Jail Mail

We waded into the big question of “does God intentionally put us in harm’s way to achieve a greater good”? But first we took the big view. The Bible starts and ends with descriptions of a perfect world – in Genesis we see earth as the unspoiled garden of Eden, in Revelation we see the […]

Praying 101

Last night we investigated our typical prayers – what we do, and what we say, when we pray. Often the first thing we do to prepare to pray is close our eyes. Why do we do this? From my very brief “research” into this, I could not find any biblical reference to people closing their […]

1 Decision

I’ve challenged you over the past month to consider picking one thing to do every day for a year starting in October. Tomorrow’s your last day to decide whether to accept this challenge. Here’s the point – if there’s something you want to do but have struggled to be consistent doing it, then make 1 […]

Dating

Last night I facilitated your discussions about dating – I’ll try to summarize your responses here (feel free to correct anything I got wrong in the comments!). Definitions. “Talking” with someone means you’re interested in each other, flirting, and communicating a lot – and you may even go on date or two together, but there […]

Be Still

Last Sunday evening we started by talking about your schedule and routine. Your schedule is largely dictated by others. School hours are set, then others add practice times, game times, work times, club meeting times, Youth times, family events, etc. Other people fill the majority of your schedule. I asked how many make their own […]

End of Summer Retreat

Twelve of us went to my parents’ place in southern Indiana for an end of summer retreat that focused on peace with God and the peace of God. Morning and night devotions, along with the message on Sunday focused our attention on these topics. Lots of pictures and some videos from the trip… On all […]

Shovelball

The 7th graders invented a new game – shovelball. Shovelball combines baseball and kickball rules, swaps out the bat with a kid-sized snow shovel, and bases are replaced with clipboards. You saw it here first. As shovelball erupts across the nation and the world, I wanted to document its origin story. Well done 7th graders […]

Building Fences

I remember my dreams – or at least some of them. Most mornings I can recall several dreams from the night before. Last week one of my dreams provided a great object lesson that I shared with you at Youth. Here was the dream: Aaron (Addy’s dad) and I were at an auction. A horse-drawn […]

Victory Party!

At home, in Sunday School, at Youth, and from the pulpit, we adults teach you that pursuing your relationship with God is more important than anything else in life. Then I think we confuse you by failing to celebrate your spiritual accomplishments as much as your other accomplishments. When you place a ball in a […]

Seek Ye First

Last night we focused our attention on a familiar, short song “Seek Ye First”: The song’s lyrics are quotes from Scripture. The first verse is Matthew 6:33. We started with the question: “What are the things Jesus said would be added to our lives?” Matthew 6:25-32 provides the context. Jesus advises us not to worry […]

Youth Room Renovation

The Youth Room renovation is nearly complete! It started with a fresh coat of paint in the summer of 2020, going from brown on brown, to gray on gray: We added a new TV and decorative lights in 2021, and the Trustees installed a sump pump and made other improvements to ensure the area won’t […]