JTParents Cue

Parents,

This week we talked about being self critical. Sometimes the things that we are self critical of can just break us down and hurt us and sometimes they can build us up and help us to be better people. We looked at self criticism from a few different perspective to learn how we can use it to improve our outlook on life and ourselves.

1) We looked at how others see us. Sometimes we look at ourselves more critically then those around us do. We talked about the importance of having good friends that build us up honestly. Ones that won’t be afraid to tell us when we are wrong, but there to encourage us in what we are doing right.

2) We talked about life being a work in progress. We can’t expect to just be great at something over night. When we identify an area of our lives that we want to work on rather then getting upset that we are not good at it we need to look for ways to improve. As we work towards our goals it is important to look back and see the progress that we are making.

3) God places a high value on us and we need to keep that in perspective when it is easy to get upset at ourselves. God knew that we were not going to be perfect when He created us and pursued a relationship with us. He was willing to send His own Son to die on the cross, who he had a great relationship with for a chance at a relationship with us. If God places this kind of value on us we should value ourselves and our those around us. 

As you are interacting with your teens about this subject

- talk about what it means to be valued by God

- Tell them about your value for them and desires to see them be successful and happy in life.

- Maybe share a story from your life when you didn’t feel successful and how you overcame that.

Keep the conversation open and be there to offer encouragement and redirection when your teens isn’t feeling the best about themselves.

This week at Journey Teens we looked at getting away from it all. Teens are facing some tough situations as school, home, and just surviving in the very competitive culture that they are growing up in. We looked at what we do and how we react when we are going through tough times. We also looked at God’s desire for us to beat the tough times that we are going through.

Some teens play a lot of video games, sleep more, eat more, “disappear” as much as they can (or can be extra clingy). There are a lot of ways that teens try to get away from their problems. A  healthy way is for them to talk through what they are going through and reflect on the reality the situation will have on their future. (Sometimes not as bad as it seems while they are going through it.) Teens are in need of someone that is going to be steady and confident in times of trouble. Be there for them and learn what their “escape modes” are to help identify when they need to talk things through.

Remind them that God cares so much for them so much he sent His Son to die for them. That He has beaten death, evidenced by His resurrection and can beat the troubles they are going through.

Romans 6:9 “For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.”

Need a little “Escape?”

Well I don’t know what I can offer as far as an escape, but if you can escape for a a few minutes after a service I’d love to share some of the opportunities coming up for teens at the Journey.

After each service on April 15th and 22nd we will meet at the front of the auditorium quick for an bit of encouragement, a paper copy of the Journey Teens Summer Info Sheet, ask/answer any questions you have and then get you back to your busy day!

Thanks,

Ben

Parents,

This month we are jumping off the regularly scheduled teens stuff to do a series in combinaiton with the main services at the Journey. I’m very excited for this next step in the teen ministry. This will give us an opportunity to interact more with the main service and teach teens how to interact with the information that they gather while at the service. It will also help us to help them take next steps as a result of the information and thoughts that they have as they go through the series.

Here are some things that you can think about as you engage your students in conversations about what they are learning. Oh and by the way it is an awesome opportunity to work through some of the thoughts for yourself and lead them by example by showing them how you are making wise choices as you work through the material in the main service.

Destinations Series overview: You can’t get where your going unless you start heading in the right direction. Good intentions never get us very far, but our actions determine the direction we are headed. Good intentions are great, but it is our direction and not our intentions that determine our future destinations. If we want to be successful in life we need to stay focused in the right direction and take steps towards healthy goals.

Week One: Main focus is on starting right. Setting goals and making the center of those goals what God’s plan is for our lives.

There are so many people and things that a trying to get our attention. Adds on TV, friends at school and Facebook, teachers. What should our focus be on? How do we make goals that lead us in the direction we want to go? What is your next step in finding or achieving your goals? Who or what is going to help you? Who or what is going to hold you back?

Week Two: Packing the right stuff, leaving behind the bulk, and making every step count.

There are some important things we can do to make the Journey of life better. Taking the right tools and experiences into our decision making can really effect the outcome of our efforts. The friends we have, the things we learn and participate in, the activities we invest our time in all have an impact. Our focus can easy be swayed by the wrong crowd or be spending to much time on something that has limited lasting impact. In week two we will be talking about what things in life help us along the Journey and what things hold us back.

Week Three: The journey is the destination!

Every day we wake up and start on a new day in the journey of life. When we live our lives to please God, we take in the experiences that matter and are satisfied with results. At some point in our lives we start to realize that we are living in the destination, rather then always trying to it.  Learning to live fully in the moment, aware of what really matters and choosing to please God with our lives is as good a destination as we can hope to arrive at. But can we, should we ever really be satisfied? In a world of desire for more what matters and what should we want more of?

1. Be a Student of What They are Learning

Christmas is that feel-good time of year when the lights are up, the holiday music is flowing and the cheer is palpable in the air. It’s also the time of year when we go through the same Christmas routine as always and pass another holiday season without necessarily thinking through how the story of Christmas is meant to change us, not just be a backdrop to two weeks off from school. So, this Christmas we’re going to take a fresh look at the Christmas story with some new insights to help us understand how revolutionary Jesus’ arrival on Earth really was. When we think of the Christmas story this year, let’s be reminded that Jesus is more than we need during the holiday season, and for the rest of the year too.

Addition on 12-12-11

2. Be a Student of Your Student

What was it that used to make the holidays special when you were a kid? Was it the chill in the air signaling that Christmas break was right around the corner? Baking and decorating ginger bread cookies with a sibling or your mom or dad? Or, maybe it was that feeling you got on Christmas Eve as you waited for the morning when you could finally tear into those beautifully wrapped packages underneath your tree. Whatever may have made the holidays a special time for you, there is one thing that tends to define the Christmas season for most of us: family. When we are young, our families define what Christmas looks like from the traditions they keep to the way they express the story of Jesus to those around them. And, for those of us who are now raising families of our own, we are now defining Christmas for our families. It can feel a bit overwhelming establishing the values, traditions and attitudes that revolve around this idea of Jesus’ arrival on this Earth.

While most students may be able to tell us the “real” meaning of the season, they aren’t necessarily connecting it to the value of the Christmas story. Developmentally, our students are in a place where it is difficult to think outside of their own world and their own lives. They may have head knowledge of the Christmas story, but in order to take that and bring it down to heart level, there has to be an experience that they can call their own. This is especially important for those of us with middle school and younger high school students who are still in the developmental stage of egocentric abstraction. During this stage, your student is the center of his or her own world and is not easily able to identify with ideas and concepts that are not personally connected to their own feelings. However, when they have the chance to experience the joy of reaching out to others in the midst of other’s true needs, they can personally identify with the value of the Christmas story.

For those of us with older high school students, now is the time when they are beginning to widen their worldview and understand the world outside as more than the sum of their own feelings and experiences. For them, the experience of reaching out to others is a chance to put legs to the social and global concerns that are already stirring in their hearts. Once the meaning of the Christmas story is tangible through personal experience, it isn’t easily forgotten in the mind of your teen. Another thing to remember is that though developmentally your students are in a place where they may not fully “get” the meaning of the Christmas story, we as the adults in their lives are. It is necessary for us to set the example and show them the importance of the Christmas story. So, we may need to take some time on our own to reflect on the value of Jesus’ arrival on Earth before we can begin to define that for our students.

3. Action Point

This Action Point is where we, as parents, can start to define what Christmas is truly about through the traditions we establish and the way we express the Christmas story—in our homes, in our schools, in our churches, in our neighborhoods and to the world at large. This is not just an exercise for the Christmas season, but rather a great time to start refocusing our family’s attention on putting Christ back into His rightful place. So, this Christmas as you and your family settle into the usual gate of the holiday season, take a moment to pray, reflect and search your heart for how you want to represent the Christmas story to your family. And then, do something together as a family that will allow those values to be expressed in a way that will forever shape the way they “do” Christmas.

Here are some ideas for ways you and your family can connect to and define the Christmas story together:

·       Adopt a family for Christmas through the Salvation Army: Salvationarmyusa.org.

·       Volunteer at a local homeless shelter to serve a meal on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

·       Give one less gift this year to each family member and instead buy gifts for children whose parents are in prison through Angel Tree: Angeltree.org/angeltreehome.

·       If you have a musical family, visit a convalescent home or local children’s hospital and sing some of those Christmas favorites.

·       Help the local hospice or meals-on-wheels organization distribute Christmas dinners. You can help prepare the actual meals or donate your time and car to transport the meals to the elderly or sick. 

·       Look through Martha Stewart and other crafty magazines or old craft books for Christmas-inspired crafts and buy enough supplies to have a hospital ward of children or a retirement home ward make crafts or ornaments with you and your family.

·       Ask your church if there is a family that attends that could use some extra help this holiday season. Invite them over for Christmas dinner or offer to buy and decorate a Christmas tree for them.

This Christmas, as you celebrate the gift of Jesus and the story of God’s redemption in all of our lives, take the time to put that message into motion. Christmas is not just about giving things away so that we get that warm fuzzy feeling, or because we want to “share the wealth.” It’s about expressing God’s heart for justice, love and reconciliation.

As well, here is an encouraging blog post entitled “10 Reasons to Escape Excessive Consumerism” by Joshua Becker. Check it out at: http://www.becomingminimalist.com/2011/08/03/escaping-excessive-consumerism/ 

 Series Overview

The book of Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, but it’s packed with one central message—that Jesus wants us to trade up. He wants us to trade what we know, what we think and how we see others for something better. It’s a beautiful trade, because not only do we exchange something for something different, we exchange our lives and our perspectives for something better. It’s a message that’s at the heart of the Easter story, but it’s shown through Jesus’ interactions long before the crucifixion and resurrection.

Session 1: Exchange November 6th

Have you ever had to do research for a class paper? Sometimes you start out with your topic thinking that you know exactly what you are going to write about. But then, after you start reading some books and digging into the research, you realize that you actually know very little about the topic and have to start from scratch and just learn. You have to trade what you think you know for what you don’t. And it’s the same when it comes to following Jesus. Sometimes we have to trade what we think we know—about Jesus, about what is best for us, about what we think about others—in order to fully participate with God in what we don’t know.

Session 1 Parent Cue: How is it easier for you to make Jesus an addition to your life rather than to trust Him in every area of your life?  

Session 2: Swap November 13th

“That group of people is too weird. I don’t hang out with those types of people—or they don’t hang out with me.” Most of us have said or thought things like this before—or heard them said about us. We categorize people based on superficial things, and then we judge them, write them off. But when we do, we miss out on something beautiful. We miss out on the opportunity to live out the message Jesus came to proclaim. We give up the chance to trade judgment for love. And that’s not just about following a set of standards or rules. It’s about understanding that every person, including you, is valuable and worthy and has something to offer.

Session 2 Parent Cue: How do you see groups in your world including some and excluding others? How can you reach out to those who are excluded to show them that they are loved by Jesus just as much as anyone else?  

Session 3: Switch November 20th

“Who do you say I am?” This is the question Jesus asked His disciples centuries ago, and it is the same one He asks us today. When we answer Him, when we decide to trade what we know for what we don’t and to trade judgment for love, we are making a decision to also trade in our old lives for new ones. We are trading our “talk” for our “do.” We are choosing to put our faith into action. This may mean something different for each of us. But when we answer Jesus’ question, “Who do you say I am?” we are making a statement with our mouths and with our lives. We are accepting His offer to trade in something good for something better.

Session 3 Parent Cue: Who is Jesus to you—what does He mean to your life? Would you be willing to trade something you think is best for something Jesus says is better? If so, what is it? What would you need to overcome to do that?