Chris’ Newletter
Contents
Something for Your Heart
Surf Report
Forgettable Fact
Potent Quotables
Uh, That’s Funny?
===========Chris Drager===========
Senior Youth Bible Class Starts September 14 with Rally Day. This Years topic is…FLOOD!
FLOOD goes beyond Bible Study – It’s an experience!
A flood is coming! God is unleashing a dramatic force in our world…a new generation of high school students….YOU!….understand that spiritual power comes from a personal encounter with Jesus, not by trying harder to follow a set of rules.
You are invited to join Chris Drager, Sunday mornings at 9:30am in the Youth Room for discovery–driven Bible study that deals with real life student issues that focus on the life and personal encounters with Jesus.
Topics include: Building Friendships that Matter, Managing Anger, Love, Sex and Dating, Family Conflict and Communication, Freedom from Addictions, Prejudice and Exclusion.
EXPERIENCE THE RUSH of FLOOD Sunday mornings beginning Rally Day - September 14
Bethel Faith Family Camp
All Bethel Faith Family folks are invited to join us for Faith Family Camp from 4:00pm on Friday, September 19 – Sunday, September 22 at CLIFFSIDE PARK CAMPGROUND just north of Racine in Wisconsin.
Make plans to arrive no earlier than 4:00pm on Friday. Our group must leave the park by 1:00pm on Sunday.
We will have our own group campsite for tents. Campers/pop-ups will need to rent a site for $20 per night. We have access to showers, water, toilets, dump stations, picnic areas, baseball/softball diamonds, soccer fields, open prairie, Basketball court, kids play equipment and much much more.
The cost for this event is $4.00 per tent per night. Chris will collect fees at the campsite when you arrive.
If you are not a ‘Camper’ there are several hotels /motels close to the park or you are invited to drive up and join us for the day or campfire (Don’t forget your S’More fixin’s) and worship on Saturday evening.
Our campfire worship service on Saturday will be at approximately 7:00pm. Following that, we will make S’mores and dump cake and sing some campfire songs….maybe your family and friends will be brave enough to do prepare a campfire skit? .
During the weekend, we will an evening and morning devotion as well as plenty of time to relax, go hiking or play any ‘lawn games’ you bring such as Volleyball, Frisbee, Horseshoes, Bocce Ball, Badminton, soccer…. You might also want a deck of cards, a hammock, a good book, your hiking boots or water socks if you take the little hike (about ¾ of a mile) to the beach Don’t forget to being your camera if you take the littler hike (about ½ mile) to the cliffs overlooking Lake Michigan. The leaves should be turning and we will have a great view of the shoreline!
Please register by September 15 on the Youth and Family Ministry Board to reserve your space.
Directions to Cliffside will be available on the Youth and Family Ministry Bulletin Board.
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1. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
WHAT TIME IS IT?
I heard a story about a man who learned his father had just died. The man reacted to the news in a rather unusual way. He tried to ignore it–to pretend it didn’t happen. Why? He wanted to be in a productive, joyful season. He wanted his life during that time to be about good things. He didn’t want his time to be about loss and sadness and grieving. Try as he might, though, he couldn’t make his plan work. He couldn’t postpone his grief. He eventually had to break down and submit to the season he was in.
King David knew what he was talking about when he told God: “My times are in your hands” (Psalm 31:15). We don’t control our times. We have little say over the season of life we live in or how long it lasts. David’s son Solomon used every bit of his God-given wisdom when he wrote these words in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8–
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
An essential element in using our time wisely is recognizing the season in which God has placed us and embracing it. For example, a person shouldn’t expect life to be full of wild celebrations in a season of mourning. On the flip side, it’s a shame when people miss a season of good times because they’re too busy thinking about all the sad things in life.
If you’re an unmarried person, God’s Word says you should view your present life as a season to “refrain from embracing” (having sex). Then when you become a newlywed, it’s time to enjoy your season of “embracing.” We must all submit to the God who determines our times. Our moments are in his hands. It’s pointless to say, “I will reject God because this is not a season of laughing or dancing or peace or building.” The only wise option is to ask God to help us live wisely in whatever season we find ourselves–to help us make the most of it–because soon enough it will pass, and then we’ll find ourselves in a different season.
SELF-EVALUATION
Ask yourself: What season am I in right now? Read through Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 again. Which of those times best describes your current circumstances?
Now that you’ve identified your season, ask God to help you understand how to live wisely in that time. Ask him to help you recognize your personal season and make the most of your hours and days for as long as your life lasts.
**
Taken from “Wisdom on… Time and Money” by Mark Matlock, copyright 2008 Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission.
2. SURF REPORT
BREATHEcast: Find Christian music, videos, artist interviews, and more
http://www.breathecast.com/
Back to School Prayers: It’ll be that time again soon. Get your heart ready…
http://www.christianitytoday.com/cl/2004/004/12.72.html
3. FORGETTABLE FACT
Pollen can travel up to 500 miles in a day.
4. POTENT QUOTABLES
“If you want to be happy, be.”
~ Leo Tolstoy
“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.”
~ Mark Twain
5. UH, THAT’S FUNNY?
Q: What is it that looks like an elephant and flies?
A: A flying elephant.
***All internet links are provided for informational purposes, and do not imply endorsement by Youth Specialties, Bethel Lutheran Church, Bethel’s called or contracted workers, officers, agents, volunteers or servants.
Copyright for YS Student Newsletter is held by Youth Specialties, 2008, is edited and used with permission.
Youth Specialties
300 S. Pierce St. // El Cajon, CA 92020
888.346.4179
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Chris Drager, DCE
Youth and Family Minister
I MODEL AND PERPETUATE DISCIPLESHIP FAITH from generation to generation by succeeding with my family and empowering others.
847-244-9647
“The world will be impacted by the efficacious children of parents with the vision to foster faith, nurture Christ-like character and disciple children not through programs, activities and events, but by coming together as a household of faith at their church and in their own living room. Self-efficacy through Christ. (Eph 4:13) is nurtured and supported in a family environment in which parents pray for and with their children, differences are appreciated; mistakes are tolerated and lovingly corrected; communication is open, honest and kind; where rules are firm yet flexible and democracy and compassion are learned through experience.” C. Drager