Dan Gould

Category: Student Ministry

  • Weekend Review – 2008

    What a year!  Wild Week, Student Life, Mexico Mission Trip, Planet Wisdom, B2S Bash, B2S Retreat, and this is just the big events.  2008 was an awesome year for Fusion!  God did an amazing work in each of us.  Some came to know Him as their Lord and Savior, while others made new commitments to Him, but all of us were challenged with the reality of the Gospel!  This last weekend we highlighted 6 areas from out ministry and heard stories from students and watched videos of what took place at these events.  It was so good hearing each student share what they liked about the event, what God taught them or is teaching them, and how they encouraged others to get involved.  We have some very cool things in store for 2009.  I cant wait to see what God does and how He shapes us to be more like Christ.

    Here are the 6 things we highlighted today.

    2008 REWIND

    1.    Random Events!
    Dates for 2009 – http://www.gracefusion.com
    Cost: $5-$20

    2.    Retreats!
    Dates for 2009 – February
    Cost: $120 if registered on time

    3.    Wild Week!
    Dates for 2009 – July 7th-11th
    Cost: $315 if registered on time

    4.    Mexico Mission Trip!
    Dates for 2009 – June 13th-20th
    Cost: $400.00 if registered on time

    5.    Small Groups!
    Dates for 2009 – January 7th-May 27th
    Cost: FREE

    6.    Baptisms!
    Dates for 2009 – Anytime
    Cost: FREE

    I will be posting a different video each day over the next 5 days so check back to watch the videos from each highlighted event.  I’ll start today with a baptism video.  This didn’t capture all of the baptisms but here are a few from this past year.

  • Weekend Review – Dec. 7th

    give

    This week was week 3 of the Big Give!!  God has really been doing some neat things in our time.  This last week concluded our Gifts of Grace for East Plano kids, it was awesome seeing our students come into church with gifts for kids.  I really look forward to worshiping with our students each week.  Our student worship team does such a great job.

    This week we encouraged students to get involved in a couple of mission projects.  One is teaching ESL to kids at Meadows Elementary and the other is helping raise funds to build schools in Uganda, in partnership with Invisible Children (invisiblechildren.com).  Note – the second opportunity in Uganda was inspired by one of our students who shared how she was getting involved in a project called schools for schools.  She did a great job and her story fit so well with the talk.  Here is the outline with pictures we used to drive home the point that you have to stay focused.

    THE BIG GIVE
    How to Give!
    December 7TH, 2008

    “‘So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.  Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.’” John 13:34-35 (NLT)

    HOW TO GET INVOLVED

    1.    It takes FOCUS!

    “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT)

    What do you see?  Look at the pictures very closely!

    “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” Philippians 3:14 (NLT)

    2.    It takes SACRIFICE!

    “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.” 1 John 3:16 (NLT)

    3.    It takes COMMITMENT!

    “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” Matthew 5:37 (NIV)

    4.    It takes FOLLOW-THROUGH!

    “As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 8 And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:6-8 (NLT)

    Excited to see what happens this week as we talk about Where to Give Big.

  • Weekend Review

    giveThis weekend we started a new series called the big give.  Kinda stole the idea from Oprah.  My wife and I caught a couple of episodes of the show and as I watched I couldn’t help but think how students could get involved in something like this that allows them to see a need and meet a need. This weekend I challenged the student to do these three things

    What is required to get involved in the Big Give!

    1. You have to DREAM BIG!
    2. You have to LIVE BIG!
    3. You have to SERVE BIG!

    We will have some organized opportunities for students to get involved with but the general idea of the series is to look at the needs around us and to get involved.  This week we talked about Gifts of Grace.

    This is how Gifts of Grace- Toys for East Plano was started and where I need your help blog land:-) Please, Please help a child in need. All you have to do is 3 simple steps!!

    1. Cut out a tag provided on this pdf file.

    2. Purchase a toy.

    3. Mail your NEW toy with a securely attached tag by Nov. 30th to:

    Grace Community Church
    Att: Toys for East Plano
    4501 Hedgcoxe Road
    Plano, Texas 75024

    OR drop it by the Church on Dec. 7th.

    **Please mail gifts by November 30th
    You may send wrapped or unwrapped toys as long as you include a tag.

    Our goal is to provide 800 Toys for this community need. Please help us reach our goal and make a difference in a child’s life!

    For more information about participating churches please visit: www.findgrace.org and www.willowcreekfellowship.us

  • Guys and Paintball

    xpaintballlogo1Today I joined a group of 8th and 9th grade boys, with three adult leaders, in an afternoon of paintball.  It was cold enough that we had enough layers on that when we got shot it didn’t hurt.  The place we played is probably the best paintball field this novice has ever played on.  It was a lot of fun.

    I think the highlight for me was hearing one of our boys talk about how “he was a better paintball player than he thought!”  He wasn’t saying this with pride but with growth.  Growth of overcoming a fear and gaining some confidence.  This is the same guys who said before we started that he is usually is one of the last ones left on his team and last time when he was the last one he surrendered so he didn’t get shot!  Anytime you get to hangout with students in a different environment you learn a lot about them.  I really enjoyed getting to know Cameron better as well as the other guys!  We had a great time!  Makes me appreciate even more what our troops do to secure and maintain our freedom!

  • The Pulse – Fusion Weekly Update

    If you are a reader of this blog and would like to receive, The Pulse, our student ministry weekly e-mail update, please click here to sign up and it will be delivered to your e-mail address weekly!  Here is an excerpt from this week,

    The First to Know!!!

    We have been working hard on Summer Events.  Thank you for your input.  The general consensus was that cheaper was better.  Let me rephrase that, we are striving to provide the best camp experience for the least amount of cost!  Here is what we have decided.  This year Wild Week will actually take place in July at Camp WOW.  Camp WOW has a great facility that includes, water sports, blob, zip line, basketball, volleyball, ropes coarse and other activities.  Other Church’s in our area use Camp WOW also for summer camps.  I am excited about this opportunity and hope you will be apart of this great experience.  Ken Freeman, Kacy Benson, and Nick Thurmond will be back again this year to lead us!!!

    . . .

    If you would like to read more click here!

  • Weekend Review

    What a bust week into a busy weekend.  However, I feel like we have made some great progress in a short amount of time.  Last week I e-mailed every students that attended our weekend service and filled out a communication card, to let them know I am praying for there request and to follow up on some decisions they were making.  Several of our Students indicated that they wanted to grow spiritually but admitted that they didn’t necessarily have a plan to accomplish that.  Here is what I sent them,

    1.    Find a consistent time and place to meet with Him. I spend time with God early in the morning, but I used to spend time with God late at night before I went to bed.  The time doesn’t matter, what matters is that you find/make the time.
    2.    Read the Bible and Pray. When you read the Bible God speaks to you, when you pray, you speak to God.  Many times the question is where do I start, and how much do I read.  Even if you don’t like to read (I don’t like to read) its important, so start small.  Here is what I encourage:

    o    Pray – Ask God to forgive you of sin and to guide you as read His Word.
    o    Read a Bible you understand – NIV or NLT are great translations.
    o    Read 1 Chapter a day – A great place to start is in 1, 2, 3 John, James, or the Gospel of John, from there you may have developed a stronger habit and can pick a book from the Bible you would like to read.
    o    Highlight verses that impact you or seem to jump out at you.
    o    Think about what you read.
    o    Pray – Ask God for help, thank Him for the things in your life and lift up concerns to Him.
    o    Think about what you read throughout the day and begin to apply it to your life.

    3. Don’t Give Up! – If you miss a day, it’s going to be ok, just pick up where you missed and start there.  It will take a while for this to become a habit.  There will be days that you forget, or even days that you don’t want to read.  In those days still try to read but admit to God that you are tired, or feeling lazy, or stressed and ask Him to give you the strength you need to meet with Him.  It’s ok to be honest with God!  This will get easier the more you begin to have consistency, I promise!

    The services this weekend were awesome.  Great worship, the talk seemed to connect on personal levels and the Illustration about the family really allowed us to see the way it was supposed to be, and James a 9th graders shared his story and brought it all together.  It was so powerful.  Following the services we went to celebrate baptisms with three families.  It was awesome seeing Dads baptize their kids.

    Last night I was able to connect with Connor and Nick at Chili’s.  I learned a lot about them and had a great time hanging out.   Dash from “The Incredibles” (AKA Josiah) was there also!

  • Friday Night Lights – Plano Football

    After fighting the wind, making a wrong turn, and major traffic, Josiah and I along with Hunter, made it to Texas stadium to watch the Plano Wildcats beat the Duncanville Panthers.

    The Game was pretty close in the first, but after half-time Plano came out in a big way, beating Duncanville 42 to 15.

    Even though it was cold, we had a lot of fun, saw a lot of our students.  The Football team played well, the Band sounded awesome, and the the Dancers performed really well.

    Josiah really had fun!  He now wants to play for the red team (he can’t say maroon) and he thinks every game is played at Texas Stadium.

  • Once on This ISLAND jr – Fowler MS Musical

    Last night Josiah and I attended the Musical at Fowler Middle School.  We had several of our students from Fusion in the musical.  I must admit I was excited to go, but in the back of my head my expectations were not that high.  When we walked in we were greeted quickly by some of our 8th graders and told we came in the wrong door and had to go around the other way.  So we did as we were told.  As we entered the Cafeteria we began seeing parents and other students form the church that weren’t in the play as well as some Small Group Leaders.  It is always nice to see students and parents outside of the church, and it is awesome seeing Small Group leaders attend events that students are involved in!  Way to go Jenn and Jon!!!!

    We took our seats for the opening act and WOW, this didn’t seem like a MS production at all.  It was so fun watching the students I know, and those I don’t, perform.  You could tell that there was a lot of practice that went in to this performance.  They did such a great job, that it even held Josiah’s attention, which at 4 years old, says a lot!  Here are three pics that were taken last night, I tried to use my phone to capture some pics but as you can see on the first picture the lighting bleached out everyone.  But the other two are after the performance with some of our student’s that stared in the show . . . I should have gotten autographs for when they are famous one day!  I love the pic of Ashley giving her older sister bunny ears!!!!

    Tonight we are off to Texas Stadium to watch Plano Football and see the band, dancers, and cheerleaders perform.  Josiah and I are going to hang out with Hunter one of our 7th grade students!!!!  It’s going to be so much fun.  Can’t wait to see Plano win!

  • Weekend Rewind!

    What a day!!!  We continued our series “Family Matters” which is 3 week series that deals with the family.  Worship was off the chain in both services.  I thought the talk went better in Middle School than in High School for a couple of reasons:

    • More students –  Last night was Homecoming and it took a toll on our HS attendance
    • More Energy – It seemed like the MS had more energy than HS, even though the MS service is earlier
    • I felt flat in HS – I realize how much I feed off of the energy in the crowd.  It makes a difference in the way the talk goes.  I like the interaction.

    The general question today was, “Am I part of the Problem or Solution?

    We showed this video to kick off the talk.  It really brings it home when you look at it from a child’s perspective.

    It’s easy to look like a perfect family when the doors are open and people are peaking in, but when the doors shut the real family tend to come out, the good, the bad, and the ugly.  No matter the situation, even if it’s not our fault or something we have no control over, we can still add to the problem or be part of a solution.

    After Church went to Razzoos – Cajun Cafe . . . It was awesome, and the kids plate was only $4.00.  We had a great time as a family hanging out with Will, Rachel, Ryan, Tyler and Jenn.  It was good to eat some good fried food and hang with students and staff!

    Took Joe to watch Wills soccer game for as long as Jackson could take it.  We lasted 45 minutes just enough time to see a half.  Wills team was winning so it was easier to leave!  Hope they won!  will find out tonight at small groups!

  • Cali – Day 4

    The Gathering has been everything I had hoped it to be.  Great time with Stephanie, other youth pastors who have become dear friends, and of coarse Doug Fields.  I have really enjoyed my time with Nick Carnes, Ken Leslie, Ben Taylor, Matt Adams, Jim Clark, and Grant Byrd.  The Gathering is a time that Doug Invites PDYM State Mentors to Saddleback Church and his house to talk through learnings, challenges, and victories.  A time that is so refreshing and encouraging for me every year.  This year I got the privilege of bringing my wife again.  She wasn’t able to go last year do to Jackson being only a couple of months old.

    Sad to leave, but thankful for the time away to learn and connect with other youth workers.  These guys and gals have become such great friends and it always hard to say goodbye.  Almost feels like a summer camp experience from my teen years.

    Thanks Doug and Neely for allowing me to play a part in what God is doing in the PDYM Community!

    Here are some pics from today.  Included is the wives at Laguna Beach, some of the guys trying to figure out where we are going, Wahoo’s Fish Taco, and Survivor at the Fields House!  Enjoy!