Prayer & Praise (Dec 28 - Jan 3)

- Praise God for the five Christmas Party Clubs we had in December at daycares around the city! (I plan to have pictures, stories, & statistics from the clubs in my next newsletter.) We are continuing with a monthly party club at one of the locations.

- On Saturday, Jan 3, I am meeting with past/present/future Christian Youth In Action (CYIA) team leaders to discuss our vision for CYIA. Please pray for a lot of great input and discussion! We are going to think through some ways to make CYIA an even more powerful experience for our summer missionaries and an even more effective ministry in reaching the children of our city for Jesus.

- Continue to pray that I could make good connections with families, individuals, and churches as I seek to raise the $3,910/month I need for doing ministry with CEF in Denver.

- Praise God for the restful & relaxing Christmas I got to share with my family last week! I hope all of you had an enjoyable celebration as well.

Blessings on your New Year!

Merry Christmas!!!

I wanted to let you know about a change I have just made to the blog. If you look to the right side of your screen and scroll down a bit, you will see that I have added a place where you can subscribe to this blog. This enables you to receive and view the latest posts in your feed reader of choice.

I post prayer requests & praise reports every Monday morning. If you use these to pray for the ministry of CEF of Denver, I think the subscription option will be especially useful to you.

Thanks so much! Blessings on you and your family as we celebrate the birth of Jesus our Lord!

Prayer & Praise (Dec 14-20)

- On Tuesday (Dec 16), Sarah, Philip, and Lauren are teaching a Christmas Party Club at a daycare in southwest Denver. On Thursday (Dec 18), Larea, Lauren, and I are teaching a Christmas Party Club at a daycare out in east Denver. Pray for us to make good connections with the kids and for the gospel to be heard clearly and grasped deeply!

- Last week I finished my first semester as a part-time student at Metro State (after spending the past two years as a full-time student at Calvary Bible College). I have six weeks off before my first class in January! I look forward to getting a lot of work done for both CEF and the young adult community at my church. Please pray that I would use the extra time wisely and also get appropriate rest, relaxation, and time with family & friends.

- Continue to pray that I could make good connections with families, individuals, and churches as I seek to raise the $3,910/month I need for doing ministry with CEF in Denver.

- During Dec & Jan, I am building our Christian Youth In Action (CYIA) leadership team for Summer 2009. Please pray for wisdom and guidance as I seek to get the right people on the bus.

Thanks so much for your prayers. Blessings on your celebration of the gospel this Christmas season!

1 Peter 4:12-19

We have been studying 1 Peter at Regeneration, the young adult community at Bear Valley Church. This past Sunday (Dec 7), I taught on 1 Peter 4:12-19.

One of Peter’s primary purposes in his letter is to help his readers navigate the tension that comes from being both “in Christ” and “in culture.”

Culture is constantly writing what psychologists call social scripts: scripts telling us how to think and feel and act in any conceivable situation. The problem is that some of these social scripts do not honor God. What do we do when Christ calls us to live holy lives as aliens and strangers in this world, but culture continually says, “Stick to the script”?

As sinful and destructive social scripts intensify and dominate our culture, the danger is that we would look at culture, despair, and lose our joy. Peter’s text is instructive for us. In 1 Peter 4:12-19, we learn that suffering should not rob us of our joy. Furthermore, Peter tells us how we can find the strength to go on day after day by finding our joy in Christ, not in culture.

Click here to view the sermon notes.

Prayer Requests (Dec 7-13)

- On Friday (Dec 12), Emanuel, Erica, and I are teaching a Christmas Party Club at a Salvation Army location in Denver. Pray for us to make good connections with the kids and for the gospel to be heard.

- This is finals week at Metro State. I am thankful for this semester and hope to finish strong. (I also look forward to having a few weeks off before next semester begins!)

- Two weeks ago I wrote about my journey of raising financial support for the ministry of CEF in Denver. In addition to contacting families and individuals about financial support, I also plan to contact several churches in the Denver area. Currently my home church supports me out of its missions budget, and I am looking to secure the support of two additional churches. Please pray that the first steps of this application process in Dec & Jan (for the fiscal year beginning July 1) would go well.

Thanks! Blessings on your holiday season and your celebration of the incarnation.

Prayer Requests (Nov 30 - Dec 6)

- On Tuesday (Dec 2), Hannah, Larea, & Philip are teaching a Christmas Party Club at a daycare in Aurora. On Friday (Dec 5), Hannah, Lauren, & Anthony are teaching a Christmas Party Club at a daycare in Lakewood. Pray that they would make good connections with the kids and that the gospel would be heard loud and clear!

- Praise Report: Our trip to Allenspark, CO (by Rocky Mountain National Park) last week to check out a potential location for summer ministry training was very fruitful! Debbie took pictures and I took notes, and we e-mailed our report to Bill (the State Director for CEF of Colorado). The camp was absolutely beautiful; I think it will make for a great week if we end up going there.

- As we pursue our vision for Christian Youth In Action (CYIA), I am looking to hire five new staff to coordinate church partnerships, student recruitment, club scheduling, and student mentoring relationships in the NW, NE, SE, SW, and central regions of the Denver metro area. Please pray for me in this early stage as I lay the groundwork for these new positions, draft job descriptions, etc.

Thanks for your prayers!