The 4 for 4-20-09

Here are your top four youth announcements for this week:

1. No school Friday means no open gym.

1. Moonlight Madness this Sat. Meet at the church at 6 PM. Free food, wear camo.

1. 8th graders and up, sign up for G4 retreat, May 1-2. $25 covers food, lodging and materials.

1. Last chance for high schoolers to sign up for M-Fuge. $50 deposit due by Sunday.

Wes' Week

Last week

was my first Holy Week in Greeneville and it was amazing. I was humbled to be in the drama Thursday night. We have so many talented people here. Sunday morning left me speechless. What an experience! It is one thing to hear the gospel, but to experience it visually. It cannot help but change you. How can we ever say thank you enough to Jesus? His passion for us and His love for His Father is amazing.

What I am working on

Preparing for The Trip, putting together music books for our youth praise band, booking our 20s ministry spot to the Passion Conference, planning the G4 retreat for the youth, fixing two staff computers, sending out letters for Student Life, and making a brochure for your college and youth ministry.

What’s on the iPod

Just bought Jack Johnson’s CD “In Between Dreams.” I discovered him after watching Curious George with my son. Nothing mellows you out better then listening to a surfer/singer/songwriter.

Currently Reading

Still reading Let the Nations be Glad by John Piper. (40% done)

Started reading a short book called Refuel by Doug Fields (60% done) It is going to be most of my talk for the G4 retreat. It talks about how one can reconnect with God. Just bought “It is Easy being Green” by Emma Sleeth. It is a resource for our next sermon series, Save the Planet.

The Final Countdown

Right now my wife is due with our fourth child in 4 weeks and we still have not decided on a name. I wonder how long a kid can go without a name. Right now we just refer to it as number 4. This is what the kids are calling it. George Castanza wanted to name his kid Seven. Maybe Four will stick.

The 4 for 4-13-09

Here are your top four youth announcements for this week:

1. Regular week. See you Mon-Wed-Fri from 3-5 PM.

1. Sign up now for Moonlight Madness, Apl 25 @ 6 PM. Reply back to sign up.

1. 8th graders and up, sign up for G4 retreat, May 1-2. $25 covers food, lodging and materials.

1. Letters going out this week for those signed up for Student Life Camp. Still taking signups for M-Fuge.

The Trip

Come to the Trip tomorrow night as we wrap up our series; Made: Becoming what God wants you to be. We are going to be talking about us being clay and God being our potter. Our scripture is comging from Isaiah 64:8. Come find out what it means to be clay in God's Hands. 6 PM Wednesday night in the Student Worship Center.

The 4 for 4-6-09

Here are your top four youth announcements for this week:

1. No Trip planning today. We will do planning on Wednesday during Y-HOT.

1. No school on Friday means no open gym. Have a great Good Friday and take time to reflect on Christ’s death.

1. Come see me in the Easter drama Thursday night @ 7 in the sanctuary and part 2 Sunday morning at 10:30 AM.

1. Middle school Student Camp is full. We are now starting the waiting list in case someone has to drop out.

Wes' Week

What's new ...

Welcome to Holy Week. I found out on Saturday night that I am a late addition to the the Easter drama, so this week consists of a lot of practices and a scramble to learn my lines. So come Thursday and see me play Philip, one of the twelve disciples.

What I am working on ...

Memorizing lines, preparing for The Trip, putting together music books for our youth praise band, booking our 20s ministry spot to the Passion Conference, planning the G4 retreat for the youth, fixing two staff computers, and making a brochure for your college and youth ministry.

What’s on the iPod ...

Just recently re-bought the Forrest Gump soundtrack. I bought it when the movie first came put, but had the CDs stolen from my car during seminary. 34 classic songs for $17 is a steal on iTunes. Also downloaded Matthew West’s new song “The Motions.” This is going to be our theme song for the G4 retreat.

The Hills are alive ...

I downloaded some songs that our praise band have been singing and some that I hope we will learn in the future. Here is the playlist:

1. Love is Here by Tenth Aevunue North
2. By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North
3. Let it Rise by Big Daddy Weave
4. You must Increase by Matt Redman
5. The hand that holds the World by Starfield

Currently Reading ...

Re-reading Let the Nations be Glad by John Piper. This book is one of our requirements for the Ocean City, MD mission trip this summer. I have always loved Piper and this is a great book explaining why God uses missions.

Tonight I will be ...

Rooting for the Tarheels, even though I am a Duke fan. UNC players and their coach are a class act. If Duke can’t win it, at least a team from the ACC should.

Parents Guide to The Trip

On Wednesday, we continued our series Made: Becoming what God wants You to Be. This was week two in the series and we studied about Sheep. We talked about what it means to be a sheep, but more importantly we focused on God being our shepherd. We decided that we needed to let God be our Shepherd and to trust that he will take care of us. The text for the sermon came from John 10 and Psalm 23.

Questions to ask your kid:

1. What does it mean to be a sheep?

2. What were shepherds like in the Bible?

3. What does it take for a sheep to lie down?

4. What did a shepherd use a rod and staff for?

5. Are you a part of God's flock?

New features coming Monday

Starting Monday I am going to have two new features on the blog:

First I am going to start a thing called Wes's Week. Here I am going to highlight some of the things going on with me. I will share some of the things that I am working on in the Student Ministry. One reason I am doing this is to lift the veil on the mystery of student ministry. You might have wondered; "What does Wes do all week?" Well this should let you know. The second reason is that maybe after seeing what I am doing, You might say to yourself; "that sounds like fun, I want to help." I always welcome people dropping by and helping me out in the office. I am a people person and I actually get more done when I have somebody to talk too.

The second feature I am going to start is going to be called THE FOUR. I sent out announcements three weeks ahead of time mentioning our summer camp deposits, but most people still forgot. I think our crazy busy lifestyles affects our memory more then we would like to think. I am still going to send out individual announcements regularly, but every Monday I am going to resend the four most pressing ads for the Student Ministry. I hope this will help about reminding you about youth events and deadlines.

Look for these posts, this coming Monday!

Youth Breakfast

It is time again for our bi-monthly youth breakfast. The middle school classes are hosting this one. So all you middle school kids need to bring something to eat. The department will provide the drinks.

The fun starts at 9:15 in the Youth Department. We will eat and then our own Jimmy Jordan will be sharing his story with us. You have seen him play guitar at The Trip, now find out a little more about him.