(Hillside umc) Xzone's Weblog

almost over

chris — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:59:31 +0000

This website/blog is coming to an end.

We will discontinue use after this post.

Please check www.twitter.com/7n8 (our microblog),

or www.hillsideyouth.com

DATES:

Wednesday, Sept.07 – Theme Team

Friday, Sept.09 – Sr.High TNT retreat starts

Wednesday, Sept.14 – See You At The Pole

Saturday, Sept.17 – church work day

Tuesday, Sept.20 – NO XZONE (break week)

Sunday, Sept.25 – leader meeting for retreat

Friday, September 30 – Jr.High XZONE retreat starts

XZONE notes for late-JUNE

chris — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:53:30 +0000

Here’s the info from the last bulk-email:

HELLO!
XZONE is the junior high youth group for Hillside UMC.
These are the top-ten notes for late-JUNE 2011; please share with others:

(#1) this Sunday, June 26, XZONE will be helping set-up nighttime VBS from 1:00-3:00pm in the Rock. I’ll have snacks & such. This is a great way to serve the church. We’ll need 15-20 people.

(#2) want more service opportunities? Every Tuesday (10-11am), and Wednesday (6-7pm) our church makes bag-lunches for local kids in need.

(#3) this Sunday (June 26) is also a KHO meeting after the 11am service in room 2019. We’ll discuss packing-lists & pray for our mission trip on July 17.

(#4) want other prayer requests? Don’t forget that Sr.High (TNT ministry) is at Snowbird summer camp this week, and Hillside has a missions team in Honduras.

(#5) because TNT is gone, there is no 9th grade “Upper Room” tonight.
It is usually Tuesdays, 6-8 pm in the ROCK (upstairs youth suite).
Contact Steve Brooks with questions about these events: SBrooks@hillsideumc.org

(#6) Sunday School is every Sunday 9:30-10:30 EXCEPT on July 3rd.
HUMC has a church service at the YMCA lake that day.
Jr.High will have a great guest S.S. teacher on July 10 & 17.

(#7) We have a website: www.hillsideyouth.com with calendars & photos.
The new calendars & summer photos (like VBS, and BAND CAMP are now online).
If something is wrong, or you need more details, just LMK.

(#8) let me describe TWITTER one more time!
It’s how I send text message reminders to you (or your parents).
I can not force you to sign-up … you do it yourself.
Text the words “follow 7n8” to the number 40404.
If you don’t like my texts, just text “leave 7n8” to the number 40404.
It’s that easy … try it out, and simply “un-friend” me if you don’t like the messages.
This is how I will communicate last-minute changes & reminders.
Otherwise you might miss “MALL HUNT” (our annual hide-&-seek game in the mall).

(#9) Oh yeah … MALL HUNT.
It’s at the end of the summer – July 31.
5:00 pm at Town Center Mall (exit 1).

(#10) Want more to do?
There are free outdoor movies each Friday in July (at the Hillside parking lot).
7/08/11 – - 101 Dalmatians
7/15/11 – - Emperor’s New Groove
7/22/11 – - Tarzan
7/29/11 – - Gnomeo & Juliet

(bonus round) – you made it this far, so here’s some laffy taffy jokes:

>> Why is it so hard to play poker in the jungle?….
Because there are so many cheetahs!!

>> What is the best time to see the dentist?
Two thirty! (tooth hurty; get it?).

>> why don’t seagulls fly over the bay?
Because then they’d be called bay-gulls!

JUNE 2011

chris — Tue, 31 May 2011 18:20:08 +0000

Here’s the info from the last BULK EMAIL i sent:

XZONE is the junior high youth group for Hillside UMC.

These are the top-ten notes for JUNE 2011; please share with others:

(#1) Tuesday (tonight), May 31 is the first UPPER ROOM, 6-8 pm in the ROCK (upstairs youth suite).

This is the Tuesday-night summer youth group for rising high schoolers (that means you, old 8^th graders).

TNT (the name or senior high youth group) will also have Sunday night Bible Studies at 6:30 pm.

Contact Steve Brooks with questions about these events: SBrooks@hillsideumc.org

(#2) VBS starts Monday (yes, this Monday) June 06^th.

By now you have probably signed-up, attended a training meeting, and picked-up a guide-packet if you had plans on helping.

If you’re behind, contact: KMorris@hillsideumc.org or come by the offices.

I think this Thursday is decorating day.

VBS is 9:15-12:00; but I bet you need to be here early on Monday.

Chris will have his camera & a few snacks in room 2005 for jr.high helpers during VBS.

(#3) BAND CAMP is the week of June 13-17.

We’re inviting worship-oriented people to get together and jam on some praise songs.

Every day, we’ll gather at 11:00 to eat (bring your own lunch) & listen to a quick devotion before starting up band practice at 11:30.

We’ll break about 2pm.

We’ll provide the sheet-music & worship CDs.

Please bring your own instruments (unless you are a drummer or singer).

If you want to just learn the tech; and run sound & lights, that’s cool too.

LMK if you have more questions, or want to RSVP.

(#4) at the end of BAND CAMP,

Everyone is invited to a free pizza dinner, and worship with the bands.

Let’s plan for 7:45pm on Friday June 17.

If it’s a nice day, we’ll be outside.

(#5) Promotion day is this Sunday (June 05).

That means 9:30 am Sunday School starts the transition.

Old 8^th graders move down to the Fellowship Hall.

Old 7^th graders stay with me,

But might move to the “blue ROCK” room if 2019 gets too full.

(#6) KHO people – I MUST HAVE YOUR paperwork;

Or there will be a $30 charge. Pretty please.

We will meet as a group on Sunday, June 26 after church.

(#7) We will also have a youth group service project on Sunday, June 26.

Time & details to be emailed later,

But plan on getting nighttime-VBS decorated & organized.

(#8) We have a website: www.hillsideyouth.com

If something is wrong, or you need more details, just LMK.

(#9) let me describe TWITTER one more time!

This is an important tool this summer.

It’s how I send text message reminders to you (or your parents).

I can not force you to sign-up … you do it yourself.

Text the words “follow 7n8” to the number 40404.

If you don’t like my texts, just text “leave 7n8” to the number 40404.

It’s that easy … try it out.

This is how I will communicate last-minute changes & reminders.

Otherwise you might miss “MALL HUNT” (our annual hide-&-seek game in the mall).

(#10) … since you made it this far … I will reward you with laffy taffy jokes:

What do you call a lease of false teeth? — a dental rental

Why did the toilet paper roll down the hill? — To get to the bottom

What are caterpillars afraid of? — Dogerpillars

Why do gorilla’s have big nostrils? — Because they have big fingers

PEACE!

… AGAIN, note that we will start phasing-out this website blog (superpandas) over the summer. Check TWITTER, eMAIL, and our website for future updates.

almost the end <

chris — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:11:32 +0000

We’re close to the end of the school-year.

Please note the following dates.

(#1) Holy Week (Easter) schedule.
If your family doesn’t have plans elsewhere, we’d love to invite you.
Thursday (tonight) – 7:00 pm drama & worship led by the sr.high youth
Good Friday – 7:00 pm drama & worship in the sanctuary
Easter Sunday – 6:30am sunrise service, 8:00 am traditional service, + 9:30 & 11:00am services.
Note that our normal jr.high Sunday School (9:30am) is NOT meeting on Easter.

(#2) There are only four more XZONE’s this school year:
04/26 – Down Low (testimony night)
05/03 – Q&A night (feel free to bring a cellphone that can text)
05/10 – Duct Tape night (you might want to bring a roll)
05/17 – the last XZONE (lots of videos & giveaways)

(#3) Over the summer, rising 9th graders get the best of both worlds –
They can attend XZONE and TNT events.
Promotional day (the day you get bumped into sr.high) is June 05.
TNT will have Sunday night bible studies, and Tuesday night worship over the summer.

(#4) Here are your web links:
http://www.hillsideyouth.com/xzone.htm << our website with pictures & calendars
http://www.hillsideyouth.com/xpage/links.htm << there’s a link here to volunteer with VBS
http://twitter.com/7n8 << our twitter account
http://www.youtube.com/hillsideXZONE << our youtube channel

… ALSO note that we will start phasing-out this website blog (superpandas) over the summer. Check TWITTER, eMAIL, and our website for future updates.

March Madness

chris — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:20:52 +0000

Last week at XZONE was “DUNK NIGHT.” – Congrats to Kevin T. who won the individual dunk championship. – There’s only 5 more XZONE jr.high youth group gatherings this school year. Check out the calendar HERE. – The talk on Tuesday was one of my favorites: the proof that God exists. Here’s the short version … (#1) proof is more than just seeing. lots of people are convicted of crimes that no one every witnessed because of DNA evidence, etc. (#2) one of the great proofs of God’s existence is called the “intelligent designer” argument. The universe is too complicated to have formed randomly or by luck. It took an intelligent designer to fashion together the complexities of DNA, solar systems & the big bang. 2/3′s of scientists have convinced themselves that a God must exist because of studying His creation. (#3) eye witnesses. I might not have ever seen God, but I can point you to someone who has. Similarly, I’ve never been to China, but I know it exists because other eye-witnesses have been there. The Bible tells of dozens of people that saw Jesus after His resurrection. (#4) the Bible is good evidence of God, and I can prove it’s validity. The Dead-Sea Scrolls, and the 21,000+ ancient copies of the Bible that we have in museums testify to it’s unchanging & accurate record keeping. (#5) But there’s other ancient records of Jesus, too … like the book of Josephus. (#6) Because Jesus was a historical man, living in a historical country … I can show you archeological evidence that Jesus lived, died & was buried in Jerusalem. You can still get on a plane and go visit the Temple remains. (#7) Common sense … it makes more sense that Jesus really existed & was God; than it makes sense that He didn’t/wasn’t. – - That’s the short version. But we believe in a rational & historical God that really exists. We don’t have to blindly believe simply because someone told us to. We believe because we’re convinced. – - > no XZONE next week during Spring Break. We’ll return in 2 weeks, and if the weather cooperates, we’ll have XZONE outside.

MARCH 2011

chris — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:49:02 +0000

Since last month we’ve had “HOT HOT HOT” night, where we discussed the reality of Heaven & Hell. Plus we had an Atomic Fireball (candy) eating contest. Then we had “Chicken night” XZONE, where we discussed that the founder of Chick-Fil-A never compromised his Sundays just to make a little extra money (+ we had Shakaira D., and Cristina K. share testimonies). – - Then yesterday we had our 1st ever HOMECOMING Night, when we invited back all our old youth group friends. We had 200+ in the room playing games, and watching old pics & video from years-gone-by. The talk was about Luke’s 15 parable of the Prodigal Son. We’ve all been “lost” from time to time, but God is calling us “home.” And one day we will experience the greatest Homecoming of all time called Heaven. It was a great night, and I want to thank everyone who took time from their busy schedules to celebrate with us (the Calvert’s, the Brooks, the Marsilio’s, Laura Stewart, Michael Caldwell, Ms. Vickery, Amy Billings, the Chattin’s, etc etc etc). – - Only 8 more XZONE’s until summer. See our calendars here: http://www.hillsideyouth.com/xpage/calendars.htm

February 2011

chris — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 22:13:18 +0000

Sorry … I keep forgetting to update our blog because we are now utilizing our TWITTER (@7n8) & webpage (hillsideyouth.com) as our primary communication tools. Anyways … last night was “LOVE” night at XZONE. We shared that God deeply madly loves his creation (you) even if you can’t see it. He sent His son to die for your redemption. Some people think that God hates them because it rained during their soccer game. This simply isn’t so. God proved His love for you. Papa Grimes then shared that we should in-turn love our neighbors, and honor them in response to God loving us. It’s kind of like a pay-it-forward. We would be selfish to not share love with others. Many of us accept the “great command” of loving God, but do an awful job “loving our neighbors.” Even if we do, our love is often shallow & conditional. We have to be better than that. The quote Papa G shared was, “The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. THIS is what an unbelieving world finds unbelievable.” … We have no XZONE next week because of February break week in Cherokee county; but we’ll return March 01 with “HOT HOT HOT” night. Plus March 01 is the first day you can sign-up for our summer KHO mission trip (with a $50 deposit) . Details on our website. PEACE, yo.

CLiFF NOTES to the talks

chris — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:36:05 +0000

People asked me to summarize a few of the talks – here’s a QUICK review:

theme Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4 (CEV)

6 reasons to maintain sexual purity before marriage: (#1) God wants to protect us from a broken heart. (#2) God wants to protect you from disease or pregnancy. (#3) God wants to protect your marriage from emotional baggage from the past. (#4) God wants to protect your self-esteem. (#5) You are worth the wait. (#6) As a gift to your future spouse.

4 ways to avoid sexual temptation: (#1) Avoid places of temptation. (#2) Purpose & commit to remain pure. (#3) Hold yourself accountable to someone. (#4) Be full of God’s word.

Other scripture worth knowing:

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 // Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Hebrews 13:4 // Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure …

Acts 15:29 // You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.

2 Timothy 2:22 // Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

1 Peter 2:11 // Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.

>> … Blessings & God’s grace be with you!

back from PCB <

chris — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:47:12 +0000

AGAIN – thank you for your prayers & encouragement regarding our XZONE jr.high retreat to PCB. In short … amazing things happened. The weather was brilliant, and God’s grace was evident. NINE students made first time professions of faith & salvation. Over half our students made sincere commitments to purity & their future spouse. >>We recognize that many of our parents want to follow-up & continue a conversation with their students. This Tuesday (the 25^th), we’re going to host a parent forum. As XZONE starts downstairs for junior highers (at 7:00pm), parents will gather upstairs. This is your chance to hear a little from our chaperones & leaders who attended the retreat; Then afterwards you can meet each other, and ask follow-up questions. If all is done before 8:30, we encourage you to sneak in the back of Celebration Hall, And join us for worship, and listen to student testimonies.<< This Sunday morning is also our annual Ministry Fair at the church. That’s the day that each ministry sets up a “booth” and showcases what they do … The XZONE booth will have pictures of the retreat. They will also soon be available at: www.hillsideyouth.com / And we’ll have a link to our youtube video once we’re done editing. Keep praying for us –

THANKS! – chris mixer

PS – I’ll try to get the “cliff notes” to the talks up on here in the next day or two.

Packing List … <<

chris — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:27:28 +0000

Hello. I hope you survived the snow. Everything still looks great for our XZONE junior high retreat to PCB, Florida. Here are some last-minute details; Please link to your facebook or let parents know : :

(#1) We have upgraded to the largest chartered busses we can; and still have a small waiting list. We are working to see if we can accommodate those last few people. Please let us know ASAP if your student can no longer attend.

(#2) We will be checking-in students at 8:00 a.m., Saturday the 15th at Hillside UMC. They should have a snack before they get on the bus, because we won’t stop until lunch. We will return between 5:00-5:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon, the 17th. Please be flexible.

(#3) We will text message parents when we get close for a more accurate arrival time. To sign up: text the words “follow 7n8” to the number 40404. We will also let you know when we arrive safely in Florida, and if there are any last-minute changes or delays.— To stop getting our XZONE text messages, send “leave 7n8” to 40404. (BTW: we call this “twittering.”)

(#4) We will be staying at the Shalimar Retreat Center in Panama City. Their phone number is (850) 236-0197. In case of emergencies, Youth Minister, Chris Mixer, will also have his cell phone with him: (205) 218-7533.

(#5) What to Bring:

Your final payment (if you haven’t already done so).

Money for lunch on the way down there, and lunch on the way back. For your benefit, we suggest that you put a $5 bill in an envelope marked “MONDAY LUNCH.”

No other money is needed except for the occasional soda machine (bring quarters).

Sleeping bag, pillow, and TWO towels (in case one gets wet). Students will sleep on bunkbeds.

Medical/liability release (online at: http://www.hillsideyouth.com/xpage/11permission.pdf )

Toiletries and WINTER clothes (50-70*). Check weather.com with the zip code: 32413.

Pack light, but bring warm clothes as we will be outside some of the time.

Please bring soft duffel bags, not hard suitcases, so we can pack the buses easily.

Optional items: A Bible, camera, flip flops, one-piece swim suit, & garbage bag (for wet clothes)

(#6) What Not to Bring:

No “practical joke” items like shaving cream, or fireworks —

No tobacco, alcohol, pets, firearms, knives or drugs —

No ipods, gameboys, or electronics — (we discourage them, and they may become lost or broken)

Cell phones — (if you must bring them, then we will only permit their use during free time)

(#7) Because parents ask: Students will be in bunk-cabins that sleep over 15. They will be able to pick their own bunk-mates. And we have an excellent group of leaders & chaperones … at a better than 5:1 ratio.

(#8) We will have videos & pictures after we return posted at: www.hillsideyouth.com << our website loaded with calendars & updates.

(#9) The theme of our retreat is “SELAH” which is the Hebrew word for “pause” or “take a moment to reflect.” << we’re trying to teach how to make good decisions.

(#10) Please be praying for us. Even now … we covet prayers of safety, good weather, powerful worship, and Christian fellowship.

THANK YOU! – chris mixer

PS … there will not be XZONE the day after we return on January 18^th to allow our leaders to recover.