Retreat Reflection, Get Appreciated

Retreat Reflection
I know not all of your teens were able to make it this past weekend but I wanted to say a few things about our time together.  Without boring you with the details, this retreat was different than most in that it required the teens to feed themselves spiritually instead of sitting and being fed.  I was hesitant to how this would go over because this would require them to be disciplined, but let me just say I was blown away with the way they responded and actually spent what equated to hours of study and reflection.  I feel confident they were pushed to think about things on their own and work through some questions as they evaluated their walk with Christ.  On a side note, their obedience on being where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there and cleaning what they were assigned to clean, might have been the best I've ever seen.  That may seem trivial but I think it speaks loudly to their maturity and respect.  I am very proud of these teens and I just wanted you to know you should be too.

Parent Appreciation Night
This Sunday night at 6:00pm, we will gather in the CVA for Parent Appreciation Night.  This is simply going to be an evening of food, fun and a time for your kids to focus some appreciation your way.  It will be a very casual setting and dinner will be served.  I really do hope your family will be able to be there.

Retreat, Meet, Shoot and get Appreciated

Retreat - October 24-26
Just a friendly reminder that THIS SUNDAY is the deadline for retreat sign-up.  $55 and online registration HERE will do the trick.

E4 meeting
Next Monday, October 13,  6:30-7:30pm will be our next E4 meeting to work on some things.  If your teen has committed to being a part of this, they should already know about it..... just wanted to make you aware.

Make a movie night
We will be putting together some sort of fun video this Saturday night from 6-9pm.  Eat before arrival, snacks provided.

Parent Appreciation Gig - Sunday, November 2
This is simply a night where your teens will serve you dinner and show you a bit of appreciation through some entertainment and other means.  I think this will be a special night so try and make plans to be there.

Hayride and Retreat

Hoedown Hayride
That's right it's time for a little Hoedown Hayride this Saturday night.  I need to relay some details as well as enlist some help to make this a great night.  First off, let me communicate clearly that this is for your entire family.... all are welcome.  We will kick things off at 6:00pm out at 
Ken and Leigh Ann Smelser's place.  I realize the game will be wrapping up at that point so please know there will be a tailgate setup with a TV for those who want to watch.  Feel free to come on out a little early and watch the game there with us as we get ready for the night.  Smoked chicken will be provided, but I need your help in bringing the side items.  Click HERE if you would be willing to help fill this need.  Also, I'm in need of some portable flood lights.  If you have some illumination laying around, please let me know.  

Im asking the teens to come dressed the part (your interpretation of what that means) and you can feel free to do that as well.... no pressure though.  I feel very confident this is going to be a great night together. Come ready to eat some great food and have some big fun.  


Fall Retreat - October 24-26
We are headed to Mentone, AL to "His Wilderness Retreat".   You can register your teen HERE.  Cost will be $55 and is due by October 12.  Once registration is closed I will email specific details on the trip to those whose teens are participating.  If you have any questions about it at this point, please feel free to ask.  

E4, Worship and a Hayride

I hope everyone’s school year is trucking along just great.  I just wanted to touch base on a couple of things quickly.

Ephesians 4 Initiative
A while back I explained the direction we are attempting to go as a group in step with Ephesians 4:12-13, which in its simplest form is to serve as an avenue to grow in Christ.  There have been 28 teens who have indicated that they want to be a part of this, which is a pretty high percentage of our participating group.  For verbiage purposes this group is being called E4.  We have had two E4 meetings so far and I must say it is exciting to watch them take responsibility and ownership of different opportunities laid before them.  Please be in prayer that God awaken their desire to use the gifts he has given them to bring Him Glory.

The Living Room
Keeping in step with the above paragraph, the UY is overseeing the next “Living Room” this coming Sunday, September 28 at 6:00pm.  Responsibilities have been given and preparations are being made to put together an hour that we can get together and spend some time in Worship.  UY family community group will plan to attend this and I hope the rest of you will as well.  

Hoedown Hayride

Next Saturday, October 4, at 6:00pm all are invited to the Smelser’s place for some good food, fellowship, and of course… a Hayride.  I’ll send a bit more details next week but I hope you and your family will plan to be there.  

A note from Mark Sullivan

Dear Parents of teens:

I am looking forward to the new quarter starting this Sunday and the return of Small Groups.  If you did not participate in the Teen Small Group last year, or were not involved in another group, you really missed out on some fantastic time of fellowship, service and learning.  I would especially like to encourage you in two ways:

1)      If you have not already done so, please sign up to be a part of a small group. Sign-ups are still available in the office.  There is probably a group located close to your home.  Or if you prefer, you can sign up to be a part of the Teen Small Group, which is designed especially for parents of teens in our youth group.  As we did last year, our format for this group (which is led by Michael) includes alternating weeks of Study, Service and Fellowship.  Our adult group will typically meet on Sunday night while our teens are meeting separately, but we will fellowship and serve together.  I promise that if you engage in this group, you will not be disappointed.

2)      Please commit to coming to Sunday School Class starting this Sunday.  As you know, we will be starting our two worship service schedule this Sunday with first service beginning  at 8:45, Sunday School class at 10:00 and second service at 11:00. Our Bible study will also include perspectives from Gene Getz’s book, Building Up One Another .  This will be a great study that will focus on our call as Christians to encourage and serve one another.  It will also be a great time of togetherness as we have families who will be attending different worship services.  The adults in the Teen Small Group will meet in classroom 214 on Sunday morning.  Hope to see you there.

Mark Sullivan

Road map

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

One Quick Date-October 24-26

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.