Sunday Night

Hey High Schoolers,

Many of you have heard by now, but for those of you who haven't, my Grandfather passed away earlier this week. This has been especially hard on me and to make matters slightly more difficult, the funeral services have been planned for Sunday afternoon at 4pm.

I've changed my mind 100 times this week, but have decided that our Kickoff Youth Group will still be happening! You and I have all been waiting a long time for this. :)

So-we'll be meeting at the Kaufmann's at 6pm on Sunday evening for swimming and a cookout! The Kaufmann's live at 8220 Farmington Cemetery Road just outside of Farmingdale. If you need directions just click here.

Looking forward to getting back into rhythm!

-Bryan

Dear, ____________

In John 4, Jesus is sitting at a well when a Samaritan woman comes to draw water. They talk, she realizes He is Christ, and then she goes back to town and tells everyone she sees that they need to come and meet this guy. What she does seems rather simple. She met someone great and wants others to meet Him too. She does all she can to introduce others to this man.

We do this all the time. Think about the last time you met someone new (that you thought was great!) Maybe it was your future spouse, a potential best friend, or someone famous? Regardless, you likely went and told someone all about this interaction afterward.

I love telling the story of how I met my wife. The events of the story aren't what make it great to share. Instead, it's the person in the story that I'm wanting to share. I want to tell everyone about my wife because she's awesome. So awesome, that if I'm given the opportunity to introduce someone to her, I'll do it in a heartbeat! I've found something great, and I have to share that with others.

It's likely that you have felt this same way. You've met someone that you've deemed worthy of introducing to others for some reason or another. At times this may be a selfish, rub it in your face type of motive; but I would venture that more often than not, you want to share this person because they have something valuable to share with others. Maybe it's a talent, a great sense of humor, the ability to counsel?

You see, this is exactly why the Samaritan woman wanted to introduce others to Jesus. It wasn't just that He benefited her, it was that He could benefit others as well. This was too good to keep to herself! This guy was special. This guy could save them from death! This guy was definitely worth sharing!

Unfortunately, I've struggled to introduce Jesus to others. You probably have too. Yet, I know how great He is. I know what He has to offer. I know that He is worth sharing. Why do I keep someone, who could be so valuable to others, to myself?

There are a ton of reasons and excuses. We all know what they are. It's time to get over the excuses though. It's time to start introducing others to Jesus.

When my wife was in the 6th grade she received a note from a close friend. It had the typical teenage girl smalltalk about boys and classes. But, there was something else in the note that made my wife keep it in a safe place for the past 14 years. Her friend asked her if she knew Jesus. If not, she said, she needed to meet him.

That note led my wife to an eternal relationship with Christ!
John 4:39 says that many of the people from town came to have a relationship with Jesus because of the Samaritan woman.

Are you introducing others to Jesus? Maybe it's time we take an example from an unlikely source in the Bible-a Samaritan woman.

Dear ____________,

Do you know Jesus?

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Summer Youth Group

The summer is finally here! That means that the Western Oaks Youth Groups start to look at lot different. Every summer we get rid of our normal weekly schedule and mix it up with weekly Bible Studies, fun events, FUGE Camp, and Mission Trips! Our schedule is anything but regular or consistent, but it is set.

You'll notice that there are loads of things on the schedule (Click here or here for schedule), but that they are all different colors. Anything that is Blue is for the Cutting Edge Jr. High Youth Group-kids who have completed 6th-8th grade. The events written in Orange are for the Sunday Night Live High School Youth Group-students who have completed 9th-12th grade. Finally, anything in Green is for both the Cutting Edge and Sunday Night Live Youth Groups.

We're also very excited for an addition to our "staff" this summer. Noah Adams, a former student and now college Sophomore at Judson University, will be interning with the youth program at Western Oaks. Noah is majoring in youth ministry and also focusing on psychology. He'll be working primarily with the Cutting Edge Jr. High group this summer, but will also work on mission events with the High School.

Finally, we wanted to remind you of all the great ways to keep up with what we doing here at Western Oaks.

• Website: www.westernoaks.org
  
• Youth Blog: http://wobcYouth.blogspot.com
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/wobcYouth
• Facebook: search for Cutting Edge or Sunday Night Live
• E-mail: youth@westernoaks.org
• Phone: Bryan 691-6715, Noah 801-3150

We're really looking forward to this summer. We hope you are too!

...with all your strength."

For the past few weeks I've been using the book, Primal, by Mark Batterson to write a sermon series for the high school youth group at Western Oaks. Last Sunday was Strength Sunday. This was all about loving God with all your Strength.

When I think of strength, one of the first things that comes to mind is my lifting regiment during college. I was on the Track and Field team at Illinois Wesleyan and was required to lift weights every day after practice. Needless to say, I hated this. If you've ever seen me before you'd understand why. I have crazy long toothpick arms. That being said, lifting weights isn't my forte. I did have strength though-everyone does. It is just that my strength didn't lift nearly as much weight as my teammates' strength did. Although the amount of weight we lifted wasn't equal, the amount of sweat we released was. As we all left the weight room every evening we would be pouring in sweat.

That is what loving God with all of your strength is about-sweat. Loving God with all your strength means that you are sweating for God. It means that you are working hard for kingdom causes. It means that you are expending energy to glorify God. (No matter how much weight you can lift).

Thomas Edison said that energy is 90% perspiration. If loving God with all your strength means sweating and expending energy then we should be doing something. James 2:20 tells us that faith without works is dead! Do you have faith? Well then you should be sweating!

Some of you reading this post hate sweating. It's sticky, uncomfortable, and (let's be honest) smells pretty bad. Sweat is uncomfortable. Who ever said that love was comfortable though. Who ever said love was easy? Who ever said love smelled good?

Do you love God with all your strength? Are you sweating for his kingdom?

I'd love to hear how you are sweating for God's kingdom. Fill us in by writing a comment below.

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Treasure

Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. -Luke 12:34

What's your treasure? Is it your spouse, children, job, bank account? Maybe it's something you've accomplished? I've learned in the past week or so that my treasure is something which I hoped it never would be.

Two weeks ago I wrote a post about loving God with all your heart. In it, I quoted Mark Batterson: "Loving God with all your heart means having a heart that breaks for the things that break God's heart."

Recently, my heart has been breaking over change; most specifically change in scenery. Months ago, my grandfather moved out of his home and into a retirement home. This was no big deal at first, but then he put his house on the market. To be honest, this crushed me. There were so many memories that occurred there! How could we get rid of something that had so much potential for future memories?

Last week though, my grandfather's health started to fail. As I write this, he lay in a hospital bed. Our hope is that he will soon be transferred to a nursing home. Unfortunately, it was this change that helped me to realize that my heart had not previously been breaking due to change. It was breaking because a possession that I loved was soon to be lost. It wasn't breaking because my Grandfather was becoming less independent. It wasn't breaking because he was lonely. It wasn't breaking for the same reason God's heart was breaking.

It was breaking because I didn't want to lose a house. I found my treasure. I found my heart. I just didn't find it where it should be.

In the past week, though, God has straightened my heart out. Although I'll miss being able to go to the house, what I'll miss more is, someday soon, not being able to go visit my grandfather. My treasure is no longer a house, my treasure is my loved ones.

What is your treasure? Once you find it, you'll find your heart. Then the real question is this: Does your heart look like God's?

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...with all your mind,

For the past few weeks I've been using the book, Primal, by Mark Batterson to write a sermon series for the high school youth group at Western Oaks. Last Sunday was Mind Sunday. This was all about loving God with all your Mind.

"A mind stretched by a new idea never returns to its original shape." -Oliver Wendall Holmes

For years we thought that the human brain had a limit. Once you reached that limit, the more you learned, the more you lost. You could only put so much into your brain. Your brain could only grow so much. Then a few years ago, a research group in London discovered something. Your brain actually can continue to grow, in particular, your posterior hippocampus which plays a key role in long term memory.

This research group proved that our mind was created with the ability to continually grow, stretch, and learn more. God created us this way! Loving God with all your mind means taking advantage of this.

A few years back, Illinois Wesleyan (among many other colleges) did a study where they took a group of high performing juniors and gave them their final exams twice-once at the normal time, and once 2 weeks after that. Both exams were identical, but the second time students scored on average of 40% lower! It's as though they hadn't used their hippocampus at all! (Ever crammed for a test before?)

We also live in a culture where we stop corporate education around 22 years old. Our average life span is nearly 80 years though! If our mind can continue to learn, grow, and expand, why are we quitting so early!? 1 Corinthians 8:2 says "The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know." Do you think you know something?

Loving God with all your mind means that you never assume that you know something. It means that you are never satisfied with what you've already learned. It means that you constantly seek to know more. It means that you read, explore, ask questions, create, try, fail, and learn! Loving God with all your mind means that you abuse the fact that your posterior hippocampus can continue to grow!

Ask yourself this question: 'Am I really loving God with all my mind?'

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...with all your soul,

For the past few weeks I've been using the book, Primal, by Mark Batterson to write a sermon series for the high school youth group at Western Oaks. Last Sunday was Soul Sunday. This was all about loving God with all your Soul.

"The average person looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feelings, eats without tasting, inhales without the awareness of odor or fragrance, and talks without thinking." -Leonardo da Vinci

Loving God with all your soul means that you see, hear, feel, taste, smell, and think. Loving God with all your soul means that you recognize God's creation and presence. Loving God with all your Soul means that you're in awe of what God has done and continues to do.

1 Peter 1:18 puts it this way-Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. (Message)

Have you ever really considered God's words in Genesis as he finished creating the universe? "...it was very good." Genesis 1:31 Even God himself was in awe of His creation! Are you? If you blow through life forgetting to see, hear, feel, taste, smell, and think, chances are you aren't in awe of God.

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries.
-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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