Current Sunday Morning Series:

EMOTICON— n
any of several combinations of symbols used in electronic mail and text messaging to indicate the state of mind of the writer, such as :-) to express happiness, :-( for sadness or anger, ;-) to express only half serious.

Let's be honest, in just one day we can experience a whole gamete of different emotions. We can feel one way in the morning, and depending on people we see or situations that happen, we can feel completely different by the end of the day. Sometimes emotions can be confusing and we don't know what to do with them. The cool thing is that God created you with emotions and he actually gave us instructions on how to respond to them.

So join us the next three Sunday Mornings as we explore the TECHNICOLOR WORLD of EMOTIONS and learn how our response to them can glorify the God that created us.

May 15 TRUE BLUES: Responding when life blindsides you :(
May 22 MAD REDS: You make me so mad>:(
May 29 SHADES OF PURPLE: Cooties, germs, & crushes, oh my! <3

Current Sunday AM Series:

God uses people who aren't afraid to get dirty — “hard-working men and women who earn an honest living doing the kinds of jobs that make civilized life possible for the rest of us” while letting other experience the awesome love God has for us. Are you ready to get dirty?

February 20 Shepherds

February 27 Tax Collectors

March 6 Fishermen

March 13 Feet Washing

Sunday's Into Video

Got Musical Talent?

Current Sunday AM Series: Prepare for Take-Off

Entering middle school is a lot like stepping onto a plane. There needs to be some preparation but if you are willing to jump on, it will take you to some pretty spectacular places and experiences. During the next four weeks we are going to look at this voyage called middle school. We will look at how God has a specific route planned our for each of us and what we need to do if we veer off that route.

Week #1 Arrival Status: On Time

Week #2 First Class

Week #3 Staying on the Course

Week #4 MAYDAY!

It is going to be a pretty exciting series so be sure to join us this Sunday Morning at 9am or 11am. You won't want to miss it.

God at the Movies: The Short Version

Nothing shapes our culture quite like the movies. They're a place to ask hard questions, tell stories, think about our past and learn about our hopes. This Sunday, Riptide will join the rest of the ministries at Journey Community Church by kicking off a new series, "God at the Movies."

We will be doing it a little differently than the main worship venue. Instead of looking at full length motion pictures we will be showing a 'Pixar Short' and then discuss it afterwards. We are so excited about the next five weeks and looking forward to spotting God in some unlikely places.

Week #1 Boundin'
Week #2 For the Birds
Week #3 One Man Band
Week #4 Partly Cloudy
Week #5 Lifted

For what movies will be shown in the main service, check out this website.

Riptide Easter Sunday Schedule

On Easter Morning, Riptide will be joining our families in the services in the Main Worship Venue. There will not be any middle school services in the Riptide Room on Easter Morning.

We will go back to the normal service schedule of 9am and 10:45am the following week, April 11th as we kick of our new series on James called "Jimmy says..."

Happy Easter!

New Series on Sunday Morning

This Sunday we started a new series. Last November, I polled our students asking what topics they would like to hear during the teaching times. An overwhelming response was ‘Creation’ and ‘Revelation.’ I could think of a better way to start this year off than with ‘the beginning of the world.’ For the next four weeks we will be looking at God's Big Story.

Week#1 Creation: The way the world Ought to be.

Week #2 Fall: The Way the World Is.

Week #3 Redemption: The Way the World Can Be

Week #4 New Creation: The Way the World Will Be.

Nativity Story & Dance

This past Sunday was all about looking at the Story of Jesus being born.

We began the morning with some fun with wrapping paper. A student from each grade was wrapped by the students in their grade and 'presented' to our own Randy, Paula, and Simon (played by our volunteers staff) to be judged.

We had an incredible violin solo of "The First Noel" performed by one of our 7th graders, Zach Jones.

Bruce Corless, a dad of one of the high school students and an incredible story teller, read the Christmas Story.

We then visited interactive stations around the room that represented different people in the story, Mary, Joseph, Wise Men, and the Shepherds.

The final challenge to the students was to tell this incredible story to their friends. This story is too amazing to tell in a boring way. It is also too incredible of a story to keep to ourselves. At the end of the morning, our fantastic staff leaders came out to demonstrate how fun it can be to tell the story of the birth of our Savior!

It was a super fun Sunday!

A great one to end the year with. That's right, no Middle School Service next week! We will see you again next year, January 3rd.

Merry Christmas and remember to keep telling the story!

3union visits Riptide

For the past five years, these brothers have been traveling with their family all over the world. They began their adventures with a Christian school tour in Beirut, Lebanon where they performed 30 concerts in ten days. They enjoy entertaining a crowd, but their main desire is to make a difference in people's lives, especially the lives of this generation.

We are so excited to have 3union join us in Riptide next Sunday Morning to lead our morning worship. They will be performing a few of their original songs as well as some familiar worship songs.

Their CD's, will be available to purchase after each service.

If you would like to preview a few of their songs, check out their myspace page.

Below is one of their music videos.

"Snap Shot" Art Contest cont.

BEST FRIEND

"Snap Shot" Series Art Contest

Along with our last series, "Snap Shot" we had an art contest. Middle schoolers took a picture or drew a picture of the different characteristics of God that we looked at.

Here were the submissions:

LIGHT

ROCK

WATER

LISTENER

Current Sunday AM Series & Art Contest

For the next five weeks will be getting to know God better by looking at snapshots of who he is. In a sense, the Bible is a photo album with self portraits of a God who wants to be known. God has put these pictures in the Bible to reveal his character. By examine them, we discover who God is and why he's worth knowing better. And we discover something else: who he wants us to be. He wants us to copy his picture into our own character.

Along with the teaching, we will be having an art contest. Around the room we have six large picture frames. We are looking for photographs your middle schooler has taken or pictures they have drawn to fill those picture frames. Each frame represents one of six characteristics we will be looking at:

Inventor
Water
Rock
Listener
Light
Best Friend

Middle Schoolers can submit up to one entry per category. All entries will be displayed in the Riptide Room. Contest ends September 27th and prize winners will be announced October 4th.

Road Trip Series Wrap up...

Week #4 Jesus in the Garden:
Tough part of life is people not being there when we need them. Then what feels worst is when we are not there for people we care about. During one of the toughest times of Jesus' life, his closest friends let him down. Jesus is an example for us forgiveness does not include revenge, and He will never let us down.



Week #5 Jesus at the Beach:
Breakfast has always been known as one of the most important meals of the day. How cool is it, that there was a day that Jesus made breakfast on the beach for his disciples. It was during that time, that Peter once again jumped out of the boat to meet his savior!




Week #6 Jesus at Home:
Who comes over to your house? Who eats around your dinner table? What would you do if, Jesus stopped you on the way home from school and said he was coming over to eat...today! That is exactly what Jesus did to Zacchaeus and he didn't care what anyone thought!

Week #3 Jesus in the Desert

Last week we talked about how it's not always easy to do the right thing. We looked at a story of Jesus being tempted in the desert by Satan. Jesus had the power to withstand that temptation and show his obedience to God. The cool thing is that he has given us that power too!

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13

Week #2 Jesus on the Mountain

Last week we looked at how the 'American Dream' promises prosperity and happiness, but chasing this can lead us down an empty road. Jesus gives a sermon on how to find the deepest form of happiness and what it means to be truly blessed.

Current Sunday Morning Series

Summer is a great time for a road trip, so Riptide will be road trippin' through the book of Matthew. We will be following the travels of Jesus and and look at how his teachings apply to our everyday life. We are even taking part of the teaching times to the road. Instead of the just telling about Jesus on the lake,at the garden, or in the dessert, we will be filming the teaching of these story at various locations and then showing them on Sunday Morning. Each week, we will link to the video shown the previous Sunday.

It will definitely be a fun summer adventure and your middle schooler will not want to miss it!

July 5: Jesus at the Lake- Matthew 14:22-33

July 12: Jesus on a Mountain- Matthew 5:1-11

July 19: Jesus in the Desert- Matthew 4:1-11

July 26: Jesus in the Garden- Matthew 26:36-46

August 2: Jesus at the Beach- Matthew 14:13-21

August 9: Jesus at Home- Matthew 9:9-13

Below is last weeks video:
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Current Sunday Morning Series

This Sunday, Riptide joined the rest of the ministries at Journey Community Church by kicking off a new series, "God at the Movies." We will be featuring Middle School friendly movies and below is a list of our feature presentations. We are so excited about the next five weeks and looking forward to spotting God in some unlikely places.

Family Idea: All of the movies are out on DVD so have a fun family movie night. Pick one night during the few weeks and watch a movie before or after we speak on them. We will have discussion questions available about the movie and message in the back of the room if you would like. (Or email christina@journeycom.org for a copy.)

May 31: Bedtime Stories
June 7: Horton Hears a Who
June 14:Mall Cop
June 21: Wall-E
June 28: Kung Fu Panda

Current Sunday AM Series

What does it actually mean to "Grow in your relationship with God?" For the next five weeks we are going to look at what this means and at some of the ways we can.

April 19: “Baby food for life?”
1 Peter 2:1-3
Can you imagine if we only ate baby food for our entire life? We would miss out on some amazing food. As we grow up we are capable of eating different and in most cases ‘richer’ food. The same goes for our relationship with God. Last week we had Easter and saw how amazing and deep God’s love is for us. Now let’s look into how we can experience more of that rich love!

April 26: “Exercise!?!”
1Peter 3: 8-12
Growing stronger takes a lot of hard work! Just like working out, it’s not always easy, but always good for the body! Today we will look at some different ways to ‘work out’. 1 Peter 3:10-12 says “If you want to enjoy life
 and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil
 and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.” It may take some work, but life will be better for it.

May 3:“What's God going do next?”
1Peter 1:3-25
Another way to grow closer to God is by witnessing and experiencing at what he is doing. God is constantly working around us and we just need to look up and see the wonders of his handiwork. What would it look like if we intentionally involved him in our everyday life? What would we get to see him do? This may mean that we need to step back and allow him to take control of some areas in our life.

May 10: “Hangtime with God”
To get to know someone better, you need to spend time with that person. That is why this Sunday's Morning Service will be about how to experience time with God. There will be readings, music, and stations that will allow the students to have some ‘quality time’ with the God that created them.

May 17: “Tell Everyone You Know!”
1Peter 3:15
Why keep such a great thing to yourself. The last thing Jesus told us to do while he was on this earth was to “tell the world.” We can do this not only by telling people Jesus’ story, but by following his commands. In 1Peter it says that if we start living the way Jesus asked us to, people might come up ands even ask us why. 1Peter 3:15 challenges us to be ready with an answer. Are you ready?

Riptide Easter Schedule

Riptide will have two identical services on Easter Sunday.
9:30am and 11:00am

Happy Easter!!!!