Teenage Saints?

I got to preach in "Big Church" this past Sunday.

I decided to preach on Ephesians 4.11-12. I love how the NRSV puts it, "He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some teachers and pastors..." and now my favorite part, "to equip the saints for the work of the ministry."

If we break down the word "saint" it means something different then a dead person with a building named after them. The Greek word for saint is the same word that is translated as "holy." So a saint is someone who is holy. if we read in Ephesians 5.25-26 we discover that Jesus gave himself for the Church to "make her holy." Jesus, through his blood shed on the cross, made the Church holy, made them "saints." So if you are a part of the Body of Christ, then you're a saint! Cool thought.

"Ministry" is about far more than a nicely dressed person (usually male) giving a nice speech in the front of a room. The Greek word for ministry means "service" or "servanthood," or literally "to wait on tables." a minister was a waiter, someone who existed to serve others. With this understanding of being a minister, you don't need seminary, Bible college, or any of that. You just need to serve. So if you're a servant than you're a minister. another cool thought.

so what's the point? Sometimes I think that others see me as an adult who forgot to grow up, and now spends his time eating pizza, playing xBox with youth, doing some Bible studies, and hopefully keeping the youth off drugs and out of bed with one another.

but here's why I'm in youth ministry...

Because I have the grand opportunity as a leader in the Church to equip some teenage saints to do ministry! what an awesome, big, and humbling task we have as youth workers! So may you know this week that your work is going far beyond just hanging out with teenagers. You're equipping some teenage saints who just might change the world.

and yes, we might eat some pizza and play some guitar hero along the way...

Have you registered for our NCC youth worker training yet?

Blessings to you all this week,
Erick

NCC Youth Worker Training

hey everyone!

in case you had not already heard, there is a great opportunity for us crazy youth worker folk next month! (No your senior pastor hasn't paid for you to have a week in the Bahamas). Even better...our annual NCC youth worker training is scheduled for Saturday October 20th. The theme this year is "Dreaming God's Dream for Young People." We all have dreams for our youth ministries I hope, but sometimes we struggle to turn them into reality. We're going to take some time and learn how to have vision for our youth ministry and then put it into practice. Rick Morgan will be our speaker this year.

We also have another great opportunity during this event. Katie Mansur (our young teen camp video guru) will be doing a session on how to maximize media in your youth ministry.

and as always, if you can make it...we'll meet at the log cabin on Friday night for some pizza, youth ministry dialogue, a camp fire, and some friendly (or sometimes not so friendly) competition over board games.

oh I almost forgot...I am about to finalize the plans for the sweet giveaway that you'll all get this year.

so here's what you need to do:

1. print out the flyer and registration form that are attached.
2. Get your team together and get them signed up.
3. Talk to the whoever makes the money decisions at your church and have the church cover the registration costs.
4. Mail the registration form along with money to Sky Lodge by October 8th.
5. Show up the 19th or 20th and begin watching your youth ministry dreams come to life!

If you have any questions give me a shout!

May God bless you as you change the world through sharing the love of Jesus with young people!

See you the 20th!

Erick

Sr. High Experience

It was good to see most of you at Sr. High Experience...especially Joe and Kathy Leverton. It was great to meet the two of you and we're excited about you being a part of the youth ministry efforts in the NCC. May God bless you and the youth ministry at Platteville. Also, special thanks to Paul Alf for another great Sr. High Experience!

Just wanted to remind you all of the Conference Youth Worker Training at Sky Lodge on October 19-20. This is a quality event for very little money. Rick Morgan, youth pastor at Spring Arbor FMC and leader for youth ministry in the denomination, will be our teacher. So get your team signed up and plan on being a part of this great event.

Know that I am praying for you all as the school year begins. There is often some momentum this time of year and I hope that the momentum we see in our youth ministries will bring our kids closer to Jesus.

I'll let you know soon when our next feast at Famous Daves will be.

Thanks for loving on young people.

- Erick