Day 2

Day 2. Sporting the pgumc hoodies!

Stop hunger now service project!

Pilgrimage 2013

Getting ready to hit the road. Excited!

Part of the group!

We are here!

You are LOVED if...

Youth experience a world of "you are loved if..." You are loved if you make that team, you are loved if you get these grades, you are loved if you make these friends, you are loved if you wear these clothes. The list is endless! And possessions, sports, friends end up being how we gauge how much we are loved.

These past few weeks we have talked about that we are "made in the image of God." We are valued, loved, cared for, appreciated, with unique attributes all given to us by God. We did nothing to earn them but through God's grace he put this wonderful image on our hearts. 

So as we finish these last couple of weeks up of our MADE series I am reminded that I can be sure that "God loves us." There is nothing we can do about it. There it is. There is no "if" at the end of the sentence. Regardless if we make the team. Regardless of the clothes we wear. God loves us, values us, celebrates us! This is what it means to be made in the image of God. It means to be aware of the value that God has placed upon each of our lives. 

So I hope these past few weeks the youth have come away with how much God loves them. That they don't need to do anything to earn it. All they need to do is embrace it. And to call out that which is good in their friends. 

In the next few weeks we will be looking at {ADVENT}URE. The Advent story is filled with much expectancy and tension. There are many elements of the Advent story that are scandalous and full of tension. Our lives carry some of the intonation of ADVENT. As sure as we might be about the life that we are leading there are elements that are unknown to us. There are elements where we live in tension. And there are elements where we wait in eager expectation of what God might do next. If Christianity is boring and not an Adventure we are doing something wrong. The heart of the Christian is always asking "What's Next". Or "what great things do you have in store for me today Jesus?" 

Mission Trip 2014 INFO

Here is some helpful information about the mission trips we have been taking the past few years. This is really helpful especially if your youth is new to mission trips. Feel free to give me some feedback or questions you still might have out about our Summer Mission Trip experiences. As always friends are also invited on these trips! Blessings! 

Why a Mission trip?

Mission trip are super fun mixed in with some hard work. They are much more rewarding than the plain fun trips because serving others and meeting new folks is such a cool experience. But it also builds character in the youth. My first experience with church was through a mission trip. And it was life changing. And I am sure that it will be the same for your youth.

And if that isn’t enough. You can earn some service hours!! And lots of them.

What is Youth Works?

Youth works is an on the ground organization that organizes\ mission trips for middle school and high school students nationally and globally. You can check them out at www.youthworks.com

Have we worked with them before?

Yes! We took four youth last summer to try them out in Nashville, TN and Savannah, GA. And it turned out to be a super great week of serving Jesus in both cities. 

What would my youth be doing during the mission trip?

We typically are housed in a church for a week. Each day we go out to different sites to serve the community. In the past we participated in helping out with nursing home activities, calling bingo, painting houses, gardening, reading programs, nonprofits, cleaning used mattresses, sorting through food at a food pantry, basically wherever there is a need we try to help out as best we can.

Who can go?

This mission trip is for current 6-12 grades. 

Where will the mission trip be?

We asked the youth where they would want to go. They have chosen Charleston, WV. And our back up site is Birmingham, AL in case this site fills up to quickly. These trips especially in July fill up very fast this is why our deadlines are so early. 

When?

July 20-25 (trying to avoid conflicts with sports practices that start in August)

What is the cost of the mission trip and what all does it include?

The cost of the mission trip is $330. This includes transportation, lodging, and meals during the week. We will do some fundraisers to help offset the cost and we will also ask the congregation to help support us and sponsor youth in this mission trip. (last year each person only had to pay $70 each)

Please don't hesitate to ask any questions. It is truly a life changing experience and we would love for your youth to be apart of this experience! 

A $50 deposit is required to sign up by January 15.
You can sign up your youth as always via THIS LINK

MADE

Scripture says in Genesis 5:1, "When God created man, he made him in the image of God. He created them male and female and blessed them."

This year we are talking about going and making disciples. God has sent us out to be witnesses or I think a better word would be storytellers. Simply put these last few weeks I hope the youth have thought about friends that they could invite. Simply invite. Sometimes we forget that we are suppose to invite people on to this journey with us.  

Paul in Acts when preaching to the people of Athens said, "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hand...We are his offspring." 

You are his offspring. I am his offspring. We are all his offspring. And our mission is to call out that which is good with the way we live and in the way we speak echoing this powerful reality that we are made in God's image. 

We have messed it up. Yup sure have. So God sent Jesus so that we might be redeemed by his blood. So in the words of John people will see God in us. "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 

The next three weeks we will talking about all of this! And hopefully it will all come together. 

1. MADE: You were created by God for God! 

2. MADE: We messed it up... but there is GREAT news we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus! 

3. MADE: We are made for a purpose! 

Elevate

Excited to start our new season of youth!

JONAH:God wants me to go "where"!

As many of you might have heard through the emails that our Sunday nights will now be called "Elevate". We picked the name of Elevate because that is the message of Jesus to his disciples. As Christians we are to rise up and to be good examples of what it means to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

Our "theme" that will guide us through this year is "go and make." These two words come from the great commission found in Matthew 28. These were the last words Jesus spoke to the disciples in the gospel of Matthew. And they are words that still center our mission here in this world.

We will start out our year by talking about how we tend to react with this word "go" with the story of Jonah being our backdrop. Our temptation is to think when Jesus said "go" what he really meant was "go" to church.

But what it really means is God sending us to places that we might have never thought he sent us. Youth might think they are at school to learn, in band to play an instrument, on a sports team to rise above the rest, you might see where I am going with this. But in reality God has sent us there to be a light to a dark world.

So encourage your youth and yourself to take sometime to read the story of Jonah. It is a good one. Looking forward to sharing in its truth this month!