History of Skateboarding - it started in California, when surfers put wheels on the bottom of planks of wood and rode down the street - "Street Surfing". But, it was a fad...it died out by about 1965.
Three big things happened to bring it back:
1. The invention of polyurethane wheels, which replaced unsafe clay wheels
2. A drought in California in 1976, which led people to drain their swimming pools. People discovered they could skate in them - the beginning of vert skating.
3. Invention of the "ollie" - a jump trick - in Florida. The ollie spread to California when its founder visited California and the trick took off.
Skateboarding went from a died-out fad to a revived sport that spread around the world; the spread of Christianity is similar.
By Acts chapter 12, Christians were being persecuted; James had been killed (the second Christian martyr, after Stephen). Some of the "big things" that happened in Christian history were:
1. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
2. The miracles performed by the apostles
3. The conversion of Paul
4. Peter's vision showed that God intended to offer salvation to everyone
5. The sending of Paul on missionary journeys
Acts 13 - Paul and Barnabas are commanded by the Holy Spirit to take the message out.
At Paphos, on the island of Cyprus, they encounter a proconsul (government official) who wants to hear about the Lord, and a false prophet who opposes them. By the Holy Spirit's power, the false prophet is blinded. Paul had words & a message, but the Holy Spirit supplied the power to change and to convince the proconsul that what was preached about was real.
If God was going to send us out from NCCC, where would he send us?
He may send us to a far-off place; but he also needs us to take the message right here, to where we live: our schools, our neighborhoods, etc.
But - God's intention is not that we receive the message and keep it - it's that once we go out, we will return - with ourselves and others.
We have 5 Big Events this year that are great to bring friends to:
1. "Believe It With Your Own Eyes"
2. Kids Games
3. Summer Camp (July 5-9)
4. Christmas Party & Sleepover (December)
5. Next year's Winter Camp
