Powerful song

Hey there everyone, I know for some of you, you can't make it tonight so here is a little devotional you can do tonight possibly before you head to bed.

Watch this video,




I would highly recommend you sitting down sometime this week, WITH YOUR PARENTS PERMISSION, and watch some of the passion of the Christ. This week is Holy week, we are celebrating this Sunday, Easter, this is the day we celebrate Jesus Christ raising from the dead and conquering sin. This is one of the most important things did! Jesus Christ dying on the Cross for us, and then 3 days later raising from the dead and conquering sin. He restored our relationship back with God the Father.

Take some time tonight and read Matthew 27 and on. Understand that Jesus Christ loved you enough to die for you!

P.A.

Blam!

Hey there everyone! So tonight is the night, Small Group outings. A night where we take a night and connect outside the church walls. I really hope that tonight is a good night for everyone, where people can go and eat and chill with one another.

So again tonight we have small group outings meaning that we don't have formal youth group. Most of the groups are meeting somewhere else, and then heading out so please contact your small group leader if you don't know whats going on for tonight. If you any questions please contact me on my cell 574-370-2094 or email me at cvmcadam@verizon.net. If you still show up and have no idea whats going on I am going to be posting all the small group leaders cell phone on the door so you can call them and find out where they are at!

For my 2 small groups here the info!

7th grade men - We are meeting at the church at 6:30pm and heading to Cici's pizza so please bring 5$ to cover some of the cost. We will be back at 8:30pm! Just like a normal youth night!

8th grade and Freshmen - Our Small group outing will be after Spring break, we are doing an overnighter with airsoft guns and a ton of fun! So we will plan that all out when we meet next time. So take a night off and rest!

Have an awesome night tonight everyone!

P.A.

Tuesday morning

Hey there everyone! I hope you are all having a super-duper day. Not just a super day but a super-duper day, there is a difference :)

Anyways I have a couple things I want to get out to ya information wise.

1. This week is small group outings, meaning, that we don't have normal youth group at the church this Wednesday night. All the small groups are going off campus, so if you haven't made it for a couple weeks you need to contact your small group leader, or you can email me at cvmcadam@verizon.net and I can give you their number.

2. For the 7th grader guys we are heading to Cici's pizza at 6:30, we are meeting at the church at 6:30 and we will be back at 8:30 just like normal. Bring 5$ and get ready for the pizza eating contest!

3. 8th Grade guys and Freshemen guys your small group outing is happening after spring break because alot of people wont be here this coming Friday. So this week you have a week where you can spend with your family or doing your own time with God. I would highly recommend spending some time in the bible, read the book of judges for a little bit its pretty awesome!

For all the parents out there if you could continue to pray for our youth ministry, we have so many awesome students coming to our Wednesday night program that we are just wanting God to continue to move and be present in our meetings! So please continue to pray for our ministry!

Have an awesome rest of the day!

P.A.

Small Group Outings

Hey there everyone this week is small group outings so please remember that we will not be having normal youth group this week!

Please contact your small group leader to make sure you know what you are doing. If you have any questions please email me at cvmcadam@verizon.net I can let you know what your group is doing. But please remember that this week is going to be a little different.

7th Grade Guys we are going to CiCi's pizza to have a pizza eating contest. So come to the church at 6:30pm just like normal, and we will be back at 8:30 just like a normal Wednesday

8th-freshmen guys - We are having our small group outing after Spring break since so many of you are going to be gone this week. Can't wait for our overnighter! It will be glorious!

Here are some videos for ya to take in today. Take some time to pray for the youth group today!

Friends and Memories

So last night we finished up our series called "Be different" We tackled the issue of friends and in case you missed it this is what we went over.

1. Create Memories with your friends that matter
- Jesus had an insane amount of memories with His disciples. Some amazing miracles, some were Jesus calling the disciples out on stuff.
- So with your friends make memories that actually matter, we went through probably 20 memories that we had as a youth group. It was alot of fun.
2. Put in the work
- Being a friend takes work
- Jesus got down and washed the disciples feet. He put in the work of serving them
- Work at being different in your friendships. Spend time talking but most importantly spend time praying together. That will create a bond that can't be broken
3. Be an example
- John 13:15
- Be the example that Christ set to your friends.
- That is the ultimate way of being different with your friends.

I hope you all have an awesome day! We missed all of you who weren't there with us last night. We prayed for you, if you were sick, tired, or were swamped with homework. We hope that you all have an amazing day today!

Reminder Next week is Small group outings!

P.A.

Boom! Its Wednesday

Hey there everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful Wednesday so far! I am so excited about tonight because we have an insanely awesome night planned for everyone. Make sure you come early because we have somethings we are doing right off the bat you won't want to miss. So for all of you who like to come 15 mins late, don't tonight because we have some wicked cool things for you all tonight.

Bring your bibles and pens tonight because we are going to looking at John 13 tonight and how Jesus was a great friend to those He was around, and how we can share the love of Jesus Christ with our friends with 3 things that I have pulled out of this passage so if you want to read the John 13:1 - 17 its insane the things Jesus tells us to do, but we are all about living differently.

Hence the "Be different" message series :)

I can't wait to see you all tonight. We have lots of things tonight so please come early!

Be praying for tonight!

P.A.

Be different "Friends"

Tomorrow we are going to be discussing friends and how you can be different with friends, and when I say discussion I mean I have a couple questions I want to discuss with everyone. So come ready to discuss.

Here is a little video for ya today!

Think about it

“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”
Romans 7:14-20

Series Finale

So this coming Wednesday night is our Series finale in our be different series. I am really excited because we are going to be talking about be different with your friends. Now this is why I saved this one for the last one.
1. Because these are the 2nd most influential people a teenagers life
2. Because it so hard to be the same person with your friends and Church
3. Because this is the your true mission field that I believe God is calling us too.

So this Wednesday we are going to be discussing this things, and challenging you all to step up with your friends and be different. We have invited you all to be different with your dating, parents, with your time, and now with your friends. Its going to be stinking fun this Wednesday, I hope you can all make it because this series has been fun, but has also been challenging because I know the first 3 Wednesday have been challenging. Because being different in your dating is hard when everyone around you dates a certain way, and being different with your Parents is always hard because our culture tells you they are stupid and its not cool to have a good relationship with your parents, and being different with your time is really hard and I confessed that I am not good at this one.

So this week we are going to be wrapping up our series with being different with your friends.

Can't wait to see you all.

Please be praying for the youth group!

P.A.

Simplify your life

Hey there everyone, Welcome to one of the greatest days of all time. March Madness! It begins today, so I hope all of you have a great time at school and for those who are out of school I hope you enjoy the benefits of the inter-web and watch some amazing games!

Anywho, last night was a pretty fun night, because we got to talk about how to recognize that your life is out of control, and then some steps to slow that life down to know who God really is. I hope that if you took one of those little papers that said "Be still and know that I am God" I hope that you really honestly look at that and try your best to be still.

Just a little reminder that in 2 weeks we will be having our small group outings! Thats March 31st!

Also keep 2 of our students in your prayers today, Zach Smucker and Shawne Reigsecker. Zach is sick and isn't having a fun time with that, and Shawne is having surgery to take her wisdom teeth out which one of them is infected so its a little bit more then a normal surgery so please be praying for them today!

Have an amazing day today!

P.A.

Wowwzers

Hey there everyone! Sorry I didn't get a post up yesterday I was gone most of the day with people, and seeing students. So I will make up with it today!

So tonight we are going to be talking about your relationship with Time! It's going to be pretty interesting because I have been doing some pretty intense research on this. Time affects everything we do, its so insane. Some people would even say that time is more valuable then money.

So tonight we are going to be discussing time, and how if we don't use it wisely then we will wear out and nothing will get done what so ever!

Jesus was awesome with his time. He had time to be influential, to have friends, to pray, to do miracles, to rest with His father. Tons of things. So we are going to talking about those things tonight.

I can't wait to see ya tonight!

P.A.

Brackets are out!

Hey there everyone I hope your weekend went well, and you are ready for one of the greatest weeks of all time! March Madness starts this week. So honestly Thursday and Friday I will be planted firmly in front of the projectors in the sanctuary. I have done this the past 3 years, where I gather various foods, get a table and spread out my work and watch basketball all afternoon, while working when they switch to a game that is a blow out! I am so excited for this thursday and Friday.

Anywho! This coming Wednesday is going to be pretty awesome, we have some new games we are going to participating in, also while digging deep into our series called "Be different" This week has a different feel to it. We are going to be tackling this issue "life" so this title for this week is "Be different with your life"

We are going to be talking about how there is an enemy out there who wants to destroy you, but there is a God out there who wants to love you and have an honest relationship with you. So we are going to give you some practical tips on how to be totally different with your life decisions.

Can't wait to see you all here on Wednesday!

** Side Note **
Please continue to be praying for the student ministry we have a lot of events coming up that need prayer, and always continue to pray for the Youth staff. Please Please Please pray for our Youth Group! :)

P.A.

Special Friday Edition

What up everyone! I hope you are all having an awesome Friday so far. I know I am.

My wife had to wake up early and go to work, and then since she was up the puppies got up and wanted to play and bark, so on my day off I was up at 7:00am hungry, and wanting to punch 2 small shitzu puppies in the head. So my day is awesome.

Anyways, enough about my awesome morning, so I am in my office today catching up on some stuff and planning somethings for Sunday. I am teaching the 4th - 6th graders this Sunday during 2nd service and they are learning about being a servant like Christ was a servant in placing himself last. As I was planning some stuff to do with them, it hit me. My life is all about me sometimes, well probably most of the time if I want to be really honest. Its crazy to me how insanely hard it is to put others first and yourself second, even when it benefits the other person like crazy.

So my goal for today is to put other people first and myself second and I am praying that I get the opportunity to do that to someone today, now this issue is that God is going to place something like that in my life, and I am going to have to choose to love and not be selfish.

I invite you to pray that for today or even for tomorrow. Lets put other people first, and take us out of the picture and just serve out of love.

P.A.

Thursday = Tired

Man so last night was awesome! I was so excited to see a bunch of you students go up front and write on the rocks of giving stuff up for Christ, and man when I was looking through those rocks some of you guys are dealing with some craziness in your life. So after this smaller post I am going to post at the bottom of this some prayer tips for you guys.

So I hope last night was for some people that need a little awakening about your parents. I know for some of you that its really hard for some of you to even talk to your parents let alone honor and obey them but remember a couple things.

1. It's going to be hard
2. You can make it through this!
3. Seriously, you can make it through it!

I can't tell you how much I love you guys, and that I want the best for each and every one of you. God has so many cool things in store for you, but having a good relationship with your parents needs to be a top priority in your life. Check out Eph 6:1-3. It explains it the best right there. Also look at Proverbs 20:20 Its pretty insane.

3 practical things you can do with your parents starting today

1. Open Communication
2. Honesty
3. Do your part in the relationship!

I hope last night helped you out!

Here are some tips on prayer!

The Examen: This is a cool ancient form of prayer that asks you to think back over the last week or month. Let you mind wander through the following questions as you pray: Thinking back over the recent past, focus on the moments when you were most grateful and the moments when you were least grateful. What were they? Which moments did you give and receive God's love the most? When did you give and receive love the least?When you were paying the most attention to the love of God in the world? When were you paying the least attention? Finish by thanking God for the gift of today and ask for guidance in being more open to God’s presence in your daily life.

Pray Scripture. Pick up a Bible and start reading. Select a verse such as "Truly, I say to you,as you did it to one of the least of these,my brethren,you did it to me" and turn it into a prayer: "God help me to to reach out to the least of these in my world and to treat them as your beloved children." Or select a psalm as an inspiration for prayer. Try taking the Lord's prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) and write your own translation in a way that reflects your life and needs.

Be quiet. If prayer is a conversation, then you also need to listen in silence. Simply sit in silence, perhaps close your eyes, and see what comes to you.

Give Thanks: Using paper or a journal, make a word cloud or list of all the things in your life or in the world for which you are thankful. If you are feeling artistic, doodle images of all the things you are thankful for today.

Repeat a word or phrase: Chanting or repeating a mantra over and over can focus your thoughts and free you mind to be open to new things. Pick a word to say slowly and repeatedly to yourself quietly (or in your thoughts) such as love, peace, life, or perhaps the name of someone or something important to you. You could also choose a phrase such as “Jesus, be with me” or “God so loves the world” or “Open my mind, open my heart,”

Ask Questions. What are the big questions of life you’d like answers to today? You know--the ones like “Why is there suffering in the world?” Spend some time just asking those questions, one after another, offering them to God and see what happens.

Imagine. Close your eyes for awhile and imagine the world as God would have it be – not as it is. What do you see? How is that world different from the one we live in today? Now imagine yourself as part of that vision, helping to make it come true. What are you doing? How is God calling you to be part of bringing that vision to reality in your own little corner of the world?

Walk the Labyrinth. Sit in a quiet place and take time to slowly trace your finger along the path of the labyrinth, all the way to the center and the slowly back out. Even better, use a finger of your non-dominant hand. As you move along the path, spend time thinking about your journey of faith, the journey of your life, all the people you have met, the things you have done, the problems you have overcome, the challenges you still face, and focus on where you have encountered God along the way.

P.A.

Be different

Hey there everyone, hope you are having an awesome day. I am so excited for tonight we have some awesome games we are going to be playing, the worship set is killer, and I am excited for what we are going to be discussing tonight.

Tonight has the makings of being awesome! So tonight you need to make sure you bring your bible, and a Pen because we have a lot of verses we are going to be going through so you can mark, and jot little notes inside your bible about different verses so when you read them again you remember little things we talk about tonight! So bring your bible tonight because we are going to be going crazy with bible readings tonight!

So tonight come and learn about parents and we are going to give you 4 things to drive your parents crazy with, because you have the opportunity to choose some crazy awesome things to bless your parents and I guarantee that your parents will not know what to do!

Can't wait to see ya tonight!

P.A.

Be different "Parents"

So this coming Wednesday (Tomorrow) we are going to be talking about "Being Different with your Parents"

Now I know that some of you are reading this thinking well I don't want to come and talk about my parents because my parents are stupid. Well you know what your parents might be stupid but you are still commanded by God to honor them and obey them. Which is insane I know, but don't worry we are going to be talking about that tomorrow night, believe me we are going to cover a bunch of stuff tomorrow night. So come ready with a bible and a Pen!

We are also going to be playing some sweet games, we are actually going to be playing a game we have never played before, and its an old school game. It will be glorious :)

We have got some really awesome stuff planned for worship too, we have a new guitar player playing with us this Wednesday so come and rock out with us!

For those who are praying for the youth group keep us in your prayers this week we have a bunch of things that are coming up that need prayer so please keep us in your prayers this week! Thanks.

P.A.

If you are in a Spiritual Funk........

Here are some idea's you can use if you are in a spiritual funk.

-Pray out loud.
-Write your prayer out.
-Read your Bible out loud. Start here.
-Apologize to someone. Even if it’s not primarily your fault.
-Talk to someone you trust. If you don’t have someone, hire a professional.
-Rest.
-Exercise.
-Start eating better.
-Drive around listening to a sermon.
-Turn up some worship music really loud. Shut the door. Sing along.
-Go back and do the thing you know you were supposed to do.
-Get organized.
-Repent.
-Encourage somebody who would never expect it.
-Get back in church. Serve somewhere.
-Quit complaining.
-Go on a date with your wife.
-Tell somebody thank you.
-Give some money away.
-Call on the name of Jesus.
-Remember how far He’s brought you.
-Realize that He’ll never ever leave you.

Spring is almost here

I can't wait for spring to come! I hate snow, and colds, and everything that comes with winter. I think I might live in the wrong state :)

Anyways this week for youth group we are going to be continuing with our "Be different" series, and this week we are going to be tackling a topic that is going to hit home for some people. We are going to be talking about being different with your parents. Now I understand that when ever we bring up this subject people get really uncomfortable, but the reason people are is because most people just are turning away from really serious situations that they need to deal with or at least start praying about.

So this week we are going to tackle that situation. We are going to look at different ways to manage different situations, and you can prepare yourself for what might come.

So we hope that you guys can come this Wednesday! Can't wait to see you all.

P.A.

Identity

So last night I got the opportunity to serve Christ with my friend Chris Freemen who is an amazing youth pastor here in Tipp, Ohio. God is moving in his ministry here and its going very well.

Anyways I am here speaking at this retreat and I got the amazing opportunity to give the Gospel message last night, and those nights are always fun, but somewhat stressful because you are delivering the greatest message on earth. So I worked through some stuff that God was putting on my heart before I went out there, and then God broke open the flood gates last night, and 12 students gave their lives to Christ for the first time, and many others gave their lives back to Christ in a commitment to stay on the path less travel.

God is amazing and still alive! We saw that first hand last night.

Keep praying for Andrew and I today as we travel home later tonight. We still have a lot of stuff to do here, God is amazing!

P.A.

Weekend in Ginghamsburg

So this weekend I am speaking at a church in Tipp, Ohio at a Junior high identity retreat. It's amazing to me when I go to other youth groups and see other youth pastors. I love being able to talk with other youth pastors about what they are seeing in their church's and their youth groups.

It was interesting that the youth pastor here was telling me that his students have great hearts but some of them have grown up in churches and need a little spark to make Jesus become real again to them. So I am taking some time now to pray and update the blog for you guys back in Middlebury to be praying for this conference. I honestly believe that God wants to do something tonight here in Ohio, I know He is yearning to see hearts turn back to Him. So for those who are reading this please pray for the Spirit will move and Jesus would show up here like He never has before!

I also believe that our students, parents, and pastors need that sometime. We need a spark of Jesus to move us back to where we need to be at. I pray that for our students and leaders back at CVMC. That we can move back to where God wants us or needs us, or for those who are on the right track to stay on that track and be committed to that cause!

I hope you all have a great weekend. I will see you on Sunday.

P.A.

Eph 5:1

Hey there everyone I am hoping you are having an awesome day!

Thank you so much for singing to me last night and having Ice cream with me it was awesome so thank you so much to my leaders, and to the all the students!

So last night we had a great time, played the game called Candy elevator, and then put chopped up Cereal Boxes together, and then played the Dirty Jobs powerpoint game! It was wicked awesome. Well done 7th and 8th grade ladies for dominating that game!

One of the main things that I want us to remember as we embark on dating relationships is that eph 5:1 needs to be at the front of your mind in everything that you do inside your dating relationships.

"Be imitators of Christ"

When you start dating you need to tell that person that this is where you hold the line and that is that I want to be an imitator of Christ Jesus! Guys especially when you have nailed down the things we talked about in the series "Things you need to know before you date" Which were

1. Have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!
2. Have your identity in Jesus Christ so the girl doesn't become your identity
3. Understand how to pursue a girl in Godly ways!

The first thing you need to do guys is when you want to start dating a girl is that you sit down with her father first, and then talk with her about how you are going to keep Eph 5:1 number 1 in your relationship!

Ladies in the relationship you need to help the guy keep Eph 5:1 at the front of your relationship. Ladies the guys need to lead in the relationship and if you are with a guy who isn't leading in that area, that is a major Red Flag! If you are the one dragging him to youth group, to church, or even to talk about God. You need to honestly evaluate that relationship!

We drop knowledge on Wednesday nights because we love ya!

Have an amazing weekend. Pray for me this weekend I am speaking at a conference in Dayton, OH this weekend. Thanks!

P.A.

Tonight's gonna be B-A-N-A-N-A's

Tonight is going to be so stinking fun, we have some new games we are going to rock out, and we have some new faces up for worship tonight. Plus we are going to be starting a new series on being different in your relationships. So tonight we are going to be tackling dating. We are going to be speaking to those in dating relationships and for those who aren't in dating relationships this is good stuff to learn before you start dating someone so this message is for everyone tonight!

So come tonight to hang out with some awesome people, worship a God who is worthy of being praised, listen how to have Godly dating relationships, and hang out with some people who honestly and truly care about you.

I hope you guys choose to come and hang out with us tonight.

Hope to see you tonight!

P.A.

What up Peoples!

Hey there everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely day. So I am thinking that it is march now and hopefully by the end of the month it will be slowly getting back up into the 40's and 50's that it would be ok to start wearing the flip flops everyday. So if you start seeing me where my flip flops again its because I am done with winter and have moved on to spring :)

Anyways this coming Wednesday night (tomorrow) is going to rock. We have some rocking new games we are going to play, a really funny game that people will laugh at. Also we are going to teaching a new song in worship tomorrow night called "Freedom is here" a great song, listen to it on YouTube before ya come its pretty awesome. Then we are starting a new series called "Be Different" we are going to be talking tomorrow night about being different in your dating! Its gonna rock something hard to the core. I am really excited about it all. We are going to give you some alternatives to a dinner and a movie that you can use while dating to make sure you are dating in a Godly way, and not in ways to get into temptation but a way to keep God at the center of your dating relationships.

So tomorrow is going to rock somethings awesome.

Also for those parents who are reading this and students for that matter, please be praying for our youth ministry. Its growing and growing fast and we are in need of much prayer. So please continue to be praying for our ministry. Thanks!

Talk with you tomorrow.

P.S. - I will be speaking tomorrow at Concord's FCA so if you are going to be at concord tomorrow come hit up the FCA event and I will be there.

P.A.

Be different

So we got the silver medal in hockey, I guess thats still pretty good because hockey in our country is like the 4th or 5th most popular sport in our land, and in Canada its like well number 1. So I say we did pretty good :)

This coming Wednesday we are starting a new series called "Be Different" and we are going to be talking about common relationships we have with people and how we can be different with those relationships.

Week 1 we are going to be talking about dating. During the Purity Series we never talked about "Dating" because we were really hitting the things you need to know before you date. But this week we are going to talk about how you can be different in your dating relationships. We are going to be giving you a ton of practical things to do when you are dating, because I always tell you don't watch movies together because its a temptation well I will be giving you some other idea's to help us be different then this world in our dating relationships.

The other weeks we are going to be talking about other key relationships in your life like, Parents, Siblings, Friends. Its going to be stinking awesome.

I hope you can all join us this Wednesday for some new fun games, some worship we can dance too, and then some great new idea's about dating and be different!

See you Wednesday

P.A.