Over the past week I have been thinking about what to write to you the parent. I considered coming up with a list called "10 Ways to Wake Your Teen in the Morning with a Smile on Their Face" but to be honest I am not sure I know how to do that. I also considered giving you suggestions on how to prank your teens on their cell phones (if they have one). There is nothing cooler than a parent calling their teen pretending to be Ralph from the Pizza shop insisting that your teen ordered 20 pizzas for pick-up. I am a firm believer that parents need to have fun every now and again. Email me if you are looking for any ideas I always have some on call.
On a more serious note I thought it would be important and helpful to take a moment and share with you all what we have been teaching during our time together on Sunday mornings. I won't be able to touch on everything but I would like to let you in on a Sunday to just give you a taste of what has been going on.
The week before Christmas I thought it would be important to stick with tradition and focus on well you know.... Christmas. As most of us know, Christmas is a wonderful time to focus on the coming of Christ as a human child into our world. This particular Sunday I chose to look at Christmas a reminder of promise. Together we took some time looking at how the coming of Christ was a promise made hundreds of years before the actual event in the Book of Isaiah. I then thought it would be interesting to look at John 14:2-4 where Jesus tells his disciples that he is going away for a while but also that he will return. I talked with the teens about how God kept his promise to send us Christ and how we should be excited about the promise Christ has made to come back for us. Our God keeps His word!
We spent a few moments talking about being ready for Christ's return and what that looked like. Simply put, obedience to Christ shows that we are ready and waiting. I used a movie clip from the movie "Elf" to illustrate a sense of readiness. Buddy the elf has just received word that Santa (his hero) will be coming to town very soon. As soon as Buddy hears the news he freaks out and yells "I KNOW HIM!" with a excited (understatement) expression on his face. Buddy continues to tell the people around him that he must get to work decorating and getting ready for Santa's arrival. There was nothing better for Buddy than knowing that Santa was coming.
So often I forget that my Savior is coming for me. So often I think we all forget to remind each other that we can expect Christ to keep his promise. Christmas reminds me that God keeps His word and I wanted to share that with the teens. i know that this is a very brief description of the teaching, but hopefully you get a good idea of what is going on in the Jr. High. In the coming weeks I will again highlight some of the teaching.
As you all know, the Winter Retreat is coming very soon. I just want you to know that I am excited to have the opportunity to share this time with your teens. I know these trips can have a profound effect on their lives. I received Christ on a Jr. High retreat back in the day and have great memories. If you have any questions reguarding the upcoming retreat or really anything please drop me an email at andrew@fcch.org . I would love to hear from you! I also want to thank all the parents who filled out the parent evaluation. It was extremely helpful to me as a leader to know how to better serve your teens. If you still have your evaluation and want to send it in I would love to have it! Just email it to me! Peace to you all.
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