Brent Parsley's Blog

The 7th was Epic! The 14th is on the way...

Last Wednesday night _tag gathered in the Theater at New Life to Launch a new season as a family. Teenagers from our church and city in Grades 7 - 12 gathered together to worship, pray, study the Scriptures, and meet with Jesus. It was nothing short of Epic! What made it so epic? I'd like to point to the the fun stuff we were able to do that night. I'd like to point to the massive curtain drop at the beginning. I'd like to point to the overall vibe created that night. I'd like to point to the number of people that joined us in our Vision. I'd like to point to the BPS appearance. Certainly, all those things were great, but they weren't the reason _tag's re-launch was so incredible. The truth is it was an epic night because it was a packed house of teenagers focused on the simple but awesome Truth of Jesus.

I like all the other stuff. I think utilizing some of the language and media of our culture has some value. (And anytime you get a BPS concert for free, you should certainly take advantage of it). But it all pales in comparison to knowing "Jesus Christ and Him crucified." (1 Corinthians 2:2) As we enter this new season together we are renewing our focus on the Truth of who Jesus is, what He has done, and why that matters for us. This journey promises to be an epic one. I can't wait.

So the 7th blew away our expectations in every way. But I'll tell you what's better than that. The 14th is on the way. The 7th was only the beginning. See you there.

If you're looking to join the _tag Vision for 09 you can jump on tagonline.tv, check out the rest of my blog here, or just show up at _tag. You won't regret it.

_tag Vision 2009 Video

Jump in on what God is doing with _tag starting January 7th, 2009.

_tag Student Ministries Vision 2009

God has breathed fresh, new Vision into _tag Student Ministries and has confirmed it in our hearts over and over again. We are so excited about what He is calling us to do in our Generation as we move forward into 2009. Because we know that Student Ministry is Family Ministry we want to ensure that the entire New Life Family can connect to this Vision giving everyone the opportunity to participate.

The Power of Unity
In Psalm 133 David writes that it is good when brothers dwell together in unity. David goes on to say that unity is the place where God “bestows His blessing, even life forevermore.” There is great Power in unity. When believers gather together in unity they can create great change.  Our Student Ministry proved this in 2008 as we joined together to raise over $127,000 to build four Orphan Homes in Uganda. We believe that God is calling us to create a united front so we can create great change in our friends, in our community, and in our world.

Come to the Family Table
Our Worship Pastor, Ross Parsley, often talks about the Body of Christ being like a Family Dinner Table. It is the place where everyone gathers to learn from one another and grow together. No doubt, it can be messy sometimes. But the young learn from the old, and the old can learn from the young. As everyone gathers together the entire family becomes better and stronger.

Our Vision
_tag Student Ministries’ mission is simple: Love God. Live Life. Lead a Generation.

Our goal is to equip students to be life-long followers of Jesus.

In order to accomplish this goal we are going to implement a new vision in 2009.
Beginning Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 you will see this Vision launch with:

1. One Massive Student Ministry Wide Meeting for Grades 7-12.
We will gather students, leaders, and staff in unity around the “family table” to learn from one another and grow together to become leaders in their generation.

2. More intentionality in our discipleship small groups.
6th Graders will have a new place to gather specifically for them on Sunday Nights from 5:30 to 7pm at the Tent at New Life Church.

7th and 8th Grade jv_Tribe small groups will meet on Sunday Nights from 5:30 to 7pm in the Tent at New Life Church.

9th and 10th Grade Tribe small groups will meet at various locations and times throughout the week. These are our Green and Blue Tribes.

11th and 12th Grade Tribe small groups will meet at various locations and times throughout the week. These are our Yellow and Red Tribes.

Our discipleship process will look like this:
6th Grade – Introduction      
7th and 8th Grades – Foundations    
9th and 10th Grades – Core Ideas      
11th and 12th Grades – Leadership and Worldview

3. Increased opportunities for deeper spiritual growth and leadership training.
Student Leader Training will meet Sunday Mornings at 9am in the Tent.
_tag Sunday School will meet Sunday Mornings at 10:15 in the Tent.

4. All students, leaders, and staff will join the Body of Christ on Sunday Mornings.
Every person involved in our Student Ministry will participate as members of the Body by joining Main Services every Sunday Morning. This is of the utmost importance to the Youth Staff and to our Senior Pastor.

We are excited about what God is going to do as we implement these fresh ideas into our Student Ministry here at New Life.

The Vision Timeline and Important Dates:
_tag Student Ministries will take a break for the Holidays to pray, prepare, and build momentum for the new Vision Re-Launch on January 7th, 2009 at 7pm.

The jv_tag break will begin after Service on Sunday, November 23rd and the _tag break will begin after Service on Wednesday, November 19th.

We want every student to join our Main Sunday Morning Services with their families through the Holidays. Our Tribe small groups will continue for both junior high and high school students through the Holidays. We will also host a one hour ONE Prayer meeting on December 3rd, 10th, and 17th from 7 to 8pm to prepare for our Re-Launch in January. 

Important Dates:
January 7th, 2009, Wednesday        _tag Re-Launch for Grades 7-12

January 11th, 2009, Sunday            jv_Tribes and _tag Tribes Re-Launch
February 1st, 2009, Sunday            _tag Sunday School and burn Launch

We are looking forward to what God is going to do as we follow Him into 2009. We pray that you and your family will join with us as we launch this new vision.

For more information, podcasts, videos, blogs, and sermons about this Vision please visit us at www.tagonline.tv today.

Rise to the Challenge

There's no doubt that Student Ministry can be challenging at times. It will challenge your body with lack of sleep, it will challenge your self-esteem with comments about how "uncool" you can be from time to time, and it will challenge your intellect and your spirit with big questions about a life lived wholeheartedly for Jesus.

I had an interesting conversation with one of our team last night about this very idea. She was feeling challenged by the Senior Girls in her Connect Group. They are dealing with all the serious issues of life and carrying around some baggage from decisions they have made as well as from decisions others around them have made. As they fight through it all, they are responding with strength and grace as they trust God to walk them through. All this resulted in this member of our team asking the question, "How do I rise to the challenge when they are challenging me so much? And what do I say to help them when I don't seem to have the answers?"

Those questions reminded me of a big idea for Student Ministry.

Student Ministry is primarily about modeling.

My sermons aren't what they remember (shocking, I know) and your devos aren't necessarily what they remember (though I know they are full of earth shattering revelation). They remember your life. They remember sitting around coffee shops talking about Jesus. They remember the crazy, fun things you guys all did together and then told them, "Don't tell Pastor Brent how crazy that was!" They remember watching you live your life wholeheartedly for God. That means you don't have to worry about being intellectually deep and insightful every moment you are with them. Don't misunderstand. You do need to be ready to have some of the answers, you do need to be consistent in your quiet time so you can talk big ideas with them from a Biblical worldview, and you do need to work through those big conversations about life when they arise.

But, more than that, you need to show them how to live strong for Jesus in every area of life every day. They'll remember that more than anything. So let me recommend a few things as you journey through your ministry today.

Challenge them to fast regularly with you.

Challenge them to read through a book of the Bible with you.

Challenge them to pray every day.

Challenge them to worship with you during services.

Challenge them to write down a Life Mission Statement and share it together.

Challenge them to read a great book with you.

Challenge them to chuck the cell phone, ipod, computer, and TV for a weekend

Challenge them to adopt a child from Compassion International.

Challenge them to research and pray for a specific country this month. 

Challenges like these don't require you any prep time and they don't require you to have the answers.

They require you to do them yourself, stay disciplined, hold one another accountable, and share what God is doing as you do them together.

Don't fall into the trap of being the "all-knowing Youth Leader". That's too much pressure. Challenge them to genuinely live their lives for Jesus like you live your life for Him. You'll find that both you and the students you lead will rise to the challenges together. And God will do some great things.

Thank you for what you do.

Brent

Welcome to the _tag Leader Blog

Hello Team,

Let me first say how incredibly grateful I am for every one of you and your faithfulness to the Kingdom of God and to _tag students. This year has launched with a great deal of anticipation and I am thrilled about the direction we are headed. Discipleship is strong and I sense a great hunger and excitement in the majority of our students. You are going to have a great year with fruit that remains so look forward to it.

One of the many things I am looking forward to this year is connecting with one another through this _tag Leader Blog. This will be THE place for you to get the latest _tag information, some ministry training, and connection with all that's happening here. So bookmark this page or subscribe to the Feed (if you're savvy) and we'll begin this journey together. This will be one more place for you to get plugged in to _tag Student Ministries. We'll be updating every other week by Thursday at 5pm so you can know when new info will be coming out of the office. I hope this will be a helpful ministry tool that you will take advantage of.

And don't forget our other Leadership Connection opportunities. We meet together each Wednesday at 6:15pm before _tag in the _tag Chapel, and we also have the _tag Leadercast on iTunes.
Just search and you'll get there.

As we continue into this year renewing friendships with _tag family members and building new friendships with new students, here are just a few things to get you started. We like to call them the
4 Big Questions:

1. What's God showing you from His Word?
This is a great question because it will give you insight into the life of a student. If they have some things to discuss, you can talk about that with them knowing that they are reading the Word and actively listening to the Lord. If they have nothing to say, you can encourage them in their devotion to the Lord and talk about the great benefits of that relationship in your life.

2. How can I be a friend to you this week?
This will provide an open door for you to connect. Most likely, they'll look back at you and say, "I have no idea." Don't worry about that. Just let them know that you are available. If they give you an answer, go for it and provide an answer to prayer for them that week.

3. Where is life beating you up?
A question like this will open up doors for you to help them through some of the rough stuff of life that they are facing. Don't push hard on a question like this. It may just take some time. But if they talk with you about a struggle they are in, you will have great opportunity to journey through that together.

4. What's one thing I can pray for you about this week?
Don't ask for a list. Ask for one thing. Then, be faithful to pray with them there in the moment and throughout that week.

Now, a word of caution...
These are strong questions that can open or shut doors of trust for you. So if you're going to ask the question, be prepared to follow up and to do it well. It would be better for you not to ask than to ask and not follow up.

So, take these 4 questions and try one out this week on a student that you have met recently. I believe God will use it to open great doors of ministry for you down the road.

Again, thanks for what you do.
This is going to be such an incredible year.

Until next time,

Brent