Successfully Single

The Set:
Counting On God
Never Let Go
Better Is One Day
Enemy Has Been Defeated

Announcements: No youth group next week because of Jr. Camp Judah! So please take time o pray for that next week.

What does it mean to be single?
•Being separate
•Being unique
•Being whole

Does God call on your life depend on your relationship status?
"Your status may change, but your character won't. Develop character worthy of your calling." God is calling you to something for Him. If it so happens that someone else comes along to support you, that's great. But the other person shouldn't be the one affecting your calling.

What does our culture say about being single? The "You complete me" mentality. Singleness=incompleteness. This is false. Just false. God completes you. No human can possibly complete you.

What does God say about being single? Don't spend so much time looking for who you want that you have no time to be who you are. "You should be running so hard after God that eventually you'll look up and realize someone else running along side you."

What does it take to be in a successful relationship? Ephesians 5:25-"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her." Being in a relationship relies on the strongest love imaginable. Agape.

Bottom-line-Psalm 37:4-"Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart."

Notes From the Peanut Gallery:
So, this is a very interesting topic...My thoughts on the subject are extremely complex and attempting to unravel my theories could get messy. My opinions aren't typical of a teenager, and I'm sure if I shared them here I would offend some people. But I digress. The important thing is that regardless of what your opinions are or what your facebook relationship status says, your heart is God's. Always. There's no possibility of differing opinion on that. However, I am interested in what you think a teenage relationship should look like. So please comment below with your opinion. Even though I'm sure you don't want to, that means you should all the more.

Shh! Secret Post!

So since I have administrative privileges on the DIBlog, I decided to make a (not-so-)secret post to prep you for my sermon tomorrow.  That's right,...Jeff is going to be speaking wednesday (why in the world is that the proper spelling?) If you (secretly) come up to me at some point before I start preaching and properly spell wednesday for me, I'll give you a dollar.  Well, truthfully, I won't have any cash on me, but I'll owe you a dollar and take you to Tim Horton's or something and buy you a prize (which admittedly will probably cost me more than a dollar).

Sermon title: Successfully Single

Let's be honest, there are few people more qualified to give this sermon... 

So here are some questions to think about:

1. What does it mean to be single? (don't overthink this one!)
2. Does God's call on your life depend on your relationship status? 
3. What does our culture say about being single - is it good or bad? neither? both?
4. What does God say about being single - is it good or bad? neither? both?
5. What does it take to be in a successful relationship?

Loneliness

The Set:
Enough
'Til I See You


Mark Your Calendars:
July 16th: OneWay Splash
August 14th-19th:Senior Camp Judah

There is a different between being lonely and being alone. In the words of the great Relient K "Loneliness and solitude are two things not to get confused because I spend my solitude with You"(Therapy-Forget and Not Slow Down)

If you are feeling loneliness you can turn that into aloneness. Lonely has no purpose, alone can help you find your purpose.

How do you turn loneliness into aloneness?

Step 1: Recognize feelings of loneliness as God's cry for time with you. He misses you. When you feel lonely, God's wanting to talk to you.

Step 2: Talk back to your emotions. If you start thinking that no one cares about you or that you lonely, talk back. You're being lied to. You are always cared about.

Step 3: Learn to choose. You can always choose the way you go. You may not be able to choose the circumstances but you can choose your reaction to them.

Step 4 Reach out your others. Give out what you want to receive. If you give friendship you will get friendship. Look for others who are feeling lonely too.

Noted from the Peanut Gallery:
Technically this question was asked tonight but realistically no one who goes to Youth group read the blog so this is for all the rest of you. What are some good ways to reach out to someone when you are feeling lonely?

Hello, Old Friend.

So hey. We're back. It's been too long. How have you been? If you were wondering, I have been busy. School work has been very over bearing the last month or so, and I just recently faced some more technical difficulties. So thats why we haven't talked in so long. However, with special thanks to Josiah (middle name) Wilson, we are up and running.

So now for the Wednesday Wrap...

Now technically there wasn't a message tonight. There was a great time of worship, then some kickball outside. It was a very relaxing yet spiritual Wednesday.

Notes from the Peanut Gallery:
Well since theres not a message to ask you about, I thought it would be interesting to ask a random question. If you could be absolutely anywhere right now where would you be and why? That's it. A simple question for you to answer. You should have no problem with commenting on it. And as always feel free to comment on absolutely anything else you would like. Even if you're yelling at me for not blogging more...

Location:New York 19,Warsaw,United States