Prayer for Students and Parents

Written by Erika Castiglione

Although we technically celebrate the new year in January, for most of us, the end of August is really when the true new year begins. I’m sure this is true for the twenty-plus teachers in our congregation as well as the many students and parents. I still get a rush of nostalgia when I walk by the school supply section of Target (even though they no longer sell the Trapper Keepers of my youth). I remember well my own anxiousness starting new schools growing up, and the mixed emotions I felt dropping off my little ones at kindergarten, and later my bigger kids at college.

On Monday night, we gathered as a congregation to pray in this new year with some excitement and a little trepidation, and to encourage one another. Below is one of the prayers we prayed that might be a helpful guide for you whether you are going or sending to school in the coming days.

Father,

Thank you that we can ask you to bless our children, and you invite them to come to you. I pray for all the children within our families and within our church family-whether they are going to preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school, or college, that you would go before them and that you would surround them with love, grace, and protection. I pray for a love of learning and for growth in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. I pray for discernment to understand the difference between truth and lies, good decisions and bad. I pray for good friends who will sharpen, encourage, and comfort them. I pray that they would be a good friend to others, and shine as a light in their schools as they show kindness and respect to everyone, invite in those who are left out, and speak up when necessary. I pray they would know your voice and walk in it.

I pray also for the parents, relatives, and friends of these children-- that they would not fear, but find peace in you, trusting in your plan for their child. I pray that you would comfort those dropping a child off for the first time, whether it’s kindergarten or college, and I pray that they would be reminded of your powerful and loving care.

Thank you for understanding our hopes and fears for those we love. Thank you that you are a good father who can be trusted. We pray for blessing and growth and your glory in the next school year.

Amen.

Fantastic Four First Steps: A Reflection on Heroes and Hope

Written by Caleb Thomas

Anyone who knows me knows that after home and church, the next place I’m most-

likely at is AMC. Especially during Summer which is always packed with new movie releases, you’ll find me at the theater at least once or twice per week. Beyond myself, students are on summer break and people expect annual summer blockbusters to captivate their imagination in a way that only movies can. Studio’s understand our expectations so they pack the release calendar with crowd-friendly movies and deploy millions of dollars in marketing to draw the largest audience possible. 

Because the emphasis of the summer release schedule is about getting “butts in seats”; often the highest-grossing movies are family-friendly-flicks with bright colors that leave you feeling uplifted (ex. Lilo & Stitch - 2025, Inside Out 2 - 2024, Barbie - 2023). It’s with this expectation that I walked into the theater to watch The Fantastic Four: First Steps last week. 

For anyone who has watched a Marvel movie in the last 6 years, you know that you’re likely not getting a movie with as much quality as you did before 2020. The dearth of compelling stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been noticed, and Marvel is

launching a renewed line of stories in a series of films known as Phase 6, beginning

with the most recent Fantastic Four movie. 

In my opinion, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a good, not great movie with several great themes that are worthy of digesting. It is also instantly distinct from the existing Marvel movie canon. Set in an alternative universe on Earth 828, for the viewer Fantastic Four begins without an established canon or history. The visual style is reminiscent of mid-20th century America featuring classic cars, retro televisions, and a sense of post WW2 optimism that defines the film. The biggest problem with this sleek version of Earth outlined in brilliant blues and purples seems to be the intermittent outbursts of your run-of-the-mill supervillains. 

Despite being set in a separate version of Earth, viewers are reminded of a time in the

US where we struggled with racial inequality and a rising fear of nuclear war. Instead of

grappling with these threats, it seems that the Fantastic Four led by their chief scientist

Reed Richards and chief diplomat Sue Storm have all but squashed any problems that

may seem familiar to us. Instead, the principle foe of the film comes from outer-space

when the planet-eating Galactus, heralded by the Silver Surfer, arrives to literally devour

Earth 828. 

In film language, this planetary threat has a clear connection to modern climate change. The leaders of Earth must band together to defeat this single foe or risk total planetary annihilation. This planetary alliance is formed despite the birth of a miracle-child who in the beginning of the film, has the opportunity to be the sacrifice who spares the world from destruction. For believers, we see the obvious parallel to Jesus Christ. For the Fantastic Four, understandably offering the baby is not in question. Instead, action is then demanded from The Fantastic Four to mobilize the world’s leaders to unite for the common good. 

In our own world, the effort to combat climate change has been one that many nations disagree on and there exists no international unity. The world of the Fantastic Four offers a hopeful, if simplistic view of international cooperation. Nations must sacrifice if they are to stand a chance against their world-ending threat. 

The values of unity, cooperation, and sacrificing for the common good are righteous values for all people. When we look at the bible we see examples of such values when the Hebrews were building and rebuilding the temple, in the early church of Acts, and in the life of Jesus. The difference between the takeaways for the christian and the non- christian viewer of Fantastic Four comes down to the primacy of these values over something else. 

For many non-christian viewers, these values are the primary pathway to improving our world. Especially in our modern climate ripe with political polarization, themes of unity, cooperation, and sacrifice offer hope for many. If we are to make our world a better place, surely it will be through values such as these. The problem with putting our hope in these values of unity, cooperation, and sacrifice is that when we do, we’re simply putting our hope in our own strength. 

The thought behind this hope is that by working hard to be our best selves, we can overcome the problems we’ve created. Sometimes this is the case, and we certainly are called by God to be faithful workers in the spaces we operate, whether local, national, or international. But even as good as these values are, if the chief hope of mankind is for unity, cooperation, and sacrifice, that’s not good enough. There exists something bigger, something deeper that mankind longs for whether we know it or not.

For the christian viewer, the pathway to improving our world is not through any value or effort, but through a person. As humans, we are familiar with superhero stories like Fantastic Four, and the hero archetype presented in the film fills the hole we have in our hearts, the need for a personal savior. Even with this film’s hope in the strength of mankind, after the whole of Earth’s leaders unite to defeat Galactus, their efforts are not enough and they are in need of saving by the Fantastic Four. Thus this newest Fantastic Four movie is another in a long line of hero-stories that reminds us that we are hard-wired to long for a savior. 

When we are presented with messages that encourage us to place our hope in our own efforts, we are misled from the truth that the only object worthy of our hope is Jesus. As Paul writes, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.” - 1 Timothy 4:8-10

Our hope is in the living God, and not our own efforts. This truth is backed throughout scripture, especially when we read verses such as: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,” - 1 Peter 1:3-4

Understanding that our hope is in Jesus and not in our efforts, noble as they may be, watching The Fantastic Four: First Steps draws a clear contrast between where the world puts its hope and where believers put our hope. Do not be mistaken, Fantastic Four is a hopeful movie! That is what people will walk away thinking after they see it. But because we know of man’s sinful nature and that ultimately, we cannot earn our own salvation, we can see the shortcoming of putting our hope in our own actions.This may seem like a disparaging statement, but when we’re reminded of God’s character, we can rest assured that he is a worthy source of our hope and praise. In scripture we see that: “Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” - 1 Chronicles 29:11 “Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.” - Psalm 130:7

Ever since the fall, our world has longed for a hero. Epic poems throughout history have told of mighty individuals like Gilgamesh, Hercules, or Beowulf who overcome incredible enemies either directly or indirectly for the benefit of mankind. Though form may have changed, this historical pattern persists in our heroes of today. There is something that we as humans find captivating about heroic figures that fight for us. In that respect, Fantastic Four is the most recent contribution to the legacy of man’s fascination with heroes. As such, it’s another opportunity for believers to accept the story, enjoy it, and turn towards Jesus as our true and eternal hero.     

When the world looks to people, to movements, or to values as the source of their hope; we look to Jesus as the author of life, and as the worthy source of our hope. Let him be the source of your optimism that is evident to all people.

Live it Out: A Reflection on VBS

Written by J Punt

Parenting is a pretty daunting task. You have your little human beings in your household for 18 years—roughly 20% of their life and yours. You desperately want to use that window to build a virtuous and resilient character that can successfully navigate a complex world. Above all, you want to use this precious window to set your son or daughter on a trajectory that is moving toward ever closer intimacy with his or her creator and savior. 

Perhaps the weight of parenting is especially obvious to me now that I’ve just had my first daughter. Equally apparent to me at this moment is the immense blessing I consider the Waypoint village to be as Amelia and I begin the parenting journey. I think the week-long experience of VBS highlights how the Waypoint community blesses families who are pursuing Christ-like formation of their children. 

At VBS, our goals are quite ambitious. Think about those few vivid memories from your childhood that emanate with warmth and nostalgia and capture a defining aspect of who you are. It could be anything from the first time you rode on a rollercoaster and you laughed like you never have before to the first time you strongly succeeded at something you really wanted to be good at to a Christmas morning where your parents got you the gift of your dreams. We’re trying to generate those bright and lasting memories for kids in real time as they experience Live It Out VBS each day. It’s not just because we want them to be able to look back on a happy childhood. It's because we want a high percentage of their identity-forming memories to be laced with feelings of connection to loving Christian mentors and peers and above all we want their identity-forming memories to be laced with feelings of close connection to God.

To make this possible, it takes a multitude of mundane threads which we humbly ask God to weave together into a tapestry of mini miracles in the lives of the VBS participants. It takes a games captain who’s willing to raid her husband’s dress sock drawer so that she can stick them on pool noodles for the most popular VBS game of the week: “steal the sock.” It takes a small group leader who will carefully go through her curriculum and alert Toni and I that we need to print another sheet of Bible story stickers in order to really bring the passage to life for the 3 year olds in her group. It takes a childcare volunteer who’s willing to hold babies for four evenings out of the week so that the baby’s parents can serve the Waypoint kids. It takes a pre-VBS angel taking home a giant roll of forest green butcher paper to cut out 18 ft evergreen trees to turn our church into a mountainside escape. It takes a decorating volunteer willing to ascend our 15 ft ladder to hang these trees at the towering height they deserve. It takes our Bible story thespians pain-stakingly memorizing their lines at home just because it may help the message land a little more cleanly and directly with the campers once it's performed. 

Being a VBS director, it is truly a privilege to be able to witness a team of about 50 committed volunteers attack all these random tasks and many more with a level of dedication that is born at the intersection of their love for Christ and their love for kids. 

Ultimately, we can’t control the fate of our beloved children once they leave the nest. We’re not God. We can, however, take action in big and small, silly and serious ways to create the kind of childhood that prepares our kids for a life with Christ, a life that will feel like home to them as adults. I feel so blessed to be a part of a church that, for my money, has as willing a body of members to work toward this goal as any other church out there. 

To those of you who participated in VBS this year, I hope you feel as though your time was worth it. To those of you who weren’t involved with VBS, I hope you consider giving it a shot next year. Mark your calendars for June 15th-18th 2026 during which we’ll go on an epic KINGDOM QUEST! I am a bit biased, but I strongly feel it’s worth it.