Forth Year Almost in the Books

Can all of you believe it? This week marks my 4th year of being in Artesia!! Wow has time flown by! I usually write a piece for the youth newsletter about my favorite memories from the past year but decided this year to post it in blog form in order that I may ramble on as much as I would like! haha! As another year passes I see just how truly blessed I am to be in ministry with such an amazing Church family! In recounting some of these memories, I am sure that some will slip through my grasp but that is where all of you can chime in! So on to the memories of the past year that I have truly cherished. A year ago we were in the midst of a huge project with the sanctuary renovation! This was such an exciting time to see how God works to bring about changes in our local church! Reminds me of the restoring and renovating He so desires to do in our lives! One cool thing about the remodel was the ability for us to meet down in Fellowship Hall! Some of you might have felt a little cramped, but me, I felt nice and cozy! Reminded me of the home I grew up in and it was nice to be in range to talk to practically any and everyone in the room! The annual bonfire went great as usual and it was great fun celebrating another year in Artesia, much like I am doing at this very moment! Christmas time came and so did the Live Nativity! I took a break from being Joseph and took a turn at being a narrator which I thought was a great thing! Christmas Eve service came and with great strides and work by the construction workers as well as many volunteers in the church we were able to hold our Christmas Eve Candle Light Service in the newly renovated Sanctuary! What a beautiful scene that was! The new year came and things began to pick up and become busy as they usually are in the spring semester! We took a group of kids up the Angel Fire for a ski trip that was great fun! We had cool condos and great food and fellowship while we were there! We then took a group of kids up to R.O.C and had a great time and it was so much fun getting to spend some time in the mountains with you guys! (Love me some Mountains!!) Spring rolled around and we had an event called Night of Nets which helped us raise some awareness for each of us about Malaria and the great need for ways to prevent and care for this disease! We had a fairly good sized group attend and had hours of fun playing Sardines and Underground Church! It was truly an amazing weekend. We then moved on to a Clowning Service that went very well and allowed the kids to step out of their comfort zones and step into some ministry God had for us as a group! (We followed it up later in the summer with a trip out to the Good Samaritan home where the kids loved on some of the residents there!) During the spring we also had a new event called Jahva Thursdays where some of the kids and myself would go and chill at the Jahva House and just talk about life! It was a great time for fellowship and I look forward to another round of this next spring! On one particular Thursday I was completely blown away by some kids who were taking time out of their busy schedules to plan and to stand up for they believe in in trying to get some measures put in place where they all could have a fun and safe prom night! It's so stinkin amazing to see kids taking a stand for what is right! May brought about great joy with a class finishing up their schooling here in Artesia, and the great privilege to speak to them at their baccalaureate service! That same week I also got to see George W give an inspirational speech at the Chase Foundation. Summer came up so quickly! It was quite possibly the busiest summer of my life! The opportunity I had to go to Honduras was one that I cherished and hope that as a church we can go back again in the near future! The time spent there was amazing! It was a beautiful country with many great people who made our trip there very enjoyable! I was back for a few days and then it was off to California for the High School Mission trip! It was so great to see the growth of the kids during the trip and see all of them have the message of Christ click with them and desire change in their lives! We came back from the trip to California and VBS was roaring and waiting for us with a bunch of young kids hungry to hear the Word of God. It's so cool to see the youth of our Church ministering to the younger youth of our Church! Amazing! The Mid-High mission trip was next! We went over to Carthage, Tx! It was so pretty over there, and green! The kids blew me away at how they served and how much they learned throughout the trip! They kept me entertained the whole time as well it made for a great time and so cool to see God move in the lives of the Mid-High group! Summer was fast coming to a close but there was enough time to squeeze in Youth Week! We had a swim party, a trip to Lubbock, a night of Worship, and then my favorite some Mud Volleyball!!! School started and we were right back into the grind of the school year! The first weekend of school we had Freedom Weekend where five different churches came together to learn about how God desires us to have Freedom in our lives and how He desires us to live pure lives! Now we are in November of 2009 and I cant begin to believe how fast the past year went by. Those were alot of the cool things we did throughout the year. There were a few other times for me in my life where things were a little rough. This past January my dad got sick which was a very scary time for me, but it was so great to have a Church family that stood with my family and I in prayer and offered me tons of comfort and gave me many needed hugs of comfort. For this I am truly blessed! Then also there was that time in May when according to rumors of the youth I had swine flu (it was just strep throat). In those times of me being a little under the weather, many of you pitched in and cared for me just like my family would have done! I couldn't be a part of the Clowning service the kids presented to the congregation but I was blessed to have a group of them come by and bring me a balloon and a little cheer! My fourth year here in Artesia was truly a year of blessing for me! I am so blessed to serve in such an amazing Church and have so many wonderful people who support me! You all have no idea just how thankful I am to God for placing me here and giving me such an amazing Church family so serve along side!! God is definitely good!!

Blessings,
sg

November Newsletter

Wow!! Its already November! Craziness!! The link for the November Newsletter is below. Also, at the beginning of next week I will posting some blogs on here of my favorite memories of the past 4 years and have a countdown of all of the best times of 2009! I hope all of you have a great and safe Halloween!

November Newsletter


tired of just ok,
sg

Lesson 7 Communion and Commissioning

Communion and Commissioning! These are two different aspects of our Christian Faith that are vital to the health and vitality of all Christians! Communion can be a few different things. On one hand it helps us remember the sacrifice that was made on our behalf, the sacrifice that cleanses us of all sin! On the other hand we are reminded that our Christian faith should be lived communing with/being in relationship with others. Our Christian walks are not to be lived alone! Then we have commissioning, the truth that we have been commissioned to spread the Word of God with the lives we live on a daily basis! These were a couple of the general ideas we talked about in this lesson. Click the link below and you can get the lesson as well as a few short devotional thoughts towards the end of the lesson.

Lesson 7

blessings!
sg

Lesson 6

This weeks lesson was on prayer! Bigger Picture part 6! I think that this coming week will be the last lesson in the Bigger Picture series, although we will continue to have The Bigger Picture as an over arching theme for our Youth Group! Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this lesson. Remember there is a section for some short family devotions at the end of each lesson!

Lesson 6

Blessings!
sg

Lesson 5 The Bigger Picture

Here is the link to lesson 5 of the bigger picture! Talking a little about our individual part of the bigger picture!

Bigger Picture Lesson 5

Blessings!!
sg

October 09 Newsletter

Here is the October 2009 Newsletter. Enjoy it!

October 2009 Newsletter

Lesson 4 of The Bigger Picture

I slacked on my job this week and didnt get the 4th lesson of the Bigger Picture Lesson up by Monday like I usually do :-( sorry bout that! So here is the 4th lesson! Its about Christ and His sacrifice for us!!

The Bigger Picture Lesson 4