April 2006

Hi All,

There are two constants in the youth ministry at Hus Church. The first constant is what we say in the "Apostles' Creed":
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteh on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy *Catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and life everlasting. Amen.
*The word "catholic" refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The second is that there is always change. In just the past few weeks we have made some significant changes with the youth group. Movie night is now on the first Wednesday of each month. This change has several benefits of which is that it will be easier to invite friends for pizza and a movie. At the same time we changed the way you do youth group on Wednesday nights. No longer will the youth have to try and will an hour with this or that. Sometimes "that" was characterized by the youth as boring lessons (we noticed when the kids started to fall asleep). Beginning on March 26th we started having a youth worship service. This was after months and months of trying to figure out how to do a youth worship service. Unfortunately I was trying to hard to do it 'big' instead of keeping it simple. So what does the youth service look like? We sing (as loud as we want) to CDs of different Christian artists with a short message (about 5 minutes) mixed in. Hopefully this is the way to go. If not, we will try something different. Change does not make us failures; it makes us smarter as we move forward.

In Luke 12:54-59 Jesus talks about change:
54Then he turned to the crowd: "When you see clouds coming in from the west, you say, "Storm's coming'--and you're right. 55And when the wind comes out of the south, you say, "This'll be a hot one'--and you're right. 56Frauds! You know how to tell a change in the weather, so don't tell me you can't tell a change in the season, the God-season we're in right now. 57"You don't have to be a genius to understand these things. Just use your common sense, 58the kind you'd use if, while being taken to court, you decided to settle up with your accuser on the way, knowing that if the case went to the judge you'd probably go to jail 59and pay every last penny of the fine. That's the kind of decision I'm asking you to make." (The Message)

If current trends continue only 4% of the current generation, the Millenials, will be Evangelical Christians. In just a few short years the Millenials will be our business owners, teachers, government leaders, etc. So, why should we care? Have you ever considered what it looks like to have only 4% Evangelical Christians? What does that look like? (from Ron Luce's book "BattleCry for a Generation.")
 Netherlands Legalized Euthanasia.
 Pastor arrested for preaching Biblical perspective on homosexuality.
 Scotland 14 years old consenting age
 Nudity in newspapers in England

In the new book "The Last Christian Generation," Josh McDowell opens the first chapter with:
"I realize the title of this book may be shocking. But the decision to call this The Last Christian Generation was not made lightly nor was it done for sensationalism. I sincerely believe unless something is done now to change the spiritual state of our young people--you will become the last Christian generation!"

George Barna notes that youth are searching for something spiritual. Great! But where are they getting their information? They are getting their worldview from TV, the radio. I looked at the latest Target ad in the Sunday paper and was shocked to see so many CDs for sale with the "Parental Advisory Explicit Content" label on them.

How well do we know our kids? Do you know what your kids are watching and listening to? Are they online and posting to Xanga, Facebook, or MySpace? What are they posting? Can you name any of their friends? What is their favorite color? Do your kids believe in God? Do they believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

Are all religions more or less alike and lead to heaven? I could go on and on. Because this is so important I am currently working on a youth culture workshop. If you are interested or want to help, please let me know. There is a lot that parents do not know and need to.

Because of Him,

Terry

Upcoming Meetings
April:
 Join us on the 5th for movie night beginning at 5:15 PM for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." This month's movie is about 140 minutes long so we should be done by 7:45 PM. This would be a great night to invite some friends, just let us know how many are coming so we can make sure that we have enough to eat (please be sure to bring $3 to help cover the cost of the meal). Are you part of another youth group? Have your youth leader get a hold of us; we would love to have you join us!
 On the 12th, 19th, and the 26th we will worship and fellowship from 5:45 to 6:45 P.M.
 Confirmation meets on the 12th, 19th, and the 26th from 6:45 – 7:45 P.M. On the 5th the confirmation class will participate in movie night (see above for movie night details).
Events not scheduled yet will be announced as far in advance as possible so you can make plans to attend.
The movie scheduled to be shown could change without warning due to availability.

Upcoming Concerts/Events
April
2nd Youth serving at the Sunday Evening Meal (1st Presbyterian Church) from 4 - 6 PM.
8th Hus Racing League. Youth working in the kitchen from 10 AM - 3 PM. Fundraiser
16th Youth serving Easter Sunrise Breakfast
21st - 23rd Chrysalis Flight #26 (Altoona United Methodist Church)
28th - 29th 30 Hour Famine
30th BOOM Sunday

Every Monday: Youth Prayer Time, 7PM at the old SW Target parking lot.
Every Thursday: High School Bible Study, 4 - 6 PM at the Panera Bread on Collins Rd.
Every Friday: Marion High School Bible Study, 7:30 - 8 AM.

Times subject to change.

A conversation with God
Hi God. Lord God, we need you. Each day may our words and actions be yours. Help us to be in Your Word, the Bible everyday. Lord be in our lives each and every day, through good and bad. Father we know that even in bad times you are with us and that it is through bad times that we draw closer to you.
Christ be in my life and in my living (place hands over chest)
Christ be in my heart and in my loving (hands over heart)
Christ be in my mouth and in my speaking (hands over mouth)
Christ be in my eyes and in my seeing (hands over eyes)
Christ be in my ears and in my hearing (hands over ears)
Christ be in my mind and in my thinking (hands on head)
In Jesus’ precious and holy name, Amen.

"Christianity is not a religion; it is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ." Anonymous posting to a Christian mailing list.