I trust that you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. I know that its been a while since the ZAO Blog has been updated but I have been trying to figure out how to best utilize this, email, and your time in regards to not doubling up between the two. So I will be sending you email updates when the ZAO Blog has been updated. When coming to this blog you should primarily expect to see media content that is specifically for you as parents but also content that our students have been directed to via Facebook. All major announcements will be distributed to you via e-mail.

One thing that we are going to try to do in order to help you as parents get a feel for what we are talking about on Wednesday nights to your teens but to also help them me mindful of what we discussed throughout their week is “ZAO AFTERTHOUGHTS”. ZAO Afterthoughts will be a 7-10 minute clip of me or of one of our speakers reviewing the main points that we discussed at youth group on a Wednesday night but it will also consist of a challenge for our students to dive deeper into Scripture to find out more about a similar topic or point of discussion.  The ZAO AFTERTHOUGHT for this week is below:

I am looking forward to getting your feedback on this and to see you all at our upcoming parent meeting on Thursday, February 2nd from 7:00-8:30 pm.

Until Then,

Tyler

I am so excited that your teens are going on the retreat this weekend. Joining me in supervising your teens this weekend are Josh Hanson, Michael Miller, Carissa Anderson, and April Heisler. Please be praying for the 5 of us. Attached to this post is a copy of the student manual that each of your teens will be receiving along with a pdf of each of my presentations. Sorry for the confusion on the retreat brochure/student guide in regards to the timing of our departure on Sunday, October 9th. The plan is to eat lunch at Covenant Pines at 12:15 on Sunday and be back at church by 4:00 pm.

Hope this helps!

-PT

F.I. Student Manual

FI Session #1

F.I. Session #2

In week three of our “I Pity the Fool” series we are going to be taking a look at Proverbs 2:1-8 which says:

¹ My son, if you accept my words
   and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
   and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight
   and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
   and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD
   and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom;
   from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
⁷ He holds success in store for the upright,
   he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
⁸ for he guards the course of the just
   and protects the way of his faithful ones.

We are going to be focusing on the 4 Keys to success that this passage presents in regards to our personal lives and relationship with GOD. These 4 Key are found in 2:2-4. Attached is a copy of PT’s presentation that he will giving to the Sr. High students. (Josh’s presentation  to the JR. Highers will look similar to one that’s on here.)

If you have any questions or concerns please let me know!

IPTF WK. #3

“I Pity The Fool” WK. #2 (Proverbs 1:8-19) from ZAO on Vimeo.

Parents,

Attached is the handout that was given out at the last ZAP (ZAO & Parent) meeting on Thursday, September 22nd. If you have any questions or concerns please contact me.

–PT

Parent Mtg. #4 (09.22.11)

Attached is a brochure for our upcoming ZAO Fall Retreat at Covenant Pines on October 7th-9th. The theme is “FEAR ITSELF” in which we will be discussing the fears of life, how they get in the way of our relationship with others and God. Most importantly we are going to be talking about what it means to FEAR the Lord and surrender our lives fully to Him. Please encourage your students to invite their friends from school to this retreat. The cost is $125 and scholarships are available. Check out the promo video below. Please register ASAP but we will take students last minute up until 5 pm on Thursday, October 6th.

FEAR ITSELF BROCHURE

Hope you are well! Tonight as we continue our second week in our “I Pity The Fool” series we will be taking a look at Proverbs 1:8-19. Jeff Vogel will be teaching the JR High students and summarizes his night’s teaching as, “Sin promises to us everything we want, but it does not deliver on its promises in the long run. Not only do we hurt other people when we sin, we end up hurting ourselves most of all! The key to avoiding the traps of sinners is wisdom – in this case, seeing the true result and danger ahead, not just the short-term gain, and then having the sense to avoid those traps.“ As a result of Jeff’s lesson he desires that the JR High students, “Should leave having reflected on destructive behaviors they or others they know are currently practicing and having gained a greater appreciation of the benefits of avoiding those sins.”

Frank Benson will be speaking to the SR High students and he summarizes his lesson as, “Life can be challenging, even for the wise.  In the second week of our Proverbs series, we’ll be taking a look at several of the most common “foolish traps” teenagers fall into.  From language to relationships, we’ll pass along some practical, godly wisdom to help our students get the best out of life.” 

Attached are the small group questions and the announcements from this week! Parents also a friendly reminder about our PARENT MEETING tomorrow night, Thursday SEPTEMBER 22ND, from 7:00 to 8:30 pm.

See you tomorrow!

Prayerfully,

PT

SGQ Questions (IPF Week #2)

O9.21.11 Announcements

I just wanted to give you all a heads up in regards to whats going on in ZAO Sunday School this fall. The junior highers are being taught by Jon Alexander and Jeff Vogel and they will be discussing and going through the book of ACTS. They will be meeting permanently in Room 202.

The Sr. High students will be going through a series called, “Heaven/Hell & Everything In Between..” This class is going to be taught by Noah Bock and myself. Here is a brief video that sets the stage for the purpose of our discussion:

Attached is a copy of the slide show that I will be using this Sunday (09.18.11) in my lesson to the students.We will always be meeting in the Upper Room.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.

-PT

Heaven:Hell- WK. #2

Lets face this world is filled with celebrities and media outlets that give loads of advice and information. As funny as the advice given by Mr. T is in the clip below it pales in comparison to the wisdom that the Bible and God wants us to value and possess. In light of this we are starting a new series called “I Pity The Fool” in which we are going to be taking an in depth look at the book of Proverbs.

This week we are going to be looking at Proverbs 1:1-7 and we will be discussing the “why” behind this book and “why” we are studying it. The Message says in 1:4 that one of the Proverbs is, “to teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality.” As a result of this week we want our students to begin to get a grasp of reality on wisdom and what it means to fear the Lord. Attached are the small group questions for this week. Both Jr. High (6th-8th) and Sr. High (9th-12th) students will be meeting in the GYM at 6:30 pm.

Parents also please try to make it to our ZAP (ZAO & Parent) meeting on Thursday, September 22nd from 7:00-8:30 pm to get the inside scoop about upcoming teaching schedules, events, and trips. (This meeting is for parents ONLY.) In addition we will be receiving a word from our guest speaker about how we can help our teens overcome the challenges that they are facing today.

Prayerfully,

PT

SGQ Questions (IPF Week #1)