I’m a pastor to students & families (a.k.a. youth pastor)
content
It’s true I pastor students, middle school students to be specific. It’s a new gig for me and one i enter into with excitement and some biblical fear and trembling.
I read student ministry blogs here and there. I want to do that more; there are so many great ideas and encouraging people out there. What student ministry blogs should I be reading?
And i’m looking forward to sharing some of the things we are doing here in the student ministry at Christ Church Plano.
Christ Church is a really great place! It’s also a really interesting mix of a liturgical church, rooted in tradition, history and beauty, and an evangelical bible church kinda feel with a high value on scripture and a personal relationship with Jesus. Most of the things you typically think of from a liturgical church and a bible church both find themselves being gracefully lived out right here in one place. Geographically we are in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas, a place called Plano that has its own kind of charm and plenty of suburban challenges.
I’m pretty new around here, just into my 3rd month, but I think this mix of things is going to make for some great but unique ministry in the student ministry world. I still know a lot of folks who are doing event-based attractional ministry, i know folks who are doing strong small group ministry, and i know folks who are trying to do missional youth ministry. I even know some folks who are doing a mix of all the above. The journey i’m on is to figure out how to do youth ministry in a liturgically sensible, biblically formative, socially conscious, and above all disciple-making kind of way.
Maybe there are some folks out there trying to do similar kinds of things. WHO ARE YOU? We need to talk!
Basically i’m excited to talk about student ministry, middle school ministry, failures, successes, and all the crazy stories in between. Student ministry is a wild ride but i’m excited to be a part of this community of people in a new kind of way. I’m excited to dive deeper into the conversation.
I’ve had a handful of meaningful conversation and interaction surrounds Martin Luther King Jr. that have made a impact on me. I remember talking with a friend of mine about not just his legacy but talking about how he lived as a young man, how focused and driven he was to pursue the things of God. I lived in Montgomery AL where he pastored. I’ve visited his church. I’ve read some of his writings and watched LOTS of video of his speeches / sermons. I’m floored every time i think of his amazing journey of non-violence, the courage and faith he must have had. I pray that i will be able to non-violently and self-sacrifically live in a way that brings the kingdom of God to come as i believe Dr. King did.
I shared last Wednesday with my students about making resolutions that reflect our desire for the freedom God wants to give us and that lead us into the life God created for us to live.
One of my resolutions is to read the bible more this year!
I’m reading the whole thing in the first 90 days of the year and then at least one chapter ever day of this year.
My pastor, Fr. David Roseberry’s preached a sermon yesterday (check it out at Christ Church Plano) that was awesome and a great reminder and challenge for us to get into the Word of God this year!
Want to join me?!?!
You know you do!
I’m going to post on Facebook (and maybe on this blog) every monday, what is called The Daily Office. A collection of readings for everyday of the week that people all around the world read together.
Read all of the readings or just pick one of the readings for the day and take a few moments to get into God’s Word.
God will meet with you and speak to you!
Can’t wait to see what God does in our lives because we are getting into His life through reading His Word, the bible!!!
Here is The Daily Office for this week…
And if you have an iPhone or iPad there is a great app; iPhonelectionary.com that can give you these readings as well. Or just pick up the free YouVersion Bible app and start your own bible reading plan.
But here is The Daily Office for this week…
MONDAY JANUARY 16TH
Psalm 25 | Gen. 8:6-22 | Psalm 9, 15 | Heb. 4:14-5:6 | John 2:23-3:15
TUESDAY JANUARY 17TH
Psalm 26, 28 | Gen. 9:1-17 | Psalm 36, 39 | Heb. 5:7-14 | John 3:16-21
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 18TH
Psalm 38 | Gen. 9:18-29 | Psalm 119:25-48 | Heb. 6:1-12 | John 3:22-36
THURSDAY JANUARY 19TH
Psalm 37:1-18 | Gen. 11:1-9 | Psalm 37:19-42 | Heb. 6:13-20 | John 4:1-15
FRIDAY JANUARY 20TH
Psalm 31 | Gen. 11:27-12:8 | Psalm 35 | Heb. 7:1-17 | John 4:16-26
SATURDAY JANUARY 21ST
Psalm 30, 32 | Gen. 12:9-13:1 | Psalm 42, 43 | Heb. 7:18-28 | John 4:27-42
Well it has begun… and it’s already uber challenging!
My 1st news resolution of 2012 is to read through the entire bible in the first 90 days. I’m doing pretty good but now i’m already at the point of “do i really want to do this?” YES! Yes i do… and i would encourage you with the same. DO IT! PUSH THROUGH!
I propose that our new years resolution, most of the time, reflect ways we hope to be better humans and better followers of Jesus. If this is true then lean into the Spirit and let God help you to become all you were created to be…
I post this and think about it every year about this time, it’s part of my years rhythm and ritual. So check this out and think about it today.
====
From January 2011,
God has given me a fresh perspective on the new year. A perspective that has really challenged me and grown me. I preached a message last year about resolutions. The new perspective is that maybe resolutions are a list of things we are wanting freedom from. God’s people have a reputation for needing to be freed, for needing to be saved from our captivity. I think most of a resolution we make reflect the things or issues we want to be freed from.
When we want to stop smoking we are hoping to be freed from addiction. When we want to lose wait or get fit we are wanting to be freed from our laziness and our lack of discipline. When we are wanting to get out of debt we are trying to be freed from the chains of money, greed and possessions. I can’t think of a resolution that is made that doesn’t reflect a type of freedom being desired!
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”
:: Galatians 5:1
Freedom is a pretty huge theme for the Christian. And the New Year is a perfect time to reflect on the ways Jesus wishes you to be freed, to live in his freedom, and to be the person he has created you to be.
I’m sitting at Starbucks today… i mean 5bucks (a clever nick-name some friends came up with)… sitting here getting ready for my Sunday School message tomorrow and since i left my bible at home i’m using the YouVersion online bible. I have YouVersion on my phone, iPad, and today i’ve been using my computer to read it. LOVE IT! Honestly i haven’t used YouVersion all that much but today i saw their bible reading plans. BRILLIANT!
So i’ve decided to make my first New Years Resolution… READ THE ENTIRE BIBLE IN 90 DAYS!
YouVersion has a reading plan that takes you through the entire bible in 90 days. So i’m going to do it! Starting January 1st i’ll be reading, i think it’s only 3 or 4 chapter a day. Which i’m ashamed to admit is more than i read currently. I’ll be posting here on my blog about my progress and you can also follow along on YouVersion. But i’m excited about it!
I’m sure i’ve read pretty much all of the bible at one time or another but i’ve never just read it all the way through like this. I’ve never done this primarily because i don’t think it’s the best way to read the bible but i think this is going to be good for me! And i’m excited about it. Remember, it’s more about quality than quantity when it comes to bible reading but if your up for the challenge why don’t you read along with me.
Grace and peace
erik
PS :: I think this is going to be a great way to get ready for Lent and then Easter. And since this is 90 days it should take us right up to that time of year! PERFECT!
I tweeted the other day about the Advent Experience i was doing with my students. I ended the tweet & facebook post with “… just wait!” A clever pun on the idea of experiencing advent. I had one person say something but other than that i’m not sure anybody really caught the start to my Advent Experience but then again i don’t think many people really catch Advent in general. Which is why we had an Advent Experience!
And if your wondering what i’m talking about… you’re not catching it either! Just wait
Advent is all about waiting, anticipating, it’s all about getting ready for the One who was, and is, and is to come! I decided that i could just preach a message about this, there are TONS of scriptures about Advent, about waiting and anticipating but i wanted my students to experience it!
So here’s what we did…
We started our service off with with a countdown, all the student with one robust voice counted down the last 10 seconds and then… another countdown started. They WAITED 3 more minutes, counted down once again and we continued.
Then we played a game, kinda. I picked students, had them come up on the platform, picked some random pieces that they thought were going to be apart of the game and then i told them i had forget some of the pieces to the game and they were going to have to WAIT.
I also had one student come on the platform, I had found out his absolute favorite snack, honey BBQ wings from Pizza Hut. I told him we were going play a little game, he had to sit with the wings in front of him but we weren’t ready yet… he would have to WAIT!
I let all the students sit down, they would have to be PATIENT. I let the student stay on the platform with his wings though. Our worship leader came forward to lead us. He tuned… and tuned… and tuned some more. He continued to say, “Sorry guys, just be PATIENT, HOLD ON, we’ll be ready SOON.”
I then came up and said i would just give the message and we’ll worship later. By this time, those that were really paying attention (and most of them actually were) began to realize the theme.
I opened my bible and began to flip through, trying to find the passage i was looking for, “my bookmark must have fallen out, just HOLD ON, i’ll find it.” “I think i actually left my notes in my office, just be PATIENT.” I walked of the platform and this little video i make began to play.
When the video was done i walked up and began to share. My middle school students were engaged, they got it, they knew what we were talking about. Matthew, the student on the stage with his favorite wings quickly became my goto illustration. Because sometimes it’s really hard to wait, isn’t it! I preached, we worship together, it was a really great night!
The one nugget i wanted to communicate through my message and through the experience was that we know as Christians we need to learn to pray, to read our bible, even to live in community… but how often do we teach students the art of waiting, being patient, holding on for the Lord. We don’t’ typically see this as a Christian practice worth giving any attention to but the more i studied and looked around bible the art of waiting is central to the Christian life. And what better time then Advent to usher our students and our churches in the Christian practice of patience.
We talked a bit about the double Advent we embrace. First we WAIT for the birth of Christ but we also WAIT for the return of Christ, knowing that He will return and make all things new, redeem our suffering, and quench our thirst once and for all.
We talked about trust and faith. It’s easy to think that God must not know what he’s doing because things aren’t happening on our timeframe or the way we think they should go. But learning to WAIT is essential for the Christian life, it teaches us to trust that God actually knows what he’s doing, he has a plan, that God is actually good and is with us! It’s not always easy to wait but often times that which we wait for is far better then what we could have had sooner. Our culture teaches immediate gratification but our Lord teaches us to WAIT! To Trust! To have faith that God has a plan!
There are a lot of culture implication that we talked about. Faith implication and a general challenge to WAIT ON THE LORD because he promises to hear our cries!
The church values beauty and creativity because God values these things, right? Maybe it’s because God IS beauty and creativity so when we live fully as we were created to live, made in his image and filled with this spirit, when we embrace beauty and creativity we are participating in the life of God. Maybe it’s something like that.
I think in our worship we often forget this kind of stuff these days.
Our buildings are big square office boxes next to other office boxes. Even when we spend LOTS of money on a building it probably just looks like the school down the street. Our art… wait, we don’t really do art anymore. Our music is often times mimics of a pop culture with very little redemptive imagination.
Mostly we come to worship / sing a few songs about Jesus and listen to a message about Jesus, we don’t value much else. And it better not last much longer than an hour… after all, we have things to do.
Well on a night like tonight i remember the value of sacred music and sacred spaces. I think of the good, the true and the beautiful and how the church has always valued these things.
Don’t get me wrong, i struggle with the amount of money that is spent on some church buildings and chapels, i personally don’t put a high value on appearances (in some ways), on pomp and circumstance, and on flashy kinds of things. I live in a tension when it comes to these things. I see value in space and beauty and creativity… but i also like low key, come as you are environments offered by many churches these days.
I’m not sure i like one over the other, i probably prefer beauty to bland but a mix of the 2… i guess.
I do know when i come to a night of worship at a church like the one i am privileged to work and worship at i remember that historically the Church has valued beauty and creativity and has lead the way in sharing it, often through architecture and art. I definitely think the church, in some ways, needs to regain that place in the world.
What do you think?
How do we reclaim space? Especially when it comes to worship and buildings / architecture… or does it matter?
Do we care about beauty or art or creativity? What does this look like as communities of faith if we say we do value these things?
Is it possible to value mission and beauty at the same time? (i’m thinking of the argument, “we could have spent that money on the mission field instead of a building.”
Alright, enough rambling.
My wife and i had an awesome night of enjoying Christmas music in a beautiful building created for worshiping God. It was great and these are some of my rambling thoughts at 1 in the morning.
Speaking of rhythm, i get these daily devotional thoughts and the last two have been about developing a rule of life. Another way of talking about this concept of a “rule of life” might be having spiritual rhythm.
When i was growing up anything that had the word rule in it i ran from. Anything that was discipline wasn’t for me. Even when i became a Christian the concepts of spiritual discipline wasn’t very appealing to me. I thought that if you really loved God you did things “from the heart.” That’s kinda true but i think i’ve learned that doesn’t exclude having spiritual discipline. It might even be the more necessary for those who love God to be discipled in their spiritual life.
The idea of a rule of life comes largely from Saint Benedict, a monk from the 7th century. Honestly i don’t know a ton about St B. but he believed work and prayer were the most important things and i think he wrote a lot about living by a certain rule. I probably need to do more research on him, he’s seems like a cool fellow.
This idea of a “rule of life” is something to think about for sure. Something i want to develop more and more as i mature in my faith and relationship with Jesus. Mainly because i think i need it more and more.
Here are the reflections i’ve read the last couple days that have been an encouragement to me, enjoy.
“I INVITE YOU to consider developing and claiming your own patterns and disciplines for spiritual growth. In Christian tradition this is known as developing a rule of life. A rule is a pattern of spiritual disciplines and attitudes that provides structure and direction for growth in holiness. … Growth in faith requires commitment, structure, and yes, discipline. Developing a rule of life moves you beyond good intentions into the arena of daily walking with God.
=============
YOU CAN START developing a rule of life by choosing … some practices and disciplines to incorporate into your daily life. The behaviors, attitudes, disciplines, and practices you choose will soon become routine … in your life of growing intimacy with God.
Some people carry negative images of rules and discipline. You must remember that rules and discipline exist for guiding and training. Building a rule of life guides and supports your spiritual growth.
Your rule can be simple. Dorothy Day … committed to daily practice the presence of God by reading the Bible, keeping a journal, receiving the Eucharist, and looking for the face of Christ in the poor and hungry she served every day.
