Don’t miss VOTA, Superchick, and Barlow Girl in concert Friday night 7pm@ the YMCA arena! Tickets are $15 online in advance, $20 @ the door. Click here for more details & to order tickets.

This is the final week to bring in items for our Christmas bags we’re sending to orphanages in Peru & Ecuador. We’re partnering with ChildReach Ministries this month to help gather items so that hundreds of orphans will get Christmas packages this year. Bring your gifts to FUSE* on Wednesday or to church on Sunday, our final day of collection. Here’s what we still need:

Hot Wheels cars
small toy balls (bouncy balls)
hair accessories
small Beanie Babies
toothbrushes
travel size toothpaste

Dear parents,

One of the biggest challenges for teenagers is developing a healthy self-identity.  This week, using the life of King David, our small groups start a two-week series that challenges our teenagers to develop IDENTITY based on God’s standards, not culture’s standards.

Our culture says we should identify ourselves by our physical, intellectual, and social abilities. But God is more concerned with our inner being-our hearts. Abilities and skills and talents matter, of course, but Christians can cultivate lives of character, and identities that reflect God’s heart.

This week, find time to talk with your teenager about his/her identity. Here are some possible questions you could use:

• How do you define “inner beauty” or “inner strength”?
• What do you think it means to be a person “after God’s own heart”?
• What plans do you believe God has for your life?

Read Psalm 139:13-16 together.  Talk about your own experiences in discovering God’s plan and purposes for your life. Emphasize how you appreciate all of your teenager’s gifts and talents and skills, but ultimately what matters is the condition of their heart.

Thanks for your love for your teenager. Have a blessed week!

DO NOT MISS FUSE* TONIGHT!!

Our friend Gerald Cadogan will be with us this evening. Gerald is a Penn State football great, having gone All Big Ten, Academic All American twice, and is currently an NFL free agent. He’s also released two gospel albums. And yes – he loves Jesus.

Get you & your friends to FUSE*tonight, 7pm!

Dear parents,

We finished our five-week small group study “LIVE,” designed to help students understand God’s purposes for their life. The first week, “Reach” focused on helping students understand that we are created in God’s image and we have the opportunity to share God’s love with the world. Week two, “Connect,” focused on understanding the basic need that humans have to be connected with others on a deeper level. Week three, “Grow” focused on the truth that we were created to know God and grow spiritually by spending time with God.

Week four, “Serve” focused on the truth that God’s unique design provides us with the privilege to serve others. This week our final study was “Worship,” and we focused on the importance of honoring God in all that we do and how we can give our lives as an offering to Him.

Sometime this week, generate some discussion with your teenager about honoring God:

• What are some traits of a healthy attitude toward worship?
• How can we better honor God together as a family?
• What are some great ways to prepare yourself to worship God when you come to church?

Thanks for your love for God and your love for your teenager. Have a blessed day!

Parents – if you haven’t yet, make sure you pick up the inaugural edition of our new FUSE*newsletter. It contains some great articles, staff bios, and a calendar of events through the end of 2009! You can pick up a FUSE*newsletter at any of the Info Centers, in the church office., or download it [here].

Dear parents,

We just completed week four in our five-week small group study designed to help students understand God’s purposes for their lives. This week’s lesson, called “SERVE” focused on the truth that God’s unique design provides us with the privilege to serve others. Our hope is that students will have realized they are gifted to serve and will begin serving others today!

Sometime this week, ask some questions to generate discussion with your teenager about serving others in ministry. Here are some possible questions to ask:

• Share with your teenager how you believe God has gifted you to serve others. What are some ways that you serve others individually?
• As a family, how much do we value the importance of serving? What are some ways that we as a family could serve others in our neighborhood, in our church, and in our community?
• How does serving others in ministry help us grow in our faith?

As always, thanks for the investment of love, time, and prayer you make in your teenager’s life. God will reward your faithful commitment!

Dear parents,

We’ve wrapped up week two in our five-week small group study “LIVE,” designed to help students understand God’s purposes for their lives. This week’s lesson, called “Connect” focused on understanding the basic need that humans have to be connected with others on a deeper level. Students were challenged to make their small group a place where they can be real and honest about their lives, and get help from each other to become more like Christ.

Sometime this week, take a moment to ask a few questions to generate some discussion with your teenager about connecting with others:

• Share about how you’ve been shaped or “sharpened” by your involvement in a small group or church fellowship. Then ask: How do you think you’d benefit from being involved in a small group?
• What are some moments in your life when you felt completely accepted for who you are? What factors helped you experience that freedom?
• How can you become a more encouraging person to others?

Thanks for your prayers for fuse*. It’s exciting to see God work in our teenagers’ lives. Have a great week!