Southwood Lutheran Church

Youth Mission 3 of 3: Rebirth & New Life.

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:4

Perhaps the biggest miracle of our trip to Idaho was being a part of the baptism of Beth and Kaleigh. During our trip they made the decision to be baptized into faith in Christ for the first time. It was a moment none of us will ever forget and it became a time of joy and celebration for our entire group.

After we arrive at camp on Monday, I was spending some time alone praying and God really laid on my heart the idea of baptizing someone during our trip. It was a very strong, albeit non-verbal voice of God. Little did I know at the time that God was truly working in my heart and our group to prepare the way for the miracle that occurred on Friday night. I’m not one to talk about how God speaks to me or that I’ve received “special information” from God. I’m still uncomfortable with calling thoughts or voices God’s own since it is scary and sometimes uncomfortable. So I didn’t tell anyone about my experience. However, during our teaching time on Wednesday night our leader Phil made reference to our baptisms and how we are new creations in Christ. He then asked if anyone in our group had not been baptized. When Kaleigh raised her hand my heart leapt. At that moment I realized that what God spoke into my heart on Monday was indeed His voice and that his will is perfect. I approached Kaleigh and Beth and asked them if they would like to be baptized in the lake.

After consulting their parents and getting the green light, we scheduled the baptism for Friday evening during sunset. The night was beautiful. It was cool, with little breeze. The lake was cold (about 60 degrees), so getting everyone in the water was a challenge! Our entire group of 38 was there and we had a short service and then proceeded to baptize Beth and Kaleigh in the lake. We sang a few songs and then laid our hands on Kaleigh and Beth as was the custom during biblical times to signify blessing and transfer of spiritual power.

Afterward we celebrated with pictures, hugs and even cake! The folks at camp heard about our plans for the baptisms and they baked us a HUGE cake. It was an incredible moment. What a miracle to celebrate two people dedicating their lives to Christ. For Beth and Kaleigh, that night is a moment that they can look back on as the point that they gave their lives to Jesus and the night when their “old self” was buried under the water of Lake Coeur d’Alene. They went into the water as they were and came up out of the water forever changed.

We celebrate with them and their families the miracle of their baptism. Check out the pictures! We’ll hopefully have a 3-4 minute video of the baptism on-line shortly so check back soon!

Chip

Youth Mission 2 of 3: Growing through Serving

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! – Philippians 2:5-8

During our recent mission trip to Idaho 38 high school students, college students and adult leaders from Southwood contributed over 1,000 hours of service to Camp Lutherhaven and the local community of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Most of the projects involved intense manual labor and were done during the heat of the day. Most of the
time was spent cutting and nailing wood, clearing a rock trail along the beach, digging a septic trench, landscaping and staining wood. Perhaps the project that we had the most fun with was the day-camp that we ran for 30 children from the Coeur d’Alene Native Reservation. For an entire day, these children got to experience Camp Lutherhaven. They played games, sang songs, made crafts and swam in the lake along the beach. Many had the time of their lives. Several of our students were paired up with a student from the reservation and acted as their “buddies” that day. There are many great stories and memorable moments from that day.

During our trip our students and adults learned what it truly means to be a servant. Many of the tasks required a humble attitude and “sharing the attitude of Jesus Christ” as the verse from Philippians encourages us to do. The service projects definitely bonded our group together and strengthened our relationships with the students from South Dakota as well. The leaders at Camp were very impressed by the work ethic and attitude of our students and adult leaders. Overall our group grew a lot in their relationships with one another, with the people we served, and most importantly in their relationship with Christ.

Chip

Youth Mission 1 of 3: Finding Joy in the Midst of Trial

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. – James 1:2-4

Have you ever experienced joy in the midst of great pain, physical trial or frustration? Sometimes it seems like things happen to test us or to help us see our need for God. The first few days of our recent mission trip to Idaho seemed that way indeed. During our first three days our bus broke down three times and we spent a total of 11 hours stranded on the roadside and at a KOA in Bozeman, Montana. This was with 32 high school students and 6 adult leaders, mind you.

The beautiful thing (yes, I said beautiful) about the breakdowns was the fact that it allowed our group to slow down and relax. We were able to spend a good deal of time together and bond as a group. The amazing thing was that our group stayed incredibly positive and upbeat. People weren’t complaining and getting on each other’s nerves. We actually enjoyed ourselves and experienced joy in the midst of our stranded state because as a group we knew that our transportation situation was a minor bump in the road and that God would get us to where we needed to be. It is this faith and trust that is necessary in times of trial when our world seems totally out of our control.

The miracle of the breakdowns is that they occurred the day after our group devotional time was spent meditating on John 14:6, in which Jesus is telling his disciples that they are not in the driver’s seat, but that He is. Our group discussed the ways that we need to let go of our own agenda and cling to Jesus as the Way to life. Many talked about the need to let go of selfishness and pride. The morning after our devotional time as we were getting ready to leave the church, we noticed that the stained glass behind the sanctuary where we had our devotional time said in large letters, “I AM”. We couldn’t see it during the darkness of night, but it was clearly visible during the light of day. It was a visual reminder of God’s presence and how he pulls things together for our benefit and for His glory.

This all occurred prior to our bus breakdowns that day. Looking back it is easy to see how God was preparing our hearts and minds to experience the trials that we did. We were able to overcome the natural tendency to argue, complain and be negative and instead found joy (see the accompanying picture during our first breakdown). Our bus driver, Richard, later told us that all of his church trips experience bus trouble and he attributed it to spiritual attack. He said that Satan will try anything to frustrate God’s people in the hopes that it will derail them and cause them to lose focus. For us, it didn’t work. We overcame our transportation difficulties and kept our focus on the One who we were going to Idaho to serve. More details about our service will come out in my next post.

Chip

Thanks for Praying!

  On behalf of all of the High School Mission Trip participants, I want to thank all of you who prayed for us during our recent mission trip to Idaho.  Your prayers were answered and here are some of the miracles that we experienced during our 10 days together:

• None of the 38 participants were injured or hospitalize
• One of our students served as a lifeguard during the week – an answer to their prayers since they didn’t have a certified lifeguard for the week!
• Despite 6 bus breakdowns, 2 buses, 5 bus drivers and 13 hours in delays we were surprisingly upbeat and didn’t miss any of our programming
• Our group contributed over 1,000 hours of volunteer service to Camp Lutherhaven, the local reservation and community
• 2 of the young ladies on our trip accepted Christ and were baptized in Lake Coeur d’Alene!
• Blood, sweat and tears were shed as we served and as God’s Holy Spirit moved in our hearts throughout the week
• Students and adult leaders grew in their relationship with God and each other.
• Our main bus driver, Richard Smith, enjoyed our group and the trip so much that he has committed to helping out with our youth group on a regular basis!

Prayer was a large part of the success of this trip. Thank you for praying for us!

Chip

School's Out For Summer...

....Sunday School, that is. Our 3 year olds - 5th graders celebrated with music, drama, crafts, and games. See photos of their activities here.

The weather was beautiful for Middle Schoolers, who played games on the back lawn and ended their time together by encircling their adult leaders and praying together. See photos of the middle schoolers here.

Sunday School is over, but we have lots of options for children and families to grow in faith together this summer. Check out all the ways you can get involved this summer.

Confirmation: A Rite of Passage But Not a Graduation

For me, Confirmation Sunday is a mix of great joy and sadness. I celebrate our work as a church to connect students to Christ and to model life as a follower of Christ. And I mourn because I will never see more than half of the students again. They’ll think they’ve “graduated” from church and will disappear from Southwood altogether.

Studies show that 88% of students will leave the church by the age of 18. If that holds true, 42 of our 48 confirmands this year will leave the church by age 18. But there’s hope! The same studies show that if all of our 48 confirmands have parents who model their faith and share their faith with others, only 2 of them (5%) will leave the church. The difference is staggering and highlights the importance of parental involvement in the discipleship process of their children.

I frequently tell parents that what happens at home will have a far greater impact on the hearts, minds, and choices of their children than what happens at church will. An average middle or high school student probably spends 3-4 hours at church per month. They spend 200+ hours at home with their parents. If parents aren’t teaching their children how to become followers of Christ, then sending them to church and expecting the church to “educate” them won’t have the impact that they desire, and it won’t fulfill the vision of Southwood for our youth.

My prayer is that parents will actively model the life of faith for their students and encourage them to stay involved with Southwood throughout their lives. I hope that every year fewer and fewer students will leave the church after they are confirmed.

Make no mistake, growing Christ followers is a difficult task. But it is the most important gift we can give our children. What are you doing at home to actively disciple your children? How do you model your faith at home? Do your children see Jesus living through you? These are difficult questions, but they have eternal significance.

Chip

Going the Extra Mile

On Sunday, April 20th, you may have noticed several middle and high school students walking or running on a treadmill in our Café area. They were raising both money and awareness for the Extra Mile walk for the Food Bank of Lincoln. The walk specifically benefits the Backpack Program and will be held this Saturday, April 26th at 10:00am.

About 15 high school students and adult leaders from Southwood will be walking on Saturday as a team to support this cause. Many more Southwood students will be walking as a part of teams from their schools. All told, the students and adult leaders raised $520 for the Extra Mile, which will provide 7 students a backpack full of food for an entire school semester!

If you want to Get involved with Southwood's efforts at Saratoga Elementary school click here.

Check out what Jacob and Jay had to say about participating in this great cause!

Jay is Going the Extra Mile

Learn more about the Back Pack program here and here. Due to technical difficulties (dead batteries) Jay's video gets cut off - what he had to say was passionate and eloquent to say the least! Thanks to all the youth who continue to reach out to those in need.

Jacob is Going the Extra Mile

Learn more about the Back Pack program here and here.

Keystone or Bust!

Over Spring Break we had our annual senior high ski trip as we tore up the slopes in Keystone, Colorado! Sixteen students and four adults went on this trip. We skied three days and even one night.

Night skiing was definitely the highlight of the week for the students in terms of skiing. Most of them had not skied or boarded under the lights and were amazed at how cool and different it is. During the evening we shared our meals together, had a town-wide scavenger hunt in Breckenridge and shopping in Silverthorne and Colorado Mills Mall.

Each night we crammed in to one hotel room to share a time of devotion and prayer. We discussed three main Nooma videos that talked about wanting the right things, God’s breath of life inside of us and how to experience God in the Divine Whisper and silence. Devotional times were deep and full of sharing and reflection.

Our final devotional time focused on how God has displayed His glory to us during the week and what we had learned. We closed by sharing the game “Remember When”, where we reviewed all of the fun moments of the week. We stayed up and laughed in the hotel room well into the night!

God protected us during the trip, as the roads were great and nobody was severely injured. One of my favorite moments form the trip was squeezing 20 people into an order-only pizza shop! We looked like sardines.  I look forward to our trip in 2009 with excitement and great anticipation. I want to especially thank Pat and Jill Hurlbut and Rick Ziegler for sharing their time, energy and listening ear to all of the students last week. They were an incredible blessing to all of us who went!

Chip