Student Information BookletStudent Information BookletStudent Information BookletStudent Information Booklet

WELCOMEWELCOMEWELCOMEWELCOME . . .. . .. . .. . . We just want to take the time to say “welcome to Meadowridge.” We We just want to take the time to say “welcome to Meadowridge.” We We just want to take the time to say “welcome to Meadowridge.” We We just want to take the time to say “welcome to Meadowridge.” We

think it’s great that you are interested in being a part of Crave Student think it’s great that you are interested in being a part of Crave Student think it’s great that you are interested in being a part of Crave Student think it’s great that you are interested in being a part of Crave Student Ministries and we can’t wait to get to know Ministries and we can’t wait to get to know Ministries and we can’t wait to get to know Ministries and we can’t wait to get to know you better. Our groyou better. Our groyou better. Our groyou better. Our group loves to just hang out up loves to just hang out up loves to just hang out up loves to just hang out and hopes that you will see and feel the love and hopes that you will see and feel the love and hopes that you will see and feel the love and hopes that you will see and feel the love of Christ here. We know life is a journey and of Christ here. We know life is a journey and of Christ here. We know life is a journey and of Christ here. We know life is a journey and it’s not always easy, but we are here to help. it’s not always easy, but we are here to help. it’s not always easy, but we are here to help. it’s not always easy, but we are here to help. Just let us know whatever it is you need Just let us know whatever it is you need Just let us know whatever it is you need Just let us know whatever it is you need because we can’t wait to pray for you specificalbecause we can’t wait to pray for you specificalbecause we can’t wait to pray for you specificalbecause we can’t wait to pray for you specifically. We believe God has created ly. We believe God has created ly. We believe God has created ly. We believe God has created you with a special purpose in this life and helping you find and fulfill that you with a special purpose in this life and helping you find and fulfill that you with a special purpose in this life and helping you find and fulfill that you with a special purpose in this life and helping you find and fulfill that purpose is what we are about. Our ministry is actually created to do just that purpose is what we are about. Our ministry is actually created to do just that purpose is what we are about. Our ministry is actually created to do just that purpose is what we are about. Our ministry is actually created to do just that –––– help you find the true meaning in life. In this booklet, you wihelp you find the true meaning in life. In this booklet, you wihelp you find the true meaning in life. In this booklet, you wihelp you find the true meaning in life. In this booklet, you will find some ll find some ll find some ll find some great information about who we are and what our group is about. We have also great information about who we are and what our group is about. We have also great information about who we are and what our group is about. We have also great information about who we are and what our group is about. We have also included some of the programs and events in which we are currently involved. included some of the programs and events in which we are currently involved. included some of the programs and events in which we are currently involved. included some of the programs and events in which we are currently involved. We hope you will consider making this place your home as you seek to follow We hope you will consider making this place your home as you seek to follow We hope you will consider making this place your home as you seek to follow We hope you will consider making this place your home as you seek to follow God and HisGod and HisGod and HisGod and His will for your life. will for your life. will for your life. will for your life.

We know He has great things in store for us! We know He has great things in store for us! We know He has great things in store for us! We know He has great things in store for us!

In Christ, The Crave Ministries StaffIn Christ, The Crave Ministries StaffIn Christ, The Crave Ministries StaffIn Christ, The Crave Ministries Staff

For more information, check out our website: www.craveministries.org

Youth Staff

Nathan Cravey: minister to students Patricia Sharp: assistant

Here at Crave, our student ministry is made up of teenagers (7h–12th grade), parents, and adult leaders who have a passion to know God and be used by Him. To crave means to “long for” or “humbly ask for.” We long for God to fill us up with His Spirit so He can empty us out for His service.

Our Goal:

• Know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior

• Experience a place of acceptance, belonging, and purpose

• Share their lives & the gospel news with others.

Our Schedule:

Love God,

Love others,

Serve the world.

GOAL & SCHEDULE

Sunday Morning

• 1st Worship Service - 9:15am

• Think Orange (Lifegroup) - 10:45 a.m.

Wednesday Night Activities

• The Life (mid-week service) - 6:00 p.m.

• Community Group (Guys/Girls) - 7:30 p.m.

Lifegroup for Teens are

designed for students in 7th – 12th grade. This ministry is called Orange and is designed for each grade to have their own small group leader or “SGL.” As your student advances to the next grade, so does their SGL so that they get a maximized experience to bond with a godly leader during their entire time in the

youth ministry. Groups are gender specific until 12th grade in which they will join with the college ministry on Sunday mornings in an effort to get them connected with their next stage in life in a guided environment.

• Weekly Lifegroup Schedule All students begin in a large group setting for breakfast, announcements, fellowship, and a teaching time. This time will end half way through the hour allowing small group interaction to take place with SGL for the last part of our time together. This will be a time to discuss and pray together.

• Curriculum Our curriculum is designed by our staff and written to include discussion questions for our small group time.

12:00 – 2:00 pm

Sunday Lunch After Church (SLAC) is a great time to build relationships and get to know visitors. On a random Sunday, we choose a different place to eat after worship service (12:00pm) and all go to hang out with each other. SLAC serves as a wonderful outreach event for our students to connect with others and make them feel welcome to our group.

Sunday Morning Ministries – 10:45 am

THE LIFE is name for our Wednesday night bible study. Currently, we are going through that booklet called, The Life” that shows the Bible as the story of Jesus and His story of bringing God and man together – once and for all!

This mid-week worship time is designed to fellowship with games/activities, bible study and small group time for discussion. It’s a blast and a perfect time to get to know other students in the ministry even better!

E-CRAVE is a time for students to invest in their un-churched friends and invite them to come to an outreach event geared especially for their visitor. This off-campus night will cater to attracting students who need to hear the gospel message. ECRAVE is not designed for christian teens to hang out with other Christians just to have a good time, it’s so much more. With special sermon series, exciting RPG games, and events like SpeedZone, Bowling, Putt- putt golf, and sporting events just to name a few, we want to truly give our students a night that will really attract their friends with the hopes of sitting down and sharing with them one on one. Each night could cost money so let us know if this is something that you need help with as you reach out to invest and invite. The times are the same on Wednesday nights unless otherwise advertised.

Wednesday Night Ministries – 6:00 pm

Student Night is a time for all

students in the youth group (7th-12th) to come together for a time of fellowship and fun events. This ministry is scheduled regularly in the fall and spring semesters. Sometimes, this is an all-nighter. This event encourages students to get to know one another better and connect with other leaders and students. We would love to see you there!

Guys Community Group is a ministry meeting created to bring guys together (7th-12th) to discuss life and the struggles, questions, and praises that we experience daily. It’s a chance to get direct help on specific issues as they arise and a place to encourage actions based upon scripture and godly principles for our lives. This is a guys

only event and designed to create a place of trust for students to be real about what they think and feel every day. Currently, we meet on Wednesday nights from 7:30pm-8:30pm at a local restaurant each week. Let us know if you are interested in being a part!

Girls Community Group is a ministry meeting

created to bring girls together (7th-12th) to discuss life and the struggles, questions, and praises that we experience daily. It’s a chance to get direct help on specific issues as they arise and a place to encourage actions based upon scripture and godly principles for our lives. This is a “girls only” (ladies also) event and designed to create a place of trust for students to be real about what they think and feel every day. Currently, we meet every other Saturday morning at 10:00am at a member’s home. Let us know if you are interested in being a part!

Weekly Ministries

Proclaim This takes place on the 4th Wednesday during September every year. Students at each school are challenged to begin the new school year with the intention of meeting other students in whom to share their faith. After several weeks of looking, students are encouraged to attend Proclaim with several options. They can bring their new friend to hear a gospel presentation. They bring the name of that new friend for others to

pray for their salvation. Students are encouraged to make this a student led event by sharing stories of their progress with the students in their school and request prayer for themselves. Proclaim celebrates this emphasis!

Fed Up: 30 Hour Famine This is an international movement to fight hunger and enable long-term changes in impoverished communities around the world. World Vision engages junior high, high school, and college students in a nationwide experiential hunger event. Participants enlist paying sponsers and then fast for 30 hours – going without food to get a "taste" of hunger – while they learn about the causes of poverty and participate in community service projects. Funds raised are used to assist children and families in need both domestically and internationally. Over 15,000 U.S. churches participate annually in the Famine.

New Years Eve Party This event is a wonderful time to get to know visitors and bring friends to some really attractive activites including LaserTag, Bowling, Movie Night, Putt-Putt, etc. It is also a time to reflect on what God has done in our youth group the previous year as well as spend time praying for the new year. So come on!

Yearly Youth Events

End of the Summer Lock-In This event is loads of fun! After a summer full of ministry and servanthood, what better way to relax than staying up all night without any sleep and partying into the new school year. (Sorry, I said “school”). This a great time to hang out together playing games and watching movies with a large attraction scheduled during the day like Six Flags Theme Park.

SOS for Students (Song of Solomon) This is a conference for students and parents that promotes sexual purity. It teaches the art of dating and courtship as well as how to choose a mate. Covering the first five chapters in SOS, this one day event is must go for those who desire to honor God with their relationships. Founded by purity spokesman, Tommy Nelson.

Stampede This is an awesome weeklong event for students in 6th-8th grade. If you've never been to one, it's pretty hard to describe! There's food, games, worship, relevant talks by great speakers, and skits where leaders goof around while usually performing

some amazing(ly dumb) acrobatic feats. It begins at McKinney Bible Church from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, and finishes the week with a trip to Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags!

Planet Wisdom Conference This is a great high school conference for our students as we join other youth ministries from around the area in a weekend of worshiping God. The students are challenged by the speaker, worship leaders, and drama team to know Jesus Christ more through His Word. Always a great weekend!

The Messiah Tour: Believe Again, this is a great conference for our middle school students as we join other youth ministries from around the area in a weekend of worshiping God. The students are challenged by the speaker, worship leaders, and drama team to know Jesus Christ more through His Word. This will be our third year attending!

Disciple-Now Weekend is an intense event where the youth stay in homes of church members for the weekend and are guided through discipleship curriculum. This event provides a great opportunity for church-wide involvement as adult members volunteer to

host, drive, cook, and lead small groups. This is a great time to get to know each other in the Church Body better and dig deeper in God’s Word.

Student Evangelism Conferences is an event hosted every summer for students to attend. This is an evangelistic event that is geared towards bringing young people to Christ and encouraging the

spiritual growth of believers in becoming more evangelistic.

Girl’s & Guy’s Events are special events planned just for those genders and designed to address their speicific needs. This is a great time to build relationships with others of the same gender and talk about issues facing our teens today. These events can be scheduled for one night or take up an entire weekend! Come check it out be a part of growing in our relationships with God and each other at Crave Student Ministry.

Summer Summer Summer Summer Youth Youth Youth Youth CampCampCampCamp Summer Youth Camp will be on hold this year as we give it a

Meadowridge makeover. We are praying and reseraching the idea of offering our own youth camp in a

year or two that will combine Youth Camp and Mission Trip all in one week. This desire comes from the hope that students will be able to experience both without having to choose one over the other. In addition, we are looking to create the first diverse youth camp in Texas with new and improved programing that is attractive to students of every background. The central idea will be the same. The method will be different. And our desire is for students to

participate in an event that will bring them closer to God and His will for their lives. Stay tuned for more info in the months ahead.

ComComComCommissionmissionmissionmission … Mission: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, & World

Commission encourages students

to follow the biblical model for missions beginning with our church, community, continent, and to the ends of the world. We begin with our own networks of friends, where we encourage our students to build relationships within their own networks. Once this has occurred, students are provided with relational-based youth events for the purpose of sharing Christ’s message. This model is called the “invest and invite” model and we believe involves training and encouragement for our students. In addition, we offer regular local mission events where students get the chance to serve our world. Each summer, youth are involved in a two-part mission trip that begins with our community and ends with our continent or world.

The Houston Project is a trip we take to the innercity of Houston. This city is the 4th most diverse cities in the nation. We join other churches in reaching out the community in missions for one week. By hosting community ministry events, we get the opportunity to learn how to share our love and faith centered around the gospel message. Great week!!

Engage Student Week happens for 3 days during spring break week and provides our students the opportunity to train and practice sharing their faith with others. For this week, students go on mission, right here at our own backyard. Students get the chance to serve alongside other members of the church and hear training from other minisries on how to share one’s faith. It’s a great ministry to grow our students and reach out to others!

iServe is a service based event held on a regular basis. It provides the students an opportunity to serve others (Christians and the world) with a variety of options as students learn to use their gifts to build up others. The empahsis is based on Matthew 20:28 which says, “…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom

for many.” Students will follow Christ’s example by raising money for those in need, encourage others through verbal and written letters, mentor students, repair homes, provide meals to the hungry, etc…

God’s Purpose With Us

What is the purpose of our student ministry’s existence? What is the driving force behind the purpose of the church? Many of us are busy doing things but lack purpose behind what we are doing. Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” Strong churches are not built on programs, personalities, or gimmicks. They are built on the eternal purposes of God. It is the same for a healthy student ministry. Our programs can be negotiable, but God’s purposes for His church cannot.

What are these purposes for the church and our student ministry?

The Greatest Commandment: “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt. 22:37-40)

The Great Commission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:19-20)

There are five purposes found in these two passages which build a solid structure for why our student ministry exists and what God has called us to do:

WORSHIP “Love the Lord your God with all your heart” MINISTRY “Love your neighbor as yourself” EVANGELISM “Go and make disciples” FELLOWSHIP “Baptizing them” DISCIPLESHIP “Teaching them to obey”

A balance of these five purposes will maintain a healthy and effective student ministry glorifying the Lord in all we do.

Crave Student Ministries 3400 Charleston Ave., Fort Worth, TX 76123 817-292-7775 ex.105

nathan@meadowridgechurch.org

craveministries.org