by
Chet
27. July 2010 18:53
I'm putting together a little guide for our church youth group tomorrow night. Neither myself nor my other Wednesday night cohort in crime, Dewey, can be there, so one of the college-age guys is going to lead the group. I thought I'd jot down the flow here, since I can easily link directly to the videos and write out the discussion questions as well.
GETTING STARTED
Today we're going to watch a couple video clips from a movie called To Save a Life. This movie is the story of a young man named Jake Taylor. He's the school champion of basketball and beer pong, has a beautiful girlfriend, and everybody loves him. Life couldn't get better, right? An old friend from Jake's childhood comes back into his life, and shortly thereafter, commits suicide. Jake begins to think. "What did i miss? What could I have done different? It's all my fault!" A youth minister meets Jake, and leads him to Jesus. Things don't magically turn nice and neat, however, and Jake begins to really wrestle w...
[More]
by
Chet
13. February 2010 22:11
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE
I gave a devotional / testimony type of thing at a Valentines Banquet tonight with some friends & family from church... along with a couple hecklers in the crowd. Wanted to get it jotted down in my blog so I can come back to it later...
When I volunteered to share a devotional tonight, I had one of those strange feelings where you know exactly what you want to share, but have absolutely no idea how you’re going to get it out of your heart, up your throat, and out of your mouth. Ever been there? In fact, as I thought about that, I realized I’m in that situation quite often, particularly, it seems, in my marriage. I have something great to say, to really inspire and encourage my wife, or just make her day, and how does it come out? Not at all as in...
[More]
by
Chet
17. September 2009 06:31
I'm reading through the book of Isaiah right now with the Daily Audio Bible. One of the longest books of the Bible, and often, it seems, one of the driest. So much cursing. So much prophesy. But what I'm hearing today... there is always hope. Not a hope that everything will get better. Not a hope that one day our circumstances will get better. Not even a hope that the people around us will change. A hope, a promise, that God Will Intervene. That He Will Step In. In the midst of the deepest darkness, where there is no way out, even by scratching, crawling, or sacrificing our very lives to escape, He will show up for His children.
Like this passage in Isaiah 27, in the midst of curses, curses, curses, and sin, sin, sin:
For the fortified city will be deserted,pastures abandoned and forsaken like a wilderness.Calves will graze there,and there they will spread out and strip its branches.When its branches dry out, they will be broken off.Women will come and make fires with them,for they...
[More]
by
Chet
9. September 2009 09:07
Tonight we're going to talk about loneliness at youth group, and how, in reality, we are never really alone. But at the same time, the feelings of loneliness are real in day to day life, and we should learn how to deal with them and be healed of them. We can also learn how to help others who are alone, and how to find them in the first place, because lonely people are everywhere, often right in front of us.
Dewey is going to share a short devotional he read the other day that he thinks is really good, and talks about how God is always there with us. I'll probably come back and edit this post once I know what that's about.
After that, we're going to do a few activities centered around the theme. Not sure what order we'll do these; maybe even go back and forth.
Movie Clips
There are countless movies that center around the theme of loneliness. Whether it's someone living the self-empowered life of "if it is to be, it's up to me" and "succeeding" in it while isolating themselves from a...
[More]
by
Chet
28. August 2009 06:39
Prayer has been all over my map this year. In teaching, in being taught, in reading, and even in applying, trying, failing, and succeeding. I was remided yesterday about how "informal" we can be with God in terms of the whole "process," but how much He just loves to hear from us and also, how much he longs to answer us.
At the beginning of September, we start a new Sunday School "year" at our church. Being the team leader for that ministry has put me into a number of situations, but the one I love the most is raising up new leaders into spots of ministry that are just right for them. While I say that, I also love the opportunity to watch these people be raised up by others... it's a wonderful opportunity to watch miracles in action. This event yesterday showed me both sides of this, how prayer fit in, and how wonderful God is to us.
One of our preschool classes (the one my son is in, it so happens) has been in need of a helper for the teacher. It's not at all that Kelley (their tea...
[More]
Subscribe