Tomorrow night will be a little different at DiVe. We're breaking from unChristian and will be discussing what a new mentor program might look like. Come prepared with questions and your ideas about how the program could work to further your faith development in Christ.
I think I might also have you fill out a profile sheet-which I'm sure will be more fun than the survey a few weeks ago.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
How to offer someone a donut
So, what did we learn from Josh's pushy donut ways?
As Christians we have something to offer the world.....in fact, we're told to share our Faith in Christ with the world.....and, most importantly, we're called to love our neighbors. What we know from the book UnChristian is that 3 out of 10 non-Christians believe that we're not genuine in our concern for others.......that our message is only "GET SAVED!"
and many believe we're pushy about it.
So, just like the real-life story of my friend B......who became a good friend of mine, long before he turned his life over to Christ.........we need to love our neighbor, take an interest in them regardless of a decision on their part to follow Christ.
Ultimately they may realize they want that donut that Lizziey offered, because we're genuine in our concern and love for them. Now that's a novel idea, be like Christ, huh.
As Christians we have something to offer the world.....in fact, we're told to share our Faith in Christ with the world.....and, most importantly, we're called to love our neighbors. What we know from the book UnChristian is that 3 out of 10 non-Christians believe that we're not genuine in our concern for others.......that our message is only "GET SAVED!"
and many believe we're pushy about it.
So, just like the real-life story of my friend B......who became a good friend of mine, long before he turned his life over to Christ.........we need to love our neighbor, take an interest in them regardless of a decision on their part to follow Christ.
Ultimately they may realize they want that donut that Lizziey offered, because we're genuine in our concern and love for them. Now that's a novel idea, be like Christ, huh.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
sneak preview.......GET SAVED?!?!?!?
What does that donut have to do with anything? No, we're not having donuts for snacks, I don't think......I'm not sure.Tomorrow night's topic from UnChristian is "Get Saved". Do you believe that as Christians, our only interest in people is that they become Christians? Or, do we actually care about people enough to build a relationship with them.........to SHOW them God's love?
Come and listen to an insanely (shout out to Elder Todd) beautiful true story of one guy's turning his life over to Christ because he "felt the love".
And you will not be a bit disappointed in finding out what's up with the donut.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
hypo-follow-up
Following up on the first of six negative perceptions of the Church, from the book unChristian, that we plan to cover over the next few weeks: Hypocrite.Thanks for being so honest with your thoughts on the topic.....and insight you have from your "outsider" friends. The difficulty is that we're not perfect......only Christ. So, we mess up, just like everyone else who is human, and people view that failure to live up to the standards we preach as hypocrisy.
The Christian life isn't about a heavy set of rules thrown on your shoulders by religious leaders (Matthew 23). It IS about drawing into a relationship with Christ, our Saviour, and our Father, the God of the universe.
We will mess up. It is important that we're "transparent" when we do......that we admit to our friends, "hey, I made a mistake.....it doesn't mean my faith is faulty; I'm just trying to follow my model Christ, as imperfect as I am."
And I think that people can respect that. Then, all of a sudden, it isn't about putting on a false face (2 Face from Batman as Tyler so eloquently put it)......but it's about being honest, which is the direct opposite of hypocrisy. And that's closer to the model of Christ.
Next week: GET SAVED!........."is that all Christians care about, or do they care about me, as a person?" We shall see.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
hip' o-krit
n. one who practices hypocrisy....pretending to be what one is not; false profession.
The next lesson, for September 17, in unChristian is the perception that the church/Christians are hypocrites. 67% of you said you AGREED! wow. That's even higher than the national average among Christian youth.
Tomorrow night you get the chance to explain your thoughts....and I'm looking forward to it.
And it's Tyler's birthday......he's bringing cake.
The next lesson, for September 17, in unChristian is the perception that the church/Christians are hypocrites. 67% of you said you AGREED! wow. That's even higher than the national average among Christian youth.
Tomorrow night you get the chance to explain your thoughts....and I'm looking forward to it.
And it's Tyler's birthday......he's bringing cake.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
NOTICE: upcoming dates!
A couple of upcoming events important to note:
Senior High Movie Night @ Stillsons - September 20
Meet Me at the Pole - September 24
Senior High Guys CampOut - September 26-27
Thursday, September 11, 2008
the results are in!
Oh, we soooo appreciate Scott's singing last night. I think we'll have to have him lead worship. OK gang, here are the pared down, comparative results from the senior high survey last night....from the intro to UnChristian:
Percent saying they agree/strongly agree or somewhat agree that Christians are:
ANTI-HOMOSEXUAL outsiders 91% our youth 83% young Christians 80%
JUDGEMENTAL outsiders 87% our youth 66% young Christians 52%
HYPOCRITICAL outsiders 85% our youth 67% young Christians 47%
OLD-FASHIONED outsiders 78% our youth 33% young Christians 36%
TOO POLITICAL outsiders 45% our youth 41% young Christians 50%
OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY outsiders 42% our youth 25% young Christians 32%
INSENSITIVE outsiders 70% our youth 17% young Christians 29%
BORING outsiders 68% our youth 42% young Christians 27%
CONFUSING outsiders 61% our youth 16% young Christians 44%
OFFER HOPE outsiders 73% our youth 100%
OFFER RELEVANT outsiders 40% our youth 75%
THOUGHT
Important to note that from the book UnChristian “outsiders” are those not in the church, “young Christians” are those in the church across America and the survey was done for young adults ages 16-29. The discussion was interesting....one of the discussion questions was "what is your church/Crossroads known for in the community? Two responses, Bible teaching......and comfy chairs. And I'm glad for both!
Next week: Are Christians hypocritical? More than half of you said, yes.
And it's Tyler's birthday next week too.........
Bears or Colts? Bird on a perch, fish outa water, cavalier, cavalier, cavalier.
Percent saying they agree/strongly agree or somewhat agree that Christians are:
ANTI-HOMOSEXUAL outsiders 91% our youth 83% young Christians 80%
JUDGEMENTAL outsiders 87% our youth 66% young Christians 52%
HYPOCRITICAL outsiders 85% our youth 67% young Christians 47%
OLD-FASHIONED outsiders 78% our youth 33% young Christians 36%
TOO POLITICAL outsiders 45% our youth 41% young Christians 50%
OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY outsiders 42% our youth 25% young Christians 32%
INSENSITIVE outsiders 70% our youth 17% young Christians 29%
BORING outsiders 68% our youth 42% young Christians 27%
CONFUSING outsiders 61% our youth 16% young Christians 44%
OFFER HOPE outsiders 73% our youth 100%
OFFER RELEVANT outsiders 40% our youth 75%
THOUGHT
Important to note that from the book UnChristian “outsiders” are those not in the church, “young Christians” are those in the church across America and the survey was done for young adults ages 16-29. The discussion was interesting....one of the discussion questions was "what is your church/Crossroads known for in the community? Two responses, Bible teaching......and comfy chairs. And I'm glad for both!
Next week: Are Christians hypocritical? More than half of you said, yes.
And it's Tyler's birthday next week too.........
Bears or Colts? Bird on a perch, fish outa water, cavalier, cavalier, cavalier.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
DiVe Schedule - 2008
Solid—Wednesday nights
Italics—Sunday mornings
August 20 Informal discussion, , ice breakers, pizza
Keep the group together; discuss transition for stability/security
August 27 testimonies: understand we all have a story
August 31 Godview series—exploring our views of God and how that affects our
actions/lives
September 3 Service night; meet at Neighborhood Center/Sharon Carnes
Announce Sunday before, post on doors that evening
September 7 Godview series
September 10 Introduction to first series UnChristian
September 14 Congregational meeting
September 17 Series Topic 1, Hyprocritical
September 20 Senior High Movie Night @ Stillsons
September 21 Godview series
September 24 Series Topic 2, Get Saved
September 26-27 Senior High Guys Camping
September 27 Junior High Movie Night @ Stillsons
September 28 Reflections series: examining who we see in the mirror and what we
want to see changed
October 1 Intro to mentor program to Youth Group, everyone together
October 5 Reflections series
October 8 Series Topic 3, Anti-Homosexual
October 12 “We” Series: exploring why we need Christian community and we do it
October 15 Series Topic 4, Sheltered
October 19 “We” series
October 22 Open night….just fun & games, movie and hanging out
October 25 Fall Party: Corn-maze, bonfire, hayride
October 26 “We” series
October 29 Series Topic 5, Too Political
November 2 “If only” series: dealing with the regrets we have in life and examining how we can do things differently
November 5 Mentor night
November 9 “If Only” series
November 12 Series Topic 6, Judgmental, series wrap-up
November 16 “If Only” series
November 19 Catacombs
November 23 Stormwatch series: Dealing with the storms of life and their aftermath
November 26 Thanksgiving break, off
November 30 Stormwatch series
December 3 Mentor night
December 7 Stormwatch series
December 10 Service project, to be determined
December 14 A Christmas story series: The Christmas story through the eyes of
Herod, Simeon, and Mary
December 17 Christmas party & Movie Night
December 21 A Christmas story
December 24 Christmas Eve, off
December 28 A Christmas story
December 31 New Years Eve Party
January 4 The Thin Green Line Series: Talking about how we give, spend, and
Save money
January 7 Mentor night
January 11 The Thin Green Line
January 9-11 Sr. High Winter Retreat at Spring Hill
January 14 new series begins, yet to be determined
January 18 The Thin Green Line
February 20-22 Jr. High Winter Retreat at Spring Hill
Italics—Sunday mornings
August 20 Informal discussion, , ice breakers, pizza
Keep the group together; discuss transition for stability/security
August 27 testimonies: understand we all have a story
August 31 Godview series—exploring our views of God and how that affects our
actions/lives
September 3 Service night; meet at Neighborhood Center/Sharon Carnes
Announce Sunday before, post on doors that evening
September 7 Godview series
September 10 Introduction to first series UnChristian
September 14 Congregational meeting
September 17 Series Topic 1, Hyprocritical
September 20 Senior High Movie Night @ Stillsons
September 21 Godview series
September 24 Series Topic 2, Get Saved
September 26-27 Senior High Guys Camping
September 27 Junior High Movie Night @ Stillsons
September 28 Reflections series: examining who we see in the mirror and what we
want to see changed
October 1 Intro to mentor program to Youth Group, everyone together
October 5 Reflections series
October 8 Series Topic 3, Anti-Homosexual
October 12 “We” Series: exploring why we need Christian community and we do it
October 15 Series Topic 4, Sheltered
October 19 “We” series
October 22 Open night….just fun & games, movie and hanging out
October 25 Fall Party: Corn-maze, bonfire, hayride
October 26 “We” series
October 29 Series Topic 5, Too Political
November 2 “If only” series: dealing with the regrets we have in life and examining how we can do things differently
November 5 Mentor night
November 9 “If Only” series
November 12 Series Topic 6, Judgmental, series wrap-up
November 16 “If Only” series
November 19 Catacombs
November 23 Stormwatch series: Dealing with the storms of life and their aftermath
November 26 Thanksgiving break, off
November 30 Stormwatch series
December 3 Mentor night
December 7 Stormwatch series
December 10 Service project, to be determined
December 14 A Christmas story series: The Christmas story through the eyes of
Herod, Simeon, and Mary
December 17 Christmas party & Movie Night
December 21 A Christmas story
December 24 Christmas Eve, off
December 28 A Christmas story
December 31 New Years Eve Party
January 4 The Thin Green Line Series: Talking about how we give, spend, and
Save money
January 7 Mentor night
January 11 The Thin Green Line
January 9-11 Sr. High Winter Retreat at Spring Hill
January 14 new series begins, yet to be determined
January 18 The Thin Green Line
February 20-22 Jr. High Winter Retreat at Spring Hill
Monday, September 8, 2008
UnChristian begins
Wednesday we'll begin our Fall series from the book UnChristian. The book's author is with the research group, Barna Group, specializing in collecting data by interviews and other means for churches and other religious organizations.The book came about because of an alarming trend of perceptions of the church by the younger generations.......post-boomers. That is the "Mosaic" and "Buster" generations, but the research focuses on the age bracket from teenage thru 29 year olds.
The findings from that age bracket, both of those inside and outside the church, were astonishing. Six main perceptions seemed to keep showing up:
Christians are:
Judgemental
Hypocritical
Anti homosexual
Too political
Sheltered
Only concerned about getting people saved.
Whether or not YOU believe this about Christians/the Church, the fact of the matter is that these are widely held beliefs of people under 30, whether Christian or not. The question is...what do we do about it?
Wednesday we'll introduce the series, talk a little about your thoughts on this and take a survey to see how your thoughts align with these. Then we'll knock each one of these perceptions off over the course of the Fall.
Looking forward to seeing you Wednesday.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
a clean sweep
thanks a ton!!! for showing up last night to give a helping hand to the Neighborhood Center. There was sweeping, mopping, weeding when you could find flowers to weed, mowing-thanks Caleb, taking stuff outa the storage shed and shoving it back in.....Abby enjoyed scrubbing toilets with her bare hands and Shelby found just the right shirt for me to wear on Sunday.......and I WILL!
Honestly, the place had a remarkable transformation. See you guys on Sunday.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
REMINDER - NC NIGHT
Just wanted to remind everyone that we will be meeting at the Neighborhood Center this coming Wednesday night at 6:30. It is at 301 North Plum Street, or two blocks west from the library's south entrance.Hope that you're not too Blueberried out.......and to see you there for a great opportunity to serve.
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