Christmas Eve

Student Ministry All Night New Year’s Eve Party

All Students, Grades 6-12, are invited to the Kersker’s for an a night of fun and games!

Board Games… Video Games… Movies… Munchies…. and more!

What to bring:

• Friends
• Munchies/2-Liter to share
• Sleeping Bag/pillow (if you plan on sleeping!)

Questions can be directed to Traci Kersker, Family Minister at Traci@ImagineLifeDifferently.com.

Encounter Student Ministry December Calendar

Encounter Student Ministry Calendar

December 24th – Student Christmas Skit at 9am & 11am Services (Contact Traci@ImagineLifeDifferently.com for more info!)
December 28th – Worship Team Practice 6:30pm
December 31st – Student Serve Weekend
December 31st 6pm – January 1st 8am Student All-Night New Year’s Eve Party

November Student Ministry

November Calendar for Students Grade 6th and up

November 26th – NO ENCOUNTER, but…

Here are some pics from this month:

• We have Worship God with our talents and learned about the importance of gratitude and how it effects all areas of our lives…

Fall Harvest Parties for Children THIS WEEKEND!

Children Ministry “Uniquely Me” Day!
Sunday, October 29th 9 & 11 AM

This month we have been looking at our Purpose – exploring giftedness and talents, passions, and even things we have gone through in life (i.e. moving, divorce, friendships) and how we can use these to bring God glory.

God has gifted our kids to be creative, and unique, and special.  We want to celebrate that, so children are invited to wear appropriate costumes for services as we celebrate the fall season in our classes!  Our activities will be focused on celebrating a creative God, reinforcing what we have been studying, and giving thanks to God for how He made us.

Student Service in Review

Portage Resale Shop Service Project in Review

On Saturday, October 7th nine (and a half!) of us went out to the Portage Resale Shop to help prepare for their winter coat give away.  If I remember correctly, they will give away about 900 coats!  Brandon, of Portage Resale Shop, gave us a tour and a short lesson on non profits and stewardship.  This organization is committed to serving our community and partnering with churches to meet needs.

There is a volunteer at the resale shop that oversees this project and in the past she has done all the work of sorting, tagging and hanging coats on her own.  Over lunch the students figured out that our giving approximately 3 hours of our time was equivalent to nearly 4 days of her working by herself!

Here are some pics from our day!

Encounter Student Service Project This Sunday

Sunday, September 17th 1-5pm

Encouragement Rocks

Students are invited to join us for a fun way of spreading God’s love and truth. 

Bring a lunch, pick some up near by, or come back after lunch!

We will be painting rocks to encourage others.  When they dry enough we will spread them around so that people can find them!  God will work in people’s lives as they find our rocks!

Friends are always welcome to join us! If you have any question, contact Traci at (219) 531-7777 ext. 11 or Traci@LifeBridgeAlive.com

Encounter Student Ministry

Sunday August 27th 4-7pm

Life Bridge Cafe (Carpeted Area)

We will be watching the movie that I used a clip from the day of the prayer walk, Facing the Giants (after all, it is football season)!

As we enjoy the movie, we will be eating munchies, and afterwards having some discussion.

Friends are welcome and you are welcome to bring a munchie or 2 liter to share. I will plan on providing lemonade and popcorn.

Here are a few pics from the prayer walk two weeks ago:

Encounter Student Ministry

Sunday, July 16th 1-5pm Life Bridge Cafe

Cookie Bake for Kairos Prison Ministries

Kairos Prison Ministries uses “Jesus Cookies” to help facilitate forgiveness between them and God, and between them and others.  We are going to make as many cookies as possible by 5pm and have a lot of fun doing it! 

Friends are welcome at all events and activities.

Student Serve Sunday – July 30th

Our students serve on the worship team, coffee bar, tech and more as we desire to allow them to explore their giftedness and give them an opportunity to experience God working through them in this way.  Worship practice usually takes place the Wednesday evening before, so July 26th.

Next Student Worship – August 13th, 2017

Stories – Live One Worth Sharing

Topic: Focus

Just like with our blurry pictures, we sometimes put our focus in the wrong place.  Join us as we discuss how to better focus our lives so that we can Live a Story Worth Sharing.

Celebrating Students Who “Leveled Up”

This past Sunday, we had a great time of celebrating students who moved up into Middle School/Jr. High, High School, College and life at our First Annual “Leveling Up” Life Celebration.  We recognized 15 students and their families as we came together to reaffirm faith and commitments to growing in our walks with God. 

New Middle School/Jr. High Students:

Encounter Student Ministry: Five Love Languages

Sundays 6-8pm

Students Grades 6 and Up

With some statistics saying as much as 80-83% of kids feel unloved by their parents, it is time to broaden our scope of what love is and what it looks like.  Much like this cartoon, when it comes to love we are often asking for something that is already being served up, only we don’t recognize it for what it is.
On Sundays, we are will be:

• Teaching a variety of ways that people show and receive love
• Helping students understand more about themselves, their natural love languages
• Helping students to better recognize how much they are loved by others as they begin to redefine others’ actions and words as love.
• Empowering students to build/improve relationships with family, friends, and “neighbors” by being more purposeful and effective in communicating love in a way that they will receive it.
• Living a lifestyle of worship (honoring our God and magnifying Him in the world around us) as we love purposefully and effectively.

It’s not too late to join in! 

Encounter Student Ministry

The Languages of Love Re-Launch

Sundays 6-8pm

“English is such a weird language.”  This is a comment my family will jokingly use when we say something believing we have communicated clearly, yet the other person interprets it very differently.  It’s great when we can recognize the disconnect and laugh about it, but communication isn’t always that easy, especially when we are trying to communicate love to family and friends.

It is clear that most of us struggle at times to feel loved by those significant in our lives.  This is a two way street: If we are not feeling loved by those in our lives, chances are high that they may not be feeling loved by you.  God calls us to love… simply, powerfully, extravagantly… How do we learn to recognize the love given us by others and to give love in a way that family and friends will receive that love?

Well, that is probably a big can of worms, but we will be taking a step in trying to do just that as we study Gary Chapman’s, “Five Love Languages.”

The objectives of this study are:

Student Super Bowl Party

Sunday, February 5th 5pm @ the Kerskers

Not into football? There’s FUN for everyone!
Food, a variety of games (Video, Board, etc.), …
Oh, yeah, the SUPER BOWL GAME complete with Super Bowl Commercial Bingo, and more!

WHO:

• Students Grades 6 and up
• Student Families are welcome to hang out as well

BRING:

• Friends
• Munchies and/or 2-liter to share

"Just the Right Time" Family Christmas Program THIS SUNDAY!

“Just the Right Time”

Family Christmas Program

Sunday, December 18th, 2016 6pm

Join the fun as we travel back in time to stop Jesus from being born to a life of betrayal and a criminal’s death. Along the way we will discover the impact Jesus’ life has had throughout the ages, and how Jesus came at just the right time.

There will be a Cookie and Punch Reception following the performance to celebrate the season with family, friends, and our performers.

Encounter Student Ministry This Sunday! 6-8PM

Encounter Student Ministry is designed for all 6th-12th Graders.  It’s mission to to create opportunities for students to encounter God in their relationships, in their service, and in their walks with God.  To this end, we strive to build relationships with mentors and peers that are encouraging and building up in a world that often tears down. We provide opportunities for students to explore the gifts that God has given them and to use those for God’s glory and the edification of the church.  As we do all this, we are all challenged to continue growing in our walk with God as we allow His Word to convict and transform our lives.

If you you have a student in this age group, now is a great time to join in!  Friends are always welcome!

Join us as we kick off the beginning of school with some fun and games, as well as taking some time to learn and share as we strive to be purposeful in the new school year.  This 2-week series will remind us that it is more about how we live than what we say that let others know how important God is to us.

Encounter Student Ministry This Sunday! 6-8PM

Encounter Student Ministry is designed for all 6th-12th Graders.  It’s mission to to create opportunities for students to encounter God in their relationships, in their service, and in their walks with God.  To this end, we strive to build relationships with mentors and peers that are encouraging and building up in a world that often tears down. We provide opportunities for students to explore the gifts that God has given them and to use those for God’s glory and the edification of the church.  As we do all this, we are all challenged to continue growing in our walk with God as we allow His Word to convict and transform our lives.

If you you have a student in this age group, now is a great time to join in!  Friends are always welcome!

Welcome to the Family Kent Hillman & Jasmine Gasaway!!!

This weekend we had the pleasure of welcoming Kent Hillman and Jasmine Gasaway into the Family of God!  Both have been involved with the Student Ministry of Life Bridge, and have benefited from the relationships built there and activities such as MOVE.

Celebrating CIY MOVE!

Seven of us attended CIY MOVE Conference for High School students at Milligan College in Johnson City, TN last week.  There were approximately 800 in attendance.  It was a week loaded with  fun, great teaching, moving worship, and meaningful conversations.

Throughout the week, we learned that Kingdom Workers are loved, rescued, united, changed, and sent.  It is hard to put into words the impact of weeks such as this… the opportunity to step out of everyday struggles, no electronics, connecting with people as we all strive to connect with God, conversations in a safe environment, unconditional love and encouragement… These weeks make an eternal impact.

MOVE is HAPPENING!

High School Students are at Milligan College in Johnson City, TN this week for the MOVE Conference!

Our 5 students will be among 27,000 students visiting college campuses throughout the US. They are being challenged through intense, interactive worship, dynamic preaching, small group study and community building.  They are learning and worshipping together,  spending quality time together, and discovering ways that God will use them to impact the world.

The focus this year is 3 fold:

• We were designed for Good.
• We were made for a Purpose.
• We were created for Kingdom Work.

MOVE is HERE!

High School Students are heading to Milligan College in Johnson City, TN this Sunday for the MOVE Conference!

Our 5 students will be among 27,000 students visiting college campuses throughout the US. They will be challenged through intense, interactive worship, dynamic preaching, small group study and community building.  They will not only learn and worship together – they spend quality time together, discovering ways that God will use them to impact the world.

The focus this year is 3 fold:

• We were designed for Good.
• We were made for a Purpose.
• We were created for Kingdom Work.