Willowcreek Students Combine Service and Fun at Yearend Party

What is the best way for middle schoolers to fight cancer? Giant rolling hamster balls, of course.

Willowcreek Middle School pulled out all the stops for its annual year-end Mega Party: bounce houses, obstacle courses, dancing at centerfield, frozen T-shirt contests, sports, and yes — enormous inflatable balls large enough for students to enter and roll around.

This year, Willowcreek connected the fun with a deeper purpose — a Relay for Life with the American Cancer Society. The Willowcreek school family includes several cancer survivors, including both principals, and a few faculty are currently battling cancer.

To continue reading, click here for the full NWI Times story.

Is It Acceptable to Study on the Sabbath? (Talk Back Series)

Question: Is it acceptable to study on the Sabbath?

[This question can in on a Talk Back card at our church.]

Unless we want to be really legalistic, we can’t say that studying is NEVER allowed on the Sabbath.  But let’s think about the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20: 8-11.  God says, "Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God.  On that day no one in your household may do any work.  This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you.  For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy."  

This passage - along with loads of others - talks about "keeping the Sabbath holy".  God created the world and everything in it in six days, but on the seventh day, he didn't work.  He rested. 

One thing we need to consider is whether or not studying is actual work.  In our sermon series on Sabbath, we have talked a lot about making sure that we don't do anything on the Sabbath that we consider to be work.  For students, school and studying is basically their job.  They work hard at it - harder in Korea than in any other developed nation.  We all need a break sometimes, and the Sabbath is the break that God knew we would need.  If students are studying on the Sabbath, are they really getting a break?  Are they really able to take time to de-stress, not worry about grades or test scores, or just have fun with their friends and family? 

In the 10 commandments, God said that not only the parents or adults who have a job are to rest from their work, but even the children, servants, animals and foreigners should observe the Sabbath.  No one was excluded from the command to rest.