Habits

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During our morning discussions this week, our heroes spent some time discussing habits and how they play a role in our everyday lives. As a studio, everyone picked a habit to focus on this week. The heroes had so much insight!

 

“I think keeping having a place for everything would really help me because I have a hard time finding stuff sometimes. Even at home, my room is a little messy and it’s hard to find what I’m looking for.”

 

“I think not getting bogged down by perfectionism would help me the most because sometimes I get stuck and waste time that way.”

 

“ I think making a To-Do list would help me the most because then I know how to spend my time and I know what routines I need to do.”

 

Discussions play a major role at Journey Academy as they give our heroes a chance to learn from each other’s ideas and apply their learning to real life. I am often amazed by their comments and how they are growing! A few more of our discussions this week included:

 

  • Which “Habit of Success” do you think is the MOST important?
    • Get up early
    • Read A LOT
    • Pray/Meditate
    • Exercise
    • Spend time with people who inspire you
    • Pursue goals
    • Get enough sleep
    • Work hard
    • Don’t waste time
  • Which organization habit would help you the MOST?
    • Keep it simple
    • Develop routines
    • Have a place for everything and keep everything in its place
    • Keep a current and detailed To-Do list
    • Don’t get bogged down by perfectionism
    • Toss things daily
  • How do you connect with God during your prayer/journal time?
  • How productive was your project time today (A little productive, Productive, or VERY productive) and why?
  • What was your greatest challenge today and why? What was the highlight of your day and why?
  • What stood out to you about Katie Davis’ journey with God? John Wesley’s? Jim Elliot’s? How does accepting Christ change a person’s journey?

 

Project time this week has been focused on God’s word. Our heroes learned how The Bible was put together, why the scripture is authoritative, and then learned how the Bible is organized. Our heroes also looked at scientific evidence of God’s creation (rock formations and artifacts that have been dug up by archeologists), and learned that true science aligns with God’s word.

Next week, our heroes will dive into some apologetics. In addition, they will spend some time reflecting on what they have learned about themselves through this quest; their gifts, the ways they like to serve, and how they hear from God.  

 

A few other highlights this week included:

  • One of our middle school heroes lead a powerful study on prayer-and How to Pray according to God’s will.
  • Jerry Tubergen visited us on Thursday, and shared part of his personal journey.
  • Our heroes enjoyed a Pajama Day on Friday!
  • 2 of our heroes lead a P.E. session on Gymnastics!

Highly Motivated Heroes

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Our heroes are highly motivated in their learning throughout the day. During our discussions, the heroes show eagerness to take turns in sharing previous knowledge or experiences, relating their ideas based on connections they have made, agreeing or disagreeing with friends, or asking thought-provoking questions. When they begin core skills, our heroes’ motivation gives them direction in setting their goals, focus to stay on task on the work they have chosen, and energy to persevere to meet their goals.

Motivation arises from our learning environment wherein heroes independently learn and behave in ways that promote long-term success and productivity. The freedom to make choices for core skills paves the way for the heroes to strive to succeed in their learning with increased effort and energy. Their work is directly related to their personal learning needs and goals so they pursue each task enthusiastically and wholeheartedly. Because they are intrinsically motivated, the heroes initiate activities they actually want to do and they continue working on it until they have completed the task.

During project time, our heroes engage in purposeful activities that help them develop ideas and skills they believe is important. Many times our heroes become so focused on and absorbed in an activity that they lose track of time and completely ignore other tasks on the schedule. Because they are intrinsically motivated, they tackle tasks willingly and eagerly and process information in effective ways. Intrinsic motivation encourages the heroes to make sense of and apply what they are learning and will increase the chances that they will continue their learning long after they have left their formal education behind.

This week we have been exploring different careers and discovering our gifts from the Lord. The heroes shared what they were passionate about. During one of the discussions, our heroes replied to the question, “When someone discourages you about your gifts and talents, what would you do?” Some said that would make them sad and they would let them know. Another hero said she would ask why they would say that. Someone said they would walk away. And another hero replied with a big smile on his face, “That’s okay. Let me show you what I can do!”

Our Week At A Glance

Week 3: January 15 – 19, 2018

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

 Friday

Launch

What does God call you to do? How do you know? What do you do when someone discourages you?

Ephesians 4:11

Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

How do we know if we are living our calling? How does God communicate with us about our call?  

What evidence do you have that you are responding to God’s calling on your life? What are you most passionate about doing?

 What gifts and talents have God given you to equip you for what you are doing? How do they allow you to meet the needs of others?

Relaunch

How do we serve outside the church?

Who are our community helpers? Which community helper has the hardest job? Why? Which community helper would you like to be? Why?

What type of career interests you?  What would you do if someone tells you that you are not good at what you do?

If you could have any job, which would it be? What gifts and talents do you have to do this job?

What would you do if you invent a machine that would do the job of workers and cause them to lose their jobs?

Project time

Identify community helpers

Make props or costume/hats

Epic community helpers books

Community helpers games

Explore career choices

Role play

“A day on the job”

Create a job for yourself Research a need and a solution

Create a brochure

What job would you like to do in the future that we do not have in the present?

Imagine a job for the future and present to the group

Close

How can we be like our community helpers?

What did you do today that prepares you for your career?

How did you challenge yourself today?

How can you change the world?

 

Unity in The Body of Christ

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How has your journey in life been shaped by Christ? Would it look different if you had never heard The Good News of The Gospel? This week, we explored the lives of heroes in The Faith who chose to stand for Jesus and use their lives to make a difference in this world; Corrie Tenboom, Johnathan Edwards, George Mueller, and Ben Carson to name a few. We then took some time to reflect on how God is working in our own lives. We each mapped out our own journeys of faith, and discussed what some of our personal trials have been. It was so encouraging to hear about each hero’s journey so far, how they have changed, and what they are overcoming!

As we explored our personal journeys in a little more depth, we learned about The Unity that exists among believers. Though we all have unique journeys, together, we form a body (with Christ at the head). We must all encourage one another in The Lord while submitting to Christ (or the body won’t function!). Well, our heroes could relate to this as there are definitely times the studio has felt a bit chaotic, and others where things flow smoothly.

Our heroes recognized that a HUGE part of functioning within the body involves learning how to communicate and work together in love. To improve our communication, our heroes completed a series of team building challenges (involving building a snowman and creating and assembling their own unique  puzzle). Our heroes learned SO MUCH in the process! A few comments from our closes on these days  included,

 

*“We all had a really fun time, and I think that is part of working as a team”

 

* “I think if we would have put a plan into place before we built our snowman, things would have flowed much more smoothly.”

 

*”Everyone worked together to create this (the puzzle)-and it is beautiful.”

 

Next week, our heroes will spend more time reflecting. We will have prayer hikes, journal time, and will spend time creating a personal mission statement. Our heroes will also spend time breaking apart the meaning of scriptures in the Word, and the meanings of worship lyrics.

As the weeks continue, I will keep you posted on activities and milestones. This week, our heroes selected a personal mentor and signed up for an outreach/volunteer opportunity. They also completed 5 journal entries (altogether). A few of our discussion questions included:

 

  • Are you more motivated by fear, or by love? Why do you choose to do good things?

  • Do you have a growth mindset when things aren’t going your way?

  • Do you have joy during your trials?

  • Why does there need to be unity within the Body of Christ? What are ways that believers come together in unity

 
  

Learning through Collaboration

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Collaboration has helped our heroes think more deeply during discussions, especially when they disagree with an idea or need to convince another hero to agree with them instead of leaving the group. They are developing empathy for others’ perspectives even through arguments and frustrations. They work hard problem-solving and arriving at an agreement to achieve their goals, whether they may be deciding who to work with, what Bible story to role play, or what character they would like to portray. They worked on providing clear arguments with evidence, disagreeing with another hero respectfully, provide substantive feedback, and understand each one’s responsibilities for group learning.

Collaboration has also increased creative thinking during project time. They readily take action and maintain team organization as they manage tasks that require multiple perspectives and several sources to find information on Bible stories, heroes, verses, and songs. Our heroes worked independently during their research and displayed leadership roles in generating ideas, communicating their ideas, and providing each other constructive feedback. Our heroes have learned the most from one another as they engaged in conversations, wherein they generated multiple chains of logic together and contributed to their learning. They were able to generate new knowledge and work at a higher learning level through collaboration.

Our young heroes are truly beginning to grasp the importance of working together in the Body of Christ through collaboration. One hero demonstrated this truth using an illustration of a spaceship and pointed out that when someone leaves the body, this could be like losing the engine of the spaceship! Another hero used the illustration of a constellation and indicated that someone leaving the church would be like losing one star. Then one of the youngest heroes confidently revealed a most important truth that when we are not part of the body of Christ, then we can’t love others.

Our Week at a Glance

Session 4 Week 2: January 8 – 12, 2018

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

 Friday

Launch

How can we have unity as the body of Christ? Can we have unity even when we are different?

There is one body and one Spirit. And God called you to have one hope.

Ephesians 4:4

When working together in the body of Christ, is it more important that you are happy or that your friends are happy?

…one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God, one Father of all

Ephesians 4:5-6

What is your spiritual gift? How do you know? How will use your gifts to help others?

Christ…gave gifts to His people…so Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers Ephesians 4: 7, 11

Why does Jesus give us different gifts? What would happen if we all have the same gifts?

The whole body depends on Christ. And all the parts of the body are joined and held together. Each part of the body does its own work. And this makes the whole body grow and be strong with love. Ephesians 4:16

What spiritual gifts could you share with the Body of Christ? How can you share God’s love through your gifts?

…to equip His people for works of service Ephesians 4:12

 

Relaunch

What is the church? Is it a building? Is it the people? Do you think it is important to be part of a church? Is the church the only way to serve Jesus?

What is our mission as the body of Christ? How can we accomplish this mission?

If the body of Christ is like a giant robot made up of little robots saving the world, does that sound exciting or scary?

Will you use your voice to praise the Lord or change the world?

What is worship? Why do we worship? Why do we sing worship songs? What other ways do we worship?

Project time

Bible story

Role play

Bible heroes

poster

Christian heroes book

Bible verse art

Christian song concert

Close

How did we have unity in our studio today?

How did you make your friends happy today?

How can you be like your favorite Christian hero?

How did you walk like Jesus today?

How did you use your gifts to show Jesus’ love?

Upcoming Events

Next week

Friday, January 19

Field Trip

Kids Food Basket

The Body of Christ

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At Journey Academy, we have the privilege of celebrating the uniqueness of each hero who walks through the door, and understand that he/she is a world-changer. Over the next 6 weeks, our heroes will be on a new journey as they partake in The Body of Christ Quest. The aim of this quest is to create an environment where our heroes can spend time hearing from The Lord, develop their relationship with Him, discover their unique role in The Body, use their gifts to serve others, and discover how they can apply what they learn to make an impact.

The challenges and questions our heroes are faced with are designed to help them both reflect and activate their faith. This week, the heroes have primarily focused on understanding what the body of Christ is. They have searched scriptures, discussed, and participated in team challenges to help them better understand how to work together while fulfilling a specific role (as in The Body of Christ). Some additional challenges our heroes will tackle throughout the upcoming weeks include:

 

  • Studying examples of Christians who are using their giftings to impact the world.
  • Researching and selecting an outreach opportunity to volunteer  (Must have outreach selected by January 10th).
  • Meeting with (and interviewing) a mentor who is at least 5 years older, is strong in the faith, and will encourage them to grow spiritually.
  • Keeping a prayer journal.
  • Spending an afternoon of quiet time (praying, going on a nature hike, and reading the Bible).
  • Writing a personal mission statement.
  • Memorizing a passage of scripture.
  • Creating a personal journey book to document experiences and discoveries throughout the quest.
  • Writing a speech about how this quest has impacted them, specific discoveries and experiences, and how they will apply what he/she learned to life.

 

In addition to completing these challenges, our middle school heroes will lead a Bible Study for the Elementary Heroes, read Eric Metaxas’ book on William Wilberforce and watch “Amazing Grace”, and begin setting up an apprenticeship which they will partake in during Session 5 at Journey Academy.

During The Final Exhibition of this quest, our heroes will share their discoveries with you in the form of a coffee shop conversation. You will have the opportunity to listen to their experiences, look at their journey books, and ask them questions. We are very excited to see what The Lord does in each hero! We pray that each hero not only completes these challenges, but that they are rich and life-giving opportunities to grow!

As we journey through the next 6 weeks, please feel free to share your personal faith stories with your hero. This would be the perfect opportunity to share how God has worked in your life, and how you function within The Body of Christ. We are so thankful that you are with us at Journey Academy, and we are encouraged by your dedication to growth and learning. Have a blessed weekend!

 

A Few Discussions This Week Included:

  • When do you find yourself in flow? When is it difficult to get in the flow? What do you do when it’s difficult?
  • What is 1 area you want to grow in this session? What habits will help you grow?
  • Which role in The Body of Christ do you most identify with?
  • How can we use the love languages and personality types to work together in the studio?
  • If your family owned a company and wanted to give all of the proceeds (excluding your normal income) to Christian ministries, would you be willing to sign a document giving away your portion of the finances.

Unity in the Body of Christ

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Our heroes discovered the blessings and challenges of working together as the Body of Christ. They were so engaged during the opening discussion for our quest as we began by talking about our favorite parts of our body. Then their imaginations ran wild as we imagined our bodies without our favorite parts or with only our favorite parts. So they came to the conclusion on their own that God knew what was best for us by putting together all the different parts of our bodies and how each part is important and contributes to the proper functioning of our bodies.

They also learned the importance each body part when they tried to build structures with connectors by using only one hand. This was a challenging activity for most of our heroes and many forgot they could use only one hand and started using their other hand. Some heroes rose to the challenge and proved they could build with only one hand but later realized how another friend helping them made it so much easier to build a better structure. When they finally decided that they really needed both hands to build what they wanted, each hero felt proud of their creation. Then, when they were presented with the challenge of putting all their creations together, some heroes wanted to keep their creations to themselves. But when they noticed that putting their creations together with their friends made an even better structure which transformed what they intended to be a simple structure to be part of a much impressive structure, which they all decided would be their church building, which the heroes voted to be called Journey Church.

The Body of Christ Quest

Week

Topic

Challenges

Deadline

1

What is the body of Christ?

Team building games

Start a prayer journal

Post on prayer wall

Fill up prayer jar

Write and tell a Bible story

January 5

2

Exploring our faith

Church ministries

Christians impacting

 the world

Role play your favorite Bible story

Make a poster of your favorite Bible hero

Rainbow write your favorite Bible verse

Favorite Christian songs concert

Favorite Christian hero book

January 12

3

How do we serve outside the church?

Research a need and a solution

Explore career choices

Identify community helpers

Create a job for yourself through your gifts

Imagine a job for the future

January 19

4

How are we going to be the Body of Christ?

What has the Lord called the Body of Christ to do?

Formulate interview questions for

church ministries

Make a video and become a reporter interviewing church staff/ volunteers

Choose church role and ministry for exhibition

January 26

5

Apologetics

GROW

How are you going to live out your faith?

Role play defending your faith

  Record personal mission

statement videos

Grow in our faith book

February 2

6

Exhibition preparations

Church service

Practice speeches

Practice worship songs

Church message

Journey Church ministries

February 8

Our Week at a Glance

Week 1: January 3 – 5, 2018

Wednesday

Thursday

 Friday

Launch

Ephesians 4:1-3

Introductions with Reagan

Rules of Engagement

Ephesians 4:1

Who did God choose to be His people? Why did God choose us to be His people?

God’s people are humble. What does it mean to be humble? How can we be humble?

Hero’s contract

Hero’s journey

What is unity?

Different things coming together as one thing.

Ephesians 4:3

Is it more important to know good choices or to make good choices?

Bible Buddies 9:30

Relaunch

What is your favorite body part? Why did God create this body part? What would happen if you did not have this body part? What if all you had was your favorite body part?

Corinthians 12:12-16

Why does Jesus call the church His body? Jesus used his own hands and feet to help and love people. Jesus uses the church to love people.

We are Jesus’ hands and feet!

What ways can we be the hands and feet of Jesus?

What part of the church is most important? Least important? Or are all the parts important? Even the smallest part? How does it feel when you stub your toes? Does your whole body feel it too? Why did Jesus say we are the body of Christ?                                         

1 Corinthians 12:21-26

Project time

Body of Christ activities

Building connectors structures

Jigsaw race

Art: body tracing

Team drawing

We are the body of Christ coloring page

Journey Church

Team building games

Faith walk

Circle of silence

Picture pieces

Sneak a peek

Build a bridge

Bus stop

Close

Aiden: What was your favorite part of the day?

Character callouts for Reagan

Did you see a friend show humility today?

Who had a growth mindset today?

Who made good choices today?