Moving forward

Parents,

I do try to be as concise and to the point when I communicate with you guys on here, but from time to time I think its beneficial to share some thoughts concerning our direction and road map as a youth ministry. That’s my way of saying this is not going to be concise.

If you may remember, a year ago I explained our 2014-15 school year plan which included the idea of equipping your teens with opportunities to be active in their faith, specifically related to their spiritual gifts.  This was extracted from an Ephesians 4 mentality that we gain unity in Christ, maturity, and the fullness of who He is through obedient and intentional action.  It has been an awesome experience to see the different ways your teens have stepped up to lead, plan, teach, and serve in the name of advancing the Kingdom.  This mindset will continue to be a part of the DNA of this youth ministry as we move forward but over the past few weeks I have felt God calling us into something more.

     

This summer was one of the best I have ever been a part of while doing youth ministry.  I observed a tremendous amount of spiritual growth in so many of your teens.  From Knoxville work camp to IMPACT to camp and everything in between it was apparent that God’s spirit was moving in so many of their hearts.  With such a great summer comes the quite and sneaky temptation to be complacent.  

"Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth," -A.W. Tozer

For the 2015-16 school year we are going to be dialing in on what it means to be living out a life on mission.  The great commission isn't a choice for us to consider… it’s a command we are to obey.  In order for us to get to a place where this is reality, we must dive in to a passionate devotion to pushing ourselves deeper.  Now, before you find yourselves thinking “Yeah that sounds great and all, go ahead and challenge my kid to do those things”, let me say that this is beyond just your kid. You’ve heard me say it before and Im sure this wont be the last time but the most effective arena for genuine spiritual growth in a teenagers life, is within their own families. With that being said, I want to invite you into the initial step.  As communicated in the previous blog post, we will be gathering together this Sunday night to launch our small group for the semester.  Ill put the when, where and other tidbits of detail below but I want you to understand that we will be unpacking our direction together after we eat.   If you can make it, I believe it will be beneficial.   Even if you have no intention of being in this particular small group, you are invited to join us.  

I wont ramble on any further but I look forward to where God is leading us and hope you can make it Sunday.  And now a few dates and reminders:

This Sunday Night - August 30 — 6:00pm - at the building

Dinner will be provided 

Fall Retreat - October 2-4 - Mentone, AL

Hoedown - October 18th - Smelser’s home

A couple of things

Parents,

I hope everyone has had a successful transition time from summer to school.  I just wanted to make you aware a couple of different things real quick.  

Hang Night - This Saturday, August 22 - 6:00pm - 9:00pm

The teens will be gathering together at the building to hang out together.  They’ll need $3 to help cover dinner and drinks.  For those teens who have a desire to be on our leadership team (E4), and can make it, I have asked them to be here at 5:00pm to help plan and map out our direction for this school year.

Small Groups

To my knowledge, there is no official “sign-up” for small groups this year.  So, this is how this is going to work. As always, if you and your family are already connected with another small group, that is fantastic and you should continue doing so.  If you have been a part of this one, are new to the group, or don't currently have a small group… here you go:  

On Sunday, August 30th at 6:00pm we will have our initial small group kick-off gathering/meal.  All families of teenagers are invited to be a part of this group.  

If your family has not been a part of a small group in the past or if you are unsure if that is even something you would want to do, I would encourage you to at least show up to this initial gathering as we will be laying out our vision for where we want to go with this.  If you have any questions about this at all, please feel free to contact me.

Fall Retreat - October 2-4

We will be returning to Mentone, AL this year for our Fall Retreat.  Registration for that will open up around the first of September but I wanted to go ahead and get it out there so you could put it on your calendars.