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LIVING DEVOTION – Live Album Recording

I’ve just heard from my friend Bren McClean that St Paul’s Castle Hill will be recording a live worship album next weekend! City Alight was a killer album, so this is a sweet opportunity to be part of another great project. See below for full deets:

LIVING DEVOTION is the first ever LIVE recorded music event at St Paul’s Castle Hill. Saturday 5th March will be a night of singing and corporate worship with an acoustic band, in an intimate yet dynamic setting. Ro Tombs and Trav Cook are working tirelessly with a committed team of singers, musicians and technical people. Under God, the new album will bless our church with a collection of loved and new St Paul’s original songs. Our hope is that it will also be a powerful resource to other congregations both locally and abroad.

LIVING DEVOTION is an event for anyone who loves God and loves music. Book a ticket now for your family and friends for this exceptional night of lifting up Christ in our lives. Tickets available NOW for $10, or $15 on the night and include a copy of the album when it is released.

Check out the website for details: www.spch.org.au/livingdevotion

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Support our Friends in Christchurch NZ

We were in Christchurch 2 months ago. It really is shocking to see the destruction that has taken place on those streets we so recently walked. More shocking than destroyed buildings is the number of lives lost. I’m praying for miracles in the rescue operation. I’m praying to the God of comfort that his people in Christchurch would be a comfort to the rest of the city. I also just gave money via Anglican Aid. Let me encourage you to do the same.

Anglican Aid launches appeal for our New Zealand friends

We have been shocked and deeply saddened by the news emerging from Christchurch, New Zealand of a destructive earthquake that struck on February 22. This earthquake has destroyed much of the CBD and our heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods. Our prayers are also with the emergency workers.

Anglican Aid is working with our Anglican partners in Christchurch, and we are accepting donations which will be used for emergency aid and to support those in affected communities to rebuild their lives.

Donations are tax-deductible.  If in the unlikely event that more funds are raised than are needed, these funds will be held for future emergencies as they arise.

ANGLICAN AID PRESS RELEASE | DIRECT LINK TO DONATE

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Youth Ministry Papers: Disciples Making Disciples

I’m planning on producing a youth ministry training paper most Wednesday’s throughout the year. These papers will be discussed at our Soulies weekly leaders meeting. Anyone is welcome to interact in the comments. Click here to access archive.

The Christian youth leader can have an endless number of roles in the life of young punks. Friend, encourager, example, skateboard instructor, Bible teacher, prayer partner, motivator, maths tutor, mentor, guitar teacher. I’m sure there’s more! That’s cool. What an exciting thing to be involved in so many different ways in young lives! But among the many things a youth leader can do, what should be their primary responsibility?

What is the primary role of a youth leader?

This paper will argue that fundamental to the role of youth leadership is making disciples who will then go on to make disciples. The Great Commission is a key text in this regard: “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”” (Mat 28:18-20 NIV)

Disciples are to be made “of all nations” with an agenda of “teaching them to obey” Jesus. This is the pattern “to the very end of the age”. According to Marshall & Payne, “The commission is not fundamentally about mission out there somewhere else in another country. It’s a commission that makes disciple-making the normal agenda and priority of every church and every Christian disciple.” (The Trellis & the Vine, p.13)

Disciples making disciples is the bread and butter of Christian life and ministry. It is therefore the foundation of Biblical youth ministry. Discipleship doesn’t just include work with Christian young people, but it includes getting them (evangelism) and then growing them (edification).

Continue reading “Youth Ministry Papers: Disciples Making Disciples”

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Creating a Welcoming Culture

When you do your upfront welcome at church/youth group, repetition is good. The regular person may have heard the same blurb 100 times, but the welcome blurb is not for them. It’s for the new person. Often our language is not outsider friendly and we assume that everyone knows who we are and what we’re on about. Repeating the same welcome will hopefully welcome newcomers, and also create an outsider-friendly culture among regulars. Matt Chandler has some good thoughts on how he does it at The Village Church.

“Good Morning. My name is Matt Chandler I am the Lead Pastor/Teaching Pastor here at The Village. If this is your first time visiting with us I want to welcome you. I am guessing that if this is your first time here you are in one of two lanes. The first lane is that you are a believer with a background in church and you’re new to the area or are just checking out our community. If at some point in the next hour or so your heart and mind are moved and you want to know more about us, you can fill out one of the cards in the seatback in front of you and either drop it in the joy boxes or, and this would be our preference, walk across the parking lot to the white portable buildings and there are some men and women over there that can answer any of the questions you might have about the church. The second lane is that you’re here today and you aren’t a Christian and don’t have a background in Church or not a recent one anyway. I want to welcome you. This is a safe place for you to have some doubts about what we are saying to be skeptical and curious. There are no doors that are closed for you here so explore as much as you want. Go to a home group, check out Recovery, help us mentor local students, hop on a plane to South America or Africa and help us, help others. As a former agnostic myself, I have a great deal of respect for the genuine seeker. If we can help answer any of your questions or serve you in anyway let us know.”

I like that he does the same blurb every week and the content seems to be disarming for the uneasy newcomer. I also like that he gets up twice during the service, once to preach and earlier on to welcome and make announcements. Read more of his reflections on it here.

Over the first 3 weeks of youth group this year I got up twice during the evening. Once to do a welcome and once to preach. During week 1 and 2, I used my first spot to speak about the vision of our youth ministry – as well as welcome new people. The main aim with getting up during week 3 was to welcome new people. I think it went well. I said who I was, then opened with a fun story. I then borrowed some of the ideas from Chandler’s quote above about different types of new people and then let people know that we’re on about Jesus and glad they were here to hear about him. I think it went well.

What’s your welcome look like? What would it look like to the person visiting for their very first time?

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New Life @ SOULIES UNITED Week 3

The first 3 weeks of our youth group year were done together, year 7 to year 12. Soulies Junior Crew + Soulies Senior Crew = Soulies United. It was a sweet time to hang out as a larger family. I also used the time to speak about how it is we roll: Love Jesus; Love Jesus’ People; and Love Jesus’ World. While any week is a good week to bring a friend to youth group, week 3 was particularly aimed at friends who don’t yet know Jesus.

In week 1, I encouraged people to bring so many friends that they wouldn’t fit in. Good news… they didn’t! We had young punks sitting out in the foyer and in the door ways. We grew by 47% from week 2 to week 3. Very cool. I’m really encouraged by the boldness of the teenagers in our community.

But the best news about this past Friday night is that 6 people indicated that they prayed to become a Christian and another 14 said they were keen to find out more about Jesus. Praise God for his kindness. We’re now praying that we’d look after new Christians and keep pointing enquirers to Jesus.

Involved in youth ministry? Keep encouraging your young people to bring their friends; preach Jesus; pray that God would work.

Don’t know Jesus? He’s the King who Saves and Rules. Check him.

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Can Social Media Create Authentic Community?

Check out this recent interview with Carlos Whittaker (from ragamuffinsoul). He discusses the power of social media and how authentic community can be created through it.

One of the things I love about Los is the way he takes opportunities to point people to Jesus. In the above video, he is able to speak about Jesus being the way, the truth and the life. That’s cool.

So. What do you think? Can Social Media Create Authentic Community?

(Watch the vid before you comment).

(h/t los)

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Youth Ministry Papers: Commitment is Counter-Cultural

I’m planning on producing a youth ministry training paper most Wednesday’s throughout the year. These papers will be discussed at our Soulies weekly leaders meeting. Anyone is welcome to interact in the comments. Click here to access archive.

Young punks today are scared of commitment. Mobile phone companies are aware of this, so they’ve lowered the commitment bar: no longer is it the norm to lock-in to a 24-month contract, but 12-month, 6-month and pay-as-you-go options are all now available. If you’ve tried to run an event via “Events” in Facebook, you’d know how difficult it is to get people to commit to your event. If they actually respond to the invitation they’re more than likely to click “maybe” just so they can leave their options open. If you say “yes”, you limit your options if a better offer is made closer to the event. Why do you think people are afraid of making commitments? How might this make youth ministry harder?

There is a sense in which the Christian life is all about making a commitment. A Christian commits to trust in Jesus (John 3:16) and to “no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (2 Corinthians 5:15 NIV)

As a member of our church, you are asked to make a commitment to the direction and mission of our church. By being part of the leadership in our church you are indicating that you are on-board with the doctrine of the church and the church  mission statement:  “Our desire is to be: A community transformed by Jesus’ love; fully devoted to loving one another; and radically committed to impacting the world with Christ’s love.”

Our youth ministry is thoroughly behind this mission statement. However, we’ve changed the wording to summarise the statement for our youth community.

Continue reading “Youth Ministry Papers: Commitment is Counter-Cultural”