Foundation Night Recap 10/26/2011

Have you ever lost something? The answer is undoubtedly YES. We all have misplaced something throughout our lifetime. We always have that moment of panic when we realize we have misplaced something of value, we start looking under furniture, retracing our steps, checking clothing from the past week. We search high and low for this item until one of two things happen; we give up or we find it. 
In foundation teams this week we talked about the fact the people are searching in this life, some of them might not even know what exactly they are searching for. They're simply lost. We talked about God's attitude toward the lost, the fact that He refers to himself as The Sheppard. In the parables we see that the value of 99 sheep doesn't out weigh the value of 1 sheep, this is lost on our thinking but in God's mind it makes sense. The fact is, we might go tired of searching for our keys, wallet, etc but God will never go tired of seeking after the lost. Should we be any different?


Challenge/Spiritual Accountability

• Tell one friend why you are a Christian this week
• Pray for an unsaved friend this entire week

Key Scriptures

• Luke 15:3-7
• Luke 15:8-10

Sunday 10/23

Hey ya'll,


We had another great Sunday in youth ministry at FCC. Big thanks goes out to all of you for getting your students up early enough to make it to youth service. God has been doing some amazing work and we are so proud of the spiritual growth that has taken place in some of the students.


High School
We covered the topic of spiritual pruning. Why does God "prune" us? What does that look like in our lives? Are we allowing this process to take place or are we reluctant because this might go against what we would desire for our lives? God is going to prune us, why? Because he desires us to produce good fruit. Simply put, we have a lot of things in our life that take up a lot of our efforts but produce nothing for the Kingdom of God, God wants to prune us back so that we can use our God given gifts to produce eternal fruits.


Key Passage

• John 15:1-8

Junior High

Our focus: God is into character building. God is so big, sometimes we don't understand him. We look at the things that he does in our lives and wonder why. In this message we see some of God's character revealed to us through His grace. We see that God desires that we be filled with the joy and hope that can only be found in Him. God is going to stretch us, there will be suffering in this life. However, we find our joy and peace in the knowledge that all things are meant for Godly character development. When a situation comes up, where do you place your trust? God or yourself?

Key Passage

• Romans 5: 1-11 

Foundation Night Recap 10/19/11

Have you ever seen a stereo-graph picture, you know, a picture within a picture? You have to look at it for a long time, focus hard and maybe just maybe the image will show its true form. I don't know about you but it is so difficult for me to ever seen the true image lost behind this pattern. Last night we talked about our sin and the fact that it can keep others from truly seeing the work of God in our lives. We are called to be the light of the world but that light is being muffled by the sin in our day-to-day walk. Can we get a hold on this? Can we truly be effective for Christ if we look/act no differently then anyone else? Heavy talk, Real challenge.........


Key Scripture

• Ephesians 5:15-17: ¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
• Philippians 4:8,13: ⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Key Questions

• If it is to possible to live a sinless life, is Philippians 4:8 just a suggestion from God?
• If it is possible to sin less, why don't more Christians strive for that?
• How does the challenge to "sin less" apply to you on your campus?

Challenge/Spiritual Accountability

Make a commitment to be an example of Christ to someone this week, ask God to give you the strength He has promised to accomplish this goal.

This was a great lesson and a difficult but positive group discussion.

In His Grips,

Kevin Hasenfus

Pastor of Student Ministries

First Christian Church SM

805-922-8479 ext 107

Youth Service 10/16

Jr. High

The Jr. Highers learned in their class what it truly means to unite as the Body of Christ. We talked about the fact that God has designed each of us in a unique way that is good and pleasing to Him but yearns for us to come together as one body. 

Key Passage:

• Ephesians 4:1-16

High School

We dug in to a word that carries so much weight. Obedience. All of us have a story of where we have succeeded in this practice and where we have fallen short, trust me, I'm no different than any of you reading this. We focused mainly on obedience to God, what he would desire for us. We looked at one of the many obedient figures of scripture, Daniel. By looking at Daniel's life and worship to God we concluded that Actions speak louder than Words. We have all said to God that we want to be different, put him at the front of our lives, treat others better than ourselves but we fall short. Why? Because our actions don't back up our mouths, we know the right answers but we fail to put them into practice. 

Key Passages:

• Matthew 21:28-32
• Galatians 6:1-2

Shared a story about Tim Tebow at the end of the message. Like him or not, he is letting his actions and attitude show that there is something different about this guy (God's Presence).  I hope someday people will say the same about me. Here is at the link for that article, Enjoy.     

http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?page=TMR111013

Foundation Teams 10/12

Hey sorry for the delay

This week we talked about a very difficult topic. Trust, why is it so hard for us to trust others with what is going on in our lives? We would rather try and handle it ourselves or pretend like nothing is wrong. This is not what God would choose for us. He desires a relationship in which we find comfort in Him over ourselves.

Key Passages

^{John 10:27-29}
 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all^]; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

1 Peter 5:7

⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Philippians 4:6-7

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Key Questions: 

• Why does the knowledge that God is in control seem to comfort me less when I'm stressing?
• What makes it so hard to trust God with our worries?
• How do you give your worries ove rto God?
• What is the benefit of doing it His way?

That's all for now..... Bye Bye :)

In His Grips,

Kevin Hasenfus

Pastor of Student Ministries

First Christian Church SM

805-922-8479 ext. 107

Sunday 10/9

Hey parents,
We had a busy day in the world of student ministry here at FCC. Let's start what our students learned during youth service.


High School
We covered the parable of the wicked servant.(Matthew 18:23-35)
We talked about how this is typical of humanity. The whole "glass half empty" mentality. We often forget that we as Christ followers have been forgiven of such an overwhelming debt, we also seem to forget that God has called us to forgive others with this same forgiveness. We asked the question: "What does it take to let things go?" To forgive with your whole heart and to let that grudge melt away. 


Other keys passages: Matthew 7:3-6, Colossians 3:13


Junior High
In Junior High we covered an aspect of God's relationship with us.
(2 Corinthians 11: 2-3)
We covered the idea that we are to be God's bride. Many students understand the relationship to God as Father-Son but fail to realize that God's word calls for more. The students had some difficulty grabbing this idea, they giggled at the idea of Caleb being married to God but at the end of the lesson, truth settled in.


Other key passages: John 14:1-3, Hosea 2:16


Car Rally
SO MUCH FUN!!!! We went everywhere. We hit the streets hard, ate strange things, solved puzzles, and worked as a team. Crazy good time had by all. We will have our pictures posted on our student ministry Facebook page later this week if you want to check them out. Good Stuff!


In His Grips,
Kevin Hasenfus
Pastor of Student Ministries
First Christian Church
805-922-8479 ext. 107

Foundation Night Recap 10/5/11

Question of the night: What is the hardest commitment that you have ever made in your life?


Matthew 16:25-26: For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?


John 15:18-20:“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

• We had the students list some of the things they were committed to and how much time they put into those things. 
• We then talked about how they decide what takes top priority.
• We talked about our commitment to Christ and Christ's commitment to us.
• What does God want from us in terms of commitment?

Challenge for the week: Evaluate your commitments this week. Where does God fall on the list?


Spiritual Accountability (on your own): Read John 10:27-29


In His Grips,
Kevin Hasenfus
Pastor of Student Ministries
First Christian Church SM
805-922-8479 ext. 107

The New Blog

Hello parents,
I made this as a tool for you. I know how you must feel, dropping your kids off on Sunday and Wednesday, not really knowing what they are getting out of the program. Only hearing about the games, food, other students, etc but never really knowing what the messages are. Well that is going to change. This blog is going to give you a re-cap of what we are studying in our student ministries programs. The point of me doing this is simple, I see the value of a student/parent discussion after a youth service. This will not only help you feel a deeper connection to your students spiritual growth but it allows your students to realize that you are there for any questions or after thoughts that they might have. Look you guys have a tough job as parents, I'm just looking to make this aspect of your life a little more manageable. Thanks for all that you do!


In His Grips,
Kevin Hasenfus
Pastor of Student Ministries
First Christian Church SM
805-922-8479 ext. 107