Hey Everyone, our first busy weekend in a string of busy weekends is here!  Gathering Pointe's First Annual Un-boo-lievable Spook-tacular is tomorrow night.  I have one question for you all, have you been praying for this event?  This is our biggest outreach we have had in our building with hundreds of post-cards handed out and I can't wait!  We've been praying for children in our kids' classes, praying for neighbors, praying that God would bust our walls out with people being ministered to by GPC.  I'm excited about the opportunity and besides that, it's going to be a blast!!  We need all of you to stop in tomorrow night and enjoy the evening, have some fun, and not only that, but take a part in serving those from our community that decide to come visit GPC.

Hey Everyone! I pray your weeks are going well. We've had some exciting things going on the last few weeks and I've been trying to put emails out to keep you in touch but today I'm updating the website instead!!


Two weeks ago was Sports Sunday where every child was encouraged to wear their favorite sports team's jersey. We had a blast with that!! We also had our Grand Opening for the Adventure Pointe Trading Post. It went well. Every child was able to buy something if they wanted to, it was a great success. I pray it helped motivate the kids to stick with the spiritual disciplines we are all called to as followers of Jesus.

I've noticed in the many years I've been associated with children clubs is that a large percentage of the kids will not do anything unless a parent is encouraging them and helping them organize their time. The last couple weeks the number of kids completing the take home sheets and saying verses has started to drop. I know things are tough with school and activities but what we are encouraging the kids to do is vitally important and doesn't really take much time to do over the course of the week. So parents, please help remind your kids of the importance of scripture memorization and devotional/prayer time this week. You and your kids will be glad you did!!

Last week we looked at the bible story about the Israelites, Moses, and the Golden Calf. We focused on the fact that God is a jealous God and He desires and commands that He is the ONLY god in our lives. Help your kids understand this week that God is the only one we are to worship, not sports heroes, dancers, singers, not even our President. I hope you worship God throughout your daily walk, bring alongside your kids and show them they too can worship God each day in every circumstance.

Verses for Sunday:
Trackers:
Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me”

Navigators:
Exodus 20:3-5 3 "You shall have no other gods before me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image”

Jr. Trail Guides:
Exodus 20:3-5 3 "You shall have no other gods before me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God”

Hi All! We had a great weekend this last weekend talking about how God is such and AWESOME provider for us. Our story last week was from Exodus 16 where we learned how God provided for the Israelites as they began their time in the wilderness. They were "starving" after a few days in the desert and they began complaining. But God provided manna every morning and quail every night so that they would have plenty to eat. No one lacked anything. That's good for our kids to learn. God not only provides for us but very often His provisions are better than what we could have asked. Manna that tastes like honey, quail cooked over a fire every night. Sounds pretty tasty to me considering their circumstances. But God is always good, emphasize that to your kids when they get a complaining spirit.

Hey Everyone, what a weekend! If my calculations are correct we had 21 kids in Adventure Pointe this last weekend with 15 in the K-5 grade groups. That's a fantastic start to our new year in Adventure Pointe. Also, you all did a GREAT job getting your kids here by 10:10am, we were hopping in Adventure Pointe. AWESOME!!

One thing that excites me about our new curriculum is that all of the kids from 2 years old through 5th grade all studied the same story from Exodus 13 and 14, Moses and Israel crossing the Red Sea. We talked about the incredible situation the Israelites were in with their backs against a sea and Egypt's army in hot pursuit. They were scared and I would have been too. How do you respond when you are scared, do you rely on God to show Himself in the impossible situation? Do you trust in Him to show His Power through the circumstance? God miraculously saved His children by splitting the Red Sea in half and providing dry ground for approximately 2 million men, women, and children to walk on as they crossed to their new life. Amazing!!

Parents, I want to encourage you to talk with your kids about how you and your children should respond when they are in scary situations too. Whether the kids are 2 or much older, the Israelites are examples to us in that after some complaining (not the best example) they trusted God and walked right through the Red Sea on dry ground. Are you trusting God and following His leading even when you don't understand what's going on around you and your back is against the wall? Be an example to your kids and show them how to follow an incredible God!

Our memory verse this week for the Explorers (pre-school) is Psalm 23:1 - "God gives me everything I need." (ESV - "The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.")

For the older kids it's Psalm 23:4 -

• Trackers (K-1st grade) - verse 4b - "I will fear no evil, for you are with me;"
• Navigators (2 - 3rd grade) - verse 4b - "I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."
• Jr. Trail Guides (4 - 5th grade) - verse 4 - "Even though I will walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

These are some great verses to commit to memory for future use plus the kids will get a reward for learning the weekly memory verse.

I pray you each have a wonderful week in which you help your kids "Know God and Bless the World"!

Well, can you believe it? The kids have started back to school and this Sunday, August 30 we will be having our kick-off Sunday for Adventure Pointe!! I am so pumped about all the new stuff we're implementing this fall. Probably the most important thing for you to know this week is that our schedule for AP has changed. Here's a rundown of the new schedule for all kids going into K-5th grade this fall:

• 10:00am - 10:10am: Check-in (this includes saying memory verses, checking bible study sheets, reporting any Christian Service or if the kids brought a visitor, and whether they brought their bibles)
• 10:10-10:25: Their bible lesson and some singing. This is when the lesson will be taught with the help of drama, props, etc.
• 10:25 - 11:00(ish): K-5th grades go back out worship with their parents.
• 11:00 - 11:45: Trail Guides will teach the kids in a small group setting. The Guides will apply the lesson on the kids' level through the means of games, question/answers, crafts, or any other creative way the main point can be absorbed.
• 11:45: Dismissal when parents come get them at their classroom (don't forget your parents' badges).

I'm excited on a number of levels about this new format for the kids. I think it will be a real hit. Some of you may not be too excited about coming early but there are some extra benefits, you'll get plenty of time to enjoy coffee and snacks as you fellowship with others before church. It's a win-win situation!! By the way, we will be handing out coupons during the check-in time for bible verses, etc mentioned above. This will be the only time coupons are handed out, so if the kids don't come early they won't have any chance at getting those extremely valuable coupons.

We really enjoy ministering to your kids and we thank you for the opportunity. The extra half-an-hour you sacrifice will enable us to do even more in the short amount of time we see your kids each week. We pray you will value the benefits as well and allow your kids the bonus of experiencing all Adventure Pointe has to offer.

See you Sunday!!
-Pd

Hi again from Adventure Pointe!  Parents, I want to take a couple lines to let you know what's starting up here in Adventure Pointe this summer.  As you can read from my last post, we are starting a summer curriculum that will end on August 23, our  "Move-up" Sunday.  

Hi Everyone! This summer the older kids in Adventure Pointe are starting a new series called "Route 66." We are starting in Genesis and we're traveling through the Bible in 8 weeks (yes we are speeding!) We will finish this series on "Move-up" Sunday on August 23. So far we've traveled from Genesis through Deuteronomy. The lesson today was from Numbers 13-14. Be sure to ask your kids about their lesson, and if they are going to trust God like Caleb and Joshua did!!

Verse for the week: Deuteronomy 6:4-5 -- "Hear O Israel: The LORD our God , the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

Hi Everyone, I want to welcome you to the Adventure Pointe website.  This website is intended for the parents of the kids involved in Adventure Pointe.  My goal is to put things on this website that will help you keep up with all the events going on in Adventure Pointe.  Eventually I'd like to make it a source where you as the parents can go and see what we cover each Sunday.  Also, I'd like to get bible studies that you can do with your kids on this website to help you learn about Jesus together as a family.  Thanks everyone and we'll see how this goes! :)