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I thought I’d post the handouts from our recent series, “What Makes Jesus Unique”.

You can download them by clicking on the link below.

Week 1: His Word

Week 2: His Life

Week 3: His Message

Tonight we had a great service with the students at crew. We finished off our series “What Makes Jesus Unique” by dealing with the message that Jesus proclaimed. We explored what Christianity is and some of the misconceptions people have about it.

One of the points I made was that not only does God offer redemption and rescue for us, but he then gives us the opportunity to join him by being agents of redemption ourselves.

Jesus says in John 20:21, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

The Father sent Jesus to be broken and poured out for the sake of the world. If we have been sent in the same manner as Jesus, shouldn’t we expect to be broken and poured out as well? Part of the Christian faith has to do with the fact that we’ve been called to take an active role in the redemption and restoration of the world. This starts with sacrifice and an understanding that God’s plan isn’t some elusive far off task. Instead, he desires to partner with us to bring wholeness, life and hope to the world here and now.

I’m just in awe of the fact that God can/would take broken, messed up people like me and turn around and use them for amazing, meaningful and life-giving purposes.

Today in my devotions I read from 1 Chronicles 12. Verse 32 says, “From the tribe of Issachar, there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their relatives. All these men understood the temper of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take.”

When I think about the youth ministry at Stone Church, I wish I could say I know the best course to take, but instead I feel like the last couple of months I’ve been stuck trying to “understand the temper of the times.”

I believe we’re at a very critical and transitional time in our ministry here at Stone Church. Many of our students will graduate from private schools and enter into public schools for the first time this Fall. I think this next year could be an exciting opportunity for our ministry to have a greater impact on students who have not yet connected to God.

So, how can I best motivate students to fulfill their calling to be a missionary on their campus?

How can I create more meaningful service times for students to connect to God?

What should our Small Group ministry look like as we consider moving into homes this Fall?

In addition to this, I’ve been wrestling with the fact that as the Christian subculture has grown, it has removed itself from society to such a point that it no longer carries the voice it used to.

How does the Church adapt to a culture that increasingly sees it as irrelevant?

What new methods need to be explored?

“Tweaking” would be a good word to describe my overactive mind the past several weeks. I’ve been evaluating everything and trying to figure out the “temper of the times” so that I can “know the best course” for crew to take.

As I figure these things out and wrestle with them, I’ll make sure to post them here.

I watched the boys tonight. In the midst of the chaos, Parker decided it would be fun to cut his brother’s hair.