Gate 412 - June 25, 2006

EMBRACING VISITORS

What can we do to make visitors feel more at home?

Greeters at the entrances
People to seek them out / meet them
Make it a goal to say hi to 3 new people each week
Have a coupon or something for a free slice of pizza for 1st time visitors
Take ownership – meet new people
Have specific people each week (rotate) to get visitors’ info and follow up with the visitor
Make sure they feel loved and cared for (at the expense of my own fun)
Take responsibility for our home church
Longer greet time after worship
Call visitors – what do you like about youth group, then try to keep doing that
More personal ways to get information – call instead of sign in sheet

Gate 412 - April 30, 2006

Spiritual maturity ~ being spiritual giants (‘let no man despise your youth’)
Prayer is the currency of Heaven

UNITY
EQUIPPING US TO DO THE WORK GOD HAS FOR US


WE NEED CHANGES IN OUR PRAYER LIFE:
Individually –
How serious are we willing to take this?
Forget woes with each other / fall in love with each other

Corporately –
Take prayer more seriously
Stepping out of comfort zones / what we are “programmed” to do
Work for it / don’t expect it to come naturally
Prayers that focus on God’s glory, not ourselves
Training in prayer
Not always depending on someone else to pray


Every single moment that we give up on prayer – Satan gets to do whatever he wants to do.


What would you want with $2000???
Basketball hoop
Snack bar
Rock climbing wall
Paint walls
Trampoline
Graffiti walls
Paintball
Bethel store (shirts/etc.)
Scholarships for trips
Disco ball (ahhh yeah!!!)
Blue screen
Gaming systems (PS2, xbox, etc.)
Get rid of the carpet (acoustic) things on the back wall
Lights (paint them, maybe put them higher)
Fans (zero gravity)
Couches
Prizes
Beach (water/sand)
Ice cream machine
Tanning bed
Vending machines

Gate 412 - April 9, 2006

YOUTH DREAMS & VISIONS

WHAT WE WANT OUR YOUTH GROUP TO LOOK LIKE:
Healing
Encountering Jesus – passionate worship; “fire on the feet”; switch sanctuaries
Growth in numbers
Spiritual growth/intimacy/be real – need to get to a better place spiritually before we grow in numbers
Unity in the group – not quench the Spirit with cliques
Freedom in worship and response (not worry about other people)
Get together more, more Rec Nites
Casting out demons, raising the dead…
Get togethers to bring in new worship songs (brainstorm worship)
Reaching out to the community – being God’s hands and feet
Be a place to heal broken souls
Embrace future leaders (Brandon, Issac, Cody) – a place for youth to find their spiritual gifts and use them!
Opportunities for discipleship
Unity as one Body in Christ
Place of freedom – set apart from the world
Place of deliverance – breaking the chains
Not to be afraid of what others think of us – be real with each other, struggle together, be victorious together
Take us beyond ourselves – walk in FAITH


FAITH-DRIVEN MINISTRY
Time to ask questions – how to deal with answering the world’s questions about…
Outreach – reaching the lost (new and creative ways)
Center of revival for the youth in America
Change the culture of this area


WHAT HAS TO CHANGE ~ POSTURE OF PRAYER:
Spiritual realm awareness
Focus off self / back to God
Intensify prayer power
Learn about praying ~ step up my prayer life ~ making a commitment to prayer
Putting ourselves in a position to hear from Him
Taking on a servant’s role



WHERE AM I ON MY PRAYER COMMITMENT?
WHERE CAN I SERVE?

Devotions ~ Thursday 5/4

Proverbs 29:22-27
v22 The man who has a bad temper is always ready to start arguments. He will cause a lot of trouble.
v23 A proud man will become humble. But a humble man will receive honor.
v24 In court, even a thief’s friend becomes his enemy. The thief’s friend promises to God to tell the truth. Then the thief’s friend does not dare to say anything.
v25 If you are afraid of people, then this fear will cause troubles for you. But the person that trusts God is safe.
v26 Many people want judges to help them. But only God deals fairly with everyone.
v27 Good people hate evil people. Evil people hate good people.

Verse 22
Anger is dangerous. A bad temper causes many troubles. We should learn to stay calm.
Verse 23
The proud man wants to be a great man. But God will not allow such a man to become great. See Proverbs 16:18.
But God loves humble people. And God will give honor to them. See Luke 1:51-53.
Jesus was humble. Although Jesus is God, Jesus became a man. And he lived like a servant. He even died like a criminal. But God has given the greatest honor to Jesus. And everyone will know that Jesus is God. See Philippians 2:5-11.
Verse 24
The thief’s friend does not help the thief. When the thief is in court, the thief wants his friend to lie.
In court, the friend promises to God to tell the truth. The friend is not afraid of the court. But he is afraid of God. And this friend remembers that God will punish people who lie.
So, when the lawyers ask their questions, the thief’s friend says nothing.
Verse 25
People will cause many troubles. There are many cruel people. But do not be a coward! God will protect you. Trust in him. See Psalm 91.
Verse 26
Perhaps you trust judges. Perhaps you think that the court will help you. But there are some evil judges. And even good judges sometimes make wrong decisions. So trust God. He is fair with everyone.
Verse 27
Good people and evil people have nothing in common.
Do not suppose that evil people will support you. If you do the right things, then evil people will still hate you.
And do not support an evil man’s scheme. His scheme will be cruel. Or his scheme will be evil. Or his scheme might even be terrible. It will not be a good scheme, because the man himself is evil.
Instead, warn the evil man. He must confess his evil deeds to God. And he must invite God into his life.

Devotions ~ Wednesday 5/3

Proverbs 29:15-21
v15 A smack teaches wisdom. A mother must teach discipline to her child. Otherwise, the child’s behavior will cause shame to her.
v16 When wicked people succeed, there is more evil behavior. But, in time, this evil situation will end.
v17 Correct your son! Then he will bring relief to you. You will be glad, because of your son.
v18 People do evil things when they do not know God’s message. But God is pleased with the person who obeys God’s law.
v19 You cannot teach your servant with mere words. He can understand your words, but he will not obey you.
v20 Even a fool is better than a man who speaks without thought.
v21 If you give special luxuries to your servant, he will cause you trouble in the end.

Verse 15
See Proverbs 22:15. This mother is upset because her child is evil. She should punish her child. Then her child will learn good behavior. Otherwise, the child will continue to do evil things, even when the child becomes old.
Verse 16
Wicked people will not always succeed. In time, God will punish them. Then good people will rule the country.
We see that some people are very evil. Perhaps there always seems to be some evil rulers. But, in the end, God will punish evil people. Even the countries that we know in this world last only for a short time. But God’s rule in heaven never ends. So he is always king. (Daniel 4:3).
God rules from heaven. In heaven, nobody is evil. In heaven, nobody suffers. In heaven, there is no pain. See Revelation 21:4.
Verse 17
See verse 15. When your child learns to do the right things, you will be glad.
Verse 18
If someone does evil things, then tell God’s message to that person. Tell that person about Jesus. Tell that person about God’s love. And tell that person that he must invite God into his life.
Some people will obey your advice. They will invite God into their lives. They will learn to do the right things. And they will serve God, because they accepted God’s message.
Verse 19
Sometimes people cannot understand our words. They need to see our actions.
This servant might be a child. So the master must punish his servant as a child. The servant’s punishment should be fair. Then he will learn right behavior.
Verse 20
Think before you speak! Perhaps you need to obtain advice from wise people. Make a good decision! Then, when you speak, your words will be wise.
Verse 21
This servant might be a child. Be sensible when you give gifts to your children. Give gifts that will help them.
This verse is difficult to translate. Other possible meanings are:
· If you give your child only luxuries, he will become a servant. And he will suffer in the end.
· If you give honor to your servant boy, in the end he will become your son.

Two Questions...

For those of you who were at church last night...a reminder of things to pray about!
For those of you who weren't...find someone who was and find out what happened!

WHERE AM I ON MY PRAYER COMMITMENT?

WHERE CAN I SERVE?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PASTOR JIM !!!!!!

Woo hoo ~ way to make it another year!!! :-)

prayer request

hey there~

just got a call from my mom and a good family friend was involved in a car accident last night. his name is heath, i used to babysit him for years, he's not supposed to be old enough to drive...it's crazy! he was flight-for-lifed to greeley (the closest big hospital to my hometown) over night. he has broken his pelvis in numerous places, broken his jaw, and torn his liver among other more minor things. they are also watching for brain swelling.

please pray for his COMPLETE and MIRACULOUS HEALING. also pray for his family (mike, mary, abby, anne, heather, and anthony) as they go through this. they are an amazing family, and will run to God in the midst of this. pray that His love will surround them and give them peace - that they will praise Him in the midst of this storm.

thanks warriors!