20 Ways to Grow Spiritually with Your Teen in 2013

As I was thinking and praying about this upcoming year, I began thinking of ways that my family can grow spiritually together in the year 2013 and then I thought about ways that families at Stillmeadow can grow together too. It's important for me to say "together" because I really believe that my role as a father is not just to teach my children, but also allow them to teach me.  By learning from them I affirm that they have something to contribute and encourage them to do so!

So here is a starter list of ways that teens and parents and children can grow in Christ together in 2013.  

Pray Together

1. Pray for your school district officials and teachers. Find a list of people who serve in your district, put it on the fridge and pray.
2. Take time each day to look at the news headlines and choose one or more situations to pray for.
3. Go for prayer walks in your neighborhood.  What's a prayer walk? It's when you walk and pray for the people or places that you pass or that God comes to mind.
4. Pray over the prayer requests listed in the Stillmeadow weekly bulletin.
5. Ask your parent or teen how you can pray for them. Then do it. Right there. Right then. And through the week.

Serve Together

1. Find a way to serve your parent or teen in a way you normally don't.
2. Choose a ministry to serve in together.
3. Bake cookies and give them out to neighbors.
4. Visit a shut in from your church together.
5. Serve at the York Rescue Mission with the Stillmeadow youth ministry. We go the first Friday of every month (including THIS Friday!)

Engage Scripture Together

1. Tell your teen or parent what God is teaching you through the Bible and ask what God is teaching them.
2. Memorize a scripture per week.  Want good verses to memorize? Just check the back of your bible or google "Scripture Memory Verses" and you'll find a ton of places to start!
3. Read a passage at whatever meal you regularly eat together. You can find great memory plans on Bible Gateway or on the YouVersion Bible App. 

Practice Gratitude together

1. Take a moment each day to thank your parent or teen for something they did.
2. Write thank you notes to the teachers and volunteers and supervisors in your life. List specific ways they have blessed you.
3. Write thank you notes to fire fighters and other civil servants.
4. At each meal or before school or bed have every one share one thing or person they are thankful for.

Do Justice Together

1. Adopt a compassion child as a family.  You can go through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries or Compassion International.
2. Buy double the ingredients for one meal a week and leave the doubles in the Stillnaz Food Pantry or at the drop bin in the front of your grocery store.
3. Strategize and practice random acts of kindness together.

This is just a starter list.  There are many other ways to grow together.  If you think of some, I'd love to hear them!

Invitations to be still

Was just looking through some old notes and found this compilation of scripture invitations to be still.  It seems that drama increases and things get busier as the holidays arrive.  These scriptures are great invitations to remember that there is more to life than the craziness that's around us.

Exodus 14:13-14

Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Nehemiah 8:11

The Levites calmed all the people, saying, "Be still, for this is a sacred day."

Psalm 37:6-8

He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,

       the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;

       do not fret when men succeed in their ways,

       when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;

       do not fret—it leads only to evil.

Mark 4:37-39

A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

Psalm 46:9-11

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;

       he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,

       he burns the shields with fire.

"Be still, and know that I am God;

       I will be exalted among the nations,

       I will be exalted in the earth."

The LORD Almighty is with us;

       the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Zechariah 2:11-13

"Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you.  The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.  Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling."

Our current Sunday morning series: using SOAP on Matthew

We just started a new journey with the teens at Stillmeadow.  From now until April 13 (Palm Sunday) the teens at Stillmeadow are working through the book of Matthew. 

We're proceeding through the book from front to back (although...reading it from back to front might be an exciting adventure at some point) and encouraging the students to read a portion each day.  Students can sign up for texts which the passages for each day.  I'm also updating my twitter and facebook status every day with those same texts.  Feel free to follow along!

The Method

We're also trying something new with the kids by giving them basic instructions on how to read the text.  There are sooo many ways, but right now we are emphasizing the SOAP method!  We are encouraging the students to use this method on their own during the week.  Then when we gather on Sundays we practice it together.  I'm stoked about it!

What is SOAP?  I'm glad you asked!  See the explanation below!

SOAP is an acronym for a simple way of reading scripture.  The intention is to guide you purposefully through scripture, taking time for and allowing God to speak through the reading.

Scripture: Before you read, take a couple minutes to sit in silence before Christ, remembering His sacrifice in the past and His ever present love.   Then read, knowing His Spirit is with you, opening your heart and mind to His truth.

Observe: Ask the who, what, when, where, how and why questions.  What does this passage say about God and/or humanity? How does this passage fit in with the passage before and after? Is there anything that stands out or that I have not noticed before?

Apply: What is God saying to you through this passage?  What does He want you to learn?  How does He want you to live differently?

Pray: Based off what you sense God is saying to you from this passage, take time to write out or form a prayer that focuses on the content of what you read and what you sense God calling you to do.  Then pray for family, friends and enemies.  Pray for your church and smaller group.  Pray for yourself. 

Hint #1: You may find it helpful to write your responses in a journal or on paper…

Hint #2: You will find some passages more difficult than others.  That’s okay! Bring any confusions or difficulties to class for questions!  More than likely others will have similar questions!

This method is adapted from something our worship pastor, David Brown, gave to me.  He adapted it from Wayne Cordeiro's book The Divine Mentor.

A Blessing in the Advent Season

A shoot will come out of the stump of Jesse,
and a branch will grow from its roots.
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. (Isaiah 11.1-4a)

My friends, it is Advent, and the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Let us pray that we will bear the fruit of repentance in our lives.
Let us pray that we will be people of righteousness, justice and faithfulness.
Let us pray that we will not judge by what the eye sees or decide by what the ears hears.
Indeed, let us pray that we will have eyes to see and ears to hear the good news.
Let us pray that we will have eyes that will see beyond our stereotypes,
…ears that will listen closely to the stories of our neighbours,
…eyes to see each others gifts,
…ears to hear each others joys and sorrows.
Let us pray that we will have the eyes to see a shoot that shall come out of the charred stump of Jesse, out of the charred stump of our own lives.
Let us pray, Amen, come soon Lord Jesus.

Some quality thoughts by Brian Walsh on Empire Remixed.
Here's the complete post...focused on judgmentalism.

Verse and Voice 12.02.2010

"Get up and pray for help all through the night. Pour out your feelings to the Lord, as you would pour water out of a jug. Beg [the Lord] to save your people, who are starving to death at every street crossing." - Lamentations 2:19

"We must move away from asking God to take care of the things that are breaking our hearts to praying about the things that are breaking God's heart." - Margaret Gibb We pray today for the victims of violence and war. We ask your healing, O Lord, for those who have been wounded in body, hurt emotionally, and broken spiritually. For the refugees who have been forced out of their homes because of war and destruction, we ask your protection and guidance. Amen.

A good word from the Sojourners Verse and Voice blog found here.

Prayer for Wednesday (from 1 John 3:17, Mark 1:40-41)

Jesus,
You saw need,
You felt deeply,
You reached out and touched the man.
Compassion stirred,
Deep within.
Transform me,
To feel deeply,
To let compassion stir,
Deep within,
So that your love in action
Takes over my life.
In your loving name,
Amen

Prayer for Wednesday (from Psalm 148)

God,
All of Creation shouts Hallelujah,
Hailstones, lightening,
Sun, moon and stars,
Clouds and rain,
Bellow their praises to you.
All of Creation shows gratitude,
Sharks and cows,
boys, girls, moms and dads,
angels and wild beasts,
Call out their thanks to you.
I cannot help but join in,
with my heart,
with my mouth,
with my mind,
with my hands and feet.
Thank you, God. Amen

A Prayer for Tuesday (From 1 John 3:11-16)

God, Who is love,
forgive me
for my heart like Cain,
for my actions that take life,
for my jealousy,
for my desire to get ahead,
for my failure to "get it"
...that all I need is in You.
Through your Spirit
give me a heart like Christ,
who brought life through his actions,
who laid down his life,
who really "got it"
that all we need is You.
In Christ's name, Amen.

A Prayer for the Beginning of the Week

God, Creator and Sustainer,
In You is fullness.
In You is life...
Nothing else satisfies.

Govern my heart,

guide my thoughts, 

direct my words, 

master my will;

So that in everything I do

I bring glory to you.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen

This is not an easy prayer...

In thinking of the importance of the smaller group leaders and the youth workers in our church I have been doing some reading.  In that reading, I came across this prayer I have heard before...it's worth sharing.  It's typically used in an annual "Covenant Service" by the Methodist Church, where all commit together to following hard after Christ.  But as I read it I was reminded of Paul's attitude towards service to God, willing to accept whatever God brought his way.

I want this to be my prayer...even if it is in old English!

I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen. 

—as used in the Book of Offices of the British Methodist Church, 1936. 

Top Moments from Fall Retreat 2010!

Top Moments from Fall Retreat 2010

1.      The crazy mingle game while waiting for the buses to arrive at Stillmeadow

2.      Having both Stillmeadow campuses worship and play together

3.      The prayer stations

4.      Watching kids play in the creek

5.      When one of the boys brought over a roasted crawdad

6.      Playing Taboo outside with a ton of people

7.      Hearing the bell ring during the prayer stations

8.      The sound of George’s coffee pot in the morning after a short night’s sleep

9.      The Warm Fuzzy encouragement bags!

10.  Hearing the bold prayers around the campfire on Saturday night

11.  Communion on Sunday morning

This is just a start…I’d love to hear of some more from my facebook friends!

A Song From Chapel

One of my fav

orite parts of coming out to seminary (www.nts.edu) is that twice a week all the students come together for chapel. And during the module sessions (which last four hours!), that means that we stop our classes and join together for worship. It's a way of saying that while we're here to grow in our understanding of God, Scripture and the Church, true education is incomplete without worship. We could certainly learn an abundance of facts and preaching methods, but these fall flat without an adoration of God, without a love of God.

Well, today we had a singing and prayer service centered on God's call for the church. The prayer time was beautiful as we offered prayers of gratitude, prayers for God's people and prayers for the persecuted church.

After the prayers we sang a song that I am unfamiliar with, but the words were so powerful to me that I thought I'd share them with the intranet world. Thanks to the Oremus Hymnal for having this.

The Church's One Foundation

Samuel John Stone, 1868

The Church's one foundation
is Jesus Christ her Lord;
she is his new creation,
by water and the word:
from heaven he came and sought her
to be his holy bride;
with his own blood he bought her,
and for her life he died.

Elect from every nation,
yet one o'er all the earth,
her charter of salvation,
one Lord, one faith, one birth;
one holy Name she blesses,
partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses,
with every grace endued.

Though with a scornful wonder
men see her sore oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder,
by heresies distressed;
yet saints their watch are keeping,
their cry goes up, "How long?"
and soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song.

Mid toil and tribulation,
and tumult of her war
she waits the consummation
of peace for evermore;
till with the vision glorious
her longing eyes are blessed,
and the great Church victorious
shall be the Church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union
with God, the Three in one,
and mystic sweet communion
with those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
like them, the meek and lowly,
on high may dwell with thee.

Dancing on Prayer

While we were in the hospital with Eden last summer we began to truly understand the beauty of community prayer and experienced God's touch through His people.

One of those moments was when we received this large prayer scroll. This image will be sealed in my mind and heart until I can remember no more. Friends from our faith community had written encouragement and their prayers on this and sent it to us. We rolled it out in the outside play area on our floor. Then we walked up and down reading the notes, feeling God's presence in the prayers.

But Cadence...she ran up and down and jumped and danced on the orange scroll.

It may be taking this scripture out of confidence, but I felt like this was a "red carpet" to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). I am grateful for our community who walked with us with confidence so that we were able to receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Prayer may reshape your brain...hmmm

"The more you focus on something ? whether that's math or auto racing or football or God ? the more that becomes your reality, the more it becomes written into the neural connections of your brain," Newberg says.

This may sound obvious, but read the article for more.

Check out the rest of this article here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104310443&ft=1&f=1001

Weekly Prayer

Proper 25 The Sunday closest to October 26

Almighty and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Weekly Prayer

Proper 24

Almighty and everlasting God, who in Christ hast revealed thy glory among the nations: Preserve the works of thy mercy, that thy Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of thy Name; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Weekly Prayer

Proper 22

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready tohear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Weekly Prayer

Proper 21

O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Darfur Crisis on Google Earth

Many of you know about the genocide and extreme crisis happening in Darfur. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has partnered with Google Earth to highlight the tragedies and bring global attention to these atrocities. Click on the picture and find out what they're doing. Use it as a way to pray and seek God's justice for this place.

Online Treasure

For my most recent birthday, my in-laws gave me the gift that keeps on giving: a book of common prayer. We have greatly enjoyed using it as a family and I've greatly benefited from using the daily office for my personal time with God. On Easter, we decided to follow the liturgy provided and it so happened that my parents were online at the same time. So I quickly stumbled on the online book of common prayer. We were able to use this and have an Easter service with my parents who were on the other side of the world! My dad and I served as the deacons and Aubrey and Sus read the scriptures. It was awesome!

If you don't know how to use it, it takes a bit of perusing to figure out. But I use the Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families under the Daily Office section. Check it out!