New at the Cafe

Tonight at 7:00pm we start Girls Night Out. This is for girls in Junior High and High school. We will be focusing on becoming women of God mentally, physically, and spiritually. Most of our time will be focused on the book of Ruth and the Proverbs 31 woman. While we are studying to become woman of God we will also be having a ton of fun such as doing tons of girly stuff like painting nails, facials, etc. I'm excited to see where God will lead us, so come out and enjoy Girls Night Out.

~Proverbs 31:30 reads, "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."

Community Outreach event this Sunday!!

This Sunday after church the youth will be going around the surrounding area and handing out Angel Food menus. It should be a great time of fellowship and lunch will be provided. Parents and adults are more than welcome to join us in the fun!

Picnic Tomorrow!!!!

Don't forget the picnic at Miss Debbie's (one of the leaders) house!!! We will be leaving from the church tomorrow after the service and going hiking to go find Big Foot and have a picnic with him. (Those of you who were at the overnighter know about Big Foot.) Church starts at 10:15 am and we will be at Debbie's house till 3pm. Don't forget to bring a sack lunch and tennis shoes, and maybe even a light jacket. It will be a great time with food, games, and fun! Hope to see all of you there.

Love A Stray

Tonight from 5:15pm-8:30pm the youth group will be going to Love a Stray in Avon. We will be playing with the cats, and probably cleaning some cages. One of our leaders, Debbie, has been volunteering there for quite some time and she enjoys it very much. This is just one of many volunteer opportunities we will be doing this year. This year we will be learning about the life of Christ, and one major aspect of Christ's life was to serve others. Therefore the youth will help serve our community while learning about how Christ served others. I will try to put up some pictures of the night for you to enjoy!
If you want more information on love a stray check out their website!
http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/love-a-stray.html

Be Still

It has been awhile since I have written on here, but I thought maybe since it's a new school year I can start back up on my online duties. This summer was long and rough at times trying to get kids to come to youth group, but I'm hoping this fall semester will go better than before. Some new things have happened since the beginning of summer. I have become the Youth Ministry Chairman (or maybe it would be chairwoman?), and I gained a few new leaders to help out. Keep praying for the leaders and the new ones to come. It takes a lot of work to run a youth ministry, so pray for strength to make it through.
Why I wanted to start posting today was that on Sunday something hit me (not literally.) We were singing a song I forget what it was, but the next slide that was up was Psalm 37:7a. It reads, "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him..." WOW it felt like a brick just hit my head! The first two words "Be still" rang over and over in my head. I felt that God was saying, "Alice slow down enjoy the journey. Enjoy being with the people your with and the times you have with them." Then there's me saying back, "yea, OK I guess I can take a few deep breaths." Then God saying back, "no Alice, be still!." After going back and forth with God and Him just saying back "Be Still" I stopped talking and was still. Now that God got through to me about being still there was something else he wanted to say through that verse. The phase I dislike the most "wait patiently for Him." Now to be honest God and me have been playing tug of war on this subject for some time now. I always enjoy a good game of tug of war, but let me tell ya when it's against God you're never going to win. I still wanted to play some more, but yesterday God just tugged more this time. I decided to wait patiently, whether it be my job or the youth ministry. I gave up playing the game and the final score was GOD 1 billion- Me 0. So to those who might be reading "Be still and wait patiently." It's a lot easier if you do it sooner than later, believe me my hands hurt.

Tonight at The Cafe

Don't Just Give a Mother's Day Gift: Be the Gift

I often get e-mails from teen life ministries and this week I recieved this very encouraging e-mail for Mother's Day. Enjoy!



Many years ago, Anna Jarvis advocated a special day be given to pay
homage and recognition to mothers.

Consequently, the second Sunday in May has been designated as
Mother's Day. It is refreshing to know that in a world that is
often negative, destructive and evil, a good wholesome influence is
still in existence. It is especially encouraging to see a whole
nation of people pause to honor mothers.

On this special day of honor and remembrance, we will take time to
do special things such as sending beautiful greetings cards,
cooking (or buying) dinners or purchasing special gifts. However,
if we really want to give a gift--either to someone who is still
with us or to one who is not--let the life you live be your gift.
Live a life that amounts to something positive. Live a life that
says to those to whom tribute, homage and honor are being paid that
their labor, love, prayers, teaching and sacrifices have not been
for naught.

The lives we live tell those whom we meet what type of an attitude
we have toward our mothers, their training, teachings and their
sacrifices. On this special day make a commitment that you will
allow the flower garden of your life to be pruned by the love of
Jesus so that the flowers may bud with the blossoms of God's grace.
Let the tree of your life produce fruits of repentance. Let the
life you live be a living Mother's Day greeting card, showing to
all that your name has indeed been recorded in the Lamb's Book of
Life.

To the mothers who have been, are now, and who will be--thank you
for life and love.
Proverbs 31:10-31

Youth Video

Here is the video we showed at the last youth service. ENJOY!!

Youtube Tuesday..but it's Wednesday

Ok I know I have been slacking on my posts, I have just been hired full time at my job, and it is hard to stay on trac sometimes, but by the grace of God I'm back and posting again. haha. Well back to my youtube video of the week. This video has been sweeping the youtube world like none other, and maybe you have seen this video already. I heard about Susan Boyle on the radio yesterday and thought wow this is the video I need to post. A couple weeks ago the youth was taught about not judging a book by it's cover, and how important it is not to judge others first. Matthew 7:1-5 reads, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Wow how often do we judge others, before we look at our own sleves. It is something that we struggle with everyday, and this video shows good proof of that. May we all strive to become more like Christ in this area everyday!


(on a side note: if other youth leaders or volunteers are reading my blog this is a great video to show your teens and teach them about not judging others!)

Coffee Break

Since the bank isn't that busy I find myself wanting to encourage you with these words:

We're coming up on Easter Sunday!

I Cor 15:1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

WOW! That is the essense of our faith.

It's awesome that Paul writes about priority of the death burial and ressurection.

Easter is by far my favorite holiday and this is the reason why. Hope you enjoyed this week's coffee break!!

Fun Friday- Jesus is a Friend of Mine

hmmm maybe this is what we are going to sing for the Youth Service. What do you think? I also really like their outfits!!

Where's Waldo?

I know I haven't been able to write in awhile, but I thought I would do a post that I regularly do on Wednesday. Here are some clues of what we will be doing tonight.

Movie Night- Amazing Grace

Hey tonight is movie night!!! For the youth group if you want to come an hour or so before the movie and just hang out and play fooseball and darts come and join in on the fun! Also this is a great thing just to do on a Friday and get out of the house, bring your friends and then you guys can go out to the mall or something!?!? What do people usually do on Friday nights anyways?.....go watch a movie that is what, but how about going to see a movie that is free and have free popcorn! Tonight at 7:00 we will be watching Amazing Grace. To see a review on the movie go to http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/reviews/2007/amazinggrace.html
This is one of my all time favorite movies! I'll write more about it later but check out this awesome music video of chris tomlin

A New What?

Well we have a surprise at The Cafe. What? you might ask... Of course I can't tell you! You have to come tonight to see it. But here are some clues....

Youtube Tuesday

Well for this Youtube Tuesday I would like to show you a funny video that always makes me smile. The Cafe wants to start getting involved in nursing homes and I was thinking what better way than to have them start coming to what I normally do on a weekly basis. I am in a band called the Good News Messangers, and we go to different nursing homes around the county to play for the elderly. Yesturday I had a few of the youth come with me to help out in any way they can. They did a great job with the shakers and tambourines, and even one dressed up with a cheese head! The nursing home residents loved how young kids are willing to help out and spend time with them. In the future there will be more of these and hey maybe we will even learn how to make balloon hats!

What we did

Wednesday was a lot of fun with silly games such as Big Booty and a very funny blinfolded taste testing which we then went into how God calls us to be Salt and Light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus tells his disciples, "You are the salt of the earth" and "You are the light of the world." In verse 13 we read, "You are the salt of the earth," and in the Greek it is "You and you alone are the salt of the earth. Why did Jesus say that to this small group of uneducated, poor, humble, Galilean disciples? He was telling them that although the world of men is rotting, they as Christians were to function like salt in the world. Why? They alone were different from the world. Like the world, they had also been dead, but from their depravity and spiritual death they had been delivered by the power of God and made alive by their relationship with Christ. )

We then listened to "World" by Five for Fighting. Recently I was really impressed by its lyrics and tone. It is hopeful and yet challenging. It asks us to consider what kind of world we'd want to live in and what we might do to make it so:

Got a package full of Wishes - A Time machine, a Magic Wand, A Globe made out of Gold - No Instructions or Commandments, Laws of Gravity or Indecisions to uphold, Printed on the box I see A.C.M.E.'s Build-a-World-to-be, Take a chance - Grab a piece - Help me to believe it, What kind of world do you want? Think Anything, Let's start at the start - Build a masterpiece, Be careful what you wish for - History starts now...

Full lyrics here. The writer and vocalist John Ondrasik says of the song: "What fed into this is that . . . many stand on their soap boxes and rant and rave without offering any solutions of their own. It's easy to complain. It's hard to do something or offer and alternative solution." How might you use this song? The Cafe used this song to portray on a board what the world looks like and how you think God would want the world to be. We cut out tons of magazines and had a lot of fun discussing different activities we could do for the community. Hopefully I can get some pictures of the other night to show you how much fun we had. Can't wait till next Wed.!

Generation WE

I started this blog to show teens what is happening in The Cafe and for their parents who what to know more about what their teens are doing. I also wanted this website to look into the lives of teenagers in today's culture, and to encourage teenagers to be different. Different meaning to make a difference. History is now and we can and will make a difference. I am proud of those who have signed up by voulunteering their time and am hoping for more to make a stand. To the teens of The Cafe don't be like your friends who stay in their house and do nothing, but step out and start a revolution of change. Be an example to your parents and elders by making and difference. Every little bit helps! By serving others we are serving Christ.


-take note of Generation We, the "Millennials," those born between 1978 and 2000:

"The Millennials are a special generation, potentially the greatest generation ever. They are not pessimistic or vengeful. Rather, they are sober in their view of the world. They believe in technology and know they can innovate themselves out of the mess they are inheriting. They believe in entrepreneurship and collective action, and that each person can make a difference. They are about plenitude, and they reject cruelty. They are spiritual, responsible, tolerant, and in many ways more mature than their predecessor generations. They reject punditry and bickering, because they are post-partisan, post-ideological, and post-political. Most important, they believe in the greater good and are ready to dedicate themselves to achieving it."

From the book "Generation We: How Millennial Youth are Taking Over America and Changing Our World Forever" by Erich Greenberg. You can download a free copy the book here http://www.gen-we.com/sites/default/files/GenWe_EntireBook3.pdf. It's definitely worth a read. Let us know what you think.

March Madness!

March Madness has begun, and no I'm not talking about basketball! I'm talking about all the things that are going on at Grace Community Church in the month of March. All the highlighted events are those for the youth group to go to, and as you can see we have tons of highlighted events. This month we have Angel Food Distribution, the Youth Service, Game Night, Candy Making, and most important The Cafe which is every Wednesday night. It's important to come Wed. night to see when these events are and also to sign up for them (an example would be tobogganing, but that's all I'm going to say.. you have to come to find out more!). It is amazing to see what God is doing in the lives of our youth group and I can't wait to see what He keeps on doing!

Youtube Tuesday

In the past I've done funny and upbeat videos except for a few. As we continue to help others let us think differently by letting others help us it could be as simple as listening to another person and hearing their story by this we can be moved in so many ways. Instead of walking past someone who you usually don't talk to take time to listen.

1st Angel Food Distribution!

Today was the youth groups first Angel distribution day at Cornerstone United Methodist Church. We had a blast and can't wait till next month. One of the girls even said she wished she could do it everyday! We had 4 teens from our group show up and we are expecting even more next time. If you missed this Saturday don't worry the next one will be March 21 from 9:30am (for volunteers) and 10am for pickup till 12pm. We had fun serving the community and have pictures to prove it!

Serving the Slums

Psalm 82:3-4 "Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Tonight it's all about helping others. It might help, if you have time, to read Psalm 82 before coming tonight. We will be going over different ways to get involve with outreach ministries at the church. This Saturday At Cornerstone United Methodist Church in Elyria we will be helping Angel Food Ministry with distributing food. Afterwards there will be a pizza party in the youth room to discuss what we did and play games. Come tonight for what time we are leaving the church and what time parents pick up.
VOULUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES INCLUDE:

Youtube Tuesday

Here's something that the teens will like!

Teens at the Park

This Saturday from 10 a.m.- noon Carlisle Reservation Center is holding a get together for teens to learn about volunteer opportunities at the park. As the youth group gets more involved in ministry and volunteering around the community we are excited to see different places where we can serve. The parks can be just another opportunity to do just this. So come out this Saturday to learn more about what teens can do. Pre-register at http://reservations.loraincountymetroparks.com/programs/index.shtml?id=14317&sid=743009.89078&uid=

FREE thursday!!

That's right today is FREE thursday here at the cafe. I was so excited this morning to see in my inbox an e-mail saying I could get an audiobook for free. When I realized it was one of my favorite books I was ecstatic! The book is called "Not for Sale" by David Batstone. Here's a little description of the book. "Award–winning journalist David Batstone reveals the story of a new generation of 21st century abolitionists and their heroic campaign to put an end to human bondage. In his accessible and inspiring book, Batstone carefully weaves the narratives of activists and those in bondage in a way that not only raises awareness of the modern–day slave trade, but also serves as a call to action." I first heard about this campaign in college and was moved by the stories of these people who face modern day slavery. There are 27 million people currently enslaved in the world! No one should be for sale. I urge you to download this free audio book that is worth $25, and help spread the news about modern day slavery. If you think slavery doesn't exist, then even more reason to get a free audio book. This month only you can get it at http://christianaudio.com/notforsale PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get it. You won't regret it! Also check out the not for sale website at http://notforsalecampaign.org/ you can just copy and paste it into your html. The website has videos and facts all about slavery and how you can help.

tonight's insite

So tonight will be a great night at the Cafe, but I don't want to give it away by telling you what we are doing so here are some clues.... Make sure to bring your Bible if you have one!!!

Youtube Tuesday!!

Penn (of Penn and Teller) is an atheist, but he seems to understand more about Evangelism than many professing Christians. While he is clearly not regenerated in this video, it was obvious he was impacted by the witnessing encounter.

No Coffee for Sale

Cornerstones is cancelled tonight! Hopefully we will be up in running for next week!! See you then

Writer's block

I know it's been awhile since I have updated on the blog, so without further ado. The youth group has had a great start. The first night we played games and drank hot coco, it was a great time. That same friday we had game night at the church and those who got a chance to make it had a blast. Tons of snacks and games that everyone could play. The next week youth group was canceled because of weather, but we all got to see each other at Winter Jam on Friday. The group had so much fun, and can't wait for next year! There will be pictures coming soon. Tonight will be the first night though of getting to know the leaders and each other, and what to expect during the rest of the year. It should be fun..I have a lot of games planned!

Cafe Cancellation

Due to the weather and driving conditions Cornerstone is cancelled tonight, but this is really important. The youth in Cornerstone Cafe needs to let me know if you are going to the concert this Friday, and if they are bringing anyone else along. Also don't forget to bring your permission slips and $10. Make sure you are at the church before 5:30!! if you have any questions you can leave a comment on this post.

GAME NIGHT!!

This Friday 7:00pm is game night at the church. Bring your favorite board game or card game to play and a snack to share! Everyone is invited and it will truly be a great time with friends and family. Hope to see you there!

WINTER JAM 2009!!!!!

Cornerstone Cafe's first big event is coming soon! Winter Jam is Christian Music's largest annual tour and it's only $10!!!!January 30th we will be leaving the church at 5:30pm and will be back at 11:30pm. There is a signup sheet and permission slips in the youth room. Check out the website http://www.hearitfirst.com/jamtour/
It will be a great time of fellowship and fun!! Don't miss it!

Lego

Well after posting my last post on schoolhouse rock I found a better youtube video on the inauguration! Check it out

Youtube Tuesday, HAPPY INAUGURATION!

I was thinking of the perfect youtube video about the inauguration and the first thing I thought about was Schoolhouse Rock. Unfortunately I could not find any on the inauguration, but there are tons about the government so I thought I would put one of my favorite schoolhouse rock songs. This song I learned in fourth grade and I remember we sang it everyday, and I will never forget that time! I love the music, colors, and the drawings. One of my dreams is to own all of the old schoolhouse rock videos. It doesn't get much better than Schoolhouse Rock! Enjoy

New Week New Pictures

Since the new youth room is finished I decided to take some pictures for you guys to see how awesome it really is, but I must say it looks better in person!

Oh the Snow

Yesterday I was busy getting ready for the first night of the cafe. Baking cookies and grinding coffee were just a few of the things I did. I also had to go and do some errands with my brother and soon realized how bad the weather was getting. I didn't want the first night to be canceled, but I did want people to be safe and also to show up. Cornerstones was canceled, which it's better to be safe than sorry, but I have all these cookies now! If you know me it's not good to have any baked items in the house, because they go fast. I know I'll think of something for those cookies. Since Cornerstones was canceled my family enjoyed playing a free rental game on the wii for many hours, and the time bonding as a family was great.If it just wasn't for the snow though we would of had cornerstone.
I always feel indifferent about snow. I hate driving in it, and also I'd rather be warm than cold, but when it is a day like today (clear skies, sunny, and no storms in the area) I love it! I enjoy the beauty of it and always think about certain Bible verses and one of my favorite hymns. Psalm 51:7 " Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD."Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." What amazing verses! The song "Jesus Paid it All" also reflects these verses by saying, "Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain,He washed it white as snow." Looking at the snow outside my window there is nothing I have seen that is whiter than snow, and here in these Bible verses we have been cleaned whiter than snow through Christ dying on the cross for our sins. When I think of snow I think about purity and how perfect it looks. So perfect that when the sun is shinning on it in just the right places it sparkles. So when you are driving to work or going to school think about how we are washed whiter than snow and praise God for that promise!

Youtube Tuesday

Since tomorrow is the first night of Cornerstone Cafe, and I have been busy with finishing up some things I thought I would post a fun post. This blog isn't meant to be serious all the time, but to have fun and to enjoy all the little things you can find on the internet these days whether it be Christian or not. Yep it's Youtube Tuesday here at the Cafe. I have been looking up some songs for the cafe and I came to this video and fell in love with it. I think after watching this I'm going to water color some pictures :)

Coming Soon!

Cornerstone Cafe is a new venue at Grace Community Church for young adults 7th through 12th grade. We meet every Wednesday night at 7pm and go till 8:25pm. The Cafe is almost done just a few little things left before the grand opening. The first night of The Cafe will be Jan. 14! We will be playing tons of games, eating great snacks, and getting to know each other. I am very excited for the cafe to start and to see where it goes in the future. This website will be a way for others to know what is going on in the youth group and updated events that the church and youth group are doing. A little background on how the cafe came to be what it is now. In highschool I always wanted to go to a great youth group, somewhere I can just hang out, but because of certain circumstances at my church there wasn't a higschool youth program at the time. I then started to go to my best friend's youth group, and I loved it there. I had a great time and wished I had what they had at my church. This was where I started to pay attention to different details of how that youth group did things. Since I was going to college soon I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything just yet and soon the idea of starting a youth group started to disappear. Freshman year of college I was being taught about God's will and what that means to me. During that year and the next something was tugging on my heart to start the youth group. I wrestled for days on how I could start a youth group during college and if I should change my major to youth ministry. I decided to keep my major in business aviation, and yet still work on and read/study youth ministry. I started writing tons of ideas I could do, and developing what is now Cornerstone Cafe. With a lot of help from others, the cafe has come a long way and I couldn't have done it without the support of those people. Since I am done with school, I can focus on this ministry and be there for them. If you have any questions or would like to give a donation such as beanbags, cofee, tea, board games and card games, just leave a comment on this blog. I am very excited and know it will be a great time. So stop in and check it out!