Lock-in

The kids only got a few hours of sleep but we had a night full of fun! 

The focus of our lock-in was to introduce the theme for next year's National Youth Gathering, Hebrews 12:1-3. We learned about running the race with endurance, casting our sin on Jesus, and fixing our eyes on Him. We learned about just a few of the saints who have gone before us, who serve as awesome examples of what it means to trust in Jesus. St. Stephen, St. Patrick, and Cory Ten Boom are figures that inspire us to boldly share the love of Jesus with those around us and leave figuring out the rest of life up to God. 

After our devotional and game time, we painted our T-shirts and faces with glow-in-the dark paint and had a black-light party in the gym. Then it was time for ice cream and a movie! Around 2am, it was time for lights out and all of us slept well after so much fun.

Here's to many more evenings of fellowship! 

Epiphany  Escape Room

To celebrate Epiphany, the youth participated in a home-made escape room. The had 60 minutes to break out of the Youth room. The found keys and codes, opening lock boxes and finding clues. They really used their brain power to try to solve the puzzles and break out. 

The 60 minutes passed too quickly and they didn't quite make it in time, But Ms. Rachel and Mrs. Demoss decided to let them out of the room by the end of the night anyway. A fun time was had by all!

Happy Epiphany!

Christmas Bowling Party

The youth group celebrated Jesus's birthday with a bowling party. We gathered at Lincoln Lanes for a few games. Mrs. Demoss brought the Christmas cheer with Santa hats and reindeer antlers for everyone to wear. 

Chris and Zach were easily the stars of the games we played. They really know how to bowl! 

Regardless of skill level, everybody had a good time. 

It is a wonderful thing to celebrate Christ's coming into the flesh to rescue us from sin, Satan, and death. We have a God who was willing to be born in a barn so that he could spend his life as a homeless preacher, only to end up dying on the cross.... for us! What a gift that Jesus would become a person like you and me. Everything God does, He does so out of the love that a Father has for his children. What a reason to celebrate!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Pumpkin Painting!

Our usual monthly gathering happened with a fun twist in October. We gathered around a bonfire at Deaconess Intern Rachel's house. We roasted smores and painted pumpkins- looking forward to Halloween.

We also studied how faith and science relate to each other. The youth talked about the wonderful ways the pursuit of scientific knowledge has affected our lives. Video games, cars, medicine, computers, the internet, ect. are all things we benefit from thanks to the scientific study of God's creation. Science studies the natural- the things that you can see, hear, feel, touch, and smell- even if we need special instruments to observe these things. It can help us answer a lot of "how" and "what" questions: What is this? How does it work? It is not meant to answer the big "why" questions in life.

The Bible answers some of our "why" questions: "Why is there death and pain?" "Why do bad things happen?" "Why am I here?" Theologians like to say that the Bible tells the story of everything. It tells us how everything got here, tells us about God and our relationship to him, and it tells us about how everything will end.

Science is not used correctly when it tries to explain the whys like the Bible does- when it tries to use scientific theories to give the world meaning and interpret the data through their theories (like evolution). 

 Because faith and science, when used correctly, are trying to answer different questions, there is no inherent conflict. Christians can be good scientists and scientists can be good Christians. 

We thank God for the gift of science and ask for wisdom to understand how to use it well. 

We hope you can join us next month!

St. Laurence BBQ

In case you missed our cookout on the 26th, here is a recap.

We gathered at Kickapoo for some good food and some fun. Everyone brought their own meat to grill. Jamie grilled his own steak for the first time- he cooked it a perfect medium rare!

After dinner, we played some games. Own led us in a game of kickball. Mrs. Demoss joined in the fun, too, and displayed some killer kickball skills. 

After Kickball, the kids played a giant game of hide and seek. Visiting Vicar Ethan (Deaconess Intern Rachel's Fiancée) even played the seeker. Hannah showed the younger players how the game is won, she was the clear victor!

Before we wrapped the evening up, we spent time together in prayer. God promises to hear his children and delights in our prayer. We each shared prayer requests and then took turns praying for each other. It was great to share our lives and concerns with each other and with God.

Youth Night was a blast!

August 3rd was the first of many regular get-togethers that will happen on the first Thursday of each month. We had fun with a photo scavenger hunt around the church. Congrats to team Penguin with a winning score of 25.5!

After we enjoyed a few slices of pizza, we sat down for Bible study. We looked at Ephesians 1:1-14. we learned about all of the spiritual blessings we have in Christ. Because of what Jesus has done for us, we have been chosen, made holy, predestined, adopted in to God's family, redeemed (bought), forgiven, united in Christ, given wisdom and insight, made known the mystery, made heirs, sealed with the Holy Spirit... and the list goes on. 

How do all these things we have been given in Jesus affect your life?

We can respond to that question in a lot of different ways. Some of the answers our youth gave were, "peace of mind," and "forgiveness." Great answers!

One big way it affects your life is that you now belong to God's people. You are part of our family. That means Christ calls you, along with all other Christians, to gather together, receive all of the gifts he has to give you in his word, and walk together in the faith. 

In other words, you belong here. 

Rock Climbing

The Youth had a blast rock climbing on Saturday! We climbed to new heights, ate some pizza, and learned about the kind of sure and certain hope we have in Jesus. Even Pastor joined in the fun on the rock wall! If you missed out on the fun on Saturday, don't worry, we have lots more in store for the coming year.