I am very impressed with the teenagers of Four Rivers Church this morning. Two of them les worship in Paducah while 15 others served lunch to the Paducah campus as a fund raiser for youth camp. It was a very cool day!
Thanks also goes out to the parents and youth workers who helped put this day together.
Wow!
This letter is from my friend Roger Palmer. Roger was at one time the most well thought of youth pastor in Western Kentucky when he served at Paducah First Baptist Church. During that time Roger set in motion many things that have helped to forge the realities of good youth ministry in the Paducah area. Now Roger serves with www.Reach-Out.org as a communicator and teacher. And we will be hosting a youth ministry conference here at 4RC to learn from him. Many churches will converge to this conference. Our hope is to begin a wave of creative and effective youth ministry in Western Kentucky. I hope you plan to be there.
From Roger:
Hey Everyone,
What could I say that would convince you to open the link below and follow through on it?
We have a Jesus-Focused Youth Ministry Forum scheduled for April 30, 2011 hosted by Four Rivers Covenant Church. Check out this good word on the Jesus-Focused Youth Ministry Forum:
The Forum was AWESOME! It was the best money I have ever spent in ministry! It has reset my ministry and given me a burning clarity and vision. I am so excited to work on my plan of action.
-Corey Auger, Youth Minister
At the Jesus-Focused Youth Ministry Forum your entire younger generation ministry team will pursue a shared vision, gain greater motivation and discover practical tools for reaching and discipling the younger generation. The depth of your relationship with Christ and your perspective on how you do ministry will change dramatically by participating in the Jesus-Focused Youth Ministry Forum.
If you don’t attend you will kick yourself while repeating, “Why did I miss this experience with my team?” J
Lunch will be at the host location.
Call or email me or Tessa Brown, who is the Administrative Director at Four Rivers Covenant Church, if we can answer any questions.
Roger Palmer
Phone: 678-699-2071
Tessa Brown
Phone: 270-444-6598
Website: http://www.fourriverschurch.com
Sponsored by:
www.reach-out.org
I’ll be teaching a youth retreat over the New Years holiday. The focus is on attitudes for the life of the Christian. Here are my discussion question notes.
S.P.L.A.S.H.
How big of a S.P.L.A.S.H. could your involvement make?
Believe it or not, everyone has the potential to play a big part in the kingdom of God. You can make a big S.P.L.A.S.H.
Just look around and you will see the results of all different kinds of people. The people of the church have decided to follow Jesus and in that awesome relationship they have found their place to play in the kingdom.
S.P.L.A.S.H. is an acronym for six life attitudes from Scripture. By choosing to live in line with the attitudes Jesus has given us, we play big in the kingdom. Our participation makes a huge S.P.L.A.S.H.
S- acrafical Service
Read John 21:7-17
Focusing on verses 7 & 8, ask one another, “How important is it to you to be ‘close’ to Jesus? Are you like Simon Peter who sprints toward him or are you like the others who move more slowly only drifting His way…”
Focusing on verses 12 – 14, discuss how it feels to be served by Jesus. Give some examples of what service Jesus has offered for one another. How humbled are you that Jesus serves you?
Focusing on verses 15 – 17, notice that love for Jesus is often shown by service to other people. How are you planning on ‘loving Jesus’ by serving others?
P- erpetual Prayer
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22
This passage is a list of final thoughts from Paul as he closes his first letter to the young church at Thessalonica. It’s very practical and deals specifically with the way Christians relate to one another as part of the church.
Read each verse again, one by one. As you do, discuss each specific piece of advice and weave in the question, “How does an ongoing, healthy prayer life affect your involvement with the church?”
Make sure you spend time with each specific phrase.
L- ifelong Learning
Read 1 Timothy 4:11-13
Paul is directing Timothy to teach… so that everyone else will learn. We need to learn in the same areas.
Paul says that Timothy should be an example in four ways…
1. Way you live
2. In your love
3. Your faith
4. Your purity
Take each of the four areas and discuss two things about them. First, how can you become a lifelong learner in each area? Secondly, how can you become a good example so that others can learn in each area?
Read Phil 4:11-13
Discuss why ‘contentment’ is so important. How does knowing you can do ‘all things’ through Christ who strengthens you affect your learning and teaching?
A- uthentic Worship
Read Revelation 4:1-5
Read Revelation 19:11-16
How does the image of God being on his throne give you confidence?
What are some primary challenges to your attitude of worship?
What mental images do you normally have when thinking of Jesus? How does the image of Revelation 19 strengthen your confidence and worship?
Why is worship so valuable?
S- elfless Giving
Read Proverbs 11:28
Why does this passage seem to pit Godliness against trusting in money?
Read Matthew 6:19-21
Now discuss the same question as above.
Now read Matthew 6:24
With this passage in mind, discuss how a Christian can serve one ‘Master’ over the other. As you look at how you can serve Jesus with money… also discuss the mistake that many make by serving ‘Money’ with a pseudo godliness.
Read Genesis 4:2-5
What is the difference between the two brother’s giving? Why did God accept one and not the other? Focus specifically on the value of giving your best/first to God.
H – ealthy Relationships
Let’s trace the development of how God wants us to treat one another.
1. Read Exodus 21:23-25
2. Read Matthew 7:1-12
Ethic of Reciprocity
Is the goal not to judge one another, or is it to judge wisely and help one another grow? How can each of you live out the ‘spec-log’ kind of relationships?
How could having others watching out for you be a big help in your walk with Christ?
3. Read John 13:34-35
How is this a ‘new’ commandment? Compare it to the Golden Rule and discuss how this is a new development.
Hey Four Rivers,
As you know, one of my great passions is ministry to adolescent teens. However, as a former youth pastor, I have doubted the effectiveness of much of the typical youth ministry forms that I have seen.
With that in mind, Four Rivers has been in a growing and learning season concerning youth ministry for the past year.
As of now, we have a few things going for us.
1. FUEL: Fuel is the class or group of 5th-8th graders who meet at each campus of 4RC on Sunday mornings. This class has the potential to teach children (5th graders) what they need to begin Christian adulthood (high schoolers). It is an extremely important area of ministry for us. We want to put our best, best, best foot forward in this area.
2. Youth River Groups: Once someone is in high school, we give them the opportunity to begin living life and serving God as an adult in Christ. This means they just like the other adults in the church, high schoolers meet in weekly River Groups to share life, grow and serve together.
BUT…
There is a third piece of the puzzle that doesn’t really exist now. And that is a team of leaders who plan 4-6 big events a year focused on teens. Things like youth camp, mission trips, fun trips… etc.
So right now we are looking for a team of leaders to help us plan these events for the entire church.
Most likely, this team will include 3 adults over 18 and 2 adults who are teenagers.
If you are interested, or if you would like to suggest someone… please let me know.
Brad
I'm just a guy living a dream with my family, friends, dogs & a cat that I can't believe I actually let live in my house.
Brad
Greg Watson