JCX Tuesday 9/29/09

Another night @JCX … so great, here are some highlights …

-Gotta start with Arriell and Emily getting baptized!! That was a lot of fun. God has really done some great things in their hearts. Here are a few photos:
Smiling pretty before we do some dunking …

Emily getting baptized …

Arriell getting baptized …

Praying for our friends …

-Kariana Anderson shared her story last night. Challenged the group to submission to Jesus Christ and his will for their lives. Some good things! She’s awesome.
-We walked through worship in song together. Most of the time we sing some songs with a prayer at the beginning and one at the end. Tuesday we opened our worship time with a Psalms and read through it after each song we sang. It was a great reminder of why we were doing what we were doing.
-The teaching focused on how we absorb the words, actions, etc. of those around us and how it affects how we live. We challenged the group to learn how to become masters of forgiveness. Forgiveness is: refusing to make them pay for what they did. That’s a form of dying when you absorb that hurt. Then we spoke about how to hand that over to the One who can handle it, that being Jesus Christ. We closed the night writing GIVE and LIFE on our wrists as a reminder of Jesus is doing in us and through us.

-Sunday: Brad Beler is teaching
-October 10th (next Saturday) is our Costume Kickball game … 4pm @ the high school
-Text jcxyouth to 41411 and get updates about JCX sent to your phone.

JCX Tuesday 9/22/09

We met, we hung out and we had a good time. So great being with everyone again last night. Great turn out again … love the energy in the room and seeing some youth come back after their first week last week was awesome!

Here are some highlights:
-Brad Beler did a fantastic job sharing last night. He spoke about why he was a Christian and how his grandmother influenced his life in so many ways. He was very authentic and vulnerable with us. That was appreciated!!
-Tim and Kelsey help bring home the “message” … they put signs all over each other, one of which said that “my life is my message”.
-That lead into the teaching time which focused on what we are teaching with our lives and our words. We were challenged to change our message through the leading of the Holy Spirit.
-Next week we’re baptizing Arriell Bell and Emily Bush … they are so excited about this and we’re excited for them.

-This Sunday Robert Bergeson is teaching us. @8:45a in GFC.
-Kariana Anderson is sharing with us next week @JCX Tuesday
-Seth Hunt is sharing the week after.

-Would you like to teach or share @JCX? Connect with Mike or Talicia and they will give you the details of what you need to do and how it works.
-Text jcxyouth to 41411 and receive youth updates about JCX to your phone. You’ll be glad you did. Some of the info that’s texted is just for those that subscribe.

JCX Tuesday 9/15/09

Highlights from Tuesday:

-Great turn out! Lots of familiar faces (which are always good to see) and new faces (sorry I have a tough time remembering names)
-Each D-group focused on where their group is at. Some great discussions took place.
-We spoke about the art of discussion in main group. Cole and I had a light saber duel on stage to open the message. I messed it up … Cole is a legit Jedi.
-The focus of the teaching was about what words we want on our lips and what words must be removed. We spoke about how we have moments, movements and mysteries in our discussions and how we must be aware of what our words can do when directed by the Holy Spirit.
-We sang worship through song … just Matt on a guitar last night ... it worked out very well. Of course, anytime we get to worship through song it works out!
-We received a video response from FBCY about the costume kickball game (Saturday, October 10th 4pm @ the high school) … and it fired up our group! Cole Adams is getting people together to make a video in response … I’m afraid!!

-To close the night I had the privilege of baptizing Josie Harris (graduate in 09) and wanted to get baptized on her birthday.

-Sunday we’re connecting with the Senior Saints again. We had some great discussions with them and I’m looking forward to doing it again! See ya Sunday @8:45am.

-See you at the Pole is Wednesday, September 23rd on your campus.

-text JCXyouth to 41411 to receive JCX update on your phone!

Youth group knowledge

Read this on Joshua Griffins blog (a youth guy @ Saddleback) and thought I would share this with our adults and parents ... enjoy!

There are a lot of things parents need know about youth ministry—this narrows it down to 10 keys things about what matters most in youth ministry...

10—When/Where/How Much? For anything that might be going on with the youth group, it's best to ask your students to make sure they know. We pass out fliers, send out emails, texts, and so on, and we know very little gets retained or gets to you—so ask to make sure they know. If all else fails, call or email me or one of the leaders.

9—We are not here to simply entertain your youth. Yes we will do some wild, crazy, and absolutely ridiculous things with them—but our primary goal is to provide multiple opportunities where they can be influenced by God.

8—Parents are the primary influence in student’s lives. As you know, We are an influence, not the influence
It takes a few years to build consistency, trust, communication, and individual growth.
We're only directly involved in your sons'/daughters' lives for five years; you're directly involved for a lifetime. You have the greater authority and responsibility. Thus, we want to assist you, bless you, encourage you, and share in the journey with you.

7—Family over youth group. Your lives can get busy, and we don't want to steal your students away from your free time or distract them from what matters in the family at home. We want to join you in the effort to make this clear to the youth.

6—Verify anything your teenager tells you. Sometimes students can exaggerate or edit things on their own terms. If you hear something that sounds appalling or troubling, always call us and verify the story. (For example, "One of the Youth Leaders was beating me up," when in fact all 15 guys were having a wrestling match in the Youth Hall.)

5—We want to listen. We do not want to put up walls of pride, self-defense, excuses, and justifications. We want honest communication with you parents so it’s always a teamwork effort, not a Kung Fu Fighting Match. So share with us, please!

4—Building the youth group is an unhurried, relational process. It takes a few years to build consistency, trust, communication, and individual growth. We don’t want any youth left behind, ignored, or put off to the side. So understand this so that no hurried expectations get in the way.

3—Praise and worship is a key element in this ministry. We would love to see your students developing and using their skills in this arena. Encourage your teenager both to attend and be involved.

2—Breaking the routine: the rut. One of the best ways to burst into the worldview and mindset of the youth is to drag them away from their routines, their patterns.Removing them from suburbia, their comfortable contexts, their luxuries—all these help remove barriers to the Spirit of God.

1—Take the Lord seriously. He is more interested in you and your children than you are. Open yourself to the strength he provides in Jesus Christ.

JCX Tuesday 9/08/09

A great night Tuesday @ Parkview … Our group, along with about 2500 other people, went to see Nick Vujicic speak. He did a great job and, obviously, has an incredible story. Best thing he said last night: In the book of John, Jesus heals the blind man. Before this takes place the disciples asked “what happened, did this man sin or his parent’s sin that he was born blind?” Jesus responded with “neither this man nor his parents sinned. He was born this way so that God may be glorified!” Nick shared that he knows he was born this way, without arms and legs, no explanation of why, because God wants to be glorified in Nick. So great and glad we were there to hear this. After spending three weeks focusing on our 72 hours, it was awesome to finish it off with Nick and the group of people we were with. Glad you made it!!

Couple of things:
What can we, the youth staff be praying for? Leave a comment on here or e-mail me @ mightymikedj@hotmail.com … message me on facebook or myspace … or twitter.com/mightymike15 … Please share with us what we can be praying for!

We’re hanging this Sunday with the Senior Saints and sharing stories! Hope to see ya there

We’re back next Tuesday night with some new things happening. Invite a friend and bring yourself.

Love ya, mean it …

Sunday morning review

We spent some time Sunday talking about how our stories begin. For some of us, when we’re sharing our story we talk a lot about the great things that Jesus has brought: healing in friendships, a new love for people, a better attitude towards life, etc. BUT … and this is what we chatted about Sunday … the best thing that happened when we came to know Jesus was that we were brought near God again. We are able, through Jesus because of the cross, be near our maker and have a relationship with him. It’s the resurrection of Jesus that brings our way of life. Our focus was out of Romans 6:23. We spoke about the wages of our sin (wages being a cost that cannot be paid with money but life) is death (which is of body and soul) but the gift of God (charisma in the Greek which means a free gift gained without merit) is eternal life (no beginning or end life) through Jesus Christ our Lord. We focused on 1 John 2 which speaks about knowing we have come to know Jesus if we obey his commands. He goes on and writes that if we have not love, them Christ is not in us. So, we believe our stories should begin with “I fell in love with Jesus and then …” It was a good time with the group. Looking forward to next week when we meet with the Senior Saints and share stories with them.

Tuesday night we meet @ Parkview to hear Nick Vuijicic. Looking forward to hanging with everyone! See ya then!

Alex and Samantha

Shaun and I had the privilege of baptizing two friends of ours on Tuesday night @JCX. Here are the pics to prove it.

This first picture is right after Samantha came out of the water. She said her hair looks horrible when it’s wet …


This pic is Alex getting baptized. Look closely, my face looks angry like I’m trying to drown Alex. Not true though … just baptizing …


Thank you to Alex and Samantha for asking us to be apart of this awesome day! So glad you both are apart of us @JCX!

Hope to see everyone Sunday @8:45am. Bring doughnuts to share! Serious!!! I like doughnuts!

P.S. text jcxyouth to 41411 … it’s the coolest!!

Tuesday night re-cap

JCX Tuesday night:

-Good group last night. The fires didn’t keep many away. We did miss those that were stuck at home.
-We spent a good hour in groups to start the night going through Luke 10:25-37. It’s the story of the Good Samaritan. The groups spent time reading it through and asking questions like: where was the story told?, what was the purpose of telling the story?, what are we to learn from what the Samaritan did? Really great discussion!
-We baptized two youth: Samantha and Alex. It’s been great to get to know these two over the last few months. I read a letter Samantha wrote earlier this year about where God has brought her … she has grown so much. Alex has been a blast to spend time with. We really got to know him at winter camp. He even said he gave up dirt bike riding to come. Glad I was apart of his baptism last night.
-Amanda Flood shared about where God has lead her over the last few weeks. So awesome to see how quickly God has been transforming lives in group. She shared how, when she lost a lot in her life, she really didn’t lose because she had Jesus in her life. Loved that line!!
-The teaching focused on what the Samaritan did when he help the man on the side of the road. He stopped, took pity, had compassion, and bandaged up his wounds and covered him with oil and wine. The question that was laid out to the group was: What’s on your side of the road and how will your respond? The youth filled out cards with their answer to that question. Some of it was heavy duty! We passed out glasses of sparkling cider to represent the wine and talked about the celebration that takes place in the lives of those that choose to stop on the side of the road.
-We ended the night praying over one another. First the leaders prayed for their youth in their groups and then sent them out to pray for others. So neat to see our youth step up and lead and pray over each other.
-Next week we’re meeting @ Park View @ 7pm to hear Nick Vujicic speak. He was born without arms and legs and is in love with Jesus Christ. Thought that would be a neat way to end our 72 hours series.
-Sunday, our discussion in GFC will focus on “The Art of sharing our story”. It will focus on what is our story, why and how we share it. Come @ 8:45am.
-In two weeks, September 15th … we’re back @YCC and after group we have a meeting about our Costume Kickball game. If you want to be apart, sign up and come to the meeting right after JCX ends. The game will take place on Saturday, October 10th @4pm.


-Announcements:
*See You @ the Pole … Wednesday, September 23rd @7am …
*Alive Club meets Tuesday’s during lunch. Check with Mrs. Ethington or Mr. Peircy and be a leader in this group …
*Invite a friend to join us every Tuesday and Sunday. We would love to meet those you hang with.