A Letter to newLife from Pastor Andy

Yesterday was an exciting day for me and I want to share that with you.

During worship rehearsal worship broke out, especially among our teens.
and I learned that they are.......
       Trusting God
       Loving God
       Serving God

.......because they want to, not because they have to.

And all of this without fancy Teen Group Activities and thousands of dollars poured into them. All of this without Teen Camps and Teen Trips. What's the key?

Simple.

We involve them in the work of God.
We want them to know that this is their church. Not their parents church, but their   church and so we open up opportunities for them to be a part if they so desire.

We engage them in the witnesses of God.
We surround them with MANY of our BEST believers. Not just a few dedicated workers (i.e. teen leaders) but dedicated believers. Parents and Family and Leaders and Lovers of God. We want them exposed to as many solid believers as we can.

We expose them to the ways of God.
We don't do all the work for them but expose them to how God really works by sharing our lives with them. We share our Failures, our Foolishness, and the loss from Faithlessness. In doing so they see God's amazing Grace and identify it with a real face. Ours.

Now I realize that many teens want a church youth group to be filled with activities that are nothing but fun without faith, but the real ones, are looking for something deeper, something less empty. And their finding it at newLife.