Last night

Hey there everyone I hope that last night was a memorable night for you! It was a hard message to talk about and I know it was to hear because its never fun thinking about sin and how it impacts our lives, but we have to face it and look to God to help us through it.

Keep praying for those students who took a stand last night and came forward, and also pray for those who stayed seated but prayed where they were at. This is the time to take a stand and move forward in your relationship with Christ.

Come next week because we have Cornerstone University coming in and we are wrapping up our series on lesser known Characters in the Bible. Next week we are talking about one of King davids Sons that went insane!

Here are some notes from last night:

**In Judges Men where their own law, so they did what they wanted

1. Adoni Bezek
- He was the man
- He was a warrior
- He was the King
- He was a JERK!

** He cut off the toes and thumbs of all the kings that he captured and made them eat bread scraps from under his table!

" What goes around comes around"

2. Doing your own thing is a slippery slope!

- Spiritual Law - We are one day going to meet our Sin.

- The stories of Jacob lying to his father, then his son lying to him!
- The story of Jonah!
- The story of the mail lady

3. What you Sow, You shall reap!

- You can't sow horrible things then pray for a crop failure!

The good News: If you sow good things for God, then you will reap an amazing blessing!

- Galatians 6: 7 - 10

I hope everyone has an awesome day!

P.A.

Y to the Outh Group!

Tonight is the night it is all going down!

Youth Group tonight at 6:30! Do not be late we have a COUPLE funny movies to show you tonight, its going to be hilarious. Also we have awesome games to play. For those who like Techno tonight is the night for you! (Jones Men, Quinn, 6th Grade men, High school ladies)

I promise that tonight will rock your socks off.

Remember that tonight you need to bring 3 things with you!
1. A bible. - Your own bible so you mark in it!
2. A Pen - To Mark in your bible and to write in your......
3. Journal/ folder - to take notes so you can remember what we talked about!

Bring those 3 things tonight and you will be set for an exceptional Youth Group time.

Also tonight before you come take some time to prayer for your time tonight with God! God has some amazing things He wants to tell us. I also believe that alot of us need to hear this message tonight (including me, I am way far away from perfect) so tonight before you come lets take some time to pray and get our hearts open and ready for God to come!

Also make sure you tell your friends to check this site! We want everyone to read this before they come tonight so make sure that after you read this text a friend who comes to youth group!

For the parents: Again we are still trying to get the message up on here but we are still having issues with the files being too large for Blogger to hold. I am looking at seeing if I can down load them to youtube in like 3 parts then put those up here. We are still trying.

Hope to see you all tonight!

P.A.

Hey there everyone! I hope that your day is going amazing. Its kind of a blah day out with the rain. But Tomorrow is gonna be sunny with a chance of awesomeness because its Wednesday and Wednesday means Youth Group!

So tomorrow we are going to be diving into Judges 1 and talk about adoni Bezzek! We are going to be looking at what goes around comes around. It's going to be awesome because this guy was insane! INSANE! He chopped body parts off people. You will not want to miss this tomorrow. Also we are going to be dancing alittle bit in some worship, and playing some sweet games with TECHNO!

Don't miss tomorrow night it will rock your socks off!

Also, when you come tomorrow, bring a bible and a journal to write things down in. We want to step up our game, no shame in our game brothers and sisters.

We hope to see you all tomorrow!

P.A.

This coming Wednesday

Hey there everyone!

So this coming Wednesday we are going to be diving into another story in the Old Testament that I believe will be a huge change in how we think about sin. I am not going to lie this message on Wednesday night is going to be a little deep so come ready to dig deep my friends!

This Wednesday please bring your own bible, and also a journal to take notes on. Remember we are stepping our game. We don't want shame in our game. We want to go deeper in our times together and I believe that we can do some awesome things if we all dig deep.

Now listen even though we are going deeper during our message that doesn't mean we aren't going to be having tons of fun while we do it ok! We are going to be playing some awesome games, and the worship is going to be fun. We will be doing some dancing again Wednesday night for some worship! So come ready to be blown away by laughing and also by our God!

Please take some time to be praying for this Wednesday.

Thanks guys!

P.A.

A tribute to one of the greatest video games of all time I hope you all enjoy! We used to play this game all the time in college! Amazingness

I love this weather!

Hey there everyone! I hope you are all having an amazing start to your weekend.

This weekend I know is packed for a lot of you guys with sports, and family but if you think about taking some time to rest and really be aware of how God has blessed you. Take some time and slow things down this week and notice a small little detail about your life that God has blessed you with.

This morning I tried to slow and just notice how amazing open fields are. I got up a little early this morning and drove to my meeting but then I kept going and pulled off into a little parking lot and just sat and prayed. I noticed that these huge open fields that we see ALL THE TIME! Are a symbol for growth, they are being plowed right now for planting corn soon. I was praying that God will plant wisdom, maturity, love, and patience in my heart and life. God brought that to my heart because I actually slowed down my life enough to notice something that I have seen every single day of my life a boring ol' field, but now it means something a little different. So this weekend slow your self down a little bit for God to show you something.

Also this Sunday we have next class from 9:15 - 10:15 so come and hang out with us this week I am going to put out a dare to all of the students there. I promise this will challenge the way you think about believing in Christ, and hopefully take it to the next level.

Wednesday night we are going to continue are series on lesser known names in the Bible. We are going to be talking about a King named Adoni Bezzek. He was a pretty sick dude and did some crazy things.

I hope you all have a great weekend. See you on Sunday.

P.A.

Last night was really fun!

Hey there guys! I hope you guys had a great time last night. The games we played were really fun I am glad no one got hurt :) (Parents are going to read this and wonder what game we played)

Anyways, I am glad that alot of you got challenged last night, and I got to talk with some of you last night about specific things that you can do when things start closing in around you! Please remember that when you close your eyes your eyes can be opened!

Take time to pray and take a stand for your spiritual life and the real life battle this going on all the time. Also if you haven't read the rest of the story in 2 Kings chapter 6. Do it! Go and read what happens to the army that surrounded Elisha and his servant its a pretty awesome story!

Here is the Outline from last night in case you missed it!

3 O.T. Laws
1. Civil Law
2. Ceremonial Law
3. Moral Law

** 2 Kings 6:8 - 23

"Your greatest opposition can be your greatest opportunity"

1. Pray that God opens your eyes to the way He wants you to see this World
2. Pray for others eyes to be opened so you can battle together
3. Be obedient to what it says in Scripture

This is the condensed version, we are still trying to get things posted on here but its really hard because the messages take so much memory and the blogspot doesn't support that large of a file! So I am going to begin working with our IT men here at the church to see if we can do anything about it.

Please remember to checking on here daily! There should be a lot more pictures going up here soon!

Have an amazing day!

P.A.

Bethel night

It's time to do work son!

Tonight is the night where it all goes down like Charlie Brown. Tonight is going to be off the chain my friends. Its going to be awesome. We have a brand new game we are going to be playing tonight that involves sharp objects! Also we begin a new series tonight called "Lesser known personalities of the bible"

We are going to be looking at people who often get looked over, I believe there are some amazing lessons that can be learned from these men and women that get looked over alot! So come tonight and we can learn from God together, while reading His amazing love story, that is alive and breathing today!

Tonight there are a few things you need to and bring!

1. Sometime today (unless you did this yesterday) take some time and get alone in your house, if you can't get alone in your house go outside its not to cold out today. Then what I want you to do is sit, kneel, lay facedown, whatever you feel comfortable doing, and I want you to pray for tonight. Not just God make sure know one gets hurt, but pray that God would open your heart tonight to something that you need to learn. Ask God to move in the hearts of everyone tonight. Take some time also and pray for your small group leaders so that they will have the right words to say if questions come up, and for strength to get through the day!

2. Tonight you will need to bring a Bible, and a journal, or something to take notes with! We have powerpoint ready for you guys tonight to be able to take down notes so when you go home you have a study guide!

I hope you all can make it tonight I know that there are a lot of sports going on tonight so I hope those that can make it come! Those who can't we will salute you tonight!

Please take some time to pray before you come tonight, and also bring a bible and a journal tonight!

P.A.

What no 2 hour delay?

So for those of you who didn't go to school yesterday, I salute you. That would be wicked hard to stand out in the cold rain for a little while! Blahh.

Anyways, todays post is going to be pretty short because I just have an exercise I hope you guys will do before tomorrow!

Tomorrow night we are going to be going to be talking about taking a stand. So tonight or tomorrow before you come I would like you guys to take 10 minutes and just get a lone in your house somewhere, and just get down on your knees, or if you want to lay face down on the ground you can. Then what I want you to do is just pray for tomorrow night. Pray that God would speak to you specifically. Take this time to just mentally prepare for tomorrow nights message, and worship.

Now we are still going to be playing games, and they are pretty cool games too. A Brand new one I made up that I think is going to be awesome.

But this will help all of us prepare our hearts for what God has in store for us tomorrow night!

Hope to see you all tomorrow!

Also, Bring a journal or something that you can write on and a pen! We have notes for you!

P.A.

Lots of people staying home today!

So I hear a lot of students are staying home today because of the Bomb threat at Northridge today. Be praying for today because this day in the past has been a day of murder. Pray for safety for all students across the nation today!

This Wednesday we are going to be starting a new series called "Lesser known people in the Bible" Its going to be awesome because we are going to look at people who get looked over.

So make sure for the next 3 weeks you can make it because you will not want to miss this series I promise! I PROMISE!

This past Sunday was fun getting to eat pancakes! Make sure if you guys see Doug Edlund, Ron Jones, and Mark Metcalfe tell them thank you for helping make the pancakes! They did an amazing job. Thank you guys!

I hope that this week will go well for you guys. Be in prayer for the youth group. We do have alot of students going through some rough times. Please be in prayer. God has got some amazing things He wants to do, but we need to keep bringing our youth group before God. Take some time this week to pray for this Wednesday.

Can't wait to see you guys Wednesday!

P.A.

Funny Little video!

Friday Night

Last night Andrew Edlund, and Jessica Baylis dominated their sports. Andrew Shot a 46 in his golf match, and Jessica Baylis dominated doubles tennis winning 6-1 against Fairstink :)

anyways just one little announcement for this day!

We ARE MAKING PANCAKES THIS SUNDAY!

Come this Sunday to church around 9am and eat some awesome pancakes with us!

I hope that you all are having a great friday its so nice outside! Go out and play something outside today. Its beautiful!

This coming Wednesday we are going to be kicking off a 3 week series of Lesser known names in the bible. We are going to be looking at people who get looked over alot in the Bible. There are some amazing stories, and some amazing lessons to be learned from these people in the Bible.

Its going to be awesome. I hope you can all make it!

I will see you on Sunday for some pancakes!

P.A.

Last Night was Awesome!

Man last night was truly awesome. I was pumped to see a lot of you there, and we devoured almost all the pizza! Over 170 slices! I am amazed.

Moving on, I hope that you really listened to what Nate was talking about last night because he did a great job and explaining how we need to give our plans over to God, and say God "Your will be done" Nate is a great example of doing that.

Allowing God to take over and do what He wants with your future plans is so key in the process of giving up everything to Christ. Now the hard part is being ok with where God is taking you, and being able to say God I want what you want!

I hope and pray that you guys will really take to heart what was said last night!

This Sunday we are making pancakes! Whoop Whoop. We are going to be having lots of pancakes made. I will bring everything you will need so you just need to show up and maybe bring a friend! We will be starting at 9 am. I know its a little early but come and have some pancakes with us this coming Sunday!

We are hoping to be putting up the video of last night as soon as I get a copy, nate had to take it with him for a class so as soon as I get it I will post it on here.

See you all later!

P.A.

Youth Group tonight!

So Wednesday is finally here! I am wicked pumped for tonight.

I believe God has some amazing things in store for some people tonight.

A couple reminders.
1. Parents meeting tonight at 6:30, it wont be long like 15 minutes or less. We are going to hanging out calendars, and answering questions you might have for the next 3 months.
2. Tonight Bethel College is coming to town, and bringing PARADOX, Pizza, and Preaching :)
- Just like any good pastor.....3 points....all starting with the same letter :)
3. Nate Hickox is giving the message tonight and I have seen what he is bringing and its good stuff!

So come tonight ready to be filled with pizza, fixed on God, Focusing on the future.
- Ohh yeah did it again :)

Hope you all have a great day.

Parents if you know other parents who do not check this blog that have students in the youth group, pass it along to them I would love for this to help students and parents alike :)

P.A.

In Jail

So I got out of Jail, this is my picture from the MDA Jerry's Kids! I would not be this happy if I was in real Jail :)

Have a good day!

P.A.

Tomorrow is coming in a few short hours!

Alright everyone so now its time to start getting ready for tomorrow night!

The stage is set......

The Band is coming......

The pizza's are getting prep'd......tomorrow......why would they prep them today that would be nasty!

Anyways.....

Tomorrow night is going to be awesome I hope that you all can come. We are going to be having a pizza party, Bethel College is going to be doing some give aways, and then Nate Hickox will be talking to us about preparing for the future!

Also tomorrow we are going to have our parents meeting at 6:30. So please come right at 6:30 we have alot to do tomorrow night so I would like to explain the calendar and then head into Youth Group!

I hope you all have a great day!

See you tomorrow!

P.A.

Monday!

Hey there everyone!

I hope that you all had a great Spring break, and have some sweet stories!

This week is going to be awesome because we have Bethel college coming in, and bringing pizza. We also have Robbie's band coming in and singing for us. Its going to be awesome. So make sure you are here on Wednesday. Get here right at 6:30 because we have so many things going on we have to start right on time.

Also Parents we are having a parents meeting this week, to hand out calendars if you don't already have them. I posted them on here to for you to print off, but I will have some on hand to give out. We will be starting right at 6:30 so please do not be late because there is alot going on that night in youth group.

I am so pumped for this spring and summer with you guys! We have so many things planned, and so many awesome series we want to with you all. I believe this summer can and will be a launching point for us into the school year. I also believe that this spring and summer you can take that next step in your journey with Christ. We are going to be going deep into the word of God these next couple weeks so be prepared to blown away by Christ's love.

Hope to see you all on Wednesday!

P.A.

Good Easter Video

This is just a little short video from Rob bell. Listen to it and I hope that we can start loving people like Christ would love them. I hope that the Crystal Valley students can be the hands and feet of Christ to those around us. Those who are friends and not our friends. I hope you all have a great Easter Sunday. Remember that this Wednesday we are having a pizza party sponsored by Bethel College, Nate Hickox is going to be bringing the Word!

We hope you all can come and hang out with us this Wednesday!

P.A.

Saturday morning

Well everyone just another little reminder that tomorrow morning we are having 3 services, 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00am. So if you are going to come for Next Class we are going to be having it at 9:45. Not, let me repeat NOT at 9:00am like normal. So if you show up the most of us will be in service. So Show up at 9:45 and you will be money!!!

So this morning Esther and I were making some delicious breakfast, and listening to a guy named Francis Chan talk about living in the faith that God will provide, and also helping those around you and loving them like Christ would love them. I would love to see our youth group step up and live and love others!

There will be more to this challenge after Easter! I believe that there are some amazing things that God wants us as a youth group to do. To love others, to serve others, and know the love of God in a whole new way!

Check on here Monday for some more details. To this challenge

P.A.

Good Friday

I hope you all had an amazing week of Spring break but I am sorry to tell you that its almost over! But that's ok because that means you are in the home stretch for summer vacation! Whoop Whoop!

So this coming Sunday is Easter and we are having 3 services here at Crystal Valley. 8:30, 9:45, 11:00.

We are having Next class at 9:45! We are going to be talking about what the cross means to us and how people in the 1st century viewed the cross. Also we will be reading through the account of Jesus death and resurrection during that time. So come and be prepared to listen and discuss things maybe we haven't noticed before or things we might have forgotten. God has some amazing things in store for us this coming Sunday. Come and be a part of it.

Also we still have some spots available for our whitewater rafting trip. I need to get everything reserved here soon so please if you are wanting to go with us talk to me. You have to be 16 years or older to go. The days we will be gone is from July 13th - 17th. We have a couple more spots so please talk to me so we can get everything squared away!

Have an amazing Good Friday!

This is from a blog I found I think it is brilliant. Take some time today and really pray about what God might have in store for you this Easter Season!

This thought keeps going through my mind today: I am Barabbas.

Imagine what that Friday must have been like for him. He was sitting in a jail cell awaiting his execution. He knew it was the last day of his life. It was the end. There was no hope. Then he hears the crowd chanting his name and the next thing he knows he's a free man. The charges are dropped. His life that was almost over starts over. And a sinless man named Jesus literally takes his place. He expected to die. He deserved to die. But his execution, in the sovereign plan of God, was scheduled on the same day Jesus was arrested.

If ever there was a picture of II Corinthians 5:21 this is it: "God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us."

I am Barabbas.

P.A.

Thursday....Almost the end of Spring Break!

I am sorry to tell ya everyone that Spring break is getting wrapped up here soon! Those who are driving back have 1 maybe 2 days left. Those who are flying this is one of the last days to do some big event with the people you are in Florida with or Iowa :)......

Anyways Just remember that next week we have the wicked awesome band Paradox coming in to sing for us! Also Bethel College is going to be here giving things away, and bringing us Pizza! So make sure you are all here for that night its going to be amazing. Also not to be out done the one and only Nate Hickox will be bringing the Word!

So be here or you will miss an awesome night!

Also on a parents note, we are going to be going over the new calendar, and also just having another informational meeting, so you can ask questions, get more info, and get some prayer requests. I hope to see you all there. We are going to have it right at 6:30. So what you can do is drop your kids off and walk in with them. I promise it will only be like a 15 minute meeting, unless you all have 30 questions. Then it might be longer :)

Hope to see you all then.

Also remember that NEXT this week is at 9:45 after the 1st Easter service! Do not Show up at 9 like normal we will all be in service!

See you all on Sunday :)

P.A.

Wednesday of Spring Break!

I thought you all would enjoy this!

Hope you all have a great day!

Reminder no Youth Group Tonight!

Parents Meeting Next Wednesday at 6:30.

P.A.

Tuesday of Spring Break

So I hope everyone is having a great time on Spring break! I know I am loving the freezing wind, and the snow. Its been an amazing time to go outside and sit by the pool and get a tan, and pneumonia!

Anyway who, just a couple reminders for today.

1. No Youth Group tomorrow! Do not show up here because no one will be here. I promise ya, it will be a lonely feeling.
2. April 15th, Bethel college is coming in and bringing a band with them. We are going to be having pizza that night, and Nate Hickox is going to speak that night and its going to be awesome. In addition to all that going on we are going to be having a parents meeting that night. So parents come and get a new calendar, and hear about the cool new things that are going to be happening this summer, and rest of the spring.

I hope you all have a great day! I will hopefully be posting more things on here later. If you have any funny pictures from Spring break send them to me so I can put them up on here! Talk with you all later.

P.A.

The Beginning of Spring brings us snow

Hey guys happy Spring break!

I hope things are going well with ya, thanks yesterday for those who came and helped me with the Amen Corner :) It was pretty fun. I think we could have been louder but I understand it was early.
So I hope you guys had a good time in service yesterday.

Next week for Easter since we are having 3 services, we are doing NEXT during the 2nd service! Let me Repeat the information.....We are having NEXT at the 2nd service next week at 9:45! So do not show up at 9:00am like normal most people here will be in the service that is going on.

Let me encourage in something this week my friends. I was spending some time in prayer this morning for you guys, and for my Journey with Christ. I was asking God to invade my soul again, and help me have the strength to tackle the deep rooted issues in my own life. The issue is that God showed up! He actually brought stuff to my mind. I wanted Him to speak to me but then again I have prayed that prayer before and nothing really came to mind, ya know what I am saying. So now I know things I need to get right in my heart, and I believe that it goes back to something I said yesterday in service. That God see's you for who can become! God see's me and see's the things I can do if I get this junk out of my way.

I encourage you today since some of you are at home probably sitting around watching TV or playing Video games (not bad things, text me and I will come hang too) but take some time this week to put the Xbox controller down and go to your room and pray. Ask God to invade your heart, ask God for the strength to get through the hard stuff in your life right now. Also remember after your done just tell God "speak for your servant is listening" and then just listen. Be patient.

I hope that you have an awesome Spring break! Remember we do not have youth group this Wednesday! So I will see you all next week.

P.A.

Next tomorrow

Hey there everyone, tomorrow morning the next class will meet in the sanctuary, because the teacher I had set up wont be able to make it tomorrow anymore, and instead of dropping a bomb on a leader to have them try to prepare a lesson in a day, I think we will just be meeting in the regular service.

I am preaching tomorrow and could use your help tomorrow morning anyways! So I am sorry that it had to be moved so quickly I do not like changing something like this, and for the parents I am sorry that we are not going to be having next. I hope that this wont happen again.

I appreciate you guys being able to roll with punches a little bit this week. Again I apologize for the change at the last minute!

Hope to see you all tomorrow!

P.A.

This was one of the games we played last night! It was pretty awesome!

The Freshmen girls and 6th grade guys won this game. The students were stuck to the wall and were not moving an inch! Well done!

I was pumped last night when I saw everyone there and it was a ton of fun. I hope you guys had a great time.

Please remember this Sunday I am gonna need my Amen corner of students! You guys did a great job last night, so come on Sunday around 10:30am. It will be awesome.

I hope you all have a great Spring Break. I will be posting up here soon if we are going to be going anywhere over Spring break.

Have a great day, and please vote on the poll we have up right now.

P.A.

Game Night

So tonight is game night so make sure you are here because you wont want to miss these games tonight. They will blow your mind away.

Also there is a poll on here now, and I want to know what you think about the youth group. We are trying to move this Youth Group in the way that God wants to move it, and we want to know what you all think also.

We believe as a youth staff that this is your youth group. You guys are the ones who can make it great, by bringing your friends, talking about Christ to people at school, work, and sports teams.
So vote on this poll and keep praying for the youth group. We have lots of decisions to make here in the next couple weeks, and we want to be guided by Christ. So please be in prayer for the youth group.

I hope to see you all tonight!

P.A.