7 Things To Do To Keep The BIG "MO" After Shabbach!!

Let's be real. The real reason we sell all those doughnuts, do all those carwashes, and boil all those hotdogs is for the MOMENTUM we get building up to, during, and after the conference weekend with your group! And to be honest, that's one big reason why I do what I do for the other groups that come. The tough part is, like a filled baloon,  MOMENTUM deflates slowly. I believe that the conference weekend changes people on a personal level, but I also believe it has the ability, through the works of the Spirit, to be a time where God shifts an entire group into a new level of commitment to their collective cause in their place of ministry.
Here are 7 things I recommend you do (as the leader) to keep the balloon as full for as long as possible. Who knows, by the time they finally come off their high of the conference, you'll be loading them into the vans and buses for summer camps!!
Hope this helps!!
1.  Record Video testimonies (or live testimonies) and use only 1-2 each week verses one BIG sunday night service or wednesday night. If you space them out, the students you will be using will be forced to hang on to their testimony much longer than a couple days. This will also remind those that went of what they witnessed.
2. Whatever "THE" worship song is that struck a chord with your youth group, take it home with you and begin to use for worship or pre-service time.
  a. 5 Seconds by Canton Jones - we played this song in our pre-service music and I had dozens of kids and leaders come up and ask who that was. Use it to start your services out as well. It will remind them of the conference atmosphere.
  b. Show Me the Way/I Call You Jesus - USE them in your worship time with your kids. Not every single week. But maybe for the 1st month after the conference and then rotate them in ocassionally.
3. Designate a once a month shabbach T-shirt DAY. Let them wear it to school that day and then to church that night. It will remind them of what God did the night they purchased that shirt for a while. email Cathy at productsales@shabbach.com and purchase extra shirts and gear to give out during each of those monthly services.
4. Display a HUGE group Pic and/or collages of the weekend at the entrance to your youth area. I would encourage you to let some of the pics be funny (for relationship building) and some to be of your kids worshipping and crying, etc (for a reminder of how they pursued their relationship with God.)
5. Have a few follow-up "Hotel room hangout" nights. Encourage your chaperones/staff to take a night once a month or so and have a sleepover or a couple hours to hang out and reestablish the fun they had in the hotel rooms. Who knows, this could be the birthing of your small group ministry!!
6. Encourage your group to target 5 kids in your group who did not go this year and force them to make plans now for next year. This will give them something to DO with the relationships they HAVE. It's the Great GO!Mission not the Great Suggestion.
7. Anytime a "Shabbach" speaker or minister is close enough to drive too, take your crew and SHOW up to what they are doing. This isn't about another church or "following" a preacher, it's about YOU making sure your kids don't LOSE what they got. Be selfish. If somone is bringing in one of the Shabbach people relatively close to your area, take full advantage of not having to pay for the opportunity. But hey, if you have the budget to play with and you KNOW your kids will value the experience, you pay the price (or join forces with a couple churches) and facilitate the opportunity for other groups close by to link up with. They'll thank you for it.

Do you have any other ideas your group uses taht could benefit other leaders with regards to keeping the BIG "MO"???
Comment them.

Trinity - 1 God, yet 3 distinct persons???

Last night, I did a message on wrapping your mind around the Trinity, as much as humanly possible. It is a very complex issue that can't be watered down to a single analogy. However, scriptures make it abundantly clear there is 1 God in 3 distinct persons. I broke this message down into what I call, "3 Trinity Truths." In order to "show" my students what I'm talking about, I used a simple, yet very effective illustration of the Trinity.

Illustration: The Father/The Son/The Holy Spirit
I brought 3 students, 1 stood in a "profile" stance, another in a "frontal face" stance and the last in a "bowed head" stance (to show the top of her head to the congregation.
1. The profile is representation of the Father.
the old testament only reveal "types" and "shadows" and profiles of who The Father really is. We can't seem completely. He does not make himself fully know to us. So we have know knowledge of His depth and see him for who He is.
2. The Frontal represents the Son
We see Jesus for who he is in the writings of the New testament. It is revealed in his deeds and sayings. So we can picture Him head on, but to view His depth is next to impossible. I used the illustration of Tom and Jerry and the road runner. After they've been smashed they come out looking normal in the front. It's only until they turn or bend, do you see how damaged they really are.
3. The top of the head represents the Holy Spirit.
This view reveals His depth. We see through the Holy Spirit just how this 1 God shows up in everyday living of His believers.

Another illustration I alluded too was the h2O analogy - Ice/Water/Steam - it's in different states, but it's all the same h2O

Another Illustration (came from Benny Hinn's Book) - The Light turns on/off
The Father gives the command to turn ON the light
You go.
Jesus is the switch that combines your effort, with His command, and the Holy Spirit's execution of that command.
The Holy Spirit is the POWER that brings the command into fulfillment

Below is scritpual references to validate each "Trinity Truth."
I have been asked repeatedly for my notes, so here you go!!
Hope I helped,
PG

Trinity Truth #1: There is only 1 God

Isaiah 44:6 Romans 1:30 Duet. 4:35 1 John 5:20
Jeremiah 10:10 Duet. 4:39; 32:39 John 5:44 2 Chronicles 15:3
2 Samuel 22:32 John 17:3 Isaiah 37:20; 43:10; 44:6-8; 45:5,14, 21-22; 46
Romans 16:27 Galatians 3:20 Ephesians 4:6 1 Thessalonians 1:9
1 Corinthians 8: 4-6 1 Timothy 1:17; 2:5 James 2:19

Trinity Truth #2: There is a Plurality to God
Iow’s – The Father is God. The Son is god. The Holy Spirit is God.
In Hebrew the word “Elohim” (God) Is plural -Leviticus 19:3
Genesis 1:26 – Let US make man in OUR image
Genesis 3:22 – God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us…”

a. The Father is God
2 Corinthians 1:3 Ephesians 1:3 Deut. 4:36,39 Psalm 100:3
Genesis 9:26; 24 Exodus 3:14-18; 4:5 2 Samuel 7:22, 25
John 17:3 1 Corinthians 8:6 1 Peter 1:3

b. The Son is God
John 1:1 John 20:28 2 Peter 1:1 Romans 10: 9, 13 Revelation 4:11 Acts 20:28 Zechariah 12:10
Philippians 2: 10-11 1 Peter 2:3 Isaiah 43:11 Revelation 1:7 Titus 2:13 Luke 2:11 John 4:42 Acts 13:23 Ephesians 2:23 Philemon 3:20 1 Timothy 1:1 2 Timothy 1:10 2 Peter 1: 1, 11; 2: 20; 3: 2, 18 Titus 1:4; 2:13; 3:6 1 John 4:14 Matthew 21: 1-11 Zechariah 9:9 John 1:3 1 Cor. 8:6 Colossians 1:16-17 Hebrews 1:2
John 16:30 Matt. 18:20; 28:20 Ephesians 1:23; 4:10 Colossians 3:11 Psalms 34:8

c. The Holy Spirit is God
     Psalm 139:7; 104:30 Genesis 1:2 Luke 1:35 Acts 5:3-4
    Matthew 1:18 Romans 8: 1-27 Hebrews 9:14 1 Cor. 2:10-11
    2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Trinity Truth #3: 3 Distinct Persons
     Matthew 28:19

Jesus is not the Father
     John 3:17, 35; 5:22-23, 31-32; 8:15-18
     Romans 1:7

Jesus is not the Holy Spirit
     John 15:26
     Matthew 28:29
     John 16:7 John 14:16

The Father is not the Holy Spirit
     Romans 8:26-27

Organizing a Weekend for Your Kids/Staff to Enjoy & Your Parents to Appreciate

The old saying is: "If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail." In other words, always have a plan. When it comes to weekend retreats, you cannot plan too much. The more you are organized, the more your staff, students, and parents will trust you to LEAD them out of town. You may be a "go with the flow" kind of leader. But when it comes to being out of town and away from the familiar, YOU MUST have an agenda!! My pastor reminds me often, that if you don't have a plan, someone else will. And the majority of the time, it will be a plan you won't like!!
Here is my agenda for my youth group last year when we went to Shabbach DC (6 hours from home):
Friday, March 27, 2009

   6:30am Load luggage on buses
   7:00am Group prayer in the Family Life Center
   7:30am Leave for Washington, DC
   11:30am Stop for lunch – fast food
   12:45pm On the road again
   3:00pm Check into Wytestone Suites, Woodbridge, VA and get ready for
service; chaperones come to Terri’s room to pick up snacks.
      Wear FORCE Youth group shirts tonight
   4:00pm Leave for Potomac Mills Mall
   4:15pm Free time at the mall; eat dinner
   6:45pm Load buses for Shabbach Youth Conference Worship Service
   8:00pm Service begins
   11:00pm Return to hotel
   11:30pm In-room talk time
   12:00am Lights out = STAY IN ROOMS!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
   8:30am Rise and shine; hot breakfast in hotel lobby
   9:15am Brief chaperone meeting while STUDENTS begin getting on buses
   9:30am Buses depart for Washington, DC (approx. 40 minute ride)
   10:15am Arrive in front of U.S. Capitol building; take group photo;
              If time, walk around visitor center.
   10:30am BE IN LINE OUTSIDE ORIENTATION THEATER for group check-in
   11:10am Group tour of Capitol begins.
   12:45pm Load buses; leave to get lunch. Eat at Potomac Mills Mall.
   3:30pm Return to hotel for free time, dinner and to freshen up for Shabbach Service;
             Wear Shabbach shirt if you have one.
   6:00pm Load buses for Shabbach Youth Conference Worship Service
   7:30pm Service begins
   10:00pm Return to hotel
   10:45pm In-room talk time
   11:15pm Lights out = STAY IN ROOMS!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
   7:00am Rise and shine; breakfast buffet opens in hotel lobby
   8:30am Load buses and check out of hotel
   8:45am Brief chaperone meeting while STUDENTS begin getting on buses
   9:00am Leave for Shabbach Youth Conference
   9:30am Service begins
   12:30pm Buses depart for HOME
   1:30pm Stop for lunch
   Approx. 9:30pm Arrive at FMCOG
Emergency Contact Numbers:
   Bus Company: xxx-xxx-xxxx
   Hotel's Number: xxx-xxx-xxxx

   Head Chaperone's Hotel Room Number: xxx-xxx-xxxx

   Head Chaperone's mobile: xxx-xxx-xxxx

   PG's Assistant Mobile:  xxx-xxx-xxxx
Give your plan to every youth worker, every student, and every parent before you leave your church parking lot. Or even better, have a parent meeting 1 week before you guys leave after your mid-week service and give it to them then. This way no one is wondering where you are or what you'll be doing next. It is amazing how much confusion is cut away, simply by having a plan and sticking to it. It is amazing the peace you give parents when they know where their kid is and what he/she is doing at every moment. I say this every year in our MANDATORY Parent Meeting, "I want you to know where your child is every moment or every day you have intrusted them into my care. The only thing you won't know is when they are going to the bathroom or brushing their teeth." Today, more than 100 teens go on a trip that I am not directly leading. Why? Because I pay the price to plan and train, and now my parents, staff, and kids TRUST the plan to go as planned!!
One of my favorite says, "Sweat during the preparation, so you won't bleed in the battle!!"
 
Hope I Helped,
pg