Sunday Stuff for 1-7-07

So I am going to try and do a Sunday report of what happens each week in youth group!

So this Sunday was what I am going to call “The Gambler” Sunday, because sometimes you have to know when to hold them and know when to fold them. What I mean by that is that in the life of a youth ministry, you have to know when to push a little bit and when let it ride. I felt like this Sunday was a Sunday to push a little bit. At the start of a new year, there is a natural opportunity to ask students to evaluate. So for my push, I decided to try and shake up their idea of who Jesus is.

In the current context where I do ministry, the students seem to have a “Jesus and...” worldview. What I mean by that is that we like Jesus and if Jesus wants to come alongside of us and be a part of our lives, that is great. But a Jesus who moves and changes us is a little scary and not quite the Jesus that we like.

So for this week’s lesson, we focused on the story of Zaccheaus from Luke 19. I talked about how Jesus surprised the “churchy” people that were around him and doing what God called him to do. Then, I read a short piece from C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe where the children are trying to figure out who Aslan is before they meet him. The long and the short of it is He isn’t safe but He is good! And then I read a piece from Shane Claiborne’s The Irresistible Revolution where he talks about making the decision to follow Jesus wrecked his life, meaning he suddenly was challenged to live life in a powerfully different way.

All in all, message wise, I thought it was good, solid through and through and had their attention.

Other elements:
We started playing a game in the gym. It was pretty cool and I probably let it go on a bit too long. I am working on my game list for the next 10 weeks or so and then buying the stuff I need. Been winging in a bit too much lately.

After the talk, I also budgeted 15 minutes to have them share ideas for this year. I want to move us from a place of this being a youth group that they attend to being "their" youth group. They need a little more sense of ownership than they have had. Somewhat fruitful...

No music. I have to figure out a way to effectively bring in worship to what we are doing. The lack of technology (we can’t even find a bulb for our overhead projector) is probably something that I am letting be more of a daunting task that should. (Plus today, Woot.com had a projector that looks like it could have worked for us and with a price point I could buy out of my pocket but I didn’t find it in time! Dang!) I miss worship with students…something I am working on.

What’s next: Lots of basketball games to attend this week, which I am looking forward to. They have been great networking opportunities with some parents who don’t have church families. Plus the kids have really noticed my presence at them. This week I have to sort out confirmation stuff and get it out to parents once it has been run through the clergy. Next Sunday we start a series called “God Who?” that looks at the Trinity, a concept some of the students here seem to be a bit fuzzy on. Working hard to find video clips to help with those lessons, so if you have any ideas, send them my way!