You can check out part 1 of our new youth series "EXODUS" by clicking right here.  I'd love to hear what you think!
 
You can listen to the message from this past week's youth service by clicking right here.  It was a great night, and I've been doing good at keeping the messages around 20 minutes or less.  Let me know what you think!
 
Our next talk series on Wednesday nights is coming up in a couple weeks.  Here's the rundown!

TITLE: He Did WHAT!?

SUMMARY: A walk through the book of Mark looking at some of the amazing things that Jesus did with a focus on what He has power over and how that applies to our lives.

WEEK 1 - He Healed the Sick
Mark 1:40-42.  Jesus has power over our weaknesses.

WEEK 2 - He Calmed a Storm
Mark 4:35-41.  Jesus has power over our circumstances.

WEEK 3 - He Fed 5,000
Mark 6:30-44.  Jesus has power over our needs.

WEEK 4 - He Died on the Cross
Mark 15:21-32.  Jesus has power over sin.

WEEK 5 - He Rose from the Grave
Mark 16:1-8.  Jesus has power over death.

By the way - it's been brought to my attention that my friends at Simply Youth Ministry offer a series called "He Did What?" that is similar to this.  I didn't copy theirs, or try to steal it in any way, it's just a huge coincidence!  Also, I'm sure theirs is much better than mine, so click right here to check out their series (and other great resources).
 
You can listen to the message from our final night of "Now is the Time" by clicking right here!
 
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You can listen to the second message from our "Now is the Time" series by clicking right here.  Enjoy!
 
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Click right here to listen to/download the message from this week's IMPACT youth service.  Great kick-off to our series!
 
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You can listen to the message from this week's IMPACT youth service by clicking right here!  Comments/feedback welcome!
 
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You can listen to last night's IMPACT youth message by clicking right here.  Enjoy!
 
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Last night I did a one-shot message on "Labels".  Before we started I covered myself in labels on which I had written some pretty negative words - "ugly", "fat", "stupid", "lost cause", "smelly", "loser", "unloved"We opened with some discussion on how labels can be helpful or hurtful, and why people tend to label each other in hurtful ways.  We then read the story of the woman caught in adultery, and talked about the names the men who dragged her before Jesus must have been calling her, and the label she was given as an adulteress/sinner/temptress/worse (and probably rightfully so - sometimes our labels aren't entirely inaccurate!).

But the interesting thing is that Jesus - in a deeply profound way - removes all of these voices from around this woman, before addressing her directly.  Perhaps she expected another label to be heaped upon her - "rejected", "condemned", "mistake"...

But instead Jesus says He does NOT condemn her.  She is "forgiven", "free", "released", "challenged", "called".

I gave each student a blank name tag at the beginning of the night.  During our closing prayer time I asked them to, when they felt God speaking to them, write down the "label" they thought God would place on them.  After the prayer, I asked any who would like to share to explain what their label said and why they felt like that's how God saw them.  It was super-emotional and we had some awesome discussion to end the night.

You can buy blank name-tags at any office supply store or download a template for mailing labels online.

Let me know if you try this exercise and how it goes for you!

- Tim B.