Fantastic Fall Festival Fun!

Here are a few photos from last weekend's Fall Festival! 1600 people (at least!) enjoyed a beautiful October California evening, complete with great food, games, 2 huge bouncers, great music, and lots of candy! Here's Lilly the Cat!

Here's Jillian and Hudson! I can't tell if Jillian is taking candy away from Hudson or giving him Candy! I'm sure it's the later :)

Looks like little Carlie was pooped out... good thing grandpa was there to give her a place to crash while mom and dad were working at a booth!!

Part of the Gilbert Family having fun... check out those tats on Lisa... wow, Lisa, I had no idea!!!

And of course our amazing band! Great job guys!

Thanks everyone for making our 19th Annual Fall Festival such a huge success! We hope to see many of those who came to "visit" come back again soon to see us on Sunday morning!

What God wants us to Learn From Penguins

Today I had the fun privilege of speaking to our elementary school chapel (Lakewood Christian School K through 5th). I always get to do chapel at LCS the week right before Fall Festival so I can pump up FF to the kids. It's not a good week for me to plan a chapel, so I try to start very early in September to start planning what I'm going to talk about. Over the years, I usually do some kind of character quality that I think is important for the kids to think about as they begin their school year, like sharing, or lying/ honesty, or friendship, or something like that. This year, I decided to talk about PENGUINS! Penguins? In October? Yes, Penguins..... we can learn a lot from penguins... so here you go... Here is my chapel talk for today.

I know this is not the normal time of year that we learn about penguins or talk about penguins, but because I love penguins so much, I thought it would be fun to do a whole chapel based on penguins… and THEN I heard that Mr. Kell wrote a song about penguins… well then that sealed the deal! I knew it was meant to be!
Did you know that there are about 20 different kinds of penguins?
1. Chinstrap Penguins
2. Emperor Penguins (those are the biggest ones!)
3. Fairy Penguins (those are the smallest ones)
4. King Penguins
5. Rockhopper Penguins
And a bunch more!
There’s even one called the Macaroni Penguin… (my favorite, because of his funny yellow bushy eyebrows!)

So let me tell you a little bit about Penguins and why I think they are one of God’s most amazing creatures and why they always remind me of how much God loves me….
You see, none of us are the same, are we!? Just as there are 20 different kinds of penguins, there are way more than 20 different kinds of kids! Some of us are tall like the emperor penguin and some of us are teeny tiny like the fairy penguin. The fairy penguin is less than 3 pounds….. that’s less than HALF of what all of you weighed when you were born. Some penguins have feathers on their head, and some of them have little red marks on their eyes or on their beaks, just like some of us have freckles all over their bodies, or ears that stick out, or feet that are pointed inward instead of outward.

There are a lot of things that Penguins aren't very good at; or they CAN'T DO....They walk funny, and they waddle, and their wings are so short they can’t even fly; they can’t use their arms to crack open their food like a monkey or a bear; they can’t fight off other penguins in the wild with their sharp teeth or lightening fast speed like a cougar or a jaguar or a lion. You know there are a lot of things that I can’t do either that I wish I could do…
*I can’t fly
*can’t play the flute
*can’t jump the pole vault
*can’t swim to Catalina and back...
Are there some things you CAN'T DO? Of course there are! But God doesn't want us to focus on those things or worry about those things.

CAN DO: But there are so many amazing things that penguins CAN DO: God made them so unique and so special and unlike any other creature.
Did you know that some of them can eat snow when they can’t find fish or kreel to eat; that because of their white bellies, they are almost totally camoflauged in the water, so that a predator below them looking up at them can’t tell that it’s a penguin… He just thinks it’s the reflective surface of the water. God not only created them, He protects them every day, just like He protects us. He doesn’t just make us and throw us out there, He keeps on taking care of us every day, every moment.

The large emperor penguins (4 ft. tall!) can stay under water and swim for almost 22 minutes… I don’t think any of us can do that, BUT there are amazing things that we can do that no one else can do. We can sing & worship and give praise to the Lord Jesus. We can pray for our friends who don’t know him and talk to our friends about Jesus and tell our friends how much God loves them.

Penguin Moms and Dads are known for their unique teamwork and cooperation with each other. After mom lays a baby penguin EGG, Dad holds the egg on top of his feet for many months while MOM goes out and looks for FOOD, food for mom, dad and the baby. Mom could just go off by herself and leave and say, You know it’s way too far to go look for food. I’m way too tired. I think I’ll just eat these shrimp over hear on this tropical island and forget about dad and jr. way back over there in “snowy ville”…. And I’m so tired of swimming. But mom always comes back. God created penguin moms and dads to be a TEAM. To cooperate with each other. While moms are out swimming and looking for food, the DADS are huddled together trying to keep warm in the middle of a snowstorm. You’d think they’d want to go sit down somewhere and watch a football game and eat some pretzels, but they can’t. They huddle together and protect each other, and when dad gets really cold and thinks he can’t go on anymore, then the uncles and aunts and grandpa’s trade places with him and make sure he’s doing ok. They know they have an important job to do… to help JR. survive and stay inside that egg until he’s ready to be born. He is totally dedicated and committed to the task God made him for. He knows his purpose in life. He knows why he is designed the way he is designed.
YOU and ME:
Do you know why you are made the way you are made? Do you know why you are good at math and maybe not so good at playing a musical instrument? Or why you are super great at playing soccer, but not so good at spelling? We can’t all be great at everything. God didn’t design us that way. But we can learn some important lessons from our friends the penguins. We need each other. We need to cooperate together and take care of each other. And we need to do what WE’RE good at while someone else does what they’re good at. Just like the mom and dad penguins do their individual unique jobs, with the purpose in mind of helping that baby penguin come into the world.
What’s the purpose God made us for?
Psalm 78:4 says that we are to tell the next generation the praises of the Lord and about his strength and His wondrous works. That’s your job. That’s why God put you here on this earth. To keep the message of his glory and power and strength going and going and going. If you weren’t here on this earth, then there would be certain people who would never hear about the Lord Jesus. This generation, like people MY AGE will wear out and fizzle out and die, and the message of Jesus would STOP unless YOU, the next generation, keeps the message going. If you know the purpose God made you for, and you know the gifts and strengths He gave you, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to swim away with the message? Or are you going to “cooperate” with the other people around you to make sure the message keeps going?
God never intended for you to spread his message all alone. He wants you to be a part of the team; just like the mom and dad and aunt and uncle penguins all live together to make sure those baby penguins get born! You were made on purpose!

Kid U 09-10 has begun

Kid U & Preppies, our Wednesday night club ministry, are up and running in full swing! We have more kids than ever, but there's still room for lots more, so I hope you'll join us if you have children age three up through 5th Grade. Here are a few pictures of our kids having fun already in their elective classes... woodworking, scrapbooking, "It's Your Move," and "Extreme Games." We also have Sign Language and "Preppie Leaders In Training" a class that allows our 5th graders to learn about serving in our preschool area.

Kid U & Preppies meets every Wednesday at 6:30! There is no cost to sign up. A few of the electives have a small fee. We have crafts, games, puppets, and a time in God's word with godly leaders who love your kids are who are excited about helping your kids grow in their relationship with Christ! Give us a call if you have any questions...... 562. 420-1471 ext. 144

VBS 09 Was So Great!

Crocodile Dock VBS... Where Fearless Kids Shine God's Light! July 27-31! Thanks so much to the 130 volunteers who made it such a great week for the 200 kids who came.

From preschoolers to 5th graders, and even our youth and adult helpers, we all such a FUN week! We were busy making crafts, playing games, preparing cute and tasty snacks that reminded us of the Bible stories, we learned some fun new songs during morning worship, and then our Bible teachers helped bring the Bible to LIFE for us!

Atlantis Park Adventure Day

A fantastic day at Atlantis Park today for our kids! We have an outing just about every Thursday during the summer (except for VBS weeks and stuff like that!). It's great to see our kids making new friends, inviting their neighbors, and just hanging out together. Atlantis park is a small "play center" within the boundaries of Garden Grove park in Garden Grove. It's $1.00 to get in, and the cool thing is that kids are only allowed with an adult and adults are only allowed with a child, so there are no "strange" adults hanging around inappropriately. We started with a nice lunch time in the pavillion area, and then started exploring! It didn't take the kids very long to find the "wild" bunnies (that were obviously very used to having kids poke and chace it!) After a little exploring, we had a scavenger hunt, and then time for more exploring! Thanks counselors for a great day and thanks kids for making today soooo fun!

2009 Arbor Road 500

One of my favorite days of the year! This past Sunday was our Pinewood Derby race... a barbeque and then the race. We had 4 division... preschool/ 1st & 2nd grade/ 3rd - 5th Grade/ and then Youth & Adult. I love this day because we get to be all together as a church family.

Here is the Wahlstrom family (plus some boyfriends!), including Gary who did all our cooking in the red shirt and blue hat. Thanks Gary! And here's Beth's boyfriend Marcus, who

is from Sweden. He tried so hard to make a car that would beat Gary's car... sorry Marcus! But it sure did look good! And finally, here are our Grand Champion winners for the fastest cars of the day:
3rd place, Hannah Rockwood (2nd grade); 2nd place: Cayden Ziemke (8th Grade) and Firs Place: Bryce Love (4th Grade.) Great Job everyone... and thanks to all our helpers for making the day go so smoothly. Until next year!

Aloha To my Sweet 5th Graders!

This past Friday night was our goodbye party for our 5th Graders, as they will be "moving up" to our Middle School Ministry at church in a few weeks. It was at the fabulous Johnson house (Thanks Matt, Jeni, Toby and Tylie!) and the kids had a blast!

Here's a picture (below) of Sarah and Sabrina getting ready to HULA! Can you see that giant backyard! A 5th graders paradise!

As our dads, Matt, Geoff, and Dwayne, grilled the burgers and dogs, the moms had a chance to get to know each other better. After dinner we had some silly games (dress like a tourist.... wow, the kids really got into it!) ate more cookies and brownies and went home full of sugar!

Here's Julia doing gettin' her HULA on! Good Job Julia!And AJ struttin' his stuff as a tacky tourist in Hawaii! The hula skirts were way too big for them so they had to hold onto the skirts while running, as well as hold on to their hats, and sunglasses, to prevent them from falling off while running. This made for some very funny running!

Goodbye (or "aloha") to an amazing group of kids.... most of you I've known since you were TWO. I remember watching you play together in the two year old room at church when I first became your pastor. You are GOOD FRIENDS to each other, you are kind to new kids who join the group, you are serious about reaching your friends for Christ, you are eager to study God's Word and figure out what it means for your life, you are a LOT of fun to be with and I'd party with you any day! I will never ever drive past the Rockview Dairy on Bellflower and Del Amo again without hearing Solomon shouting in my ear, "Zombie Cow! Zombie Cow!" I can't wait to watch and see what God does in and through your lives. I know I will see pastors, missionaries, teachers, godly businessmen and women, loving moms and dads/ husbands and wives, and Kingdom/ World Changers! Oh yeah, and at least one Marine Biologist :) I'm glad we have a few more weeks in Sunday School together before you officially leave the Children's Department and enter the Middle School Ministry. And I'm also VERY glad that I will still be involved in your lives as you come back to serve in the Children's Department and use the amazing gifts God has bestowed upon you. I love you all. See you AROUND 1BL! Thanks for letting me love on you and be a part of what God is doing in your lives.