My Epic Journey » night

Preparing for Worship

Ryan — Sat, 19 May 2012 19:57:14 +0000

This coming Sunday night, May 20th, at EPIC, are attempting our first worship night.

In thinking about the evening I have been wondering how I should prepare my heart. I believe there are three things we should all do in preparation for entering any worship environment:

Be honest about my relationship with God. Where am I at with God? I have recently been reading the book, The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller. The book has been really messing with me and making me ask the question, ” Am I more like the younger son (the one that ran away) or the older brother (the one that was self-righteous)?” Either way, in order for me to approach the throne of God appropriately, I must be honest about my relationship with God. Not so much about how He views me, but how I view and/or use Him.
Be in the Bible to hear from Him. I am currently studying the book of Psalms and I marvel about the numerous songs reminding us to worship and sing to the Lord for He is both good and to be feared. Reading Psalms 95-97 has been very good for me as a reminder that I need to DAILY be in a worshipful mindset toward God.
Be aware of how God designed me to worship. I love observing people in a worship setting. Most people have know clue how God designed them to worship. Scripture is clear that there are varying ways we express worship to God and all of these should be a part of my life but not all of them is how I am necessarily wired to worship. For me, I love standing with arms lifted up to God. Though it might me “out of my comfort zone” it reminds me that I need to surrender to God. I also enjoy just sitting, praying the words in my heart toward God. I’m not sure how you are designed to worship but it is important to find that out. We are not all “singers” but we are all called to express our worship to God.

EPIC Movie Night

Ryan — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:38:52 +0000

The movie night is THIS Sunday, January 24^th. We will do the movie and then NO EPIC later that evening.

We, unfortunately aren’t going to be able to go to the movie, Invictus. Instead we will go see the movie, To Save A Life. After a childhood friend’s death, Jake Taylor, an all-star athlete must change his life – and sacrifice his dreams to save the lives of others. You can check out more about the movie at To Save A Life or at Plugged In.

We are scheduled to see the movie at the Rave @ Polaris. The show time is 3:45 pm. We have 50 tickets for sale at the office for $7.00 a piece. If you don’t pick yours up by Sunday afternoon, please arrive early to purchase a ticket since we were unable to reserve the theater.

Teaching Outline—Haiti Night

Ryan — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:35:34 +0000

Due to the recent earthquake in Haiti, we changed some things up in EPIC. Here is our outline for the night (thanks to Brian over at Rethinking Youth Ministy for the idea and structure):

1. Students divided up into groups with a leader(s) over each group.

2. I will facilitate the overall meeting but would like you, the leader, to facilitate the

discussion time.

3. Discussion time—Anna Jamieson helped me put a video together about the tragedy along with Pat Roberston’s remarks:

Where do you think God is in this disaster?
How would you respond to televangelist Pat Robertson’s comments that the earthquake happened because the Haitian people are cursed for making a pact with the Devil? Is this disaster the result of sin or the shifting of a fault line?
Read Psalm 60, a psalm of lament. What do you make of this passage? Does it truly reflect God’s character or does it reflect the feelings of the psalmist? Or both?
Read Psalm 143, a cry for help. When we ask God for help, how do you think the prayer is answered? In what ways do you think prayers for help are being answered in Haiti right now?

4. I would then like for each group to spend some time praying for Haiti, its people, and the rescue/relief workers.

5. I would like to then pull everyone together to come up with a plan as to how we, EPIC, can help the Haitian people.

Two things:

We are going to partner with Lifeline to get supplies over to the Haitian people.
Keep praying for the people of Haiti and the relief workers who are there assisting.

EPIC Fuse Night

Ryan — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:28:07 +0000

This Sunday, December 6th is, is our EPIC Fuse Night from 5:00-7:00 pm.

Fuse is where we invite the family to join us for dinner and then and programming. The EPIC students will break out into their regular programming while the parents have a special time of training with Pastor Terry and Steve. Their topic will be, The Power of Family Traditions.

Don’t miss this evening!!!

Parents’ Night Out

Ryan — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:02:27 +0000

This coming Sunday, EPIC is doing a service project for families with special needs children. Here is the info:

When: November 22, 2009

Time: 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Where: Grace Point Community Church (2393 Peachblow Road Lewis Center, OH 43035)

Who: Individuals with disabilities and their siblings.

What is it: Parent’s Night Out is a youth sponsored event that allows caregivers to drop off individuals and their siblings at Grace Point Community Church to be cared for and engaged in a fun-filled evening of activities.

Cost: FREE! This is a service of the Student Ministry at Grace Point Community Church

Please call 740.548.7718 by November 20th to reserve your spot

Smith Kids & Halloween

Ryan — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:56:38 +0000

The kids dressed up for Trick or Treat tonight in the neighborhood.

Isaac was a disco dancer

Noah was a ninja

Emma was Supergirl.

We had a lot of fun and met and re-connected with a lot of neighbors.

EPIC Chili Cook-off

Ryan — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:45:23 +0000

Tomorrow night is our FUSE Night at EPIC. We invite all the parents to join us for dinner and then a parenting teens workshop while their students are in their regular program.

This month’s FUSE will feature Pastors Terry and Steve teaching the Parenting Teens Workshop. Going to be a great time for parents.

One aspect of the evening I am really excited about is our EPIC Chili Cook-off. So far we have 14 families bringing their best chili which will be voted on by the students and their families. The family with the most votes will receive a prize package.

Of course Anna is bring chili to represent our family.

Join us tomorrow night from 5:00-7:00 pm.

Lake Ann–Day #2

Ryan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:40:50 +0000

After a great night of rest our teens woke up excited about what the day had before them. Day #2 mainly consists of continuing to get to know cabin mates and team mates. They work on team building projects in attempt to learn how to trust each other more.

Most of our HS students had their first experience today paintballing.

But by far, the highlight of Day #2 for the Senior High campers is Fight Night. Fight Night is just a chaotic time of crazy games and screaming. It is absolute mayhem and absolute fun.

Oh, and as you can tell, Kevin has gotten in on the fun as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Middle School Movie Night

Ryan — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:55:17 +0000

Tonight we had our monthly Middle School event. We decided to go fairly low key since most of us leave tomorrow for camp. We pulled out the classic movie, The Princess Bride, pulled up the EPIC couches, popped lots of popcorn and settled in.

It was a lot of fun to see this epic movie over again. And it was fun to share it with our Middle School students.

EPIC Summer Events

Ryan — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:23:32 +0000