Valentine’s Day of Compassion

Valentine’s Day of Compassion is a tradition that we want to start here in San Diego. We want to make this day into an opportunity to serve our community, to show love and care for those who need it the most. In the past we’ve gone to places such as homeless shelters and elderly care homes where we perform skits and songs to brighten the lives of the residents.  We have not finalized the location of this year’s VDOC, but set aside some time during the early evening hours of 2/14 and stay tuned for more info.

Winter Retreat

2/18-2/20 (Saturday ~ Monday)

Remember to sign up for the Winter Retreat that’s taking place President’s Day weekend (2/18-2/20). It is a good time mid-quarter to be refreshed by God’s word.  We’ll be getting away from campus and having our retreat at Palomar Christian Conference Center. The Retreat starts at 10am on Saturday and goes until Monday afternoon. The registration fee is $75 to cover the cost of lodging and food.

TFN by class

2/10 @ 6:30pm

Location: We’ll let you know!

This coming Friday, we’ll be having TFN by class. Yes, not small group, not large group, but “medium”-sized group! This is a good opportunity to get to know everyone in your year and to study God’s Word together.  One of the staff will contact you regarding time and location.

TFN Large Group

6:30pm @ 109 Center Hall

After two weeks of small group TFN, we are back at Center Hall this Friday. We start at 6:30pm with a home-cooked meal.

Remember to sign up for the Winter Retreat that’s taking place President’s Day weekend (2/18-2/20). It is a good time mid-quarter to be refreshed by God’s word.  We’ll be getting away from campus and having our retreat at Palomar Christian Conference Center. The Retreat starts at 10am on Saturday and goes until Monday afternoon. the registration fee is $75 to cover the cost of lodging and food.

Don’t forget about DT group meetings at the Price Center. No need to sign up. Just show up if you happen to be free during one of the time-slots below. It’s always encouraging to read God’s Word together with others and to hear each other’s insights.

Guys

Location: Price Center (seating area across from Yogurtworld)

Tuesdays & Thursdays: 9-10pm

Wednesdays: 1-2pm

Girls

Location: Price Center (in front of Burger King)

Tuesday & Fridays: 11am-12pm

Tuesdays: 9-10pm

Wednesday: 1-2pm

The two freshman brothers’ small groups met at Fisk House (Pastor Daniel and Sarah’s house) and the Freshman sisters small group met at Jessica’s apartment. The bros had some “Man’s” pasta filled with TONS of meat: hot links, ground beef, kielbasa, you name it, it was there! The sisters decided to take on a more sophisticated, quality over quantity approach by having some Pesto chicken pasta.

After dinner, to work off the coma-inducing meal, both groups had some icebreaker time before the Bible study. The brothers played a round of paper basketball where the objective of the game was to get a ball of paper across the room into a wastebasket by dribbling it on a clipboard. It wasn’t easy but hilarious to watch. Over at Jessica’s place, the sisters had a cozy time of sharing through making  small booklets highlighting the story of their lives.

Both groups studied Mark 4, the Parable of the Sower.  It helped us to gain insight in how we listen and receive the word of God. There’s many ways in which we can be like bad soil, causing us to not listen and put into practice what we hear. Whether it may be distractions, worries, or other priorities, this passage gives warning that we must examine what kind of attitude we have when we approach God’s Word.

After the Bible Study, the sisters small group joined the brothers at Fisk and challenged them to a King Kong Shower Tournament! Miraculously the brothers succeeded in knocking off the sisters in an exciting and competitively matched finale.

Playing King Kong Shower takes a lot of energy, so we decided to go to McDonald’s for some late night nuggets, fries, Big Macs, and soft serves The brothers totally pigged out while the sisters opted to feel refreshed rather than overly stuffed (note the quantity of food that was bought by each respective group).

Then the unthinkable happened: while we were there, the lights went out! We didn’t want our fellowship to end on account of the lack of lighting, so we continued to eat until the employees had to finally kick us out.  We ended the night by looking at stars and waves at La Jolla Cove!

Don’t forget! We are having Small Group TFN this Friday. Be on a lookout for a phone call from one of the staff regarding time and location for your small group. If you are new, don’t hesitate to call up one of the staff (contact info in the right column)

Don’t forget! Starting this week, we’re having DT group meetings at the Price Center. No need to sign up. Just show up if you happen to be free during one of the time-slots below. It’s always encouraging to read God’s Word together with others and to hear each other’s insights.

Guys

Location: Price Center (seating area across from Yogurtworld)

Tuesdays & Thursdays: 9-10pm

Wednesdays: 1-2pm

Girls

Location: Price Center (in front of Burger King)

Tuesday & Fridays: 11am-12pm

Tuesdays: 9-10pm

Wednesday: 1-2pm

Don’t forget! Sign up for the Winter Retreat that’s taking place President’s Day weekend (2/18-2/20). It is a good time mid-quarter to be refreshed by God’s word.  We’ll be getting away from campus and having our retreat at Palomar Christian Conference Center. The Retreat starts at 10am on Saturday and goes until Monday afternoon. the registration fee is $75 to cover the cost of lodging and food.

This past Friday, each group had their own unique activities planned, ranging from arts and crafts to going to the batting cages. With the groups being a lot smaller than our typical 80+ large group TFNs, each group had some amazing dinners such as BBQ ribs, make-your-own California rolls, pizza bagels, Pizookies, and homemade taro sago.

Frosh guys’ dinner

Stuffed to the max.

Pit!

MYOP (make your own pizza)

SUP sisters frame making

SUP Sistas!

SUP Bros at Fisk

Frosh Sisters

Frosh Sisters arts and crafts

Pizookies!

Frosh guys at the batting cages

If you’re sad that you missed out on this past Friday, no worries! We are having another Small Group TFN this Friday. Your staff will contact you regarding time and location and if you’re new, feel free to call up one of the staff (phone numbers listed in the right column).

Now that we’re starting small group TFNs, things can get a little confusing. If you find yourself at a loss of where to go, contact one of the staff in your group. There’s a handy dandy list of contacts in the right column if you don’t know who to call.

Sunday 1/22/12 @ 12pm

104 Peterson Hall

The first Course 101 meeting will be at noon at 104 Peterson Hall. You should’ve received the week 1 material to be completed before class time on Sunday. Let us know if you need a packet.

Sunday 1/22/12 @ 12pm

102 Peterson Hall

Starting this Sunday is also the first SUPs Thrive course (geared towards Sophomore and Up Christians who have taken Course 101).

Like I said, exciting things are happening this weekend. Don’t Miss out!

It was a grand welcome indeed as we put on 3 a2f welcome nights to start off the new year and quarter! First time ever having 3 at the same time and we had a blast!   Through it we were able to meet and get to know many new friends, as well as old ones who were able to make it to one of the three locations we offered.  One welcome night was at ERC’s Asante room, the other at Warren’s Yosemite Room, and the third was at the MPR.  Each location was packed with people and ERC’s Asante room was so full that people were standing!

We began our welcome night at 6:30 PM with a fun yet challenging icebreaker that consisted of different true or false facts about UCSD.  After that we showed a video introducing our group and what we are about.  Following the video, our awesome skit teams put on a funny yet poignant skit called “Race of a Lifetime”.  Pastor Daniel, James, and Michael each gave a message based off of the skit at their respective locations. They talked about how they have experienced life being like a race, how we have such a limited amount of time on this earth, and the importance of finding out the purpose and meaning of it all. We ended the night with some Korean BBQ marinated to perfection!

A big shout out to our friends from Berkeley, SFSU, and UT Austin for using a part of their winter break to help us out. We’re thankful to be a part of our network of sister fellowships for without them a lot of the flyering, skits, songs and activities couldn’t have happened without them. It was awesome to see God’s people in action.

Though we’re sad so say good-bye to our Berkeley/SF/Austin friends, we’re really excited for all that is happening this quarter. This past Friday, we had our first TFN of the quarter at the MPR with Pastor Daniel giving a message in continuation of the Winter Welcome Night talk on life’s purpose. He gave a memorable demonstration of a mouse trap to show how for things such as a mouse trap, it’s easy to conclude what its purpose is and to evaluate whether it’s a good or bad one. But for people, it’s a little harder to tell and that’s why this quest for life’s purpose has been long and confusing for many. But there are good answers to this question and it’s an important question as it sets the trajectory of our lives.

After the message we had a good time getting to know each other through Charades relay, followed by an impromptu trip to La Jolla Shores to walk along the beach for some fresh night air. We ended the night at the local Denny’s where we packed into the upper room and took over a good half of the restaurant! It was definitely a night to remember.

Games With James

One of the staff will be contacting you about where your small group is meeting. But if you have any questions, feel free to call up one of the staff (contact info found in the right column

Also, don’t forget to sign up for the following. Two courses are starting this coming Sunday!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Course 101

Starting This Sunday 1/22/12 @ 12pm

Location: TBA

Course 101 is a six week course on the foundations of Christianity. Whether you grew up in church or have no church background, this course can answer a lot of your questions about God, the Bible, the meaning of life. The course will be every Sunday at noon on campus. Week 1 will be next Sunday 1/22/12 so sign up now!

SUPs Thrive

Starting This Sunday 1/22/12 @ 12pm

Location: TBA

We are offering Thrive course for SUPs (Sophomores and Up) this quarter. The pre-requisite for signing up is to have taken Course 101. Sign up here! 

2012 Winter Retreat

We will be having our first SD Winter Retreat on President’s Weekend, Sat 2/18 to Mon 2/20!  This is a time to be able to reflect on God’s word away from the busy-ness of school. So set aside the next three day weekend and sign up here.

TFN

Friday, 1/13/2012

6:30pm @ the MPR

Just a reminder, as we all get back into the swing of things, there is TFN this Friday. For those of you who do not know, TFN stands for “The Friday Night”, which is our fellowship’s large group bible study. Like always, we’ll be starting with dinner at 6:30pm. We’ll be at the MPR (room behind Yogurtworld) rather than our usual Center Hall location. See you guys Friday!

Wednesday 1/11/2012 @ 6:30pm

Locations: MPR, Asante Room (ERC – International House), and Yosemite Room (Warren – Canyon Vista)

Hi everyone! I hope you all are excited to come back to San Diego. Even though it’s winter, we’ve been having sunny skies in the mid 70s with a slight breeze! But the weather is not the only thing you can look forward to. This coming Wednesday we’ll be having 3… yes, THREE welcome nights! Instead of having one big shebang, we’re going to have the same program in three locations. That means for you ERC folk, there’s no need to hike down to the MPR. Be sure to invite your friends as a2f Winter Welcome Night will be right at your doorstep!

If you would like to help our with tabling, please sign up at the link to your right. We’re all excited to see you guys back on campus!