Sweet Spot Shots

Last Sunday was so much fun I took pictures! Here's my favorite. I saw others taking pics, too. It would be fun to share our Sweet Spot Shots. Do you have any pics to share???

Amazing!

Last night was absolutely amazing. It was great to be back with everyone and to meet so many new people. I absolutely believe you guys will play a key role in reinventing what church is all about...not just youth ministry but the whole entire Christian Church! Mike is a gift from God as our Youth Pastor. His love for everyone just blasts out of him. That makes "Summer of Love" the perfect theme for our very first series of discussions. The Sweet Spot won't be able to contain us much longer and I have a feeling we're going to just keep outgrowing buildings! That makes sense. Since God can't be contained in any building it figures his people will keep busting out of them!!! Comment here to share what you thought of last night, what we could do better, what we should keep doing and how we can spread the love to even more people this summer.

Missing You All

Hey there Sweet Spotters! I'm dying to know how things are going with our youth ministry. Summer is here and the possibilities are endless. I hope Mike is keeping all of you interested and excited! And I hope you're all keeping Mike on his toes. Can't wait to get back and find out all the great things that are happening. In the meantime, please share what's been happening by replying to this post. Also, if you're interested, share what's happening in your own personal walk with Jesus. It helps all of us when we share our stories.

As for me, I've been spending the last two weeks with over 100 college students training and preparing them to lead mission trips all over the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, Belize and Peru! It's exciting to see what God's doing through the energy, excitement and enthusiasm of people not very much older than the awesome leaders we have in our Sweet Spot group. You all have the power to change the world and I'm never more excited personally than when I'm spending time equipping you to follow God's call on your lives and encouraging you to lead the way God wants you to. Never, ever doubt the difference you can make in this world.

Thanks A Million

Thanks to everyone who came out for our "Million Dollar Spending Spree". We found out it's very hard to spend a million dollars in one hour. The winning team could barely top a quarter million spent. We had 25 people, which was awesome, and most stayed for the movie. The whole night was a lot of fun. Now it's time to get back to the Sweet Spot. Summer's coming fast and we've got lots of things we've talked about but I don't think much is settled for sure. Mike can comment on this post to give us some direction for this coming Sunday and any other thoughts he'd like to share. If you're reading this, take a minute and comment so we know how many are looking at the blog. Even just a quick "hey" in the comments would work. Thanks, again, to everyone for a great time last night.

Baby is in The House!

More accurately still in the hosptital...but we have news AND PICTURES of Pastor Gregg and AnnMarie's new baby, GARRET JEFFREY. He weighed in at 8 pounds even and 20 3/4 inches long. CONGRATULATIONS! Do you think Garret could join us for The Million Dollar Shopping Spree and Prince Caspian on Sunday? We'll treat him to popcorn! Not sure of the actual birthdate as it wasn't included in the e-mail I got. Pastor Gregg?

Litterbug and Lost Sunglasses

Last night was a blast! We had so much fun, food, film and friendship. Not only that but we created a whole new game. LITTERBUG! If you missed it last night you'll have to get the news from someone who was there. The rules are still in some dispute as I say there should be no litterbacks but I was dramatically outvoted on that. Someone left a pair of sunglasses at our house so if you're missing yours let me know.

This Sunday we'll be meeting at Centerra by the fountain outside Build-A-Bear. After the "Million Dollar Shopping Spree" we'll be going to see the latest Narnia movie...Prince Caspian. Bring friends.

The most exciting news of the whole night...MIKE IS OUR NEW YOUTH PASTOR FOR GRACE PLACE LOVELAND! CONGRATULATIONS MIKE! Hope you enjoyed all the welcome punches last night.

Cookout & A Movie

It's official! We'll have a cookout at Tim's house this Sunday, Mother's Day, since the Sweet Spot will be open late for regular customers. The conversation last night was awesome...imho...and I hope all of you enjoyed it, too. For this Sunday the meat will be provided (maybe steak, but don't get your hopes up) along with drinks. If each of you could bring something to share (chips, salad, whatever) that would be great. Bring enough for eight people and that should cover it. Now comes the hard part! We have to pick a movie. Post a comment here to vote for a movie (nothing "R" rated). Once we have a list to pick from we'll settle on something. Let's start a half hour earlier than normal at 5:30 p.m. since there will be dinner involved. I'll have Mike e-mail directions to everyone so you can find the house. Hope you can join us...after you've properly honored your Moms, of course.

Feeling Separated from God?

This is the topic we'll discuss this Sunday night at the Sweet Spot. Comment here to share any stories of a time you felt separated from God. What happened, if anything, that caused the feeling? How did you get reconnected...if you did? Have you ever helped a friend through a time of separation? Is there someone in your life right now who's feeling separated from God and might get something out of joining us on Sunday? Let's get ready for Sunday through the blog. Invite anyone you know to check it out.

Great Fun

Last night was a lot of fun. It's great to be able to relax and enjoy time together. While it doesn't always have to be explicitly about faith and changing the world, the process of building a community of faithful world changers includes times like last night. As soon as Mike sorts through your responses we'll post the topic for this Sunday's discussion. I'm hoping it'll be a topic you feel comfortable inviting people to join. Any comments about last night can be shared here and be sure to remind friends to visit the blog!

This week's thoughts

There are tons of thoughts and new ideas flooding in. How was last Sunday? Are we keeping the momentum? What sorts of details should be paying attention to? What sort of help do you guys (teens) need from the old guys? The Sunday meetings are lots of fun but we'll need to pay attention to other things and listen to what God's telling us as we move forward.

About Last Sunday

Okay, so I'm back to posting and I hated to miss last Sunday. Please share all about it. Did you shoot the video? Did we grow again? What's next from here? Share your thoughts, feelings, insights, and inspirations. Speaking of video...I'll be in Florida this weekend shooting a video for work so I'm missing another Sunday! It helps to be able to read about it here. It's not the same as being there but it keeps me connected to you guys. Now, let the sharing begin...

Thoughts for Week 2

After Sunday night's meeting this'll be the post where you can comment. Share thoughts, experiences, plans for the future, anything worth commenting on. Be general or as specific as you need to be.

On Vacation

Hey, I'm on vacation for the next week and may not have access to keep up with posts. Anybody who wants to post, if you could let me know over the weekend because I know I'll have access to my daughter's computer. Then I can change the settings to let others post. That way you guys can keep the conversation going. It's probably best that others besides me are posting topics anyway. Hope Sunday night is a great time and that you all enjoy Spring Break.

It's Thursday...but Sunday's Comin'

Apologies to Tony Campolo for modifying his line for the title of this post! I'm sure all the teens are wondering what I'm talking about. Anyway, we've all agreed to get together this Sunday. We've talked about what we might do but, I don't think we've settled on anything. So this post is an invitation for everyone to discuss what we might do this Sunday. It doesn't have to be way formal, but we should have some general idea so it's meaningful for those who show up. In my experience if something meaningful (translated worth giving up my time for) doesn't happen it'll make it harder to get people to come back.

Any Questions?

Since we can't get everyone together in one place to have some "God conversations" before Sunday I thought I'd post this invitation to ask questions. This could be one of our best threads yet...and, hey, it's only been two days!! Anyway, here's what I'm thinking. Anyone, adult or youth, who has questions about faith, God, religion, relationship, telling others, etc., etc., can write their questions as a comment to this post. Then, anyone with a thought, Bible passage, recommended book, blog, resource that helps address the question can respond. There may be different opinions and everything should be looked at through the lense of scripture ultimately. Questions can be about anything, nothing is out of bounds. For now it seems there are some with questions specific to what to share this Sunday so that might be a good place to start. So, that's it...let the questions begin!!

April 1 - Today's Meeting

It seems like not everyone was able to post a comment yesterday. This daily meeting thing will be a challenge with our meetings held online. Please encourage each other to jump online and join the conversation. For today I think we should respond to the invitation to meet in person before Sunday and talk about some details. Is there a day that works best for everyone? Who would pull together some goals for the meeting? Any suggestions and time and dates you're available would help. You guys are awesome and this Sunday will be amazing.

Impressions for the Book

So here's the thread where you can post your impressions from our very first meeting. These can be random thoughts, impressions, reactions, whatever. Add a comment and it will grow as everyone shares their thoughts. This is the way we'll capture the immediacy of our work for posterity. Don't wait too long to share your thoughts as they will fade and change.

Attention to Detail

Part of what makes a great idea become more than an idea is taking care of all the little details. What details do we need to take care of to make sure this youth ministry takes off and becomes what we dreamed about last night? Share all your thoughts on the details, please!

A Great Start

Hey, everyone. The Youth Ministry of Grace Place, Loveland Campus is off to a great start! Thanks to everyone for the awesome meeting tonight and thanks, especially to God for the movement of his Spirit in the middle of us and all the great ideas that came flying out. We're off to a great start! Please post your thoughts, comments, and reactions to tonight's meeting right here in the comments section. Come back everyday as this will be the main meeting place for our team. If you want to post a topic just e-mail it to me and I'll copy and paste it into a new blog post. We'll set-up threads for side topics or whatever we need. One of the threads will be where the book will get written about how God did this amazing thing through us. I hope you're all as excited as I am!!!