Youth Service Recap, 11/14/07

SERIES: Attached, Scissors TALK: Last week we peeked at what we are attached to in a talk entitled strings. (52% of all our students were attached to social life of some sort). This week the talk was entitled scissors in hopes of cutting free the things we are so attached to. STUDENT RESPONSE: ABOVE AVERAGE, we asked everyone to write down 1 thing they were attached and how they were going to unattach themselves from it. If they were wanting to unattach themselves from something they had to unattach card that was hung by a string to drive home the point a bit more. I was amazed how many responded and with such serious answers. These students are fired up to get rid of what is between them and God. Very exciting to see them step out. LEADERSHIP: ABOVE AVERAGE, It seemed like a night that every leader was on. Every time I turned around there was a leader serving, loving, encouraging, preparing. It was our leaders leading and I was very proud of them. MUSICAL WORSHIP: ABOVE AVERAGE, Although we didn't play a long set Tom like always does a great job taking all of us to the feet of Jesus. I was also very proud as we ushered in a new band member. Taylor who is in 7th grade made his guitar debut. He did great. ATTENDANCE: ABOVE AVERAGE. Great Night!

Riley and Callie Joy's dedication to the Lord.

Today was a great day as both of our kids got dedicated to the Lord. Although Riley is 4 and Callie Joy is 2 and we already dedicated them in our hearts it sure was a special moment for us to declare publicly our desire to dedicate our children to the cause and will of God. We were blessed with a lot of family joining us and after the service we headed to our house for some lunch. Riley and Callie Joy did a great job while on stage as they were excited. Were not sure what God has mapped out for their lives but they are both such special kids. Riley's heart is bigger than the titanic as he is constantly looking out for others. Callie Joy is a trailblazer and we pray that God would use that leadership to bring glory to the name and fame of Jesus Christ as she grows. Thank you fam for making the day a special one. We ask for your prayers for both Riley and Callie Joy. Pray that God would draw them both closer to closer to Him everyday and they would chase after Him all of their days.

Just Sick!

Fresh off the Hillsong United Conference and it was absolutely sick. People from 48 states and 6 nations joined together to worship God and it was a powerful weekend. God seems to just be all over Hillsong church in all they do. God is just evident in all they put together. I had a great time with some students and some leaders. We were blown away by the Spirit of God. I got a chance to see some old friends as the venue was my childhood church (FBC/O) and my first student ministry role (as an intern). It was neat to be back and see what God is doing through the ministry and leadership of Senior Pastor David Uth. The workshops were great, the teachings were great, the music was great. Great investment of my time and energy. I encourage anyone to check out what these guys are all about. The pictures are not of the actual event but they are the closest I found to what it looked like when 6,000 people showed up to worship God in one voice. Well in about an hour or two we are going to be dedicating our children Riley and Callie Joy to the Lord. Were excited as are the kids. You'll see a blog and some pics soon. blessings, da I

11.07.07 RECAP

SERIES: Attached, Strings
TALK: For someone that claims to be all about God and not of this world I realized like never before how attached I am to so many worldly things. Yesterday we started a new series on attachment and taking a close look at the things we are attached to and then next week we'll talk about detaching. Throughout the entire time of preparing and discussing what we are attached to I found so many of us are attached to so many stupid things. We talked about how dumb it was for my at the time one year old son to be so attached to a wooden spoon and how dumb we look when we are so attached to the same pointless matters. The only that should captivate our hearts is Christ but too often I get wooed by the wooden spoons are our culture.
STUDENT RESPONSE: ABOVE AVERAGE, we asked everyone to write down 5 things they were attached to so they can confess that to God. I was overwhelmed by the amount of students that had run out of space by the things they are attached to.
LEADERSHIP: BELOW AVERAGE, We had a couple of leaders sick, a couple that are m.i.a, but the core group are doing a great stepping up and leading teenagers.
WORSHIP: ABOVE AVERAGE, Al tough Tom got sick just before the service, which meant we couldn't do musical worship, the night still felt like a great time of worship and connecting with God.
ATTENDANCE: AVERAGE

Too much greed

I just launched into II Chronicles and it starts off with King Solomon being asked from God what he wanted? KS responds with wisdom to govern his people correctly. His response was humble enough to admit he wasn't that wise and unselfish enough to not make it about himself. As i stared at my bible thinking about that it didn't take me long to realize how different my answer would have been. it seems lately i have been more concerned about worldly stuff than my role as worshiper of God and lover of people. whats worse is that it is so easy to justify our concerns but seriously we live in America, we are all doing pretty good and most of us don't need anything else but boy do we want it.

Halloween 2007

This was a great Halloween. By day I was playing daddy as our family took off to Sea World for their festivities and by night we threw a an event together for the area teenagers. Riley was Jeff Gordon and Callie Joy was a ballerina, while I was a ghostbuster. We had a great time at Sea World, they really made the day special with lots of events and trick or treating the kids loved it. As well the night went great, we played some wild games that involved 10 dozen eggs, pumpkins, and strobe lights. I'll post pic of all that as soon as i get them. The night was a success though. We were able to serve many students through wild games and then toward the end of the evening many students made decision to live for Christ, including 6 who have never been to church. I love that. Lost kids thinking that October 31st was Halloween now realize that it's there spiritual birthday. All in all a great day.