Welcome, More New Members!

In the first two weeks of December, our family grew by four!

Welcome to Nathan and Natalie Hinds

and Michael and Carla Roberson!

Why is Jesus better than Santa Claus?

Thanks to Scott who read this for us in class today.

Santa rides in a sleigh...

JESUS RIDES ON THE WIND AND WALKS ON THE WATER.

Santa comes but once a year...

JESUS IS AN EVER PRESENT HELP.

Santa fills your stockings with goodies...

JESUS SUPPLIES ALL YOUR NEEDS.

Santa comes down your chimney uninvited...

JESUS STANDS AT YOUR DOOR AND KNOCKS, AND THEN ENTERS YOUR HEART WHEN INVITED.

You have to wait in line to see Santa...

JESUS LETS YOU REST IN HIS ARMS.

Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi little boy, or girl, what's your name?"...

JESUS KNEW OUR NAME BEFORE WE WERE BORN. NOT ONLY DOES HE KNOW OUR NAME, HE KNOWS OUR ADDRESS TOO. HE KNOWS OUR HISTORY AND FUTURE AND HE EVEN KNOWS HOW MANY HAIRS ARE ON OUR HEADS.

Santa has a belly like a bowl ful of jelly...

JESUS HAS A HEART FULL OF LOVE.

All Santa can offer is a "HO HO HO"...

JESUS OFFERS HEALTH, HELP, AND HOPE.

Santa says "You better not cry"...

JESUS SAYS "CAST ALL YOUR CARES ON ME FOR I CARE FOR YOU."

Santa may make you chuckle but...

JESUS GIVES YOU JOY THAT IS YOUR STRENGHT.

While Santa puts gifts under your tree...

JESUS BECAME OUR GIFT AND DIED ON A TREE...THE CROSS.

We need to put Christ back in CHRISTmas, Jesus is still the reason for the season.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

Tidings!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM YOUR FAMILY TIES LEADERSHIP TEAM!!!!!

WE THANK GOD FOR EACH OF YOU AND CAN'T WAIT FOR WHAT GOD IS GOING TO DO IN US AND THROUGH US IN 2008!

Welcome, Baby Lauren!

Brandon, Stephanie and Carter Tirey welcome the newest addition to their precious family, Lauren DeAnn. She was born on December 3rd around 8:00am, weighs 8 lbs and 8 ounces and is 21 1/4 inches long. We can't wait to see her! Congratulations, Tirey family!

Welcome to the Family!

Please take a few minutes to welcome the newest members of the Family Ties family who have joined over the last two weeks:

Toby and Jennifer Bearden

Scott and Stacey Camp

Brian and Karen Scott

The Beardens and the Scotts will soon be adding another member to the family. They are expecting!

Please welcome these three families and be sure to say hello next time you are in class!

Dear Family Ties,

We are going to sponsor a family this year for Christmas. There will be an Angel Tree in our class this Sunday with children that need our love & support this holiday season. Please take an Angel off the tree & provide us with the money for the gift. Please return your Angel by Sunday December 9th.

I look forward to seeing all of you in church Sunday & hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.

Love you all,

Amy

FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS...

Get Ready for ONE BIG WORSHIP

This is one of the awesome worship songs we will be singing on Sunday. Get ready! I am so fired up for our church and our families.

Things Not To Say To Your Pregnant Wife

I love my wife and NEVER would any of these utterances come out of my mouth. But they are funny nonetheless!! Guys, here's a hint: Before you say something to your pregnant wife, make sure it's NOT on this list.

15. "Y'know, looking at her, you'd never guess that Pamela Anderson had a baby!"

14. "I sure hope your thighs aren't gonna stay that flabby forever!"

13. "Well, couldn't they induce labor? The 24th is the Iron Bowl!"

12. "Darned if you ain't about 5 pounds away from a surprize visit from that Richard Simmons fella."

11. "Fred at the office passed a kidney stone the size of a pea. Boy, that's gotta hurt!"

10. "Whoa! For a minute there, I thought I woke up next to Willard Scott!"

9. "I'm jealous! Why can't men experience the joy of childbirth?"

8. "Are your ankles supposed to look like that?"

7. "Get your OWN ice cream."

6. "Geez, you're awfully puffy looking today!"

5. "I finished the Oreos!"

4. "Got milk?"

3. "Man! That rose tattoo on your hip is the size of Madagascar!"

2. "Retaining water? Yeah, like the Hoover Dam retains water."

... and finally ...

1. "Not to imply anything, but I don't think the kid weighs 40 pounds."

What If...

You missed a good time if you missed Family Ties this morning (Nov. 11). Amy McClendon did a great job facilitating The Quest. One thing I did learn is that cheating will get you a win from time to time (ahem...Care Group 3!!)

Remember that next Sunday, November 18, will be One Big Worship at 9:30AM in the gym. There will be preschool care for birth to age 5. First grade and up will be in One Big Worship. Please dont forget to wear tennis shoes. Please leave the high heels (Jason Prickett) or black sole shoes at home.

The following week, November 25, we will begin a new 5-week seies called "What If...". This will be another series by Perry Noble (the teacher from "Lord of the Rings"). We will examine the question, "What if..?" What if the things that happened in the Bible happened today. What if we experienced the devotion and commitment that we read about in Scripture? What if we believed, loved and forgave the way people did in the Bible? What if we saw lives changed the way that lives were miraculously changed in Scripture? It's going to be a fun and exciting series as we will be stretched as believers to grasp a Biblical concept of God's power. We will learn that God is still capable of doing the same things today that He did in His Word.

The Quest

Hi Guys…its game time…we will be playing a fun game Sunday Nov. 11th in class. I don’t want to give too much away but it is going to be a blast. The winning care group gets a breakfast free month…the losing care groups will take care of your breakfast next month!!

For bonus points post on this entry (don’t forget to mention your care group number) & print this post. You will need it in class on Sunday. If for some reason you can’t get it printed, just let me know in your post & I’ll print it for you & bring it Sunday!

It’s going to be fun & a MUST NOT MISS Sunday so I can’t wait to see everyone there.

Have a great week & see you Sunday!

Good Bless,
Amy

Our New Child...Its a Boy!

Hi Family Ties,

Friday night Nov. 2nd a group of us went to the Casting Crowns concert. (It was awesome by the way.) Anyway, while we were there we learned of a mission called World Vision www.worldvision.org . It is where you “adopt” a child & support via $30 a month donation.

So…congratulation Family Ties…It’s a BOY!!! With a class this size we should have no problem supporting our new son. His name is Alex & he is from Ecuador. He is 4 (Rhonda correct me if I’m wrong on that).

Please bring your dollars or spare change to help our new little boy. We will have a collection set up where you can donate at your leisure. Thanks for your help with this wonderful ministry.

Project ONE: The Moody Miracle League

If you haven't signed up yet...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?!?! This weekend is the last chance to participate in the Moody Miracle League portion of our PROJECT ONE mission endeavor this fall. Ask anyone who has been involved thus far...It's not something we will soon forget! Here is a slide show of some of the action from this past Saturday. If you are interested in finding out more, contact your Care Group Leader, or our Directors, Rhonda and Jason.

PICNIC

Our class picnic will be next Sunday, October 14th at the church at the playground area. Bring your blankets, chairs, dinner and drinks at 4:00.

We will have an activity for your children to do while you are there - they are going to decorate our goodie bags that we will be giving the kids involved with the Moody Miracle League and the Ronald McDonald House.

Sign up here if you will be attending!

If we get rained out, we will still have our picnic inside in the seminar room (by the nursery).

Sunday's Gonna Be Huge!

This Sunday, October 7th is going to be huge day for our Family Ties family. We will be signing up for our Project One Mission project with the Moody Mirable League and the Ronald McDonald House.

We need everyone to participate in some form or fashion, whether it is being a buddy for a boy or girl at the Moody Miracle League, helping with their end of the season party, donating snacks, preparing a dish to carry to the Ronald McDonald House, serving a meal at the RMH, donating $$$$$$, or donating household items. Please prayerfully consider how your family would like to serve. This is definitely a family affair, so you don't have to worry about what you are going to do with your kids!

If you are still confused about what Project One is, click on the following video made by our very own resident movie maker, Brandi Caldwell: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3456024963006910706.

If you will out of class on Sunday, please let either myself or your care group leader how you would like to serve!

See you all on Sunday!

Care Group 1 Breakfast Sign Up

This Sunday is our Sunday for Breakfast. Let us know what you will be bringing so we don't have duplicates. This Sunday is also our Sign Up for our Project One Missions Project. Hope to see everyone this Sunday!!

So This Is What It's All About?

This past Sunday, we began our six-week series called "Lord of the Rings". In this first lesson, Perry spoke about what marriage is and how God ordained it Genesis 2. We learned that success in marriage is followed by a surrender to scripture. At the end, we were given a homework assignment. For review, here it is:

1. Schedule a date by the end of this month. A date is a night that you and your spouse go out WITHOUT kids and leave your Nextels and PDAs and all that other stuff at home and keep a cell phone ONLY FOR EMERGENCIES!! An emergency in NOT calling to check up on the kids. If you need to check on the kids, that probably means that your sitter is completely incompetent OR you're having a problem with letting go of the kids for a couple of hours!! Remember this: It's better to spend a few bucks on a babysitter now than spending thousands of dollars on divorce attorneys later.

2. Pray together out loud with your spouse. Remember that prayer is simply talking to God. If you have problems talking to God, then you probably have problems talking to your spouse. This may be weird for you because you have never prayed out loud with your spouse. Try it. You'll love it!! You'll be amazed at how much better your verbal communication with your spouse will be when your verbal communication with your Heavenly Father is strong!! Oh yeah -- saying the blessing at the dinner table DOES NOT constitute praying out loud with your spouse.

3. Study the Bible together. This one will take some work. Take some time this week and go through God's Word and find a verse or passage in the Bible that can be your theme verse for your marriage. Don't be surprised if when you are exploring Scripture, you discover a whole lot more than a theme verse for your marriage. Be careful, you just may fall in love with God's Word!!

Now if you missed the first lesson, please don't give up!! You can get caught up in a matter of one hour. There are 168 hours between 9:30AM on Sundays. You can certainly find one hour that you can get away from sports, drama, reality TV, or the news and get onto NewSpring Church's Resource Page, scroll down, and click on Lord of the Rings. The lesson name was "So This Is What It's All About?" (at the bottom of the page). You can watch the video or get the audio, your choice.

Remember, next week we'll learn about "Two Myths About Sex". That'll bring in a crowd!!

You Will NOT Want to Miss This Sunday!!!

Many of us want to ignore the "pink elephant" in the room and not bring attention to it out of fear that someone may get hurt or offended. Well it is time that we take on this "pink elephant" head to head. "What is this 'pink elephant'?" you may ask. This pink elephant has marital struggles, sexual miscommunication, infidelity, financial worries written all over it. The name of this pink elephant is divorce. All of us have been effected by divorce in one way or another. Maybe it was your parents. Maybe a sibling. It could have been a co-worker or a close friend. Maybe it was you. Maybe you're considering it. Maybe you're in the process of it.

This Sunday will mark a turning point in your life and in the life of our Bible Study group. This Sunday, we will be introduced to a series that will completely change the way you look at God and your spouse. It's entitled "Lord of the Rings" and you will not want to miss it.

Maybe your marriage is great. You will NOT want to miss it!! Maybe you're just going through the motions of marriage with no purpose or meaning. You will NOT want to miss it!! Maybe you're about to pack your bags. You will NOT want to miss it!! Maybe you're about to get married. You will NOT want to miss it!!

I encourage each one of you to begin right now to sincerely seek the face of God and desperately beg Him to work miracles through this series. I am a firm believer in the miracle of reconciliation. Please pray separately and as couples that God will pour out His spirit on this series. Pray with EXPECTATION that His power that saved us from an eternal damnation in Hell will rescue those going through the mire of struggle, separation, and divorce.

We need to invite everyone that we can think of to this series!! Let's not let Satan win another battle. We have the Lord of the Rings in our corner!!

550+ Students at CrossPoint Tonight!!!

We quit counting at 550. There was no well known guest speaker or big name band. There is, however, an Almighty God who desperately wants to save the lost -- He showed up!! Prayer warriors, please continue to lift up our student ministry. It is much needed. Revival is here!!! Captives are being set free, chains are being broken, and people are crossing the line of faith!! To HIM alone be the glory!!! There were quite a few salvations and well over 150-200 re-dedications!!

Care Group #1 Breakfast

Hello Care Group #1!! It's our Sunday for Breakfast!! Please leave a post and let everyone know what you will be bringing to help cut down on duplicate items. Thanks! Dianna