Last Youth Group of the Year!

We had a great time at the Christmas party last Sunday... but guess what....

We Still Have One More Youth Group Before Christmas!

This Sunday, the 19th we will be having youth group at our regular time (6:30-8:30) at the church!

Don't forget to bring your donations towards our gift for charity. We will be revealing where the donation is going on Sunday at youth group. Tis the season for giving to those who are less fortunate.

Right now our jar looks something like this:
How cool would it be if it looked like this by the end of Sunday night?:



See you guys there!

Christmas Party!

Don't Forget the Christmas Party is THIS Sunday Night at the Mutschlers!
Their Address is 636 Adirondack Lane in Claremont!

We have lots of fun games and yummy snacks planned! Don't for forget your White Elephant gift!

See you guys there!

Giving > Getting

It is easy during the Christmas season to get caught up on what gifts I want, what things I want to do, what people I was to spend time with... I... I... I.

But Christmas is so much more that was we want and the things we want. It is remembering what God GAVE us... his Son as a baby on Christmas day. Because of what God gave us.... we celebrate by giving to others. But it is so easy to forget that in the craziness of the Christmas season.

SO... as a Youth Group, we want to remind you of a few opportunities we are offering for you to practice GIVING to others:

1. Operation Christmas Child!
THIS Thursday, December 2nd
Meet at the church 4:45-10:45
RSVP to Janelle: janelle@baselinecc.com
(Eat dinner before you come)

2. Bringing Cookies to Sunrise Assisted Living!
THIS Sunday, December 5th
Meet at the church 12:00-1:30
RSVP to Jessica: jessica.charney@gmail.com or RSVP to the event on Facebook!
(Lunch is included but bring Christmas cookies!)

Let us know if you can make it to these events. These are great opportunities to GIVE to others during this season. Don't miss out!

Thanksgiving Feast!

Don't forget its the Thanksgiving Feast THIS Sunday, the 21st! Join our church family at APU for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. It goes from 5:00-7:00 and you don't want to miss this! 

Save the Dates!

SAVE THE DATES:

Jr. High Winter Camp: January 14th-17th

High School Winter Camp: February 18th-21st

Halloween!

Hey guys!

I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween. I wanted to post a few pictures from our Halloween party at church for those of you who couldn't make it or who did and want so see some pictures. If you have more pictures from that night, or frun the masquerade hunt, email them to me at jessica.charney@gmail.com or post them on our facebook page! Here are just a few:

Next Blog Comment Drawing: October 24th

Don't worry, we are still going to be having a drawings for those of you who comment on the Blog, but we are going to hold them once a month at the end of the month. That gives you the whole month to comment on any blogs we post during that time in order to get your name entered into the drawing. We are also open to suggestions on where the next gift card will be to so if you have an idea, comment on the post to let us know! (And yes, that will count as one of your comments:))

The next drawing will be held on OCTOBER 24th! So start commenting!

The Experiment

This Sunday we get the chance to be a part of something a little different. We are joining with our church family to have a meal and worship together as a part of our regular youth group time. Dinner will be served at 6:00, so come early to enjoy. The worship service will run from 6:30-7:30 and we will get to take part in that and listen to Janelle and Allen are give the message. At 7:30 the service will conclude and the rest of the night will just be just like youth group, we be playing games and having our regular small group time. We are excited for this opportunity and are looking forward to seeing you guys there. Feel free to invite a friend to join us if you think they would enjoy coming as well. :)

Small Groups!!

Hey guys! We have loved seeing all of you guys at youth group and we are excited about small groups starting up too! If you don't already know what small group you are in, contact Janelle or Jessica and we will let you know. Even if you haven't been to youth group in awhile, we have a place for you in small groups! Most of them are meeting Tuesday evenings and another on Monday evenings.

Small groups are a great way to:

Meet new people.
Make stronger friendships.
Get to know your leaders better.
Check in to let us know how you are doing.
Learn more about God's word and his plan for your life.

If you are not already in a small group, let us know and we will get you more info. If you are already in a small group... have fun and enjoy!

Two Liter Bottles Needed!

I hope all of you have enjoyed your first couple weeks of school. One of your friends from youth group commented on the blog that she needs some help with a school project. See her message below and if you can help out, I'm sure she would appreciate it!


Hey Everyone!!

For school I need to collect two liter bottles in 2 weeks and so far I have none! So I was wondering if you guys could help me out by bringing in any 2 liter bottles you can get your hands on!! THANK YOU!!

-Emily Lowrie

Comment Drawing Update

So we didn't get a chance to do a drawing this week at youth group with everything else going on so we will have our first drawing on Sept 12th at the Back to School Kick Off event. That means you have 11 days to make up to 5 comments to get your names in the drawing...

Just a little incentive... since it is the first one and we'll be drawing names at the Kick Off so it has to be awesome... the first gift card will be a $20 gift card to In n' Out!

Fall Sports and Activities!

Hey guys!

Now that you guys are back in the swing of school.... your leaders would LOVE to support you in any activities you are involved in! We would love to come to your football, volleyball, cross country, dance, drama, music, etc events.

In order to do that though, we need to know your schedules! Some of you have already given us schedules, so thanks so much, but if you haven't yet, please do! If your schedules are posted online, email us the link (jessica.charney@gmail.com) and we can check them out there.

I hope you all have an amazing Wednesday! Two more days until a three day weekend! YAY!

-Jessica

Comment on the Blog... Win a Gift Card :)

A couple of weeks ago Janelle and I were telling you about the new blog we just started and than we were going to hold a drawing for everyone who comments on any of the blog posts...

So... starting this week anyone who comments on ANY of the posts on the blog will be entered into a drawing at youth group on Sunday Night.


Drawing Rules:

You can comment as much as you want, but everyone will have a maximum of FIVE entries into the drawing.

Comments must be related to the post at least in some way.

All comments must be appropriate and positive.


You can comment on how you can relate to the post, something you like about what that person said, ask questions to the blog writer about what they wrote or share your own personal experiences and how they relate to the person's post.


Happy commenting!

-Jessica

Poolside Tomorrow Night

This is Brett. He likes to play Water Polo. Poolside is at his house tomorrow night: 246 N. Hacienda, Glendora. Who knows... there might be some delicious food there too :)

Back to School

Its that time of year again... Its time for new schedules, catching up with friends, telling stories about our summers, buying new notebooks, pencils, binders, etc. Oh yah and also, its time to start classes again, to learn History, Math, Science, English, Spanish, French, Music, Phys Ed, Art, Geography, Economics, and more for 9 whole months! That's a whole lot of learning.

I feel you guys on going back to school..I start my last year of graduate school in a couple of weeks and I understand that sometimes it is exhausting to learn everything we need to for school. Sometimes it is overwhelming. Sometimes it is just plain boring.

Today I was reading Matthew 11:28-30 (click on the link to read it on Bible Gateway). I've read this passage quite a few times but today the part that really stuck to me was verse 29:

"Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

Jesus isn't commanding us to learn from him... he's not giving us homework assignments or tests to make sure we are comprehending our Bible Studies and Youth Group messages... all he asks us to do is to let him teach us.

This kind of learning is pretty easy to do, really. All he is asking us to do is to come to him with an open heart and mind and he will do the rest. The best part is... he is the kind of teacher that is humble and gentle with us... he doesn't force us or intimidate us into learning from him... but he promises that if we allow ourselves to learn from him, we will find peace and rest.

I don't know about you but I am going to try harder to open my heart and mind and to ask Jesus to teach me as much as he can this upcoming year.

-Jessica

Summer Youth Group Pictures

We have had quite an eventful couple of weeks with Mexico Sunday, beach trips, bon fires, scavenger hunts, poolsides.... phew! Its been such a fun summer and us as leaders have SO enjoyed getting to hang out with you! Here are some pictures from the last couple of events...










I will be adding more pictures later today too, and if you have any pictures of your own that you want me to post on the blog email them to me @ jessica.charney@gmail.com...

If you like these pictures... leave a comment!

Mexico

As we headed off to Mexico, not knowing what to expect, I was apprehensive, slightly nervous, but for the most part, excited. I was looking forward to getting out of my comfort zone and diving in to help others for a few days. Knowing that even at my age, I could possibly impact someone's life in a positive way in just a few days was a powerful concept. Once our team arrived at Casa Esperanza, we all jumped in and took on projects that needed our attention. In the mornings we would do VBS and crafts with the women or children, and in the afternoons we would work on our projects. Throughout the course of the week we organized a new sewing room for the women, moved one of their water tanks to a better location, fixed chicken coups, and did quite a bit of yard work. It was hard work but fun, and incredibly rewarding to see what we had accomplished by the end of the week.

Sitting outside, overlooking Ensenada's countryside during our last morning devotion, I realized that although I had gone to Mexico with the mindset of helping others, that trip impacted me more than anyone else I may have encountered. It was incredibly humbling to piece together some of the women's stories, being told half in spanish, half in broken english, I couldn't help but to sit in awe of the joy and strength that they still possess even after such hardships. Stepping out of my comfortable, privileged surroundings and allowing my eyes to be opened to the hurt and struggle that they face daily made me exceedingly more thankful for what I have at home.

God called us to 'Go', and we went. Filled with the satisfaction of hard work and helping others, we headed home. What we brought back with us; the lessons we learned and the relationships we built through fellowship, are priceless.

-Libby

Beach Trip Tomorrow!

Hey guys!

Tomorrow is our next beach trip! Don't forget to invite your friends and bring $3 and money for lunch! We will meet at 8:30am at Baseline and drive out there together. We should be back by 3:30 pm.

Looking forward to seeing you guys there!

Jessica

Movie Night!

If you've seen it already, you know its the kind of movie that you need to see more than once.

If you haven't seen it yet, you probably want to.

We're going tonight as a group.

7:15 at Edwards La Verne

Invite your friends.

See you there.

New Blog!

Hey guys,

We thought it would be fun to start a blog for our high school group so we have a place to share with each other what God is doing in all of our lives. Sometimes your youth leaders will share about what God is teaching them or what is going on in the youth group, but we also want you guys to share with each other what you are learning as well. We'll be asking some of you to share with us after major events like camp or Mexico... or if you have something on your heart that you really want to share on the blog, let us know!

Nick and I have really been enjoying hanging out with you guys and getting to know you all a little better this summer. We look forward to getting to know you all even more. We have a lot of fun things planned for the next few weeks and months... so stay tuned!

-Jessica

P.S. Oh and here is a fun picture we took of some of you at our last beach trip! The next one is August 6th!