We had a great time with Kutless and Newsboys!

The high school youth group had a wonderful time rocking, dancing and worshiping with Kultess and Newsboys at the Van Andel Arena Sunday night.

We found ourselves in the seventh row on the floor, amazing seats for an amazing show!

Newworldson started the night with a set that had some funk and blues from their upcoming CD.

Kutless followed with their heavy rock that had everybody jumping. Highlights were "Hearts of the Innocent" and the head-banging "Your Touch," and they closed with two worship songs from their "Strong Tower" CD.

Newsboys burst on the stage with "Shine" and a confetti storm. We were right in the middle of it and the silver and white confetti strips covered everything!


This is Paul Coleman's first tour with the band. He has some solo CDs, too.

Newsboys played a number of songs from their "GO," including "Wherever We Go," "The Mission," and "Something Beautiful." Lead singer Peter Furler shared an important message about God's tremendous love for us and how he accepts us as we are.



Duncan Phillips' drum riser started heading up, up, up during his solo -- while Peter rose even higher with his drums on the small stage out in the audience.



Duncan topped that when his riser started to spin, then turn sideways while he was pounding away.

Newsboys debuted two new songs, and ended their set with "I Am Free," a great sing-a-long.

Some of us were able to hang around after the show for Kutless to get done with their meet-and-greet. The guys took time to pose for photos and give us autographs!

It was a great night! Thank you Sarah for making it happen!

Youth news for November and December.

Here's the video for the Newsboys latest hit, "Something Beautiful." We're going to see them on Nov. 18!

Lots of things are happening, it's easy to lose track! Here are some important things you need to know for November and December.

1. Next Meeting, Nov. 18th, we have planned the concert for Newsboys and Kutless at the Van Andel. I bought the tickets for those of you who said you wanted to go. If you want to go still, and do not have a ticket, talk with me.



Kutless rocks! They'll be playing before the Newsboys. Here is their song "Sea of Faces."

2. The Mission Trip Meeting is next Sunday, Nov. 11, at 1 PM. There will not be lunch, the meeting will be roughly one hour. It will be all about our trip to Clearfield, PA in 2008 from July 12-19. I hope you all come! We only have 35 spaces (7 for adults, and 28 for youth).

3. Fund-raising began today with the Wreath Sale. For every wreath you sell, you receive $5 in your bank account for youth events.

4. Dec. 2 Youth Group will be an outing, with Advent by Candlelight being here. Watch your email for details.

5. The State-Wide ELCA Gathering will be Dec. 27-30th in Lansing,Michigan. There is a cost, that the church can help you with. This is a massive retreat of fun, fellowship, games, late nights, music, worship, and workshops with youth from all over the state, from other ELCA churches. It's not to be missed. But.... I need to know if you are thinking about coming. Please email me at sarah.stobie@tlcgr.org if you want to come.

6. Dec. 16th for Youth Group we will do a service project together. With the Faceless Band, we will form our own caroling group. It's a lot of fun, and an easy way to serve God this holiday season.

Check out scenes from our 2007 high school retreat

We started the perfect autumn afternoon at Klackel's Orchard near Greenville.

The petting zoo was pretty neat, with llamas, goats, turtles and bunnies.

Some of us have milked cows before -- but this is as close as the rest of us are ever going to get!

Picking apples was our next task. Some of the guys were experts at picking them, others were better at eating them.

Some of the ladies tried a new kind of make-up.

The Pumpkin Jump is for kids -- big kids!

The corn maze wasn't too difficult. The guys made it through in record time.

Everybody had fun climbing -- and jumping from -- the massive hay pyramid.

Apple trowing was off-limits. But apple launching was OK.

After the outdoors fun we headed to Boston's for pizza then went to see the latest Harry Potter movie. Thank you Sarah or planning a great day!

Important info from Sarah about upcoming events

• If you haven’t gotten emails this Fall from Sarah-she doesn't have your correct email address! Be sure to email Sarah YOUR email address so you know what is happening!


• -- Our next event is the High School Ultra-Secret Day Long Retreat! We have learned our lesson-we are telling NO ONE.


• We will gather at the church at 2 PM.
• Dress for the weather-don’t wear clothes that can’t get dirty. Wear comfortable shoes!
• We will return to the church by 10 PM.
• Some expense money, say 5-10 dollars, may come in handy…
• RSVP to Sarah NO LATER than Friday, Oct. 12^th.


• We will not have High School Youth Group on the 21^st, due to the day long event on the 20^th!


• Our Mission Trip Information Meeting will be Sunday, Nov. 11^th at 1 PM-there will not be a meal. We will meet for 1 hour to learn all about the next trip. Parents are to come to hear all of the details! Our trip will be July 12-19^th. Mark your calendar now!


• You asked for it-we delivered! We will be going to a concert on Sunday, Nov. 18^th. The concert is the Newsboys and Kutless-two great bands! It will be at 6 PM. You MUST RSVP to Sarah Stobie by Oct. 12^th-yes, the 12^th! These concerts have been selling out, and if you want a ticket, want to sit all together, and want to pay only HALF of the ticket’s cost-9.00-you MUST RSVP by Friday, Oct. 12^th.


• Kent County is having a Food Drive. Trinity and Mayflower are teaming up to organize our two churches to have the BEST drive ever! They need help from the youth to make this successful. If you can help out with passing out flyers the week of Oct. 5-12^th, please let Sarah know. Also, they need people to pick up the items on Oct. 13^th! You can make a difference this Fall for a family in Kent County!

Wiffle Balls and blind faith

I told this story at the high school youth group meeting on Sunday and thought folks who weren't there might like to hear it.



Rich delivers a pitch in the Valley Bureau while Pierce conducts an interview.

Visitors to the Bridgeport Post’s Valley Bureau probably thought the "Romeo and Juliet" poster looked like it was hanging a little too low on the back wall.

But the guys in the office knew the poster had a more important purpose than advertising some community playhouse production. It was our strike zone.

Yes, we played Wiffle Ball in the office when the coast was clear.

As you probably know, Wiffle balls are plastic baseballs with eight oblong holes on one side that allow even a Little Leaguer to break off curve balls like Bert Blyleven.

It was our civic duty to play. We were supporting a local business. On one of my first days heading to work in the bureau, I nearly pulled off the road when I saw the small factory on Bridgeport Ave. with the Wiffle Ball sign in front. The epicenter of all things Wiffle was right there in Shelton, Conn. And just down the street from our office.

And it existed in relative secrecy, too. I could never understand why signs at the city limits didn’t read, "Welcome to Shelton, home of the Wiffle Ball." That area of Connecticut is home to Sikorsky helicopters — in Stratford — and Bic pens and razors and even Subway sandwich shops — both in Milford — all of which have a higher profile, and all of which pale in importance to the Wiffle ball.

The plastic spheres were an essential part of my youth. There aren’t too many places to do more than play catch with a real baseball in suburban New York. But we could take full hacks at a Wiffle ball anywhere in our small yards without fear of injury to person or property. We played Wiffle Ball everywhere.

Since I covered Shelton planning and zoning, I immediately started plotting for any excuse to write about the factory. I eventually came up with something flimsy, placed the call and secured my invitation.

I was greeted by David Mullany, grandson of the inventor, who gave me a quick tour of the machines that pump white plastic into molds. The yellow bats and cardboard packaging were made somewhere else and shipped to Shelton.

I then dropped the burning question: What makes the balls curve?

And I couldn’t believe the answer: "We have no idea."

It was time for the creation story. Every culture has one.

David told me how his father, also named David, and his brother would play baseball with plastic practice golf balls and broomsticks in their backyard. The boys were trying to break off deuces all day, and the grandfather — he, too, was named David — was once a semi-pro pitcher and worried the boys would hurt their young arms.

So he bought a bunch of the plastic golf balls, sat down at the kitchen table with a steak knife and started cutting patterns into the balls.

For some reason, and the family doesn’t know why, the version with the eight ovals on one side easily curved. Hold a ball so the ovals are on the right, ball curves right. Ovals on the left, and you can guess what happens.

The company made a baseball-sized Wiffle ball, and if you look hard you can find softball and mini-sized balls, too.

Then it was time for some inside information. We took our office Wiffle Ball games seriously, especially when the weather warmed up and we took our competitions to the driveway across the street. I needed a strikeout pitch, and I had an audience with a master.

At that point, he bestowed upon me a private lesson on the Wiffle knuckler. And gentle reader, I pass this knowledge on to you. Hold the ball so the ovals face your palm instead of right or left. Place two of your fingertips at the base of the holes, and push off with those fingers as you release the ball. The ball should float in without spinning, and the batter will either be mesmerized by the beauty of the whole thing or flail hopelessly when he realizes too late that no curve is coming.

We got a little out of hand when our lunch-hour games started stretching well into the afternoon, and then when we started challenging the Stratford Bureau.

I think about the story of the Wiffle Ball when I ponder some of life’s big mysteries. We can’t explain why some things happen. They just do. We must remember that God is in control, not us. Accept that curves in life are coming for reasons we can’t — or aren’t meant to — understand.

And once in a while, expect a knuckleball.

Exciting retreat information

Ultra-Secret Location for High School Retreat...

When? Saturday, Oct. 20th!

We will be going someplace (NOT STAYING AT CHURCH!!!) to have a mini-retreat. I have heard from a parent that the SAT test is scheduled that AM.

If there are a lot of you taking the SAT, will you let me know? Comment here. I will alter the plans, and we can leave later in the day. No matter when we leave, we will return at 11:00 PM at TLC.

We won't be having the HS Youth Group on the 21st! So make sure you come on the 20th! Talk to you all soon!

Next Youth Group Meeting

We're meeting Sunday, Sept. 16th at 6:30 PM for Youth Group. We'll design our own t-shirt, plan out the rest of the year's activities, and do games & eat! You gotta come--we're planning the year! So do your homework EARLY, and no excuses. Let's make this year the best! See you there!

Dave's hands and feet

I posted this on my baseball blog, but I thought some of the God Squaders might like reading it.

-- Dave


I was kind of kind of surprised to hear the Shea Stadium PA system blare out a heavy metal song when new Met Jeff Conine strode to the plate Sunday night. Not that we know Conine very well yet, but it just didn’t strike me as something he would select.

And since the mind wanders when the Mets are incapable of getting a hit off Dodger relievers, I wondered what it would be like if we all had to pick a theme song for when we entered the room at work, which is essentially what Conine is doing when he carries a bat into the box.

What kind of statement do you want to make?

For me, it would be an easy choice: “Hands and Feet” by Audio Adrenaline.

The band’s final CD -- "Live from Hawaii, the Farewell Concert" -- was released today. Audio A is disbanding because lead singer Mark Stuart’s already raspy voice is shot from years of touring and the members want to go out while still on top.

I had heard of the band, but not necessarily heard much of its music. But that changed Sept. 15, 2001 when Audio appeared in Grand Rapids headlining first Festival Con Dios.

“Hands and Feet” was one of the last songs played at the daylong event, and I remember Stuart stepping back and letting the crowd sing the refrain several times, then letting people sing it without the band playing.

“I want to be your hands
I want to be your feet
I’ll go where you send me
I’ll go where you send me
And I try, yeah I try
To touch the world
Like You touched my life
And I’ll find my way
To be your hands”

And as the sound of several thousand people singing this filled the air, I had one of those magic moments of clarity. I got it. I understood what we are supposed to do.

And without getting all preachy here, I understood that we are supposed to do more than just show up at church every Sunday, and then forget everything we are supposed to have learned – until the next Sunday.

I understood that we are in fact, supposed to do His work all the time, and that he might take us places that are uncomfortable and put us into challenging or even scary situations to reach the people who are not easily reached and might need to hear His message. The Lord has touched my life and made it better, and part of our job is to spread his word and do his work.

Which is not to say that I do this well. More times than I care to admit, I fail miserably – like when I wrote mean-spirited things about Derek Jeter in the since-deleted previous post.

But after that night at the concert, I’ve thought about those lyrics a lot. And I’ve tried to think about ways to do his work in uncomfortable places.

One opportunity came up the next year when my church needed someone to lead a middle school youth group and was having trouble finding someone because, well, they’re middle-schoolers.

I gave it a shot, and based the first lesson and activity around “Hands and Feet.” And there are times when working with young people is uncomfortable and scary – and unbelievably rewarding. And you’ve read about some of those adventures in this space before.

This year will be the sixth year that I’ve worked with middle- and high-school students – but not at the same church.

Churches can be messy places, especially when a lot of strong-willed people think they are all doing God’s work and sometimes their ideas contradict. And the one we were attending was getting messier – I’ll spare you the details -- and we were wondering if we should be worshiping elsewhere.

Leaving a church is a tough decision to make. We started checking out another church and it seemed like a great fit, especially with a baseball-loving pastor. But I still felt pulled in both directions. I wanted some kind of sign that we were doing the right thing.

One of the weeks we attended was the new church’s youth Sunday. You want to guess what song the kids performed? My wife said, “What kind of a sign are you waiting for, a burning bush?”

We’ve been there ever since and it’s a wonderful place. And each time I have a new group of kids I share the song with them and we talk about how we can apply it to situations we encounter every day.

I’ve meet the guys in Audio A several times since then, and each time I thought about telling them about the impact “Hands and Feet” has had on me then chickened out. They probably hear such things a lot.

But, in the unlikely event that the Mets call on me once the rosters expand this week, you’ll know what to expect as I head to the plate.

Check this OUT!

Lora Nelson's Blog about her trip in Mexico is absolutely fabulous! Look at her cool photos and see what ministry opportunities she has experienced! Check it all out at

http://lorainmexico.blogspot.com/

Hits from Hawk Nelson and the Whitecaps

Check out Larry in the mosh pit, rocking out to Hawk Nelson.

Baseball, Christian rock and fellowship, all in one night? Sounds like a wild time at Fifth Third Park on Tuesday.

Trinity youth group members and their families rocked out to Hawk Nelson, then watched the West Michigan Whitecaps beat up the Kane County Cougars.

Opening act The Send didn't seem to get anybody too excited, but the place started jumping when Hawk Nelson took the stage with a cover of Audio Adrenaline's "Clap Your Hands" then roared into "The One Thing I Have Left."

A handful of bold youth group members made their way to the front of the stage for some ear-ringing excitement and got an up-close look at both the band and Larry and Bob crashing the mosh pit.

Then it was the Whitecaps' turn to pump out the hits, posting three runs in the second inning and three more in the eighth. The Cougars tacked on a couple runs in the last frame, but the Caps held on for the win.

Some Trinity members also had the chance to meet Rubber Boy, who put on a frightening show by squeezing himself through a toilet seat then somehow cramming into a small box.

Been Awhile!

Hey, it's been a while since a post--probably because the Rummage Sale and then Mission Trip filled all of our time. But... Dave Murray and I will be getting together for lunch, soon, and then we'd like to call a God Squad Meeting. Lots of things to decide for this upcoming year--events to plan, and a tour of area "youth rooms" so that we can definitely update ours. Watch the blog and email for details if you want to help!

Don't forget, our next scheduled event is August 8th, 6:30 PM at my house for games and food. But, after the God Squad meets, hopefully we'll have something planned sooner!

Shalom!
Sarah

New News--Read! And Know!

Hey, I like this. I can blog away... does anyone read it, though? Hmmmm.

Anyways, I am making arrangements for this Sunday's God Squad Event. Sunday, May 20th, from 3-6 PM, we are off to go bowling at Eastbrook Lanes. We will bowl two games. I will pay for the games and shoes, but you should bring a few bucks for a snack. This will be FUN! So plan on going there! Talk to you all soon, have YOU been to the rummage sale yet? Shalom, Sarah

Who IS the God Squad?

It's just a cool name for our Youth Board. They are self-elected. And they are: Joey M., Jason V., Linnea F., Andrew M., Ryan C., and Claire C. Got ideas for youth events? Tell them! :)

Welcome to the TLC God Squad site!

Hello friends!

This is a spot for Trinity Lutheran Church youth group members to come and find out what's going on.

There are exciting things in the works, so check back soon.

And feel free to leave comments at the bottom because we want to hear from all of our young people.

God bless!