Suncreststudentlife’s Weblog

Last night we did something out of the ordinary at re-Mix.  We had a worship service lead by Nathan with Robbie playing electric guitar and Alex on the djembe (it’s like a conga).  Then, I preached a gospel message.  This was the first time in a couple of months I preached what they call in the old days a message that had an alter call.  It felt natural to me, as I had  grown up in a church that had an altar call message pretty much every week.  After the service ended, we divided the students up into their community groups.  This is done to allow students to process what they are thinking.  During that time, a middle school girl named Cassidy made the decision to accept Christ.  Her family is going to come into the office and talk through her decision.   I got to hear part of her story last night.  She started coming to Suncrest back in September with a friend whose family attends Suncrest.  She comes almost every week and she has decided she is ready to take this step.  It was awesome for me to see the youth leader that has been talking with her all school year beaming with joy over this decision.  I went home last night on cloud nine thinking to myself…this is what it is all about! This is why Student Life Ministries exist. This is why I decided to be a youth minister and this is why youth leaders give up their Tuesday night every week.  Can I say it again…this is what it is all about! It was a good night.

On Sunday we announced that we extend the deadline to Tuesday, which is today!  However, the cost goes up to$65.   We would love for you or your student join us on this great trip.

Scholarship offer: the first student to post a comment on this blog will get a sizable scholarship for the winter retreat.

re-Mix: I just talked to Nathan and we keep hearing that the snow is going to stop at any moment.  So, with that news we are pushing ahead with re-Mix as scheduled.

This Sunday is the deadline to sign up for Winter Retreat.  It is going to be a great weekend; you do not want to miss it or let your teen miss it.  The retreat is February 6-8 and only cost $45!

So yesterday I (Nathan) got to be in charge of remix for the second time in my internship. It was a fun time; I think we’re getting into a groove again after our short break around Christmas. The snow is always a joy and it’s amusing when you realize you need to find the walkway before you can shovel it off.

Besides that, things went off without a hitch. We talked with your students just a little bit about the economy and what’s going on right now. I love to hear exactly what your students have heard about current issues such as this and then also love hearing what they have to say about it. When I asked what the high school students had heard about the economy, I got answers such as “it sucks” to “they’re making a big deal about nothing/it’s not as bad nearly as the Great Depression” to “well, I did some calculations…” Ha, I love talkin to students about these kinds of things because they always tend to surprise me. Well, we gave the overview of what has gotten people kind of nervous about the economy and then we went to look at 1 Timothy 6:17, which simply reminds us not to “put our hope in wealth which is so uncertain.”

After that, we went to discuss similar topics and life stuff in our groups and went to play more video games. All in all, a wonderful night spending time and learning a little bit of something together.

-nathan-

student life intern

It has been a good run, however, all things must come to an end.  This idea of social networking really exploded about 4 or 5 years ago and I jumped on board with Myspace. I though it was great, and it was.  However, Facebook came along and it blew Myspace out of the water.  For the last 2 years I have let my Myspace account limp along because I used it to connect with students.  Well, today I took “old Yeller”‘ out and did what had to be done.  It was pretty painless…for me.  Myspace tried to convince me I didn’t want to make this decision but my mind was made up.   So, I just want to formally let everyone know, Mysace is dead to me! See you on Facebook.

In Student Life Worship this morning we took an in depth look at the book of Amos.  It is a book that I honestly knew very little about before this series, and I am fascinated by what God has to say through the Prophets. I thought it would be fun to take a moment and share part of this message with you.  The most poignant passage comes in Amos 5:21-24:

21 “I hate, I despise your religious feasts;
I cannot stand your assemblies.

22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.

23 Away with the noise of your songs!

I will not listen to the music of your harps.

24 But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!

In this passage God became upset with Israel because they had become really good at being religious, but their hearts were far from God, and their actions did not line up with who they said they were. They were good at doing church, and thought that God would bless them as long as they played the “go to Church” game. They had even gone so far as to set up idols to other gods around the altars to God.  They thought it was ok for God to be one of their gods, even thought he had previously made it clear that he was to be their only God.  As a pastor, one of my biggest fears is that I will contribute to this problem of helping people be religious without actually giving their hearts to God.  My prayer is that even as you read this verse you take a moment to take a gut check –  to test yourself to see if faith is who you are or something you just do.

Winter Retreat

Open to middle school and high school students on February 6-8. The cost is only $45 for the entire weekend. If you would like more info, grab a registration pack on the Student Life table outside the auditorium.

Middle School Lock-in

Every year we participate in a middle school lock-in with a number of area churches. This school year we have moved it from October to February 27^th. We don’t have a lot of details at this point, but it is going to be a great time. If you are middle school student, ask your parents to sign you up ASAP or if you know a middle school student, you should encourage them to go.

After a day completely lost to sleep and wandering around aimlessly trying to recover, I think I am close to being back to normal after our New Year’s lock-in. It is almost comical to me how every time I do one of these things my body just seems to hurt more and more. Everyone tells me it is age catching up to me…I guess they are on to something.

I want to take a second and give you a quick recap of the night. We started off the with a comedian, who happens to be a friend of mine from college, named Gunnar. Then we celebrated the new year, and did a short worship set. The rest of the night students were free to hang out do whatever they wanted. The night flew by! I don’t say that often about lock-ins, so I was pleased. The turnout was great! We had close to 30 high school student, and I would say 1/3 of the students are not active in Student Life Ministries. All in all I think I speak for all the adults when I say it was definitely worth the pain.