4Sixteen is hosting a garage sale this Saturday 21st. The garage sale will start at 7:00 at the building. Come out and see what we got! All money raised will be going toward funding the mission trip to Mexico/Guatemala. You can't miss us. We will be out on the corner of Dana and Stapley in the west parking lot.

We also are accepting donations for the garage sale on Friday evening (20th) from 5:00pm to 9:00 pm here at the building. So, clean out your closets and bring all of your old treasures to us. Tell your friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family.

Can you believe that it is already December 15th? The last month of the year is now half over. I am always amazed at how fast the month of December moves. I am so busy working, making plans to see family, writing cards, and buying gifts that I seem to just fly through the month.

It seems like it is the same for the church. We have so many big events coming up this next week. We have the big Christmas party and then we have a shower and wedding for two of our members. We have so many great classes going on too! I am teaching the life of Christ (in chronological order) up in the 4Sixteen room and am loving every minute of it. I can't wait to get to the next Sunday so that I can continue the class. You probably have your favorite classes and events going on too.

With the wind down of 2011 it also means that a new year is approaching us. For the church that means that we are going to introduce the vision for 2012. This year marks the start of a brand new tradition here at Mesa. Starting in 2012, each year we will presenting the vision for the new year. So on 1/1/2012 we are going to have an elder come speak to your class for one week. The elder assigned to your class is going to present the church's vision for 2012! I hope you are as excited as I am! What does this mean for you? Well, go to the class that you normally go to but make sure that you are on time so that you get to hear everything that the elders are going to be presenting. The only exception to this rule is the library class. The library class should go to room 104. The five elders will each be assigned one of the normal adult classrooms but they will all be presenting the exact same things so it doesn't matter which class you are in. Below is the schedule.

1. 4Sixteen (Room 214) – James Koenig
2. Room 104 – Ken Fox
3. Room 105 – Kevin Hubby
4. Auditorium – Jackie Hinkle
5. Annex – Jack Farr

The best part is that this is not a one-way lecture. The title of this post is CONVERSATION with the elders! Yes, they will be presenting the Vision of 2012 but they WANT your feedback. That is the main reason that we have the elders spread out in different classrooms so that as many questions and comments can be made as possible. In order to make sure that everyone in the class has an opportunity to ask their question or comment we simply ask that you keep your question short and to the point. You asked for this class in your survey and we are now delivering it to you! When we as one unified body, with the help and blessing of our Lord, make a plan their is nothing that can stand in our way (Gen. 11:6).

Many of you may have seen the post on Mesa's Satellite School or seen Distinctive Nature of the Church listed for the winter quarter and wondered if this class is for you or not. This post is an attempt to help you answer that question. Our Sunset Satellite School is much more than just an opportunity for you to get a college level education in Biblical Studies. Listed below are my top ten reasons why you might be interested in these classes. Remember it is free to audit!

You might be interested in taking a Sunset class if…

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On November 9th, 2011 the Senate Judiciary Committee passed S.598 "Respect for Marriage Act". While that sounds like a great bill, what could be better than respect for marriage, it is not. Basically the bill is designed to repeal the "Defense of Marriage Act" or DOMA as it is commonly referred to. DOMA defines marriage federally as between one man and one woman.

If S.598 is passed then any marriage that is legal in one state or territory of the United States would then become a legal marriage everywhere. Regardless of how the people of that State feel about it. This is a back door approach to getting homosexual marriage legalized in all states and territories at once. Homosexual activists know that this is their only shot at getting homosexual marriage legalized. Voters have denied homosexual marriage every single time it has been brought up for a vote. The six states that currently allow homosexual marriage had it forced upon them by "judicial legislation" with the exception of New York whose governor signed a law that was passed through in an illegal way (the law is currently being challenged in court).

This bill is worded and being pushed as a state-rights issue. In fact, it is the exact opposite. The 31 states that have voted overwhelmingly to amend their state constitutions to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman will immediately, upon signing of this bill, have homosexual marriage forced upon them.

While there is little chance that either, S.598 or the house version of the bill H.R.1116, will pass this is still an important moment in this process. President Barack Obama has already stated that he will refuse to do his constitutionally mandated duty and defend DOMA in court. He has told the Justice Department to stop defending the law against the litigation aimed at weakening marriage:

Furthermore, pursuant to the President's instructions, and upon further notification to Congress, I will instruct Department attorneys to advise courts in other pending DOMA litigation of the President's and my conclusions that a heightened standard should apply, that Section 3 is unconstitutional under that standard and that the Department will cease defense of Section 3. – Eric Holder, Attorney General

You can read the text of the bills by clicking the buttons below.

S.598		H.R.1116

It is important that you let your Senators know what you think of this bill. I can assure you that homosexual activists are all letting their senators know how they feel about it. It is time that we stop being the "silent majority" and start speaking up. Below you can click on the pictures of the two senators from Arizona and you will be taken to a contact form where you can send a message directly to them.

Contact Jon Kyl	Contact John McCain

Sunset International Bible Institute is a big name in the church of Christ. The school was originally started back in 1962 to train Spanish speaking missionaries. Since that time it has had many name changes but it has always remained the gold standard for missionary and preacher training. Each year there are over 30,000 people who are studying Sunset material. Mesa church of Christ is proud to be a part of that growing number. So, you might be wondering what exactly a satellite school is and how Mesa is connected to Sunset International Bible Institute (SIBI). Well, SIBI has a resident school located in Lubbock, Texas. Approximately 200 students can be found on that campus each year working toward their bachelor degree in Biblical Studies. The problem for most people is that they are simply not able to uproot their families and move to Lubbock to study. So, SIBI created the satellite school program. Each satellite school follows the exact same curriculum taught by the best instructors that Sunset has to offer. The only difference is that you get to stay in your current location and go to school around your schedule and with people that you know. So now you don't have to travel to Lubbock, Texas to earn your degree. You can do it right here in Mesa, AZ. Since this is a degree program there are a total of 40 courses at 3 credit hours each for a total of 120 credit hours needed to graduate. However, don't get the wrong picture here. This isn't just for those who are seeking a bachelor's degree in Biblical Studies. The best part of the satellite schools is that they allow you to audit the courses or take them for credit. If you just want to attend a class to learn more about the Bible or to gain a deeper understanding on a specific book then that is fine. It's free too! That is right, you are getting college level instruction from professors with very distinguished backgrounds all for free. So, if you have never been able to wrap your mind around Isaiah or want to get a primer on Greek then we have the resources ready for you. Audit students only have to attend the video lectures and participate in the discussion. The tests, textbooks, and other assignments are purely optional. Of course, if you are interested in taking the classes for credit you can do that too! It is only $30 per credit hour. That beats almost all universities across the country and most junior colleges as well. You can even transfer some of your classes to universities that you might be more familiar with like Harding, Abilene Christian, or Oklahoma Christian. Obviously, since these are Bible courses they would only transfer toward a Biblical Studies degree. It is a great way to cut down on the cost and time spent at one of the larger universities. If you take the classes for credit then you will have to take the tests, read the textbooks, write the papers, and do the other work associated with the class in addition to attending the video lecture and participating in the discussion. The courses needed to graduate break down as follows:

Since, Mesa has become a new satellite school for SIBI we will be starting classes soon. In fact, we will be starting one of the freshman level courses during our next quarter. As time goes on and we get everything in order we will offer more classes each quarter. Check the normal adult education schedule to see what classes we are offering. If you are interested in attending a class that we don't have on the schedule and you just can't wait then contact us and we will help you setup a self-study time. If you have several people that want to attend the class then let us know and we can setup a class at the time that is convenient for you. The school administrators here in Mesa are Jeff Ibbetson (jeff.ibbetson@mesachurch.org) and Dallas Kingsbury (dallas.kingsbury@mesachurch.org). They can answer any question that you have regarding the satellite school. Let's get to it!

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• Sunset Top Ten
  

Our next Youth & Family outing is just around the corner. On Saturday, December 3rd, we will be meeting for a short hike, a cookout and campfire/devo at Usery Mountain Park. The event starts at 4pm and lasts until 8pm. I am suggesting that we all bring a dish and have a pot luck for this event. We do have a few hot dogs we will be cooking, but if everyone brings a dish, we should be set! I will be talking to some of you soon to make sure we have enough food for the event. Please plan on attending as our past events at Usery have been great! See you there!

I hope everyone is looking forward to our upcoming bible classes next quarter for the Youth & Family. Jack Farr will be teaching and the audience will be the youth and their parents! This will be the first class for the MYG teens and their parents! I am excited about the future of this ministry and I hope you are as well. Let's get the word out to all the parents of our youth so they can make sure to attend. More details to come soon!

-Brad

I am currently uploading the videos shown during Mission Sunday 2011. Please Check back frequently to see more videos appear.  A DVD is in the works, and will be released in 2 weeks, if you would like a copy, please fill out the form at the bottom of the post. Cost is $2 each.

2011 Year in Review

Ghana, West Africa

El Salvador

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This year’s MYG Fall Retreat is scheduled for November 11-13. If you haven’t signed up yet, what are you waiting for?
The cost is $35 and will be located at beautiful Copper Basin Bible Camp.

Sign up today!

Speak to Calvin Glenn for more information and to get your questions answered.

Welcome to the brand new mesachurch.org! This site is the culmination of several months of very hard work.

Besides the change in look, with new colors, graphics, and layout, we hope that this new site will be easier to use, with improved functionality.

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