Connection

Every now and then you have a Wednesday night that you can sit back and say, "This is what Junior High ministry should look like.  This is what we are all about." Last night was one of those nights for me.  Austin and the band did a phenomenal job didn't they?  Thanks Austin for leading us into an energetic yet worshipful time with God!  Who'd have thought that our students would form their own conga line?  

Connection Leaders, once again you did an amazing job of getting your students to engage in conversation and connecting with them.  Thank you for filling out your Connection Group forms with their contact info.  I will process those and get a copy to you by next week so that you can begin communicating with them via email, text or Facebook.  Once you begin to build relationships outside of a Wednesday night, I think you will be surprised by how much they will open up to you and trust you with things they are going through.  In doing that you will begin to earn the right to speak into their lives and have an incarnational ministry with them.  You guys may be the only Christ follower that they speak to all week.  The more that you follow Christ in your daily lives and trust Him with all that you have and all that you are, the more they will see Christ in you (Colossians 1:27).

A few things to remember for next week.  Show up as early as you can on Wednesday.  I know we axed the 6:15 pow wow but we did that so that you can be present for the students as they are coming in.  Students begin arriving in bulk at around 6:00pm.  The earlier you come, the earlier you can hang out with them and connect with them.  I highly encourage you guys to show up as early as you can and shoot hoops, play pool, play video games, play volleyball, etc. We can tell students that we care about them all day long but when we spend time with them and hang out with them, they know that we do.  

Don't forget, we have a Leader's meeting this coming Tuesday at 281 from 7-8pm (the day after Labor Day).  Thanks again for all of your hard work and sacrifice on Wednesday nights.  You guys are the best and I consider myself extremely fortunate to have you as volunteers.  Talk to you soon.

Matt