Wordless speech

I remember my dreams – each morning when I wake up, I can run through many of the dreams I had during the night. One dream last week was particularly informative. In my dream, I could read all the messages we send by how we present ourselves to the world. Why we choose a particular […]

Confessions

It’s fall break for most of you. Time to unwind, spend time with friends and family, maybe take a fun trip, visit a pumpkin patch, go through corn mazes and haunted houses, and confess your sins to one another! We are practicing the spiritual discipline of confession with each other Thursday evening. That’s not a […]

Yard Work

Last night we had a service project rather than a lesson – helping a 94 year old with some yardwork. The vegetation around her home had grown up, so we pruned trees and bushes, weeded flower beds, and sprayed weeds. The hot, humid, yet happy workers (plus Amy, who took the picture). Thank you everyone […]

Psalm 139

Last night, each of you took turns reading aloud the below paraphrased version of Psalm 139. Lord, you look deep inside me, and you know all about me. You know when I sit down and when I get up. Even when you are far away, you understand what I am thinking about. You see me […]

NOthing or Everything?

Last night, we began with a review of Matthew 6:33, more info is available in this Seek Ye First lesson – which reminds us that if we seek God first, all the “things” (food, shelter, clothing) will be provided. Then we delved into Luke 9. And he called the twelve together and gave them power […]

New York Trip

Our summer trip this year was to Ellicottville, NY – a ski town in western New York. It was more of a retreat this year rather than a typical mission trip – we studied the book below, visited attractions in the area, and performed service projects. We rented a van and trailer to get the […]

Fatherly Advice

During Youth I usually give Fatherly (God’s) advice, but on Father’s Days, I give fatherly (my) advice. This year I asked your dads to participate – I’ve listed their responses first, then the list I’ve developed over the past couple of years. Enjoy! From some of your dads: Be careful of what you choose to […]

Burning Bush

This week, we delved into the burning bush story found in Exodus 3. But first, we refreshed our memories of all we knew about Moses’ life. His life is often described in roughly 40-year segments – the first 40 in Pharaoh’s palace, the second 40 as a shepherd, the last 40 in the wilderness leading […]

Our Agreement

We met in the shelter house this week and reviewed the Youth rules. But the actual rules were the least significant part of our discussion. Because we have agreed upon group norms, we have very few specific rules. So I’ve arranged things here to reflect our agreement of how we treat each other at Youth. […]

Sex

As teenagers, you think about sex a lot. And let me let you in on some insight – as adults, you’ll still think about sex a lot. Sex is a powerful and important act. So thankfully, the Bible gives ample insight into sex. The overriding portrayal of sex in the Bible is how wonderful it […]

Sledding Trip

We took an impromptu trip to take advantage of 10+ inches of snow at my parent’s property in southern Indiana. It was a quick trip – leaving Saturday morning and returning Sunday afternoon. We sled down the hill behind their house. In the afternoon the hill provided some good sledding with some moderate jumps. We […]