Youth Director Archive

Music Notes

Posted March 7, 2024 By admin

Zephaniah 3:14, 17

Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart!

 

The Lord your God is in your midst,

A mighty one who will save;

He will rejoice over you with gladness;

He will quiet you by his love;

He will exult over you with loud singing.

 

I recently came across this verse during bible study and that last sentence immediately caught my attention. I can think of so many wonderful reasons to sing out to the Lord especially as we come out of this Lenten period of reflection on our need for a savior. God is with his us, he has saved us. What a beautiful message that he quiets us by his love, but then He exults over us with loud singing. I’ve never thought of God singing over us. I know that God loves our song. It appears in scripture so many times. But to think that God is singing over us thrills me. So this Easter morning as we rejoice again and give thanks for the most important gift we have ever been given let us raise our voices in song and sing aloud with the Lord.

 

Our youngest choristers have begun choir practice on Sunday afternoons preparing to sing on Palm Sunday. Children’s choir is from 3-3:30 every Sunday afternoon. We look forward to singing to the Lord Palm Sunday morning and in the future. Children’s choir is open to all children under 4th grade.

 

 

Calling all St. Jacob’s Youth!

Posted February 7, 2023 By admin

Super Bowl Sunday is quickly approaching. Will your favorite team be one of the two playing for the title? Well, now you have a chance to cheer them on and be of help to your orphaned Christian brothers and sisters in Congo at the same time. The annual Souper Bowl of Caring involves youth church members all over the country in the mission of God. Here at St. Jacob’s you will collect a love offering in “Souper Bowls” marked with each team’s logo. The team that raises the most money for the Children in Congo will be declared the winner. The goal set for our competition is to raise a combined $200.00 for the Congo Mission.
If our “Souper” Bowl reaches the goal, all youth participating will be invited to provide “Head Coach” Pastor David Nuottila with the traditional Gatorade victory shower. So come on! Let’s have some fun and at the same time show the love of Christ Jesus to our far away friends and children who are in great need.
St. Jacob’s members, be sure to bring your spare change and loose cash to donate to this cause. Remember, the greater the gift, the wetter Pastor will get.

Youth and Family Ministry

Posted October 31, 2022 By admin

Dear Church Family, As another month goes by, we are excited about the different opportunities we’ve been able to partake in. This past month we started the new Sunday school curriculum from “The Bible Project.” This curriculum does a fantastic job teaching kids through the entire bible looking for the focus of God’s promise of redemption as we see Christ in every story. If you would like to be a part of Sunday school, we are looking for volunteer teachers. Coming up later this week, we have our “trunk or treat” gathering, along with a “Halloween party” and youth “lock-in”. We are excited about the opportunity to fellowship together during these events. This year we partnered with “operation Christmas tree child”, providing gifts of Christmas presents to children around the world in need. This ministry has a beautiful opportunity to share the gospel with every child that receives a gift and has a wonderful disciple ship program for the children and their families. If you have not gotten a box yet, we still have some that need filling!
If you want to get involved with the youth and family program here at St. Jacobs, don’t hesitate to reach out! Blessings,

Youth and Family Ministry

Posted October 2, 2022 By admin

Youth and Family Ministry
Dear Church Family,
As we look forward to the rest of 2022. We look forward to what our heavenly Father has planned for our continual growth in Him. With the summer over, we will have exciting new plans for the rest of the year. The Children’s Sunday school class will start a new Bible curriculum focused on seeing Jesus Christ through the entire Bible. The youth Sunday school class will dive into their relationship with our Savior, asking the question, “Why does Jesus Christ matter to me?” Anyone who would like to participate in this ministry would be more than welcome!

Regarding the youth and family program:
We are starting a new discipleship ministry with parents as they seek to be equipped for God’s calling through scripture. And will be starting to have fun Christian events for the youth and their families to fellowship with one another, creating a safe environment for an authentic kingdom community for the glory of God.

We would love for families and the whole congregation to get involved in this ministry; please feel free to reach out to get plugged in! Thank you, and please continue to pray for the Family ministry here at St. Jacobs; if you have any questions or would like to get involved, please reach out!

Blessings,
Matt Burt
Youth and Family Director

Youth Lock-In

Posted August 26, 2022 By admin

On Friday, September 2nd St. Jacob’s youth from grades 5 – 12 are invited to participate in a lock in here at the church. Pastor David and Matt will be leading the evening’s activities. We will have plenty of snacks and games. As a ministry project, we will have materials on hand for each youth member to assemble a mercy box to be delivered to We Care of Chapin. Parents may begin dropping off their children in the fellowship hall at 7 PM on Friday, September 2nd. Pick up will be at 8 AM on Saturday, September 3rd. St. Jacob’s participants are encouraged to invite a friend to participate as well. Please contact Matt to let him know if your child will be attending.

End of Summer Lock-In

Posted August 10, 2022 By admin

Pastor David and Matt are planning a lock-in for our youth in grades 5-12. We will enjoy plenty of games and activities as well as evening and midnight worship by candlelight. Please contact Pastor David or Matt to let them know that your child(ren) will be attending. A list of items children should bring with them will be published at least one week before the lock-in takes place. One activity during our lock-in will be to engage the mission of the Church by assembling Flood Buckets for the NALC Disaster Response Warehouse. Anyone who would like to donate items for the Flood Buckets may do so. A list will be published in the Mid-August Grace Notes and also included in the worship bulletins prior to the lock-in.

St. Jacobs Congregation,
Grace to you and peace from our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. I praise Him for all the blessing He has been in our Youth and Family Ministry over the past weeks. At the end of June, we had a wonderful VBS with our youth and the friends they invited! Over the week, we learned how much our Father loves us through His creation of each of us, the gracious work of the Son, and the empowering of the Holy Spirit. I can’t express how grateful I am to all the volunteers who cared for the kids’ physical and spiritual needs! Truly a testament to the Holy Spirit’s inward workings in the congregation’s lives.
We also had our first bi-monthly evangelism social gathering where the families of St. Jacob’s gathered to enjoy each other’s fellowship, eat ice cream, and support Pastor David’s Congo Ministry through the making of cross bracelets and necklaces with specific Bible verses written on them for the encouragement and lifting of our brothers and sisters in the Congo.
As our weekly family gatherings continue, I praise God for the growth He caused and the plan He has for it! Thank you for supporting this ministry through your words of encouragement and continual prayers.
Please continue to pray for the family ministry at St. Jacob’s. Blessings,
Matthew
matt@st-jacobs.org

Director of Youth And Family Ministries

Posted July 12, 2022 By admin

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 16:11 (ESV)
We praise God for how He has worked in our hearts for the past weeks during our Family & Youth gatherings. These past weeks, we’ve had the opportunity to dive into the different passages that make up our vision.
For families at St. Jacob’s to dive headfirst into the surpassing knowledge of the love of Christ for sinners and sufferers. And to become lights to their families and the world around them. (Matthew 11:28-30, Ephesians 3:17-19, John 6:35-40, Matthew 5:13-16)
It has been an excellent opportunity to spend Tuesday nights with the families at St. Jacob’s as we wrestled with the different promises and commands that our Heavenly Father has given us. And to see more clearly whom He says He is and how He views us. I pray that as this ministry continues, many more families will join us as we continue down this path of knowing Him and making Him known.
Starting on the 5th of July, we will be diving into a new series on “Heroes in the Bible,” not necessarily heroes for what they have done, but for how they embraced God’s plan for their lives and how God uses them for His glory. I hope to see you there as we learn more about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit through different unique people that He lifted through scripture and what their lives can teach us.
Church family, would you continue to pray for the inward workings of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we seek to dive headfirst into the surpassing love of Christ for sinners and sufferers?
Matthew
matt@st-jacobs.org

Tuesday Evening Family Ministry

Posted May 25, 2022 By admin

Matt, our Director for Youth and Family Ministry, has begun a new Family ministry here at St. Jacobs. Families share a time together exploring the depths of the Christian faith and growing in their relationship with Christ as his disciples. We gather on Tuesday evenings at 7 PM in the Fellowship Hall, enjoying games, music, snacks and learning more about how we can grow together as children of God. Please plan to join us. You can reach out to Matt via email at matt@st-jacobs.org or speak with him on Sunday morning.

Vacation Bible School

Posted May 25, 2022 By admin

Sparks Studios 2022

VBS is back! Kids for Pre-K to 8th grade and their friends are invited to join us for a week of fun games, music, snacks, lessons, crafts, and much more. This year we will be diving into the awesomeness of God the Father, our Creator and Designer. The overwhelming joys of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and the powerful work of the Holy Spirit as He helps us throughout our lives.

VBS will begin with a light supper served at 5:45 PM and will conclude each evening about 8 PM. Be sure to invite your friends and neighbors as we offer praise and thanks to God for all he continues to do in the lives of his people. Mark it on your calendars starting on Monday, June 20th to Thursday, June 23rd at 5:45 PM.

We are currently seeking volunteers for a variety of roles, including:

Games coordinator

Lesson teacher

Meal provider

Craft makers

Volunteers for each age group Pre-K, 1st-2nd, 3rd-4th, 5th-8th,

If you are interested in helping us or have any questions, please reach out to: Matt, Sherrie McTeer or the Church office,

In Christ,

Matt Burt