Suncreststudentlife’s Weblog

This Sunday is the earlybird deadline for ICTC and Believe!The cost of these trips goes up after this Sunday, so don’t wait!

For a long time I have held the opinion that parents are the primary spiritual influence on their students lives. I have told parents that and I have told students that. However, I have done very little to help equip parents to take the lead in shaping their students faith. Part of this comes out of a conversation I had recently and part of it comes out of questions about how I am going to help Gibson grow into the Godly man that I want him to be. To be honest, part of the reason I have shied away from this conversation in the past is because I am not and have never been the parent of a teenager. I know that when Gibson becomes a teenager I will have a larger perspective and a greater understanding of what teenagers are like. However, I do know a few things, and I think some parents are interested in me sharing these thoughts.

First, I know that every child is different and things that work with other kids might not work with your child. There is no one formula for making good kids. Second, I spend a lot of time with teenagers and most of them assume that you as parents cannot handle them telling you the truth about what they are really struggling with. As a pastor I have found that people’s lives are messy…your life is messy. Why do so many parents expect their child’s life to be perfect? If you find your child is not telling you about their lives, one of the biggest reasons is because they think you will freak out or cry or respond poorly. I hear that sooo much from students. If you find your student isn’t opening up to you about the problems they are facing take a moment and think back to the last couple of instances when you found out things about their lives and how you did respond to that news. Third, I know many parents want to help their child grow in their faith but they simply don’t know how. I am far from an expert on parenting, but I do spend a lot of time thinking and planning how to help students grow in their faith. Below are some ways to help your students grow in their faith. Some of the ideas are simple and will require very little work. Others are going to take huge commitments but have the potential to pay huge dividends.

1. Talk with them about church; Student Life Worship and Suncrest Adult worship teach on the same topic about 80% of the time. Ironically the next 4 weeks are weeks that we are doing different topics. But typically on Sunday when you are driving home from church together, ask them about the service and have a good idea what the sermon was about.

2. Read A parent’s guide for raising spiritually mature teenagers by Greg Grimwood. Here is a link to the author’s website which has a link to Amazon in case you want to purchase the book. I am talking with our bookstore people about getting the book in our bookstore. However until then follow this link www.spirituallymatureteenagers.com/products.html. I am reading this book right now and loving it.

3. Spend time daily praying for your child.

4. Spend time weekly praying for your child out loud with your spouse.

5. Spend time praying with your child about their life and faith. (Caution if you have never done this before it might freak them out the first time you try it.)

6. Do a 4 or 5 week study with your teen about who they are in Christ. I have verses for you on that topic if you decide to do this. However, it will require you doing some study ahead of time on these verses.

I am motivated to come along side of you as parents and help. I am looking into the idea of a providing parenting conference this winter, and providing other resources such as this book. I believe that Student Life Ministries provides great programming to act as a catalyst for their faith, and now I am aiming to be a greater resource to you as parents.

I would love for veteran parents to leave tips for younger or struggling parents in the comment section below.

Tuesday August 26th re-Mix starts back up!

Student Life Ministriesʼ Tuesday nights are making some changes. Now re-Mix is the name for both High school and Middle school programming, but each separated into re-Mix HS and re-Mix MS respectively. Both will meet at 6:00 in the Annex and will have specialized devotional time and community groups for each age group. Same Student Life Ministry, same goal of transforming studentsʼ lives, new re-Mix [HS MS]. For more information check it out on the church website www.suncrest.org.

Come join us!

Earlier in the summer Amy and I decided to take a little vacation at the end of the summer to allow us to unwind after a crazy summer of travel and trips with students. The cabin we rented is amazing. It is less than a year old and everything is new. I love hardwood floors and it has beautiful hardwood floors everywhere! So, I’m sitting on the wrap-around porch of the cabin looking at the beautiful Smoky Mountains. As I am sitting here, my mind begins to wander. It is really nice to travel without 20 middle school or high school students. I have been reflecting on some of the major differences. First, when you make a pit stop on the road it takes 5 minutes instead of the typical 15-20 minute stop with students, and I don’t have to walk through the gas station saying, “Suncrest, if you are not going to buy anything head out to the van now. If you want to buy something you need to be in line by now. If you do not get in line soon you will not be allowed to make a purchase.” I don’t know how many times I have got the privilege of saying that this summer. Second, my vehicle smells much, much better, and that is with Gibson in the car! Third, the vehicle is much quieter. It is remarkable! I don’t even think I need to explain that one. Fourth, I never heard this statement on the way “Are we there yet?” Oh that is worth its weight in gold! That is just the travel! That doesn’t begin to deal what it takes to lead students once I get them to our destination.

In all honesty, I am enjoying joking about the differences and how terrible driving students around can be, but to see students lives transform it is totally worth it. I look back at the summer and think about all the decisions that were made for Christ and I am blown away. I am really excited about what God is doing in Student Life Ministries.

I get back on Tuesday and I am confident that this trip will help me be refreshed and ready to go because fall programming starts up again really soon.

August 26th re-Mix returns.

I got an email today confirming that Flyleaf and Family Force 5 will be playing at ICTC this year! I had mentioned that this was a possibility to some students and they seemed to be pretty excited about it, so now that I have it confirmed I thought I would let everyone know. I am on the planning committee of ICTC and there was a chance that Emery would join Flyleaf, but it turns out Family Force 5 will be on the ticket instead.

Some of you might not know what ICTC is. It is an abbreviation for Illinois Christian Teen Convention. It is a 2 day convention for High School students and this yearʼs dates are November 7^th & 8^th. The convention is held in Springfield, IL at the Prairie Capitol Convention Center. I remember attending the conference when I was in high school and having a blast. I love that I get to be a part of the team that plans the convention.

If you are high school student I strongly recommend you pick up a registration packet and figure out how you can join us. We have done everything we can to keep that cost down to $50. If you are a parent of a high school student, grab a registration packet for you student. It is well worth the investment for you student to attend!

I am sitting in the back of the class today while Doug is teaching on Baptism. These 2 days have been great for our students, they have learned some great spiritual truths as well as some great life skills. I am excited about the impact this class will have on these students lives and look forward to offering this again for additional students in the future.

Middle School Students

This weekend we have a special swim party edition of Sunday Stew! Bring your swim suits and towel to church and we will go over to the Robert’s house and swim and eat. It is going to be a great afternoon. Parents you will need to pickup your student at the Robert’s house at 2:30 PM. Directions will be available on Sunday morning.

High School Students

This Sunday we have registrations for ICTC available. We are taking some extreme messures to keep the cost down this year and it is only going to cost $50 to attend. Grab a registration packet at the Student Life Table this Sunday.

Just got back from a great day at Great America. Our day was a little hampered by the rain, however for the most part it was a normal day at Six Flags. In case you were curious and I realize many of you could care less, I rode superman twice, American eagle twice and ragging bull three times. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, but the lines were pretty long today. Also, if you read my last blog you might notice an absence of the water park. Which I had every intention of doing this morning when I got up and packed a swimsuit and towel into a bag for the day . However, once again I was seduced by the speed and thrills of the large roller coasters. In the end, I am o.k. with not making it to the water park once again, because I really enjoyed connecting with students and leaders while we waited in line all day. We took 36 students and 8 adults and had a great time dodging rain drops and building community.

Now my mind is already shifting to what will happen later this week at Student Life University and all the things that still needs to be done before Thursday at 9:00 AM when students arrive. I am really excited about this new tool that will be used to help students grow and learn. If your student didn’t get enrolled this year we will be offering it again next summer and we are talking about the possibility of offering it over Christmas break. Keep an eye out as we approach future breaks in school for a chance to get your student enrolled.

Its been a long day and some really cool connections were made, but my body is glad it is almost over and that I am heading for bed.

After months of not blogging I am making an attempt to get back into blogging. I look out my window and cannot believe that it already August. I have spent 4 weeks away from home this summer; mission trip, middle school camp at camp LRCA, CIY, and I got the chance to be a guest speaker for a week of middle school camp at Little Galilee. I have a few thoughts as I look back at the summer that has passed. First it is a miracle that I still have grass, I have completely neglected my yard. Second, I am really grateful to have Jason Davison on our team. He has been the glue that has held Student Life Worship together this summer. Thanks for the hard work!

I still have some exciting things on the horizon. We have a trip to Great America on Monday. I am 27 years old and I know the purpose of the trip is ministry. However, I still get excited about going to the park and riding all the cool rides. This will be the 4th time I have take students to Great America at Suncrest and I am vowing that this year I will actually check out the water park portion of the park. Then on Thursday and Friday of next week we have Student Life University. It is a 2 day class to teach students on a variety of topics; from worship and baptism to budgets and retirement planning. I am amazing at how many students have no idea how to balance a check book. It should be a good experience for all the students that have registered for SLU.

I am also getting excited about the return of re-Mix August 26th. We will advertise that as the date approaches. However, I am in the planning stages and brainstorming for the fall. I think we are going to make some small changes this year that will radically improve the experience. I will talk about that more in the future.