Current Series
Series // Playing the God Card
Have you ever played God? No, we don’t mean played, like you played the role of God in a theater production and wore a white beard and a robe and sat on a big throne. We mean played, as in play, as in used Him. Yep, that’s right-we try to use God. We try to shape Him to fit our own preferences. And when we do, He doesn’t like to do the things we don’t like to do, He doesn’t like the people we don’t like and He doesn’t care about the things that don’t interest us. Essentially God resembles us-but with a lot more power. And while we think we can play Him, the reality is that when we do, we’re far from being like Him. He can’t be played.
Past Series
Series // The Beautiful Trade
As we prepare for Easter, we are excited to announce a new series for Elevate on Sundays. The new series is called “The Beautiful Trade” and it examines the Easter narrative, and how Jesus offers us a chance to trade in what we know, what we think and how we see others for something better. The beautiful trade that took place on the cross is at the heart of the Easter story, but it a message that is shown through Jesus’ life long before the crucifixion and resurrection.
Series // Doubt
All middle and high school students are encouraged to attend ELEVATE March 11 and 18 for a new two-week series called Doubt. Everyone has moments of doubt. Sometimes doubts are about God. Can we trust God? Does God really have our best in mind? These questions can be a little unsettling, especially questions about faith. But what if God was big enough to handle the questions? He is. What if God was secure enough to handle our uncertainty? He is. What if doubt actually paved the way to a deeper belief, a stronger relationship with Christ? It can.
Series // Never Ending Story
When a story is small and distant, it really doesn’t have much impact in our lives, does it? It solicits a nod, a smile, a “that’s nice.” But it doesn’t affect us. It doesn’t move us. It doesn’t shake us. And while many people, us included, tend to approach the Christmas story, the story of Jesus’ birth, in a familiar, typical and remote sort of way, it’s not that kind of story. The Christmas story, at its very core, demands a response—good or bad—from you, from me—from anyone who hears it.
Series // What Happens Here
We want this youth group to be one of those places in your life that you love to be. We want this to be a place that you can’t wait to come to, and a place when you leave, you can’t wait to come back. And as great as that makes us feel to create an environment like that, there’s something beyond that we need you to understand. What happens here was never meant to stay here. The things you hear here, the things you learn, the things you experience were meant to be lived outside these walls.
Series // Rhythm
Have you ever noticed how connected everything is? It’s almost as if there was some type of unseen structure to all of life, a rhythm. Many of us are oblivious to it until things are out of sync. We know something is wrong, and we can maybe pinpoint a few things around us that are culprits, but deep down we know there is something more going on. We are out of rhythm—with God, with ourselves or with others.
Sept 25 – Session One: The Song (more info)
In the beginning, God created a song, a rhythm. Humanity existed in harmony with God, with ourselves and with each other. But then humankind settled for another song—a lesser one—and the rhythm started falling apart. Yet even then, God didn’t walk away, and because of that, we have a way to restore the rhythm with Him, with ourselves and with others.
Oct 2 – Session Two: Wonder (more info)
If you’ve been in church for a while, you’ve heard it all and seen it all. You know the stories. You know the songs. You know the words. Many of us even think we know all about God. We think we have Him figured out. We think we know everything about Him, and in our lives, He’s very small. But the reality is that we will never fully grasp how awesome and amazing He is. We can spend a lifetime in awe and wonder, and even an eternity, because He’s that big . . . and that good.
Oct 9 – Session Three: Discovery (more info)
You’ve heard the words before—“love your neighbor as yourself”—but most of the time we don’t really hear the second half of that. We don’t love ourselves. Perhaps it’s because it just seems wrong. After all, as followers of Christ, we are supposed to become less as He becomes more. But for some of us, somewhere along the way we’ve confused humility with self-hatred. God wants us to be in rhythm with ourselves because when we aren’t, it throws off the rest of the song.
Oct 16 – Session Four: Passion (more info)
No person can have a life of rhythm unless he or she is at peace with other people. That’s easy to say but hard to live, isn’t it? But following Jesus means being passionate about what He is passionate about—and Jesus is passionate about people. So if we want to be in rhythm, we not only have to be in sync with God and ourselves, we also have to be in sync with others.
Series // New Friend Request
We all want friends—even if we don’t want to admit it. We all want someone to hang out with, someone to talk to, someone who knows us. But friendship requires something from us. It’s not just what we get or what makes us feel comfortable or happy. There’s a smart way to do friendship, a way with intention, a way that will draw us closer to God’s heart—if we surround ourselves with the right people. That doesn’t mean our friends have to be clones of us—but it does mean that they at least help us move in the right direction.
Aug 14 – Session One: Accept? (more info)
- Who are some of your closest friends?
- Why are these people so important to you?
Aug 21 – Session Two: Respond? (more info)
Someone to listen to my problems. Someone to do stuff with. Someone to talk to constantly. Someone to hang out with. When you make a list of what qualities you want in a friend, how many of the things on your list involve what that person can do for you? Most of us would have to admit that it’s a lot. But the best friendships are ones that are not just about what the other person can do for you—the best friendships also involve how you can be there for someone else. How you can listen, instead of always talking. How you can give someone space when he or she needs it, or just hang out when your friend needs that too. In other words, the best friendships are not centered solely on you—and that’s a good thing.Session Two Parent Cue:
- What are some ways you’ve been able to help out your friends?
Aug 28 – Session Three: Ignore? (more info)
Relationships=conflict. It’s natural. It’s part of two people relating to one another because at some point, you’re not going to agree. One person will do something the other person doesn’t like. One person will let the other person down. One person will say or do something stupid. It happens. And at some point, it happens to us—either we’re the person making the mess, or the one who is feeling the effects of the mess. So how do you navigate your way through the drama? Do you just ignore it and hope it goes away? Do you just drop that friend? Or do you find a way to work it out? The choice is yours.Session Three Parent Cue:
- What is the biggest fight you’ve ever had with a friend?
- What was the outcome?
Series // Happy
Guess what? Life as a follower of Christ isn’t designed to be dull, boring, or sad. In fact, Jesus wants you to be happy! But God’s definition of happiness is quite different from the way our culture interprets and promotes it. God doesn’t want us to focus our energy and efforts on pursuing happiness that is defined by our feelings and emotions. Instead, we can seek happiness that is experienced as we follow God’s plan—and as we’re fueled by God’s power.
During this six week sermon series we will be challenged to pursue God-style happiness through the Beatitudes from Matthew 5. We will look at these life-changing principles:
- Happiness is found by following God’s path
- Happiness is found through humility
- Happiness is found through passionate love for God and others
- Happiness is found when we forgive
- Happiness is found by nurturing a pure heart
- Happiness is found by going against the flow
Series // Labels
Seeing What’s Real in Others
She’s a typical cheerleader. He’s a stupid jock. They’re nerds. Dorks. Emo. Ghetto. Preppie. Every day, students are being labeled and throwing around labels to define and categorize their peers. The end result? Viewing others and themselves as less than what God intended. For two weeks we will look at what God sees in us and how we should view ourselves and others.
Week 1 – The parable of the Good Samaritan
Week 2 – Ephesians 2
Series // Reeled In
We will be walking through a 3 part series called REELED IN. There are lots of references to large fish or large amounts of our friendly and tasty water creatures. We will spend three weeks looking at these stories in the scriptures and how they apply to our lives. We will walk through three stages—from accepting God’s help in life, to becoming aware of the world’s needs, and then empowering you to follow Christ’s call.