April 2012
1 post
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Youth News
“Move Up” Sunday
On Sunday, June 17, students entering 6th or 9th grade in the fall will move up and start attending the Jr. & Sr. High Sunday school classes respectively. The rising 6th graders can also start coming to youth group that night.
Youth Snack Volunteers
If you are the parent of one of the rising 6th graders who will be joining youth group on June 17th, please...
March 2012
1 post
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Who Do You Worship?
In Sr. High Sunday School, we are going through the book Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. This week’s topic was Why Should We Worship Jesus?, and part of the lesson dealt with what worship is and what it is not, including the issue of idolatry. Driscoll and Breshears write,
The opposite of worship is idolatry, or the worshiping of something or someone other than the One...
February 2012
1 post
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A Resolution Worth Keeping →
The school I taught at in NJ recently asked me to write a short New Year’s-themed devotional for their school newspaper. I wrote about the difference between making resolutions and living like Paul, according to Philippians 3. Since it was geared toward Jr. & Sr. Highers, I thought I’d share it here as well.
January 2012
4 posts
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December 2011
7 posts
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Youth News
Next Youth Group is Sunday, January 8
There will be no youth group this week due to the continued holiday break. Also, based on the responses to the survey about possibly moving youth group to mid-week, we will keeping it on Sunday nights. This means that our next meeting will be Sunday, January 8. A new snack list for January-April will also be distributed soon.
New Sunday School Class Starting...
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The Purpose-Driven Facebook →
This is another post for my personal blog and something I’ve been brooding about for a while now. I encourage all Christian young people who have a Facebook account (or want one) to read it and to examine what they post and why they post it. It would probably be good for parents to read it as well in order to hold them accountable.
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Is Student-Athlete Becoming an Oxymoron? →
This is a post I wrote on my personal blog about the emphasis that we place on sports, especially at the high school and college level. I used to have frequent conversations on this topic with several people in NJ, and the brawl at the end of the Cincinnati-Xavier college basketball game on Saturday served as the impetus for me to put some of my thoughts in writing. I decided to post a link to it...
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Forming Intergenerational Connections, Part 3
This is part 3 of a 3-part series on helping the younger and older generations form relationships within the church. For why these relationships are needed and who they should be formed with, read Part 1 and Part 2 of the series.
Forming new relationships can be intimidating, especially for those of us who aren’t very outgoing (I, for one, am extremely introverted). There is always a...
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Youth News
Youth Christmas Party Our youth group Christmas party will be next Sunday, December 11th, at the Fosters’ house during our regular youth group time (6:00-7:30). We’ll play some games and have dessert together. Each student should bring a $5 grab-bag-type gift. Setting an example in purity… At youth group this Sunday, we’ll conclude our series on 1 Timothy 4:12 as we talk...
November 2011
11 posts
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Forming Intergenerational Connections, Part 2
In my previous post, I detailed why it is important for young people to form relationships with older believers in the church. Today I want to briefly describe who they should form relationships with. Because of the subject matter, instead of addressing parents, I’d like to directly address those who will be used by God to speak into the lives of our youth.
I suspect that one of the reasons...
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Youth News
Youth Game Time For any youth-group-aged kids (6th-12th grade) who have off from school today, we’ll be hanging out at the church from 1:00-4:00 pm. I’ll have the Wii, ping-pong table, and air hockey table set up, and we might do some games outside too. There’s no need to bring anything (except maybe Wii remotes if you have them), but if you would want drinks or snacks...
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Forming Intergenerational Connections, Part 1
Earlier today I posted a link to an article in Leadership Journal on how intergenerational connections help young people develop a faith that endures the transition from living at home to going to college or entering the workforce. Because this is something I would love to see characterize our church, I thought it might be helpful for me to elaborate on the subject. So over the next few days,...
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Faith that Sticks →
Intergenerational connections and parental involvement give kids a faith that lasts beyond high school.
I’m afraid that in our effort to offer relevant and age-appropriate teaching and fellowship for teenagers, we have segregated students from the rest of the church. According to our research, that segregation is causing students to shelve their faith. But there’s also good news. ...
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Learning from Joe Paterno, Part 2
This Penn State story isn’t going away anytime soon. In fact, though it seems inconceivable, it looks like it will get worse before it gets better. On Tuesday, I wrote a post geared toward parents that focused on the lessons we should learn from this story, and specifically Joe Paterno’s involvement in it, in order to prevent something like that from happening in our families and...
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Learning from Joe Paterno
I’m not going to rehash the Penn State sexual abuse saga here. For one thing, I have no desire to do so. Over the past 48 hours, I have read some great articles criticizing all those who refused to look into the allegations against Jerry Sandusky and standing up for those children who were victimized by him. I don’t have anything to add to what has already been written on the subject....
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Are You Ready for Some (Flag) Football?
One of the things I miss most about childhood is the seemingly daily pickup football games we played in backyards around the neighborhood. There is something about Thanksgiving football in particular that brings back all kinds of good memories. Because of that, and the fact that the church has a pretty expansive backyard, I thought it would be cool if we started a Turkey Bowl at Community. I was...
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Youth News
1 Timothy 4:12 Series We are currently doing a series on 1 Timothy 4:12 at youth group on Sunday nights. The first week we talked about being looked down on and setting an example. We are now looking at each of the 5 things Paul commanded Timothy to set an example in, starting with “speech” last week and continuing with “conduct” this week. I’m putting brief summaries...
October 2011
3 posts
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September 2011
7 posts
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Youth (& Young Adult) News
New Sunday School Class for Sr. High & Young Adults
On October 16th, we will start a Sunday school series for high schoolers, college students, and young adults based on Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God:
God is love. Crazy, relentless, all-powerful love. Have you ever wondered if we’re missing it? It’s crazy, if you think about it. The God of the...
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Remembering 9/11
This Sunday at youth group we will reflect on principles from God’s word that we should remember in light of terrorist attacks like those of September 11, 2001. If you aren’t old enough to remember that day, here is something I wrote less than a week later that may help you understand what people were feeling when it happened:
toliveandloveinla:
I was only a few weeks into my...
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Youth News
Youth Group There will be no Youth Group this week due to the Labor Day weekend. Enjoy the time with your family. Our next meeting will be September 11th (at 6 PM). Youth Conference The Do Hard Things Tour, which encourages teens to not waste their youth on things that don’t matter, will be at Istrouma Baptist Church on Saturday, October 15th. The cost is $30/person ($27 if we have 10 or...
August 2011
9 posts
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“How do you deal with a God who breaks all the rules that your confident,...”
– Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos
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Youth News
New Youth Website
The youth website received a makeover this week and is now markedly different with a new style, new name, and new logo. You can access it as usual by going to the church website and clicking on “Youth” or directly by going to 516youth.org. I’ll be using the page to post announcements, interesting links, and resources for parents, as well as a pdf of each...
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Rebelution Youth Conference
The Do Hard Things Tour is coming to Baton Rouge on Saturday, October 15th. This is a one-day conference that challenges teens to not waste what they have been given but instead to accomplish great things for God. Teens are encouraged to attend with at least one parent. We are interested in organizing a group to go to this event. The cost is $30/person, but there is a 10% group discount if we have...
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Youth Ministry Done Well for the Benefit of the... →
“It is my belief that even when wonderful, family-based discipleship and evangelism are happening in the context of the local church, there is still an important place and purpose for a youth ministry program. A church-based youth ministry—done well—can and should contribute to fulfilling the church’s goal to train up and send out life-long followers of Jesus Christ and servants of his...
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Family First in Youth Discipleship and Evangelism →
“there is a primary sphere where evangelism and discipleship of young people must occur. It is the context of the family, the Christian home. Christian parents—not youth pastors—have the primary role, responsibility, and calling to evangelize and disciple their children.”
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Why Youth Stay in Church When They Grow Up →
“The daunting statistics about churchgoing youth keep rolling in. Panic ensues. What are we doing wrong in our churches? In our youth ministries? … What is it that sets apart the kids who stay in the church? Here are just a few observations I have made about such kids, with a few applications for those of us serving in youth ministry.”