Hypnotized

On Wednesday nights we have been talking about Christian Values. Last night we talked about self control. Let's face it, we live in a society where it can be very difficult to have self-control. There are so many temptations and distractions especially for young people.

Last night I shared an experience i had at a hypnotists show in Las Vegas a couple years ago. I learned a lot about self-control that night as I went up that night to be "Hypnotized". I hate to ruin this for anybody, but there is no magic involved. The whole show is based on the knowledge that once you get a human being up on stage they will go along with it cause they don't want to ruin the show or embarrass the performer. At least that's how it was for me. I went along with everything the hypnotist said because i felt pressure to. i could have stood up and said "This is a sham, I'm not hypnotized" and walked out. But i chose to participate so as not to ruin the show. In case you were worried about what kind of crazy things your Youth Minister was doing, this was a family show, so i did not do anything that would compromise my integrity too much :) Anyway, I used it as an illustration to show how we are always able to control ourselves and our actions. unfortunately, a lot of times our actions are often influenced by the situations we put ourselves in and what we think others expect from us.

2 Peter 1:5-8 says:
"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Self-control is a very important building block of our faith. We can have all the religious talk down, but it's another thing to be able to use self control in a situation where your faith is tested.
To be an effective witness for Christ, self control is a necessity.

Self control is not something we are born with though, it's something we have to learn and practice. So we talked about ways we could improve our self control.

• You have to know yourself. Know your strenghts and weaknesses. figure out what situations you find it difficult to practice self control and avoid them.
• Talk to others about your struggles. Talk to friends, parents and other adults who can help you through and hold you accountable.
• Slow down and pray up. Don't always react to your hormones or emotions. stop, think, and pray for God's wisdom and guidance.
• Look to the scriptures. It can be intimidating to look in the Bible cause we don't always no where to start. there are plenty of good resources out there to help you along. the Internet is a great tool. You can even go to Google and type in "What does the Bible say about..."

having self control is a continuing struggle with everyone. I hope last night gave your kids some ideas that will help them as they continue on their path as young Christians.

Peter

YMC Grand Opening

The Grand opening at the YMC last night was awesome. I am overwhelmed by the number of people who were there and the support we have received. God is really doing great things at Trinity and i feel so blessed to be a part of it. Now that the building project is over the real fun can begin. This building gives us so much opportunity to continue to impact the kids of our church as well as to reach out to others. I look forward to the months and years ahead as as we find new ways to "Tell the World" about him in this place.

God Bless

"Next" Wednesday, November 14

We had a great night last night. The Elkhart Truth came to take pictures for an article on the YMC that will be in this Friday's paper. We had a great time praising God with music especially with a new song we've been doing "Take It All"

Last night's topic was Respect. We talked about giving each person the value they deserve. Every person is created in the image of God and deserves respect despite differences. We also discussed how everyone wants respect from parents, peers, etc but is not always willing to give it in return. (Luke 6:31)
We also talked about different ways to show respect: Appreciate Everyone (James 2:1), Obey Authority (1 Peter 2:13), and Honor God (Revelation 4:11)

In Small groups youth were asked to name someone whom they find it difficult to show respect to and were challenged to find ways to be more respectful to that person. They were also asked to think of examples of respect found in the Bible. I was really impressed at how many examples they came up with and how they could relate them to their own lives.

Well, that's it for now. Just a reminder that there will be no "Next" on Wednesday November 21. I hope you all have a blessed thanksgiving and are able to celebrate with family and friends.

In Christ,
Peter

Honesty

Wednesday nights have been going really well so far in the YMC. We had quite a crowd last night which had a great time rocking out and praising God.
Our topic last night in "Next" Middle School youth was honesty. I talked about what honesty means to us as Christians. Christ is truth. He came to suffer and die for our sins and also to give us an example of how to live. If we call ourselves followers of Christ, we are called to Speak Truly, Deal Truly, and Live Truly just as He did. That can be a big challenge for middle schoolers who are pulled in so many directions. In their groups they discussed the difficulties of being a person of honesty as well as ways to become a more honest person. please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great rest of the week.

In His Service,
Peter

24t7

Since we finally have our YMC Grand Opening scheduled for November 18, we spent most of last night planning on how we could show appreciation for the people who made this building possible. Each Ikon small group will be doing some kind of presentation for the Grand opening. We are also asking each member of the Youth Group, High School and Middle School, to bring a $10 thank offering for a special gift for the congregation.
Make sure you come out on Nov 18 at 5:30 PM to celebrate with us!

Peter

Friendship

Here is a summary of last night's 24t7:

The night started out with great food and music as usual. After that I gave a talk about the importance of having close Friends, using the friendship of David and Jonathan (1 Samuel) as an example. the main point of the night was to show how important it is to have a close friend or friends who you share your faith and values, friends that will encourage and support you but also hold you accountable and help you get back on the right track when you stumble. Of course there is no better example of this than Jesus himself, who befriended sinners. He accepted them but not their sin and helped them to change.

We discussed this further in our small groups and kids were challenged to strive for these kinds of friendships. they were encouraged to find friends and adults who would hold them accountable and build them up in their faith.

We end every night with a song called Tell the World. This week my prayer is that these youth go out and tell the world about Jesus through their friendships.

Have a great week,
Peter

Ikon 24t7

last night at 24t7 we talked about the difference between entertainment and enjoyment. We live in a world that is all about entertainment. it seems people need to constantly be entertained or we're bored. while entertainment can be a good and relaxing thing, we need more. God created us to enjoy the people and creation around us, to interact with people and enjoy the simple things.
We looked at Ecclesiastes 3 which starts out "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven".
there are times to be serious, to be sad, to work, etc... But there are also times to just have fun, laugh, and enjoy being alive. That's just how life is. We hope that at Ikon we are able to enjoy the good times we have with each other and build relationships which will ultimately lead to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Enjoy your week!

Peter

In the YMC

It has been so great to get in to the new YMC this past week with the first Ikon on Sunday night and our first "Next" last night. There was a lot of excitement both nights from youth and leaders and i feel both nights went really well. The Youth ministry at Trinity is really blessed to have what we have.
Gratefulness has been the theme of our opening nights. Besides having some rocking music, we talked about the history of youth "space" at Trinity and how it has developed over the last 4-5 years. We also talked about what has been given (time, money, labor), why it has been given, and how we can show our gratitude. Basically all we have now at the YMC is because of the members of our congregation and the belief they have in our young people and the potential they have to be icons of God. My prayer is that our youth show their gratefulness by taking ownership in this place, continuing to be involved, and encouraging others to be involved.

Thanks again for your continued support of this Ministry. Have a great weekend.

Peter

Hello Parents

hey parents. I have created this blog to keep you up to date with what is going on with the Youth Ministry at Trinity. Make sure to check back often. i want you to know what we are talking about, so i will be posting summaries of our Ikon and Next meetings and events every week. Please feel free to contact me.

Peter