The Brand New

Hey there everyone, I hope you are all having a great day today. I know my day is shaping up to be a pretty busy but good one. A couple things I want to type as we get ready to end 2010 and head into 2011.

1. God has a plan for you this year! Maybe this past year wasn't the best year for you with Jesus, but that can all turn around this year.
2. Maybe in 2010 you felt that you were really far away from Christ, and that your prayers might have been hitting the ceiling rather then ending up in the throne room of God. 2011 can be a turn around story for you and your relationship.
3. 2010 you might have been really passive in inviting people to join you in this journey with Christ. 2011 can be totally different with you stepping up and inviting people to join you in learning about Christ and love Christ more and more every single day.
4. Maybe 2010 was a year were you experienced loss, and it left you stumbling around in search for meaning and healing. In 2011 I can promise that if you take steps towards Christ He will take steps toward you. Now that doesn't mean everything is going to get better, but I promise in the long run and when you look back at your story with Christ you will finally understand what He was trying to do in you during these hard times.
5. Maybe in 2010 you were very Self focused, in 2011 we need to be selfless focused. When we look back at this 2011 year I hope we can say we did more things for others then we did for ourselves.

I hope as you we celebrate this new year you can take some time and reflect on what God has done and is going to do in this next year.

I will be out of the blogging sphere for a couple days, so I will be back on Monday as we getting ready for our state of the youth group address on Jan 5th. That night we will be going over the spring Semester and take a look in to the summer as well on things that are coming up!

Get excited for 2011~!

P.A.

Destination unknown: Lunch Edition FINALE

Hey there everyone, so there are 3 clues out already and for most people they have got where we are going so here is the finale details you will need to know.

1. We are going to CICI's PIZZA!
2. Meet at CICI's with your own money.
3. We will be there from NOON - 1pm so come by anytime you want to. You can also leave anytime you want too.
4. This is just a hang out time, so if you want to bring a friend do it! We are just eating pizza and hanging out as a youth group.
5. If you get there a little bit earlier then noon, its ok just pay, and start eating we will be there right around noon!

Hope to see you all there!

P.A.

Destination unknown: Lunch Edition

Hey there everyone tomorrow at NOON! We are doing an all youth group Destination unknown lunch edition. The first clue is out there and so far no one has guessed where we are going which is pretty cool. Since I just got a new phone I will try my best to make sure I can text everyone but my groups got all erased so I will try my best to text everyone!

But the first clue was,

"The place has tables, chairs and really fun staff!"

If you think you might know where it is text me and see if you know where we might be going.

Another clue will be coming tonight!

Hope to see you there tomorrow!

P.A.

New years eve Party

Hey there everyone body some of the students in the youth group and throwing a New years eve Party so here is the skinny on what is going down.

Meeting at the church at Noon on the 31st.

They are heading to Echo Valley in Kalamazoo, MI

All Day tobogganing and Tubing is $18, and skating is $5

They have a snack shack there so bring some extra money for snacks and things.

Leaving around 7:30pm, and arriving at the Herbsters around 8:30pm.

They will have food, and fun until the clock strikes Midnight!

This event is for High school students only. Sorry Junior High!

If you have any questions contact Jerica Hofsommer at 574-849-1793. She is the one putting this shin dig on!

I hope you guys have a great time!

P.A.

Wow, a long blogging break

Hey there everyone, I am back and blogging again for our youth ministry. I hope you guys had a good Christmas and the first week of break is done, can you believe in 7 days you will be back in school? Crazy huh? Well this week we aren't having youth group again because many people are traveling or having family time, but we are doing something this Wednesday at lunch time!

DESTINATION UNKNOWN LUNCH EDITION

So through out these next few days I will be giving clues on where we are going, and what to bring to this Lunch. It's going to be pretty sweet my friends! So be looking on facebook, twitter, and the blogspot for clues and information I will only be texting the last clue which will be very obvious in where we are going. I will tell you right now it will be at NOON on WEDNESDAY. So we hope to see you there, where ever there may be :)

Have a great last week of break.

P.A.

Hard Questions

So the past couple days I have got to hang out with a bunch of students in different formats, some in restraunts, coffee shops, their homes, and the best yet Taco Bell. I have made it a little mission of mine this Christmas break to hang out with a ton of students and just ask questions. I believe one of my jobs for this coming year is to be a instigator of questions. Just listen to students and just ask questions.

So here are some the quotes from students I have heard over the past couple days of hanging out with them.

" I am unhappy"
"I don't know who I am"
"I am so scared for my future"
"I am not sure who God really is"
"I get high every single day"
"I don't know if I am a Christian"
"I don't see any good examples of Christian marriages, so why would I want to be married?"

I don't look at these statements as ohh man we have failed these students in our youth ministry, I look at students being honest and searching for God, now the what I as a youth pastor and people reading this we get to pray like crazy for these students. I love being able to talk with these students and I can't wait for our follow up conversations soon.

So Keep praying for these students and for our youth ministry we have amazing opportunities to expand the kingdom of Heaven.

P.A.

1st day of Christmas break

Hey there everyone, I hope things are going well for you on your first day out of school.

I remember when I was in High school and Junior High and after today everything gets boring until Christmas eve and Christmas is fun in the morning and possibly afternoon when you hit your 2nd Christmas, but lets be honest most of the time you will be some what bored!

But that is why I am here my friends, your loving youth pastor has come up with a couple things to help pass the time during this Christmas break! Some you will laugh at and some you will not want to do, but if you do them, you will be thankful afterwards!

So here we go:

1. Organize your room (if its already organized, change something)
2. REST! - You guys go and go and go. So take some time to rest this break and give yourself permission to sleep in and take some naps.
3. Call up some friends, and go and do something outside the house. Now I understand for Junior High students this is a little harder to do, but try to get something together with your friends! Make some memories by going out and having fun!
4. Get a work out in, if you have a treadmill or a stationary bike get a work out in, You will be amazed at how much energy you get when you work out!
5. Play some video games!
6. Watch a good movie (notice how I said GOOD!) - And don't watch a movie with your boyfriend/girlfriend when your parents are working. Let's be honest we all know that is a bad idea!
7. Make something! - Seriously build something like a cubby for storage or build an area for your PS3 or Xbox 360. Do something constructive.
8. Read a book! Take some time and read this break. If you can't think of anything to read, Read Luke this Christmas its a great account of the Christmas story.
9. Make a top 10 goal list for 2011. Then put it somewhere where you will see it and you will be reminded of them continuously.
10. Take some time to pray for your family and friends. This is a cool little thing to do, during Christmas break you will see a lot of people make it a point to think through the people you will see and pray for those people before you see them. Its a pretty cool thing to talk with them and know you have prayed over them today.

Hope things this Christmas break go well for ya. I will be around all Christmas break so text me and I will let ya know whats going on!

Remember on Dec 28th we are doing a Destination unknown: LUNCH! So look friend me on facebook or follow me on twitter at AdamSharp5 to get clues on where we are going that day.

P.A.

2011 Event Info

CVMC Youth - 1st Quarter Events

View more presentations from frogjd2.

Special Friday Post.

this is Another one of our favorite video's of this year! So funny.....

Dirty Bingo Christmas Recap!

Oh man last night was awesome! We had so many awesome Ugly Christmas Sweaters, but in the End Quinn Nisley won out. With his Half ugly Christmas sweater. I tell you what though we had some really really good ones. So Good Job to all those who came out and participated in our event.

Besides that we had so many awesome gifts last night! I think everyone walked away laughing and full bellies because everyone brought so much good food! Holy Cow that awesome. We had so many gifts here last night that even the Juniors got some extra gifts.

I am so proud of all of you for coming out and hanging out with us last night it was a total blast! For those who couldn't make it last night we missed you and we hope to see you in January.

So here are a couple things to be aware of the next 2 weeks!

1. We don't have formal youth group the next 2 Wednesday nights.
2. We are doing a Destination unknown lunch on December 29th. So be ready for that!
3. If we get another good snow we might get some people together for some snow football or sledding of some kind :)
4. We will be sending out the next 3 month calendars here in the next few weeks!

Keep up with us on the blogspot over the break we will have funny video's, devotions, and some crazy Christmas Pictures up here from the youth group staff and funny pictures we find!

Have a great Christmas break.

P.A.

Pretty Awesome Video

Pure Information

Tonight is the Dirty Bingo Christmas Party. Here are a couple things that you need to know.

1. It starts at 6:30pm
2. Bring a Wrapped Gift that is under 5$
3. Bring a snack with you to share with others. Chips, Desserts, and or a combo of both.
4. If you want to wear an ugly sweater and be part of our ugly sweater contest you are more then welcome to but it is not a mandatory thing.
5. We will be done at 8:30pm!

We hope you can make it tonight! We have so much fun stuff tonight, Food, Dirty Bingo, and ELF!!!!

Hope to see you tonight.

P.A.

Bingo, Nacho, Blammo!

Hey there everyone I hope your mornings are going well, I know I am still really tired I didn't get to bed till way after midnight last night because we are preparing our little house for a transformation of furniture this morning, I know I am old and boring but shut it :)

Tomorrow night is going to be the most fun you can have this side of the Mississippi! Tomorrow night is our Dirty Bingo Christmas Party! We are going to have so much stinking fun. So these are the 3 things you need to bring tomorrow night to have a good time! Ready?

1. Bring a wrapped gift that is under 5$. (Hint: look around your house for something you don't want anymore and put it in a huge box and wrap it so it looks awesome)
2. Bring a Snack to share with others! (Hint: Go to the dollar store before you come and grab your favorite chips or cookies so at least you know there will be something there you like)
3. Wear and ugly Christmas sweater! (Hint: Go into your mom or dad's closet and just grab whatever they wear to a Christmas party we all know mom and dad's where the most ridiculous sweaters ever.)

So those are the 3 things that are going to make this Christmas party awesome!

But Here is a 4th thing that will make this night over the top!

Bring a friend who has never come to youth group before!!!

This is a great night to invite friends to youth group, all we are going to be doing is having a ton of fun. I know when I was in Junior High and High school I didn't think Christians laughed! So maybe you have a friend who thinks youth group is boring, or stupid. Those friends are who we want here tomorrow night because stealing presents after getting a bingo is always fun :) So take some time to pray and see who you should invite.

I hope you guys have a great day even though you don't have a 2 hour delay. See you tomorrow night.

P.A.

Some more info for Wednesday night!

Take some time today and just listen to this stripped down version of this amazing song! Take some time and pray for this Wednesday night even thought its all about having fun, we need to understand that this night could be the first night for someone to connect to God through our youth group! So think about this Wednesday not as an opportunity to just chill and hang out but as an opportunity to invite someone to connect with Christ through others! Check this video out!

CHRISTMAS PARTY INFOMATION

Hey there everyone I hope your day is going stinking awesome, I know mine got a little bit later start since I was up watching my cowboys lose again! Stupid eagles. Ohh well that is not what this post is about its about CHRISTMAS PARTY INFORMATION!

So here is the skinny on Wednesday night!

1. Bring a present that is WRAPPED! That is under 5 bucks, the funnier the gift the better. If you don't have 5 bucks thats totally fine ask your parents if there is anything they want to get rid of! Put it in a box wrap it and bring it to youth group! Feel free to invite friends just tell them they need to bring a gift so everyone can leave with a gift!
2. Bring a dessert or snack to share with others! Like a bag of chips, or cookies. Listen here is the easy way to do this. Leave 10 minutes earlier then normal and stop off at the dollar store next to the church, go in a grab a bag of chips or something for like 3 bucks and then head over to youth group its really really easy!
3. Wear the ugliest Christmas sweater you can find we will have prize for the one that gets the most cheers at the end of the night!

So that is the skinny on whats going down for this Wednesday night!

Please invite friends to this party its going to be so much stinking fun! All we are doing this night is having a ton of fun, this would be a great night to invite those friends who have never been to youth group or are maybe thinking about coming. This night can be the start of an amazing life changing relationship with Jesus Christ and it all started eating Nacho's and playing Bingo one night in December.

Hope you have a great day! And I hope to see you on Wednesday night!

P.A.

There is no I in love but there is an I in sin!

Man last night was a lot of fun! I am not joking the make-up on the guys were hilarious! That was so much fun. Then the other game we played which I am not sure what it was called but man people were into it! I think might have to play that game again.

So last night we gave out a challenge to serve someone in the next 24 hours. We want to really help you understand that the world is all about self-serving, and not about serving others. When Jesus came down He came to serve, and die for us. Jesus didn't come down to serve himself and indulge Himself.

So when we celebrate Christmas this year remember that this Christmas isn't about presents or anything else except Jesus Christ coming down to this earth to reconnect us to Him! He came to serve and die.

Pretty insane when we look at Christmas that way. Christ did so many amazing things on this earth, so now the question is "What are you gonna do to serve others today?"

P.A.

Super stinking duper

Hey there everyone, we finally don't have snow falling from the heavens and I am so thankful. So I am gonna give you a little in sight to my life. Last night I went home and all my stuff, furniture, storage units, chairs, books, honestly everything was moved into my kitchen. We are getting new carpet as I am writing this, so last night Adam Herbster, Esther and I ripped up the old carpet and padding and threw it outside. Then all 3 of us went and worked out, and as I am working out I pull a muscle in my side. And on top of all this craziness that is going on. I lost my cell phone! So this has been a stinky past 24 hours.

Oh well enough about myself,

Tonight we have formal youth group for the first since Thanksgiving! Man I can't wait for tonight.

So here is the skinny on tonight's youth group:
1. We start at 6:30pm so come a little bit early and play some video games with us.
2. We will be done at 8:30pm.
3. We are going to be giving you the down low on the Party next Week!
4. We are going to be talking about selfishness tonight so come and here some stupid stories from your youth pastor stinking it up at being a Christian in this area of his life.
5. We are going to have as much fun as allowed in the middlebury constitution!

We hope to see you tonight!

P.A.

Casteller

Amazing Team work goes into this! Just as these people are holding each other up, we need to hold each other up as a youth group! Hope to see you Tomorrow night at youth group!

To Much fun for 1 Night

Hey there everyone, tomorrow night is going to be amazing. I hope you can all make it out for at least part of the time. God is going to do some amazing things tomorrow night here at youth group. We have got some really awesome things planned.

Ted and Wes are in charge of Games so you know that is going to be intense and awesome!

Sarah and Michelle are going to be doing our announcements and welcoming everyone so you they will have a funny story.

Then the worship band is going to rock it!

Then we are going to spend some time talking about the letter I.

So come over tomorrow night to the Crystal Valley Campus at 6:30. The snow will be cleared away, and everything will be right in the world :) (ok maybe not everything)

Tomorrow we will have lots of announcements about upcoming events such as "The Big Chill" and "Dirty Bingo"

So don't miss out!

P.A.

Guess Whats back?

Hey there everyone! Guess what??

WE HAVE YOUTH GROUP THIS WEEK!

Man I am so pumped because for the last 2 weeks we were off from normal youth group because of thanksgiving and pass it forward. Man I can't wait for Wednesday night to come around because we have some awesome things planned!

Now for those Northridge students I understand that choir is kinda of crazy this week, and I understand that most of the time youth group and church are the first things cut out of your agenda but I am challenging you to keep them on your agenda. We all know when we don't do something for a long time it gets knocked out for something else. I am telling ya if you don't keep youth group on your agenda you might look back and see that you haven't been to youth group in a month or longer!

So I understand that things are crazy right now but this Wednesday night is going to be stinking awesome, and the next Wednesday night is going to even better because we have our Dirty Bingo Night!

Don't Miss out!

Hope to see you this Wednesday night at 6:30pm.

P.A.

A great Flash Mob!

I love flash Mobs! I still want our youth group to do one sometime in the Essenhaus :)

Check this is one out. Have a great Friday!



P.A.

The morning after Pass it forward.

Man last night was INSANE, we had a total of 140 families come through last night, and that was only open to the middlebury community. Tonight we open it up to everyone! Last year when we opened it up to everyone we had 400 families come through in 1 night! But God is good, and supplied us with some amazing helpers, and a ton of clothes.

To all those small groups that helped out last night let me know how it went, I went with some of the high school small groups over to Cici's and then to Target because they adopted a family that needs help this year, and it was awesome to serve and to get things for that family!

Also you need to ask Ms. Hooley about a snow globe that attacked her! :)

If you guys want to be in prayer for us today we have a big meeting today about our Big Chill retreat we go on, we are looking at doing some stinking awesome things. So be in prayer for us today.

I hope you guys have a great day today. If you having nothing to do come out to the church tonight and help us serve families who are in need! It so much fun to help serve people!

P.A.

Serving and Helping

Hey there everyone, I hope this snowy day finds you well. I know for me I am not liking the snow that is hitting the ground today but I guess if it was up to me I would have it sunny and 68 everyday! But Ohh well its all good.

So a little reminder for tonight, We don't have youth group tonight because of the pass it forward garage sale going on here for the next 4 days! So tonight please contact your small group leader to see what you are doing tonight. I know some small group leaders are heading out to cici's to hang out and some are coming here tonight to help with the pass it forward sale, so please contact them to see what you are doing tonight.

I hope you guys are having a good week, we start back up youth group next Wednesday with all of our favorite stuff: Games, Worship, a fun message! Then on December 15th is when we pull out the big guns for our Dirty Bingo Christmas party. All you need to know is that there is going to be a ton of food and Presents! More info to come on that later this week, so get ready to rock it out in 7 days!

Have an amazing day.

P.A.

Howdy everyone.

Hey there everyone I hope you are having a wonderful Monday, I know I am ready to hit the ground running after some time off with the thanksgiving holiday. Just a little reminder for this coming Wednesday night.

We don't have youth group this coming Wednesday night! Please contact your small group leaders and see what they have planned for you! If you are brand new and wanting to start hanging out with the youth group, please email me at cvmcadam@gmail.com and I will hook you up with some awesome small group leaders.

The reason we are off this Wednesday is because of the massive pass it forward free garage sale going on at the church! I can't wait to start helping people get winter clothes, and loving people like Christ loves them!

But on December 8th we return with all the awesomeness that comes with the CVMC Youth Group! Then on December 15th we have our big dirty Bingo night! So bring a friend, a 5$ wrapped gift, and a snack to share with others. The night is going to be stinking awesome. We will have tons of food that night, and then we will play a massive game of Bingo.

Hope to see you guys NEXT Wednesday night.

P.A.

Being thankful!

Hey there everyone! I want you to know that I am very thankful to be your youth pastor. I love being able to get to know so many of you. So many of you I have seen grow in the Lord, and so many of you start making really awesome decisions to follow the Lord.

I am blessed to be able to call this church home!

Here is a little video about thanksgiving for ya! Have a great holiday!



P.A.

Spring Youth Group schedule

Hey there everyone I hope you are having a great day where ever you may be! So today Esther and I have placed ourselves in a sweet coffee shop here in Holland MI, and we are doing some more work. Today I really felt that God has been gearing me up the last couple weeks to start putting down in pen what we are going to be talking about this coming Spring. We normally use the spring to disciple more. For example we normally go through a book of the bible in a month, we talk about how to pray, and then we always challenge students to be pure in the month of February.

We aren't changing things alot except I believe that this spring we have a massive opportunity to grow closer to Christ! So here are the series we are going to be covering this spring!

January - Sun Stand still - This is a series we are doing on praying for the impossible to happen. This series will take us into the "Big Chill" and during the big chill weekend we will be challenging students to really start praying for the impossible!

February - Purity - This will be our 4th year we are doing a purity series, but this year we aren't breaking up guys and girls we are going to be doing some pretty intense sessions on Love. Also this year we are giving you the chance to ask anything you want anonymously with a live Q & A session with my wife and I. You guys will be able to text in your questions and all month long and we will compile them and answer as many as we can in the allotted time. We will end the month with a purity ceremony, this year will be bigger and better!

March - Elijah! - We are going to be going over this mans amazing life and learning from the experiences he went through and how we can learn to grow closer to Christ and to step out and do some crazy awesome things for Christ.

April - Stop Acting like a Christian - This is going to be a 2 week series because the month is broken up with Spring break in there, and we are going to talk about how we need to stop acting like Christians and actually BE a Christian!

May- Identity theft - We are going to be ending our year with talking about your identity in Christ. I believe this is the most important thing for our youth group and we are wanting to finish out our school year with a great series to really motivate you to take this summer and make unlike any other you have ever had! We will be talking about who you are in Christ, and the lies Satan tries to put in your mind to destroy your life.

I hope you guys are excited as I am for this Spring! Have an amazing thanksgiving everyone.

Ohh 1 last thing...........GO DALLAS!

P.A.

Truefaced

So I am reading a book right now called "truefaced" I am only a little bit into the book but man it is hitting me in the face about encouraging our students to really be bold with their faith, and be striving after what God has called them too.

A couple things I want to encourage our students with:
1. Walk with Christ! If you aren't daily putting time into your relationship with God DO IT! It might be sitting down and talking with God, it might opening up your bible and reading a chapter, it might be sticking up for those who don't have a voice at your school. But continually walk with God!
2. Dream! Don't be tied down to the generation in front of you. Some people in the generation in front of us have locked in to the ways they want to live life. Which is ok if God has called them to that, but don't be a copy cat of those around you! Dream bigger and better things in your relationship with Christ. Don't Settle! Never Stop Fighting for your relationship with Christ.

To the Parents:
1. Encourage! You have to be encouraging your students when they do things correct. I understand that its hard to sometimes look past some of the flaws, and sometimes it seems like its 2 steps forward then 1 step back but aren't we all like that at time. This is a crucial time for these students. They need encouragement, and they need love. These students go to school and get beat down by the world. They go to practices and get beat down by the world, they don't need to come home and get it over again from those closest to them. Guide, push, discipline, and correct, but never forget to come behind those actions with encouragement.
2. Model Christ to your kids. When your kids see you blowing off church, never reading your bible, not praying, never helping the poor, and talking bad about others. That is what they are going to do. Be authentic with your kids, tell them your questions about God, Tell them SOME things you wrestle with in your life. Be transparent with them in some cases. (obviously use discretion) I see all the time kids following in their parents footsteps, especially in the church realm. Model Christ to these students!

Hope you guys have a great week! 2 day school weeks always rock.

P.A.

Voting!

Hey there everyone, I am sorry we haven't gotten the voting polls up yet. We are still working on getting those up and around, I have been out of the state since Thursday and won't be back till Wednesday night, so please be patient. I will make sure I text everyone, and post it on facebook with a link when the polls are up and going!

I hope things are going well for you, I am praying for you this week to finish strong. And then have a great time with families during Thanksgiving!

Just a reminder we don't have youth group this week because of Thanksgiving break! Isn't that insane, before you know it December 15th will be here and we will be having our Dirty Bingo Night! Gonna be awesome.

Have a great week guys!

P.A.

Letters to God.

Wow, I was reading through some of the letters last night, and man some students poured their heart out to God! Like in a majorly awesome way. God is so stinking awesome.

Be praying for Esther and I as we are out of town the next couple days. I won't be on my phone much so if you call or text I might not get back to you all that quickly. Hope you guys have a wonderful thanksgiving. I can't wait to eat some turkey with family, and then watch my boys dominate the Saints!

I will leave you with this awesome video!




P.A.

Tonight's gonna Rock your face off!

Hey there everyone, I hope your day is going well. I know mine is going to be a little different. Keep Esther in your prayers this week she lost her Grandma yesterday unexpectedly, and so she will be gone tonight through probably Sunday with her family. So Keep her in your prayers during this hard time.

Tonight will be a pretty fun because we have some new things planned for ya, and we are going to have some good dialogue tonight about 1 verse in particular but we are going to be talking in small groups tonight about some different people we want to help.

So come tonight ready to serve in one aspect, experience Christ in another, and then have a ton of fun on the other hand. We have a whole slew of Jesus at ya tonight :) So when Jesus is around you know its going to be a party, and a good one at that!

Hope to see you tonight at 6:30pm.

P.A.

Really long but productive day.

Hey there everyone, I hope things are going well for you so far today. I know for me my day has been really long but also really tiring so I am ready for a good work out tonight and some time of rest before tomorrow night!

So this is what is going down for tomorrow night. We are going to be be having a sweet time with some new school and old school games, then we are going to have a worship session that is a little different then normal. Then we are going to be having a dialogue around being an Activist. We have some pretty sweet things going down for tomorrow night.

Also for those Junior High students who still want to go on the Junior High Retreat for this Friday I need money tomorrow night! As of right now we need a lot of students to sign up for us to have this retreat. I know a lot of you are busy but think about it and if you have any questions talk with me tomorrow night. We would love to still have this retreat.

Just a little reminder we don't have youth group next week because of Thanksgiving! So Enjoy some time with your families and eat some turkey and watch the Cowboys for me!

Hope to see you tomorrow night!

P.A.

Wow, I can't belive it

Hey there everyone I can't believe that next week is thanksgiving! Can you honestly believe that. Like this time next week people will be shopping for turkeys and my favorite the Stuffing! HMMMMM

Anyways that is just insane to me! Anywho, this coming Wednesday is going to be stinking awesome people! We have some really cool new things planned for you to take some time to slow down and be with God. We are going to be having a worship Experience this Wednesday night where we are going to be having stations set up around the sanctuary during worship time so you guys can not only sing to worship God, but maybe write him a letter, or Journal, or draw. You get to choose or you can just sit and listen to the worship music and just be in the presence of God.

So this Wednesday night during our worship time that is what we are planning on doing.

Also this Wednesday we are going to be giving you a time to talk about what type of ministries we want to come behind and help out. Whether that be Tiny Hands, TOMS shoes, fair trade coffee, compassion international, or something else.

So come this Wednesday ready to discuss in your small groups maybe something you would want to do.

Last but not least. This Friday and Saturday is the Junior high retreat, We need to have more Junior high students sign up for this trip or we might have to cancel it. We only have 2 students signed up so far and we need a bunch more to make this work so Junior High students bring 25$ this Wednesday night for the last day to sign up and get in on this Retreat its going to be so much fun guys! I can't wait.

See you on Wednesday night brothers and sisters.

P.A.

Destination unknown Pt 2

Hey there everyone I hope you had an amazing Saturday I know we had an awesome day down here in Gatlinburg.

We started the day off with some Egg casserole and hang out time in the cabin, and then we took a hike up to grotto falls. We posted pictures up on facebook of the trip. Then we can back to the cabin and at some stromboli that Esther and Kristi made. Then we spent the afternoon here at the cabin as the men played a game of football and the ladies played games in the cabin. Then tonight we went to the Dixie Stamped. We laughed a ton tonight and yelled a lot at the south (we were seated in the North) Then we came home to the cabin and now the students are getting packed up for heading back tomorrow.

God has given us some pretty cool memories and some unifying experiences. Everyone has had a pretty good trip. There are a lot of really tired students, and sore students. A lot of the guys are sore from football. So for tomorrow please be praying for safe travel as Doug and I are driving, and for good weather.

Questions to ask your students tomorrow when they get home.
1. What was your favorite part of the hike?
2. Did you walk behind the waterfall?
3. How awesome was the chicken dance at the Dixie Stampede?
4. Did you eat all the food you got at the Dixie Stampede?
5. Would you go again on a trip like this?

Destination unknown Pt 1

Hey there everyone I hope you are having a great evening, we are having a great time here in the smokey mountains. We got here late so we don't have any pictures of the cabin but we will post some tomorrow when we update.

It took a little bit longer to get down here then normal so we are just starting our Movie night with the students. Luckily for us we can move our schedule around if needed, so one thing that you can be praying for us this weekend is for students to sleep well the next couple nights! We need to have students in good moods. Also if you can be praying for God to move in our students with unity. We have some really fun things planned to help create unity for tomorrow

Everyone is here and accounted for and everyone is really tired from traveling all day. So when you get your students back on Sunday, they will be a tired bunch.

Here are a couple questions to ask your students about the first day.

1. What funny stories do you have from lexington and the scavenger hunt.
2. How awesome was the cabin?
3. What room did you sleep in and who were your cabin buddies?
4. How was the mexican meal the first night?
5. How tired were you during the movie?

Hope these questions help you navigate your way through this weekend experience with your student coming home!

We are having a ton of fun! Your prayers are appreciated.

P.A.

Activist of Choice

Last night we talked about being an activist of choice, everyone has a choice of where to spend their money, who to hang out with, and what to do with their time. We went global with our decisions first, with helping with fair trade coffee, rice, banana's, and lots of other products. Then we went local with our choices to party or not to party because of the lifestyle you are choosing to spend your time, then we went in your face of saying we have a choice to love Christ or to love ourselves.

It was a really fun night last night. We had probably one of the best games ever last night! Shooting oyster crackers out of someone's nose and into someone's mouth! Big shout out to Caleb and Graham Morris for accomplishing the goal and earning some Cash Money :)

Tomorrow morning we are leaving for Destination unknown at 8am, we will be updating where we are at, and I will be updating on here during our trip. So if you want to see pictures, check out my facebook, twitter, and here on the blogspot.

I hope you are having a great day! Can't wait till tomorrow.

P.A.

Wednesday is the best day ever!

Hey there everyone! I hope things are going well for you today. I am sorry that these posts have been more information these past few days but its because I have been super busy with the destination unknown trip coming up, plus getting Wednesday nights put together, plus Sunday nights, plus Junior High retreat on November 19th-20th, plus speaking last weekend for another church, plus my family!

So this month is kinda insane, so these posts have been taking a back seat to some other things that are more on the important side. Anywho, tonight's youth group is going to be spectacular! I can't wait to hang out with you guys tonight and have a ton of fun. We are going to be talking about being an activist of Choice. We are going to be talking about Global choices we make, Local choices we make and then right in front of us choices we make! I know when I was planning this message God was really rocking my world in the things I spend my money on and what I spend my time doing. Tonight's catch phrase is "Every choice has a price tag"

You will hear that alot.

Can't wait to hang out with ya tonight. So be here at 6:30pm!

We will be meeting tonight with the Destination unknown team. We have a couple more things for you guys to pack and be prepared for!

P.A.

Youth Group tomorrow

Hey there everyone, sorry this post is coming so late in the day but I have been in a staff meeting for the day so here is a run down on the things for this week!

1. Youth Group tomorrow night is going to be stinking awesome so come on out and hang out with us for a little while. We start at 6:30 and we will be done at 8:30. We are in the middle of this series called "Activist" and we are going to be talking about 3 levels of choices we can make to change the world! So come on out and have a ton of fun with us.

2. The High School Destination unknown trip is FULL! For those who signed up but never got their deposit in by the first week of November you are out of luck my friends. If someone backs out we will start a waiting list which we already have about 5 people on. So I am sorry for those who missed out but we will hopefully be doing this again next year! Make sure you don't miss out then.

Hope you guys have a great rest of the day!

P.A.

Monday = Craziness

Hey there everyone I hope you are having a great day, and I hope you had a great weekend. I know mine was pretty intense with speaking at a retreat, helping with worship, and then teaching some junior high and senior high students yesterday. So much fun, but kinda busy.

So anyways, I was planning this Wednesday out and man is it good! We have some really funny games we are going to be playing this Wednesday night and then we are going to be continuing on in our Activist series about being an Activist of choice! It's pretty cool somethings that we can do just by making the right choices and by thinking about the choices we are making. Its so crazy to think about the things I took for granted or the things I wasn't aware of because I just didn't think.

So come this Wednesday as we continue to challenge ourselves to think differently, and to really explore how we can make a global impact for the Kingdom of God.

Alright, another thing we need to talk about is this coming Friday morning we are leaving on our Destination unknown trip and the trip is full! So for those who didn't get there deposit in I am sorry but you are too late to sign up for this trip. We will hopefully be doing another trip next year around the same time! So make sure you get signed up for that one! You can follow our adventures on here the blogspot, but also my twitter page as well. We hopefully we will be posting pictures of where we are at, and what is going on.

Be praying for us with safe travels, and good weather!

Hope to see you guys here Wednesday night!

P.A.

Being an Activist

Hey there everybody! Man last night was great. We had 2 great speakers come in and lead us on being an activist.

A big Thank you goes out to Kim Frost and Jon Andrews for coming in and helping us out. They are stinking awesome.

So last night we split up our Junior High and Senior high for the night. The Junior high were lead in a discussion of what it means to help and be an activist by talking over the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10). They were challenged that even if we go out and do some awesome stuff for others but then come home and jerks to our parents, or we lie, cheat and steal. Then we are missing the point of being a Christian, we can't do good works for others, but then being a complete poopface at the same time. Doesn't work that way.

The High school students learned about human trafficking last night from Jon Andrews. We learned about Tiny Hands international who help with rescuing girls and guys from sex trafficking all over the world. It was a pretty intense night, and we are looking forward to creating something to help out. We learned that we need to be part of something bigger then ourselves, and take the focus off of me, and point it towards Christ while helping those in need.

Can't wait for next week when we go further into the activist series and talk about other organizations that we possibly could come along side.

Next week is our Destination unknown trip and we are looking forward to it. The trip is all set and ready to rock and roll, and the students are set and ready!

Please be praying for good travel weather and good times with our students!

Have an amazing day today!

P.A.

Youth Group tonight.

Hey there everyone tonight's youth group is going to be a blast! We have got 2 different speakers tonight.

Junior High students tonight you are going to be learning what it means to love another human being when there is nothing in it for you besides you have been called to love people by God. We have a sweet discussion time planned for you tonight with your small group leaders.

Senior High students we are going to be meeting here at CVMC like normal we are going to be playing games, and watching funny video's together but then we are going to be moving you over to the pretty place tonight to listen to Jon Andrews talk to you about Tiny Hands international. It's going to be a great time tonight.

We are starting a new series called Activist tonight. Where we are going to be challenging students and leaders to get involved in the injustices in the World. Whether that be providing water to those who have none, to be the voice for those who have lost theirs due to government
oppression, or those who have lost everything and need help. We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and thats what this series is all about.

We hope to see you tonight at 6:30!

P.A.

Voting day!

Yahoo its finally here, Voting day!

Ok well now on to the more important stuff! YOUTH GROUP!

Tomorrow night we have some awesome awesome awesome things going down. We are actually going to be splitting up the high school and Junior high tomorrow night for our speaking time. The High school students are going to be meeting here at the Church and playing some games with us and hanging out but then they are going to be moving over to the Pretty Place down like a quarter mile down the road while the Junior high stay at the church and do worship and hear another speaker! Its going to be stinking awesome.

We are starting a new series called "Activist" where we are going to be challenging students and leaders to really get involved with stopping injustices in the world. So we are going to be talking about and praying about what group and what cause we as a youth group want to come behind and help out. So for the next 3 weeks we are going to be talking about what it means to love people like Christ loves people, and helping those in need!

I hope you all have an amazing day!

See you tomorrow.

P.A.

November is here!

Ohh my word do you guys realize how close we are to thanksgiving? Insane!

So here is the run down for November and the Youth Group.

1. We start a new series called "Activist" where we are going to be talking about injustice in the world, and we are going to be partnering with people all around the world to be and help make a difference. So come this Wednesday to have your socks rocked by Jon Andrews for High school students, and Junior High student we have special speaker for ya'll!

2. We have 2 MASSIVE retreats for High school and Junior High!
- High school students November 12th-14th we are taking you on a destination unknown trip. It is going to be awesome, we still have spots available so if you are wanting to go get me 150$ by this Wednesday and you are in.
- Junior High students November 19th - 20th, we are taking you guys over to Elkhart to a retreat center where we are going to be bringing in a speaker from Ohio who is going to be talking about unexpected expectations! We are going to challenge you guys as Junior High students to be more then just typical Junior High students but be world changers, school changers, family changers, and most all Christ Followers! So if you want to go its only 25$ to go and you need the money in by November 10th!

So that is the scope for CVMC youth group. We hope you can join us this Wednesday for some great conversation, and eye opening experiences. Hope to see you here Wednesday night for Youth Group.

P.A.

Harvest Party Re-cap!

Hey there everyone, I hope everyone is recovering from last's night awesome party we had! Man I know I am tired today but man I love that we had so many students last night here the Gospel Message. God has done some amazing things through this youth group and last night ranks up there pretty high because so many of you stepped out and invited people to come to a great party last night!

We will have a slide show up here soon, and come on Wednesday night to see the whole video!

Also this coming Sunday we are doing a pancake and sausage breakfast fundraiser before first service only! So come on out and have some great pancakes and sausage! The students will be serving and helping out with cleaning so come on out and help us raise some money!

Hope you have a great day!

P.A.

HARVEST PARTY

Hey there everyone! I hope you are having a super awesome day today.

Tonight is the night we have been working towards for the last month. The buses are almost here, the food is getting prep'd, the hay bails are going down, the fear factor games are almost done. Tonight at 6:30pm it will all start. I can't wait for everyone to get here so we can take off and have a great time hanging out.

So here is the skinny 1 last time for tonight:

Get here at 6:30 sharp!

Bring a friend or 8.

If you want to bring a camping chair to sit in you can, we will have hay there to sit on but if you want a chair you can bring that.

We will have FREE food, Hay rides, a Bon fire, fun games, worship around a fire, and a great speaker tonight.

We will be back at 9pm!

ACHHHKEEEMMMMM

We will be back at 9pm! <----------- All Parents need to know this!

But on a more serious note, please be in prayer for us tonight. We have so many fun things going on, but we want the focus to be about Christ and us coming to know Christ more and more. So please who aren't coming out there with us tonight please pray for us tonight. That we may get divine opportunities to love students the way Christ would love them.

P.A.

Harevest Party Eve!

Hey there everyone! We are only 1 day away from our harvest Party. I am so pumped up. Tomorrow night is going to be so much. So here are a couple things to remember

1. We start at 6:30pm.....and we end at 9:00pm!
- Don't forget that we are coming back at 9:00pm. We normally get done at 8:30 but since we are going off campus we will be back at 9:00pm so please parents remember this, and students remember to tell your parents this!
2. Bring a friend!
- Remember that if we get 200 students then we get to cut Gareths Hair that night. So invite everyone you know.
3. We are serving you dinner up there so come hungry!
4. Take some time to pray for this event tonight and tomorrow! We want God to show up in a mighty way so take some time to be praying for those students who don't know God in a personal way.

Those are 4 things you need to remember! So go and invite students. Parents please pray for our leaders to get opportunities to talk to students about Christ!

Hope to see you there!

P.A.

Pre-Harest Party Information

Hey there everybody, I hope things are going well for ya. I know this weekend was kinda crazy with everyone traveling around and going different places but I am really glad that everyone is back and ready to rock and roll!

So this coming Wednesday night is the harvest party, and we have so much fun stuff planned for you....Let me list them out!

1. Free Food! - Can't go wrong when we are making nacho's, sloppy Joes, popcorn!
2. Hay rides - We have some sweet hay rides ready for everyone through the woods and things its going to be a great time!
3. Fear Factor games - These games will not be for the faint of heart! But they are going to be amazing!
4. Worship around a camp fire - I love bringing out an acoustic guitar and and just worshiping with people around a camp fire. Its going to be awesome.
5. A great speaker - We have a great speaker coming in on Wednesday night and its going to be funny and powerful.

So those are just a couple reasons on why you should come on out on Wednesday night to our harvest party...Here is the info!

Meet at CVMC at 6:30 SHARP!
Times: 6:30pm - 9:00pm
What to bring: Bring a lawn chair with ya, we will have hay out there as well to sit on but if you want to bring your own lawn chair that would work as well.

Bring a friend to this event, we do this entire event so we can bring friends to this and hang out with them while doing some really fun stuff! So invite a friend, or invite your entire team to this event! We will have room! We will make room :)

Hope to see you soon!

P.A.

Flesh vs Fasting,silence,prayer,and thebible

So last night was a great night to end our HABITS series, we got to talk about silence and fasting. We also got to show everyone what it looks like when we have all 4 habits working together to defeat our flesh.

This series was a great series for a lot of students but my prayer is for all these students to know go and put those habits into practice. God has some amazing things planned for our students in the future. This Youth Group can be a place of refuge, and a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit if we are striving after God with all our hearts souls and minds. God wants to come and guide and love! We just have to seek Him as well.

So to all our students please please please take time to be with God, how ever you spend time with is awesome. Whether that be sitting and praying, or reading your bible. Or going on a walk and just thinking about all the amazing things God has created. You can also take time in your day to fast and not eat, or not watch TV for a night and spend that time with God getting to know Him more.

God wants the best for you! That might look different then what you think the best is for you but lean on God during those times of doubts.

We hope to see everyone here next week for our Harvest Party! I can't wait. It's going to be awesome!

P.A.

Wednesday Night = Awesomeness

Hey there everyone I hope your Wednesday is going swimmingly :)

Tonight is our series finale on HABITS! We are going to be going over what we learned the other 2 weeks in this series and bring it all together tonight into one massive battle against the flesh and this world. So come tonight and be prepared to see what it likes to try to live out Christ while not doing doing the HABITS we talked about, and also what happens when we do bring in those HABITS we talked about.

Also tonight if you are a junior High student and you are wanting to go on the JH retreat we have a packing list for you, and what to expect while we are there!

So tonight we will have lots and lots of cool new things tonight for ya! So we hope to see you here.

Check this video out!

Catalyst East 2010: Francis Chan from Catalyst on Vimeo.

I am Hungry

Hey there everyone, I am really hungry for some reason this morning. I am not sure why I am really hungry but I thought you should know that before we started off with the blog today.

So Tomorrow night is pretty important for everyone to be at because we are finishing up our series on HABITS! We have so much fun stuff for tomorrow night its mind blowing. We have some pretty sweet games, and some awesome worship planned, and then we are finishing up our series with Silence and Fasting. It is going to be great.

Also NEXT week is our fear factor fiesta at the frosts! We are going to be having a ton of fun. We have hay rides planned, FREE food, worship around a camp fire, fear factor games for awesome prizes, and an awesome guest speaker coming in! So get ready for next week its going to be awesome! Also if we get 200 students there we get to cut gareth's hair into Mullet! So bring a ton of people next week. Parents and students please remember that this event is from 6:30 - 9pm! We are going to be coming back 30 minutes later then normal. So parents please remember that.

Also tomorrow night we are handing out JH retreat information tomorrow night so please if you are going on that trip or want to go on that trip you will want this information!

Have an awesome day today.

P.A.

Last week of HABITS

Man, Its pretty insane to me that this month is almost over! Can you believe that. I know I can't its pretty crazy. But none the less this is our last week in the HABITS series and I think series has been a really really good one.

The first week we talked about reading the word of God, and we used legos to really illustrate our point, then last week we talked about prayer, and knowing the voice of God, and we used our leaders for that. This week we are talking about silence and fasting, and you will have to come on Wednesday night to see how that all ties together.

Also some more cool announcements:

1. If you are wanting to to go on the JH Retreat coming up in November, you need to attend a meeting right after youth group this Wednesday night where we will have papers to take home with you. We will give you a packing list, and opportunities for fund-raising. So make sure you are here this Wednesday night!

2. For those who are wanting to go to the Destination unknown trip, we already have students with their money in so make sure you get your 100$ deposit in before all the spots run out!

3. THE HARVEST PARTY IS NEXT WEEK! I can't wait for next week because we have some amazing things planned for everyone, also remember if we get 200 students to this harvest party we get to cut Gareth's hair into a mullet! It will be glorious, anyways please remember that next week we will be starting at our normal time, but be getting back at 9pm!

I hope you all have a great day!

P.A.

Prayer & Listening

"I know my sheep and they know me"

I hope that last night you got a hold of that point. When we pray its all about getting to know God, and getting to know His heart for you! The cool part about prayer is when you are telling God things, and you are opening up to Him about everything it is a way of surrendering your life to Him. Does He already know everything about you, ummm yes. But when you pray and you have a conversation with God you are finally taking time to start that relationship with Him.

Like my example last night with Jake Frost, if he would only run once or twice a month do you think he would be winning sectionals with his team? No way, its a continual working on our relationship with God. We can't expect to have awesome God moments when we are only talking to God every time we have an issue. Then if it gets resolved we don't even give God credit for anything and we go on living our lives in a way that doesn't reflect His glory.

I can't wait till next week when we talk about silence and fasting, its going to be pretty fun, and I have a great way to show you how fasting is like a battle inside your mind and body.

Hope to see you guys this coming Sunday!

P.A.

Tonight is the night!

I promise you will not want to miss youth group tonight. It's going to be extremely fun and extremely interesting. Tonight we are going to be discussing the topic of prayer and hearing the voice of God. We have the whole night wrapped around these topics. So come tonight and bring a friend to play some really fun games, have a ton of fun dancing in worship tonight, and then discuss prayer and hearing the voice of God.

Also tonight those going on the Destination unknown trip we are going to be explaining all the things you will need to know for the trip. Packing lists, money due dates, fundraisers, everything you need to know will be at this meeting, EXCEPT where we are going :)

There are a few little things you will want to know tonight because the "Game" starts tonight! So come tonight ready to have a ton of fun, we are hoping to have the video games back tonight we will see if our in house Video Game fanatic will be able to bring the GOODS!

So tonight 6:30pm at CVMC! I know a bunch of people will be at the soccer game tonight but don't worry everyone they will be here not to long after we start since the game starts at 5pm!

Hope to EVERYONE here tonight. Can't wait!

P.A.

And they will know my voice.....

Tomorrow night we are going to be talking about prayer and hearing the voice of God, and making it a habit to pray and listen to God to lead and speak. It's going to be awesome, I can't wait for tomorrow night because we have some really fun games planned, great worship, and a great new way to look at prayer. So plan on coming tomorrow night at 6:30pm to hang out with us. Invite a couple friends to come with ya tomorrow.

Tomorrow night we are going to be having a meeting with the students about the destination unknown trip, I will be putting together a sheet for them to take home so you have an idea what is going on, and when the money is due, and the fundraisers that are coming up. I am super duper excited about this trip, we are going to be having some time alone with God on this trip and talking about leadership for our youth group. I can't wait.

Hope to see you here tomorrow night

P.A.

Monday can be great!

Hey there everyone, I hope your Monday is going well, I know for me its going to be a long one I am heading down to Ft. Wayne today to meet with the speaker of our JH retreat coming up in a couple weeks. Its going to be stinking awesome, I can't wait to see how he challenges all of our students. So here is the skinny on the JH retreat

25$ will get you everything!
November 19th - 20th. We will be leaving at 6pm from the church Friday night and heading over to the Prairie Camp over in Elkhart of CR 9. We will return by 6pm on Saturday night!
We have a worship band coming in from Goshen, a guest speaker named Chris Freemen from Dayton Ohio, and we have a service project set up for us in Goshen.
The retreat is called "Unexpected" the reason being is that we are going to be challenging students that are in JH to be serving God in ways that are unexpected for their age group. Most of the Disciples were early in their teenage years and they changed the world, we are believing the same thing for our JH students!
Sign ups are on Wednesday nights, and Money is due the first week of November!

Also this Wednesday night we are going to be continuing on with our Habits series. We are talking about prayer Wednesday night so you should come and hang out with us, even if you have to come late from the soccer regional game. We would love to have you here with us even for just a little bit :)

Be strong!

P.A.

Special Friday Edition

Hey there everyone, a special Friday edition of the CVMC blog.

Here is a little funny video for you to watch!



High school students we have a great night planned for you this coming Sunday night at HS NEXT class come on out and hang out with us. 6:00pm - 7pm! Here at CVMC!

P.A.

Legos and Jesus

Hey there everyone I hope your day is going swimmingly. I know my day is going to be pretty long, I really hope I can get out to see them Men in action tonight against lakeland in their sectional opener. Good luck tonight Men!

So last night was stinking awesome, getting to talk about how we need to make sure that if we are building a relationship with Jesus we need to make sure we are reading the instruction manual, the bible, because we learned last night trying to build something without the instructions is really really difficult. Especially when you have to run all over the place trying to get pieces to build what is on the front of the box.

I challenged the students last night with making reading their bible a habit, because we all know when we are working out, practicing an instrument, or practicing a sport, we need to get into a habit of getting better and better at whatever we are trying to perfect. We need to take that same attitude into our relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to make it a habit to build up our relationship with Christ it is crucial to make that an important part of your day!

Next week we are having a meeting about the destination unknown for all the students on Wednesday night after YG. We have a couple fundraisers we are going to be doing and we are really excited about it.

Hope to see everyone next week!

P.A.

Tonight can be life changing

Hey there everyone, I hope you are having a sweet day today. I know I am because today Anthony Conrad is Job shadowing me today. I am so excited because he is going to get to see how much work actually goes into planning a Wednesday night, well he is going to see some of how it goes because I already have a lot of things done for it. But none the less he will still get to see what I do.

Anywho, tonight can be life changing. Because we are talking about the Word of God (aka The Bible) This amazing love story that was written for you and I is a key element in our journey with Christ, but so many of us neglect to even read it or study it, or even memorize it! We memorize Kesha lyrics, Kanye lyrics,and Kid cudi lyrics all day long but we can't memorize the word of God? Kinda of crazy to me! Especially when I hear people claiming to want to know God more.

So tonight come over to CVMC at 6:30pm, and we are going to show you how important reading the directions are when it comes to Jesus :)

We hope to see you tonight!

P.A.

1 More day till awesomeness!

Hey there everyone I hope things are going well for ya today, I know I am pretty tired and things are kinda crazy around here with a lot of things coming up like Destination unknown, and the JH retreat, and the fear factor fall fiesta at the Frosts. Its kinda insane. So we have lots of cool things that are coming down the pipe for ya'll so please make sure you keep up with this blog so you can know what's going down.

Tomorrow night we are starting a new series called "HABITS" and we are going to be talking about how can we make it a HABIT to get closer to God. So we are going to be talking about the Word of God tomorrow. It's insane to me how many people don't go to the Bible first when they want to know more about God, or if they have hard decisions they are going to make. So many times I hear of people saying well my friends told me this, or I thought this would be the right thing to do. When we have the written Word of God sitting on our shelf collecting dust. So come this Wednesday night for a really fun and cool night. We have a pretty sweet way of showing you how important God's Word is in your life especially when you are trying to "BUILD" a relationship with Christ!

So come on out tomorrow night at 6:30pm at Crystal Valley and come have a fun time with us tomorrow!

P.A.

Habits

Hey there everyone, we are starting a new series called, HABITS, this coming Wednesday night. It's going to be stinking awesome because we are going to teaching you how to learn about God on your own, and how to make it a habit of listening to God, reading about God, and Talking to God. It's going to be awesome. So if you have ever wanted to know more about the God who created you, loves you, calls out to you, and wants to bless you then this series is for you!

So this coming Wednesday night come on over to CVMC at 6:30pm and hang out with us. We have so much fun on Wednesday nights. This week Doug and Mark are going to be running games so you know its going to be stinking awesome, and we have some new worship songs we are going to be doing so come on out this Wednesday night and hang out with us for a little while!

Hope to see you there!

P.A.

A little Friday Video

Cheak out this sweet video.

Bigger and Better was AWESOME

Hey there everyone I hope you are having a great day! I know I am still recovering from last night because it was so much fun. The winning team was the 7th grade men because they brought back a working mini crotch rocket. We also had 2 second place teams. The 7th and 8th grade girls got 2nd because they brought back a 27" TV with stand remote that work. And the Freshmen girls got 2nd place because Erin Weber brought the house down with her speech! It was awesome.

Last night was great we will try to take some pictures of what was brought back!

This coming Sunday night we are having our first High school Next Class which we are going to be talking about "Hearing the voice of God". It will be starting at 6pm. This class is highly discussion oriented and we will be talking about some cool stuff so if you are a high school student or you know a high school student who would like this class send them to CVMC on Sunday night at 6pm! Its going to be awesome.

I hope you all have an amazing day today!

P.A.

Tonight is the Night of BIGGER AND BETTER

Alright everyone it is here! The night we have pumping up for over a month now BIGGER AND BETTER IS TONIGHT!

So this is what you need to do for tonight:
1. Bring a friend or 6.
2. Make sure you are here before 6:30pm!
3. Make sure everyone in your group is ready to talk to some strangers!
4. Eat a good dinner before you come because this could get intense!
5. Did i mention invite a couple friends?

Tonight has the makings of being the most fun night of the Century! So don't miss out my friends. Can't wait to see ya.

P.A.

1 More day until Bigger and Better

Man, I can not wait for tomorrow! Bigger and Better, oh my goodness. Its so much fun, and God is blessing us with awesome weather so there are no excuses unless you have a game or a practice that run late, but still no excuses for tomorrow because its all about trying to get as much stuff for pass it forward, and goodwill as we can! Its going to be so much stinking fun.

So again tomorrow night please be here as close to 6:30pm as possible because we need to make sure we are out of here so we can give as much time as we can to get a ton of cool stuff.

6:30pm - 8:30pm - Crystal Valley Youth Group Bigger and Better Night!

Be there!

P.A.

Bigger and Better

I can't wait to see what we bring back this coming Wednesday night! Bigger and Better is going to be so stinking awesome this year! We are going to have perfect weather, and a perfect time for you to invite your friends to come and have a ton of fun with our youth group.

So for those who might be clueless on what bigger and better is let me explain.

Bigger and better is a small group game where all the small groups will be given a single paper clip, then they are assigned a neighborhood in middlebury, and they all drive to that neighborhood and get back together as one group. Then they take the paper clip to a house and ask them if they can give them something bigger or better for this paper clip. Then whatever item they receive they head to the next neighbor and they ask them if they have anything bigger or better then the new item they have. At the end of the night who has the biggest or best item wins a pizza party!

So that is what we are doing this coming Wednesday night, its a time to get small groups together and hang out and have some time to have some fun together and make some good memories at youth group :)

Hope to see you here this Wednesday at 6:30pm.

P.A.

Movie Night

Hey there everyone, I just wanted to remind everyone that tomorrow night is our Movie Night! We will start at 8pm and we will wrap up probably around 10. We will have some discussion time after the movie inside our small groups and the parents will be meeting with me in the Sanctuary for like a 15 min wrap up from the movie.

So here are the Details 1 More time!

8:00pm - Start time
AT Crystal Valley
Bring any snacks you want to bring!
We will provide Popcorn and Drinks!

Can't wait to see ya!

Here is the Trailer for the movie!



P.A.

Wednesday Night Reflections

Hey there guys I am going to start putting some reflections from the night up here because I think once we leave we sometimes loose what we talked about and I want us to make sure we are fully getting what God is trying to download to our brains! So here we go!

- The guys got really into the balloon volleyball and I think we could go professional with a team!
- For those who haven't experienced what Zacchaeus experienced through Jesus Christ you are missing out on so much love and freedom!
- When push comes to shove what are you going to choose? Jesus or to be ashamed of him in front of your friends?
- Are you willing to stand up for the guy who took a bullet for you?
- Are you going to let a little girl put you in your place like Peter did?
- Are you willing to work to see Jesus in your life like Zacchaeus did?
- Whats that ONE thing that you think you can't let go of because you think that will make you look so weird to people.......
- God is longing to set you free from your past reputation are you willing to embrace HIS way to make you have a new reputation?

Youth Group Tonight!

Hey there everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful day today.

Tonight we got some pretty exciting things going down, we have some super creative games from David and Michelle tonight, then we are going to have a new way of doing announcements, and then we are going to be wrapping up our "Backpack" Series. We are going to be discussing reputations tonight! So you will not want to miss tonights youth group. 6:30pm - 8:30pm tonight right here at CVMC!

Bring a friend and your Bible tonight we are going to be dissecting another story from the Word!

Hope to see you tonight!

P.A.

The most fun week you can ever have

So this week starts the crazy end of September for the youth group. This week we end the "Backpack" Series on Wednesday, then we have the movie night Friday at 8pm here at CVMC, then Sunday night we have a big leaders meeting, then Next Wednesday is Bigger and Better. Holy Cow! Lots of awesome things.

So these next 2 Wednesday nights you will not want to miss. This Wednesday night we are talking about your reputation. We will be having some fun and craziness but we are going to be talking about what you are known for in your school. So Wednesday night is going to be a night of questions. Because we want to present you with a bunch of question to ask yourself because its so important to make sure your reputation is representing Jesus!

So come this Wednesday night and hang out with us! Its going to be really fun.

P.A.

Friendships and Relationships

Hey there everyone I hope your day is going well, my voice is still out so its kinda crappy but ohh well its still all good.

Last night was pretty stinking fun, I have never seen a more intense game of Chicken on the roof then I did last night! It was awesome. The Judges were relentless with their comments and it was awesome!

So for those of who couldn't make it last night we broke down a verse in Proverbs about friendship.

Proverbs 12:26 "A righteous man is cautious in his friendships, but the way of the wicked leads him astray"

We talked about being cautious with your friends and making sure you are checking for 3 things

1. Who those friends hang out with. Are they people who have a bad reputation or are they people that are good people who have good reputations. Because if you are hanging out with people who have bad reputations guess who is going to be grouped with them! YOU!
2. What do they talk about all the time. Is it their girlfriend or boyfriend, is how much they are getting away with at home, how much they cheat on homework and tests, what they can get away with at school. What is dominating the conversation when you are talking with them. Be listening for what they are talking about.
3. Do they up lift you or are they always bringing you down. You don't want to be around someone who is always down on themselves and others, because it will absorb you into that negativity, and will eventually becoming who you are.

Don't let your friends have a massive influence over you, Allow God to direct you in your decisions and the choices you are going to make!

Hope you all have a great day today!

P.A.

Sickness has overcome my body

Hey there everyone I am sorry I didn't update yesterday, I was on a couch all day long trying to sleep and stop puking. So today I am feeling a little bit better, I am at work trying to get some things changed around for tonight because I have no voice, with all my puking and stuff it took my voice away, and I can't talk anymore. So tonight we have a couple things planned differently tonight.

So tonight at 6:30 here at Crystal Valley Youth Group will be going down, we have some pretty cool things planned for tonight, I know the games and worship are going to be great! The message tonight we are going to be focusing on friends. We are going to be taking a different look at friends tonight then I think some of you are used to, so come ready to discuss about friends.

Hope to see you tonight at 6:30!

P.A.

Friendships!

Hey there everyone, I hope you are all having a wonderful Monday! I know my Monday is filled to the brim with craziness, but its good craziness.

So this coming Wednesday we have a packed youth group night for ya, We have some sweet games that our good Ted Graber and Wes Miller will be leading us in, and Worship Wednesday night is going to be totally different because of some things we have planned, so come out Wednesday night at 6:30 as we continue in our series "Backpack"

We are hitting the time of month where we are having a lot of things going down, so here is a little list of whats coming up:

1. This Friday is fireworks here at the church its going to be a great night to come over and watch the fireworks and hang out with your small groups. There will be food here and tons of other things to do so come on out at around 8pm (or come after the football game) and hang out with us.
2. September 24th is the movie night here at the Church! You should definitely come and watch a great movie with us that night! The movie is "To save a life" we have been showing previews every week at youth group and on Sunday morning so come and bring your parents if you want because all parents with youth group age students are allowed to come. And the best part is its FREE!
3. September 29th is our bigger and better night! We will be breaking into our small groups and heading out to different neighborhoods in Middlebury. We will arm you with a small paperclip and you will head to each house asking can you give me something bigger or better then this. After an hour or so you will have some pretty cool things! I can't wait to see what you guys come back with! 6:30 - 8:30, meet at the church and we will have all the transportation ready and waiting for ya!

Well I hope you all have a great Monday! We hope to see you on Wednesday night, praying for ya.

P.A.

Special Friday Edition

Hey there everyone, I am in the office today getting some work done for our Destination unknown trip coming up in November. Man this trip is going to be awesome. Be praying about this trip that God can draw us to the best deals, and the best time because this trip is going to be awesome! The place we are going is so stinking sweet, you will not want to miss it.

This trip is for High school only! So High school students we are thinking of you while we are planning it so don't think that we are going to be doing boring things because half the things I have in mind for this trip, I can't wait to do.

So Sign ups will be soon, the main thing this meeting is going to be addressing is Cost, and how to raise some funds so you don't have an outrageous amount! So be looking for sign ups soon!

Have a great weekend everyone, I won't be at the football game tonight we have a wedding to be at tonight. I will be out of town tomorrow night with some guys from the youth group at the Sox game so if you need to get a hold of me text me because I won't be answering my phone tomorrow night while I am at the hallow grounds of U.S. Cellular field.

P.A.

Straight up Talking!

Hey there everyone, hope you are all having a great Thursday so far. I know I am pretty tired from last night but still here at the office working away for this Sunday and all the cool things that are coming down the pipe!

It was interesting this morning when I came to church and had a couple messages on my phone from different people asking me why we are talking about such hard things at youth group. It was great because my answer was really easy, and it was "because our kids need to hear the church talk straight up about the issues these students are dealing with" And we had one person want to start attending because they need to hear those things they said.

I want everyone to realize that we aren't going to run this youth ministry like a cookie cutter youth ministry. We have insane amounts of love for each of the students that come into our ministry, and I hope and pray that every single one of them find Jesus in a personal way, but we aren't going to back down from the hard issues students are facing in the schools today. I hope and pray that us being honest about what we are seeing at Northridge, Concord, Goshen, and all the other schools isn't making people upset, but making people think about what they can do to be a light in their school (See Matthew 5:13)

So my Web challenge for those reading this is to take a stand, and be a light, an unquenchable light for Christ today at school and for your family. Follow after God's heart, and move towards Him in a new and powerful way today!

P.A.

Backpack Pt 2

Hey there everyone I hope things are going well for ya'll. I know for me I am wide awake and rocking and ready for tonight!

Here is the skinny for tonight

1. Youth starts at 6:30, I know its a common to show up at 6:35 but our starting time is 6:30.
2. Bring your Bible, a Pen, and a Notebook for tonight!
3. Bring a couple hundred friends tonight! We have plenty of room for a couple thousand students tonight (Just kidding we really only have room for about 3oo students, but if you want to invite all of Northridge, Goshen, Concord,Fairfield, Betheny, and Central I am down)
4. Take some time to pray before coming tonight. Tonight can be a very powerful night!
5. We are done at 8:30!

So I hope to see you all tonight, Its going to be stinking amazing!

P.A.

The longest tuesday of all time!

Hey there everyone, so a little bit about my night last night. We have a dog that is currently pregnant and is about to give birth in a week. And her belly is really big and she throws up everything! So last night at 4am she starts throwing up. Gross. So Esther and I were up at 4am with the puppies. Esther did an amazing job with them, she helped them out and got them calmed down. She is awesome!

So enough about how stinking tired I am today :-)

So Tomorrow night we have some awesome things planned for you! We have a couple special games planned by Mark Metcalfe, and if you have been here before when Mark has done games you know they are amazing. Doug Edlund is going to be rocking the Emcee for us tomorrow night, and the worship band is going to lead us into the throne room of Christ with Worship. Tomorrow night is going to be powerful.

We are going to be continuing our series called "Backpack" tomorrow night we will be talking about shame and guilt and I have a story that involves cookies tomorrow night that is pretty hilarious. So come and hear that story tomorrow night, but even from last week we have had a score of students come to know freedom in Christ from confessing their sins from last week, and if you could talk with them about the healing power of confession its insane! So come tomorrow night ready to hear from God, and be prepared for a very powerful night!

Can't wait to see you tomorrow night!

P.A.

Labor Day

Hey there everyone, I hope you are all having a wonderful day! I know I am I got to sleep in a little bit, play with the puppies and now I am sitting in my office working feverishly to make sure I can get home to be with my wife on this awesome national holiday :)

So a quick little blurb about whats going down this week,
1. This Wednesday we are continuing with our backpack series, man we have some awesome break through already with students confessing and being freed by the Holy Spirit. This week we are going to be talking about Guilt and Shame, man this is a hard topic because this brings up past hurts and wounds. So please come ready this Wednesday by praying that God would move in your heart and that God would help you work past some of the bad decisions we might have made!

2. I have been sending out Texts almost everyday this week with verses and devotions so if you aren't getting those please text me with your name in the text so we can put you in the loop for those! They are a great way to start your day, and continue thinking about God in a new and exciting way! So text me at 574-370-2094 if you aren't getting those and I will make sure you do!

3. September 17th is our fireworks night! Make sure you are planning on being here to hang out and be with a ton of people while we watch the fireworks! Its going to be amazing! They are honestly like right about us! Its pretty cool! So come out at 8pm that Friday night, or right after the home football game!

I hope you all have an awesome day today! Eat some grilled chicken, or burgers today! Because today is like the perfect day to do that. Hope you all have a great week, and we hope to see you on Wednesday.

P.A.

What a great night

Hey there everyone, man what a great night last night. With the Baby food roulette, and then the really gross story about the bathroom :) (Those who were there last night know what I am talking about)

Man it was a great night as well because I know after the message I know there were some students who were really wrestling with their spiritual backpack. Let me encourage you again to look inside your spiritual backpack and be honest about what is in there. Is it anger, hurt, shame, guilt, or maybe something else, but the only way you will experience true freedom in that is if you leave that stuff at the foot of the cross and walk away from it!

We read in Hebrews 12 last night about the sin that easily entangles, trips us up, and also weighs us down. Last night there some students who got to experience true freedom because of some confessions they made. It was amazing to me to see their eyes light up when they felt the weight of that stuff roll off their back and they could experience that forgiveness that only God can bring!

So for those who weren't here man we missed ya! For those who were there man what a great time, hope to see you next week! Bring a friend with ya so they can experience what ya'll experienced last night.

I am off the next couple days riding a tandem bike with my wife at the midwest Tandem Rally. So I will be back on Sunday to see ya'll

Have a great weekend everyone!

P.A.

Funniest night ever

So tonight has the potential to be hilarious, if you weren't going to come tonight, believe me you need to. We have so many awesome games that we are going to be playing its going to be insane! We have thee funniest video's to show you tonight, and the message tonight has a story inside of it that is thee funniest thing I have heard in a long long time! So tonight is not the night to miss.

God has some awesome stuff planned as well! We are starting a new series called "Backpack" Its going to be pretty awesome, tonight we are talking about our spiritual backpack. So you will need to bring tonight a Bible, a Pen, and a Journal to write in. Also tonight we will be passing out the September Calendar! So there are lots of reasons to be there tonight!

I can't wait to see you all tonight, so many awesome things are coming down the pipe!

Be praying for God to move in ways that we have never seen!

Take a look at Monday's post to see the things you need to bring and be prepared for!

See ya tonight at 6:30!

P.A.

September Calendar

Hey guys! The September calendar is available for download. Just click on the following link for the PDF file & print it off:

CVMC Youth September Calendar

New Series

Hey there everyone, I hope things are going well for everyone. I know for me I feel like we are finally in the swing of things again. With School, and schedules and all that fun stuff.

So this coming Wednesday we are going to be starting a different series called "Backpack" I am super and ubber excited for this series. I think God is going to do some crazy awesome things! So this what you will need for this coming Wednesday night!

1. A bible!
2. A notebook
3. A Pen
4. A friend
5. Prayer......Ask a couple people to pray for you while you are at Youth Group this Wednesday night! It's pretty cool to see what God can do when people are praying for ya!

I hope you guys are rocking and ready to go this coming Wednesday! I am super pumped, also please make sure we have your cell numbers because starting Wednesday morning I am going to be sending little devotions to your phone to encourage you every single day this month! Hope you guys have a great week!

See you Wednesday!

P.A.

Crazy night

Hey there everyone I hope things are going well for ya today, sorry this update is coming so late in the afternoon but I have been extremely busy today!

So last night was pretty cool, the games with trying balance eggs on trays, and trying to flip ping balls into a waste basket was so much fun to watch and see!

Great job to our 7th grade guys for winning last night it was so stinking awesome!

Last night we finished up our series called "Eyes wide open" we got to look at the death of Jesus and realize that there is so much more to Jesus life then just him living and dying! He did so much for us and He is standing in front of us with His pierced hands and side wanting us to believe and make a step of faith to believe and obey His word. Last night was pretty awesome, because I know for some of our students it really hit home.

Our next series we are going to be diving into is a series called "backpack" and its going to be dealing with what we are carrying around. Some of our students are carrying around so much hurt and baggage from past relationships, parents, and so much more that we don't even what that is yet. So this next series is all about Freedom! Being free from all the crap and the hurt that this world brings.

So join us for some fun next Wednesday!

Can't wait to see you guys next week!

P.A.

Thomas and the nail pierced hands

Hey there guys! Thats what we are going to be talking about tonight, you guys need to be here tonight, I understand if you have practices, events, and even some homework by know, but if you can make it before 7:30 tonight do it! We have some really cool things we are going to be doing tonight. It's not going to be a normal night tonight.

We have some really cool things cooked up for ya tonight. So if you can't be here till 7:30 thats cool but try to be here before then. Everyone else needs to be there at 6:30 because we are starting a small group competition tonight that I promise you wont want to miss. Lots of amazing games, and cool things we are going to be doing tonight!

We are praying that God does some amazing stuff tonight! So tonight before you come do a couple things:
1. Text a couple friends to come with ya
2. Grab your bible!
3. Bring Adam a Taco :)
4. Take some time to pray for tonight and your leaders.

Can't wait to see all of you tonight!

P.A.

1 more day until Youth Group!

Hey there everyone, this post will be a little bit shorter because I am really stinking busy today I just wanted to remind you that tomorrow is going to be flipp'n sweet!

We are going to be doing things a little but different tomorrow and I am so pumped for that. So come ready to worship God with everything you have, and start a sweet small group competition! It's going to be awesome.

So tomorrow from 6:30 - 8:30 be here at Crystal Valley, and bring a couple friends with ya. Tomorrow is going to be that much fun that we need other people to come along for the ride!

Hope to see you tomorrow!

Here is a little funny video to get you through the day!



P.A.

Monday Monday

Hey there everyone I hope things are going awesome for you already. I know for me I couldn't sleep that well last night so I was up at 4am thinking and praying for our students. It was a long night mainly because I couldn't fall asleep till well after Midnight so I am running on some coca-cola, and Christ this morning :)

Anyways, this coming Wednesday is the Finally to our Eyes wide open series and I hope you can join us, its going to be powerful because I know God has got some amazing things planned!
We are going to be answering hard questions about Jesus Christ. Like was Jesus God and man at the same time, and if so how is that possible, or If Jesus rose from the grave in 3 days, where was he those 3 days? Those are all great questions and we are going to try to tackle them as best as possible. So come on out Wednesday night at 6:30, and stay till 8:30 we will have some really funny minute to win it games this coming Wednesday and also some great worship and prayer time as well.

So come on out!

Finally I want to say one last thing, we understand as a youth ministry that this school year is going to be hard for some of you out there, there have been life changes in a lot of your lives, but please if it gets hard, get a hold of us, we want to help, we want to pray with you and come along side of you this year! So please don't bottle that stuff up come and talk to us about it. Any of leaders here at CVMC would love to sit and talk with you. We are already praying for you, and asking God to love you in extraordinary ways. We love you guys as a family!

Have a great week.

P.A.