Youth group families are invited to 'wave goodbye to summer' with a day at Chatfield Lake. Bring your own food & drinks for the day. Bring your lake gear & water toys to share. See the flyer or the Hyatts for more details or if you have questions. This is a family event...hope to see you all there! *This activity will be 'weather-permitting'. A message will be sent out by 8am the morning of the activity if it needs to be canceled due to inclement weather.*
Teens at Work
This past Saturday the teens and parents helped clean up our church building. Our shed and one of the classrooms were overflowing with storage items which accumulated over time. Our teens worked to move furniture, organize clutter, and clean out areas of the church so they can be more fully utilized. Items in good condition were offered to the community and what was remaining put in a roll-off container for disposal. Thanks to everyone for a hard day's work and a job well done!
Developing the Heart, Head, Hands, and Habits of a Servant
The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Matthew 23:11-12
These powerful words from the gospel of Matthew have been guiding the teens throughout the month of August…both in Sunday Bible class and in their activities
The Passport program asked the teens to help produce videos to help teach the elementary kids. There was a very good turnout to act and record skits that will be used as part of the take home kits for H2H groups and families to use over the next several months. You can see the fruits of their work in the H2H groups that have kids programs!
In another act of service, the teens gathered on a Wednesday evening to help Mr. Charlie, a friend of the Linn family, clean up his yard and other work around the house!
Unity
The summer has been a time of building unity among this group. Weekly game nights in parks, a girls tea party and sleepover and a boys camping trip all played a role. Now that school has started and schedules are a bit busier, the challenge for the teen team was to keep building on the unity and relationships that are growing stronger without overtaxing anyone! The plan is to do twice a month devotional get-togethers. The first was held at the Schmalzried house and included a jigsaw challenge with a purpose (ask one of the teens about it!), singing, a devotional on Faith by Noah, and S’mores. Oh…and capturing a giant spider that even had the adults jumping!
Serving Others…
Many in the group also helped serve a need in the congregation when the Staggs family were needing help moving to their new home. And when the opportunity arose to help one of the new neighbors, the teens jumped in to show God’s love by helping a stranger.
Growing in Love & Unity
WHAT ARE THOSE TEENS UP TO?
The coronavirus pandemic has shut down many things…but although it’s forced some changes, it hasn’t been able to defeat the teens at Castle Rock church of Christ!
Growing the Kingdom
We’ve seen five baptisms in the youth since the pandemic began…and one of them (Nate Mushlin) wasn’t even coming to our church when this started!
Growing Relationships
The teens have had weekly Bible studies via Zoom calls and Monday game nights in various Castle Rock parks. It’s exciting to see that the number of teens at weekly events is actually increasing as friends come join the fun! Playing kickball, volleyball, capture the flag, water activities, team building challenges, and more has made each evening different. Many weeks have seen others in the park stop someone in the group to ask about what’s going on. In that way, the youth group is opening doors to share about our church and even more importantly, our faith.
During the month of July, the teen leadership team decided to divide the girls and boys into separate Bible studies.
The girls heard from many women in the congregation about things they wished they had known when they were teens. The study ended with a tea party hosted by April Hays and then a girls’ slumber party at Hope Payne’s home. I think the echo of the screams and laughter are still ringing off Hope’s walls!
The boys looked at becoming a real man of God. Their study was capped off with an overnight camping trip at the YMCA Snow Mountain Ranch. Using an axe to split firewood, going on a hike to a waterfall, doing a trust fall, exploring a mine shaft (bear cave?) and putting together and delivering a devotional easily filled the few hours we had at the ranch.
