The way of love, led by Christ is a global movement that requires local action. The Quest exists to be a benefit to Novato. As we have discovered in multiple ways this last year, we live out the way of love best when we love together. Love is much more difficult individually.

In fact, love doesn't exist outside of relationship.  So, we need one another, and we need to gather together regularly in order to best benefit the world around us. Regular relationship is the way of love.

Ask your children these questions this week:

• What are the biggest needs and problems in our community?
• How are people hurting?
• How do you think God would like us to respond to those needs?
• How do you see The Quest meeting needs in our community?
• How can we live out love together?
• What advantages are there to meeting these needs together, rather than individually?

SERVICE OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS AGES 16-18:
The Novato Healthcare Center is in need of students to serve the elderly in their care in a variety of roles. They would like to train 3-5 students for this work sometime in February. Please see Ray for an application. 

This will be an ongoing way for students to obtain community service hours locally. In addition, the center is hoping these volunteer roles could result in job opportunities for students.

SUNDAYS AT 6
Every week, Quest students gather together at 6pm at the Quest. We'd love to see more of our middle and high school friends join us.

How have you experienced being part of something much bigger than yourself? The coolest flash mobs work because onlookers don't realize they're surrounded by participants. Those normal, everyday people around them, seemingly going about their business? They're actually part of something big.

This is how The Quest works. We're normal, everyday people going about our lives as the way of love. We do this together and not alone, because is too much for us individually. But, together, united in the Spirit we can do so much.

It's good to have an individual faith in God, but our deepest formation happens in relationship with one another. Individually, we can make God in our own image. Together, we see the image of God in others and discover how we are a part of something much bigger than ourselves.

This week, ask your children these questions and share your answers with them:

• How have you been positively influenced by a focus on individual faith? Why is this important?
• How might we be negatively influenced if we have an imbalanced focus on personal faith? What might we be missing out on? What might be distorted? 
• How can a greater awareness of our part in the larger faith community change, strengthen, or challenge us in our faith?
• Make a commitment to be part of The Quest community this week, together, as a family.

If you were to create a club that became really popular and everyone wanted to join it, would it be good for the world?

Our goal at The Quest is to be good news to Novato and beyond. We exist for the betterment of the world. We do this by seeing what God is doing in the world and joining that work.

This is what is going on as the first community of people impacted by Jesus began to gather with one another. They were with one another in teaching, fellowship, prayer and in the sharing of meals. Luke, writing in the book of Acts, says as they became one, united by the love of Christ, that they enjoyed the goodwill of all the people. They had become good news.

This week we asked our students to think about how they can participate in good news with one another for the benefit of the world.

Ask your children these questions:
What groups do you belong to (teams, friend groups, clubs, etc.)?
How do those groups benefit the world?
What is your favorite group meal memory? What made it so great?
What does spiritual community look like for you? How do you discover what God is like?

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