New Series for High School Class in December

This December, we will be beginning a new series in the High School class on Sunday mornings entitled, "Unbalanced." I am really excited about the teaching that can take place through this series. We would love for you to be a part of this series. If you have stories, a testimony, or any other input that you feel would be an asset to this class, please let me know. If you have seen just how unbalanced life can be without God at the head, please talk to me and let us see how you can be involved in this series.

The goal in this new series is to help our teens to understand the power of following Christ in a new light. That living a life for Christ would be defined as "unbalanced" by the world's definition.

This is the series premise:
So much of our world calls us to balance. Balance school work with jobs, family time with church time, play time with responsibilities. Has this balance compromised our spiritual relationship with God? Christ didn’t call for balance. HE was a radical. HE threw everyone off balance. HE called people to a new way of life. A life, focused on God and HIS way. That calling has changed the world forever. God doesn’t want to be balanced into our schedule, HE wants to be in control of every aspect of our life. HE calls us to a life that is "Unbalanced".

We hope that you can be involved in some way during this series. If you have some ideas, please contact Dan.

Upcoming Events

Alright, this is gonna be a busy week or so. We have a ton coming up. Please take note of which you can be a part of. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Wednesday, October 28th: 6:00-8:00pm
Please come and support the Wednesday Night Alive group. The youth ministry students will be helping and volunteering at Trunk-or-Treat. If your student didn't sign-up to help this last Sunday they can just show up and we will plug them in where needed. They also need adult help so try to make it. It will be great time with our church family.

Thursday, October 29th & November 5th: 6:30-8:00pm
Boost and Uplift will be combined for the next two weeks as we will be having an Alcohol and Drug Seminar conducted by Dr. Dustin Smith and Deputy Sheriff Mike Woodruff . This is for the whole family, except young children, so please plan on being there. It could very well change you and your families lives. Feel free to invite neighbors and/or friends alike.

Friday, October 30th: 6:00-9:00pm
Our annual Costume Party is this Friday at the Sturgis's Home. There will be maps in the lobby on the Youth Ministry table and one attached to the email as a clickable link that I just sent out. Please bring $5 for pizza and drinks. Also, bring one item to share (chips, dessert, etc.) Come in your best costume and be prepared for a ton of games and fun. It's gonna be a blast.

Sunday, November 1st: 6:00-8:00pm
This upcoming Sunday is our 1st Sunday Family Devotional at the home of Randy and Lydia Marrs. This will be a time for our youth ministry families to come together and worship with one another and eat and hang out together. Please bring a dish to share with everyone.

Friday, November 13th-Sunday November 15th
Impact Jr. High Retreat is coming up. This is a retreat specifically designed for 6-8th grade students. The early registration price of $95 is due by this Friday. The forms are in the lobby.

God is truly blessing our Youth & Family Ministry. I pray that you will find a place to be involved if you are not already involved.

-Dan

Youth & Family Ministry Meeting and Upcoming Events

Hey Everyone,
A big thanks to everyone who was at the Parent Meeting on Sunday. It was very productive. Each parent who was there received a Youth & Family Ministry Informational Packet. There are some for each of you on the Youth table in the lobby. Please take one.

On page five of the packet is a release form. Please fill this out and give to Dan. This release form will cover all the events between now and next summer. This way, a new release form will not be needed to fill out for each event.

We also discussed our Fall Events. Below are the dates of all the events between now and 2010:

1st Sunday Family Devotionals
October 4
November 1
December 6

2nd Sunday High School Praise Nights
October 11
November 8
December 13

Six Flags Magic Mountain
October 3, 8:00am-8:00pm
Cost: $40 (Ticket + Lunch on own) Dinner provided

Costume Party @ Sturgis’s House
October 30, 6:00-9:00pm
Bring snacks to share

Impact Jr. High Retreat
November 13-15
Cost: $95 (lodging, food, and transportation)

Our two upcoming events are Magic Mountain and 1st Sunday Family Devotional. We need drivers and chaperone's for Magic Mountain. Talk to Dan or Allan Lumagui if you can volunteer on October 3rd.

Our 1st Sunday Family Devotional on October 4th will take place and the home of Steve and Terri Emmett. Bring a dish to share and a heart for worship. It will be a great time of fellowship.

If there is anything on your mind, any question about the youth ministry, or any praise that you want to share, please feel free to call Dan.

Hey Everyone,

I hope that you all had a great summer. We will be having an informational parent meeting on Sunday, September 13th after church. This will be a potluck lunch so please bring something to share. I will remind you as it draws closer but I wanted to give you enough time to put it on your calendar.

We have some very exciting things for the fall that I want to make you aware of.
We have a new Wednesday night class for 5th-7th graders beginning in September called Boost. If you have a child in that age group, please make sure you check it out. If you have any questions about Boost, please let me know.

Uplift and Boost will begin September 2 and 3 with Uplift moving to Thursday nights now that Boost is on Wednesday nights. The times for both classes are the same: 6:30-8:00 PM.
Our Fall Teaching Series is entitled "Contaminated." We will be looking at how our culture influences our lives. I am very excited about this series as it pertains to what these teens are and will be going through. This could be a great opportunity for you to be involved.

If you have any questions about anything involving the Youth & Family Ministry then please feel free to call or email.

Thanks and God Bless,

Dan

Two upcoming events and WBS

You should have all received the calendar and letter for the first half of the year. Let me know if you did not receive one and I will get that out to you promptly.

We have two upcoming events:

GM-Pottery Painting
This will be a time for the girls to come together, make pottery and paint it. It should be a blast. Should cost around $20 for supplies. Expect an email from Lindsay with all the details and how you and your daughter can be involved.

So Cal Retreat
This is a really unique event that it is led by high school students from across Southern California. The student leaders plan and implement the small groups, facilitate worship, and share their lives in speaking sessions. This should be an amazing weekend of spiritual growth for our group. Cost is $110 due by March 20, 2009. If your family needs financial help sending your child, please talk to Dan. Forms are on the Y&F Ministry table.

If you have any questions on either event please email or call Dan.

Weekly Bible Study
I have been reading through the book of Luke the last few weeks and I came across this scripture:

"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Exalt–verb (used with object)
1.to raise in rank, honor, power, character, quality, etc.; elevate:

You've heard it said that "pride comes before the fall."

Jesus basically says that the "fall" leads to exaltation. That when we lower ourselves, we will be raised up. I can think of times in my life where I was prideful or arrogant and I can look at time where I show humility.

I can say that I have never seen blessings from the former, but I always see blessing from the latter.

I challenge us to evaluate our lives.

In what ways are we prideful?

Do we need to learn humility?

I pray that humility would be a Godly characteristic that we all possess.

May God bless you in your walk with Him this week,

Dan

Weekly Bible Study

Hey Everyone,

Hopefully you were at church on Sunday and heard the message. I believe that God is calling our church to amazing things. I believe that he wants to do transformational things in our life, our families, and this church. I hope that you and your family will be in prayer over that.

I hope that you have had a great beginning to your week. I am spending my first three days of this week in beautiful Ventura, being blessed through planning and prayer over YouthWAVE, which is one of our week-long events during the summer. Whenever I am a part of planning an event I am reminded of the importance of community in our walk with God. It is through the strength of this community that God can continually work on us and through us.

I pray that this Weekly Bible Study will be a blessing in your life.

Weekly Bible Study
"If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." -Mark 9:35

When you think of leadership, what comes to mind?

Is it someone who is out in front of others?

Someone who is outgoing? Extroverted?

Is it someone who we view as more talented than others? More gifted?
Someone who is in charge? Someone who is older or more wise?

The picture that we get from Jesus is one of servant hood. His example and lead was through service! How contrary to what we sometimes believe!

Here is my challenge to us all. Who can you serve tomorrow?

The next day?

This week?

Maybe you serve your waitress by talking with her about her day and encouraging her. Maybe you serve your boss and tell them that you are thankful for them. Find someone to encourage. Find someone to serve.

I pray that we can lead like Christ.

Through service!

Have a blessed, service-filled week

-Dan

Family Devo and W.B.S. (Weekly Bible Study)

Hey Everyone,
I hope that you all had a great weekend. We had an awesome family devotional on Sunday night with over 30 teens and nearly 10 old folks, I mean adults (I'm included in the latter according to the teens). I hope that you will be a part of one soon. We have a family devo in March and May. Please try to make one of those.

You will be receiving the semi-annual calendar and letter in the mail by weeks end. If you have any questions once you receive them please let me know. We would love for you to be involved in all the wonderful things that we have going on in the ministry.

Weekly Bible Study
"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." -Mark 2:17

In this day and age with shows like The Biggest Loser and Celebrity Fit Club; magazines like Men's Fitness, or Women's Health; culture is pouring on the need to be healthy. There are entire sections in nearly every grocery store that are deemed "The Healthy Foods."

Society tells us that we need to eat this meal, or be a part of that gym, or own that piece of equipment which will let us reach our full exercise potential. Our society is standing on the healthy soapbox.

What if we ran our churches like this? We'd have sermons entitled "The Biggest Loser: Losing Sin in a World that devours it" or "Christian Fit Club: Using Jesus as Your Trainer." Would we have areas of our building that are devoted to becoming healthier followers of Christ?

One thing that Christians can learn from society in this is the passion to become healthy. Every gym that I drive by each day is packed! It doesn't matter when I drive by it.

What if we treated our building the same way every day? As a place to come and get spiritually healthy. A place that was packed every day.

Let us be challenged. How can we use our building to create a culture of spiritual exercise and health and are we doing this? I pray that we are a people who are always looking to get healthier and help others see Christ.

Remember, Jesus came for YOU. He wants to heal you. Let us continually go before God in humility and love.

Have a blessed week,
Dan

Hot off the Press...well, at least warm

I believe 2009 is going to be a great year for this ministry. God blessed us in 2008 in ways that we could never imagine and we are looking towards God and His promises to bless us even more this year.

If you have not immersed yourself into a ministry at church, we would love to have you serve in this ministry. In these formative years, our teens need more and more adults in their life that love God and have a desire to share that love with them. Please consider how you can be involved. We are always in need of people to serve.

On a sad note, we have chosen to postpone our annual ski trip. With consideration to our family and church budgets and with the economy in the shape it is, we believe that this could be a burden for many families. Our vision has always been for every child to attend any event they wish regardless of whether they could afford it or not. Due to where we are financially, we believe it is wise to postpone the trip until 2010. Thank you for your understanding in this. With the cancellation of the ski trip, we will be able to help more families send their child(s) to the other, more costly, trips (i.e. So Cal Retreat, YouthWAVE, Teen Camp).

On a good note, we have plenty of other opportunities to connect with one another this spring. Soon, all families will receive our calendar through the summer. This should help with planning any vacations in which your family may take in the coming months. Hopefully everything we do will be uplifting for your family and your teens.

Finally, below are some of our upcoming events. They will be in more detail when you receive our calendar as well as the letter that will be attached. God bless you and your family.
Dan

Upcoming Events:
February
8 1st Sunday Family Devotional 6-8PM(technically 2nd Sunday)-Lumagui House
8 Elevate 4-6PM-Lumagui House
21-22 Mexico City of Children Trip
22 Elevate

March
1 1st Sunday Family Devotional-House tbd
6-7 So Cal Retreat leaders training
8 Elevate
22 Elevate

April
3-5 So Cal Retreat (high school students)
5 Elevate
18 Waters for Jesus
19 Elevate