2012 Canaan Awards Night

Friday, October 12, 2012

Lukewarm Christians


Come out to Everglow tonight as we continue to go through Francis Chan's Crazy Love book. Tonight, we will be looking at "the profile of a lukewarm christian" What are those characteristics? Find out tonight!

Friday, September 28, 2012

meet our new counselors!

come out tonight and get to know our new youth counselors better as arthur and vicki will be sharing about themselves! not only that, but we'll have games, worship, and simply a fun time together :)

Thursday, September 27, 2012

mid-week announcements!

"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you" (Colossians 1:3, ESV)

HELLO EVERYONE!

This Friday our new counselors Arthur and Vicki will be sharing a bit about themselves so come get acquainted with them and with the rest of the youth group!

On Sunday, there's an opportunity for you to bike 7 miles around Alviso with the rest of English ministry during second hour (11:30)!!
If you would like to go on this biking trip, please be sure to fill out the waiver and have your parents sign it (I've attached it again or your convenience).

If you're not into biking, we will have a second hour youth Sunday School and we'll again serve lunch afterwards. 

Also, we're starting snack rotation! I will have a complete list out soon, but 
snacks for this week: JOANNE HER! 
thank you=)

Hope to see you FRIDAY AND SUNDAYY!!!!!

Questions of the Week (QOTW): 
Would you rather be able to visit 100 years in the past or 100 years in the future?
What has God been doing in your life this week?

HAVE A NICE WEEK!
FYI Jamba Juice is $1 this week again, Mon-Fri from 5pm-7pm=)

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Weekend Update

Here is a quick recap of what we learned this past weekend.

On Friday, Stephen shared about his first year in college and the fellowship he participated in. He reminded us about the importance of finding a good fellowship where you can participate, serve, and have people keep you accountable. He shared about how a fellowship is to be welcoming to new comers, how close knit his community was, and his small group where he was able to share some of his struggles and have people pray for him and support him. In the same way, our youth group, Everglow, is a place to experience these similar things. He challenged us to get involved in youth group and really making it our own. I pray that we really would be a youth group where people feel welcomed, are involved and serving, and deepening their relationships with one another.

On Sunday, we talked about the central theme of the Bible. Did you know that the Bible is really a love story? It is! It's a story about God's great love for us. He made us to be in a relationship with Him, but because of our selfishness, we turned from God. But throughout the Bible, we see God's pursuit of us in bringing us back to Him and restoring this broken relationship. It was ultimately done through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We should read through the Bible with the reminder that everything was written to remind us of God's great love for us and for us to respond to that love.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Guest Speaker!

Tonight, we have a guest speaker! Our own Everglow alum, Stephen, will be sharing with us about the importance of fellowship. We hope to see you there!


Thursday, September 20, 2012

And... We're Back!

Hi everyone,

Our youth group blog is back! We've been meaning to keep this blog going as a place where we update you on the ongoings of Everglow, but unfortunately, we've done a poor job of doing so. However, we are back and will make a more concerted effort in keeping this blog exciting and alive.

We've started 2 new series that we're excited about. On Friday nights, we are going through "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. This book challenges us see how much God loves us and how that love should change the way we think and live out our lives. Besides our lesson, each Friday is filled with games, worship, and small group sharing.

During our 2-Hour on Sundays, we are going through an "Overview of the Bible" series which will help us better navigate through the Bible. We know that the Bible can be overwhelming at times and seem boring at other times, so this series will give us tools to help us better approach them Bible and make it more fun and interesting to read.

We really hope that you will come out and join us each Friday night and each 2nd-Hour on Sundays!


Friday, April 6, 2012

Good Friday





it's Good Friday. 
... but why is it good? well of course, growing up in the church, we know that answer is,
"Jesus!" 
... and yes, that is correct... but what about Jesus? and of course we answer, 
"it is good because He died for us on that day." 
... and again, that is correct... and why is that so important?
"because He died for our sins so that we may have eternal life!" 
... wow! such good students. you all get stickers. 
"yay!" 
but year after year we hear the same message... in fact, we probably hear that message of how much He loves us and died for us maybe every week. and we become numb to it. we forget how great that is. we forget the joy of salvation and how wonderful it really is. we often forget how much Jesus actually went through for us... like a new toy or that new trend that fades away in months, our thankfulness and true awe of what was done on this day so many years ago is forgotten...
we've all made mistakes. we've all failed. we've all done things we regret. i look back at my life and i wish i didn't do some things. i wish i didn't say certain things to people. i wish i didn't hurt people. hurt myself. hurt God... but i did. and i can't go back and change it... sometimes i wish i could go back in time. i wish i can go back and make better decisions. change those mistakes i made... but then again, i'm glad i can't go back. i'm glad that those mistakes are still burned within me...
why? why live with the guilt? why live with the painful memories? because they make grace that much greater. they remind me how much i do need God. they prove to me that i am nothing without Him... there is nothing that i can do to attain salvation. no work. no deed. nothing can completely make-up for my sins. i deserve death. i deserve to go to hell... but that is why the work that was done on the cross was so great. it is why that horrific tool used to kill someone, represents something so beautiful. the cross that Jesus died on, paid the price. only He, the one who didn't deserve to die, died so we may live... that's how great grace is. that is why the gift of salvation is so wonderful. because it is something we don't deserve, but it is something we all can have...
we also often forget that Christ was fully human as well as fully God. Jesus really went through emotional and physical pain. he cried out to God asking Him to remove the cup that He was to bear. He felt the pain of the lashes. he felt the pain of the mocking and seeing the people He loved, turn away from Him. He thirsted on the cross. He felt the nails being driven through his flesh. He breathed His last breath... yes, He was fully God and the resurrection proves that. but, He was fully human as well... and He went through all that for you... for me...
now, i don't sit around all day and mope and feel depressed and put myself down saying how great a sinner i am... and i don't try and go out and sin even more, so i can receive more grace... that's jus stupid. that's not the point of why Christ came to die for our sins. He didn't do that so we can sin more. He died, so that we can live more... we can live with hope. with joy. with peace. with confidence. knowing that He has completely forgiven us and that when He returns again, we will finally be made whole again... 
and yet, we live our lives for Him half-heartedly. we continue on our days living without passion for him. we immerse ourselves with the world and other things drive us. we forget the true awesomeness of salvation. we forget to live for Him in our thoughts and actions. and so i come before You Lord, and i humble myself once again...
thank You God. for sending Your Son to die on the cross for me. thank You for loving me and blessing me with so much more than i deserve. i know that i am weak and i often fail and disappoint You, but You always forgive me. You always pick me up when i fall and i know that although i am nothing, You can still use me. i pray that my life will be used by You and that i live in such a way that is pleasing to You. may You continue to guide me in all i do. i thank You and love You...
amen.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Warriors Game and Easter Weekend



Last Friday, our youth group went to the Warriors/Nets game at Oracle Arena. Even though the Warriors lost the game by 2 points, we had a lot of fun cheering for them and fellowshipping together. Also, since it was "Fellowship Night," after the game we got to sit in the lower section and listen to coach and pastor Mark Jackson give his testimony about how he came to know Christ. He gave an alter call at the end and a bunch of people went down to accept Christ.

This weekend, we will have a Good Friday Service, Joint Sacraments, and Easter Service. As Christians, this is the time of the season when we focus in on the cross and the life that is given to us through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We hope that each one of us would recommit and give our lives over to Him. This Easter, we are very excited and happy that Erika Ho will be getting baptized! She will also give a brief testimony during our Easter Service. We hope that everyone would be able to come out and celebrate with her!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Doing Something

On Friday Nights, we have been talking about seeing God's heart for the poor, hungry, and lost. The thing is, we don't want to only see God's heart, but to actually be apart of doing something for those who are in need. However, there is so many good organizations out there. How are we to choose where to give to?

So, this past Friday, we did some research on different humanitarian organizations. The one that many youths liked was Doctors Without Borders. That is why we are encouraging all of us to see how much money we could give towards this organization. We can save up by not going out and buying a meal or setting aside some of the allowance we get. Then we will pool the money together and give it to Doctors Without Borders. Not only that, but Elder Torence mentioned that we will be able to get a matching fund from Cisco (up to $1000), so we will essentially double what we give.

Another organization we liked was Habitat for Humanity. So, we will look to see if we can get involved somehow with them and possibly go do physical labor and help build houses or something. It's time for us to move our faith into action and share God's love to others in a practical way!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Bring Your Laptops to Church?

Yes! This Friday, we will be doing something different as we'll be using our laptops, iPads, smart phones and whatnot not during youth fellowship. So bring one, two, or all three devices if you have it handy. If not, no worries either. Simply come out and join us for fun, fellowship, and growing deeper in our faith!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Activity Night (03.30)

Our Youth Group will be going to a Golden State Warriors basketball game for our next activity! This is a special Fellowship Night as after the game, there will be a short message by the Warriors head coach, Marc Jackson, who is also a pastor. There will also be music and some activities for those who attend.

Here's more information about the night:
Date: Friday, March 30
Time: The game starts at 7:30pm, but we will take BART to the game. Either meet at church at 6:50pm to carpool to the Fremont BART station, or meet us at the Fremont BART station at 7:15pm. Since there is the message and other activities after the game, we won't get back to church until 11:30pm-midnight.
Location: Oracle Arena in Oakland
Cost: Tickets are $12 or $16 (depending on the seats we get) and BART tickets are $7.20 roundtrip.

Please RSVP to Chris Liu by this Friday (03.16) because we need to purchase tickets!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Social Justice

Last Friday, our youth group watched the Kony 2012 video that exploded onto the internet. In this video, the organization called Invisible Children called attention to the Ugandan Warlord, Joseph Kony, who has kidnapped and abducted thousands of children for his own personal army. It is a very well-edited and heart-tugging video.

After the video, we talked about social justice and how this group has the heart to do something about injustice. However, we also talked about how they were accused of not allocating their finances well and how only a limited amount of the money raised really goes towards helping the Ugandans themselves.

The main takeaway for our group was to first have a heart like God. God's heart breaks for the poor and needy and we too should have a heart like His. Second, for us to be mindful of what organizations are out there doing good, but to do our research as well. And finally, to actually do something about it. It's not good enough just to talk about helping the poor, but we need to actually do it.

We will continue talking about social justice and helping the poor this upcoming Friday and what we can do to get involved. We hope that you can join us!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Outside Our Bubble

"Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
    Correct oppression;
Bring justice to the fatherless,
    Plead the widow's cause."

-Isaiah 1:17

...

We often live in a bubble and don't really know what's going on outside of our own lives. We might see or hear a news article here are there, maybe read the 'Top News' from CNN.com, but that's about it. However, there is so much more going on in the world and I hope that we can get outside of our bubble.

Starting this Friday (03.09), we will be starting a new series that will lead up to 30-Hour Famine (which will be on April 20). We'll look at social injustice and poverty around the world and hopefully develop a heart for those in need. We'll also see what we can do to make a difference and take action steps towards helping those causes. 

We hope that you can join us!


Monday, March 5, 2012

Fellowship Sunday (03.04.12)

This past Sunday, we took a break from our "Friendship First" study to have some fun fellowshipping with one another through team challenges. Teams were formed randomly and had to answer wilderness survival questions and random trivia. There were also three lightning rounds to see which team could first answer bible questions, identify celebrities and movies, answer academic problems, and do certain actions.

It was a very close match throughout the whole competition until Team 5, which consisted of Tim C., Annabelle, Chloe, and Joy, ran away with the win in the final lightning round.

Congrats to Team 5!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

The Best Question Ever (Review)

 For the past couple of months, we've been going through a DVD sermon series by Pastor Andy Stanley called "The Best Question Ever." This past Friday, we finally finished up the series.

Personally, this is one of my favorite sermon series by Andy Stanley, and to be honest, I've led it many times before with the different youth groups I've served. But each time we've gone through this series, I feel like it is still relevant and it really helps the students think about asking the best question ever.

This best question ever is: "What is the wise thing to do? In light of my past experience, my current circumstances, and my future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing to do. Not, what is the right thing to do, but what is the wise thing to do."

The more specific topics that were also covered were: three negative ways people respond to wise counsel,
setting high standards for sexual morality, how to use our time wisely, finding wise counsel from wise people, and finally fearing God which is the beginning of wisdom.

I hope that those of you who have joined did learn a lot and are now making better and wiser decisions in your every day lives!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Youth Ministry



This past Monday, there was tragic news of a High School shooting in Chardon, Ohio. A seventeen year boy, TJ Lane, was arrested and will most likely be charged with the killing of three students at Chardon High School. It was said that he grew up in an abusive and broken home and that there were signs of his violent actions before. Unfortunately, he took things to extremes before anyone did anything. News like this always hits a bit home for me. It's not because I have been in that type of situation before, but it's because this is a big reason why I decided to go into ministry.

In April of 1999, there was the Columbine High School shootings where two high-school seniors went on a shooting spree killing 12 students and a teacher, injuring 21 other students, before they committed suicide. I was a Sophomore in college at that time and I remember it hitting me that teens were in such need of guidance in their lives. The world that we live in today is so corrupt and there are so many things pulling at their lives influencing them. A year later, my dad started serving as a pastor at a church called EFC Irvine. At that time, the current youth leader was just about to step down and so they were looking for someone to work with their youth group. My dad asked my sister and I to help out over the summer and we agreed.

As I served with my sister as the Youth Counselors for EFC Irvine, I received my calling to go into full-time ministry. There was so much joy in working with these teens and trying, to the best of my ability, to help them live a life that has purpose and one that lives according to what God desires for us. That, coupled with the recent shooting, made me see just how important it is for teens to have a place where they can learn solid biblical truths. So after I graduated from college, I decided to go to Talbot School of Theology to get a Mdiv Degree.

It's been more than 10 years now since I first started working with youths and it's neat to see the many lives that have been changed. It's even more of a blessing to see many who are still passionate for God today and still growing and serving Him in whatever capacity they can. I know that it wasn't all me, far from it, but I'm glad that I was able to invest my life in theirs and see God use me.

I really pray that our youth group, Everglow, would be a place where many lives are changed. I pray that we would be a community of believers who are really committed to one another and desiring to see and help one another grow in our faith. I pray that we would be a fellowship who brings God's message of love and grace and truth into the world.

So join me, and partner with us, to be a light to this dark world!