February 2010 Youth PresbyNotes

February 2010
Youth PresbyNotes
01/28/10

Tell me what you have seen?

There I sat in my eighth grade Social Studies class with a task to complete. You probably think this task was an assignment of some sort, like read a chapter or two, finish the test, or something else dealing with academics, and all of these guesses are great…

But that is not what I had to do.

Instead, without any hesitation, I agreed to do a favor for a friend who wanted to know if a particular girl liked him. Believe it or not, I was quite shy in grade school and talking to a girl was the last thing I wanted to do. After all, they had coodies!

As I made my way to this girl I asked my self, “Why couldn’t this guy do it? Why couldn’t my friend find the nerve to go and ask this girl if she liked him?” I didn’t like her and I didn’t want to give the wrong impression, right.

Anxious, nervous, scared, and uncertain; these are the words I would use to best describe what I was feeling that day. Indeed it was a terrifying situation for me all because I had to ask a question and it wasn’t for me.

There is this scene in the Bible, Matthew 11, where John the Baptist’s sends one of his disciples to ask Jesus a question: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” It is one thing to do the dirty work for a friend and ask a girl whether she thinks he is cool or whatever, but it is another thing to ask the Messiah if he really is the, well the Messiah.

Are you really the one?

How would you answer this question knowing what you know?

Jesus then turns to the poor fellow, whose knees are knocking as loud as the bass drummer in the grade school band, and says, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

In wake of what has happened recently, people may wonder if God is here with us. People observe bad things happening all across the world and wonder where is God. No matter what precautions we may take, bad things are inevitable. Nonetheless, how we can answer the question is exactly how Jesus responded; tell of the things which you have seen.

What are some of the good things you have experienced?

What are some of the ways you have experienced God’s love?

Where have you seen God’s love happen?

These won’t answer all the questions but it can provide hope for some. Your lives are a testament to God’s love for the world. Jesus mentions in his response that the poor receive good news. This called to my attention the good work we are a part of as a youth ministry as First Presbyterian Church. We have offered a helping hand to many people and organizations and because of this we have brought good news to whomever it is we have helped. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!

Our feet will be busy for the upcoming month too with a variety of opportunities to engage in God’s love for the world. February 7th we will be having our Souper Bowl of Caring where we will raise awareness of poverty in our world and in our city, while standing with soup buckets hoping for donations. Then on the 14th Kids for Christ, Junior High, and Senior High will be making a trip to the Hermitage Nursing Home where we will be handing out Valentine’s Day Cards to the residents there. Then to help one of our very own members, on Saturday, February 27th, we the youth have been asked to be servers for a steak dinner to help raise money for the Gilliland’s. More information will come about this.

Tell them what you have seen. Tell the world of God’s love by showing them God’s love. Change the world by loving! Change the community by loving! Change yourself by loving! Many opportunities await us in February to bring GOOD NEWS to people and you, the youngest among us, will be leading us in the march towards hope!

At times it can be difficult to bring good news, just like it was for me to help out a friend. Our words may get in the way, we may be nervous, but God’s love isn’t limited to the words we offer but by the lives we lived. God loves you; there is no getting around that. Let your life speak of this love, let the Light shine, and even with butterflies the size of pterodactyls in your stomach, proclaim the good news of Christ’s love for the world!

Thanks be to God for your life, ministry, and work together. Peace be upon you and make sure you LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, during this month dedicated to LOVE!

Shalom friends.


February 2010 Calendar

4th—6:30-8pm Sanctus Bible Study All Youth Encouraged to attend

7th—Souper Bowl of Caring @ 9am 7 10 am

Super Bowl XLIV party at Lashbrook’s from 5-9 pm. You can meet at the church. This is a Junior and Senior High Party!

11th—6:30-8pm Sanctus Bible Study All Youth Encouraged to attend

12th-13th—All students grade 8-12 are encouraged to attend the Youth Council meeting in Henderson. We will leave at 5pm on Friday and return around 12pm on Saturday. Bring $5

14th—Youth Group at the Church from 5-7pm—All youth, Kids for Christ, Junior High, Senior High—We will begin at 5 pm and we will be taking Valentines day cards to the residents of the Hermitage Place on Parish Avenue. Please bring an appropriate box of Valentine’s Day cards you can pick up at the local grocery store.

18th—6:30-8pm Sanctus Bible Study All Youth Encouraged to attend

20th—Confirmation Orientation beginning at 10 am

21st—Youth Group 5-8pm DESTINATION UNKNOWN

25th—6:30-8pm Sanctus Bible Study All Youth Encouraged to attend

27th—Gilliland Steak Dinner—All Youth Needed to Help Serve! 5pm

28th—Youth Group-5-8pm/Kids For Christ 5-6:30 pm

Something to Chew On

One of the highlights of being together is having the opportunity to sit around a table with our youth and listen to their stories, get a peek inside their lives, and to experience Christ’s love in them. Meals have always been important to the people of God and this is definitely the case for us here at church too. Something mysterious happens at the table when we gather together, we become more ourselves, and usually great memories are had. Eating together is special, it definitely shows unity.

Recently our youth ministry team met to discuss how we can better facilitate our meals and eating habits on Sunday evenings. Also, we wrestled with the issue of over abundance and hunger in the world, which made us aware of our own eating habits. This conversation led us then to making subtle changes in our eating of meals, which will allow us to cut back on food consumption, wastefulness, and give space for the youth to be attentive to what they are eating. In doing so, we hope a new conversation will arise about hunger in the city of Owensboro and what we as a youth group and minister can do.

Aiding us then in our attempt to do our part in bring awareness of hunger to our church, we have derived a new calendar of meals. Our meal planner, Carla Clancy, has been hard at work preparing this calendar, pairing up families to provide the meals, and making sure our youth will have snacks of some sort available to them every Sunday. The calendar is as follows:

The families of our youth have been paired together to provide meals for Jr and Sr High Youth during 2010. We ask you plan a meal for 25 people, this will allow for the Youth, Chaperones, and individuals providing the meal to eat and enjoy fellowship together. Some specific needs include two youth who are vegetarians and one youth who is allergic to peanuts, peas, beans and carrots. Keep in mind, with a receipt and the correct form completed (which can be found outside Adam’s study), FPC will reimburse up to $60 per meal. Contact Adam for additional reimbursement details.

Some general requests we have:

• If you are unable to participate on your scheduled day, please make arrangements to trade with someone.

• A few days prior to your scheduled meal, Adam should be contacted to verify serving time and any special instructions. You can contact Adam by calling the church or his cell phone, 313-9375 or you can email him at: youthdirector@firstpresbyterianowensboro.com

February

7 Super Bowl Party @ Lashbrook’s

14 snacks

21 Shelton-Zengel

28 Adam’s choice

March

7 Kirk night

14 Coomes-Davis

21 snacks

28 Adam’s choice

April

4 Kirk night

11 Barber-Smith

18 Snacks

25 Adam’s choice

May

2 Kirk night

9 Mother’s Day

16 Triplett-Tinsley

23 Snacks

30 Adam’s choice

June Bowley-Clancy

July Lashbrook – Hayden

August Duncan – Norris

September Shelton – Zengel

October Coomes - Davis

November Barber – Smith

December Thomas – Armstrong

Again, this decision to cut back on our food intake is not only a health-conscious one, but it is an attempt for us to also bring awareness of hunger in our community, nation, and world. After presenting this to one of our students this question was asked, “Do you think the money we save from not eating as much we could give to an organization?” Friends, the conversation has already begun and it started with our youth!

If you have any questions, please contact Adam at any time! Thank you for your commitment and participation with the youth ministry of First Presbyterian Church.


Happy Birthday!

2nd—Harper Lashbrook

5th—Catherine Tripplett

15th—Martha Hughes

18th—Wil Smith

You all are a gift to us! Happy birthday!!

Youth in the NEWS!

Wade Zengel for making the All A Honor Roll at DCMS.

Meredith Zengel for making the All A Honor Roll at East View.

Katie and Graham Duncan for their accomplishments on their swim teams and for the breaking of a few school records!

Gabby Barber and Meredith Coomes for their Dance Competition placements!

Congratulations to everyone! Parents and youth, please remember to send me the highlights of your student’s achievements so we can recognize them in our newsletter!

Events to Take Note Of

Mission Trip Information--Attention Youth Mission Trip 2010 Participants: There is a MANDATORY meeting March 21st, 2010 in Madisonville @ 2pm. All you who are going on the mission trip MUST be there and their parents are ENCOURAGED to attend. More information is soon to come!

February 7th, 2010—Souper Bowl of Caring will be held on this day after the 8:15 service and before the 10:30 service. Come help raise awareness of poverty in our community and do something about it!

Super Bowl Party
February 7th @ 5pm
Wear your favorite teams apparel and come root the Saints to victory! Jr. & Sr. High

February 27th--All youth are needed to be servers for the benefit dinner for the Gilliland's. An orientation will be held on the 21st of February and we will need you to be at the church at 5pm on the 27th. More information is to come.

Our Kids for Christ will be meeting twice in the month of February: the 14th and 28th. More information will come in the PresbyNotes and Post-Cards in the Mail. For sure we will meet at 5pm on the 14th at the church! Come with your Valentine Day cards for the residents of the Hermitage Place!

BOOT SALE 2010--On May 15th we will be having our 2nd annual Boot Sale. All youth who are going on the mission trip will need to participate. It will be from 7am-12pm but we will need you there @ 6:30am. Any questions please see Adam!

Dinner to Honor our Seniors: Jillian Thomas and Katie Duncan—On May 15th, 2010, around the supper hour, we will have a dinner to honor and celebrate our two seniors in high school. All youth not graduating will be needed to help serve and splendid dinner to Jillian and Katie’s family. Please see Adam for more details.

***For a HARDCOPY of this newsletter please pick one up from the bulletin board at the base of the stairs leading up to the youth room. Also look for a link for this newsletter in the next PresbyNotes. Please look for this newsletter under the youth section of youth group on the website. Or you can check out our blog http://fpcowensboroyouth.blogspot.com/ or you can contact me with any questions you may have!***