YOU'RE INVITED! For a typical year,  we have 60 days of “lessons” (available on line), 40 days of “missions”, 18 days of “fellowship” and 8 days for  “fundraisers”, not to mention Sunday School, Travel opts. and hosting the state wide spiritual  evelopment program “Chrysalis”  JOIN US!

Help Kids Celebrate the Season by Serving With some guidance and encouragement, your teenagers can transform Christmas from a time of receiving into a time of giving and serving. Winter break is an ideal opportunity for young people to donate some time and talents to other people. Many high school students now have to perform community service to meet graduation requirements. But that shouldn’t be the only reason kids step out of their comfort zone to help others. Instead, serving is our response to God’s love and the great gifts he gives us. Youth-group service projects and summer missions are tremendous times of growth and giving. Kids can reap the same benefits all year, however, by stepping out in faith to be Jesus’ hands and feet to others. You can help kids get started by finding one day of their break to set aside for service. Brainstorm some volunteer opportunities that meet kids’ particular interests. Musical teenagers can perform Christmas music at nursing homes. Kids who like to be outside and work with their hands can help elderly neighbors with snow removal and other chores. Young people who are comfortable sharing their faith can assist with your church’s Christmas program or services. Even better, look for ways you can volunteer together as a family. Start a new Christmas tradition this year by putting your faith into action through serving.    Teenagers become more like Christ when they shift their focus to other people’s needs. Youth pastor Eric Bryant, writing in Group Magazine, offers these insights into raising kids with servant hearts: Expect more from your kids. Stop praying only for minor behavioral changes; instead, share with teenagers how happiness and success are directly linked to serving and caring for others. Encourage kids to commit to a cause. Having a cause creates community, life-transformation, and Christlikeness. After teenagers overcome any initial reluctance, their lives will never be the same. Be a role model. Serving and faith-sharing should be “do as I do” activities. Help willing faith-sharers find receptive hearers. Some of your kids’ friends are likely experiencing brokenness and pain. Encourage your teenagers to invite those people to church events. Recognize your young evangelists. Service brings its own rewards, but kids also are encouraged when they hear that what they’re doing matters. Positive reinforcement isn’t just a technique you read about in books and magazines.   PulsePulsePulsePulsePulsePulsePulse Today’s teenagers are more eager than ever to reach out and help others. By doing so, they’re obeying Christ and reaping other benefits, too: Each week, teenage volunteers (ages 12 to 17) donate about 3.5 hours of their time. (Independent Sector) More teenagers (59%) than adults (49%) volunteer. (Boys & Girls Clubs) Young people who learn about a volunteer opportunity directly from someone they know are three times as likely as other young people to volunteer. (Do Something) Teenagers who volunteer do better in school, have increased self-esteem, feel valued, meet new people, and acquire important life skills and memories. (USA Today)   Great Questions ...to Ask Your Kids  Take time out from your holiday preparations to discuss kids’ attitudes toward giving and serving: 1. When you hear the word “Christmas,” what comes to mind first? Do you tend to think about yourself or others right away, and why? 2. How would Christmas be different this year if we exchanged no gifts? Do you enjoy giving as much as (or more than) you enjoy receiving? Explain. 3. Are you excited or intimidated by the idea of volunteering? What would be your ideal service project, and why? 4. What are some ways you would like us to start serving together as a family?   GOD AND YOUR FAMILY Pray that: 1. Your teenagers will experience joy and peace this Christmas, knowing that Jesus came to earth to die and rose for them. 2. Your teenagers will place less emphasis on receiving gifts and more emphasis on giving of themselves. 3. God will open doors for your teenagers to serve other people in meaningful ways. 4. Your teenagers lives’ will be changed as they volunteer and share their Christian faith with people who are in need.   VERSE OF THE MONTH “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’” (Matthew 25:40) Our relationship with Jesus is directly connected to our treatment of his children. Everything we do to show concern for our fellow humans is done to him as well. So it’s impossible to truly love Christ if we ignore our neighbors and their needs. We can’t stand back and hope someone else will feed the hungry and visit the sick. Instead, we should pray for compassionate hearts and opportunities to reach out. By serving, we follow Jesus’ ultimate example of sacrificing himself for us.   What’s Up With Kids Jesus commands his followers to “go” and serve others. At SimplyYouthMinistry.com, youth minister Tim Kurth writes about the amazing things that happen when young Christians leave their comfort zones to impact others with God’s love: - Volunteering encourages young people to be “salt and light” in practical, tangible ways. - When teenagers are outside their comfort zones, they rely more directly on God. - By serving others, teenagers gain a greater sense of value for every life. The “poor” and “less fortunate” become real and human. - Teenagers’ hearts are melted when they encounter people in need. They realize they’re not just serving others but serving God. And they’re growing closer to him in the process. - Outreach offers opportunities to build relationships, which help kids’ own relationship with God grow. - Serving helps build other life skills, such as responsibility, compassion, acceptance, determination, endurance, and dependability. - Volunteering helps establish a lifestyle of service in teenagers that often carries into adulthood. - Many kids who are engaged in outreach experience a new hunger for God. - In addition, young volunteers learn to appreciate how fortunate and blessed they really are.   FilmWatch Movie: Yes, Man (releases Dec. 19)                 Genre: Action/Drama Rating: PG-13 [See Full Rating]for crude sexual humor, language and brief nudity Synopsis: Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) is going nowhere. Then he signs up for a self–help program that emphasizes saying yes to everything. That word begins to transform Carl’s life, as he receives a job promotion and begins a new romance. But Carl soon realizes that saying yes to everything might not be the best option for his life. Discussion Questions: Would you describe yourself as cautious or uninhibited? Do you have a hard time saying no to people’s requests? Why or why not? How important is it to try to please everyone in your life? When you sense that God is calling you to do something, is your first instinct to say yes or no to him? Explain. How might saying yes to God more often affect your life?   "Worship" vs Worship A funny thing happened at church last week. Some of our college age youth came back to their home church all excited about the new church they had found near campus! They were so excited to see the younger youth and they began talking excitedly together. They climbed to the balcony buzzing back and forth during the first song and well into the second. I noted our first reaction to a disruption in the service is not that God is up to something, instead it’s someone’s being distracting. There was talk of Jesus love, real outreach and even a few tears. It was a powerful moment - I was moved just popping up the stairs every now and then remembering the journeys that had begun 7-8 years ago that now seemed to finally have impact! But I could tell the people in front of the group were going to blow a gasket. They’d look back with "those eyes." Look at each other and rolled their eyes. They even kind of scowled back once, I think trying to use ESP to tell the 'bubbly-kids' behind them to be quiet. Finally, near the end of the second song, one of them spoke up. "I'm sorry, but can you guys talk to each other later? We’re trying to worship." During their "worship" they missed the most beautiful expression of worship ever. Angels were dancing in Heaven and they were ticked on earth. Now, in their defense, the youth were loud and a bit excited and I'm sure it was distracting. The youth seemed to forget the "rules" of church and even stopped the offering plate later in the service for an extra 4 minutes to dig up some spare cash. Sometimes I like Christians more before they grow into “real” Christians. Why am I so worked up about this? Because I've done it before. I’ve busted someone without knowing the whole story. In fact, I realize I'm doing that by writing about the people in front of the youth, right? Is it possible that this was their last Sunday before moving to a distant land? Is it possible they brought their jaded son and daughter-in-law to church for the first time after years of trying - and some jerks behind them are being loud and distracting? Hmm ... not sure where I'm going with this, its’ not a really good Christmas story, other than to say maybe we should listen for more than words in church. Maybe we should empathize with each other a bit more. And maybe our first reaction to a disruption in the service is that God is up to something, instead of someone’s being distracting.