BFF 2: Simple Ways to Make a Difference

We've spent the last couple weeks talking about friendship and hospitality. How we treat others communicates a lot about us - as individuals, a youth group, and Christians. If we are trying to follow the example of friendship provided to us by Jesus, we should be willing to make some changes.
Here are a couple simple things we can do to be more welcoming and friendly in our youth group:

1. Imagine yourself in someone else's shoes. How would you feel if you were at Mount Zion's youth group for the first time?
2. Be confident. This is your house - give your visitors a tour. Tell them the cool things about our youth group. Don't worry about whether or not our guests want to be talked to - you are here to make them feel at home!
3. Get excited. This is your opportunity to serve someone else. It's your opportunity to show others what you love.
4. If you invite someone to youth, hang out with them. Make them feel even more welcome than the last time they came if they've come before. (Don't forget to hang out with them if you didn't invite them, too!)
5.Be a good sport and play by the rules. If someone's new, they don't understand our group dynamics. Show them that we respect our teammates and our opponents during activities.
6. Smile. Mean it.
7. Ask more than one question. Remember our acronym: S.A.L.T.  Ask about School, Activities like clubs or teams, Likes/Leisure activites they do in their free time, then Take them to meet your friends.

Welcoming others isn't only about people who are setting foot at Mount Zion for the first time - it also includes breaking past our comfort zone and talking to people we don't know well. This might be talking to someone who hasn't been to youth in a long time or sitting with other youth group members you see every week.

Take some time and learn something new about someone in our youth group this week. My hope is that you'll find we're not so different from each other.

BFF: Being a Faithful Friend

We aren't friendly.
Hard to hear? Here are a couple questions we answered last night, see how well you do:

1. In the past month, we’ve had 6 visitors at youth. Name one:

 - Name the friend he/she came with:

 - Name where they went to school:

2. Name someone in the youth group you don’t go to school with and aren’t related to:

 - Name their favorite free-time activity:

3. Name a youth who goes to church who doesn’t go to youth:

 - Name the last time you invited them to youth:

4. Name someone at your school who doesn’t have a lot of friends:

 - Name the last time you talked to them outside of class:

My hope is that looking at these questions will get us to look at how we come off as Christians. Our youth group is nice to visitors, but being nice doesn't mean we're acing the hospitality test. Over the next couple weeks, we hope to face some of the challenges we have to be a more welcoming group. Not because we think we're awesome, but because how we treat outsiders says a lot about our faith.

In Matthew 25:40, Jesus explains that when we show hospitality to someone, we do the same to him: “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ " Also, if we are to be like Christ in our behavior, when we don't welcome others, we're communicating that Christ doesn't welcome them either.

When we stick to our friends and comfort zone, we inadvertently make others feel excluded. Imagine how you would feel in the same situation! It's not that we're mean to our visitors or the strangers we meet; it's that we're not taking the extra step to make them feel like part of the group. It's not just about noticing a new face, it's about inviting them into our world in a way that makes them want to experience it again.

We watched Matthew West's video  - "My Own Little World" as a reminder that there's a bigger picture, a purpose, outside our own little world.

Acquire the Fire

On March 18th & 19th, Mount Zion Youth will travel to Greensboro for Acquire the Fire.

What exactly is Acquire the Fire? It is a weekend centered around growing closer to Christ. It is a weekend where we will rediscover what we've known all along: we are broken and in need of a savior. It's a time where we will worship together. It's an opportunity to be real- with ourselves and God.

Come with us. Find a way.


Acquire the Fire - the website.


Worship led by Unhindered- one of the bands at ATF this year.




Sign up in the fellowship hall.

Upcoming January Events for Mount Zion Youth

Sunday, January 16: Youth from 5:00 - 7:00 PM

Monday, January 17th: Rescheduled Youth Council Meeting from 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM, in the Middle School classroom (across from the kitchen)

Sunday, January 23rd: Youth Soup and Potato Lunch - after the 11:00 AM service until about 2:00 PM.
 Also, Youth from 5:00 - 7:00 PM

Sunday, January 30th: Youth from 5:00 - 7:00 PM

Youth Mission Fair

Thanks to everyone who came out for the Youth Mission Fair! We packaged 20,000 meals to be distributed to hungry people around the world. That's like feeding the entire city of Clayton twice! Great job everyone.