Video that the students of Capo used to illustrate the misconceptions of Jesus for their You Own the Weekend.

JG

Weekend Teaching Series: You Own the Weekend: Capo HS (week 3 of 5)

Sermon in a Sentence: An apology to non-believers for the way Christian living doesn’t support the message of Jesus, and a challenge for Christians to live for Him.
Service Length: 59 minutes

Understandable Message: The message focused on the misconceptions of Jesus as taught out by His followers. It was taught by 3 students – each starting with a heartfelt “I apologize…” and then talking about where they and other Christians fail to live out their faith despite the instructions to do the opposite by Christ. Hypocrisy and being judgemental were the main focus and a student testimony talking about a church split and recovering from following people instead of Jesus made for a really solid message.

Volunteer/Student Involvement: This series is about students doing everything – and that’s exactly what they did again this week. Lights, camera sound, band, choir, control room, setup, cleanup, stage, greeting, activity afterward, prayer patio, testimony, speaking, program. Students took over every role, the adult team simply looked for conversations and helped create a welcoming environment.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: Capo made a couple of great videos and had some great energy up front – but the star of the night as far as the fun was concerned was “Air Guitar” – a little while after the service groups of students came up and did lip-synched songs and dances – hilarious and fun.

Music Playlist: We Shine + 3 more (sorry I don’t remember them!)

Favorite Moment: We don’t do communion too often as a student ministry – so it is special whenever we have it. One of the students led the time, focusing on the importance of not just ritually following Jesus but living out our faith and beliefs every day. Good challenge – followed by some baptisms, too!

Up Next: YOTW – Mission Viejo HS (week 4 of 5)

Just read a blog post of my friend Phil who mentioned creating a Sabbath mode on his Blackberry so his day off wouldn’t be interrupted by work/church emails. I love the idea - got to figure out how to do it on my Windows Mobile phone now. If you’re anything like me, you need this, too!

JG

I Twittered last week about the students who gather in my office each week and discuss series ideas and give sermon help – the idea got quite a few responses and some requests for more information on the meeting. Here’s what happens at 4pm each Tuesday in my office!

We started with SHAPE (spiritual gifts, heart, ability, personailty, experience)  interviews with a bunch of students last summer – these students were picked based on their results to help craft the series that HSM teaches and mold the weekly messages. The students are wildly diverse – different school, temperments, gender, class – all swirled together make for some great discussion.

Once a series is confirmed/estabilished, I lay out the basic direction and goal for the series, then it’s fair game. We have a huge whiteboard and begin to compile ideas in a bunch of categories – Scripture, possible testimonies, videos ideas, pop culture references to the topic, illustrations from school life and more.

This past week, we were brainstorming the upcoming series “The End” – 2 straightforward weeks on Heaven and Hell. Within the discussion there are a ton of distractions and rabbit trails, some of what is said is incredibly valuable and some of what is said is worthless. But I’ll take it all – I love having the student perspective on the talk in this early form. Everything gets put up on the whiteboard, and when the sermon is done (usually Thursday before the weekend) I’ll even send the manuscript around and ask them to use Word’s “track changes” feature to give feedback. One last thing – they all have “veto” power as well – if they feel strongly enough that something won’t work on the weekend, we gong it and it gets taken off the table. It still encourages risk-taking and fresh ideas, but helps keep them grounded in credibility.

One last key is prayer – one week, we ditched all of the brainstorming and just prayed for the weekend messages and students to be receptive to what God and His Spirit would say to them. Prayer has to be a central part of this team’s heart. The overall goal here is full preparation, not to circumvent God’s voice to the communicator and what God is asking him/her to say. But I’m always amazed by the value in these students’ perspective.

We’ve been doing it since this Fall – we’ve had to take a few breaks for trips and the holidays, but the time is very valuable to me. Maybe it would work in your context, too – if so, great!

JG

Liked Kurt’s post today about getting creative and out of a rut. Here’s a clip of his post – head to Simply Kurt for the rest:

If you’re like most people, you probably don’t consider yourself as being creative. Very few people do, and I think this may be because most of us have too narrow a definition of what “creativity” means and also because most people never practice being creative.

A New Definition of Creativity: Most people think being creative means inventing something out of nothing, or coming up with an idea that has never been thought of. I like to define creativity as simply being willing to think differently and try something new. That’s it.  When faced with a project, an opportunity, a challenge, a problem etc. most of us will typically default to our normal pattern of addressing such things; usually patterns that have found success in the past, so we assume they will bring success again….and they often do. Creativity is simply the willingness to take our normal patterns of thinking a step or two farther by thinking differently and trying something new when faced with life’s scenarios.

JG

Been out of touch with a good chunk of my world since email is down here at Saddleback. The servers died and they’ve been scrambling for several days to get it all running again. The down time has given me a chance to go somewhat “dark” for 48 hours. Here’s what I’m thinking, since I don’t have emails popping in to keep me busy:

I’ve taught people to expect a response from me on email almost instantly.
Honestly, some of this is OK - I like to be available and prompt when managing my email. But it becomes a problem when I admit that …

I’m pretty addicted to email.
I looked at my phone a lot the past 2 days, staring at nothing but a “error synchronizing” message. Then a funny thought hit me … 

Students haven’t missed me having no access to email.
Not a single student has asked me if I got their email. Not a single student has asked why I didn’t respond to their email. Because they don’t use email. Adults, on the other hand, most definitely have. Interesting shift that isn’t about to happen – it’s here. It made me being to that that maybe, just maybe …

A student ministry/church/organization could be run almost completly on SMS or Facebook.
I’ve tossed around the idea this week about ditching student blogs, email lists and all that already old-school stuff. Methods of communication have shifted so rapidly to Facebook and SMS, that I’ve genuinely weighed the pros and cons of working exclusively in Facebook. I think it could be done – free, zero downtime and in the very social space of your students and your target audience.

So what are my takeaways from these 4 observations? Honestly, email is back on, I’ve got a ton to catch up on and have to run.

JG

Saddleback’s email servers have been down the past 2 days, leaving me completely out of touch with email with nothing coming in or going out. The tech wizards assure us it’ll be back in the morning – thought I would ask you what type of email load you face on a typical day, too.

JG

mY Generation: a Real Journey of Change and Hope by Josh James Riebock was the latest stronghold to fall in my weekend book-reading assault. Josh was our camp speaker last summer and it was fun to see his personality come through in his book. Relationships are key to Josh’s life – it seems like each section of each chapter focuses on a friend of his and what he learned about life and God from that person and their experiences. If you are a friend of Josh and were disappointed didn’t make the cut this book, I’m sure you’ll be in the follow-up – seems like being friends with Josh could easily land you in his writings, so look out! I’m not a huge fan of books that try to characterize an entire generation but really enjoyed Josh’s take on spirituality and faith through the eyes of the 20-30 year old community.

In light of today’s survey and analysis about spirituality vs. religion in the Millenials, the book feels timely and fresh. I couldn’t help but think about the book UnChristian as I read these pages, it felt like Josh was unpacking the back-story behind the findings in that fantastic earlier work. I especially like the chapters on community and authenticity, but the chapter on forgiveness is the best in the book. Just when you think Josh has it all together and is nearly perfect – he goes after himself with honesty and openness that invites you to hear his observations about God through the eyes of the next generation. Well written, honest, funny – I really liked his take on the Christian faith and life illustrated by stories from his friends of the Y Generation. A good read!

JG

Spent some time reading my YouVersion daily Bible-reading plan and came across the account of the life of John the Baptist. Was struck by something that I’ve no doubt glanced over before. From conception to death, John’s whole life was dedicated to someone else.

No the quick obvious observation was that John’s life was all about Jesus, that’s typically where I’ve left it. Yes, he was the one to prepare the way and announce Jesus’ arrival on earth. But what struck me wasn’t that he was proclaiming Jesus and making him known (which too is our mission) it was that his life wasn’t about him. I’ve always thought about his story about who is was focusing on (Jesus), instead of who is wasn’t focusing on (himself). He sacrificed himself utterly and completely – I can’t find a single moment when John the Baptist’s life was about him.

Mine, on the other hand, is just the opposite:

• I turn conversations to myself as soon as possible
• I want comforts that make my life easier
• I want to be the center of everyone’s world
• I tend to minimize the contributions of others because it takes the attention from me
• I overlook certain personality types because they might overshadow mine
• I need the credit for the success of our ministry
• I have needs that are more important than anyone else

So I’m broken in this way, and I want to work on it, inspired by the life of John. I want to be a youth pastor that is constantly turning conversations toward someone else, brings Jesus to the world, freely gives away credit and praise for kingdom work and puts everyone else’s needs about my own. Not exactly an easy task, but something worth living for.

JG

Read in one sitting today the book A Lion Called Christian – the story behind the YouTube sensation from a couple of years ago. Not normally a book I would read, but my wife brought it home from a recent trip and I remembered seeing the video of a lion and his human parents a while back. The story is curious and interesting, I’ve never owned (or desired to own) a lion before, so it was interesting to see the thought process and witness the bonding between humans and animals. This is a book about relationships, and while it is dated, it is still interesting to follow their journey from purchase to reunion years later. I didn’t pull away a ton of learnings, but it was fun to satisfy my curiosity and hear the backstory of that most-interesting video.

JG

This is Jon Varner – he’s the latest addition to the HSM team. Jon is finishing up his 2-year internship with Saddleback, with a ton of recent transition in our staff he’s landed with HSM, and I couldn’t be happier (especially since he looks a bit like Wolverine). Jon has helped with regional campus ministry, spiritual growth and now student ministry. Pumped to have him through September of this year!

JG

Video testimonies from this weekend’s El Toro HS You Own the Weekend – the first half of their story was on video, the second half was told live. Amazing stories of Jesus rescuing teenagers.

JG

Weekend Teaching Series: You Own the Weekend: El Toro HS (week 2 of 5)

Sermon in a Sentence: God is the Great Rescuer.
Service Length: 69 minutes

Understandable Message: The weekend told the story of the Prodigal Son through a message as well as real-life stories of God rescuing students and bringing them back to him. A powerful combination of the teaching of the passage and illustrations of it on stage.

Volunteer/Student Involvement: This series is about students doing everything – and that’s exactly what they did! Lights, camera sound, band, choir, control room, setup, cleanup, stage, greeting, activity afterward, prayer patio, testimony, speaking, program. Students took over every role, the adult team simply looked for conversations and helped create a welcoming environment.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: Students created a positive atmosphere with creative school-themed decorations like streamers and posters, as well as had a ton of greeters to make everyone feel welcome. They had a funny video as part of the countdown and used the school drum line as part of the opening to the night, and even included them in the worship songs at the end of the night. Positive, fun, memorable.

Music Playlist: Song of the Broken, Amazing Grace, With Everything

Favorite Moment: My favorite moment came Sunday afternoon – I took my kids to Yogurtland as a treat for doing so well in flag football Saturday morning. The student behind the counter regularly attends HSM, and she mentioned bringing her friend for the first time, and that they absolutely loved it. The weekend is our front door – we work hard to create a positive, welcoming environment with lots of students involved sharing an understandable message – it is always a great feeling when students feel safe enough to bring their friends. Love it!

Up Next: YOTW – Capo HS (week 3 of 5)

A video used to summarize the stories of life change from El Toro HS You Own the Weekend as they talked about the Prodigal Son and being rescued.

JG

This is a bit insider for the blog, I know … but Marty is kind of a celebrity at El Toro HS, he has more Facebook friends that you and I combined. Students made this fun welcome to HSM video for their You Own the Weekend program.

JG

Late on the evening of March 18th, 2010, a fire broke out at Purpose Driven Academy, completely destroying the boys high school and jr high dormatories. Over 100 resident students were left with NOTHING but the clothing they were wearing …AND THEIR LIVES. Praise God that because of the timing of the day all students were in CLASSROOMS doing last minute ‘preps’ for the next day’s National Exams… a Kenya-wide testing that determines your position for university and other school placement…THINK SAT’s…nobody died …and if you stood in those dorms you would say as I did, ‘this is a miracle that no one perished’. The fire’s origin is still being sought by the Kitale fire investigators, but because of the fierceness of the fire and the lack of fire response and the complete destruction, that may never be settled. More details here.

Pretty cool idea from last weekend’s You Own the Weekend from Trabuco Hills HS that focused on unity. During the closing two songs, students could come up and get their school colors painted on their hands, and place a handprint on the wall. At the end of the services, the wall was covered in handprints from high schools all over the area – all formed together as a symbol of unity. Cool stuff!

JG

Here’s the second baptismal certificate for our youth ministry – the first one was more girl-friendly, happy to have some more manly colors on this one. Alanna is making a few more and giving them away as a freebie on Simply Youth Ministry soon – stay tuned!

JG

Hilarious live rap opener from Trabuco Hills You Own the Weekend. Lots of school pride to kick things off!

JG

This video appreciating volunteers is stunning. So great – go North Point!

JG