Tuesday, November 29, 2011

YF Guys / Girls Night this Friday (2nd)

Had a great time at gym night, I know many of you are busy during this season at school but hopefully it gave you a chance to burn some of that anxiety! :) Thanks for the participation at our Wisdom series in Sunday school which we got to have with Pure Energy. We shared from Proverbs 10 and focused on honoring parents, diligent work, accepting correction and heeding discipline as godly attributes. I hear that some of you are still doing great in your discipline of reading and prayer each day, please continue encouraging each other as we are all in this together. An attitude of prayer for my whole week and yours: "Your prayers should be to recognize the reality and depth of your inner being and to ask God to meet you there. For Him to come and abide in this realm of your hopes, values, joys, hurts and loneliness." A verse from the passage I read yesterday resonated to my innermost being: "why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." Isa 55:2

This Friday (Dec 2nd) is the long awaited guys/girls night. The girls will be meeting at Shelly's and the guys will be meeting at the Ling's place (addresses are in the waiver form).
FOR THE GUYS: Meet at the Ling's place between 5:30pm-6:00pm and bring $8 to help offset Hot Pot costs. Also please bring sauces (soy, sesame oil, chili) and gas stoves and gas. We'll also have some hilarious games and challenges :) Pick up time is 9:30-10pm


FOR THE GIRLS: Meet at Shelly's between 7:00pm-7:30pm. Please bring fruit for the fondue (ie. some apples, oranges/clementines, a pineapple, some kiwi, strawberries, bananas, grapes, etc) snacks, drinks, games, sleeping bags and pillows (if you are staying) and hygiene stuff for the morning. Pick up is 10am on Saturday or before 11pm on Friday.

This Sunday (Dec 4), we will continue our Wisdom series in the book of Proverbs. The quote I shared last week from Lecrae really illustrates how our search for wisdom should look like "Seek wisdom as desperately as you would seek your lost car keys while you are late for work." How desperately do we thirst for God or long for heavenly wisdom? Let's keep it up!

A good number of you are planning for baptism this Christmas so please pray for them as they go through baptism classes in the coming weeks.

Keep gearing up for our Christmas giving initiative. We have lists set up in the youth room and the downstairs hallway of what is needed. Please contribute as much as you would like :) No such thing as too much of course. We'll be putting those together on Friday the 23rd.

Let us know how we can be praying for you or if you would like to have tea/coffee/catch up soon!
See you all on Friday!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

YF Gym Night this Friday (25th) with PE, H2O

Honestly, I was really encouraged this weekend! I pray that the Spirit was speaking to you throughout the 'Teaching' Bible study and discussion on Friday and that you would take seriously your role in being a student and teacher of His Word. May we learn to crave it as newborn babies crave milk. Pray for God to bear fruit through the student ministry focus and message on Sunday and that more friendships would develop. I read a quote yesterday from Lecrae "Seek wisdom as desperately as you would seek your lost car keys while you are late for work" haha hopefully that's our attitude in our journey in Proverbs. "Let your praying this week be for a true sense of being heard. Do not particularly pray for feeling or specific answers. Rather pray for the quiet confidence that you are in conversation with your Heavenly Father." Pray for a clearer vision of God's truth, a greater faith in His power and a more confident assurance of His love. Ps 46; 2 Cor 12:7-10; Gen 32:22-31; Phil 3:7-12; John 4:1-26; 1 Cor 2:6-16; Jer 17:5-10; Job 42:1-6

This Friday (25th), is Family Gym Night so we will MEET at St. Patrick's High School Gym 2525 Altavista Dr (directions) from 7pm - 10pm (form in your e-mail). We have access to one gym from 7pm until 8pm and access to all three gyms from 8pm to 10pm. Please feel free to come as early as 7 to just chat/catch up with one another or use the first gym. We will be joined by Pure Energy, h2o and CCCO as well! Please go directly to St. Pat's High school. This is free access so feel free to invite any friends that would love to get an evening workout and meet new friends. Bring your running shoes and sports clothes. Just in case, they do not open the supply room, please bring any basketballs, badminton, sports equipment you may have.

This Sunday (27th), we will continue our series in the book of Proverbs. Please also keep in your prayers our church AGM meeting which will take place on Sunday and we will be electing Elders and Deacons to join our church leadership. This is a serious matter so please pray that we would be seeking the Spirit.

Baptism opportunity this Christmas, I'm having a class this Friday before YF so please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to be baptized this Christmas. Baptism is an act of obedience which symbolizes being baptized into His death and buried in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3-5).

As I mentioned on Sunday, I met with Maxine from Saint Luke's and they are absolutely pleased to partner with us in our Christmas initiative. Please begin assembling your items and putting aside any boxes/gift bags we can use. We will be putting them together with AWANA, PE and YF on Dec 23rd.

The next week (Dec 2) will be the long anticipated guys/girls night, so keep the ball rolling on that end.

Let us know how we can be praying for you!
See you all on Friday!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

YF Basic: Teaching this Friday (18th) and Sermon/Sunday School

It was an encouraging to hear of the Lord's work in Wardrer's life and to have Marcus and Aaron teach from Philippians 2. It's great to see that this generation cannot be sold short, you have the gifts and abilities to equip, strengthen and encourage each other in the faith - not only your peers but us as adults. Continue; as Paul told Timothy, to set an example for believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. The Lord was also doing something special in our hearts on Sunday as we witnessed that God is doing something tremendous as Asia is the catalyst in bringing the gospel to the whole world. Many h2o and youth were in tears as God was doing these amazing things, please continue to pray for how we can all get behind missions. Gratitude is our focus this week, it is not something that is attained by default but must be cultivated in our lives. "Rise, O Lord, into Your proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, my health and even my life itself. Let me decrease that You may increase..." - Tozer in the Pursuit of God

This Friday (18th) we will be continuing with the fifth installment 'Teaching' in the Basic series we started almost a year ago. Every word in Scripture is God-breathed with the purpose of teaching, rebuking, correcting and training us to do good works. If these words are meant to inspire and give life to us then why do many feel like reading it is an additional chore to do each day. That it is more of a duty than a privilege? Maybe if we begin to see the Bible for what it is, a holy book that contains vast riches and the keys to understanding how Jesus lived and how He wants us to live, we will begin to crave God's Word as a newborn baby craves milk. Please bring your Bibles and a willingness to have our minds renewed.

This Sunday (20th) I will be preaching the English sermon from Luke 9 and will have a special focus on next generation ministry, please remember this in your prayers and ask that the Spirit would continue to change the culture in our church and cause us to grow. After the service, Sunday school will be continuing our journey through the wisdom in Proverbs.

Baptism opportunity this Christmas, I'll already be doing baptism class with a candidate this week so please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to be baptized this Christmas. Baptism is an act of obedience which symbolizes being baptized into His death and buried in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3-5).

For Christmas, I had the chance to meet with Maxine from St. Luke's this morning and we will have the privilege of doing something special for the Christmas season with them. More details on Friday and Sunday.

A quote from 'Thoughts in Solitude' by Thomas Merton that impacted me: "There is no neutrality between gratitude and ingratitude. Those who are not grateful soon begin to complain of everything. Those who do not love, hate. In the spiritual life there is no such thing as an indifference to love or hate. That is why tepidity (which seems to be indifferent) is so detestable. It is hate disguised as love."

Let us know how we can be praying for you or if you'd like to set up a time to catch up.

See you all on Friday!

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

YF Testimony and Bible Study this Friday (11th)

Last Friday was a blast! Having both groups together for those games was awesome, special thanks to Rae-Anne and Brad for brainstorming some creative games! It was really awesome to see our whole English congregation interacting inter-generationally and praying together on Sunday, I pray its the start of something special with deeper relationships as a body of Christ. This has been in the idea factory for awhile and its cool to see it starting up, lets keep an open and willing spirit to pray together. I'm in the 51st week of this devotional and it focuses on celebration. Prayer this week should focus on the joy of the present, too much time is spent in anticipation of vacations, weekends etc. We should start seeing the joy in breath, water, food and people now! "Father it is so easy for me to live automatically, so that nothing touches me or moves me. Give me the fullness of living in the now. In the name of your Son, who loved children and flowers and people, I pray. Amen." Ps 66; 2 Chron 20:20-30; Gen 12:1-9; Mt 21:1-11; 1 Chron 16:1-36; Ps 98; Gen 35:1-15; Rev 22:1-17.

This Friday (11th), we have the special opportunity to hear our brother Wardrer's testimony of the Lord's work in his life as well as looking into Philippians 2:1-11 facilitated by Marcus and Aaron. May the Lord continue to increase our faith as we witness what He is doing in the lives of our peers and teaches us through them. Each of you has a story to tell, please consider sharing your testimony or how God has worked in your life at an upcoming fellowship. Please bring your Bibles and a desire to participate and be changed. Next week will be our guys/girls night so lets plan ahead!

This Sunday (13th) we will be continuing our journey through the wisdom in Proverbs. We'll be looking through chapters 8 and 9 to actively seek God's wisdom.

Baptisms! There is an opportunity for baptism coming up this Christmas. Baptism is an act of obedience which symbolizes being baptized into His death and buried in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3-5).

Cook off this Saturday, I know a couple of you have confirmed your interest in the cook-off this Saturday, please reply today if you are interested because there were some details that I missed on the morning that I was speaking at OCAC. We need to have a set team, cooking supplies and a presentation.

Let us know how we can be praying for you or if you'd like to meet up!

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

YF + PE Group Games this Friday (4th) in Room 202

Thanks for participating in the Next Gen Family Feud event last Friday! A lot of you guys were getting perfect scores in the gameshow which illustrates that many of the ideals are extremely hard to practice consistently in the family dynamic. May God give strength, wisdom and patience to parents and strength, wisdom and patience to youth as well we continue to strive to be healthy God-loving families. It was a serious, yet sometimes funny (with honest input) study of Proverbs 7 on Sunday, some grave warnings, but godly wisdom to be mindful of at all times. Identify some of these vulnerable areas of temptation and address them in practical ways, guarding both heart and mind. My devotion focuses on Awareness this week. The Bible is full of God's mighty outpouring of love and miracles. We become conditioned to look for God in the phenomenal events in life. We need to pray and become more aware of God in the ordinary and common things of life. May the Spirit persuade us to look for him in all things and at all times. Ps 63, Jn 4:4-42; Mt 13:1-23; Mk 8:27-30; Jn 9:1-41; 2 Cor 4:7-18; Rom 8:18-27; Dan 2:20-23.

This Friday (4th), we will have an evening full of fun, games and food in Room 202 with Pure Energy! Brad and Rae-Anne have been planning a fun night of group games which will be sure to be a blast... as Brad said on Sunday, it won't have balloons (Popaballoonapalooza) or lots of relays so stayed tuned! Feel free to bring extra drinks/snacks and your friends along, 7:30pm this Friday in the Next Gen room!

Next Friday (11th) will also be amazingly awesome as Aaron and Marcus will be working together and teaching us from Philippians 2:1-11 (with some background help as well :) and our brother Wardrer will also be sharing his testimony to YF on that night. Jesus worked with and through His disciples all the time and I pray that the Lord would continue to increase your faith as you see Him work through each other and yourselves as you continue to serve Him in this fellowship! Then as you mature, continue to disciple those younger than you! Each of you has an amazing story to tell and every pair of youth that will lead Bible studies will have the help that is necessary to work through these experiences :) This will be awesome! Our guys/girls night will be on the following Friday (18th).

This Sunday (6th), we will be committing our time to prayer along with the brothers and sisters in the English congregation. As we focus on praying and becoming a house of prayer, this is an opportunity that we discussed as Pastoral staff for the church to pray with and for each other in an inter-generational environment. We want to create a more natural culture in which brothers and sisters of all ages can get to know one another and pray as a family of Christ.

Patrick (from Jericho Road) has a brother who is organizing an evening of praise, worship and presentation. We are invited to play a couple of songs. It's on Saturday November 12th, 2011 at 6:30PM at 1401 Blair Place (Wells Salvation church), if you are able to play a song or two, make a team and all funds raised will support an orphanage, Feeding program, education sponsorship program, and a training center for widows in Kampala-Uganda

Never too early to start thinking of Getaway 2012 and our meeting in Dec where we will discuss theme and student leadership teams.

Let us know how we can be praying for you and if you'd like to catch up!
See you all on Friday!