Northpoint Corona Church

Archive for June, 2010

Pray for Our Students

Posted by Jonathan Clubb in Uncategorized | No Comments

Tonight is an important night at camp. Aaron is bringing the message of Redemption right now and is preaching powerfully. Pray for soft hearts and open eyes.

Evening Worship Time, Day 1

Posted by Jonathan Clubb in Senior High | 1 Comment

Thank you all for your continued prayer. Today was a great day. Here’s a shot of the group while Aaron Bacon (our speaker) preaches God’s Word.

We’re Here!!

Posted by Jonathan Clubb in Senior High | No Comments

Here and having a great time!

Here’s everyone geting into teams.

On Our Way!

Posted by Jonathan Clubb in Senior High | No Comments

We’re on our way to SH River Camp! Pray for a safe week and for God to work in great ways!

Summer Camp Tomorrow

Posted by Jonathan Clubb in Senior High | No Comments

Friends,

I can’t wait for Summer Camp Tomorrow!

I will be posting updates here with pics throughout the week. Check back.

Also, you can go to facebook for some videos I will post.

Please pray that God works in big ways!

Here’s my pre-camp game face…

Beware of the Mountaintop!

Posted by Jonathan Clubb in Senior High | 2 Comments
(another great blog from our brother Jay Hobbs!)
Well, it’s June again, and that means but one thing in the life of Student Ministries–Summer Camp!
Nothing like the combination of camp-dirt and milk-chug, along with the nightly camp fire and daily time of sitting under the Word in both individual and community-wide meetings.
But this blog is written as a warning to would-be campers, especially those at our beloved Northpoint Church, nestled in the heart of that center of the universe known as Corona.
The warning is this: Beware the Mountaintop.
Maybe it’s a dated expression by now, but I remember like it was yesterday my old pastor, Jim Holmes, talking about a phenomenon he called a “Mountaintop Experience.” Now, Pastor Holmes was about 80 years old when I knew him, and he’s since gone home to be with the Lord, but his expression has stuck with me ever since I was a little boy.
When Pastor Holmes talked about the Mountaintop Experience, he meant that ‘spiritual’ high that has always been so common among believers when we’ve been surrounded by God’s Word and God’s People for a weekend.
The problem with the Mountaintop is that it’s all-too-often an illusion because it’s all-too-often based on emotion, not on Truth.
There’s a great story about my favorite musician of all time, Rich Mullins. He had a great line for people who would come up to him after his concerts to share about how the Holy Spirit had moved in their hearts during one of his songs. Rich would look at them and say, “No, that’s actually when the kick drum and the bass came in. It’s easy to mistake energy and emotion for worship.”
When you go up to Summer Camp at the end of this week, dear Northpoint Student, pray to the Lord that you would not mistake emotion for worship, experience for obedience.
How do you know when you’re really worshipping? It’s when you’re obeying difficult commands of Jesus, like loving your enemy. Or, more to the point, it’s when you come down off the mountain and obey your parents with a genuine heart.
Another way to tell whether or not you’ve actually encountered the Living God up at camp is to ask yourself this question: “Do I want to be part of the community of believers (at Northpoint) week-in and week-out?”
You see, emotional experiences destroy real community, because they hold community to an unrealistic standard. We believers are at the same time fallen sinners and beloved saints, so real community means that we’ll bump into each other’s sin and interact with each other even on our off-days.
The Mountaintop Experience expects my brother to be on his game all the time, and so when I see him struggling with pride and selfishness, I reject him because he’s getting in the way of me and Jesus. I shout at my brother from my lofty Mountaintop perch, along with the Rolling Stones, “Hey, you, get offa my cloud!”
Friends, let’s come down off the mountain after this summer camp and love each other more deeply with the type of love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things”. After all, that is the kind of Son-sending love that God has shown us.
“Nothing is easier than to stimulate the glow of fellowship in a few days of life together, but nothing is more fatal to the sound, sober brotherly fellowship of everyday life … It is not the experience of Christian brotherhood, but solid and certain faith in brotherhood that holds us together.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Life Together)

Elephant in the Room

Posted by Jonathan Clubb in Senior High | No Comments

Friends!

I was so encouraged by our time yesterday!  It was great to see you all taking God’s Word seriously and planning out how you will “Redeem your Summer!”.  I’m looking forward to seeing how God will work this Summer in each of your lives!  Don’t forget to help each other and hold each other accountable to what you have made as goals.  Also…the most important thing is to continue in prayer…you can’t redeem your summer without God working in you to do so.

I’m also very excited about tomorrow night!  Tomorrow night, our BIG Tuesday Summer Kick-Off, a good time will be had by all!  We will have some sweet competition…that may involve water balloons.  We will have a sweet time of worship together.  And we get to hear from our Lead Pastor, John Sloan.  Pastor John will be coming to teach the Word and will specifically talking about “The Elephant in the Room: What does God Think About Homosexuality?”

I know that more and more you are being faced with this issue…in your schools, on tv, with friends, etc…and we need to know what God thinks and how God calls His church to respond.

I know this may not be your typical “summer kick-off” message, but I really believe it will be helpful for all of us…helping us know what God thinks and helping us know how to respond with both love and truth.

Please join us for our BIG Tuesday Summer Kick-Off!  7-9pm in the Student Ministries Room @ Northpoint!

See you then,

Ken

Redeeming the Summer

Posted by Jonathan Clubb in Senior High | 1 Comment

What would a Summer that was well-spent look like?

This coming Sunday, we will be mapping out what a well-spent Summer looks like in small groups…each of us having opportunity to physically draw out what this looks like.  When August 11th rolls around and you once again darken the doors of your high school…will you be able to look back and say that Summer was not a waste?

We will be looking into God’s Word this Tuesday night to see what it means to “redeem time”…who knew time could be redeemed?!  We will specifically be talking about redeeming our Summers.  On Sunday, we will get into small groups and map out what we want our Summers to look like…better yet, what God wants them to look like.

I don’t want to have a Summer of low-hopes, unmet goals, and wasted opportunities…I want to make the most of this Summer.  I hope you’re with me!

I remember coming home from college every Summer with lofty goals of what I would accomplish…read these 10 books, answer these theological questions, run 5 miles every day…only to end the Summer with a fizzle.  I hated the feeling of a wasted Summer.  I determined to make the next Summer end on a different note.

So…as we approach this coming Summer, let’s desire something great!  Let’s make big goals!  And then, let’s commit them to God in prayer and ask Him to work in big ways.  If we don’t depend on Him, our summers are destined to end with a fizzle instead of a bang.

Start thinking about these and be ready to make a plan this coming Sunday.

Anyone want to share your goals/dreams/aspirations for the Summer here?  What would a Summer that was not wasted look like for you?  Be realistic and give some tangible ideas.

Senior High Summer Camp

Posted by Jonathan Clubb in Event, Senior High | 1 Comment
Where: Frandy Campground on the Kern River
When: Friday, June 25-Wednesday, June 30
Cost: Early Registration (May 27-June 6): $190.00 with $50.00
deposit
After June 6: $200.00 with $50.00 deposit
Optional: $20.00 for half day/single run, 4 mile trip on the
Kern River
Sign up: Parent BBQ May 27, after May 27 on Sunday mornings
@ Info Center, Tuesday nights @ SH Bible Study, and during
the week in the Church Office
Contact: Carolee Jefferson at cjefferson@northpointcorona.org
Northpoint Evangelical Free Church 988 West Ontario Avenue Corona, CA 92882 951.734.1335 (Sundays 9:00, & 10:45)