Water’s Edge Youth Ministries

Sunday, we gave away all 210 ticket vouchers for To Save a Life we had purchased, and then some.

Monday we bought 100 more tickets for the 4:15 showing at Mounds Mall.

As of noon on Tuesday, we had given away 76 of those 100 extra tickets.

Needless to say, tickets are going fast.  Here’s what you need to know:

1. If you don’t have a ticket voucher or have not made reservations with Pastor Brad, please do so as soon as possible.  You can reach him at pastor buhro [at] gmail dot com.  (Of course, take out the spaces and replace the punctuation with the appropriate symbols.)
2. If you do have a ticket voucher for someone who can’t come, please return it so we can make it available to someone else. Don’t hold back from going, and don’t decide not to invite someone because we’re short on tickets.  We want you to go.  But if you’ve invited someone and they can’t go, please help us give that seat to someone else.
3. If you have a 1:40 pm ticket and can go to the 4:15 showing instead, contact Pastor Brad to trade.  We’ve got some families we’re trying to keep together, and if you could make a trade it might be helpful.

Thanks!  And we’ll see you Sunday!

This morning we gave away 230 ticket vouchers for our private screening of To Save a Life next Sunday.  The bad news, there are only 210 seats.  That means several are already on a Standby Waiting list in case some who got tickets end up unable to attend.  If you are on standby, or if you didn’t get your voucher yet, don’t worry just yet.  We’re working on trying to get more seats.  We’ll keep you informed.

In December, James Cameron released his latest blockbuster, the sci-fi adventure Avatar.  If ticket sales are any indication, there’s a really good chance that if you have seen a movie at the theater in the last month, you’ve seen it.  It’s outselling all competition and is poised to become the #1 highest grossing movie of all time.

But just because you’ve seen it doesn’t mean you’ve taken time to think through the spiritual implications of it. And so, during the month of January we’ll be taking a closer look at the movie and considering the broader questions that it asks.

Don’t worry if you miss a Tuesday night.  You can always follow along with the Water’s Edge podcast.  Either check us out on iTunes, subscribe via RSS, or keep checking back here.  We’ll be adding the sermons after the jump as we go along.

Read the rest

After some serious prodding from one of our teens, Water’s Edge has now created a podcast which will feature weekly teaching from our Tuesday night services.  You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, or if you’re using another aggregator, you can find the podcast feed at http://www.watersedgeyouth.com/podcast/wepodcast.xml

Hopefully this will help you stay connected to our weekly teaching when you can’t be there, and make it easier to share what we’re doing at Water’s Edge with your friends.  And who knows what we’ll add in the future.

So check it out, and subscribe today.

More than 700 years before Jesus was born, a prophet in Judah named Isaiah wrote these words about a coming day:

The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:2, NIV)

Centuries later, an author writing the story of the life of Jesus remembered this ancient prophecy, and recognized that in Christ, Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled. Another author, named John, also recognized that in Jesus, a new light had dawned in our world. John wrote:

The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. (John 1:9, NIV)

Each year during the four weeks leading up to Christmas, the Church remembers these words. As the world plunges into the darkness of winter, and the nights grow to their very longest, the Church lights candles to celebrate the coming of this light into our world. We call this annual celebration of the coming of the Light “Advent.”

Check out our Shine page to discover how our Advent Celebration is shaping up this year in Water’s Edge.  At our Shine Experiment site you will discover audio from our teaching times, instructions about the Message and Mission for each day, and have the chance to share about your journey with fellow pilgrims.

Join us this Advent at Water’s Edge for Shine.

On Tuesday night, September 27, we’re starting a new series for Junior Highers at The Shore called Heroes. This series will look at stories from the book of Judges to see how God uses everyday, ordinary people to accomplish His extraordinary, eternal purposes in the world.

Not only will we be learning about the Old Testament Judges and God’s plans to use us as Heroes in our world, we’ll also be playing Hero themed games, and worshipping with the Water’s Edge praise band.  And to dig a little deeper you can pick up a free Heroes devotional guide each week to take home with you.

We’re trying something new this month at Water’s Edge.  We’re asking you to choose what direction we go in our weekly Senior High worship service with a new series we’re calling You Decide.

Do you have a question about the Bible you’ve always wondered about?

Is there an issue that you’re facing that you need some direction from Scripture for?

Is one of your friends struggling with something and you’re wondering how you can help them?

Then You Decide is for you.  For the next few weeks we’re going to be addressing your questions in our weekly teaching.  You can submit your questions in a number of ways:

• Text “YOUDECIDE” and your question to 99503.
• Send a tweet with “YOUDECIDE” and your question to @poll.
• Stop by our poll page and submit your question online.

Then keep checking back here to see what other people are asking.  (Your question will show up eventually, once we have a chance to check it out.)  And then come to Water’s Edge on Tuesday night to see if we answer your question this week.

I myself am not an outdoors man, so the thought of spending my weekend in a tent doesn’t usually appeal to me. However, the annual wilderness retreat for me is always an exception. Besides the fact that we  do spend most of our time in a lodge, the time spent with friends and the spiritual emphasis makes the cold nights and the annoying bugs almost nothing at all to over come.

This is how the trip has been thus far: Read the rest