3on3, Joseph Kony, Pomp and Circumstance

What do a basketball game, an African warlord, and a cap and gown all have in common?  Well, not much actually, but they all happen to play a part in our Student Ministries calendar this spring. 

3 on 3 Tournament! Saturday, April 27, 2012 at 5:00 pm
Basketball and Beach Volleyball! This all-ages event is part of the Friday Night Live series at Trinity.  It’s simple: gather your posse of dunkers and spikers and Register online. Then, show up on April 27th ready to dig, bump, shoot and alley-oop with the best of ‘em!  Three age brackets (14 & under, 15-18 and 19+) will make it a fair contest for hundreds of dollars of cash and other prizes! We’ll have nutritious and delicious hotdogs and other sports-related food items for sale but you can always bring your own fare, if you want.  

Invisible Children Thursday, April 19, 2012 at 7:00 pm 
On March 5th a video was released on YouTube that was viewed by 86 million people within a month.  The video, “Kony 2012”, is designed to bring attention to a man responsible for human rights atrocities in Uganda including forcing children to act as soldiers and sex slaves.  This video was created by Invisible Children and has sparked a firestorm of debate and passion, especially among teenagers and young adults. 

On April 19th, Element (TBC College Ministry) will host a presentation by Invisible Children.  We will hear directly from a young man, Papito, who experienced the conflict in Uganda first hand.  We will also hear about what Invisible Children is doing to help the people of Uganda.  Bring anyone you know who has seen the Kony 2012 video or is interested in the cause of justice. It’s FREE.  

Grad Sunday May 20, 2012 at 9:00 am & 10:45 am Services 
This year again we’ve got some AMAZING young adults graduating from High School.  Don’t miss our Graduation Sunday this year in which we will once again honor our grads and show embarrassing pictures of them as children.  This Sunday will be a great chance to see the fruits of YOUR labors as a church in investing in these young lives.  You have been their Sunday School teachers, AWANA leaders, youth sponsors, mentors, etc.  You may have even changed a diaper or two!  Don’t miss this time to celebrate as they move into the next stage to which God is calling them. 

Oh, also I’m preaching. Now, less you be concerned that this is ALL we’re doing in student ministries this spring, have no fear.  I have simply picked out some highlights.  For a better picture of everything God is doing please visit MORE student ministry pages and click around a bit. It’s pretty awesome to see God in action!  

The Good News is! We have seen some AMAZING growth this year in numbers. Average weekly attendance of 140-160 across all programs Junior High-College.  We have just barely kept pace with that growth in terms of adult leaders.  If you are interested in being a part of this ministry as a Core Group leader, Sunday School teacher, event coordinator, or adult chaperone for events. PLEASE contact me personally.  I would love to help you find a place to use your gifts!

Living the Adventure, 
Pastor Jake

Saturday - April 21, 2012 - 6:30 pm - Worship Center- All Ages

AWE = All Worship Evening
On Saturday, April 21, 2012 we will be taking spiritual ground at Trinity. This night is designed to press into God’s presence in new ways and prepare the way for the Holy Spirit to expand HIS territory in our church.

This night will be uncomfortable for people who don’t believe that God is REAL, ALIVE and ACTIVE in POWER in our lives and our church.  This is a time to break down strongholds and declare the freedom of God in this place. Last time we did this we were in intense prayer and worship for 3 hours. Come expecting the outpouring and in-filling of the Holy Spirit.  Do not come if you have a problem with loud or passionate music. Think of it this way, this is the “hymn sing” of 50 years from now!

Trinity has the BEST teenagers around!  I’m telling you- we have 3 different youth groups here and they are all amazing! Not because of the cool youth pastor (HA!) but because God is working through all of our students! 

This year Aftershock (our Junior High group on Sunday nights) and Club Catalyst (our High School group on Wednesday nights) have been really rockin’.  Attendance for those groups combined has been averaging well over 100 the past month.  Element, our college group has a new format this year.  They have been meeting on Thursday nights and transforming the lobby of our Worship Center into a coffee shop, complete with homemade snacks (THANKS Women’s Bible study!), coffee, dim lighting and of course, music!  That group started small but has been growing. 2 weeks ago they had 20 people!  We also have a great Spanish Speaking Bible study for ages 15-20 that meets Friday nights with about 15 people each week.  All-in-all God has blessed this ministry to include over 130 people each week... and it’s still GROWING.  Numbers like this are a blessing because they show that the youth who have grown up at Trinity are now reaching beyond the walls of our church to impact their friends and neighbors in our community!

But numbers aren’t the only thing happening with our youth.  This fall we added a whole new component to the ministry: Host Homes!  Our vision this year is to strengthen the Core Groups (8-10 students and an adult leader) that are the “core” of our larger programming.  One way to do this is by giving the Core Groups one night each month that they meet in homes rather than at the church.  We have some amazing families who have been brave enough to open their homes to a bunch of teenagers once a month and it has been phenomenal!  The Core Groups have really connected better this year and they have started to build relationships with the host families as well!  A HUGE thank you to all of the Host Home families who have helped with this effort - YOU ROCK!

Another area where our youth are amazing is in their heart for missions.  Our goal as a ministry is not to just do missions trips “‘cause that’s what youth groups do,” but rather to DISCIPLE teens in missions.  That means exposing them to different kinds of missions trips throughout their career in our program.  We want our students to experience missions trips HERE, THERE and EVERYWHERE!

Last year we expanded our traditional Spring Break trip to include 3 Trips: AGAPE MESA (projects right here in Mesa), AMOR (building a house in Mexico) and the DREAM CENTER (street ministry on Skid Row in LA).  All three trips were hugely successful so we’re doing them again!  If you are interested in any of these trips (going on them or supporting them) be sure to come to our INFO MEETING on November 20th, right after the Current Service, in the Youth Center! You’ll be hearing more about these trips starting in January, so please be praying as we build the teams that will be going to serve in these important areas!

One last sneak peek into the exciting world of Youth Ministry at Trinity. We are working on an EVERYWHERE trip (overseas) for our college students for summer of 2012.  The World Outreach Team has been helping us to think through where God would have us serve and we are working on selecting a team from students who applied earlier this year.  We know for sure that we’ll be working with Missions Door (the Conservative Baptist Missions Agency) workers, most likely in Central America.  We met on Sunday, November 13th, with everyone who applied for this trip and we’ll have more info about who is going and location details soon!  PLEASE PRAY as we seek God as to the best people for this team!

I am so thankful for the way that this church supports ministry to teenagers.  Not only do you invest in the lives of the teens who grow up in this church, but you have a high tolerance for a youth pastor who does crazy stuff just to impact the youth of our community!  That is not common for churches these days, in fact its a little weird- and I LIKE IT!

Thanks for being weird.
Pastor Jake!