Archive for September, 2009
E3 youth this week
This week E3 youth will be meeting at the Himango’s house on Wednesday at 6:30. The address is 11 Paxton Place. See you there!
Children’s Hope Bible Club
One of the coolest things the E3 student ministry does is the monthly Bible Club for the children at Children’s Hope. We do this the fourth Sunday of the month during the school year from 3:30-4:30. This Sunday will be our first Bible Club of this year. The Bible Club is an awesome ministry and a great chance for you and your teens to do something to serve others together! I run into the kids from Children’s Hope around town a lot and they always talk about how much they love the Bible Club! During that hour we play games, sing, have a snack, share a Bible story, and do some sort of craft with the kids. But the most important thing we do is share God’s love with them with our presence.
Plan on being a part of this incredible ministry! Here are some of the specific ways you and your kids can get involved:
- Drive the bus to pick the kids up and take them back
- Provide a snack (usually they bring 20 kids and about 6 staff)
- Lead a couple of songs (and no, you don’t have to be a professional musician to do this)
- Tell a Bible story
- Prepare a craft
- Lead a couple of games
- Help in any of these areas
- Smile and give hugs
I hope to see you there this Sunday. Let me know if you can help lead in one of the areas listed above sometime this year or just want to be there.
guy talk / girl talk
I’m very excited to be starting the Guy Talk / Girl Talk series during our Sunday morning Small Groups this week! The small groups include a group for 7th and 8th grade guys led by me, a group for 7th and 8th grade girls led by my wife Stacy and Kristi Hill, a group for high school guys led by Ricky Lawless, and a group for high school girls led by Joanna Runkles and Judy Gholson. I am so excited to have all of these incredible teachers! They are all passionate about loving and serving teenagers and committed to helping them grow to be more like Jesus!
The Guy Talk / Girl Talk series includes lessons specific to issues that guys and girls face everyday. The girls will discuss things like sending the right message with appearance, authentic friendships, girl politics, gossip, self image, kindness, God’s plan for purity, what the Bible says versus what the world says about sex, the true value God gives us, and self-worth. The guys will discuss things like biblical masculinity, self-confidence, relationships, true strength, honoring God in dating relationships, winning the battle against lust, facing challenges, serving, leadership, and utilizing all the tools God has given us.
Every student will get a journal with questions that they will be discussing during the small groups. I encourage you to talk with your kids about what they will be learning and talking about during their small group time.
Feel free to contact me any time with questions you may have about this incredible series. I will be happy to provide you with a copy for you to have so that you can continue to teach and discuss these important and relevant issues with your kids.
saw you at the pole rally
This Wednesday is See You At The Pole day. This is a day where millions of students all over the world meet at school flagpoles and pray together for their campuses, their teachers, their communities, and their local and federal governments. I really encourage you to make sure your kids are at school a little early (7:30) to participate in See You At The Pole this Wednesday. The prayer time is entirely student led. A few area youth ministers will be at the middle school and high school campuses with donuts and juice and to offer support.
Then Wednesday night our youth group will be going to First Baptist in Lubbock for the Saw You At The Pole rally. We will be leaving at 6:00 from the church parking lot. The event is free, but they will be taking a love offering. Runks will be speaking and Pearl Merchant will be leading in worship. We will be getting home between 9:30 and 10:00. Encourage your kids to be here and bring a friend!
spring break ski trip
Ski Trip 2010…March 13-17
All deposits are due by Sunday, September 20. We need a minimum $100 deposit for anybody planning on going on this trip. The first 50 deposits are guaranteed a spot!
For all the trip details, go here. Be sure and pick up an information flyer at church for a registration form.
what are you breathing into your kids?
A question I have to stop to ask myself often: “What am I breathing into the life of my daughter?”
I think a lot of parents (myself included) don’t really think that we are constantly breathing into the lives of our children…CONSTANTLY! If this is the case (and it is…I don’t care if you are with your kids 24/7 or only see them every other weekend) we need to know what we are breathing into their lives.
This one hurts sometimes…because we’re breathing either life or death. There’s no inbetween.
Ways to breathe life into our children: Scripture…memorize it with your kids, read it together, use it for correction and discipline, stay in it, live it (Psalm 119:105). Prayer…for your children (everyday), with your children (everyday) (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Encouragement…use words to encourage your children every day, encourage your spouse (Ephesians 4:29). Time…eat meals together, play together, make sure your kids know they are more important to you than work, chores, other people, television, sports…(Psalm 127:3). These are just a few that I try to focus on (and I know it’s not easy all the time). What other ways do you breathe life into your children? (please share in the comments)
Conversely there are ways to breathe death into our children (remember, there is no inbetween…if its not life, its death). Ways we do this include living our lives daily apart from scripture and apart from a daily walk with Jesus, using harsh words, communicating that other things (like television, work, etc.) are more important than our children (and we DO communicate this with our actions), not disciplining and correcting our children, thinking the best thing we can do for our kids is buy them more stuff, and not being active and involved with the ministry of a church. I’m sure there are others as well.
So, are you breathing life or death into your kids today?
E3 Tonight
Hey Parents…Be sure your teens are at First Baptist tonight at 6:30 for E3 in the Gym. This is the second Wednesday of the month, so we will be having some BIG TIME fun playing goofy games in the gym. This is a perfect night for your teens to bring a friend! We will also be having a birthday party for all our September birthdays tonight. Drop ‘em off at 6:30. Pick ‘em up at 8.
A Parent Privilege Small Group
I’m so excited to let you know about the new A Parent Privilege small group starting this Wednesday at 6:45. This group will be lead by Rocky Lawless and will be for 45 minutes in the Adult 2 class.
You might remember I posted about this book when it was first released here and here. I hope you have had a chance to read the book already. Whether you have read it yet or not this will be an awesome group for discussing the ideas and principles the book presents. You will have an opportunity to get your own copy of the book in the class.
Please plan on being here this Wednesday for the first group meeting!
