Focus Sports Camp 2010 - Day 1 (AM Session)

We had a fantastic first morning of sports camp.  The kids, parents, coaches, blue shirt people and excellent weather all pulled together to make it an outstanding day!  The schedule mixes together skills and drills, snack time, devotion time and of course with warm weather, plenty of water breaks!

Here's a glimpse of today's morning session:

Sports are a great way to promote teamwork, develop positive attitude and self-esteem.  At Focus Sports Camp, we also spend time learning the life skills that God teaches us through His Word, the Bible.

Today's devotion time was centered around Psalm 18:2 "the Lord is my Rock, my Protector and my Savior". 
We also studied Matthew 7:24-27 which includes Jesus saying "Everyone who hears these things I say and obeys them is like a wise man.  The wise man built his house on the rock, but the person who hears the things I teach and does not obey them is like a foolish man.  The foolish man builds his house on sand."

The coaches and kids talked about these Bible verses and how they apply to our lives.  We ended with this prayer "Thank you God for being the strong Rock that we can build our life upon!"

We can't wait for Focus Sports Camp day two!  Come back tomorrow to check out the day two video!

Focus Sports Camp - Volunteer Staff Make It Happen

REMEMBERING LAST YEAR...CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS YEAR!

Sports Camp Is Almost Here...remember last year?

LAST YEAR HAD SOME REALLY AMAZING EXPERIENCES...LOOK BACK AND REMEMBER!

Vocal Artistry

On April 17, fourteen of our worship team vocalists had the opportunity to attend a fantastic day-long seminar called “Vocal Artistry”. Tim Carson, fantastic vocal instructor and vocal coach from Seattle, Washington was the presenter. His unique approach to building vocal strength, range, tone and other vocal styling’s were refreshing and challenging to say the least.

Tim Carson, from Seattle Washington

Bernice and Mandi

Christene (far left) and Jennifer (3rd from right) working on developing their “chest voice”

Jennifer, a classically trained singer being stretched as Tim seeks a contemporary tone in this exercise.

A few of our vocalists…I think they’re having a good day

More of the gang (Christene moved fast and found her way in this picture too!)

Focus on Marriage Simulcast

On February 27, Parma Heights Baptist Church hosted an incredibly meaningful marriage building event simply called, “Focus on Marriage”. Over 30 couples from our church and the community joined thousands of couples all across the country as we celebrated God’s design for commitment. This marriage strengthening simulcast tackled Christianity’s biggest challenges—empowering you and your spouse to stay faithful, committed and encouraged in your marriage. With Focus on Marriage, we received wisdom, encouragement and knowledge from leading marriage teachers such as Gary Thomas, Kirk Cameron, Drs. Les & Leslie Parrott, Francis Chan and Dr. Gary Chapman, all of whom have a passion for seeing marriages thrive – specifically yours! Great resources were available immediately to continue what was started at the simulcast. Pastor Dan led us in prayer following a nation-wide marriage recommitment ceremony.

Maximize Ministry

On Saturday, March 6, the First Impressions ministry launched our new “Connection Ministry”. This ministry is all about warming up the building with more people intentionally working to connect people with each other, whether it’s someone’s first visit or if they are a long-time member. This fantastic night was designed to draw people in, show them what the Connection Team does and get them excited to do their part. We were thrilled to see nearly 70 people invest a Saturday evening to see what the “Connection Ministry” is all about.

A great soup, salad and dessert supper started the evening.

Kraig showed us his passion as he laid out the vision for the Connection Team.

Annette and Pam right before the event began.

Sue and Terry shared some of the important details.

Women's Retreat 2010 - Sweet Life Cafe

The Sweet Life Cafe opened its doors this weekend to women who were hungry and thirsty for God. Ninety-five ladies gathered together on Friday and Saturday to learn about truly savoring their relationship with the Savior. We came to understand that He offers us relief from our hunger and thirst. He wants to fill us with the Bread of Life and Everlasting Water. As we came together we were able to worship His goodness and celebrate the differences He created in all of us. We laughed and cried together as we became more than just women who pass in the hallways of church, but rather friends who are walking on this journey together. In our closing session we were also called to make a difference in someone’s life by praying for them and then giving them a sweet treat we created with our own hands. It was a wonderful weekend of being refreshed!