The Party is On!

Hey, its been a while, but we are back with a bang.

This past Friday we continued our series on The Core - The Values That Drive us Forward. This is an exploration of the key values we as a youth ministry want to maintain. Our first week was: A Posture on Our Knees, this dealt with the fact that we will be a House of Prayer. This week's value was: A Clear Proclamation of the Gospel.

We talked about how often we go to church and know what being a Christian looks like but we have never really expereinced it for ourselves. We talked about what the Gospel is, that we were created to live in pure fellowship with God but there is an impurity in all of us called sin that prevents us from getting back to that. No matter what we do or try we can't get back on our own. But Jesus Christ came to die in our place so that we might be brought back to fellowship with God.

We had one of our grade 7s accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour. It is awesome to see someone's eternity changed in the blink of an eye.

Here are some other highlights:

Worship - Forever Reign + How He Loves Us

Scripture - Colossians 1:13-29

Elements of Fun - We played some Volleyspudball before getting going, a round of 2 truths 1 lie and capped off the night with Sugar Wars. Without getting to detailed, the champion of the wars, Amanda L. devoured approximately 1800 calories in about 15 minutes.

What Else - We watched an IAMSECOND video which tied in with the message. We also prayed for needs including two pastors' daughters outside our church in need of healing. (Sarah Tapley and Emma Stewart)

I can't wait for this week - we are continuing The Core and will end the night with some ALIEN.

Be Blessed

Pastor Tim

The Countdown is On

So we are back, it was quite the drive to Halifax, lots of trees. It really gives you an appreciation for planes. I found it also gives an appreciation for people like Paul (the apostle) and the early settlers of Canada. It took us about 20 hours of driving to get to NS. I don't think I could take much of a longer trip, we did it because we have people we care about on the other end of the trip.

I think that is why Paul and the settlers were willing to travel weeks with less comfort then we had. (hotel did have a hot tub). Paul cared so much for people that he couldn't bear to see them live on without Christ. The early settlers of Canada cared so much for their families that they braved the journey across this land to make a better home for them.  It makes me think 'what am I willing to do?' 'What level of comfort can I do without?' Just something to think about.

We are about a month away from our FALL Kickoff on Friday September 14. We are really believing that God has something in store for the students of Halton Hills over this next year. Stay tuned for details as we move forward. For now I want to encourage you to pray. This is our best strategy, we need God to move with power in our town so people see Jesus and their need for Him.

We have a few times set aside coming up where we want to gather together to do this. On Thursday August 30 we will be having a prayer meeting at Georgetown District High School, we are going to do a Joshua and pray around that school, that spiritual walls would fall just like Jericho and the Gospel of Jesus Christ would be proclaimed. The next Friday (Sep 7) we will be having another prayer meeting at the church where we are calling parents and any other adult to come alongisde our youth as we pray for our students.

There is much more, to come, stay tuned! And don't forget - WONDERLAND is next week - RSVP by Friday so you get food!!!

PTim

Defining the Win

In 29 hours from the time I am writing this the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympic games will be starting. I can't wait. I love the Olympics, I love sports, but the Olympics are special to me because I remember growing up and the whole family sitting around to watch. Even now, Shelley and the girls will sit to watch the Olympics, it seems to be more than just a sporting event.

One of the things I find interesting is how we determine the 'win'. During the winter games in 2010, Canada was all about 'owning the podium', 'believe'. This year it seems we are more about 'its great to be there'. This is understandable, as Canadians we do much better at the winter games than we do at the summer games. CTV's Believe commercials all year have even featured more international athletes, perhaps so we don't set unrealistic expectations for how many medals Canada should bring home. That is fine, its important to determine what a win looks like. For some it may be just getting there. For someone like Michael Phelps I am sure a win would be nothing short of gold.

As we look ahead to the fall, I am seeking God on how we as a youth ministry define a 'win'. Is it based events, numbers, spiritual growth, impacting our community? I don't know. For me I try to look at the Great Commission, the call to go and make disciples. But in that context how do we define a win.

I think its important that we define what a win looks like, it gives us focus and also a chance to celebrate when we see wins. What do you think, how would you describe a win, both for yourself as you head into this new school year and also for our youth group - what does a win look like? If you figure it out, send me an email, let me know.

PT

Halfway

We are just about at the halfway mark of the summer. It is crazy when you think just how fast summers can go. I have found that the older you get the faster time seems to go in every way. I remember in high school thinking just how looooong a week seemed to go by and now I feel like a blink and its a new month.

Maybe it is some sort of 35 year old wisdom or soemthing that happens when you have kids. As we look ahead to the coming year and start planning things I am struck by what a small window we all have to impact our friends, family and the world. Let's not waste it.

I am also looking forward to next week as we head to Halifax for a couple of weeks with my family. I can't wait to hit the beach and visit with friends and family.

Enjoy the second half of summer, sleep in, play video games, but don't forget to connect with those around you, stay up late, go to a drive in movie, be embarrassed by your parents, when you're 35 those moments will mean so much more.

PT

This Week.

The heat is here. I am not a fan of the hot and humid weather, I much prefer the cool breeze of autumn, but I can't complain, swimming is so much more fun outside the inside at the pool and ice cream seems to taste much better when you have to eat it fast so it doesn't melt on you.

This week promises to be fun, on Wednesday night the junior highs are having their final night of the school year. There will be games aplenty. On Friday EVERYONE (Junior and Senior High) will be going to Christ the King School from 7-9 for a gym night. We will be playing some different sports and games and just having a relaxed, fun night on our last Friday until September. Bring $$ to go to Mcdonalds afterwards.

Stay cool, I will see you later.

Pastor Tim

June is Here.

I can't believe its June already. I think with the lack of winter we had these past months have flown by. So, summer is almost here. My kids are super excited for all the joys of summer; camp, no school, swimming, no school, VBS, no school, and the list goes on.
I know some of you are planning summer vacations and trips so I wanted to connect to let you know what is going on with the Youth of GCF over the coming months.
If you click on the Calendar page of this blog, you will find a list of upcoming summer events. You will notice that junior and senior high students are together for most of the events. You may also notice that we run on Thursdays as our primary day. This is to facilitate those who go to the cottage or go away on long weekends as much as possible.

For June we have just a couple of weeks left in our regular schedule. Junior High wraps up on the 13th and senior high wraps up on the 15th with a gym night at CTK.

-Pastor Tim

Overflow

So its been a bit since the last post. We are at an exciting time in the youth ministry calendar - Overflow. This is an annual youth convention where 2500 students get together to worship God, hear from His Word and have a lot of fun. We will be taking a group of 13 students to the event this weekend and by all accounts we are excited.

Could you pray for those who will be on this trip? Pray that God will reveal Himself in a new way to each of us and that we would be open to what He wants to do in and through us.

For updates from the event you can watch the main sessions streamed live at overflowyouth.com or follow updates on Twitter @timaaronstevens.

We are also in the process of summer planning. This is looking like it will be an epic summer, stay tuned for details!

Passion Week.

Hey everyone, I hope you are all having a great Passion Week. I always find this week is a good time for me in recalibrating myself, bringing focus back to what really matters. What Christ did for us is something beyond my understanding and I am eternally grateful for it.

We completed The Journey to the Cross last night with the junior highs. I thought it was a good activity for us as a church and youth ministry to go through, I know I went through 3 times and each time was different and God showed me new things.

This weekend at GCF we will be having a Good Friday and Easter Sunday service. There is no senior high youth this week. Both services begin at 10am. The Sunday service will feature an egg hunt for the kids and siome baptisms, including some of our students. These services are a great time to invite friends as the Gospel messgae is laid out so clearly.

I also want to remind all Senior Highs to bring in your Overflow forms if you are planning to go. You can bring them to me up to the Easter Sunday service. We will be booking our trip early next week. If you are planning to go but are away for the weekend please contact me so I know you are planning to come.

One last note for Junior high, there will be no Junior High program next week due to the Annual Business Meeting. The week after is Beautiful Unique Girl.

About Last Night.

We had a great time last night at Junior High for Talk Show Games Night. We played some classic games like Smart or Stupid, Brownie Points and Where Did You Get That Shirt?. Unfortunately, none of our students were able to win the big prizes, but a good time was had by all.

A couple of notes for Junior Highs and parents to keep aware of:

1. Beautiful Unique Girl is on April 18. The cost is 35$ it is for girls in grades 5-8. This will be a great time for all involved. Space is limited so speak to me soon if you need a registration card. Also, there are prizes for girls who bring friends.

2. On April 11 Junior High will be cancelled due to the church business meeting happening on that evening.

3. Next week we will be doing the Journey to the Cross, this is a great way for us to focus in on what Easter is all about and really what our faith is all about. Parents are welcome to participate along with the students.

About Last Night.

Crazy good weather we are having this week, we took advantage of that last night by playing some outdoor games and doing our teaching outside. While the outside teaching seemed like a good idea, it was discovered early on that the mosquitos are taking advantage of these warm days and used us all as a buffet while the teaching was happening.

We concluded our series on friends last night by talking about 'counterfeit friends' we discussed the importance of keeping our true friends close and recognizing 'counterfeit friends' who aren't true to us in friendship.

We also announced that on April 18, Beautiful Unique Girl will be at GCF for a Pajama Party with girls in grades 5-8. This will be a great event with an awesome message for girls, activities, nail painting, pizza and a chocolate fountain. The cost is $35 per girl. Please speak with me for more details or if the cost is an obstacle in any way.

March Break.

Are you enjoying March Break? No school and great weather make for a great March Break. Here are a few notes to about this week:

30 Hour Famine is tomorrow from noon to 11pm @ the Georgetown Alliance Church this will be big fun. $20 at the door, junior and senior highs invited.

On Thursday the portable will be open for a movie/drop in/ basketball in the parking lot from 1pm-5pm. senior and junior highs are invited.

Senior Highs - I have Overflow forms. Come and get them.

March Madness is also here - the US college basketball tournament, whether you are a fan or not, enter our GCF Students bracket contest for the chance to win bragging rights and a prize.

This Week.

Hey Everyone. One more week of school until March Break. Take note of some of the upcoming events:

Wednesday - 6:45-8:00 - Junior High - Come on out, play some games, hang out, we will be talking about Friends again.

Friday - 7:00 - 9:30 - Senior High - Grades 9-12, come join us as we hang out, have some fun and learn about making wise choices.

Next week - If you are interested in helping out with the Kid's Mania in the mornings during March Break, talk to Pastor Chris.

30 HOUR FAMINE is next Wednesday - grab a pledge form from Pastor Tim to get donations otherwise its $20 at the door. NOON - 11pm @ Georgetown Alliance Church.

Also next week - Thursday afternoon we will be hanging out in the portable and watching a movie - 1pm - 5pm.

About Last Night

Last night at Junior High was all about friendships. We started off by pairing up in a marshmallow swing game and then played some Bum Bum Scoot.

In our talk, we discussed some of what the Bible says about friends. While we want to love everyone, the Bible is clear that we should be selective in who we choose to call a friend. We looked at the relationship between David and Jonathan in the Bible and what it truly means to be a friend.

On Friday the Junior Highs are invited to join the Senior Highs as we go to Robert Little Public School in Acton for some ball hockey from 7-9. This will be a fun night. Students will also be able to pick up 30 Hour Famine pledge forms on Friday.

Coming This Week.

Junior High
You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose. But you can't (or shouldn't) pick your friend's nose. We will be looking at what it means to choose our friends.

Friday Night
This Friday is for EVERYONE - Grades 6-12. We will playing ball hockey at Robert Little School in Acton. This event runs from 7pm - 9pm.

Last Week.

On Friday night we concluded our series on dating by looking at the questions of dating. We basically went through the who, what, when, where, why and how of dating. Just as we discussed God's design for our lives in honouring our parents, we discussed some of the other waays God has designed us to live, specifically that we are to love others as we love ourselves. In addition to honouring our parents in our relationships we must also honour ourselves, our dates and most importantly God.

We are also bringing some structure to our worship times at Senior High. Any senior high who is interested in participating in musical worship is asked to speak to Pastor Tim to review what this means. If you have your Worship Ministry Team covenant signed , please return to Pastor Tim.

Tonight @ Junior High

We will be playing some Minute To Win It Games. 6:45 - 8:00 in the portable.

You can also pick up 30 Hour Famine Pledge Sheets.

Last Friday.

Hey all, long weekends always make the week before seem so long ago. We had a good time with the Senior Highs on Friday. We talked about dating. Very similar to what the junior highs did a couple of weeks ago, we discussed God's plan for dating and the fact that our concept of dating would be foreign to the culture in Bible times. There are however guidelines that God lays out that show us how to live life and operate in relationships. One of the biggest of these is to honour our parents. We talked about how that looks, the difference between obeying and honouring and the importance of having regular, open communication with our parents in regards to dating.
We followed up the night by going to Bella Talbot's house for some snacks and to watch Courageous. This was my first time seeing the movie and I thought it was pretty good.

Junior High Stuck on the Moon.

Greetings all, we had a great night at junior high last night. We continued our series on dating and looking at God's design for our relationships. We started things off with a NASA exercise. What items would you salvage from your crashed spaceship on the moon? Both our teams did fairly well, a couple of our students have an inordinate amount  of information about the Moon.

The point of it all was to show some of the benefits of being in community. I also had an "age" moment when I asked who had seen the movie "Castaway" and got maybe 1 hand. (Seriously, its only like 10 years old). Anyway, where was I?

Right, God's design for Junior Highs in the dating world. Last week we looked at one of God's designs (honour your parents). This week we  went to Luke Chapter 10 to look at the story of The Good Samaritan. In all of our relationshps we need to love the other person as we love ourselves. We talked about how we need to make sure we are living all of our relationships in this light. Prior to dating we should make sure we have our other relationships up to this standard (i.e. younger brother, etc). When we live our relationships this way we live them in a Godly fashion. This enables us to be Godly in our dating.

Next week is Minute To Win It Night. This should be fun. Also check out the post on 30 Hour Famine.

Music Ministry

Are you in Senior High? Has God gifted you musically? (voice, instrument?) If you answered yes and would like to be a part of the Creed Youth Band we will be having a meeting this Friday prior to our regular youth night. The meeting will be at 6pm. Please bring a Bible. In this meeting we will discuss what it means to be a worshipper. We will also do some brainstorming so if you have a song that you have been wanting to do bring it.

Also, don't worry if you feel like other people play the same instrument, we will figure all that stuff out.

Pastor Tim

30 Hour Famine

So GCF Students, we have the opportunity to impact both the world and our own town with the 30 Hour Famine this year.

We will be joining with youth groups from other churches in Georgetown to make a difference and have some fun not eating.

Here are some details:
The Famine is 30 hours and goes from March 13 - March 14. (It starts at 4pm on the 13th)
All Junior and Senior High students are invited to participate.
There will be pledge forms to raise money for this event. The money will go to both global and local projects.
On March 14th we will be having an event (basically we will all join together to have fun while we starve together) The event runs from Noon to 11pm at the Georgetown Alliance Church. To participate you must raise at lease $20 in pledges. (Or pay $20 at the door).
If you are not sure you can last the full 30 hours that's alright, we will have rice on hand at the event to make sure we stay healthy.

More details to come, this will be a great chance to do some good and have some fun on March Break.

Pastor Tim

Junior High Tonight!

Tonight at Junior High we continue our look at how God has designed us to live our lives and where dating fits into that. We are also going to the Moon. That might sound awesome, but trust me, its really just a big wasteland. The spacesuits are pretty cool though.

Love Is Moving Recap

On Friday night while GCF was filled with movie goers, GCF Senior High plus some young adults and grade 8s attended the Love Is Moving event at Queensway Cathedral in Toronto. (I think they call it Church on the Queensway now.)
This was a joint event between a whole bunch of Christian organizations including World Vision, Tyndale College and Seminary, CTS, IamSecond.org, and the Gideons. The keynote speaker for the night was Josh McDowell. Josh gave a talk on the realities of sex and love and pointed out that Love means to Provide and Protect. The main theme of his talk was about the need to love ourselves. (The Bible calls us to love others as we love ourselves, how can we do that if we don't love ourselves or if we don't know what Love really means.)
We were also treated to a hip hop artist who was brought over from England. We could've caught another artist, but our bus was set to leave at 9:45 so we had to skip out prior to him coming on stage. (If anyone would like to hear the hip hop stylings of S.O. let me know and I will give you a link where you can download some tracks for free.) All in all, a good night, safe travelling as well as the revelation that Cozy B. is perhaps Georgetown's premiere dance talent.

Last Night.

We had a great night at Junior High last night. We started our 2 week February series on dating. This is a topic that clearly brings some good discussion and questions for junior highs.

We did a get to know the leader game where teams of students interview our leaders (David, Dakota, Leslie and Shelley) and then reported back to the group on who these people are. I was quite taken aback by the fact that half of the leaders have picked theie noses and eaten what they found. (I won't say which half).

In the message, we talked about the fact that the Bible doesn't give clear instructions to junior high students in Canada in 2012 as far as a dating rule book. The Bible talks a lot about marriage and about doing life together but our concept of dating would be foreign in Bible times. We did recognize that God has a plan for our lives should be lived and looking at that plan can give us insight into how we should conduct ourselves in the dating world. Specifically, we looked at Exodus 20:12 and Ephesians 6:1-3. These verses talk to us about honouring our parents.

After we discussed the differences between honouring our parents versus just obeying we discussed how that applies to our dating lives.

1. Stick to what your parents say. - If your parents have set an age limit for dating or a way they want it to look we need to honour them by abiding by that.
2. Talk to your parents before you date. - Have a discussion about dating with your parents, how it should look, find out why they set what they set. There was some talk about this being awkward but if you feel you are mature enough to date then you should also be mature enough to have that conversation.
3. Communicate with your parents after you start dating. Keep the dialogue open, let them get to know your friends and dates. Be accountable to your parents.

Next week we will wrap up our dating talk by talking about God's plan for us to do life together.

This Friday we have the Love is Moving event in Toronto, this event is for senior high students and young adults. We have invited grade 8s to come along. A couple reasons for this, first, they are probably mature enough for this event. Second, they will be senior highs in about 7 months so it is good to find opporunities to orientate them a little to senior high. The bus leaves at 6pm from the church and should be back by 10:30pm.

Love Is Moving - This Week.

Super Bowl 46 is now behind us. Only 211 days until the first game of the 2012 NFL season. Its gonna be a great 211 days. This week the senior high students will be joining the young adults, as we join with youth and young adults from across the GTA (and beyond) for the Love Is Moving event. This is gonna be a great night. We are taking a bus from the church to the event and its all free! So bring a friend, and come prepared for an awesome night.

*The bus leaves the church at 6pm and we are expecting to be back at the church by 10:30pm
Click the link below for a promo.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/zzkqEhbbmDk

Senior High Girls Night Out / Guys Night In.

This Friday (tomorrow) Senior High is a little different.
If you are a girl - You will be going to the House of Mazzuca for girly stuff. Manicures, girl talk, looking at pictures of kittens (maybe not, I am not really sure what girls do when they get together) 7pm.

If you are a guy - You will be going to the portable @ GCF. We will be doing guy stuff. Movie, food, laughing at immature things. 7pm.

Remember next Friday is the Love is Moving Event at Queensway - Also take note that for that event you need to bring a non perishable food item for the food bank.

PTim

Night of the Frozen Ninjas (or Night of the Not so Cold Junior Highs)

So last night was scheduled to be Night of The Frozen Ninjas for our Junior High group. In planning this, I thought how great a night it would be, I mean February 1 should be cold, the only worry was frostbite. I guess that wasn't the only worry, 6 degrees??? seriously?!
Instead of puching through with Night of the Muddy Ninjas, our excellent Junior High Game Squad (Dakota and David) came up with some indoor games to make the Jr. Highs forget all about thoughts of Frozen Ninja glory.

The 16 Junior Highs who came out last night were treated to some indoor soccer, a couple of lol improv games and our first edition of Battle of The Instant Dance Crews. This event saw our Junior Highs broken into groups of 8 (Team Shelley and Team Leslie), each team was given a cd and 15 minutes to choreograph a dance routine. The results were moving. Team Shelley went with the update approach highlighted some excellent use of The Worm. Team Leslie opted for the slow, emotional routine featuring a human fountain.

All in all a great night. Next week in Junior High we are back into the portable and we will be starting our 2 week series on dating. (Just in time for Valentines Day)

-PTIM

February 10 - Love is Moving Event.

Hey everyone - On February 10 the senior highs will be joining the young adults as we go to an event in Toronto. This will be a great night with some good music and teaching. The bus leaves the church at 6pm and should be back at about 10:30pm.

There is no cost but you may want to bring $$ in case you get hungry. We won't be stopping for food but there may be food at the event.

Welcome to the GCF Student Ministries Blog

Hey Students and parents of students who are a part of the youth ministry of Georgetown Christian Fellowship. This blog exists to update you on what is going on in our Jr. and Sr. High programs as well as to provide some communication on upcoming events.

PT