tells you to stay away). So I'd urge you that it is only a matter of perspective, in a sense, that all pain and suffering even SHOULD be prevented. (this leads to this week)

Now, this week we'll talk more about "how then shall we live" in the face of pain, problems, pesky problems, inconviences, true "suffering" etc.

I'd like people to reflect for a bit before sunday about what causes you the most pain suffering or sadness, no matter how small (actually, smaller can be better cause we can all relate).

Bible 101 - NT and future timelines

Hey everybody!

I'm sorry we had to breeze through the timelines quickly but I think we still had some good discussion. This completes the timelines themselves, but next we are going to go back and place the different books of the Bible on the timeline to better understand where they fit and what they are about. After that we plan to talk about how our Bible was put together and why some different Christian traditions have different lists than we do.

As always, I invite any feedback you may have so please hit me up here on the blog with anonymous comments, on email or in person.

God bless...


casey


(you can download the slides we've covered so far from the link below)

Bible 101 Section 1

Playgroup Location Change

Hey guys! Elizabeth woke up in the middle of the night sick:( Playgroup will now be at the Ashcraft's house instead of the Harris'. It's today at 9:45 or 10. For directions contact Tiffany at 512.431.8321

have a great day!

Family Fun Day Canceled

Hey guys! Family Fun Day at the Austin Zoo has been canceled. Sorry for the inconvenience. We hope to see you Sunday. Also, don't forget about playgroup at the Harris' house at 9:45am. Elizabeth will be teaching an awesome lesson to the kiddos.

DON'T FORGET: We're Monkeyin' Around at the ZOO THIS WEEKEND!

This Saturday should be a barrel-full of monkey fun at the Austin Zoo.  Please join us at 10AM with a sack lunch for some family fun!  

www.austinzoo.org

Upcoming Events

Hi Friends! First, I wanted to remind you about playgroup on Monday. It will be at the Birch's house around 3:45. Kathryn will be teaching an awesome lesson to the kids and it should be a fun time.

Also, our family fun day is around the corner. Saturday, May 17th we are meeting at the Austin Zoo at 10am. Bring a sack lunch and join us for a fun-filled day.

Married Life Live is coming up on May 16th. If you are interested in square dancing at the Quarries then make sure you purchase your tickets soon.

Oh, and guys-don't forget Mother's Day this Sunday!!!!! Caleb will also be teaching a fantastic lesson and we hope to see you.

Recap of last two (caleb) sundays

I have forgotten to put any followup on my last two sundays.

Several weeks ago we looked at lots of bible passages and verses about parenting. We started with some "scary" verses about how parents are held responsible for their children's behavior and actions. Then I claimed that verses in the bible about parenting seem to fit nicely into two broad categories. About children, and about parents. The about children category of verses contain verses telling children what to do(children obey your parents) and descriptions of wise children (proverbs - a wise son...) . The other category is where we focused and I claimed it could be broken into three sub categories. 1) parents need to discipline/be an authority. 2) Parents need to Teach their children about the Lord, and 3) parents need to be careful not to "exasperate" or drive their children away.

In hind site I was not pleased with my delivering of this discussion because we focused too much on how we discipline and not exasperate instead of focusing on the paucity of instruction we actually have in the bible and what this means for us. To me it means that I have alot of freedom in what/how to parent. Alot of our fears are that we think there is this "right" way to do things and we might be doing it wrong. Well, the bible only tells you to teach, not how. So lets be less fearfull, chose a way of teaching that suites the kiddos and Go!

Then my last sunday we discussed one specific thing about teaching our children the virtues we value as christians - by our own actions. We used the fruits of the spirit as our discussion guide and tried to think of how our actions could/do teach by example love joy peace patients kindness faithfulness gentleness goodness and selfcontrol.

This coming week.... BE EXCITED AND READY TO TALK!
(caleb)

Bible 101 - Section 1: What's the Bible About

It was great to see everyone in class this morning...we had a full house (13), I think the most we've had.

Well, we finished up the timline covering the OT this week and we will be going through the NT next time by talking about the life of Christ, the Acts of the new church and apostles, and even some about the different views of the end times.

I'd like to reiterate once again the importance of understanding the big picture story, or the bookends of time, as I like to call it. God's creation was good and perfect until sin caused it to be corrupted and cursed. God's plan from the start was to redeem his creation and its crown jewel, man. We see descriptions of our resurrected and glorified bodies and also a brand new heaven and earth we will enjoy with God forever. God becoming one of us and suffering for the curse is the single event that allows God to renew all of us and his creation.

This is the story of the Bible...the story that all of the characters and events fall into...the story all of us have entered into as well. I hope that by keeping that in mind, and by knowing the order in which events and people in the Bible occurred, the Bible will speak to us even more clearly when we read and study it.

I've attached the timeline as a PDF file for your reference if you want it. I'll add to it as we go further through the Bible 101 series.

Bible 101 Timeline

Next week

Next Monday's (5/5) playgroup will meet at 9:45 am at Umlauf Sculpture Garden, near Zilker Park. Come join us in the fun! (Our class calendar notes "teachers" of the lessons but we are not starting the lessons yet.)

Tuesday (5/6) is the Women's Mission Luncheon from 11:30 to 1pm at Hyde Park; childcare is available but let them know in advance if you'll be needing it.

Enjoy the weekend!

Sunday school, 5/4/08

Come join us Sunday morning, 5/4/08, 9:45 am to continue our discussion of the "Great Bible Timeline," the beginning of our Bible 101 series taught by Casey Birch. Look forward to seeing you all there!