No Youth Group Tonight and Hole Digging
This is just a friendly reminder that we will not be having youth group this week. Many of you are out of town enjoying pollen-free air. I envy you.
If anyone who is in town would like to come to my house to help me bury two garbage cans filled with rocks, I would love the help! Otherwise, we will see you next week Wednesday, same time, same place!
We only have a few weeks left at our current facility! I hope that you are getting excited!
Major Events Coming Soon!
We have some pretty major events coming up soon (and I’m not even referring to our big move as a church!). Our annual Spring Retreat is just around the corner! If you are interested in going, please sign up in the youth room and get your $30 to Mike as soon as possible.
Start thinking about your summer activities as well. We have a Mission Trip (July 17-24) and a Middle School Camp (July 25-30) already scheduled. See Mike for more information, or see below!
Scavenger Hunt!
Mark your calendars for Saturday at 7 pm! We will be having a Scavenger Hunt!
We will meet in the Youth Room where we will get our team assignments and our clues. We will then drive all over town, taking pictures of our groups in random places. When we have finished all the clues, we will return to the Youth Room and watch slideshows of our adventures while snacking and hanging out.
If you have any questions, let Mike know. Otherwise, we will see you then!
Game Night!
Mark your calendars:
Next week Wednesday, February 24, 2010 will be GAME NIGHT!
Instead of our normal youth group meeting, we will be playing games all night!
It will get messy, so please don’t wear something that you will want to wear again.
Come on out, bring your friends, and have a great time!
See you at 7:00 pm in the Youth Room!
Ash Wednesday and Lent
This past week, we celebrated Ash Wednesday and kicked off the season of Lent in Youth Group. “Celebrated” is actually a deceptive description, because the night was not exactly joyful. Ash Wednesday is a time that the church has traditionally set aside to grieve our sins and recognize our need for a Savior. It marks the beginning of Lent which is a time of preparation and introspection leading up to Easter. Lent emphasizes the themes of dying to self and being raised with Christ. I encouraged the students to recognize something in their life that is an interference in their relationship with God and then challenged them to abstain from it during the entire season of Lent. In its place, I encouraged them to think of something that would facilitate their relationship with God. For example, one student decided to give up Facebook (a huge sacrifice indeed!), and committed to spend that time reading the Bible instead.
Although giving up something for Lent is admirable, God is not impressed. I stressed to the students that accomplishing a fast from something during Lent will not cause God to think that you are an amazing Christian. On the contrary, even our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). The act of giving something up is not to earn God’s favor, it is simply to become more dependent on Him for everything.
The students who attended the service on Wednesday night were given a letter from me to take home. If your student was not able to attend or you didn’t receive the letter, click here for a copy.