Home Blog Page 2

People Are More Important Than Jobs

Jeremy
-
0
People Are More Important Than Jobs

Currently in Followers we are interacting with stories that Jesus told people in order to learn what God is like. Yesterday, during the Junior Followers (grades K-2) teaching time we had one of those amazing moments where students say something profound.

We were engaging with the story Jesus told about a Samaritan man who stopped to help a man who had been beaten and left half-dead at the hands of robbers. Once we completed the story, I asked the students to answer the question:

“What do we learn about God in this story?”

Here is how the students responded:

source YouTube

photo credit: Mario Purisic on Unsplash

Parable of the Good Samaritan

Jeremy
-
0
Parable of the Good Samaritan

For Followers in 2019 at Hayward Wesleyan Church, we decided to spend some time interacting with stories that Jesus told in order to learn what God is like:

According to Jesus, What is God Like?

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

In Luke 10:25-37, Jesus tells the story of a Samaritan helping a man beaten half to death by robbers on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Jesus shared this story in response to the question: “Who is my neighbor?”

Teaching video:

source YouTube

Audio teaching:

Parable of the Good Samaritan (Jeremy Mavis)

photo credit: Ann Fossa on Unsplash

03 Separation // The Story of God for Kids

Jeremy
-
0
03 Separation // The Story of God for Kids

For 21 weeks in 2019, the students and teachers in Main Street at Hayward Wesleyan Church are interacting with the curriculum from Saturate the World called The Story of God for Kids.

3) Story: Separation

This is the third story in the curriculum, found in Genesis 1-3.

Watch the teaching video below:

source YouTube

Listen to the teaching audio below:

03 Separation // The Story of God for Kids (Jeremy Mavis)

Teaching slides:

Teaching slides: 03-Separation.zip [860kb]
Powerpoint: 03-Separation.pptx [772kb]

02 First Humans // The Story of God for Kids

Jeremy
-
0
02 First Humans // The Story of God for Kids

For 21 weeks in 2019, the students and teachers in Main Street at Hayward Wesleyan Church are interacting with the curriculum from Saturate the World called The Story of God for Kids.

2) Story: First Humans

This is the second story in the curriculum, found in Genesis 1-23 and Psalm 8.

Watch the teaching video below:

source YouTube

Listen to the teaching audio below:

02 First Humans // The Story of God for Kids (Jeremy Mavis)

Teaching slides:

Teachings slides: 02-First-Humans.zip [3mb]
Powerpoint: 02-First-Humans.pptx [234kb]

Parable of the Two Lost Sons and the Gracious Father // Luke 15:11-32

Jeremy
-
0
Parable of the Two Lost Sons and the Gracious Father // Luke 15:11-32

In the second half of Followers at Hayward Wesleyan Church in 2019, I decided to interact with stories of Jesus found in the Gospels in order to teach and demonstrate how Jesus showed people what God, his Father, was like. I called the series:

According to Jesus, What is God Like?

For the first story, I picked the parable of the two lost sons and the gracious father. Most refer to this story, found in Luke 15:11-32, as the parable of the prodigal son, but I don’t like to call it that because that is only one-third of the story. The other two-thirds are about the lost heart of the elder brother and the gracious heart of the father.

Followers is divided into two groups: Junior Followers (Kindergarten, grades 1 and 2) and Followers (grades 3, 4 and 5). I taught the older students first.

Here is the audio teaching of the Followers (it contains the storytelling and the whiteboard review explanation through the story, that’s why this one is a little longer):

Luke 15:11-32 Followers // Pastor Jeremy Mavis

Here is the whiteboard drawing from Followers:

Here is the audio teaching of the Junior Followers (it contains just the storytelling portion, which is why this one is shorter):

Luke 15:11-32 Junior Followers // Pastor Jeremy Mavis

Here is the whiteboard drawing from Junior Followers (only slightly different that the other one):

01 Beginnings // The Story of God for Kids

Jeremy
-
0
01 Beginnings // The Story of God for Kids

For 21 weeks in 2019, the students and teachers in Main Street at Hayward Wesleyan Church are interacting with the curriculum from Saturate the World called The Story of God for Kids.

1) Story: Beginnings

This is the first story in the curriculum, found in Genesis 1-3, Psalm 8, Job 38, Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, and Revelation 12.

Watch the teaching video below:

source YouTube

Listen to the teaching audio below:

01 Beginnings // The Story of God for Kids (Jeremy Mavis)

Teaching slides:

Powerpoint: 01 Beginnings.pptx [197kb]

Pharisees

Jeremy
-
0
Pharisees

What was the big deal in the 1st century for the Jews?

What do we do about Rome?

“How are these godless pagans oppressing God’s people?” Jews are back in the promised land, so why are these pagans in charge and what are we supposed to do about it?

“Not surprisingly, there were disagreements among the Judaisms of the day about what to do with that. So you have different groups, advocating different strategies:

  • Collaboration: priestly classes, assigned by Rome, the Temple system, Sadducees, Sanhedrin, Jewish leadership, growing wealthy, had power. Believed the issue with Rome was political.
  • Provocation: the fourth philosophy, later known as zealots, strategy to provoke Rome into open warfare would allow God to intercede in a war-like way to deal with the Roman problem in Israel. Believed the issue with Rome was political.
  • Separation: Essenes went into the dessert and advocated separation, they separated out completely from culture and dedicated themselves to ritual purity in the hopes that when God would come he would reward the sons of light and punish the sons of darkness. Believed the issue with Rome was spiritual.
  • Separation: Pharisees, the most well known of Jesus’ opponents, they advocated separation but doing so within Jewish culture (didn’t leave the culture, but separated themselves within it).”

“More on the Pharisees:

  • their name comes from the idea of being separate
  • their theology was that the most important thing about God and therefore the most important thing about God’s people was to be holy (i.e. Leviticus: be holy as I am holy)
  • how did they deal with Rome? Simple, be holy. Negatively meant to be separate from everything that is unclean and defiling. Positively meant to be super zealous in the adherence to the law (613 commands of Torah) and the oral traditions that grew up around the 613 commands of Torah. The strictest of obedience to the law.
  • How do you be holy in real life? Stay away from everything that is unclean
  • The Pharisees had the same goals as Jesus of Nazareth: wanted Israel to repent. The way the Pharisees wanted Israel to repent was separating themselves and advocating a strict ritual purity.”

Vox, Mike Erre Podcast #2 (starts at 17:00min)

Simon the Pharisee in Luke 7:36-50

“…a monitor of legal observance who distance themselves from sinners” (p. 308).

“[Pharisees] enjoyed advanced status and positions of power and privilege” (p. 311).

“[To numerous scholars], Simon is a stereotype of the Lukan Pharisee, and the Pharisees a caricature of those who reject God’s purpose… [the author, Joel Green, militates against this view for Simon]… Other factors disallow the interpretation of Simon as a stereotypical Pharisee who, because he is a Pharisee, is thereby understood within the narrative as someone who opposes the will of God. Thus, the Third Gospel’s presentation of the Pharisees is more variegated than is usually thought. They are consistently portrayed negatively when they appear in the company of scribes (a.k.a. legal experts, lawyers, teachers of the law), as in 7:30, but from a historical viewpoint this is not surprising. ‘Scribes’ have been identified as off-duty priests, and Luke lays the blame for the death of Jesus above all at the feet of priests and others of the Jerusalem leadership associated with the temple (and not the Pharisees). Outside of the company of scribes, however, Luke’s portrait of the Pharisees is capable of more nuance” (p. 307).

The Gospel of Luke, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT) by Joel Green (1997)

Gossip

Jeremy
-
0
Gossip

What is gossip?

“We gossip when we talk about someone, rather than directly to him. Two people move closer to each other at the expense of the gossiped-about party, who is focused on in a critical or worries way. You can measure the amount of anxiety in any system by the amount of gossip going on.

“Can it ever be useful to involve a third-party? Of course. When having trouble with [a boss], it would have been helpful for me to seek out a wise, clearheaded person for advice about better managing my relationship with him. But, I wasn’t looking for helpful coaching, which requires a focus on self. I was looking for an ally–a perfectly normal human impulse. So I grabbed anyone I thought might by sympathetic.

“A good rule about gossip is to try not to say anything that you wouldn’t want to be overheard.

“When you are having a problem with someone at work, talk directly to that person.

“When you make gossiping a habit, it can back-fire big-time… Gossip creates insiders and outsiders. It makes it more difficult for all parties to resolve the issues between them and to feel competent and included.”

Fear and Other Uninvited Guests: Tackling the Anxiety, Fear, and Shame that Keep Us from Optimal Living and Loving by Harriet Lerner (2004), in chapter 7 entitled “Your Anxious Workplace” (pp. 109-111).

Endings

Jeremy
-
1
Endings

As of Thursday, November 8, 2018, after talking with Pastor Chad and the HWC Board, I have submitted my resignation as an assistant pastor at Hayward Wesleyan Church. The hope is to finish out the school year with the students @hwcyouth.

I was not asked nor was I forced to resign. There is nothing wrong. I am not mad, frustrated or inhibited. I do not have a job offer at another church or company, nor am I going to start another church in Hayward! This decision is purely from the LORD. Amanda and I sense the LORD’s release from my full-time position at Hayward Wesleyan.

To be honest, I do not want to do this. Nothing about this makes any human sense. I have a stable, secure, and influential position at a church where I have been for over 15 years in a community that I absolutely love and relationships with people that are deep and often described like family. HWC has a new pastor that is leading our church with vision, grace, and the heart of God present in Jesus and in the power of the Spirit. Personally I am functioning in much healthier ways than before. The gift of a sabbatical last year saved me in many practical ways in my personal life, marriage, family, and professional life. And youth ministry and community engagement is thriving.

In other words, things are going really well, so why step away?

In a community that we love and loves us, the only one who could tell us when it’s time to leave is the LORD. As Amanda and I discerned this from the LORD over the last couple of months, it has been increasingly confirmed by those closest to us in last couple of weeks. I have asked them to talk me out of it! In each case, those who know us the best agree in love that it is time for our family to take a step of faith.

And that’s all we know. At this moment, the LORD is asking us to take this one step. We do not know what is next. We would appreciate your prayers for the LORD’s direction as we discern what he is doing in our family’s lives!

We have nothing but gratitude for our time in this amazing community and a welcoming and fruitful church. We are so, so thankful for hundreds of great friendships and lot and lots of stories and history. So this transition will be filled with remembrances and storytelling as well as grieving and sadness. In some sense we feel like we are letting people down, but because this is something the LORD’s hand is in, we have confidence that the LORD is working it all out for the good. All of life rests on faith anyway, so this shouldn’t be any different!

Our focus will be on ending well at Hayward Wesleyan and helping our church and community both process the past and present as well as prepare for the future. The LORD’s hand is in this, we know that; so whatever he is orchestrating it is going to be amazing!

F. A. R. F. // Family, Academics, Recreation, and Friends

Jeremy
-
0
F. A. R. F. // Family, Academics, Recreation, and Friends

A couple of years ago we were teaching the high school students how to engage in basic conversational skills. Then we had them practice on middle school students that same evening! The goal was to engage in relational conversation (asking questions in order to get to know the other person) that led to spiritual conversation (dialogue and questions about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, faith, church, etc). It was neat!

That summer I directed our denomination’s Kids Camp again for one last summer. In training the counselors to engage with the elementary-aged kids, I used an acronym to help them remember categories to be able to ask questions in. Watch video (starts at 30:23 and ends at 33:32)

F. A. R. F.

That is where F. A. R. F. came from:

  • Family
  • Academics
  • Recreation
  • Friends

These four categories encompass MANY questions you could ask another person. Let me break this down and be specific with how you can use FARF in getting to know the teenagers at Hayward Wesleyan Youth group!

Family

Every single kid has a family of origin that has had a significant impact on their life, for better or worse. This is an area that you can be inquisitive about and get to know students. You can ask questions like:

  • What are your parents’ names?
  • What does your dad/mom/stepdad/stepmom/mom’s boyfriend/dad’s girlfriend do for a living?
  • What is your relationship like with your parents? Do you get along with them? Why or why not?
  • Do you have any brothers or sisters? What are their names? How old are they? Do you like them? Why or why not?
  • What do you think life would look like if you were an only child? Would you like it or not?
  • How do you think God has shaped you because of your siblings? Or not shaping you?
  • What is your family life like?
  • Where are you from? How long have you lived here or there?
  • Why did you move? Did you like the move? Why was it good/bad, pleasant/difficult?

Academics

This is their school environment. Every kid has to go to school! A teenager’s main job is to go to school everyday for 7 hours. They spend a lot of time in this place. It’s wealth of information when you start asking questions about their school-world:

  • Where do you go to school?
  • What time do go to school?
  • Do you ride the bus? What is that experience like?
  • Do you like school? Why or why not?
  • What are your favorite classes/subjects? Why are these subjects your favorite?
  • What classes don’t you like? Why?
  • Is school important to you? Why or why not?
  • Who is your favorite teacher? Why do you like that person?
  • Do you have teachers you don’t like? Why don’t you like them? What have you learned about dealing with difficult people in your life?
  • Is school easy for you or is it a struggle? Why?
  • Are there people in your school that are encouraging to you? Why?
  • Are there people in your school that are discouraging to you? Why?

Recreation

“What do you like to do for fun?” is the main question in this category:

  • What are your hobbies?
  • What is your favorite sport to play? Why?
  • When you have free time, what do you do with it?
  • Do you have a cell phone? How do you usually use it? What apps do you use on it? Games? Social media? How do you communicate with people on your cell phone? Text? SnapChat? Messenger? Phone calls? Marco Polo? Others?
  • Where does your family go on vacation?
  • Any great, memorable trips in the past?
  • If you had all the money in the world, what would you spend your time doing?
  • What does your family and/or friends do for fun together?

Friends

This category is strategically last because this is where you get to the character of the teeanger. “Birds of a feather flock together,” is an old saying that we are a lot like the people we hang out with on a regular basis. We have a lot in common with our friends. When you get to talk about a teenager’s friends you get a deeper look into the window of their souls.

  • Who is are your best friends? Why do you like them?
  • How do you keep friends?
  • Is making friends easy for you or difficult? Why?
  • Have you ever lost a really good friend? What happened?
  • What are qualities you look for in a friend?
  • What are qualities that would disqualify someone as your friend?

Concluding Thoughts

Now, whenever someone starts engaging in conversation with another there is an initial offering of trust. As the conversation continues and time elapses, this trust gets deeper and deeper. We adults earn relational trust with students not because we are the adults and they have to respect and trust us, but because we do the tireless work of asking questions and being genuinely interested in their answers. With great power comes great responsibility. All teenagers desperately need genuinely interested and involved adults in their lives that aren’t their parents. So this an incredible opportunity we get as adults who serve in close proximity with teenagers. Let’s not take it for granted!

As you can see, the categories above are just a tool. The question suggestions are just to get your creative juices going. There are a hundred more questions you can ask in each category, and their answers will lead you to ask even more follow-up questions!

Please don’t print this off, place it in your pocket, and take it out and go through the list with a teenager tonight, like your Alex Trabek asking the contestants on Jeopardy about their lives! Pick a couple of questions in each category (FARF) and try them out in conversation at youth group. The answers will lead you to ask more questions. It will even lead to some laughter because we all have funny stories to share. Have fun sharing your own stories with the students as well (as appropriate). The students need to know that we are humans desperately in need of Savior just like them. Don’t whitewash your life as if it’s perfect. You’ll be much more relate-able when you share embarrassing stories of yourself! I know this because my two daughters love hearing stories of their Mom and I messing up as kids (and adults) and doing super embarrassing things!!

Have fun getting to know your students better!

P.S. FARF is designed with students in mind. For adult interaction and dialogue, one could use: Family, Occupation, Recreation and Friends.

Overview of the Five Thresholds

Jeremy
-
0
Overview of the Five Thresholds

The Five Thresholds

The Five Thresholds is training material on disciple-making from InterVarsity college ministries.

This is what IV has to say about the Five Thresholds:

“This is the journey of how people tend to explore faith. Once we understand the process, we can be more helpful to friends moving through each threshold. God is already at work in our friends; discerning what thresholds they are in allows us to be more helpful to their faith journey. May God give us wisdom, courage, and love as we help our friends grow toward their next step of faith.”

Here is the overview video:

source Vimeo

Here are the Five Thresholds in a nutshell:

Trust
“People today often start in a place of skepticism or distrust toward Christians. In Threshold 1, they move into a relationship of trust with a Christian friend. Trust is the seed that catalyzes the journey of faith.”

Curiosity
“It’s possible to have a trust relationship with somebody for years without them having any interest in our faith. Threshold 2 is where they become curious. Learn how to ask questions that spark curiosity.”

Open
“Threshold 3, where people go from being closed to open to change, is the most misunderstood and mysterious of the thresholds. Your friend’s questions move from curious, often intellectual or academic, to the personal realm, and they start to examine their life. Our friends desperately need someone who is willing to offer them the truth – in love – to encourage them to be open to change.”

Seeking
“Threshold 4 is where someone moves from simply being open to change to actually seeking after Jesus. People often begin by looking everywhere and investigating everything; Jesus is one of many options they’re exploring. We have the joy of focusing them in on Jesus and helping them ask him the questions they need answered in order to trust him.”

Follower
“This is the wonderful moment when someone puts their trust in Jesus for the first time. As a friend, in Threshold 5 we can help them see how good Jesus and the kingdom of God are, as well as the cost involved in following Jesus. We also need to celebrate with them and continue to support them in their new journey of faith.”

source InterVarsity, 2100 InterVarsity

Student Information Half-Sheets

Jeremy
-
0
Student Information Half-Sheets

I’m always trying to make signing up for things as efficient as possible, but in order to communicate with our youth group participants and their parents, I need accurate, up-to-date information. So there has to be a system in place to be able to collect this information and I find that using the computer to do it actually makes the process slower. So we still use good old fashioned paper.

Last year I went really low-tech. I grabbed a piece of paper, folded it in half, got a Sharpie, and actually wrote in free hand the information our youth group needed in order to communicate. It did the job. And it was kind of “retro” :).

This year I thought I would keep it simple, but I would formalize it and type it up.

Here is what we’ll be using this school year (2018-2019):

source graphic [JPG, 244kb], Student Info half-sheet 18-19 [PDF, 84.7kb], Fenix-Std [font], Geomanist [font]

123...91Page 2 of 91
© Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv