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.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
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.
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