Student Ministry Recapsm week beginning October 31

October 24, 2010                  Middle School/High School Sunday School

• 15 Students, 2 Adults
• Theme: Who is Jesus?
• Bible Story:         John 4
• Specifically: We answered questions from the 3x7 that the students came up with from their reading.  We read the text and had great discussion.

October 24, 2010                  High School Youth Group

• 13 students, 4 adults
• Topic:         Crazy Love, chapter 7
• Overview: We discussed the questions that arose from the reading of chapter 7.  Most students are doing the reading, only a few did the 3x7 for the week. 

October 27, 2010                  Middle School Youth Group

• 12 Students, 7 Adults
• Topic: Whos’ the Man?
• We discussed John 8:1-11, and what happens when we are forgiven by God.  He expects us to “go and sin no more.”  The discussions in all 3 small groups were great, with some really deep questions asked by our students.  Beginning in January, we’re going to tackle some deeper theological topics and the tenets of the Christian faith.

Weekly Info

Starting now, I'll begin to post weekly communication here, since I do not have an email address for all parents.


Fundraising
No word yet from Younkers on when we’ll be getting the coupon books to pre-sell. I’ll contact them this week to get more information and wil let you know as soon as we have them.

Upcoming Senior High Trip to St Louis
Permission slips for our senior high trip for CIY’s Discipleship in St Louis are due back to me by January 27. Registration goes up $10/person after this date, so get them in early! The slips are available on the parents website.

D-Group
Last night, we began our “Pursuit” study and had lot’s of good conversation and questions asked. We’ll be starting a new study at the end of February, so please be on the lookout for more information!

Youth Group
We started our year-long study of Jesus last week. For the year, we have committed to the “Student Life” Bible study. The LORD blessed us with 28 students! We also had the students participate in a survey asking them why they attend as well as some other things. The results will be compiled and discussed at our culture event on March 15th. I hope you’ll all attend.

Sunday School
We continue to combine the middle school/high school and adult classes. We do have a coffee/donut time beginning at 8:15. If you come at that time, you get to hang out with our youth, get a seat on one of our couches or chairs, and you’ll be on time for class to start at 8:45. Remember, your example as parents is larger than anything we do or anyone else in their lives!

Yesterday, we discussed the purpose of the baptism of Jesus, from Matthew 3:13-17. Also discussed was “Who do I say Jesus is?”

Your follow-up:
Read John14:6-7 with your family and discuss the following:
Do some people in your acquaintance believe that there are other ways to God besides Jesus? If so, what are those ways?
Why do you think God established only one way to himself through Jesus Christ? Why not through all religions or through other great men?
What is your reaction to the truth that there is one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ?
Close in prayer, thanking God for providing a way for people to have a personal relationship with him.

We have had many new families and students coming to both our church and our student ministry weekly gatherings. Because of this, I thought I’d break down the purpose of each of our meeting times. At the end, I’ll give some observations as to the fruit that this is bearing.

We meet on Wednesday nights from 6:30-8pm. This time is designed to introduce students to who Jesus is. Not only do we want our students to come, we want them to bring their friends. We have a hang out/fellowship time from 6:30-7:00, then a relevant message about Jesus followed by small group time. In their small group, they dig deeper into Scripture, discuss the text, and talk about what they learned. Again, this is ground level, foundational stuff; we’re trying to teach who Jesus is and introduce them to the love of Christ.

The next “step” for involvement or growth would be on Sunday mornings. We meet from 8:45-9:45am. Here, we teach right from Scripture, using the Faithweaver material, which takes a student through the main teachings of the Bible in 3 years. Currently, both our high school and middle school groups meet together but this will be changing after the new year. The material here builds on the foundations laid on Wednesday nights. We go deeper into Scripture, and focus on application of spiritual truths. Here, our goal is to introduce them to what it means to be a disciple of Christ. If Wednesday night is the foundation, Sundays are the walls.

The deepest level of growth takes place on Sunday nights from 6:00-8:00pm. This time is a straight Bible study. Many of our studies on this night are multi-week studies and the students are required to purchase their own material and commit to doing the work. We just finished a 9-week session in which we used Henry Blackaby’s “Experiencing God” material. Next up, beginning January 6 is the “Why?” study, which will be 6-weeks long. Continuing the analogy of the building, this time of study would be the roof and finishing touches- how their discipleship affects their lives on a daily basis.

Here’s what we are seeing as a result of how we’re currently “doing” ministry. Many of the kids who only attend our Wednesday night meeting do not know who Jesus is beyond the intellectual; He is simply not real in their lives. For some students who attend on Sunday mornings, but NOT on Wednesday nights, they struggle with the application because they have no idea who Jesus is; there is no foundation.

As a ministry team, we would appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we wait on the LORD on this topic. We also ask that you would evaluate the spiritual needs of you and your family and involve yourselves in the direction(s) that you feel the LORDs leading.