the STATEMENT we make

Over the past few years I have worked on a very fluid vision statement for our youth ministry. Vision/mission statements are good so that we might be centered on not only the small picture but on the larger picture.

It also has come out of listening and watching the youth live out their faith in small and big ways.

Here is what our mission statement is currently.

PGUMC youth is a place where we want to embrace the way of Jesus for ourselves and others. We want to do this by creating an environment where youth are loved, encouraged, and inspired for the sake of our families, schools, and world!

All hinges on us embracing the WAY of Jesus. And recognizing that this relationship is not isolated or insular. This relationship has implications for how we live in our families, schools, and world. It is also recognizing that this embrace is a life long journey where we are constantly growing in love of God and love of others.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit and God's unrelentless grace we measure ourselves through three distinctive goals of what this looks like. This is what we mean when we say "creating/fostering environments."

1. We want to be Jesus centered. The gospel should and always be the imperative in front of us. We should constantly be asking, "where is the gospel of Jesus Christ leading us?". How are we collectively and individually experiencing/living out the WAY of Jesus?
2. We want to foster a place of deep relationships. We want our youth group to be a place where youth are loved, cared for, and valued. A place where all are accepted and welcomed. A place where youth experience the reality of their deep, God given worth.
3. We are to have missional imagination. We believe that God has used youth over generations to do BIG things. And this generation is no exception. We embrace Jesus not merely for ourselves but for others. Youth are challenged to think creatively on what it means to serve the other. We do this by serving others locally and globally.

I am proud to say that we are making great traction! These aren't scattered ideals out in the cosmos but instead they are very tangible. Not to say that we don't have work to do but we are moving in to good places.

We will look further at the vision statement and distinctives when the youth meet for their leadership meeting this Sunday at 4p.

30 Hour Famine... What you need to know!

I am excited to journey alongside our youth as we grow in awareness about hunger throughout the world. This experience will coalesce into us actually going 30 hours with out eating any solid foods. We do this so that we might embrace Jesus not only for ourselves but for the sake of others.

Here are some details that you will need to know.

I am worried my child will starve!
Ok... so not really a question but a concern. Part of that statement might be true. The goal of the 30 hour famine is to feel what it is like to be hungry. But youth will still be taking in calories through fruit juice. All youth will need to bring a couple gallons of (organic) juice to share. We have juice breaks every couple of hours.

When does the famine start? 
Youth will actually start their fast after lunch on the 21st of February. So they should not eat after lunch that day (but drink juice instead).

When does the lockin portion of the famine start?
The lockin portion will start at 6:30p. Youth should bring toiletries, sleeping bag, bible, air mattresses, etc. And will go to 6:30p on the 22nd.

What is the schedule?
Friday, Feb. 21 
12p Eat lunch/ start fast
3p Drink some juice
6:30p Meet at the church
7p Worship time
8p Juice break then Game
8:30p Break in to small groups
9:30p Juice Break/ Hang out/ Start making bread for communion next day
11p Lights out

Saturday, Feb. 22
8a Wake up/ Drink Juice
8:45a go out to do a service project
11p Drink Juice
12p-2p Go to a local grocery store and buy can goods for OCIM
3p Game/ Juice break
4p Clean up/ pack all our stuff
5p Worship with Congregation/Parents and Holy Communion
6p Eat Dinner together (will need parents to provide meal... something HIGH in carbs) and share experiences
6:45p Clean up and go home

Who are the leaders?
We need a couple of adults to volunteer. If you cant spend the night that is fine but your presence would be greatly appreciated. Please contact me.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Jason

Gigantic Joy!

The word for this week of Advent is "joy". This word has stuck with me as I have journeyed through this week. The word "joy" is found all through out scripture but what is it? GK Chesterton said in his book Orthodoxy that "joy" is the gigantic secret of the Christian. "Joy" when it is used in scripture is always a reminder that it comes as the result of faith and obedience. It isn't an instantaneous sing a couple of hallelujahs and lets have some joy. No joy is deep seated in the Christian narrative. It is burrowed in the story of patience and hope in the midst of trials. The Christmas consumerist experience is a microcosm of our cultural issues. We are all bent on instantaneous gratification. I am going to get what I want and when I want it. And nothing beats the fruition of our labor when we get what we want. It is kind of disgusting when we get to the bottom of it.

Our seeking of instantaneous gratification is slowly killing our souls. We get angry when life doesn't come out the way we think it ought. 

Yet the joy of a Christian isn't one that expects instant gratification. The Christian narrative is one that doesn't gloss over the reality that life is messy. The Christian narrative reminds us that we live in the "here and now" of perpetual "not yets." There are moments of immense happiness (you got a job, you got some good grades, your girlfriend thinks your cute) and really low and sad moments (your parent dies suddenly, you get in a fight with your parents, you got an F on your progress report, your girlfriend doesn't like you anymore or no longer thinks your cute...). The Christian narrative expects these realities. But that isn't the only expectation. We recognize that in the midst of trials that Christ is coming. And we can have "joy." A trial is no obstacle for joy. It is only a means by which we come to experience the joy of belonging to Christ in his fullness. We need to be reminded often of this truth because it is so easy to be sucked back in to our cultural narrative. I feel horrible today... I will order a new iphone. Or get my mom to buy it.

My hope for you is that you would pause during this time of go, go, go and center yourself. Take time to pray and be patient. Take time to pray for your family and friends. Take time to be grateful. Take time to read scripture. 

And maybe along our journey we will continue to experience this secret of joy. Lets take our next right step towards Jesus. 

"Come thou long expected Jesus..." 

{ADVENT}URE and Christmas Party Photos

We finished our {ADVENT}URE  study last night at the Christmas Party. Scripture says, "God's spirit beckons there are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid grave-tending life. It's ADVENTUROUSLY EXPECTANT  greeting God with a childlike "What's Next Papa?"

The Christian life should be one of adventure. Adventure is defined as an "exciting and unusual experience, typically hazardous experience." Adventure is what makes good stories great.

The stories we read of Mary and Joseph is an adventurous and scandalous one. The idea of "Jesus' birth" wasn't a very welcomed one at first for Mary and Joseph. Mary when she first heard of this unusual idea that God was up to was "troubled". And Joseph when he heard wanted to get rid of Mary by divorcing her. How would it look for Mary to be pregnant, unmarried, and a virgin? Her image is at stake. And even more Mary seeing to be with child out of wedlock could be a death sentence. This story has hazard written all over it.

But the story we read in scripture doesn't end with scandal but instead in a glorious resurrection. Christ came in the midst of their messy world. Folks often times believe that they have to get their "act together" before they come to Jesus. Jesus meets us best in the midst of our messy life.

The challenge for many of us is how we choose to handle our messiness. Joseph's original plan with the whole birth situation was giving up and absolving himself of the situation. A friend hurts you so you disown that friend. You make a bad play in a sport so you never play again. Giving up is probably our number one go to with how to deal with problems.

Yet giving up doesn't tell a very warming story. we choose to pray instead of giving up when life gets messy. We choose to dive deeper into scripture and the community of faith. And I know this might seem like the Christian thing to say. But if we read scripture and begin to do what it says a great story arises. And character develops.

I see this story of Adventure playing out with our youth. They wanted to serve more locally so they took on the leadership of helping those in need. It is recognizing that our world is a mess but I am going to be apart of Christ' work coming in to the world. That is a better story. That is the story Christians are to tell. And that is the story we usher in expectation each Advent season. Christ is coming.

So... Merry Christmas! And here are the pictures...  from the party. Enjoy.

Youth serving this past Saturday! 

{ADVENT}URE

The word "Advent" means come. As Christians we believe that Christ has come and that Christ will come again. We live in a perpetual state of expectancy. We all go through moments in our lives where it is hard to grasp on to the reality that Christ is coming. A barren land if you will.

A few weeks ago at Elevate we talked about  that life is adventurous. This word adventurous means an exciting and unusual experience that can be typically hazardous. Life is filled with all sorts of experiences that can go in to the unusual and exciting category. The story of Mary and Joseph wasn't the romanticized version that we portray in our manger scenes. But instead it was quite messy. Mary was 14 years old when she has this encounter with God. And her first response isn't excitement but instead she is "troubled." Mary at the time was engaged to be married to Joseph and being found with child could only mean one thing... she cheated. And this act in itself was punishable by death.

Mary was taking a huge risk. Instead of walking away and being afraid she embraced this calling. She understood what God was doing was worth the risk. What a beautiful story that Christ comes in the midst of our mess! Mary told such a beautiful story with her life. Now what kind of story do we tell with our lives?

This week we will dive deeper in to the story of Joseph. Joseph had a hard time with Mary's calling. How does Joseph explain to all his friends that his future wife is pregnant? Would they buy such a story? Do you buy such a story? So he planned to privately divorce her. Joseph was not prepared.  Football players "prepare" for a game. Cooks "prepare" for a meal. Preachers "prepare" their sermons. Preparation is important in our lives. And as Christians we prepare. Our world is messy. And we are not exempt from it's messiness. But the question is what we do with this messiness. What do we do when we get bad grades? Give up? Or do we keep striving. Reading scripture, praying, serving others develop character in a Christian. So the Adventure continues...

Learn More, Dig Deeper, and Grow

We have covered a lot of great scriptures these past few months. And my hope is that the youth would take another look at these scriptures. Here are some things that I do sometimes that help me dig deeper in to a scripture... 

1. Write down a couple of things you think this scripture might be saying... 

2. Are there words that you like... or words that you don't know... take some time researching on the interwebs. 

3. If it is a short scripture try rewriting it. Then write it in your own words. 

4. Want to go crazy... memorize it. Then write it on a postcard and take it with you. 

You will find that when we dig deeper, God meets us, and we grow. Here is the document with all the scriptures.

The Pilgrimage Review

I hope all the PG youth had a great time at Pilgrimage! Our speaker this year was Olu Brown who is the pastor of Impact United Methodist Church in Atlanta, GA. He really spoke to the youth in great ways! Here are some of the things that I heard the youth say that the got from this weekend...

1. Don't give up... no matter the circumstance God is with us

2. They want to be the kind of people that are leaders in their school

3. They are unique. 

4. Sometimes in life we have to wait... 

As I see all these words in front of me I think that these are words for me as well! What a great weekend! Now I hope that youth will take ownership of these words and be who Christ has called them to be. 

I also came away this weekend being so grateful to God for the youth. I am so honored and grateful that I get to be their youth pastor. They make me laugh, they encourage me, they pray for me, and they do challenge me! 

Also I want to say how grateful I am for the adult leaders that went. I have been praying that adults at PG would be a leader to these youth! And what a blessing it was to have Andrea, Kiah, Veronica, Mike, and John on the trip this weekend. 

I encourage you to check out one of the talks we watched at Pilgrimage! Downright inspiring!

http://www.nccpilgrimage.org/2012-11-27-00-14-07/videohub/video/popular/sat-am-olu-s-talk

And here are some pictures of Pilgrimage and the Halloween Carnival.