I need to warn you first, this is going to be a long one. Look at it as a substitute for having to show up to a meeting. If you love meetings... I'm sorry for your loss. If you hate meetings... you're welcome.
As far as youth ministry goes, August is a time to regroup, plan and map out the blueprint for what is to come over the next year. So, after attempting to do so, I have several things I want to lay out there for you guys.
1. There will be no Wednesday night gathering for the teens this upcoming Wednesday, Aug 27. I will be away at a retreat, but things will resume the following Wednesday as usual.
2. There is a new UY website. Same address, just a new look and a better platform for me to utilize a few things I couldn't on the other platform. One of those being the calendar (see #3)
3. If you go to universityyouth.org, and click on the calendar button, you will see the major events through next July with the exception of the spring retreat which is still TBA. Also, you will see what I will call the minor events through this December. (ie. game nights, movie night, etc). Without having to scroll through the Calendar, here are a few dates to keep an eye on.
Aug 30 - Board Game night
Oct 4 - Hoedown Hayride at the Smelser’s
Oct 11 - Make a Movie night
Oct 24-26 - Fall Retreat
November 2 - Parent Appreciation Dinner (Prepare to be appreciated)
4. Ok, now that we got all the logistical stuff out of the way, lets dive into the heart of the blueprint for the next several months.
Your teens are no longer children. I know for some of you that is a tough reality to swallow but like it or not they are entering the years of their life where they slowly become independent as they head into adulthood. With each passing year they are making more and more decisions that are “their” decisions. With that being said, what Im about to lay out there is intended to raise the bar of expectation in terms of what it means for them to be a disciple of Christ and the choices ahead as it pertains to that. This is what we will call the Ephesians 4 approach. Feel free to go read that whole chapter sometime but to help me better explain myself here, verses 11-13 are below.
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Do me a favor and read that one more time. I know Im pushing it here, but seriously, soak in what Paul just laid out there.
Ok, lets work our way backwards through that passage. The last portion of the last sentence there says that we “attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ”. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a fairly incredible thing to have received and I think you would agree that it would be an incredible thing for your teen to receive. Ok, continuing to work backwards. He says we become mature before that happens and that we have to reach a unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God. Before that can happen, he says the body of Christ is built up. Ok, Im really hoping you are tracking here, Im not so great at written communication. Here’s the kicker. Before he lays out all those powerful maturing advancements as a follower of Christ he says “So that”. In this instance this little “so that” is a powerful thing but only if you dial in on what he says just before. “Equip his people for works of service” So if we let this waterfall of words flow forward as it should, we see that once God’s people have been equipped to serve Him, and they do so, the Body of Christ is built up, reaching a unity in faith and in knowledge of Jesus, becomes mature, and grabs a hold of the entirety of who Christ is being poured out into their lives.
If you got lost there, and I think I may have successfully gotten myself lost, here’s the Ephesians 4 approach at it’s simplest form. I am going to be presenting your teens with various opportunities to serve their Lord, and through those opportunities I believe God is going to mature them in extraordinary ways.
These opportunities are going to present themselves in 7 different ways. If you read Romans 12:6-8 you can pick out 7 different spiritual gifts that we as humans potentially possess. These are gifts given to us by God and are specific to how he created us. These are the different gift types along with a very concise and quick explanation.
--The Perceiver - Quickly and accurately identifies good and evil. Sees everything as either black or white with no gray or indefinite areas. Is one who readily perceives, prays about, proclaims and promotes the will of God.
--The Server - Easily recognizes practical needs and is quick to meet them. The Server receives joy in helping, assisting, carrying out instructions and being of use in a wide variety of ways.
--The Teacher - Validates truth by checking out the facts and loves to study and do research. Takes in the knowledge of God and is gifted in teaching others that knowledge through various ways.
--The Exhorter - This one could also be called the encourager. They love to encourage others to live up to their full potential. Works well with people and does so in a way that others are inspired to follow. Communicates well and has an infectious zeal for whatever cause they are behind.
--The Giver - Exactly what you think it is. Selfless and finds joy in giving to help others. Gives freely of money, possessions, time, energy and love
--The Administrator - This person is a born leader. Other words used to describe them are facilitator, organizer or superintendent. Highly motivated to organize and lead.
--Compassion - This person loves on a level that they want to get involved and make a difference. To look to someone in need and have compassion in their heart is not enough. Its and active compassion that gets things done.
The plan is to present different scenarios and opportunities where these gifts can be used and brought out for the glory of God.
While at IMPACT, each student took a fairly extensive survey that was designed to point them in the direction of which of these were their gifts. I will be using these results to help guide who is involved in what. If your teen did not go to IMPACT but has a desire to take this survey I will grant them that opportunity.
I have seen this whole “Ephesians 4, raise the bar” approach laid out to groups of college students and young adults before with incredible fruit produced for the kingdom of God. I have not seen it laid out to a group of teenagers. However, as I said before, your teens are not children and I believe God desires strongly to use them in powerful ways.
5. Ok, last bullet point here. If you are still reading, thank you. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, I need you to help make a special effort to encourage your teen to be there. This will be the launching point for all of this and it would be great to get everyone on the same page. Wednesday nights in general are where we can accomplish the most together as a group. I know its the middle of the week and homework and practice and a million other things cloud it all up but I just want to say, if your teen can make it on Wednesday nights, it will be most helpful to them and the group.
As always, I want to say thank you for the support and prayers you give to this group. You guys are awesome! Meeting adjourned.
Michael
Within the next week or so I will be rolling out our fall calendar with all those wonderful dates that you need to be made aware of. However, I wanted to go ahead and let you know of one of our more important dates. Fall Retreat this year will be the weekend of October 24-26. Registration will open up about a month out from then, but for all you organized calendar people, I wanted to go ahead and make you aware. I hope you will make plans to allow your teen to be a part.
It is official… the summer has come to an end and great sadness has fallen on many. Let me just say this has been an incredible summer on so many levels and I want to thank all of you who had a part in making it so. I truly saw God work in so many ways and Im excited for the platform it has set up to lead us into the fall semester. Ive just got two items of importance that will both help us close out our summertime and shift gears for the next few months together.
Farewell Bash for the Interns
This Sunday night we will meet in the teen room at 6:00pm to eat together and spend some time saying goodbye to Caleb Snider and Kristen Smith. Both have been a tremendous asset this summer and its only appropriate that we take a moment to say thank you. We will be going with the standard “bring a finger food item” set up. If you guys can plan on doing that, I will take care of drinks and other items needed to successfully have such a gathering. Please do not feel obligated in any way, but if you have a desire in your heart to get them a gift or donate to a money/gift card tree, then by all means Im sure they will not object. Hope to see you all there… parents and teens invited.
Small Groups this Fall
For this year’s small group system we are going to stick with what we attempted last year, with a few tweaks to help improve. I feel the need to reiterate this: If you are already in a small group you love, and have no desire to change, please stay there and do not feel any obligation to what Im about to lay out. In fact, you can just stop reading and have a good day. For those of you who were a part of the UY small group system or were not involved at all last year, here is the proposal. This Sunday begins the small group sign-up process. One of the options you will be presented with is the UY Family Small Group. This will be a small group that is designed to have your families together participating half of the time while also allowing the parents and teens to meet separately to grow in different ways. I see small groups within a church as maybe the largest tool to carry out God’s kingdom work here as the body. It’s more than just the second tier thing you do at church. It’s an environment that allows deeper relationships to grow, more specific and powerful prayers for each other to be had, and a platform to actively serve the city we live in. I could go on, but just know that I hope you will consider jumping into a small group somewhere and if it happens to be this one… well Im excited to have you on board. If you need more information about how this will work, please feel free to ask me.
Six Flags over GA
Six Flags deadline is this Sunday, August 3 at noon. I have to know our final number by then so if your teen would like to take part… $35 will solidify the deal.
Dodgeball Tourney
Help us spread the word on this. We are wanting as many teams to sing up as possible. We are going to put a lot into this event so we want people there. You can direct people to this blog post (Click HERE) that will tell them the needed info and the link to register online.
Farewell to our Interns
Next Sunday night, August 10, at 6:00pm we will be saying goodbye to our interns. If you haven't personally gotten the chance to get to know them, I hope you have at least heard what an outstanding job they have done from your teens. So, join us as we say thank you and goodbye.
