A Perfect Moment!

Yesterday was a great day at CSF! My favorite part was in the noon service. Over 100 teenagers had just got back from their weekend retreat and they all sat together in the service. As typical, they clapped and sang with our band during the fast worship songs and their "grouped up" energy was infectious. However, during the last slower worship song KC stepped back from the mic and just let the crowd finish the last 3-4 lines of music. The students were singing loud, their voices filled the auditorium, their eyes were closed and the look on their face said it all.....they had experienced a great weekend and were glad to be there at that moment.

I wanted to take this time to tell the CSF family how fortunate we are to have Brad Saab as our Student Pastor. He is doing a great job and our teenagers are the ones who are getting the reward. Also, I wanted to thank all of our Student Ministry Volunteers who gave up their entire weekend to lead, teach and play with our students. Each one of these volunteers were at the church by 6pm on Friday night and they were not finished until 1pm on Sunday.

Moreover, on a weekend like this, it takes about 12 different homes to house the groups and many parents to "pitch in" and serve. A group of parents were here all day on Friday getting the supplies ready and many helped through out the weekend. Again, our teenagers are the ones who are blessed by all these people serving in such a big way. As you can tell by looking at the news everyday, the battle starts early with our kids and teenagers! Our kids and student ministries must be strong and life-changing...... At CSF we have exactly that AND our new Expand adventure will help us do more and make a larger impact every day of the week.

If you are a parent of a 6th -12 grader....listen up! Your teenager needs to be more involved than just on Sunday morning. Nothing is more important for the future of your son or daughter than to have a solid foundation in Christ and to re-orient their teenage life around the truth of Jesus Christ. That does not happen just one hour on Sunday....that is a great place to start, but they need more. Young athletes, musicians, dancers or cheerleaders don't become great unless they practice and are involved on a regular basis...a few times a week. The same is true spiritually!

Also, Summer Camp is July 14th - 18th. Do everything you can to arrange your calendar so that they DON'T miss this week!

Today's Bible Reading: Acts 25

All weekend long (chapter 23-25) we read about Paul having to defend him self to the Jewish leaders, the Roman leaders and everyone in the city! Paul was a savvy man. He understood the system and culture of the day and used it to his advantage. He stayed on mission but was smart enough to engage the legal system to his benefit.

As Christ followers, we can also stay on mission and do what God has asked us to do while leveraging the cultural, business and political system of our day to do what God has asked us to do! You don't change the world by running from it...but engaging it!