A JCX party …
_What do you get when you cross high school peeps and marshmallows? A black eye! Or close to one! Very fun night at JCX Tuesday … here are the details:
_Teaching: Our focus was on our understanding of God. We used Colossians 2:13-17 and Galatians 2:20-21 as our scripture. In the center of the room was a BIG tower that represented all of the things in our lives that distract us from reality … which is Christ. Some of our youth tore the tower down to reveal a place to take communion. It was awesome!
_Worship: It was a powerful time! At one point, Matt stepped back from the mic and you could hear the group belting it out and praying together. So great!
_Fun: Each person in the room had a job to do. Some sang, some marched and some threw marshmallows … I got hit in the eye. It hurt … BUT it was fun!
_Best moment: Watching some youth stay in the room after the teaching and encourage others. Elizabeth Williams told me that she wants to help disciple. I love it when our peeps get it and want to give it away!!
_Sunday: Rob is teaching on wisdom. He’s awesome …
_Next Tuesday: Ugly T-shirt or sweater night. PLUS … we’re worshipping through song and celebrating Christmas in our D-groups. Enjoy!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
So who's interested?
After the teaching on Tuesday, it was mentioned that there was some youth available to chat with about the teaching or life or your thoughts. We had a few stay in the main room and had some great conversations. Here’s why I bring this up:
-I know that some of you are incredible leaders just waiting to lead but aren’t sure how.
-I know that some of you are frustrated because you aren’t sure how to help or encourage.
-I know that some of you are like BIG, WET sponges that need to be rung out.
If that’s you … it’s time to say yes to something. It’s time to say yes to how you are created! How about being a mentor/discipler? I know the fear is “but I’m not goof enough” or “I don’t know the Bible well”. To that I say “well then get your BUTT in gear right now”. The way to tackle that frustration is to say yes to the opportunities to live in the way you are created.
There are many, many, many youth that need a mentor, discipler, encourager … and that can start on a Tuesday night. If this is something that makes you go hmmmmm … then text, message, connect with Mike and say “it’s time for me to be rung out”!
Love ya, mean it … let’s get this thing started!
-I know that some of you are incredible leaders just waiting to lead but aren’t sure how.
-I know that some of you are frustrated because you aren’t sure how to help or encourage.
-I know that some of you are like BIG, WET sponges that need to be rung out.
If that’s you … it’s time to say yes to something. It’s time to say yes to how you are created! How about being a mentor/discipler? I know the fear is “but I’m not goof enough” or “I don’t know the Bible well”. To that I say “well then get your BUTT in gear right now”. The way to tackle that frustration is to say yes to the opportunities to live in the way you are created.
There are many, many, many youth that need a mentor, discipler, encourager … and that can start on a Tuesday night. If this is something that makes you go hmmmmm … then text, message, connect with Mike and say “it’s time for me to be rung out”!
Love ya, mean it … let’s get this thing started!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
JCX 11/30/10
JCX once again …
_After a week of turkey and vacation, the JCX crew returned Tuesday night. Here’s what happened …
_First we started with this video from Black Friday:
_The focus was “When fighting is ok” and we talked about the things we fight for. To help get that message across we set up a boxing ring and had some boxing gloves available to anyone ready to rumble. Samantha and Brian decided they would take a shot at each other. Brian was told he “Can’t hit a girl” so he turned and hit me! Sam hit Brian in the stomach 12 times. Brian took each shot like a champ!!
_The teaching started next and we focused on Colossians 2:2 and that our true fight is for those around us to be encouraged in love and united in heart and be found in Jesus Christ.
_We talked about Exodus 24 where God asked Moses to be here and stay here … which means … don’t just be present in body but in everything. That impacted a lot of us and how fast our lives move and how we miss what we were created to do.
_We worshiped together through song and that time was powerful and awesome!
_Next week there will be towers and confusion and new moon celebrations! It will be awesome!
_Don’t forget about Winter Camp … lots of peeps going but there is still room for you! This is just in case you needed a reminder to not wait until the last moment:
_See ya Sunday @930 … don’t miss out it will be … yep … AWESOME!
_After a week of turkey and vacation, the JCX crew returned Tuesday night. Here’s what happened …
_First we started with this video from Black Friday:
_The focus was “When fighting is ok” and we talked about the things we fight for. To help get that message across we set up a boxing ring and had some boxing gloves available to anyone ready to rumble. Samantha and Brian decided they would take a shot at each other. Brian was told he “Can’t hit a girl” so he turned and hit me! Sam hit Brian in the stomach 12 times. Brian took each shot like a champ!!
_The teaching started next and we focused on Colossians 2:2 and that our true fight is for those around us to be encouraged in love and united in heart and be found in Jesus Christ.
_We talked about Exodus 24 where God asked Moses to be here and stay here … which means … don’t just be present in body but in everything. That impacted a lot of us and how fast our lives move and how we miss what we were created to do.
_We worshiped together through song and that time was powerful and awesome!
_Next week there will be towers and confusion and new moon celebrations! It will be awesome!
_Don’t forget about Winter Camp … lots of peeps going but there is still room for you! This is just in case you needed a reminder to not wait until the last moment:
_See ya Sunday @930 … don’t miss out it will be … yep … AWESOME!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
JCX Tuesday 11/16/10
JCX stufffffff …
_Focus: We talked about value and who gets the privilege of places that upon you.
_Scripture: We used 1 Corinthians 6:11 as our foundation and how we have been washed, sanctified and justified.
_Teaching: Emily Bush spoke and did an excellent job. She shared about some of the labels that others have put on her. My favorite line was “God is your creator; He gets to determine how valuable you are.” Awesome!
_Fun moment: Using the theme of being labeled, we put labels on each of the foreheads of the youth. Each label had a name on it. The youth had to try and figure out who’s name was on their forehead. Here’s proof:
_This Sunday we finish our packing our Thanksgiving meals. Great job Lacey!
_Sunday, December 5th … JCX Sunday @930a will have a new look and feel. Join us and invite a friend.
_Starting the first Tuesday in January … JCX Tuesday will have some big changes. Come find out what they are!
_Winter Camp … Jan. 14-17 … best weekend of the year!
_Focus: We talked about value and who gets the privilege of places that upon you.
_Scripture: We used 1 Corinthians 6:11 as our foundation and how we have been washed, sanctified and justified.
_Teaching: Emily Bush spoke and did an excellent job. She shared about some of the labels that others have put on her. My favorite line was “God is your creator; He gets to determine how valuable you are.” Awesome!
_Fun moment: Using the theme of being labeled, we put labels on each of the foreheads of the youth. Each label had a name on it. The youth had to try and figure out who’s name was on their forehead. Here’s proof:
_This Sunday we finish our packing our Thanksgiving meals. Great job Lacey!
_Sunday, December 5th … JCX Sunday @930a will have a new look and feel. Join us and invite a friend.
_Starting the first Tuesday in January … JCX Tuesday will have some big changes. Come find out what they are!
_Winter Camp … Jan. 14-17 … best weekend of the year!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
JCX 11/9/10
JCX re-cap …
_It’s been 3 weeks since the last update here. Not sure why it’s been that long but I know it’s been busy around here.
_We’re right in the middle of collecting food for our Thanksgiving drive. Lacey Namoa is in charge and doing an awesome job! We’re packing up our first wave of food this Sunday @930a in GFC. This group of food will be delivered on Monday. The next wave will be Wednesday night. A group of guys, lead by Josh Simon, will be packing up some food to be delivered on Friday. The final wave will be packed up next Sunday and delivered Monday. Each wave of food is going to families who have kids on the meal program at the schools. The program is for youth who don’t have breakfast or lunch at home. They also take home a backpack full of food on the weekends, sponsored by the Love in Action ministry.
_We’re still in need of turkeys. Any turkeys ... big or small … will do. Bring them to YCC this Sunday.
_With all this going on, we’re working through Colossians on Tuesday night. Our focus last night was on verses 18-23 of chapter one. We talked about what it means to be a “Contract” Christian versus a “Covenant” Christian. Contract Christians HAVE to change but Covenant Christians GET to change. Awesome stuff and some great discussions about how we move from contract to covenant.
_There is always a time where we get a little crazy and last night was no different. Each youth had a letter under their chair that gave them specific directions. One group had to dance with Chris Grogan and mimic his every move! That was spectacular to watch! Here’s a pic:
_Another group had to run throughout the room with Keith, a former Power Ranger, and show off their best jumping, running and fighting abilities. This is all we could get on film:
_Another great Tuesday … looking forward to next week. Emily Bush is leading our time so come out and support her.
_It’s been 3 weeks since the last update here. Not sure why it’s been that long but I know it’s been busy around here.
_We’re right in the middle of collecting food for our Thanksgiving drive. Lacey Namoa is in charge and doing an awesome job! We’re packing up our first wave of food this Sunday @930a in GFC. This group of food will be delivered on Monday. The next wave will be Wednesday night. A group of guys, lead by Josh Simon, will be packing up some food to be delivered on Friday. The final wave will be packed up next Sunday and delivered Monday. Each wave of food is going to families who have kids on the meal program at the schools. The program is for youth who don’t have breakfast or lunch at home. They also take home a backpack full of food on the weekends, sponsored by the Love in Action ministry.
_We’re still in need of turkeys. Any turkeys ... big or small … will do. Bring them to YCC this Sunday.
_With all this going on, we’re working through Colossians on Tuesday night. Our focus last night was on verses 18-23 of chapter one. We talked about what it means to be a “Contract” Christian versus a “Covenant” Christian. Contract Christians HAVE to change but Covenant Christians GET to change. Awesome stuff and some great discussions about how we move from contract to covenant.
_There is always a time where we get a little crazy and last night was no different. Each youth had a letter under their chair that gave them specific directions. One group had to dance with Chris Grogan and mimic his every move! That was spectacular to watch! Here’s a pic:
_Another group had to run throughout the room with Keith, a former Power Ranger, and show off their best jumping, running and fighting abilities. This is all we could get on film:
_Another great Tuesday … looking forward to next week. Emily Bush is leading our time so come out and support her.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
JCX 10/19/10
Awesome night with our boys at JCX Tuesday:
_Our focus was on the role of a man. We used Joshua 1:9, “Be strong and very courageous”, as our verse of the night.
_Once the teaching finished, the guys had the option of taking the “Strong” path … which focused on being bold, encouraging others and growing our faith or the “Courage” path which focused on being alert, determined and brave in our journey with Jesus.
_If the guys were unsure about what path to take they could stay in the center and talk some of that through with a leader. Really powerful conversations last night … and really funny conversations too.
_BUT the real party was the slip n’ slide on the HARD CONCRETE floor. Here’s the video for proof …
_And of course some great shots … including two “Party crashers” …
_Loved hanging with you all! Thanks men!!
_Our focus was on the role of a man. We used Joshua 1:9, “Be strong and very courageous”, as our verse of the night.
_Once the teaching finished, the guys had the option of taking the “Strong” path … which focused on being bold, encouraging others and growing our faith or the “Courage” path which focused on being alert, determined and brave in our journey with Jesus.
_If the guys were unsure about what path to take they could stay in the center and talk some of that through with a leader. Really powerful conversations last night … and really funny conversations too.
_BUT the real party was the slip n’ slide on the HARD CONCRETE floor. Here’s the video for proof …
_And of course some great shots … including two “Party crashers” …
_Loved hanging with you all! Thanks men!!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
JCX 10/12/10
It was ladies night:
_Tuesday night was ladies night @JCX. Here’s what we did
*Each JCX lady that came received a rose
*We poured out chocolate all over the tables because I hear girls like chocolate
*The chips and salsa were overflowing
*Lots of games like papers, coloring pages (b/c that’s cool) and more
_The teaching focused on “Who I am” and we used Philippians 3 as our scripture. Paul writes that he wants to know Christ, gain Christ and be found in Christ. We spoke about how that takes place in our lives. Then, we took the girls through Ephesians chapters 1, 2 and 3.
_During our worship through the ladies had four areas where they could go and worship: a confession place, a prayer place, a talk place and a communion place. Such a great time praying with the girls, celebrating what Christ has done and singing with them.
_Here are some photos from the night:
_Thanks for coming ladies! MEN, you’re up next week.
_Tuesday night was ladies night @JCX. Here’s what we did
*Each JCX lady that came received a rose
*We poured out chocolate all over the tables because I hear girls like chocolate
*The chips and salsa were overflowing
*Lots of games like papers, coloring pages (b/c that’s cool) and more
_The teaching focused on “Who I am” and we used Philippians 3 as our scripture. Paul writes that he wants to know Christ, gain Christ and be found in Christ. We spoke about how that takes place in our lives. Then, we took the girls through Ephesians chapters 1, 2 and 3.
_During our worship through the ladies had four areas where they could go and worship: a confession place, a prayer place, a talk place and a communion place. Such a great time praying with the girls, celebrating what Christ has done and singing with them.
_Here are some photos from the night:
_Thanks for coming ladies! MEN, you’re up next week.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
JCX 10/5/10
Awesome time Tuesday … here’s a re-cap:
_Our theme this month is Set the Pace. Our passion is that we would set the pace in all things as we serve and trust in Jesus. Tuesday, we focused on 2 Peter 1:3-11. This section of scripture talks about adding to our faith. We spent some time talking about what “adding to our faith” looks like. Is it carrying around each quality … kinda like carrying around large items that are heavy and burdensome? Or is it a bit like getting dressed and watching each quality bring wholeness to our lives? We decided that it’s a bit like getting dressed. I used my one and only suit to display this truth using each item (jacket, shirt, tie, shoes, etc.) as an example of how each quality works with the other. It was awesome!
_I sometimes forget how busy, hectic and hard each of our days can be. When we first arrived at group each youth wrote down a phrase of encouragement to another youth that they could take with them. Some of the phrases were generic but my favorite was “Remember Jesus”. Simple, powerful and very effective when the day is difficult.
_Sticking with the theme of a rough day, we decided that sometimes we just need to dance. Now, this is something that I’m not very good at … this picture will demonstrate: (notice the white boy biting the bottom lip move I’m doing here)
_But … here’s why I love just letting the walls down on Tuesday and asking them to do some weird, crazy things like dance together … check out the faces … I love it:
_This Sunday will be a can’t miss Sunday. We’re talking about God and how awesome he really is. Don’t miss JCX Sunday @930a.
_Next Tuesday is JCX girls night only … this means that the ladies will be taking over. Invite a friend and come and learn what it means to find peace.
_Our dudes will take over the following week … yep!
_Our theme this month is Set the Pace. Our passion is that we would set the pace in all things as we serve and trust in Jesus. Tuesday, we focused on 2 Peter 1:3-11. This section of scripture talks about adding to our faith. We spent some time talking about what “adding to our faith” looks like. Is it carrying around each quality … kinda like carrying around large items that are heavy and burdensome? Or is it a bit like getting dressed and watching each quality bring wholeness to our lives? We decided that it’s a bit like getting dressed. I used my one and only suit to display this truth using each item (jacket, shirt, tie, shoes, etc.) as an example of how each quality works with the other. It was awesome!
_I sometimes forget how busy, hectic and hard each of our days can be. When we first arrived at group each youth wrote down a phrase of encouragement to another youth that they could take with them. Some of the phrases were generic but my favorite was “Remember Jesus”. Simple, powerful and very effective when the day is difficult.
_Sticking with the theme of a rough day, we decided that sometimes we just need to dance. Now, this is something that I’m not very good at … this picture will demonstrate: (notice the white boy biting the bottom lip move I’m doing here)
_But … here’s why I love just letting the walls down on Tuesday and asking them to do some weird, crazy things like dance together … check out the faces … I love it:
_This Sunday will be a can’t miss Sunday. We’re talking about God and how awesome he really is. Don’t miss JCX Sunday @930a.
_Next Tuesday is JCX girls night only … this means that the ladies will be taking over. Invite a friend and come and learn what it means to find peace.
_Our dudes will take over the following week … yep!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
JCX 9/28/10
Well … Tuesday was awesome! Here’s the re-cap:
-Who would have thought that balloons would be such a powerful reminder of Jesus and his grace? Last night we exchanged different words, words that represent the heaviness that we live under, for a balloon. The balloon represented what Jesus calls his yoke. Matthew 11 describes this yoke, the way of Jesus, as something for all those who are “tired and weary, needing rest for their souls.” It was so great to see those who needed to be set free from the yoke of slavery (sin) and connected to the yoke of Jesus.
-During worship through song, we held our balloons and sang as loud as we could. It was neat for me to see the reality of what Jesus is actually calling us to hit our youth. Some were excited, some were brought to tears and some had great conversations about it with the D-group leaders.
-Lots of new faces this week. Each of the newbies I spoke with really felt welcomed and loved. That’s what we were hoping for.
-It’s always a blast to watch that person who wasn’t expecting to be moved at all by God … get moved by God! That happened to a few peeps last night and I had the privilege to hear about it and encourage them.
-Next week is a “can’t miss” night. The question we’re asking is: “How do we grow our faith when we don’t really know how?”
-In 2 weeks … it’s an all girls night @JCX. In 3 weeks … the boys take over. Plan on being here for that!
-October 16th, a Saturday, is Costume Kickball. We need your help and we need your ideas. What will be our costume this year?
-The homecoming game and dance are this weekend. Enjoy and be a great example to others. See ya Sunday @930a @YCC.
-Who would have thought that balloons would be such a powerful reminder of Jesus and his grace? Last night we exchanged different words, words that represent the heaviness that we live under, for a balloon. The balloon represented what Jesus calls his yoke. Matthew 11 describes this yoke, the way of Jesus, as something for all those who are “tired and weary, needing rest for their souls.” It was so great to see those who needed to be set free from the yoke of slavery (sin) and connected to the yoke of Jesus.
-During worship through song, we held our balloons and sang as loud as we could. It was neat for me to see the reality of what Jesus is actually calling us to hit our youth. Some were excited, some were brought to tears and some had great conversations about it with the D-group leaders.
-Lots of new faces this week. Each of the newbies I spoke with really felt welcomed and loved. That’s what we were hoping for.
-It’s always a blast to watch that person who wasn’t expecting to be moved at all by God … get moved by God! That happened to a few peeps last night and I had the privilege to hear about it and encourage them.
-Next week is a “can’t miss” night. The question we’re asking is: “How do we grow our faith when we don’t really know how?”
-In 2 weeks … it’s an all girls night @JCX. In 3 weeks … the boys take over. Plan on being here for that!
-October 16th, a Saturday, is Costume Kickball. We need your help and we need your ideas. What will be our costume this year?
-The homecoming game and dance are this weekend. Enjoy and be a great example to others. See ya Sunday @930a @YCC.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
JCX 9/21/10
The JCX after thought:
-Have you ever felt like you just are so far from God? How about feeling like you have done so many bad things that you can’t ever be forgiven? We talk a lot about how to flee from sin (that’s how Paul, a writer of much of the New Testament, calls it) but what do we do when we haven’t fled? What do we do because we haven’t said no to sin but yes? That’s what we chatted about last night at JCX.
-We, you and me, spend way to much time kicking ourselves for the stupid decisions we make, the way we break God’s heart and the disappoint and shame we cause.
-Now, this doesn’t mean that we don’t take sin seriously nor does it mean that we don’t face it and deal with it. Too often we live in “shameful guilt” instead of “gutsy guilt”.
-Gusty guilt is facing what we’ve done, admitting to it and seeking healing. Micah 7:8-10 focuses on this (read it, it’s awesome). There is a line in verse 9 that says: “I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case.” I love that line and here’s why.
-Our case of sin has been pleaded for because of Jesus dying on the cross and rising from the grave. We don’t have to be ashamed anymore because there is a freedom found in Jesus. Romans 1:16 says that we don’t have to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God for the salvation of ALL people.
-So … our focus was all about salvation last night and being confident in Jesus Christ and the work he continues to do in each of us. No matter what you’ve done, face it; live in gutsy guilt until the Lord pleads your case. Oh, and by the way, He already has! Thanks for coming last night … Love ya, mean it …
-Have you ever felt like you just are so far from God? How about feeling like you have done so many bad things that you can’t ever be forgiven? We talk a lot about how to flee from sin (that’s how Paul, a writer of much of the New Testament, calls it) but what do we do when we haven’t fled? What do we do because we haven’t said no to sin but yes? That’s what we chatted about last night at JCX.
-We, you and me, spend way to much time kicking ourselves for the stupid decisions we make, the way we break God’s heart and the disappoint and shame we cause.
-Now, this doesn’t mean that we don’t take sin seriously nor does it mean that we don’t face it and deal with it. Too often we live in “shameful guilt” instead of “gutsy guilt”.
-Gusty guilt is facing what we’ve done, admitting to it and seeking healing. Micah 7:8-10 focuses on this (read it, it’s awesome). There is a line in verse 9 that says: “I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case.” I love that line and here’s why.
-Our case of sin has been pleaded for because of Jesus dying on the cross and rising from the grave. We don’t have to be ashamed anymore because there is a freedom found in Jesus. Romans 1:16 says that we don’t have to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God for the salvation of ALL people.
-So … our focus was all about salvation last night and being confident in Jesus Christ and the work he continues to do in each of us. No matter what you’ve done, face it; live in gutsy guilt until the Lord pleads your case. Oh, and by the way, He already has! Thanks for coming last night … Love ya, mean it …
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
JCX 9/14/10
The JCX review …
-Tonight was a celebration of our freshmen. We love ‘em even though they climb trees and get stuck. (that happened at the high school Tuesday afternoon). Troy Pyle welcomed everyone and led a prayer over the frosh. Great to see them involved and encouraged.
-We have two specific projects that we’re working on as a group right now: raising money through Active Water (builds water wells in Zambia) by putting on a marathon and gathering 500 meals for families this Thanksgiving. Amanda Nightingale and Marc Quesada are in charge the Active Water campaign and Lacey Namoa is in charge of the Thanksgiving campaign. They shared a bit about what they hope to do and ask for support last night. Both projects are now fully supported with a big group of youth on each team.
-We worshipped through song but right in the middle we read from the scriptures about the reality of sin and the truth that Jesus Christ has defeated sin and is reconciling us to the Father. During the teaching we talked about how reconciliation is about an exchange of something valuable for something valuable. We exchange our sin (valuables) for life in Jesus Christ (has greatest value). During this time we wrote the word “SIN” on our hand. We displayed this reconciliation by using the communion elements; bread and wine. We used grapes to represent the wine. Each youth tore the bread slowly to understand what our sin did to Jesus and then we smashed the grapes in our hands to represent the blood of Jesus and how it covers over our sin. As the grape was smashed it started to erase the sin that was on our hands. So cool!
-Our d-groups focused on the story of Philemon and each person in the group had a choice of who they wanted to identify with from the story:
---Paul – who is encouraging another person of faith to participate in reconciliation
---Philemon – who is proclaiming Jesus as Lord and now must live that out in the most difficult areas of his life
---Onesimus – who is beginning his journey with Jesus and is understanding what surrender looks like, even when it is most difficult.
Each person took a slip of paper home with one the previous phrases on it.
-We are planning a “after party” after Homecoming. Details coming soon.
-Praying for all of you …
Mike
-Tonight was a celebration of our freshmen. We love ‘em even though they climb trees and get stuck. (that happened at the high school Tuesday afternoon). Troy Pyle welcomed everyone and led a prayer over the frosh. Great to see them involved and encouraged.
-We have two specific projects that we’re working on as a group right now: raising money through Active Water (builds water wells in Zambia) by putting on a marathon and gathering 500 meals for families this Thanksgiving. Amanda Nightingale and Marc Quesada are in charge the Active Water campaign and Lacey Namoa is in charge of the Thanksgiving campaign. They shared a bit about what they hope to do and ask for support last night. Both projects are now fully supported with a big group of youth on each team.
-We worshipped through song but right in the middle we read from the scriptures about the reality of sin and the truth that Jesus Christ has defeated sin and is reconciling us to the Father. During the teaching we talked about how reconciliation is about an exchange of something valuable for something valuable. We exchange our sin (valuables) for life in Jesus Christ (has greatest value). During this time we wrote the word “SIN” on our hand. We displayed this reconciliation by using the communion elements; bread and wine. We used grapes to represent the wine. Each youth tore the bread slowly to understand what our sin did to Jesus and then we smashed the grapes in our hands to represent the blood of Jesus and how it covers over our sin. As the grape was smashed it started to erase the sin that was on our hands. So cool!
-Our d-groups focused on the story of Philemon and each person in the group had a choice of who they wanted to identify with from the story:
---Paul – who is encouraging another person of faith to participate in reconciliation
---Philemon – who is proclaiming Jesus as Lord and now must live that out in the most difficult areas of his life
---Onesimus – who is beginning his journey with Jesus and is understanding what surrender looks like, even when it is most difficult.
Each person took a slip of paper home with one the previous phrases on it.
-We are planning a “after party” after Homecoming. Details coming soon.
-Praying for all of you …
Mike
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Notes from our staff meeting
Did you miss us last night? We missed you BUT it was a great night hanging with each of the youth staff. Here are some things we decided to do:
----We are starting group at 630p, as always, but will only spend about 10 minutes in D-groups at the start of the night. This is so we have more time for worship through song, time with each other and more discussion in our D-groups at the end of the night. The first part of D-group will be focused on praying for each other.
----We are planning a “After Homecoming party” at the church. After the dance, come hang at the church from 10p to 2a. We’re serving food, showing a movie and up for more ideas. Please share with us!
----Dave Whitlock is available to meet with one on one during the second half of D-group time (8p-830p). He has met with many of you already and has encouraged a lot of you to better things. If you have an interest in meeting with Dave because you are looking to grow in your faith, sign up by talking to Dave on Sunday, Tuesday or you can message him or Mike through Facebook.
----CIY peeps … we are planning a reunion soon. All those that attended CIY, including the graduates, will be invited to come, hang and share about their Kingdom Worker progress.
----We are planning a Guys Night and a Girls Night at JCX in October. Yep, that means one, complete night with just the females of JCX and one complete night with just the males. It will include worship through song, gender specific discussions and food!
----Remember, we meet at 930a on Sunday for group. Thanks for reading … love ya, mean it!
----We are starting group at 630p, as always, but will only spend about 10 minutes in D-groups at the start of the night. This is so we have more time for worship through song, time with each other and more discussion in our D-groups at the end of the night. The first part of D-group will be focused on praying for each other.
----We are planning a “After Homecoming party” at the church. After the dance, come hang at the church from 10p to 2a. We’re serving food, showing a movie and up for more ideas. Please share with us!
----Dave Whitlock is available to meet with one on one during the second half of D-group time (8p-830p). He has met with many of you already and has encouraged a lot of you to better things. If you have an interest in meeting with Dave because you are looking to grow in your faith, sign up by talking to Dave on Sunday, Tuesday or you can message him or Mike through Facebook.
----CIY peeps … we are planning a reunion soon. All those that attended CIY, including the graduates, will be invited to come, hang and share about their Kingdom Worker progress.
----We are planning a Guys Night and a Girls Night at JCX in October. Yep, that means one, complete night with just the females of JCX and one complete night with just the males. It will include worship through song, gender specific discussions and food!
----Remember, we meet at 930a on Sunday for group. Thanks for reading … love ya, mean it!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
JCX 8/31/10
The stories and the details …
-I enjoy hearing story after story of how God is working in the lives of our peeps. We heard from Tiffany Hahn last Tuesday and Amanda Nightingale this Tuesday night. Amanda shared about how she isn’t living the “camp high” or “Jesus high” that everyone talks about and says “eventually goes away”. She shared how this is a lifestyle, something you dedicate yourself to and belong to. Such great truth in that statement! It was awesome and heartbreaking to hear her story. She told us about her friend, someone she has been close with for years, and how they aren’t speaking currently because of where she found herself when they hung out. Then, the statement of the night, Amanda said “Jesus gave his life for me so I guess I can give up my best friend.” WOW! Super neat story and a really cool time last night.
-The teaching focused on baptizing one on one. We talked about what it means to be baptized and what it means for us to baptize others. I love talking about the great commission and the implications it has in our lives.
-Is it just me or are we seeing a lot of new faces in with our familiar faces? I love meeting new people but what’s even sweeter is meeting these new peeps and watching them get loved on by our familiar peeps.
-The Dgroup time focused on the temptations of Jesus and why it was so important to have God the Father announce who he is before this time. Some great conversations from this scripture!
-This Sunday, we’re focusing on Matthew 6. Read up!
-No JCX Tuesday next week … the D-groups are meeting off campus and the youth staff is meeting and planning for the next few months. We return on Tuesday, September 14th.
-I enjoy hearing story after story of how God is working in the lives of our peeps. We heard from Tiffany Hahn last Tuesday and Amanda Nightingale this Tuesday night. Amanda shared about how she isn’t living the “camp high” or “Jesus high” that everyone talks about and says “eventually goes away”. She shared how this is a lifestyle, something you dedicate yourself to and belong to. Such great truth in that statement! It was awesome and heartbreaking to hear her story. She told us about her friend, someone she has been close with for years, and how they aren’t speaking currently because of where she found herself when they hung out. Then, the statement of the night, Amanda said “Jesus gave his life for me so I guess I can give up my best friend.” WOW! Super neat story and a really cool time last night.
-The teaching focused on baptizing one on one. We talked about what it means to be baptized and what it means for us to baptize others. I love talking about the great commission and the implications it has in our lives.
-Is it just me or are we seeing a lot of new faces in with our familiar faces? I love meeting new people but what’s even sweeter is meeting these new peeps and watching them get loved on by our familiar peeps.
-The Dgroup time focused on the temptations of Jesus and why it was so important to have God the Father announce who he is before this time. Some great conversations from this scripture!
-This Sunday, we’re focusing on Matthew 6. Read up!
-No JCX Tuesday next week … the D-groups are meeting off campus and the youth staff is meeting and planning for the next few months. We return on Tuesday, September 14th.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
JCX 8/24/10
About last night …
-I think things just keep getting better and better. Now, I say that knowing that I personally had a few heart sinking conversations last night about the hurts and wounds that our youth are carrying around. So when I say “it’s getting better and better” it means this: we, as a group, understand that nothing else matters except for knowing Jesus and loving his people. As I talked with some of these friends of mine I got this overwhelming sense that even though they are struggling, they are enduring through and leaning and resting in Jesus. Awesome!
-Tiffany Hahn shared her story Tuesday night. WOW! She came from a real crazy situation and God has transformed her into an incredible woman of the Lord. She shared how the JCX peeps have loved her and prayed for her and how that “just didn’t happen” anywhere else in here life. She was told she would be a “waste of space” but was treated with love and dignity by her friends and by the peeps at JCX. Best part was at the end when she said this about Jesus: “Matthew 28:20 ‘Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’. And it’s so true. Having one person care about me made that much of a difference for me. And I can’t even put into words how much better I am. And everyone here has made a difference in my life. Thank you to everyone.” So great and thank you Tiffany!
-Our focus was how to baptize with your life. We used Matthew 18 as our foundation and talked about what it means to “become like a child in the kingdom of heaven.” We spoke about how we live and not allow our choices, although not always bad, get in the way of what God wants to do in someone’s soul through us. We also spoke about how welcoming someone is not converting them. Welcoming is understanding that they have value and we treat them that way … because they are created by a God.
-Another great story from one of our JCX peeps next week. Also, we’re talking about how we baptize one on one. Get ready! See ya Sunday!
-I think things just keep getting better and better. Now, I say that knowing that I personally had a few heart sinking conversations last night about the hurts and wounds that our youth are carrying around. So when I say “it’s getting better and better” it means this: we, as a group, understand that nothing else matters except for knowing Jesus and loving his people. As I talked with some of these friends of mine I got this overwhelming sense that even though they are struggling, they are enduring through and leaning and resting in Jesus. Awesome!
-Tiffany Hahn shared her story Tuesday night. WOW! She came from a real crazy situation and God has transformed her into an incredible woman of the Lord. She shared how the JCX peeps have loved her and prayed for her and how that “just didn’t happen” anywhere else in here life. She was told she would be a “waste of space” but was treated with love and dignity by her friends and by the peeps at JCX. Best part was at the end when she said this about Jesus: “Matthew 28:20 ‘Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’. And it’s so true. Having one person care about me made that much of a difference for me. And I can’t even put into words how much better I am. And everyone here has made a difference in my life. Thank you to everyone.” So great and thank you Tiffany!
-Our focus was how to baptize with your life. We used Matthew 18 as our foundation and talked about what it means to “become like a child in the kingdom of heaven.” We spoke about how we live and not allow our choices, although not always bad, get in the way of what God wants to do in someone’s soul through us. We also spoke about how welcoming someone is not converting them. Welcoming is understanding that they have value and we treat them that way … because they are created by a God.
-Another great story from one of our JCX peeps next week. Also, we’re talking about how we baptize one on one. Get ready! See ya Sunday!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
JCX 8/17/10
Some quick thoughts about JCX Tuesday:
-It was weird not having the grads there anymore. Although, two of them showed up to give me a hard time and I got to kick them out again! So fun!
-We have a large group of seniors this year. The best part, they are all ready to influence and love. This is the first time in a few years that our seniors have been this fired up! I’m excited for each of them.
-So, has anyone been praying about who will disciple them? How about choosing to disciple someone else?
-There were many new faces on Tuesday. Great job inviting … keep it up. Remember, the goal isn’t to get people to church; the goal is to love them no matter what.
-I had a chance to read the encouragement cards that each of you wrote to our seniors. WOW! Some great stuff with a lot of scripture too.
-If you had your own radio show what song MUST be played?
-Next Tuesday we celebrate our juniors, class of 2012.
-How are those projects for the kingdom worker cards going? Let’s accomplish each one and do it for the Lord.
-This Sunday @945am we have some great things planned. Prepare to get yourself rocked!
-It was weird not having the grads there anymore. Although, two of them showed up to give me a hard time and I got to kick them out again! So fun!
-We have a large group of seniors this year. The best part, they are all ready to influence and love. This is the first time in a few years that our seniors have been this fired up! I’m excited for each of them.
-So, has anyone been praying about who will disciple them? How about choosing to disciple someone else?
-There were many new faces on Tuesday. Great job inviting … keep it up. Remember, the goal isn’t to get people to church; the goal is to love them no matter what.
-I had a chance to read the encouragement cards that each of you wrote to our seniors. WOW! Some great stuff with a lot of scripture too.
-If you had your own radio show what song MUST be played?
-Next Tuesday we celebrate our juniors, class of 2012.
-How are those projects for the kingdom worker cards going? Let’s accomplish each one and do it for the Lord.
-This Sunday @945am we have some great things planned. Prepare to get yourself rocked!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
JCX 8/10/10
Recap of JCX Tuesday:
-Teaching: Our focus for the evening was that you cannot make disciples by the way you live without first surrendering everything. The phrase we talked about was “Jesus is all that matters”. We looked at Luke 6, starting in verse 26, and talked about how this is truly what it means to surrender everything. Great stuff!
-Worship: We spent some time praying over our graduates Tuesday night. There was also a place where they could write prayers and encouragements too. I was amazed at how much was written and what the youth wrote to each other. Very inspiring and encouraging. It’s always a tough thing to see say goodbye to the grads. It’s awesome that most of them our attending local schools and we’ll see them Sunday nights @8pm for our college night called REfresh. Here’s a picture of some of our grads:
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-Celebrate: We handed out the baptism certificates to our freshly baptized peeps. Justin is missing in this picture because he was at football practice and came late. Here they are:
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-Celebrate again: Here are the actual baptism pics (taken by the one and only Amanda Nightingale). They are all action shots coming up out of the water:
Elizabeth
-
Kariana
Alyssa
Delanie (to fast for the camera)
Amanda
Justin (I love his face coming out of the water)
-Best part: Hanging out with the group and talking about Jesus. I hope that others will get a chance to come and hang with us Tuesday night. Invite, spread the word … we are fun to hang out with! Really!! Love ya, mean it … Mike
-Teaching: Our focus for the evening was that you cannot make disciples by the way you live without first surrendering everything. The phrase we talked about was “Jesus is all that matters”. We looked at Luke 6, starting in verse 26, and talked about how this is truly what it means to surrender everything. Great stuff!
-Worship: We spent some time praying over our graduates Tuesday night. There was also a place where they could write prayers and encouragements too. I was amazed at how much was written and what the youth wrote to each other. Very inspiring and encouraging. It’s always a tough thing to see say goodbye to the grads. It’s awesome that most of them our attending local schools and we’ll see them Sunday nights @8pm for our college night called REfresh. Here’s a picture of some of our grads:
-Celebrate: We handed out the baptism certificates to our freshly baptized peeps. Justin is missing in this picture because he was at football practice and came late. Here they are:
-Celebrate again: Here are the actual baptism pics (taken by the one and only Amanda Nightingale). They are all action shots coming up out of the water:
Elizabeth
-
Kariana
Alyssa
Delanie (to fast for the camera)
Amanda
Justin (I love his face coming out of the water)
-Best part: Hanging out with the group and talking about Jesus. I hope that others will get a chance to come and hang with us Tuesday night. Invite, spread the word … we are fun to hang out with! Really!! Love ya, mean it … Mike
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
JCX 8/3/10
It was a powerful night at JCX Tuesday. Here are the details:
-We started with info about the kingdom worker cards that our youth received at CIY. These cards have specific challenges on them and ask the youth to complete the challenge within the year. An example of a card is: create a free carnival in the park and invite the community to come and play. That’s the idea. We are attempting to complete each card by next years CIY.
-Our CIY people were excited about the debuting CIY video that Matt put together. Here it is:
-During our worship through song each youth wrote their name down on a prayer card. Then they placed those cards on a table and picked up a name and wrote a prayer on the back of the card to that person. Very cool to read what was written and really encouraging for our youth.
-The teaching focused on Jesus and his invitation to “come and see, come and die.” We used Matthew 28:18-20 as our focus. At the end of the teaching we invited our peeps to move if they need to proclaim Jesus is Lord for the first time, reconnect to Jesus or mentor/disciple someone. We also invited our youth to get baptized. That was awesome! Six youth decided Tuesday night was when they wanted to do that. So … we did:
-Such a great night! We are really seeing God transform lives. There were others who said they were ready to be baptized but wanted to wait and talk it over with their parents … which is a good thing.
-Here is a picture of us baptized people praying to close out our time together:
-We started with info about the kingdom worker cards that our youth received at CIY. These cards have specific challenges on them and ask the youth to complete the challenge within the year. An example of a card is: create a free carnival in the park and invite the community to come and play. That’s the idea. We are attempting to complete each card by next years CIY.
-Our CIY people were excited about the debuting CIY video that Matt put together. Here it is:
-During our worship through song each youth wrote their name down on a prayer card. Then they placed those cards on a table and picked up a name and wrote a prayer on the back of the card to that person. Very cool to read what was written and really encouraging for our youth.
-The teaching focused on Jesus and his invitation to “come and see, come and die.” We used Matthew 28:18-20 as our focus. At the end of the teaching we invited our peeps to move if they need to proclaim Jesus is Lord for the first time, reconnect to Jesus or mentor/disciple someone. We also invited our youth to get baptized. That was awesome! Six youth decided Tuesday night was when they wanted to do that. So … we did:
-Such a great night! We are really seeing God transform lives. There were others who said they were ready to be baptized but wanted to wait and talk it over with their parents … which is a good thing.
-Here is a picture of us baptized people praying to close out our time together:
Thursday, July 29, 2010
CIY 2010
The CIY report:
I believe that was the best week of CIY we have ever been apart of! Now, I know we just recently returned from our summer conference with the high school youth and everything is fresh in my mind but I have to say … that was THE best week I’ve been apart of. Here are the reasons why:
-Life change … our youth had their eyes open to who God is, what he does and how he is working in them.
-Directional change … it was so great to watch God remind the youth of their influence and impact in this world. Some just struggled with believing they were worth anything to God because others behaved in a way that showed them otherwise. God really straightened that out.
-Transformational change … the way this group belonged to each other was awesome. No one was left behind, no one was left out, everyone was given time and love. It was super neat to watch.
-Authentic change … the things that were shared (with the group and one on one) were great to hear. There were struggles that needed to be confessed, attitudes that needed to be repented of and lifestyle choices that needed the love of Jesus.
-Influence change … the youth came back with projects to accomplish. Here are a few: a carnival in the park, collecting food for the organization Food Fight, Active water 5k fundraiser and collecting 500 turkeys for families at Thanksgiving.
Thanks for a great week:
Now for some videos:
And here is our group picture:
And here is another:
I believe that was the best week of CIY we have ever been apart of! Now, I know we just recently returned from our summer conference with the high school youth and everything is fresh in my mind but I have to say … that was THE best week I’ve been apart of. Here are the reasons why:
-Life change … our youth had their eyes open to who God is, what he does and how he is working in them.
-Directional change … it was so great to watch God remind the youth of their influence and impact in this world. Some just struggled with believing they were worth anything to God because others behaved in a way that showed them otherwise. God really straightened that out.
-Transformational change … the way this group belonged to each other was awesome. No one was left behind, no one was left out, everyone was given time and love. It was super neat to watch.
-Authentic change … the things that were shared (with the group and one on one) were great to hear. There were struggles that needed to be confessed, attitudes that needed to be repented of and lifestyle choices that needed the love of Jesus.
-Influence change … the youth came back with projects to accomplish. Here are a few: a carnival in the park, collecting food for the organization Food Fight, Active water 5k fundraiser and collecting 500 turkeys for families at Thanksgiving.
Thanks for a great week:
Now for some videos:
And here is our group picture:
And here is another:
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
JCX 7/13/10
We met Tuesday night and this was the result:
-Questions, questions and more questions. We asked the youth to write out the things that were stirring in their hearts. Here are some of the questions asked:
*How do you bring up the truth about Jesus in a conversation with a non-Christian?
*How do you know if you are being lead to be a missionary?
*What if we’re all wasting our time?
*What is your reason for being at church?
*What is normal?
-I was surprised at some of the questions. Most were about faith and salvation. It was a real cool thing to hear what was stirring in the hearts of our youth.
-This was our last JCX Tuesday for 2 weeks. Next week a group of us our heading to CIY: Move, a 6 day conference at Biola University. I’m excited about next week for a few reasons: One … there is a group of “first timers” going that, I believe, will get rocked this week by Jesus and Two … the “returners” to CIY are a group of leaders and lovers that will set a great pace for the week.
-If you are going to CIY please remember to pack: a Bible, pillow, sleeping bag, bathroom stuff, bring spending money (we will eat out 2 times) and a great attitude.
-Sunday morning @945a Gil will be leading our discussion on what it means to have a discipler and why. Remember, we start at 945a for the next 5 weeks (until August 22nd).
-Angels game and Catalina are filling up fast. If you are interested in going then get a deposit in asap.
-Text jcxyouth to 41411 and receive updates on events, times, and when and where we gathering. Do it today!
-Questions, questions and more questions. We asked the youth to write out the things that were stirring in their hearts. Here are some of the questions asked:
*How do you bring up the truth about Jesus in a conversation with a non-Christian?
*How do you know if you are being lead to be a missionary?
*What if we’re all wasting our time?
*What is your reason for being at church?
*What is normal?
-I was surprised at some of the questions. Most were about faith and salvation. It was a real cool thing to hear what was stirring in the hearts of our youth.
-This was our last JCX Tuesday for 2 weeks. Next week a group of us our heading to CIY: Move, a 6 day conference at Biola University. I’m excited about next week for a few reasons: One … there is a group of “first timers” going that, I believe, will get rocked this week by Jesus and Two … the “returners” to CIY are a group of leaders and lovers that will set a great pace for the week.
-If you are going to CIY please remember to pack: a Bible, pillow, sleeping bag, bathroom stuff, bring spending money (we will eat out 2 times) and a great attitude.
-Sunday morning @945a Gil will be leading our discussion on what it means to have a discipler and why. Remember, we start at 945a for the next 5 weeks (until August 22nd).
-Angels game and Catalina are filling up fast. If you are interested in going then get a deposit in asap.
-Text jcxyouth to 41411 and receive updates on events, times, and when and where we gathering. Do it today!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
JCX Tuesday 6/29/10
We met last night … it was good! The End.
Ok, really … it was very good! Great conversation, great worship through song, great energy and a great group of people. Here are the details:
---Started the night with a time of prayer. We have been practicing praying out loud, eyes open, say what you are feeling inside to God, no “dear Lord” or “Amen” types of prayers. Four of our leaders from our Dream Team lead this time and did a spectacular job. Lots of things written down and lots of great, honest, raw prayers. Loved it!
---The teaching focused on Hell. We looked at Luke 16:19-31, the story of the rich man and Lazarus. We focused on the chasm in the story. We talked about how that chasm is in the heart of the rich man and how he chose to live a life of hell. That lead to a discussion about the chasm’s we have in our lives.
---I love our leaders group (the Dream Team, as I call them). They step up and do some uncomfortable things. I say uncomfortable because it’s not easy to lead a group in prayer or get in front of the group to speak or be an example to others who know you really well but that’s what this group is doing. Thanks everyone!
---CIY is full and I’m pumped about the group going. A lot of new faces and a group of great hearts.
---Angels game and Catalina still have open space for you. Interested? Sign up soon.
---We gave Samantha Squires the camera last night and this was the result:
Ok, really … it was very good! Great conversation, great worship through song, great energy and a great group of people. Here are the details:
---Started the night with a time of prayer. We have been practicing praying out loud, eyes open, say what you are feeling inside to God, no “dear Lord” or “Amen” types of prayers. Four of our leaders from our Dream Team lead this time and did a spectacular job. Lots of things written down and lots of great, honest, raw prayers. Loved it!
---The teaching focused on Hell. We looked at Luke 16:19-31, the story of the rich man and Lazarus. We focused on the chasm in the story. We talked about how that chasm is in the heart of the rich man and how he chose to live a life of hell. That lead to a discussion about the chasm’s we have in our lives.
---I love our leaders group (the Dream Team, as I call them). They step up and do some uncomfortable things. I say uncomfortable because it’s not easy to lead a group in prayer or get in front of the group to speak or be an example to others who know you really well but that’s what this group is doing. Thanks everyone!
---CIY is full and I’m pumped about the group going. A lot of new faces and a group of great hearts.
---Angels game and Catalina still have open space for you. Interested? Sign up soon.
---We gave Samantha Squires the camera last night and this was the result:
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
JCX ... the last 3 weeks
It’s been 3 weeks since the last update here. I have an excuse … do you want to hear it? Well, I’m telling you anyway! Went to Hurricane Harbor with the high school peeps 3 weeks ago, Disneyland 2 weeks ago and Soak City with the 1st-4th graders last week. Therefore … no updates for you! BUT … I will catch you up right now.
***First … we welcomed our new Freshman into JCX. We did so with a fashion show. We had each one dress up in some clothes from our “weird clothes for shows” closet. It was great watching their personalities come out. Of course, there was the guy who wore the dress, but I must say … he wore it with passion! Each Frosh was connected to a D-group. Our groups welcomed them and really encouraged them. Looks like we didn’t scare the Frosh away … so glad!
***Second … we said goodbye to Lynne Brewster. She has been working with out youth, at YCC, for over 15 years. It’s tough watching someone who loves youth so much to move on but it was time. She and her husband will be doing some traveling and spending time together. Honestly, I think she will be back because in youth ministry you just can’t stay away. Lynne is a HUGE Diet Coke drinker … that was her gift from us:
.JPG)
***Third … speaking of saying goodbye, we did that to Josh and Adriana Oz. They have been working with our youth for 2 ½ years. It has been such a great privilege watching them connect with our youth and helping them learn and grow. We will miss them! A funny moment while we were announcing that they will be leaving; Josh didn’t give his D-group a heads up. As I’m sharing with the group that Josh and Adri will be leaving, his group yells out in shock and this awkward moment ensues. It was priceless!
***Fourth … We always have a moment where we just slip back to our “lets do this because it’s just dumb” mindset. We ask 3 of our youth to pull out as many tissues from the tissue box as they could in less than a minute without using their hands. Here’s proof (thanks Cole):
.JPG)
***So … now you know and knowing is half the battle! G.I. Joe! Some quick thoughts … CIY is full! A waiting list is now available to put your name on starting tonight @JCX. The Angels game is still open and Catalina still has some space available too. Sign up with a deposit and hang with us!
***Have you read about the kickback days? It’s a day that we are inviting you to come and hang with us. We will set up something ridiculously cool to do or you could invite us along with you and do whatever it is you would like to do. The next kick back day is in July. Look for details on the JCX calendar.
***First … we welcomed our new Freshman into JCX. We did so with a fashion show. We had each one dress up in some clothes from our “weird clothes for shows” closet. It was great watching their personalities come out. Of course, there was the guy who wore the dress, but I must say … he wore it with passion! Each Frosh was connected to a D-group. Our groups welcomed them and really encouraged them. Looks like we didn’t scare the Frosh away … so glad!
***Second … we said goodbye to Lynne Brewster. She has been working with out youth, at YCC, for over 15 years. It’s tough watching someone who loves youth so much to move on but it was time. She and her husband will be doing some traveling and spending time together. Honestly, I think she will be back because in youth ministry you just can’t stay away. Lynne is a HUGE Diet Coke drinker … that was her gift from us:
***Third … speaking of saying goodbye, we did that to Josh and Adriana Oz. They have been working with our youth for 2 ½ years. It has been such a great privilege watching them connect with our youth and helping them learn and grow. We will miss them! A funny moment while we were announcing that they will be leaving; Josh didn’t give his D-group a heads up. As I’m sharing with the group that Josh and Adri will be leaving, his group yells out in shock and this awkward moment ensues. It was priceless!
***Fourth … We always have a moment where we just slip back to our “lets do this because it’s just dumb” mindset. We ask 3 of our youth to pull out as many tissues from the tissue box as they could in less than a minute without using their hands. Here’s proof (thanks Cole):
***So … now you know and knowing is half the battle! G.I. Joe! Some quick thoughts … CIY is full! A waiting list is now available to put your name on starting tonight @JCX. The Angels game is still open and Catalina still has some space available too. Sign up with a deposit and hang with us!
***Have you read about the kickback days? It’s a day that we are inviting you to come and hang with us. We will set up something ridiculously cool to do or you could invite us along with you and do whatever it is you would like to do. The next kick back day is in July. Look for details on the JCX calendar.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
JCX Tuesday 6/1/10
JCX details from a GREAT Tuesday night!
-Lots of peeps gathered Tuesday for JCX. Always fun when peeps show up. Still amazes me that they show up. We started the main group time with a game of “Firsts”. There were 25 things that needed to be accomplished. Some crazy, some fun, some easy like: Be the first to get Andrea to say “E.T. phone home” (by the way, she HATES E.T.) or be the first to start a Red Rover game. So cool watching everyone move around the room at a frantic pace trying to accomplish all of the tasks.
-Jon Watch taught us from Romans 8:28. The teaching focused on the difference between “everything happens for a reason” vs. “all things work together for the good.” At the end of the teaching, Jon invited those who want “ALL THINGS” to be for the glory of God to write that phrase on their hands or arms.
-This lead to some great dialogue in the D-groups. Some heavy, some very profound and others just venting. All in all it was real cool to hear the response to the teaching.
-Next Tuesday, our leaders group is taking over the night. Their focus is Peer Pressure and Family. It’s been a cool blessing to watch them put together their thoughts on this. The way they will teach and what they have planned is very creative.
-Seniors graduate next Wednesday from school. This is always a tough time of year. It’s tough because I hate saying goodbye to those I love. Some are moving away and others will join the college group, which is rad! I get excited for this time too. We have 25 freshmen moving up to JCX in 2 weeks and that’s awesome! Looking forward to building some great friendships with these youth.
-Hurricane Harbor is in 2 weeks. Hope you can make it! $20 plus spending money for a day of water and craziness.
-CIY is July 19th – 24th … space is filling up fast … don’t be left out!
-Catalina is August 11th … have you ever gone parasailing? You can if you go with us to Catalina!!
-Lots of peeps gathered Tuesday for JCX. Always fun when peeps show up. Still amazes me that they show up. We started the main group time with a game of “Firsts”. There were 25 things that needed to be accomplished. Some crazy, some fun, some easy like: Be the first to get Andrea to say “E.T. phone home” (by the way, she HATES E.T.) or be the first to start a Red Rover game. So cool watching everyone move around the room at a frantic pace trying to accomplish all of the tasks.
-Jon Watch taught us from Romans 8:28. The teaching focused on the difference between “everything happens for a reason” vs. “all things work together for the good.” At the end of the teaching, Jon invited those who want “ALL THINGS” to be for the glory of God to write that phrase on their hands or arms.
-This lead to some great dialogue in the D-groups. Some heavy, some very profound and others just venting. All in all it was real cool to hear the response to the teaching.
-Next Tuesday, our leaders group is taking over the night. Their focus is Peer Pressure and Family. It’s been a cool blessing to watch them put together their thoughts on this. The way they will teach and what they have planned is very creative.
-Seniors graduate next Wednesday from school. This is always a tough time of year. It’s tough because I hate saying goodbye to those I love. Some are moving away and others will join the college group, which is rad! I get excited for this time too. We have 25 freshmen moving up to JCX in 2 weeks and that’s awesome! Looking forward to building some great friendships with these youth.
-Hurricane Harbor is in 2 weeks. Hope you can make it! $20 plus spending money for a day of water and craziness.
-CIY is July 19th – 24th … space is filling up fast … don’t be left out!
-Catalina is August 11th … have you ever gone parasailing? You can if you go with us to Catalina!!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
JCX Tuesday 5/25/10
The JCX thing:
-Things were poppin last night (is it ok that I just said poppin?). Counting down to the end of the school year and everyone is excited about that.
-We started JCX off with some face-to-face convo’s. All our chairs were set up face-to-face with a list of conversation starters for each youth. Some were ridiculous (do a summersault together) and some were serious (what’s your first impression of me?). It really started some great dialogue with peeps who really didn’t know each other well.
-Emily Bush shared her story and it was powerful. Her message to the group “God never abandon’s us”. She spoke about how God is seen as a genie that grants wishes and makes everything better. Obviously that’s not true and she spoke about how we must take responsibility of our faith and relationship with God. So great! Awesome job!
-The teaching focused on Confession that leads to Salvation. Our thought of the night was “When I open my mouth I open my heart”. We spoke about how confession isn’t just saying “sorry” but a knowledge that God loves me and our pursuit of that truth.
-D-groups are always crazy! Some great conversations and some intense dialogue. I had the privilege of chatting with one of our youth about their tension in life. They spoke about how they want to move away from this struggle and into the life God created them for. Love seeing that.
-Next week Jon Watch Frisch brings the heat (message) to us. Pumped to hear from him. Also, June 8th our leaders group will take the lead and own the night. Some great thoughts coming, hope you are here.
-Things were poppin last night (is it ok that I just said poppin?). Counting down to the end of the school year and everyone is excited about that.
-We started JCX off with some face-to-face convo’s. All our chairs were set up face-to-face with a list of conversation starters for each youth. Some were ridiculous (do a summersault together) and some were serious (what’s your first impression of me?). It really started some great dialogue with peeps who really didn’t know each other well.
-Emily Bush shared her story and it was powerful. Her message to the group “God never abandon’s us”. She spoke about how God is seen as a genie that grants wishes and makes everything better. Obviously that’s not true and she spoke about how we must take responsibility of our faith and relationship with God. So great! Awesome job!
-The teaching focused on Confession that leads to Salvation. Our thought of the night was “When I open my mouth I open my heart”. We spoke about how confession isn’t just saying “sorry” but a knowledge that God loves me and our pursuit of that truth.
-D-groups are always crazy! Some great conversations and some intense dialogue. I had the privilege of chatting with one of our youth about their tension in life. They spoke about how they want to move away from this struggle and into the life God created them for. Love seeing that.
-Next week Jon Watch Frisch brings the heat (message) to us. Pumped to hear from him. Also, June 8th our leaders group will take the lead and own the night. Some great thoughts coming, hope you are here.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
JCX Tuesday 5/18/10
JCX Tuesday details:
Here ya go …
-This time every year there is this apathy that sets in across the board, adults and youth, where we feel it’s ok to do nothing. So far, I have seen a great resistance to that in our youth. Especially in the leaders group. There is a strong group of people that want their lives to bring influence and passion to others. So thank you to those that are not giving in: Lacey, Amanda, Emily, Robert, Eric, Seth, Shelby, Samantha, Steven, Jacob, Ronnie, Chelsea, Aaron … gosh … this might be a long list … there are more and I love watching God
-Our teaching focused on this idea: how does Jesus define faith? How often do we get all sorts of weird ideas about faith? For example: that didn’t happen or they weren’t healed because you didn’t have enough faith or pray hard enough. So, we took what Jesus said about faith and asked “how do we live this out?” Here’s what we came up with. Faith is like knocking (there was a door in the middle of the room) … we talked about how knocking is saying “God, I know who you are and what you promised so I’m asking you to be the God you say you are.” Faith is like the wind (had a big fan running) … God isn’t in love with some future version of you, he is in love with you. Faith is like being thirsty (lots of water around the room) … only Jesus satisfies the soul. Faith like reporting (there was a tv in the center of the room) … speak about how Jesus is working in us. Faith is like coming home (we had a log cabin play house in the room) … the Father always has his hands wide open … may we live that way also.
-The teaching lead into our D-group time. Each group spent time in worship with a focus on each of the characteristics of faith. Some great discussion and thoughts shared.
-Our leaders group spent some time chatting with other D-groups about what they hope to see JCX accomplish together. We will spend some time discussing that next week in our leaders group.
-Now … we’re planning for a time of worship on Thursday @4pm. It was an idea of our leaders group. They felt another time together was important to our community and so we’re trying out this time of worship. Hoping it catches on and becomes something that inspires and encourages our youth to live out their faith wherever they go.
-CIY is coming and … well … here’s why everyone should go:
-We are planning a kick back day each month … details in the next blog entry.
Here ya go …
-This time every year there is this apathy that sets in across the board, adults and youth, where we feel it’s ok to do nothing. So far, I have seen a great resistance to that in our youth. Especially in the leaders group. There is a strong group of people that want their lives to bring influence and passion to others. So thank you to those that are not giving in: Lacey, Amanda, Emily, Robert, Eric, Seth, Shelby, Samantha, Steven, Jacob, Ronnie, Chelsea, Aaron … gosh … this might be a long list … there are more and I love watching God
-Our teaching focused on this idea: how does Jesus define faith? How often do we get all sorts of weird ideas about faith? For example: that didn’t happen or they weren’t healed because you didn’t have enough faith or pray hard enough. So, we took what Jesus said about faith and asked “how do we live this out?” Here’s what we came up with. Faith is like knocking (there was a door in the middle of the room) … we talked about how knocking is saying “God, I know who you are and what you promised so I’m asking you to be the God you say you are.” Faith is like the wind (had a big fan running) … God isn’t in love with some future version of you, he is in love with you. Faith is like being thirsty (lots of water around the room) … only Jesus satisfies the soul. Faith like reporting (there was a tv in the center of the room) … speak about how Jesus is working in us. Faith is like coming home (we had a log cabin play house in the room) … the Father always has his hands wide open … may we live that way also.
-The teaching lead into our D-group time. Each group spent time in worship with a focus on each of the characteristics of faith. Some great discussion and thoughts shared.
-Our leaders group spent some time chatting with other D-groups about what they hope to see JCX accomplish together. We will spend some time discussing that next week in our leaders group.
-Now … we’re planning for a time of worship on Thursday @4pm. It was an idea of our leaders group. They felt another time together was important to our community and so we’re trying out this time of worship. Hoping it catches on and becomes something that inspires and encourages our youth to live out their faith wherever they go.
-CIY is coming and … well … here’s why everyone should go:
-We are planning a kick back day each month … details in the next blog entry.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
JCX Tuesday 5/11/10
JCX Tuesday … so good …
-Looks as though our leaders are going to be very influential peeps! Shelby, Robert, Eric, Seth, Emily and Chelsea are doing some dreaming and some planning for JCX. They introduced themselves as the leaders last night (which isn’t easy because others will see them as people who don’t deserve to be leaders … more on that in a moment) and they prayed over each D-group which I thought was a great way to connect and remind the group they are not looking for a title but to live as servants.
-The teaching focused on this of being a leader. Often we have high standards for our leaders. These standards are unreachable. We expect someone who wants to be a leader to be perfect. That obviously can’t happen … or we’re Jesus. We talked about how leaders, including the youth at JCX, our ones who face their flaws in front of others because they want to be people that bring people to Jesus. Leaders choose to be apart of transforming their surroundings not being influenced by them. Leaders strengthen the brothers (Luke 22).
-D-groups were filled with great conversation. We are always looking to make that time important, healthy and comfortable. We discussed our D-group and what our culture is like in our group.
-Always great convo after JCX too. Had the chance to stay after and be apart of a chat with a friend. It’s great to hear the honesty and wisdom around me. I love it when people choose to grow and be challenged. Got nothing but love for those that sit and do nothing, complain, etc. but those that move forward are fun to be around.
-Have you signed up for Hurricane Harbor on June 16th? Cost is $20 plus money for food.
-CIY: Move July 19th -24th cost is $290 with a $100 deposit.
-Angel’s game: July 28th cost is $20 plus money for food.
-Catalina: August 11th cost is $175 (parasailing, kayaking, snorkeling and biking)
-Plus, serving at the Blessing Center, Youth Hope, and study lunches all throughout the summer. Calendars are available again this Sunday.
-Looks as though our leaders are going to be very influential peeps! Shelby, Robert, Eric, Seth, Emily and Chelsea are doing some dreaming and some planning for JCX. They introduced themselves as the leaders last night (which isn’t easy because others will see them as people who don’t deserve to be leaders … more on that in a moment) and they prayed over each D-group which I thought was a great way to connect and remind the group they are not looking for a title but to live as servants.
-The teaching focused on this of being a leader. Often we have high standards for our leaders. These standards are unreachable. We expect someone who wants to be a leader to be perfect. That obviously can’t happen … or we’re Jesus. We talked about how leaders, including the youth at JCX, our ones who face their flaws in front of others because they want to be people that bring people to Jesus. Leaders choose to be apart of transforming their surroundings not being influenced by them. Leaders strengthen the brothers (Luke 22).
-D-groups were filled with great conversation. We are always looking to make that time important, healthy and comfortable. We discussed our D-group and what our culture is like in our group.
-Always great convo after JCX too. Had the chance to stay after and be apart of a chat with a friend. It’s great to hear the honesty and wisdom around me. I love it when people choose to grow and be challenged. Got nothing but love for those that sit and do nothing, complain, etc. but those that move forward are fun to be around.
-Have you signed up for Hurricane Harbor on June 16th? Cost is $20 plus money for food.
-CIY: Move July 19th -24th cost is $290 with a $100 deposit.
-Angel’s game: July 28th cost is $20 plus money for food.
-Catalina: August 11th cost is $175 (parasailing, kayaking, snorkeling and biking)
-Plus, serving at the Blessing Center, Youth Hope, and study lunches all throughout the summer. Calendars are available again this Sunday.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
JCX Tuesday 5/4/10
JCX Tuesday … And. Here. We. Go.
-It was one of those nights together where it felt as if we all knew why we were there, what we are focused on and how we hope to accomplish it. Great to hang out and be together. Here’s what I’m pumped about: the leaders group! Some great ideas are coming from those youth. They have a desire to serve and love. Are they perfect for the job? Nope! And that’s why I’m glad they are apart of this opportunity to lead. Some will see these youth and wonder why they are “leaders” because they see flaws. Truth is, the youth stepping up to lead are youth facing the flaws in their life. They are ready to move ahead and grow in their faith. So, to Seth, Eric, Emily, Chelsea, Robert and Shelby … It’s a privilege to dream and to serve with you!
-Ok, we have a variety of peeps that are apart of the fam @JCX on Tuesday. Because of that, some aren’t to sure how this “community time” works. We decided to “show them” and explain some things in a way that wasn’t condemning, funny, but got the point across. Here’s what we came up with:
-The teaching was out of the final chapter of 2 Timothy. We focused on “keeping your head in all situations”. So great to see the words of Paul, to Timothy, have huge influence in our lives today. Our phrase of the night was “Keep your head”. Our leaders group each got a balloon with a head on it to remind them of this truth.
-We have about 15 Frosh Best Buddies. That’s rad! These peeps will love and support our new Frosh that move into our JCX community. I’m excited about who wants to step up and mentor/lead these new peeps.
-So much fun coming soon: Hurricane Harbor on June 16th. CIY: Move July 19th -24th. Angel’s game: July 28th. Catalina: August 11th. Plus, serving at the Blessing Center, Youth Hope, and study lunches all throughout the summer. Calendars are available this Sunday.
-It was one of those nights together where it felt as if we all knew why we were there, what we are focused on and how we hope to accomplish it. Great to hang out and be together. Here’s what I’m pumped about: the leaders group! Some great ideas are coming from those youth. They have a desire to serve and love. Are they perfect for the job? Nope! And that’s why I’m glad they are apart of this opportunity to lead. Some will see these youth and wonder why they are “leaders” because they see flaws. Truth is, the youth stepping up to lead are youth facing the flaws in their life. They are ready to move ahead and grow in their faith. So, to Seth, Eric, Emily, Chelsea, Robert and Shelby … It’s a privilege to dream and to serve with you!
-Ok, we have a variety of peeps that are apart of the fam @JCX on Tuesday. Because of that, some aren’t to sure how this “community time” works. We decided to “show them” and explain some things in a way that wasn’t condemning, funny, but got the point across. Here’s what we came up with:
-The teaching was out of the final chapter of 2 Timothy. We focused on “keeping your head in all situations”. So great to see the words of Paul, to Timothy, have huge influence in our lives today. Our phrase of the night was “Keep your head”. Our leaders group each got a balloon with a head on it to remind them of this truth.
-We have about 15 Frosh Best Buddies. That’s rad! These peeps will love and support our new Frosh that move into our JCX community. I’m excited about who wants to step up and mentor/lead these new peeps.
-So much fun coming soon: Hurricane Harbor on June 16th. CIY: Move July 19th -24th. Angel’s game: July 28th. Catalina: August 11th. Plus, serving at the Blessing Center, Youth Hope, and study lunches all throughout the summer. Calendars are available this Sunday.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
JCX Tuesday 4/27/10
JCX Tuesday … here we go …
-Our hearts were heavy over the loss of Stephen Davila’s mom this past weekend. We brought Stephen up on stage and he shared what happened, how his fam is doing and where they are going from here. Stephen’s attitude is incredible. After his mom passed he said to me “she received what God promised her and I’m looking forward to that moment too”. What a great perspective. We prayed over Stephen and his D-group came up on stage and laid hands on him. My favorite moment, though, was walking out into the hallway and seeing Stephen encouraging his D-group and praying over them. Not sure if the passing of his mom has hit him fully yet BUT he is certainly remembering that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
-We sang together last night and that was beautiful. I had more peeps last night tell me that they sing horribly BUT they don’t care because that time of worship through song is one of the best ways they can communicate how much they love God, to God.
-The teaching focused on Real vs. Good and we used 2 Timothy chapter 3 as our foundation to jump off of. We learned that our job is to allow God to move in us through his Holy Spirit. We do that by Owning our faith, making Amends as we live out our faith and Reinventing our faith (not doing it the same way as before).
-The D-group time at the end was really powerful. Two of our groups stayed until 9pm. We get done with JCX at 830pm. The convo from each group was rad … I know because I was eavesdropping! Shhh … don’t tell.
-After group was over Isaac Cox was baptized by his dad. So awesome to see that! I love this picture of Isaac and his dad after Isaac was dunked:
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-BUT my favorite part was listening and watching the raw emotion of Sterling, Isaac’s dad, as he had the privilege of baptizing his son:
-Spectacular night! We have a new D-group that started last night. The focus is on what it means to be a leader. The youth involved will be influencing the direction of JCX and taking part in shaping what JCX looks like in the future. So great to have Eric, Robert, Seth, Emily and Shelby take a step in the direction of becoming real leaders and real examples.
-Our hearts were heavy over the loss of Stephen Davila’s mom this past weekend. We brought Stephen up on stage and he shared what happened, how his fam is doing and where they are going from here. Stephen’s attitude is incredible. After his mom passed he said to me “she received what God promised her and I’m looking forward to that moment too”. What a great perspective. We prayed over Stephen and his D-group came up on stage and laid hands on him. My favorite moment, though, was walking out into the hallway and seeing Stephen encouraging his D-group and praying over them. Not sure if the passing of his mom has hit him fully yet BUT he is certainly remembering that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
-We sang together last night and that was beautiful. I had more peeps last night tell me that they sing horribly BUT they don’t care because that time of worship through song is one of the best ways they can communicate how much they love God, to God.
-The teaching focused on Real vs. Good and we used 2 Timothy chapter 3 as our foundation to jump off of. We learned that our job is to allow God to move in us through his Holy Spirit. We do that by Owning our faith, making Amends as we live out our faith and Reinventing our faith (not doing it the same way as before).
-The D-group time at the end was really powerful. Two of our groups stayed until 9pm. We get done with JCX at 830pm. The convo from each group was rad … I know because I was eavesdropping! Shhh … don’t tell.
-After group was over Isaac Cox was baptized by his dad. So awesome to see that! I love this picture of Isaac and his dad after Isaac was dunked:
-BUT my favorite part was listening and watching the raw emotion of Sterling, Isaac’s dad, as he had the privilege of baptizing his son:
-Spectacular night! We have a new D-group that started last night. The focus is on what it means to be a leader. The youth involved will be influencing the direction of JCX and taking part in shaping what JCX looks like in the future. So great to have Eric, Robert, Seth, Emily and Shelby take a step in the direction of becoming real leaders and real examples.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Summer is here
The summer schedule is all set and we'll be giving out more details in 2 weeks BUT I wanted to share one great thing with you about this summer. You ready?
Here it is:
This is the official announcement ... this is when you know summer is coming! Angels baby!! More details soon BUT I thought I'd share this little bit of goodness with you.
Here it is:
This is the official announcement ... this is when you know summer is coming! Angels baby!! More details soon BUT I thought I'd share this little bit of goodness with you.
JCX Tuesday 4/20/10
JCX and the Tuesday night that was:
-Every week lots and lots of high school peeps walk through the doors @JCX. Some come for their friends and to make a connection. Others come because they desire to learn and grow in their faith. Some come because they belong and others come because they were invited. Some stick and become apart of “us”. Others struggle and might disappear. Some are emotional and some are logical BUT the best part is that they want and desire something powerful for their lives. We addressed this idea last night and will continue to do so next week. The reason for this: we can’t sit silently and pretend that everything is ok. Also, we can’t act as if our purpose is to just make “good people” and “behave ourselves”. Jesus never called us to be good or behave. He desires for us to be His and to be WITH him as we live life. THAT’S why we gather; to remind ourselves of this truth. Some of us lose that perspective, others don’t want to remember BUT we gotta keep saying it. We gotta keep speaking about it and we gotta keep living it!
-The highlight from last night was the decisions by many to become the types of people that treat others as REDDER (they have great, Godly value). Many youth took a bracelet with the words “YOU ARE REDDER” and are now wearing them. It was made very clear to not take one if REDDER is not how you choose to live. I think that was heard and understood.
-It’s always fun to see the response to what God is doing in the hearts of the youth. Many were moved last night by what was said, sung and discussed. There were some that were frustrated and looked very broken. My question is this: how can we hug them and love them while they go through this? One youth said they were thinking about not coming again. Not sure of the reason but from what I can tell they are frustrated. That sucks when that happens. My words to them are to never give in to feeling a certain way. Make the BEST choice by discussing it with those you love and love Jesus. Leaving is never an option unless the Lord says go. When he says to go it’s not out of frustration or anger.
-Worship through song was great! There were some struggles with the music from a technical standpoint (which always bugs me) but the group of musicians did so well to play on through.
-Subway next week from 6p-630 and also during that time we are meeting with those who want to be a Frosh Best Buddy.
-Sunday Lacey Namoa is leading and will be bringing it! She has some great things to say so get yo self ready!
-Every week lots and lots of high school peeps walk through the doors @JCX. Some come for their friends and to make a connection. Others come because they desire to learn and grow in their faith. Some come because they belong and others come because they were invited. Some stick and become apart of “us”. Others struggle and might disappear. Some are emotional and some are logical BUT the best part is that they want and desire something powerful for their lives. We addressed this idea last night and will continue to do so next week. The reason for this: we can’t sit silently and pretend that everything is ok. Also, we can’t act as if our purpose is to just make “good people” and “behave ourselves”. Jesus never called us to be good or behave. He desires for us to be His and to be WITH him as we live life. THAT’S why we gather; to remind ourselves of this truth. Some of us lose that perspective, others don’t want to remember BUT we gotta keep saying it. We gotta keep speaking about it and we gotta keep living it!
-The highlight from last night was the decisions by many to become the types of people that treat others as REDDER (they have great, Godly value). Many youth took a bracelet with the words “YOU ARE REDDER” and are now wearing them. It was made very clear to not take one if REDDER is not how you choose to live. I think that was heard and understood.
-It’s always fun to see the response to what God is doing in the hearts of the youth. Many were moved last night by what was said, sung and discussed. There were some that were frustrated and looked very broken. My question is this: how can we hug them and love them while they go through this? One youth said they were thinking about not coming again. Not sure of the reason but from what I can tell they are frustrated. That sucks when that happens. My words to them are to never give in to feeling a certain way. Make the BEST choice by discussing it with those you love and love Jesus. Leaving is never an option unless the Lord says go. When he says to go it’s not out of frustration or anger.
-Worship through song was great! There were some struggles with the music from a technical standpoint (which always bugs me) but the group of musicians did so well to play on through.
-Subway next week from 6p-630 and also during that time we are meeting with those who want to be a Frosh Best Buddy.
-Sunday Lacey Namoa is leading and will be bringing it! She has some great things to say so get yo self ready!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The FBB's
Every year new, scarred, freshman move into JCX. Some will stay and build friendships with us. Other frosh will come once or twice and then leave and we never see them again. Well, that’s gotta change and that change starts with you. We’re looking for FBB’s (Frosh Best Buddies) to welcome the new frosh, start a friendship with the new frosh and help them belong to us. An FBB will be with that Frosh every Tuesday night and Sunday morning. Give that Frosh a ride to church and bring them into their circle of friends. It’s not ok that our frosh can easily disappear, never to be heard from again. As a group, let’s give them a reason to belong to us. Let’s show them they are loved and have value. After all, somebody must show them how to eat cake, with no hands at Lynne’s house:
FBB details coming this Tuesday and a meeting the following week. You up? Sign up Tuesday and be at the FBB meeting. Time to love on some Frosh … without permanent markers!!!
FBB details coming this Tuesday and a meeting the following week. You up? Sign up Tuesday and be at the FBB meeting. Time to love on some Frosh … without permanent markers!!!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
JCX Tuesday 4/13/10
We returned to action Tuesday night @JCX. Here are the specifics:
-We sold some food at a cheap price last night. Everyone always shows up early so we thought, “Hey, since we’re all here let’s eat together.” That’s what we did! Two slices of pizza, two bread sticks and a drink for $3. Next week … how about some tacos from Asaderos? It’s the place on the corner of Yuc Blvd and 3rd street. So good … come between 6p-630p … $1 dollar tacos and $1 dollar drinks. Plus, we get to eat and hang together.
-Brittney Jones played the piano for us last night and sang. It’s tough to get up in front of the group and do that … thanks for being so courageous Brittany.
-Kartal Karabas shared about why he came to know Jesus and what it means for his life. One thing he shared that stuck out: “Be bold”. Thanks for that encouragement Kartal. Watching his D-group pray over him was awesome!
-Worship through song was beautiful. Harrison Faux joined the worship team and played the key board. So great singing together. We did a long set of music last night and will continue to do that. It was just a good thing.
-The group read through 2 Timothy chapter 1 in parts last night. Some groups did well, others read at their own pace. Awesome to hear the scriptures out loud.
-Teaching focused on how we live can either be a desecration to the name of God (Khillul Ha-shem) or sanctifying the name God (Kiddush Ha-shem). Our thought for the night was Jesus became bad so we could become better.
-Focusing on 2 Timothy chapter 2 next week. Each week will be a bit deeper and harder to hear because there are some powerful things that Paul challenges Timothy with that we will lay out in front of each other.
-D-group focused on writing a Paul to Timothy letter. Leaders wrote to the youth and the youth wrote to the leaders.
-Your thoughts or responses? Leave them on Mike’s Facebook page.
-We sold some food at a cheap price last night. Everyone always shows up early so we thought, “Hey, since we’re all here let’s eat together.” That’s what we did! Two slices of pizza, two bread sticks and a drink for $3. Next week … how about some tacos from Asaderos? It’s the place on the corner of Yuc Blvd and 3rd street. So good … come between 6p-630p … $1 dollar tacos and $1 dollar drinks. Plus, we get to eat and hang together.
-Brittney Jones played the piano for us last night and sang. It’s tough to get up in front of the group and do that … thanks for being so courageous Brittany.
-Kartal Karabas shared about why he came to know Jesus and what it means for his life. One thing he shared that stuck out: “Be bold”. Thanks for that encouragement Kartal. Watching his D-group pray over him was awesome!
-Worship through song was beautiful. Harrison Faux joined the worship team and played the key board. So great singing together. We did a long set of music last night and will continue to do that. It was just a good thing.
-The group read through 2 Timothy chapter 1 in parts last night. Some groups did well, others read at their own pace. Awesome to hear the scriptures out loud.
-Teaching focused on how we live can either be a desecration to the name of God (Khillul Ha-shem) or sanctifying the name God (Kiddush Ha-shem). Our thought for the night was Jesus became bad so we could become better.
-Focusing on 2 Timothy chapter 2 next week. Each week will be a bit deeper and harder to hear because there are some powerful things that Paul challenges Timothy with that we will lay out in front of each other.
-D-group focused on writing a Paul to Timothy letter. Leaders wrote to the youth and the youth wrote to the leaders.
-Your thoughts or responses? Leave them on Mike’s Facebook page.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
JCX 3/23/10
Week two of JCX Spring Break. Here are the details:
-We served @ the Wildwood Canyon Villa on Monday. Great group went. Spent time with the peeps in the memory care center. We played Bingo, read to some of the residents and had a great time.
-Highlight of the day was watching Jacob Furlong interacting with a lady who couldn’t hear. He wrote down what he wanted to say and she would respond by talking (yelling) what she wanted to say. So cool!
-Tuesday night was rad. We spoke about talking responsibility with your mind. It looks like this: Finding value in the things I do or finding value in who made me. When we wrap our minds around that, we are becoming responsible. Romans 12:1-2 says it best check it out!
-We filled out cards with our thoughts on what excites us about church, frustrates us, what would we change if we were in charge and how would we make that happen. Some of the things that were shared we’re awesome. (I’ll post them later).
-Thinking about leaders in the group … the youth kind … wondering if you are one. Let’s chat about that.
-Youth Hope tomorrow … and Sunday JCX this Sunday @845a.
-We served @ the Wildwood Canyon Villa on Monday. Great group went. Spent time with the peeps in the memory care center. We played Bingo, read to some of the residents and had a great time.
-Highlight of the day was watching Jacob Furlong interacting with a lady who couldn’t hear. He wrote down what he wanted to say and she would respond by talking (yelling) what she wanted to say. So cool!
-Tuesday night was rad. We spoke about talking responsibility with your mind. It looks like this: Finding value in the things I do or finding value in who made me. When we wrap our minds around that, we are becoming responsible. Romans 12:1-2 says it best check it out!
-We filled out cards with our thoughts on what excites us about church, frustrates us, what would we change if we were in charge and how would we make that happen. Some of the things that were shared we’re awesome. (I’ll post them later).
-Thinking about leaders in the group … the youth kind … wondering if you are one. Let’s chat about that.
-Youth Hope tomorrow … and Sunday JCX this Sunday @845a.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
JCX Tuesday 3/16/10
Here are the details from JCX last night:
-Steven Davila shared his story. It’s powerful and his faith is an example to all of us. The Davila family has been through a lot and Steven continues to lean and rest in Jesus for courage and it shows.
-The teaching focused on “reaping and sowing”. We talked about how decisions made today effect where you go tomorrow. We spoke about how it affects us later (living right but still struggling) and greater (the effects of choice can be bigger than expected).
-Some great discussion took place in the D-groups. Ronnie Freeman lead his group along with Kelsey Miranda. They did a spectacular job. Discussion focused on what we’re choosing to do today with our time and why it’s important to make Godly decisions.
-Worship through song was shorter than normal, which was a bummer, because we we’re running out of time. The youth did well and I was privileged to sing with them.
-Service week continues … Last night a group of us went to Youth Hope. I was so excited for Andrea. She did so well connecting and making friends. The entire group did well meeting and loving on the youth there.
-Today … there is a group @ YAPS. They are pulling weeds, picking up trash and beautifying that place. Working hard!!
-Tomorrow night, we’re at Youth Hope again. Friday night we’re serving @Ronald McDonald House.
-JCX meets next week and we’re closing out our chat on Responsibility stuff. So far so good!! See ya Sunday! Gil is leading … 2nd chapter in 1 Timothy. Go get em Gil!!
-Steven Davila shared his story. It’s powerful and his faith is an example to all of us. The Davila family has been through a lot and Steven continues to lean and rest in Jesus for courage and it shows.
-The teaching focused on “reaping and sowing”. We talked about how decisions made today effect where you go tomorrow. We spoke about how it affects us later (living right but still struggling) and greater (the effects of choice can be bigger than expected).
-Some great discussion took place in the D-groups. Ronnie Freeman lead his group along with Kelsey Miranda. They did a spectacular job. Discussion focused on what we’re choosing to do today with our time and why it’s important to make Godly decisions.
-Worship through song was shorter than normal, which was a bummer, because we we’re running out of time. The youth did well and I was privileged to sing with them.
-Service week continues … Last night a group of us went to Youth Hope. I was so excited for Andrea. She did so well connecting and making friends. The entire group did well meeting and loving on the youth there.
-Today … there is a group @ YAPS. They are pulling weeds, picking up trash and beautifying that place. Working hard!!
-Tomorrow night, we’re at Youth Hope again. Friday night we’re serving @Ronald McDonald House.
-JCX meets next week and we’re closing out our chat on Responsibility stuff. So far so good!! See ya Sunday! Gil is leading … 2nd chapter in 1 Timothy. Go get em Gil!!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Wildwood Canyon Villa - Service week Day 1
Troy, Katie, Harrison, Seth, Jacob, Samantha and Kody spent about 2 hours with some great peeps @ Wildwood Canyon Villa in the memory care center. Here they are:
Some played bingo:
Others read and chatted with our friends there:
Troy threw the baseball around with Glen:
Loved being there and serving with all of you. Youth Hope Tuesday @3pm. We’ll carpool down and be back by 6pm. Off and running with service week 2010.
Some played bingo:
Others read and chatted with our friends there:
Troy threw the baseball around with Glen:
Loved being there and serving with all of you. Youth Hope Tuesday @3pm. We’ll carpool down and be back by 6pm. Off and running with service week 2010.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
JCX Tuesday 3/9/10
Details about JCX Tuesday … Here we go:
-We opened with something very important. An acoustic version of Grandma the mountain women. Want proof? Here it is:
-We spent some time in worship through song. Awesome to sing with you all. One thing: can we not do the “crib dance” or whatever it’s called while singing to Jesus? Thanks! P.S. it’s dumb! Love ya!
-The teaching focused on taking responsibility for our sin. We covered Confession, Repentance and Accountability and what each look like. Good response to that!
-D-groups were awesome! Good convo all around and some great things were shared.
-Next week we’re starting our Servant Week. Our first stop is Wildwood Canyon Villa. Sign up Sunday and come Monday.
-Gil is teaching this Sunday out of 1 Timothy chapter 1. Come and support Gil and add to the discussion.
-We opened with something very important. An acoustic version of Grandma the mountain women. Want proof? Here it is:
-We spent some time in worship through song. Awesome to sing with you all. One thing: can we not do the “crib dance” or whatever it’s called while singing to Jesus? Thanks! P.S. it’s dumb! Love ya!
-The teaching focused on taking responsibility for our sin. We covered Confession, Repentance and Accountability and what each look like. Good response to that!
-D-groups were awesome! Good convo all around and some great things were shared.
-Next week we’re starting our Servant Week. Our first stop is Wildwood Canyon Villa. Sign up Sunday and come Monday.
-Gil is teaching this Sunday out of 1 Timothy chapter 1. Come and support Gil and add to the discussion.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
JCX Tuesday 3/2/10
Awesome stuff happening @ JCX Tuesday. Details, sure …
-Gabbie Mendoza shared her story with us. Lots of doubting and questioning about God is what brought her to the place she is at today. Robert Bergeson was a huge influence in her life and kept reminding her that life without God isn’t life at all. The group REALLY supported her and she did a great job sharing!
-Heidi Mayer, director of Youth Hope, shared her passion and vision with us. So many hurting youth on the streets in Redlands and so many opportunities to be apart of the healing. Heidi showed a video with different interviews from different street youth. A few of our JCX youth knew the faces in the video. One youth used to hang out with one and it was shocking to see where they are at now.
-We decided to adopt Youth Hope into our JCX family. That means we hope to be on the front lines of what Youth Hope does because we believe in it so much. So cool when God moves a group of hearts in his direction for his kingdom.
-Lots of peeps there last night. Great job inviting and encouraging all!
-Some good stuff coming next week. Our theme is Responsibility. We’re looking at sin, feelings, thoughts and more.
-We have a week of service coming up during Spring Break. Details this Tuesday.
-Aaron Loenhorst will be teaching on Sunday. Excited to see that happen
-Gabbie Mendoza shared her story with us. Lots of doubting and questioning about God is what brought her to the place she is at today. Robert Bergeson was a huge influence in her life and kept reminding her that life without God isn’t life at all. The group REALLY supported her and she did a great job sharing!
-Heidi Mayer, director of Youth Hope, shared her passion and vision with us. So many hurting youth on the streets in Redlands and so many opportunities to be apart of the healing. Heidi showed a video with different interviews from different street youth. A few of our JCX youth knew the faces in the video. One youth used to hang out with one and it was shocking to see where they are at now.
-We decided to adopt Youth Hope into our JCX family. That means we hope to be on the front lines of what Youth Hope does because we believe in it so much. So cool when God moves a group of hearts in his direction for his kingdom.
-Lots of peeps there last night. Great job inviting and encouraging all!
-Some good stuff coming next week. Our theme is Responsibility. We’re looking at sin, feelings, thoughts and more.
-We have a week of service coming up during Spring Break. Details this Tuesday.
-Aaron Loenhorst will be teaching on Sunday. Excited to see that happen
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
30 hour Famine 2010
The Famine details:
Going 30 hours without food isn’t something most people do … BUT we did. Choosing to be servants in our community in places that are awkward and uncomfortable isn’t something most people do … BUT we did. Not complaining and doing it all with a smile is not how most people face these moments … BUT we did. Do we want credit? NOPE!! Colossians 1:29 says: to this end I labor, struggling with all HIS energy which is so powerfully at work within me. We accomplished these things together, not just you and me BUT you, me and our first love … Jesus. Thanks to those who gave generously, we were able to raise money for world hunger. Men and women throughout the world struggling to find food will now eat because 60 plus peeps decided not to. Plus, we we’re able to love our community in tangible ways.
Ok, now for some highlights:
Friday night was a blast. We connected with our service groups, selected three verses from scripture to memorize and laughed together as we got to know one another. Here’s some evidence from Friday that it was a blast. First some pictures:
And now some videos:
We spent time serving all over Yucaipa and surrounding communities. That list included: Ronald McDonald House, the memory care center @ Wildwood Canyon Villa, pulling weeds in the rain, cleaning/painting @YAPS, helping a family move, organizing and cleaning @ the library, visiting and playing bingo with our friends @ the convalescent homes, and serving with Youth Hope. Here are some photos of us hard @ work:
It was a packed two days. Thanks to those who prayer, support and came out to serve. We loved being with you and look forward to continuing to choose to be servants alongside you. Before you’re done reading this, consider supporting a child through Compassion or World Vision @ $30 dollars a month. That money will help feed, educate, clothe and encourage. If you did the Famine, you already participated in doing those things so this next step will be very easy for you. Here are some final photos from Famine. Thanks all:
Going 30 hours without food isn’t something most people do … BUT we did. Choosing to be servants in our community in places that are awkward and uncomfortable isn’t something most people do … BUT we did. Not complaining and doing it all with a smile is not how most people face these moments … BUT we did. Do we want credit? NOPE!! Colossians 1:29 says: to this end I labor, struggling with all HIS energy which is so powerfully at work within me. We accomplished these things together, not just you and me BUT you, me and our first love … Jesus. Thanks to those who gave generously, we were able to raise money for world hunger. Men and women throughout the world struggling to find food will now eat because 60 plus peeps decided not to. Plus, we we’re able to love our community in tangible ways.
Ok, now for some highlights:
Friday night was a blast. We connected with our service groups, selected three verses from scripture to memorize and laughed together as we got to know one another. Here’s some evidence from Friday that it was a blast. First some pictures:
And now some videos:
We spent time serving all over Yucaipa and surrounding communities. That list included: Ronald McDonald House, the memory care center @ Wildwood Canyon Villa, pulling weeds in the rain, cleaning/painting @YAPS, helping a family move, organizing and cleaning @ the library, visiting and playing bingo with our friends @ the convalescent homes, and serving with Youth Hope. Here are some photos of us hard @ work:
It was a packed two days. Thanks to those who prayer, support and came out to serve. We loved being with you and look forward to continuing to choose to be servants alongside you. Before you’re done reading this, consider supporting a child through Compassion or World Vision @ $30 dollars a month. That money will help feed, educate, clothe and encourage. If you did the Famine, you already participated in doing those things so this next step will be very easy for you. Here are some final photos from Famine. Thanks all:
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
JCX Tuesday 2/23/10
JCX Tuesday night re-cap:
-It was the last night of our SEX talk. It’s been a great conversation to have because our focus hasn’t been sex being two people rolling around in the dark BUT something the mirrors our relationship with God.
-Tuesday our finale of the SEX talk focused on “When God’s love is my love then I love”. We used 1 John 4:19 and 1 Corinthians 13:7 as our scripture focus.
-During the teaching, we talked about being yoked together with someone in a dating relationship. Yoked means connected, going in the same way because you have the same love. So, to describe this idea we asked RJ and Taryn to race Tim and Kelsey in a three legged race. We tied their legs together and they had to climb over three tables. BUT, we blindfolded Tim. He and Kelsey represented a couple not yoked together with the same love. Great fun and a great point for our group … and we took pictures:
-Jeremy Ohcoa shared his story about believing that God couldn't forgive him for the things he did. Long story short ... God did, and Jeremy is passionate about sharing this with everyone he knows. Awesome job Jeremy!
-Famine is this weekend and there is an excitement about it.
-We’re meeting for Famine on Friday @6pm and serving begins the next morning @8am.
-Next Tuesday our focus shifts to Responsibility.
-Invite a friend and be apart of JCX. We look forward to seeing you again!
-It was the last night of our SEX talk. It’s been a great conversation to have because our focus hasn’t been sex being two people rolling around in the dark BUT something the mirrors our relationship with God.
-Tuesday our finale of the SEX talk focused on “When God’s love is my love then I love”. We used 1 John 4:19 and 1 Corinthians 13:7 as our scripture focus.
-During the teaching, we talked about being yoked together with someone in a dating relationship. Yoked means connected, going in the same way because you have the same love. So, to describe this idea we asked RJ and Taryn to race Tim and Kelsey in a three legged race. We tied their legs together and they had to climb over three tables. BUT, we blindfolded Tim. He and Kelsey represented a couple not yoked together with the same love. Great fun and a great point for our group … and we took pictures:
-Jeremy Ohcoa shared his story about believing that God couldn't forgive him for the things he did. Long story short ... God did, and Jeremy is passionate about sharing this with everyone he knows. Awesome job Jeremy!
-Famine is this weekend and there is an excitement about it.
-We’re meeting for Famine on Friday @6pm and serving begins the next morning @8am.
-Next Tuesday our focus shifts to Responsibility.
-Invite a friend and be apart of JCX. We look forward to seeing you again!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
JCX Tuesday 2/16/10
Another fantastic night on Tuesday night. Here’s the skinny:
-Our theme was SEX part: 2. The focus on the teaching was “Be the me that God created me to be”. We covered the idea that being created in the image of God is what gives you value, not who you have sex with. That led to the difference between intimacy and sexuality. Intimacy is talking, listening, being real, and thinking. Sex is an expression of love that affirms, values, builds up and respects. We finished with the words of God through Paul in Ephesians chapters 1-3. So great to see the response!!
-Worship through song was spectacular! The group came together and worshipped in such a powerful way!
-Shannon Stoner shared her story and did so well. She shared how God answered her prayer and put her family back together. This was a tough thing to pray for because she was so upset with what was happening in her family. Neat to her about her perseverance and how her mom was her encourager during this time. Shannon’s best line of the night: “Not sure how I would have made it through without God walking with me the whole way.” YES!!
-The greatest part of the evening was the baptisms of Amanda and Lacey. These young women are a blessing to our group and have become great examples of Jesus to us. Here are some pictures from that event:
Mike, Woody, Amanda and Lacy praying together:
Amanda getting baptized:
Lacey’s turn:
Group hug:
Amanda and Lacey:
-This Sunday, Steven and Brittany are teaching on obedience. Hope you can make it @8:45am Sunday morning!
-30 Hour Famine is next weekend. We’re raising money for world hunger. Our goal is $5,000. Keep going!
-Next Tuesday … SEX: the finale. Hope you can make it!
-Our theme was SEX part: 2. The focus on the teaching was “Be the me that God created me to be”. We covered the idea that being created in the image of God is what gives you value, not who you have sex with. That led to the difference between intimacy and sexuality. Intimacy is talking, listening, being real, and thinking. Sex is an expression of love that affirms, values, builds up and respects. We finished with the words of God through Paul in Ephesians chapters 1-3. So great to see the response!!
-Worship through song was spectacular! The group came together and worshipped in such a powerful way!
-Shannon Stoner shared her story and did so well. She shared how God answered her prayer and put her family back together. This was a tough thing to pray for because she was so upset with what was happening in her family. Neat to her about her perseverance and how her mom was her encourager during this time. Shannon’s best line of the night: “Not sure how I would have made it through without God walking with me the whole way.” YES!!
-The greatest part of the evening was the baptisms of Amanda and Lacey. These young women are a blessing to our group and have become great examples of Jesus to us. Here are some pictures from that event:
Mike, Woody, Amanda and Lacy praying together:
Amanda getting baptized:
Lacey’s turn:
Group hug:
Amanda and Lacey:
-This Sunday, Steven and Brittany are teaching on obedience. Hope you can make it @8:45am Sunday morning!
-30 Hour Famine is next weekend. We’re raising money for world hunger. Our goal is $5,000. Keep going!
-Next Tuesday … SEX: the finale. Hope you can make it!
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