BURN! i know that next to no one is reading this right now…
i’m headin to Lakeland, Fl next week. surprise! graduatin and then flyin out. can’t wait. in case you didn’t know, there’s a massive revival breaking out down there. if you have direct tv, you can watch it every night on channel 360.
i love all y’all so much! don’t slack off this last week, finish strong!
I (Caleb) was at the river last night and was thinking about how we pray. A lot of the time, I’ll pray and it will just be a list of things put to funky lingo to sound cool, when the reality is that I am talking to God. I think prayer has become a habit to us, not a living conversation. You don’t make a conversation with your best friend a habit, it just happens. But so often I think we’re just praying to check it off our list. Let’s begin to talk to God, not at him or just think about him while we pray. He is a living being with real emotions and characteristics, and we should talk to him like he is. It makes me think of talking to a statue (not that I’ve EVER done that, although, given where I work, I’m presented with ample opportunities to do so) as opposed to talking to a friend. If you were to talk to a statue, your conversation would be different. You would not expect any reply or mutual interaction. But when you talk to a friend, you expect them to react and reply to what you say. It’s the same as when we pray. If we don’t expect a reaction, if we just talk to God, chances are we probably won’t get an answer. But if we approach him and pray in an almost conversational nature, then he is going to reply and respond. I want to challenge you to have a conversation with God.I guarantee it will be more gratifying than doing typical prayer.
What is Burn Student Ministries?
Burn Student Ministries (henceforce referred to as BSM) is the student ministries of Church at the Gate. We exist to ignite the fires of revival to our generation, starting from the inside, moving outward. The main night we hold is called Burn.
When is Burn?
Burn occurs every Sunday night from 6:30 to around 8:00 PM, at the Church at the Gate West Campus (All burn meetings in January 2008 (and February 10th) are being held at the CATG North Campus)
Who leads Burn?
Burn is led by students. This year, the student pastors for Burn are Kelsie Krull and Caleb Hickey; and worhsip is led by Noah Brown. CATG Youth Pastors Kyle Johnson and Lynn Kenneke (soon to be Lynn Johnson!!) oversee Burn under the leadership of Senior Pastor Steve Hickey.
What exactly happens at Burn?
A normal night of Burn looks like this: a crazy game, a lesson taught by a student leader or Kyle or Lynn, and then either small group discussion or worship. There is also time for us to hang out and get to know new people; and of course eat some good food.
Am I going to love it?
Yes.
What if I can’t make it to Sunday night meetings?
If you are unable to attend Sunday night meetings we have two other options available to you. First, you can get plugged into one of our small groups. Meeting times and locations vary for age groups and genders, but if you’re interested in coming to a small group, email youth@churchatthegate for more options or check out our youth website (http://youth-site.churchatthegate.com/) for times and places. Second, we put all our messages up on Podcast. You can either access these messages by clicking on the link in the previous sentence, or by going to the itunes store and searching for “burncast”. We’re not the explicit one of the same name. Don’t click on that one. We don’t recommend it.
What should I bring to Burn?
There are several things you should bring to Burn. We suggest bringing a bible, a good attitude, a few friends, a notebook and a pen (also, it is recommended to bring band-aids and bear whistles, although these items have not been needed by all who attend Burn).
