Starting a new year

Yesterday was the "Kick off" for the new Sunday School year at our church. I've volunteered to help teach the high school youth class and work with the youth group. I'm excited and nervous at the same time.

Sunday's time was spent getting to know new folks (and teachers) and I saw immediately that there were some interesting dynamics. We have folks from 3 different public high schools, one private school, and home school, too. Many of them have been going to this church their whole lives, others are new to the area, and some are new to church in general.

I've been given pretty free reign to handle lessons and have been told that discussions tend to veer off target. So I'm looking at lessons and materials that will be engaging and "not cheesy". So far, I have been incredibly impressed with the resources that LifeChurch.tv makes available through their Open program.

We also have a subscription to The Thoughtful Christian so I can download material from there, too, like "Dealing with Daily Pressures"

The key is going to be connecting with folks. I'm expecting to leave that part in God's hands because that's the only way I can really expect to make things relevant to that many teens... :-)

I honestly pray that God will use me to reach these youth and to bring God's word to them in a way that they can make it a part of their lives.