School of the Osage 2008 District CHAMPS!!!

Congrats to the Osage Football team for an impressive win over Versailles to win the district title. 39 -0!!! We'll be rooting for you next Wednesday night in the sectional playoff game against Rogersville.

Since there is a football game next Wednesday we need to go to plan B for WNI. Any ideas? Should we have a pre-game tailgate party at church or a post-game 5th Quarter? I'm leaning toward the tail-gate party. Leave your ideas below under comments.

Youth Leader of the Week

Last Thursday I sent out an attendance report to all of the adult leaders and ask them to call 2 students who have missed recently. Diana took the list and called all the students! ALL OF 27 of them. I can't begin to explain what an encouragement that is. Of those 27, 10 came back Wednesday. Then she sent the following email to encourage all of us:

Note: The youth I spoke with this evening were glad to know that they were missed. The parents that I spoke with were glad to know that their child was not just a face in the crowd, but in fact was someone who was noticed as not being at WNI last week or in past weeks.

I agree with Steve, we must stay in touch with our youth and not let them "fall through the cracks". Some of these kids had no idea who I was when I called, so I let them know that I was calling for Steve on behalf of WNi. They were amazed that Steve noticed when they were not there. A commom comment was "Wow, you noticed!"

We must continue to reach out to our youth!

Hopefully we will share leadership better this week so she won't have to make those calls by herself. Thanks Diana!

A Week of Encouragement

I have received some great encouragement this week I want to share with everyone. Some of it is mostly for my benefit. Some of it is encouraging to the entire student ministry.

1) One student asked if we could ask all the students to put away their cell-phones during WNI. Apparently some students are texting during the service. Now that is NOT encouraging, but I was very encouraged by the student who cared enough to ask if we could put a stop to it.

2) A different student gave our ministry one of the best encouragement ever when she said (in her own words), "I used to think I knew every thing about being a Christian. Since I started coming to this youth group I realized I didn't. I have learned so much by coming here."

3) Diana called all the JH and HS students who have missed WNI the last few weeks! ALL of them.

4) We had the highest total attendance so far at WNI. It was also the highest attendance for JH-WNI & HS-WNI individually.

5) Amy and I have received several cards and gifts in recognition of Pastor Appreciation Month. THANK YOU!

WNI 10-29-08 A Record Night!

Last Wednesday was a record night for WNI! We had the most students so far at our JH-WNI: 15. We also had the most students so far at our HS-WNI: 36. That's 51 students total plus 2 graduates and 10 adult leaders. 63 total! What a night. Numbers only matter because each "1" is one of our students. We started our new series FORWARD MOTION by watching a video clip by Jared Herd. His main point was that being a Christian is not about a leap into being "SUPER SAINT." It is about taking steps to become more like Jesus Christ. It was great stuff. I think it really prompted some thought among our students and adults. Charlie did a great job taking on some leadership at JH-WNI. He is now the director of JH-WNI.

Steve's Review of WNI 10-22-08

Last night was a good night for both JH-WNI & HS-WNI. We did have a little set back when Travis broke a string on the guitar right as the JH service was supposed to start. He grabbed my guitar and had to lead worship sitting in a chair so we could mic. It was kind of a comical sight. Despite the technical difficulties, the worship set was great.
We closed out our GODVIEW series. The students seemed to really connect with the lessons. I gave each group an opportunity to share how the series had impacted them. Both groups had some comments. The HS really took off. I was very encouraged by their thoughts. I felt like I did a better job teaching in the HS. I guess that makes sense. It is my second time around. The lesson was a reminder that we will can't fully experience God now. In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul writes:

"Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely."

I was pretty fired up about this in the HS-WNI. I just can't wait for the clear picture!

We took group pics of the JH & HS. Here's a copy of the fun shots.

NEW WNI Series--"Forward Motion"

You've been there before. You've just come home from a mission trip/youth group retreat/conference where you made a declaration to change the world. Sometimes it happens. But too often, after a few months, you don't seem too different than you were before the experience. You were so caught up in the emotion of the moment and were ready to do something big. But following Christ is more about the small steps we make every day, steps of obedience, steps in relationship with Him. We call this series forward motion because the Christian life is more about the steps we take, not the leaps. We will begin this series October 29th.

Steve’s Review of WNI 8-15-08

Attendance:
JH-WNI—1 first time guests; 13 students; 7 adult leaders
HS-WNI—2 first time guests; 31 students; 2 graduates; 4 adult leaders

I must admit I left church Wednesday feeling a little discouraged about the night. The last two weeks have been outstanding. I had mixed feelings about this week. Two things discouraged me: 1) Several students seemed distracted and lacked focus during the lesson. This was more true in the HS-WNI than the JH-WNI. I want to see students engaged when I teach. I want to see the desire for God on their faces. It discourages me to see students chatting or bored. In the HS-WNI, I gave the students an honest challenge, "I will strive to teach my best if you will come with hearts and minds seeking God." When a lesson doesn't connect well, I criticize myself more than I do the students. I carry my end of the bargain better on some weeks than others. I work hard on the lesson every week, but I have to admit some lessons are delivered better than others. 2) At the end of the HS-WNI, we put the Sanctuary back together for Sunday morning. In my mind I see all the students jumping in to help and not leaving until the job is done. I am so thankful for the student leaders who do help, but several jumped ship escaped to the multi-purpose room before we were finished. Next week, we will keep all hands on board.

The GOOD: Despite the distractions, I believe the students connected with the lesson at the end of the night. We talked about the names of God and Israel's practice of giving new names to God as they had new experiences with Him. I told the students God has been revealing Himself since before the beginning of time. His revelations are recorded in the Bible. If we are going to seek God, we must seek Him beyond our years, beyond our circumstances, beyond our understanding. At the end of the night I challenged our students to write a name or description of God they have experienced on cards and then pin them to a cross in the front of the room. It was a special moment. When we give credit to God for who He is and what He's done, we worship.

IMPROVEMENTS FOR JH-WNI: We have a great adult leadership team. I need to find ways to share more leadership with them.

IMPROVEMENTS FOR HS-WNI: We need to have some music playing as the students come in to help set the atmosphere for the night. We need to make sure the students know they are all expected to help in the Sanctuary until the job is completed.

Off to a Great Start

I am so pleased with the start of our JH & HS WNI services. Our student and adult leaders have jumped on board to make the changes a great success. I believe most of the students are connecting well with our GODVIEW series. I love the atmosphere in the Sanctuary. The student leaders have really taken ownership of setting up the room each Sunday and taking it down each Wednesday. I am especially thankful for the high school students who helped out Wednesday even though they could have run off to the Homecoming Activity night. The music has been great. This is the first year we’ve had a totally student-led worship band. Thanks goes to Garrett, Ben, Jonathan, and Travis. As a result of all these positive elements, attendance is steadily growing. All glory and credit goes to God. Keep praying for us!

Taking the First Step

Wednesday was the first week of separate WNI services for the JH and HS. I must admit I was anxious about the change. I wondered about the students’ reaction to meeting in the Sanctuary. I worried about the JH students’ reaction to having their own service. I agonized about the transition between the two services. After all the anxious moments, it was a great first week. The Sanctuary looked great. The JH students had a great service. The transition seemed too easy. Caryn gave a great testimony. We had a good opportunity to worship. Teaching the lesson twice was an interesting experience, but I felt good about it. We had 11 JH students and 32 HS students. I look forward to improving over the weeks and months to come. I look forward to seeing each service take on its own personality. Our greatest need right now is adult leaders in the HS service. Please pray as our leadership team recruits more leaders.