Weekend Wrap-up 08/26/2007

Sunday 08/26/2007

Attendance: Way above Average
Lesson Topic: Live God Loud; Acts 13:1-14:28
Fun Factor: Above Average
Volunteer Involvement: Below Averge
Music: Average (Getting better)
Lesson Quality: Average
Length of Lesson: 25 minutes
Student Response: Average

I think I am going to have to start doing two of these, one for Jr High and one for Sr High because their responses were almost completely different. It seemed the Jr High paid more attention and really enjoyed the service, while the Sr High (or most of them) seemed very uninterested. There are many things we have to work on, so we will just keep pushing foward.

We talked about Paul and some of his missionary journeys and what that means to use in our Christian walk. I spoke of Living God Loud or living a life where people don't need to hear your testimony to understand that God is in your life. This will actually be a lesson series in the future. At the end of the service we took the names of students who our students would like to see come to Christ and ways that we can Live God Loud. They were challenged to remember those things as they go throughout this week.

Personally, I am happy with where we are headed as a group. Things are moving forward and the students are excited about what is going on...

Days Off

I finally got a day off. For the last three weeks I have been at church doing something, or spending time with my students. I love spending time with them but I also enjoy the days where I don't have to do anything. I am relaxing this weekend and really enjoying it. We are doing some household work and might go out today but for the most part we are just relaxing.

And that brings me to another questions, in our 7 day world, how do we make time for the Sabbath that God commands us to have. As a minister that is hard because Sundays is a day of work for me, and there are times I have events on Saturday, so that leaves my weekends out. And most of the time I get into my work during the week, so I "forget" to take a day off. I also used to work for a company where I had to work on Sundays and there are many others in the world who do.

I try to take at least one day off. A day of relaxing and restoration. I know for some that isn't easy to do but I think as a pastor it is essential that I do that. I love what I do and can easily be caught up in it, so I need to force myself to take some time off.

How do you spend your Sabbath? Do you take the time off and restore yourself or do you go 24/7 with no rest at all?

Getting Old...

So in my busyness of life, I forgot to blog about my birthday. On Aug 9th I turned 33 years old. I can't believe it. I mean I don't feel old or anything but it is just kind of weird to think about. Beth and I were talking and actually discovered that we could now say that it had been 20 years since we had been in Jr High. I couldn't believe that. 20 years since I was in Jr. High. I also think about how some of my students could actually be my kids.

I can't believe it. It is amazing how time flies in life. My daughter is now in the 4th grade.. 2 years from being in my youth group. That is a scary thought. I really feel like my life right now is taking off. I am 33 years old and really kicking. Our youth ministry is revving into high gear. School is in session and the students are busy. I am happy with our progress and I know God is moving, but I am really looking forward to what else He has in store.

Weekend Wrap-Up 08/19/2007

Sunday 08/19/2007

Attendance: Way High
Lesson Topic: Being a Jesus Freak: Acts 9:1-19, 2 Corinthians 11:24-28
Fun Factor: Above Average
Volunteer Involvement: Average
Music: Below Average (Praise Band Premiere)
Lesson Quality: Above Average
Length of Lesson: 25 minutes
Student Response: Average

I am so in shock right now, but I probably shouldn't be. Tonight we had 73 students in our worship. Our Jr High had 50 students, we had to add more tables. I am excited. Anyways, tonight was our first service where we split the group. Jr & Sr High Worship was separate. The services were the same for the most part. We had huge issues with the sound and praise band but it was their first time playing in front of the group. I know they will get better, and they know it to. We actually recruited a few students to help us sing.
I kind of dropped a bomb on the students tonight. I came down kind of hard and serious on them. We talked about Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus. I wanted the kids to understand the seriousness of being a Christian. We looked at how the students/friends get soo excited about sports but are not as excited when it comes to their faith. I hope that some of them understand that thought and begin to live their lives out more for God...

Can't Sleep...

So it seems that I just can't sleep. Ever since I have been in Kansas City I am sleeping less. Normally I have gone to bed at 11 or so, but lately it has been much later than that. Or I will go to sleep only to get up a few hours earlier and not go back to sleep. I have no idea what it is or why.

Sometimes I think that God is asking me to do something or just the realization that I have a bunch to do is keeping me up. I have gotten up and prayed or read my Bible, but most of the time I just get on the computer and browse the internet or read the blogs I read. (I might have to list those one day).

Right now, it is almost 2am and I am still up. I have been working on my lesson for tomorrow and watching movies. I need to sleep. Tonight I am not sure if I will sleep. It seems today I messed up my ear in the pool. I have always loved to swim and we went today to an outside Y. The first time I jumped in my ears felt tight, like I was much deeper than I really was. I have never had this happened and just thought it was something silly. I kept swimming and then Timmy and I were talking about touching the bottom of the pool at 12'6". So I decided to go ahead and try to do it, I have been deeper than that before with no problems. I jumped in and starting heading down, then I felt a pop in my ear. As I started heading up to the surface I felt dizzy. When I reached the top my head was spinning and I as disoriented. Since then my ear has been killing me. I have taken some medicine and put a heating pad on it to try to help it. I still feel like my ear is clogged, but only time will tell. Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight.

Sidewalk Prophets in Concert...

So this week we have Sidewalk Prophets in concert. I am really looking forward to this because I have been trying to get them to my church for a while now but have never had the chance. So when I started putting events together for this year, they were the first band I called. I really like their sound and hope that my students do also.

Our concert last week with Jonah 33 was awesome. We had over 100 students that came and most of them loved it. I really liked the personal touch of spending time with them. Check them out on myspace and order their new cd.

Jonah 33 in Concert

So this Friday night we are hosting Jonah 33 in concert. I am so excited about this event. I love concerts and this one is going to be great. Right now we have 100 people coming and hopefully more will come. This is part of our Worlds of Fun Rally that I have spoken about before.

Jonah 33 is a Christian Rock Band that playing some great songs. They have been playing on the radio for a few years and have a new album out. I haven't gotten a chance to listen to it yet, but I know they are good.

If you get a chance to come out, tickets are only $10. The doors open at 6pm on Friday Aug. 10th and the concert begins at 7:30pm. We would love to have everyone there...

Busy Week

This week will be the culmination of a ton of planning and
preparation. Our Worlds of Fun Rally will start at 5pm on Friday and
kick of the biggest event of my career at PWC. I am truly excited
about this event. we have Jonah 33 coming to play for us and a day at
Worlds of Fun on Saturday. I know this event won't turn out like I
originally planned but I know it will be a great event for those who
come.

One of the other exciting things that will happen this weekend is that
our new 6th graders will get to join us. This will be their first
official event as a member of Flite Ministries. I am definitely
excited about that. I know a bunch of them are looking forward to
this event and to join our group.

We have some other exciting events coming up that I am also excited
about and will get into later...

Weekend Wrap-Up 08/05/2007

Sunday 08/05/2007

Attendance: Average (for the summer)
Lesson Topic: Can You Feel the Pres?: Matt 4:1-11
Fun Factor: Above Average
Volunteer Involvement: Average
Music: Average (2 songs)
Lesson Quality: Above Average
Length of Lesson: 30 minutes
Student Response: Above Average

We continued in our Join the Story series and discussed the Temptations of Jesus. We looked at the account in Matthew and talked about how Jesus gave us an example of what it means to overcome temptations in the our life. We had a visiting youth group with us and I think our kids responded well to them.